Policies Updated

GRCC has updated policies

September 2021
Policy Meeting

12.10 Furniture Policy

VII. Related Documents – added 3.2 Non-Discrimination on Basis of Disability Policy and 6.8 Remote Work Policy

 X.B. Procedures

• Existing Language:

Departments can purchase furniture with department funds, but all purchases must be processed through Facilities to insure uniform standard and quality.  Departments and individuals should not contact third party vendors without Facilities and Purchasing endorsement.

• Revised Language:

Departments may request furniture be purchased with their department funds, but all purchases must be prepared and processed through the Facilities and/or Purchasing Offices to ensure uniform standard and quality.  Departments should not contact third-party vendors without Facilities and Purchasing endorsement.

15.2 Web Accessibility

Minor grammatical changes & updated contacts

14.16 Health & Safety

VII. Related Documents – added “Communicable Diseases Policy” and “Face Covering (Mask) Policy”

12.9 Facility & Grounds Use

IV. Reason for Policy – Changed “GRCC also makes its physical facilities available to responsible groups and organizations on a rental basis, after meeting college needs “when not in use for college activities.”

IV. Reason for Policy – Added “All events must comply with College Policies.”

V. Entities Affected by this Policy – Added “students”

VII. Related Documents – added “Health and Safety Policy”

X.B.4 Procedures – added “Certificates of insurance will be required”.

For more information, see the policy website.

Perfect: Every student in GRCC’s Radiologic Technology program passed certification exam

Not only did all the students in Grand Rapids Community College’s Radiologic Technology program pass their certification exam – they passed on their first attempt!

Students have a year after earning their Associate of Applied Arts and Sciences in Radiologic Technology to pass the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists exam. With the success of a GRCC student taking the exam in June, the class of 2020 has a 100 percent passing rate with all 18 graduates.

GRCC Radiologic Technology students take five clinical courses at area hospitals – putting them on the front lines as essential workers during the pandemic, noted program director Julie Lackscheide.

“All radiographers come in contact with COVID 19 patients on a daily basis,” she said. “They are one of the first contacts for patients, performing diagnostic testing to assist in their treatment plan. With the many challenges the pandemic brought to the tail end of their education, our students found support in each other, along with their clinical sites. We are very proud of how our students met these challenges and grateful for the support they receive from our healthcare community. They are wonderful additions to our profession.”

GRCC’s program, accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology, prepares students for certification in general radiography, magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography.

Construction starts on GRCC’s new Secchia Piazza, helping college tell the story of Secchia Institute students

Grand Rapids Community College’s world-class teaching culinary program is gaining a new piazza allowing it to serve more guests and share the story of students’ journeys from Secchia Institute for Culinary Education to destinations around the globe.

The new Secchia Piazza is a gift from the late Peter Secchia and his family, whose generosity and drive for excellence helped the Secchia Institute create state-of-the-art facilities, attract top faculty members, and prepare students for rewarding careers in the hospitality industry.

“The Secchia Institute for Culinary Education has long been recognized as one of Grand Rapids’ best teaching and dining experiences, and Peter Secchia always believed our students are capable of great things,” said Dr. Kathryn K. Mullins, vice president for College Advancement and executive director of the GRCC Foundation. “These additions will create a beautiful setting to tell the story of the Secchia Institute and the opportunities it creates for students.”   

The Secchia Piazza is located in GRCC’s Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, 151 Fountain St. NE and will be used by GRCC students, faculty and staff, and the greater community as an event space and a place to come to reflect and connect to the Secchia Institute.

Designed by Progressive AE, the renovations will enclose an underused outdoor patio, and add a 31-foot-wide, 15-foot-tall, colorful skylight that will be one of the college’s most recognizable features. Granger Construction will oversee the project.

A floor pattern designed by GRCC artists will evoke the educational pathway students take from the Secchia Institute to culinary opportunities across the country and around the world.

GRCC’s culinary program was renamed after Secchia and his wife, Joan, in 2007. The Pietro and Regina Amphitheater, named after Peter Secchia’s grandparents, was added in 2012. Peter’s Pub was launched in 2016 as part of GRCC’s Fountain Hill Brewery, tapping into the demand created by Grand Rapids’ growing craft beer industry.

Mental Illness Awareness Week runs from October 3–9

Each year, millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition. However, mental illness affects everyone directly or indirectly through family, friends or coworkers. That is why each year, during the first week of October, NAMI and participants across the country raise awareness of mental illness, fight discrimination and provide support through Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW).

NAMI is featuring videos from real people sharing their lived experience with some of the symptoms and conditions NAMI is focusing on during MIAW. Watch and share the videos.

REMINDER: Your EAP is available 24/7, 365 days a year!

Did you know? Your Employee Assistance Program is available 24/7, is CONFIDENTIAL and available to all employees (except student employees), their spouses and children living in their household.

We encourage all employees to take advantage of these services offered. EAPs deal with a variety of issues such as depression, anger management, anxiety and physical illness.

All EAP consultations and referrals are CONFIDENTIAL and the services are provided at no cost. You can access EAP services 24-hours, 7 day-a-week the hotline number is (800) 442-0809 or (616) 455-6210.

EAP – A Guide to Your Benefits

Mental Illness Stigma Keeps People From Seeking Help. Our Support Can Make a Difference

Mental and Behavioral Health Resources

Happy Adjunct Appreciation Week

Did you know that, this fall 2021 GRCC has:

• 266 adjunct faculty teaching
• The average contact load for adjuncts is 7 contact hours
• The average sections an adjunct carries is 2
• Total contact hours taught by adjuncts this fall is 1,917 – that’s 1/3 of all contact hours

Please stop by one of our locations for some grab-and-go refreshments as a token of appreciation!

