Policy review and updates

Policy Meeting

May 2022

10.5 Student Refunds

III. Policy Statement

• Replaced “Refunds will be made under very limited circumstances” with “Refunds will be issued under limited circumstances”
• Updated Related Documents / titles throughout policy
• Clarified that process is done through online center only

VII. Related Documents

• Added Grading Policy

X. Procedures

• The Student Records fee is non-refundable
• changed from “unusual” to “extenuating” circumstances
• Class(es) will remain on transcript with a Withdrawal or Drop (DR) grade 

11.8 Investment

III. Policy Statement

• Change “Section 389-142, as amended, of the Michigan Compiled Laws” to “MCL 389.142”.

IV. Reason for Policy

•  Change “Michigan Compiled Law” to “applicable Michigan statutes”

VII. Related Documents

• Change “Section 389-142, as amended, of the Michigan Compiled Laws” to “MCL 389.142”.

X. Procedures

• Title changes throughout. 
• Added B. “The College may contract a qualified external entity to manage its investments. In this case, the entity will agree to follow all related College policies.” We have done this and wanted it reflected here.

• Changed C. Replaced “except if” with “unless”
• Removed D. because we don’t actually do this. We manage investments on the whole separately from what fund they had been in.
• Added “any new” to G. because we don’t actually present the list to the Board every year, but would (and have) present if there were changes.
• Changed J. This was demonstrating that there is oversight and, while VP of Finance & Administration does not manage individual transactions as it had been written, she does review them on the whole regularly.

14.6 Hazard Communication

• Updated links throughout the policy

III. Policy Statement

• Changed “hazard communication program” to “Hazard Communication Plan” for consistency.

Please visit our College Policies website to see all college policies.

New retiree alert

Scott Martin — Facilities

Mary Rudd — Accounting/Budgets

Jeff Danner — Workforce Operations

Scholars focused on careers in business, education saluted with first GRCC Foundation Board of Directors Excellence Scholarships

Two incoming Grand Rapids Community College students will start their higher education journey debt-free after being selected for a new GRCC Foundation scholarship through a partnership with local districts.

Gabriel Gloria, a Jenison High School senior, and Sophia Vincent, a Caledonia High School senior, are the first recipients of the GRCC Foundation Board of Directors Excellence Scholarships.

The award covers tuition and all fees associated with registered classes for a full academic year. High school counselors nominated students, with one student each from Kent and Ottawa counties, receiving the scholarship. Counselors were asked to consider academics and a variety of factors including barriers and obstacles the student has faced, involvement in community service, and leadership activities or qualities.

“This has proven to be a wonderful partnership with counselors in West Michigan schools,” said Dr. Kathryn Mullins, vice president of College Advancement and executive director of the GRCC Foundation. “Our foundation board members know very well the struggles our students face and are thrilled that this new scholarship offers another way to help them attain a life-changing education.”

Gloria plans to study finance and business administration at GRCC. For him, the new scholarship is important to keeping his college experience debt-free.

“I’m humbled and appreciative of the fact that my high school counselor felt that I was deserving of this prestigious award,” said Gloria, who plans to continue working part time for Meijer. “I was extremely excited and blown away by the generosity of this scholarship and what it will provide.”

Vincent will major in early childhood education at GRCC.

“This year, another student and I committed to devoting our afterschool time on Monday nights to assist a local elementary school teacher in setting up her classroom, cleaning, and creating lesson plans,” said Vincent, who has also worked as a nanny and swim instructor. “This not only liberates her of stress and time but also enables us to gain more experience in the early education field.”

The GRCC Foundation plans to distribute $1.4 million in more than 300 scholarships this year to over 1,000 students. More information about the foundation – including ways to contribute to a life-changing GRCC education – can be found online.

GRCC In the News 05/26/2022

Newsmakers

5/25/22 Community College Daily (American Association of Community Colleges)

… Juan Olivarez, president emeritus of Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC), will serve as interim president of the Michigan college. He was the first Hispanic president of a Michigan college when he guided GRCC from 1999 to 2008. After retiring from GRCC in 2008, Olivarez became president and CEO of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. He was a distinguished scholar in residence for diversity, equity and inclusion at Grand Valley State University’s Dorothy Johnson Center for Philanthropy between 2018 and 2021.

