Monthly Archives: February 2015

GRCC In the News, 2-27-15

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Craft beer program, virtual welding machines: How GRCC will spend $2.9 million state grant

Feb. 27, 2015; MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Grand Rapids Community College will use a $2.9 million state grant to buy new equipment and expand its workforce development programs, an investment administrators say will benefit students as they train for jobs in high demand fields.

MEDC grant delivers $2.9 million to GRCC

Feb. 26, 2015; WZZM

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) — Grand Rapids Community College can start a new craft beer program, thanks to a multi-million dollar grant.

GRCC play ‘From White Plains’ tackles bullying issues

Feb. 26, 2015; WZZM

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) — Grand Rapids Community College’s theater department is performing a play that focuses on bullying, compassion and suicide.

Changes coming to Curriculog usernames and passwords

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Attention Curriculog users:

On Monday, March 2nd, shortly after 11 AM, the username and password you use currently to access Curriculog will change to your campus network username and password, which is the same username and password you use to log onto your GRCC computer, Blackboard, and GRCC email. From that point on, your Curriculog username and password will stay in sync with your campus computer username and password. Please contact the IT Customer Support Desk at ext. 4357 if you have any questions about this.

Campus Police to conduct training exercise on March 5

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The GRCC Police Department will be conducting a training exercise on Thursday March 5 from 9:00 am-12:00 pm at the Administration building on the Devos campus. There will be a large police presence at and near the building. The building and part of the parking lot will roped off during the exercise. Police officers as well as police academy students will be in the parking lot to help facilitate parking needs. All cars will need to enter and exit through the north driveway off of Prospect Ave. That driveway will remain open during the exercise. Staff needing to access the Sneden lot through the Admin parking lot will still be able to do so. From 10:00 am to 11:00 pm there will be limited access to the administration building. Please work with the police officers and the academy students during this time if you need to access the building.

Please contact Officer Tom Stasiak (ext 2320) with any questions.

Sabbatical applications due March 12

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Could you use a period of reflection and renewal while exploring new ideas and opportunities which will reaffirm your passion for your discipline and contribute to the Mission of Grand Rapids Community College? Consider applying for a Sabbatical, the College’s most prestigious scholarly professional development opportunity.

2015-16 Sabbaticals are due March 12, 2015

For more information visit: http://www.grcc.edu/academicgoverningcouncil/sabbatical or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayroJFzoBF8&feature=youtu.be

 

 

GRCC In the News, 2-26-15

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MEDC approves $50 million grant to Michigan community colleges

Feb. 25, 2015; mibiz.com

The state of Michigan recently approved a grant to aid community colleges in purchasing equipment and training for students studying skilled trades. Approximately $14.3 million of the states $50 million grant program, coined the Community College Skilled Trades Equipment Program (CCSTEP), was distributed to institutions in West Michigan.

Grand Rapids Community College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kellogg Community College, Montcalm Community College, Muskegon Community College and West Shore Community College were among the recipients of the grant.

Senior Wellness: Lifelong Learning

Feb. 24, 2015; WZZM

(Mike Faber, of the Older Learner Center, was featured on this segment.)

Effort aims to boost number of college-bound GRPS grads

Feb. 25, 2015; WZZM

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) – A wide variety of educational and career groups have come together to help more GRPS students attend college.

… College students shared their experiences about the transition from high school. Isaiah Townsend, a 2014 Ottawa Hills High School grad now attending GRCC, described how he was scared of failing. He said he benefited from mentors who convinced him college was for him.

Meijer Scholar Athlete, Chase Huntey

Feb. 26, 2015; WZZM

This week’s Meijer Scholar Athlete is Chase Huntey, a senior from Morley Stanwood High School, with a 3.96 GPA. Huntey, has been named All-Conference twice, in football, baseball and basketball. His future is on the diamond, where he’ll play and go to Grand Rapids Community College.

Chipola baseball hosts five-game stand this weekend

Feb. 25, 2015; Jackson County Floridan

The Chipola baseball team kicks off a five-game homestand on Friday at 11 a.m. vs. Grand Rapids Community College.

Drafting students watch class assignment become chocolate treats

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What’s a 3D printer doing in the SICE kitchens? Students in DR 240 (Advanced Solidworks) used it to bring their designs to life – in chocolate.

Tom Boersma, head of the mechanical and architectural design department, and instructor Nathan Sneller joined SICE student Stephanie Pyka in the culinary amphitheater for the practical class project, in which the drafting students used vacuum-formed molding to produce chocolate amolds.

The students used the state-of-the-art 3D printer to make positive master molds that, in turn, were used to make the HDPE negative plastic molds. Each student’s design was carried through to a useable form. Then Stephanie used the forms to make chocolates.

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Math seminar is today

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The Grand Rapids Community College Mathematics Department will host its next Mathematics Seminar on Thursday, February 26, 3:00-4:30 PM in 103 Cook. Our speaker will be long-time GRCC Adjunct Mathematics Instructor Radu Teodorescu. The title and abstract for Radu’s talk may be found below.

This seminar will focus on everyone’s favorite math topic – word problems! Long the staple of introductory algebra courses, they are, in truth, frequently unpopular with students and instructors alike. But did you know that they may often be solved without recourse to algebra? Come to the seminar and learn how to do many of these problems using nothing but arithmetic! As always, everyone is welcome.

Pop and cookies will be served at 2:45 PM.

EQUATIONS!?! WHAT EQUATIONS?

or

ARITHMETICAL METHODS of SOLVING WORD PROBLEMS

Word problems are “le raison d’être” of beginning Mathematics, often one of its most important parts. Usually at this level, word problems are solved using equations or systems of equations. After writing an equation/system for a given word problem we solve it and – voilà! – the solution appears. This is a direct and effective method, but what we gain in simplicity, we lose in depth of understanding of intricate connections among elements of our problem.

By contrast, Arithmetical Methods of solving word problems may appear to be more difficult. A particular kind of problem may need a specific approach, which in turn requires mental gymnastics, but in the end surprising internal links may be revealed. Arithmetical Methods teach us not only to think in non-standard ways, but also to write and display ideas in non-conformist manners. The speaker will present specific Arithmetical techniques, and some of the most important methods (known to him ☺!!), for example, the Method of Reduction to Unit, the Method of Comparison, the Method of Additional Assumption, the Method of Inverse Route, etc.