School News Network Feature: Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall changes create ‘one-stop shop’ for students seeking services

Students standing in front of Student Financial Services.

While standing inside the newly renovated Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, Grand Rapids Community College student Angelique Nyarwaka said it’s nice to have a new one-stop enrollment experience on campus.

“I think it’s very helpful for new students,” the second-year student said about several student services now being housed under one roof. “I have a sister coming from New York and she is going to be coming here. It will be very nice for her to have all of the services in one space.”

Financial aid, enrollment, admissions and student records have new offices on the first floor of Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, 143 Bostwick Ave. NE. GRCC recently completed extensive renovations to the 210,000 square-foot building, formerly called the Main Building.

Rather than heading to a variety of offices to seek services, students now are greeted at one reception desk, and specialists from the various offices are brought to them – a student-centered, one-door approach.

As well as serving as a hub for student services, the space now features modernized and reconfigured lab space, gathering areas, dining spots and welcoming entrances.

The iconic, nearly 100-year-old building was renamed in 2019 in honor of businessman Raleigh J. Finkelstein, a lead donor for the project. Finkelstein and his brothers operated MC Sports, which developed from their parents’ company, Michigan Clothiers.

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Involvement Day

Student Life is excited to be hosting Involvement Day in person again this year! This event will be hosted on Wednesday, September 8th, from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm on the Olivarez Plaza for campus departments and student orgs!

Please encourage ALL student organizations (new, returning, still forming) to sign up and attend and we will provide more information as the event approaches! 🙂

https://forms.gle/oB4N53xgVTZs9s8w9

Raider Salute from Student Life and Admissions & Enrollment

Student Life and Admissions & Enrollment would like to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in Raider Rally!! The event turned up a total of 1,100 guests setting a new record and it took all of campus to make it a success.

To all who put in the time and energy (and sweat) into helping us put this annual event together, we can’t thank you enough and are excited to continue making memories together on this campus.

Fall exercise schedule starts Monday, August 30: Some changes to space/location and times

Get your sweat on! Fire up, destress, energize, wind down, strengthen your body, mind & spirit.

All classes meet in person. Masks are required inside the Ford Fieldhouse.

Monday:
Raider Strong
Lannie Collard
12-12:45pm
Outdoors (meet in front of FFH)

later in the fall: Balcony (304 FFH)
12:30-1:15pm
*masks required indoors

Tuesday:
Fitness Fusion
Beth Damon
12:30-1:15pm
304 FFH (Balcony)
*masks required

Wednesday:
Raider Strong
Lannie Collard
12-12:45pm
Outdoors (meet in front of FFH)

later in the fall: Balcony (304 FFH)
12:30-1:15pm
*masks required indoors

Thursday:
30 min Strength/Strength Blast
Lannie Collard
12:30-1:00pm
304 FFH (Balcony)

*masks required

Friday:
30 min Yoga/Express Yoga
Heather Ernsberger
12:15-12:45pm
212 FFH
*masks required

2021 GRCC employee Walking & Wellness Challenge wraps up

The summer Walking & Wellness Challenge has concluded. This year included sixteen weeks of fun!

The challenge included weekly downtown area locations, participants who were working on campus (or not) could walk to as well as weekly West Michigan excursions to explore various parks, trails, and nature preserves.

We used the Google Currents page to share updates on our adventures.

GRCC employees tracked their activities via counting steps as well as active minutes.

I’m excited to report that we tracked a record amount of activity this year:

Over 35 million steps were walked (or ran)

Equivalent to nearly 18,000 miles and 676 marathons. Way to go GRCC family!!

It was most certainly more, as not everyone reported every week.

Keep active — we’ll be back again next year!

Thanks to the fantastic planning team this year — Stacia Barczak, Bryan Door, Phoenix Noelle, and Angela Salinas.

GRCC Tech Tips

Thank you for making Tech Tips such a successful collaboration! 

We hope that you have been finding valuable insights into the time-saving technology tips that we have been sharing with you! These tips are shared with us from customers like you! If you’ve found a technical tip or workaround that makes your job, or your team’s job easier, we need you to share that with us! We don’t always know what we don’t know so please share anything and everything. Ideas can be sent to techtips@grcc.edu

When you submit an idea to techtips@grcc.edu, please detail what the tip is in regards to, the process or steps to perform the function, and if possible, link any related articles that would best help us draft a post to GRCC Today. One of our team members will develop either a written post for GRCC Today or create a brief video based on the tip to share with others when applicable. We will always review our developed content with you, the content expert, prior to sharing it with the campus community. 