Student cartoonist is two-time national award winner

5/25/22 schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School District)

Kentwood — Goofy, funny and random items have become fodder for East Kentwood High School senior Abby Haywood’s cartoons, which include appearances by a vintage Garfield phone and a huge rubber duck.

… Abby, who is dual-enrolled at GRCC, is the two-time winner of the The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoons through Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for cartoons published in the GRCC student newspaper, The Collegiate. In 2021, she won for “The Real Reason Trump Created Space Force” and this year for “Too Soon?” (her Delta variant ‘toon).The award recognizes three students nationally who exhibit exceptional skill in editorial cartooning and provides each with a $1,000 scholarship. She is invited to attend the national awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City this summer. 

Hylant Hires Industry Veteran Carman Baines as Client Executive

5/25/22 press release

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Hylant, a leading full-service insurance brokerage serving markets across the United States, announced today that Carman Baines has been hired as client executive.

… Baines previously served as Vice President, Employee Benefits at USI Insurance Services. She studied Business Administration and Management at Davenport University and Grand Rapids Community College.

Student-athletes off to next level

5/25/22 Clarkston News

Nine Clarkston High School student-athletes signed their letters of intent in front of family, friends, teammates and coaches at the CHS Performing Arts Center, May 16.

The spring signers include: Ryan Bovee, soccer, Saginaw Valley University; Emily Horne, soccer, Lawrence Tech University; Caden Ladd, lacrosse, Grand Valley State State University; Evan McClorey, lacrosse, Mercyhurst University; Lucas McKinney, baseball, Grand Rapids Community College; Maddy Skorupski, basketball, Michigan State University; Nathan Steinman, basketball, Albion College; Karl Wandrei, lacrosse, Grand Valley State University; and Liam Zimmerman, soccer, Trine University.

Finalists named for student ArtPrize competition

5/25/22 MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Ten students from Grand Rapids Public Schools have been selected out of nearly 40 submissions for the annual student ArtPrize competition.

… The finalists were selected by a panel of art professionals from Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids Community College and Kendall College of Art and Design at Ferris State University.

AACC update: Schaffer set to chair AACC board

5/25/22 AACC 21st Century Center

Joseph Schaffer, president of Laramie County Community College, will become chair of the American Association of Community Colleges board of directors on July 1, succeeding Richard Rhodes, chancellor of the Austin Community College District in Texas.

… The board’s new council representative is Tracy Hall, president of Southwest Tennessee Community College. The board appointed Susan Looney, president of Reading Area Community College (Pennsylvania), to fill the second council position. The board of directors appointed Nancee Sorenson, chancellor of Louisiana State University Eunice, as the new institutional at-large representative, and Lynn Tincher-Ladner, president and CEO of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, as the public at-large representative. Mordecai Brownlee, president of Colorado’s Community College of Aurora, was selected to fill the vacancy left by former Grand Rapids Community College President Bill Pink, who accepted a position outside of the sector.

Payroll Memorial Day reminder

As we prepare for the long holiday weekend, the Payroll Team has a reminder about your timesheets for the 6/10/22 pay date (for the pay period of 5/16-5/29/22). We don’t want the due dates to sneak up on you!

Because of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, 5/30/22, timesheets will be due one day later than normal, on Tuesday, 5/31/22.

We know some of you may be taking some extra time off. Please take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the most accurate version of your timesheet is submitted on or before Tuesday, 5/31/22.

And, supervisors, if you’re out for any additional time around the holiday, please ensure you have a backup approver in place to review and approve timesheets by the deadline of Wednesday, 6/1/22 (also one day later, as approvals are usually due by the Tuesday following a pay date).

More information on setting up a backup approver can be found on the Supervisor Back Up Delegation & Back Up Approver Instructions form on the Employee Forms webpage.  

As always, please reach out to us with questions at hrpayroll@grcc.edu.

New hours for GRCC Bookstore next week

The GRCC Bookstore is adjusting its hours for next week. It will be closed on Monday, May 30 for the Memorial Day holiday.

It will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 31 through June 3.