Daily Archives: April 10, 2019

GRCC In The News, 04-10-19

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  • Open-source textbooks lighten students’ financial load
    • 4/9/19 schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School District newsletter)
    • GRCC students are using free, open-source textbooks and saving a total of more than $3 million this year. Students Matthew Grotenhuis and Hunter Crum say the option takes weight off their shoulders financially, and they see it benefiting many of their peers.
  • Dr. K visits TC
    • 4/9/19 The Daily News (Greenville)
    • HOWARD CITY — When Scott Koenigsknecht was given a rundown of possible school districts to visit on behalf of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), he immediately looked for Montcalm County on the list.
    • … Michael Smith, a Tri County High School sophomore, sat down with Koenigsknecht to explain his involvement with Launch U, a tuition-free Early College program through Grand Rapids Community College and the Kent Intermediate School District.
  • Hot job, cold beer: Going PRO with a high-tech career at MI’s top brewery
    • 4/10/19 Livingston Daily
    • Thanks to Michigan’s ongoing craft beer boom, IPAs and bourbon stouts are becoming as much a part of our state identity as the Ford Mustang and the Chevy Camaro. But what do beer production and auto manufacturing have in common?
    • … To fill its worker pipeline, Founders started an industrial maintenance technician apprenticeship program two years ago, putting existing employees on a high-paying, high-tech career track. Apprentices work toward a two-year certificate at Grand Rapids Community College – which Founders pays for – while receiving full-time on-the-job-training throughout the process. Requirements include two years of production experience at Founders, passing an aptitude test and possessing proven communications and mechanical proficiency skills.
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers have interest in former AAF tight end
    • 4/9/19 The Pewter Plank
    • Since the Alliance of American Football folded over a week ago, numerous players have found homes on NFL rosters. While some may just be camp bodies, it seems that the league served a purpose in its short existence of giving players another shot at getting back into the NFL. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are ready to get in on the AAF fun.
    • … (Nick) Truesdell started his college football career at the University of Cincinnati before transferring to Grand Rapids Community College to finish his collegiate career. He was not drafted after finishing his collegiate career, and was then signed by the Arena Football League’s Colorado Ice.
  • Muskegon-area sports notes: Jayhawks name new wrestling coach
    • 4/9/19 MLive
    • Muskegon Community College’s wrestling program has a long track record of success.
    • … Prior to Davenport, (Brian) Netzler served as a top assistant at Miami University. Previously, he was a top assistant at Austin Peay State University and made coaching stops at University of Mississippi and Grand Rapids Community College.

Recap: Phi Theta Kappa National Conference 2019

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This past week, the GRCC Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (Alpha Upsilon Kappa) attended our national conference, Catalyst, in Orlando, Florida. The conference is an opportunity for our students and advisors to attend educational forums which focus on leadership, service, career development, transfer planning, and more. The GRCC Chapter was for the fourth year in a row recognized as a 5-star chapter. This requires that they complete a college project, an honors in action project, service projects, fellowship activities, participate in fundraising, attend regional and national conferences, collaborate with other chapters, and more each year to earn 5-star status. This year our chapter officer team (Tikvah Finn, Phillip Kamp, Stephany Mendez Ortega, Brian Guadarrama, and Drewyn Talley) went above and beyond and were recognized at Catalyst for all of their accomplishments.

Below is a summary of the team’s accomplishments from the event:

  • Our chapter officer team won outstanding chapter officer team (15 teams were recognized out of over 1300 teams nationally).
  • Morgan Brown was recognized as an outstanding chapter team member (one of 15 recognized nationally).
  • Tikvah Finn was GRCC’s first Coca-Cola All-American Silver Scholar winner.
  • Stephany Mendez Ortega and Phillip Kamp are both Jack Kent Cooke semi-finalists (they find out later this month if they won this scholarship). The JKC scholarship is for up to $40,000 a year for up to 3 years to complete a bachelors. There were over 1600 applications, only 500 are semi-finalists and 50-70 will be awarded the scholarship.
  • We entered our first ever “ScholarBowl” team (Phillip Kamp, Stephany Mendez Ortega, Brian Guadarrama, and Drewyn Talley).
  • Tikvah Finn participated in the Job Interview competition.
  • Morgan Brown designed the shirt worn by the entire Michigan Region.
  • This year, we submitted proposals which were chosen and we presented two of the educational forums. We presented on “effective communication for leaders” and “building a successful transfer plan.” We had over 70 students attend each of these presentations and our students did an amazing job as this was the first national forum for which they had ever presented.
  • Morgan Brown, who will graduate in May 2019 with her AFA in Photography, was hired by PTK Headquarters to be one of the three photographers for the conference (a paid position).

We are so proud of our students and all they have accomplished this year. They represented GRCC with pride, worked hard, and had a great time during the conference.

 

Building-specific lock-down testing schedule for this month

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Over the next several weeks, GRCC will be conducting final testing of the new door security system. This will involve testing the lock-down functionality in each building. The contractor has developed a schedule for the testing, which will occur on the following dates:

  • Friday, April 12
  • Thursday, April 18
  • Friday, April 26
  • Friday, May 3

Building-specific details will be communicated to building occupants prior to the testing. Full campus lock-down testing will be scheduled once building-specific testing is complete. Thank you for your patience!

Campus shred bins reminder

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End-of-the-school-year reminder: Due to sensitive materials and privacy acts, campus shred bins at GRCC cannot be opened for someone to retrieve a document. Think of these bins as paper shredders – once something is put inside, it is going to be shredded.

If you need assistance, please call Customer Service at 616-234-3960 or email grcceprint@grcc.edu.

G Suite Transition – Department Assistance

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Are you concerned about how your department’s business practices will be continued or improved in our transition to Google?

The IT Customer Support Desk wants to make sure that your team has emailing and calendaring practices in place before the transition. In order to do that, we are making ourselves available for consultation appointments to meet with you and your team to help develop best practices in Gmail and Google Calendar.

Leverage the experience and knowledge of the Information Technology department to:

  • Increase productivity & efficiency
  • Identify new departmental business practices for operating in the Google G-Suite environment
  • Implement technology orientated processes and procedures

You may request this service online or contact the GRCC IT Support Desk at (616) 234-4357.

Mathematics Seminar on April 17

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The Grand Rapids Community College Mathematics Department is pleased to announce that it will host its last Mathematics Seminar of 2018-2019 on Wednesday, April 17, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in 102 Cook.    

Our speaker, GRCC student Luke Ellison, will be discussing Bayes’ Theorem.

Bayes’ Theorem actually is a theorem –it has a precise mathematical formulation that can be rigorously demonstrated– but its use has been controversial for more than 200 years. Luke’s presentation will emphasize historical background and applications, and thus will be accessible to a general audience. As is the case with all of our seminars, everyone is welcome!

Details:

  • DATE: Wednesday, April 17
  • TIME: 3:30-4:30 p.m. (Refreshments served at 2:14 p.m.)
  • PLACE: 102 Cook
  • SUBJECT: Bayes’ Theorem: Using Probability Theory to Quantify Uncertainty

Bayes’ theorem is a probabilistic equation that allows us to update our prior beliefs in the face of new evidence. This talk will explore the historical development and application of Bayes’ theorem including unique problems that it has helped solve. Specific areas of application include World War 2 codebreaking, authorship of the Federalist papers, and quantifying degrees of certainty in historical claims.