We look forward to sharing our knowledge with you, and sharing your tips with the campus community!

GRCC In the News, 08/31/2021

Six individuals slated for induction into Olivet College Athletic Hall of Fame

August 27,2021; Olivet College news release

OLIVET, Mich. – Six individuals have been chosen for induction into the Olivet College Athletic Hall of Fame, Class of 2021. The individuals are Kellen Beckwith, Megan (Rimmel) Hessbrook, Erica (Anderson) Knowlton, Kyle Lackscheide, Michael McClary and Chris Shelhart. All six will be formally inducted as part of the college’s Alumni Awards ceremony October 8 and then honored in the festivities prior to the Homecoming football game the next day.

… Lacksheide, a 2006 Olivet graduate, was a three-year letterwinner on the offensive line for the football team. He was a 2004 and 2005 All-MIAA First Team selection. Lacksheide helped block for the Comet Wing-T offense, which broke the NCAA Division III single-game rushing yards record with 670 against Ohio Wesleyan University. The offense also set single-game school records for points (78), total yards (695), rushing attempts (89), rushing touchdowns (10), total touchdowns (11) and first downs (33). With that offense, Olivet also set single-season records for rushing yards (4171), points (458), total yards (4931), rushing attempts (692) and rushing touchdowns (53).

Since his time at Olivet, Lackscheide earned a master’s degree in engineering from University of Alabama in 2015. He lives in Ada, Michigan, and serves as a professor of residential construction at Grand Rapids Community College.

Whitmer applauds school districts that implement mask policies

August 27,2021; WZZM

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is praising school districts and county health offices that have put mask mandates in place for the upcoming school year. 

… Earlier this week, the governor visited Grand Rapids Community College and indicated she has no plans to issue a statewide mask order. 

Community college enrollment maintains as pandemic causes broader drop in financial aid applications

August 29,2021; mibiz.com

Michigan’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion and submission rates decreased for the second year in a row by nearly 5 percent, indicating lower college enrollment and ongoing challenges for the already sparse talent pipeline. 

… Grand Rapids Community College provides tuition-free education through Michigan Reconnect, Futures for Frontliners and the Grand Rapids Promise Zone. GRCC had a large increase in FAFSA completion rates, which is up 26.8 percent over this time last year. 

“Filling out the FAFSA is key to taking advantage of these opportunities,” said GRCC Communications Director Dave Murray. “We had a ‘Don’t Fear the FAFSA’ campaign earlier this year, directing students to a special GRCC financial aid hotline we created to help people with questions about the application. We don’t want anyone to miss out on a life-changing education because they struggle with the application.”

High school programs give West Michigan students a path to manufacturing careers

August 29,2021; mibiz.com

As the new class of students arrived at Northview Next this year, they may have noticed some new advanced manufacturing training tools. 

… The program steered toward manufacturing when (Drew) Klopcic and his staff aspired to create an on-site lab so that students didn’t have to go elsewhere — like the Kent Career Technical Center or Grand Rapids Community College — for hands-on training.

Red Hawks earn two wins in season opener at Owens

August 30,2021; Hickory Daily Record (N.C.)

The 12th-ranked Catawba Valley Community College volleyball team recorded two victories during its season opener this past week at the Owens Invitational in Perrysburg, Ohio.

The Red Hawks defeated Mott Community College and Kalamazoo Valley Community College during the event, but fell in a pair of ranked match ups with No. 2 ranked Parkland College (Ill.) and No. 11 ranked Grand Rapids Community College (Mich.).

GRCC renovations put student services under one roof

August 30,2021; schoolnewsnetwork.org

While standing inside the newly renovated Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, Angelique Nyarwaka said it’s nice to have a new one-stop enrollment experience on campus.

“I think it’s very helpful for new students,” said the second year GRCC student about several Grand Rapids Community College student services now being housed under one roof. “I have a sister coming from New York and she is going to be coming here. It will be very nice for her to have all of the services in one space.”

NCMC seeks membership into national sports association for two-year colleges

August 30,2021; Petoskey News-Review

PETOSKEY — The Timberwolves are looking for some competition.

… Among the Michigan colleges in Region 12 include Alpena Community College, Delta College, Glen Oaks Community College, Grand Rapids Community College, Henry Ford College, Jackson College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kellogg Community College, Kirtland Community College, Lake Michigan College, Lansing Community College, Macomb Community College, Mid Michigan College, Mott Community College, Muskegon Community College, Oakland Community College, Schoolcraft College, Southwestern Michigan College, St. Clair County Community College and Wayne County Community College.