• Cook – 209 & 411
• Sneden – 202 & 316
• RJF Hall – 303 & 511
• Calkins – 320
• ATC – 221
• Lakeshore – 105
• College Park Plaza – 223 & 400

Tutor Appreciation Week

Faculty and Staff, please pass this on to your students.

It’s National Tutor Appreciation Week, and we need your help thanking GRCC’s amazing tutors! It will only take a moment of your time. 

1. Fill out this quick survey to say thank you to all tutors, to a specific center, or to your favorite tutor.
2. Are you on-campus?  Stop by a tutorial center and add a note to our appreciation board.
3. So that all of our tutors can attend our Appreciation Event, all tutoring services will be closed on Wednesday, Oct. 6 from 1:00PM-1:30PM. 

We look forward to sharing your notes with our tutors and thank you for your time!

October Happenings in the CTE

Gen Ed Course Review & Curriculog 

~ Curriculog 2021

~ Portfolio Training

~ Intro to Panopto

~ Promoting Equity – Pt. 2.

~ How Do You Handle: Chronic Tardiness & Academic Dishonesty

~ Navigate & Academic Advising

~ Classroom Observation Training

And don’t forget our list of Self-Paced Online sessions this month:

• Classroom Emergency Preparedness
• Design & Deliver Inclusive Courses
• Blackboard Basics Online
• Blackboard Grade Center

For session descriptions and registration instructions, click here.

Speed Reading ~ Saturday, Oct. 2 for GEAR UP Wyoming students

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Not all Saturday mornings are for sleeping in. Twenty-six sophomores from Kelloggsville, Godwin Heights, Godfrey Lee, and Wyoming arrived on campus bright and early this weekend to learn strategies to improve reading comprehension and retention during a speed reading and memory workshop led by Iris Reading.

During speed drills, students practiced guiding the eyes with their hands over lines of text to combat habits of fixation, regression, and sub vocalization. To apply the Inspect Method to standardized exams, students practiced reading first sentences of paragraphs in a sample test passage, reading the questions, reading the entire passage, and then answering the questions.

GEAR UP Wyoming students also learned about mind maps, chunking, alliteration, exaggeration, and visualization techniques to form powerful associations to remember what they are reading and studying.

Because new skills require practice on the pathway to mastery, students left the workshop with two challenges: to continue speed drills for fifteen minutes each day for the next two weeks; and to use the 20/80 principle to inspect one book per day for the next seven days.

After the morning session at GRCC’s Student Center, students moved to the streets to spend the afternoon exploring and enjoying the many interesting ArtPrize exhibits in downtown Grand Rapids.

GEAR UP Wyoming provides academic enrichment, college prep, and career exploration activities to the Class of 2024 at Wyoming, Godfrey Lee, Godwin Heights, and Kelloggsville. The grant also offers professional development opportunities to districts math teachers and counselors and helps parents increase their college prep knowledge.

Tech Tip: Zoom/Panopto integration

Body: Did you know there is a new feature that will automatically move your Zoom recordings to your Panopto account? When you select “Record to the cloud” within your Zoom meeting, the Zoom recording will now automatically import to your Panopto account! You will receive two emails, one confirming that Zoomhas successfully processed the video and the second will be from Panopto confirming that the video was transferred and processed in your Panopto account. 

Please note that the video in Zoom will be automatically deleted shortly after it is transferred over to Panopto. Make sure to only share with your viewers the link that you receive from Panopto, because the Zoom link will no longer work once the Zoom video is deleted.  

To share the video within Blackboard: 

Linking Panopto Videos to Blackboard

You can also embed the video into Blackboard by selecting Add Content and Panopto Video Embed (under Mashup)

For more information and helpful tips, please visit the IT Customer Support Portal or contact the IT Customer Support Desk at x4357.

If you have a suggestion or a Technology Tip you think can be useful, you can submit them by emailing techtips@grcc.edu 

GRCC In the News, 10/04/2021

 GRCC culinary program getting new Secchia Piazza

10/1/21; FOX 17

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The teaching culinary program at Grand Rapids Community College is getting a new piazza that officials say will allow the program to serve more guests and share the story of students’ journeys from Secchia Institute for Culinary Education to destinations around the globe.

Inside Track: Mall owner strikes a balance

10/1/21; Grand Rapids Business Journal

Baked into Nancy Quero Ramirez’s retail store and online business is the hope that fostering an appreciation and understanding of Mexican culture will arise.

… She worked for 15 years for electronics services manufacturer Firstronic, first as an assembler and then — putting to good use the accounting acumen she learned through her associate degree from Grand Rapids Community College — went to work as a buyer in its purchasing department.

Change-Ups: Memorial Garden earns landscape award

10/1/21; Grand Rapids Business Journal

… CONSTRUCTION

CD Barnes Construction hired Casey Pinkelman as a project manager and Trevor Petroelje, who attended Grand Rapids Community College and Ferris State University for construction management.

Adrian, Siena Heights runners compete at Lansing CC Invite

10/2/21; Daily Telegram (Adrian)

WAVERLY — The Adrian and Siena Heights men’s and women’s cross country teams hit the road on Friday for the Lansing Community College Invitational, with the Lenawee-based colleges finishing back-to-back in the men’s competition.

On the men’s side, Siena Heights took sixth place with 190 points, just ahead of Adrian College in seventh with 201, while Grand Rapids Community College (104) edged out Lansing CC (112) for the victory.