Recap of September Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) Meeting

GRCC’s Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) met on Friday, September 16th, from 9-11:30am.  Here is a recap of the meeting:

• The team held the meeting in a HyFlex format, providing an option for both in-person and virtual attendance.  GRCC’s Media Team provided key support for these efforts, which were a first for the College!
• Team members heard Dr. Olivarez’s opening remarks about the importance of SLT and the strategic planning process at GRCC as well as a recap of the Framework approved by the Board of Trustees in June.  The presentation also covered how the work of SLT fits into the overall GRCC system and continuous improvement cycle.  Additionally, the SLT Executive Team shared that this new Framework will allow for both Strategic Initiatives (SIs) and the College Action Projects (CAPs) that we’ve had in the past. 
• All information related to the updated Strategic Plan Framework can be found on the Strategic Plan 2022-25 webpage.
• Team members heard an update on the nominees for the three open SLT Executive Team positions and an electronic voting process to follow the meeting.  Members then participated in a Mix Max Table Discussion to provide suggestions on updating the SLT Bylaws.
• Team members participated in a second Mix Max Table Discussion to provide input into potential Strategic Initiatives and College Action Projects to help us address the Goal 1-5 Priorities.  Members also provided suggestions regarding specific data/information needed to investigate their ideas.
• Before the meeting adjourned, Lisa Freiburger, GRCC’s Vice President for Finance and Administration, provided an important update with regards to the state’s Civil Rights Compliance Review.  SLT members who are a part of the team preparing for this review were invited to attend a meeting about this opportunity following the SLT meeting.
• SLT’s next meeting is Friday, October 14th and will be held at the Lakeshore Campus.  During this meeting, SLT members will continue to work on the implementation of GRCC’s 2022-25 Strategic Plan Framework.

Please contact Sheila Jones, sheilajones@grcc.edu, if you have any questions about SLT meetings.

About the Strategic Leadership Team: The purpose of the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) is to provide a forum that enables a wide variety of college constituency groups the opportunity to provide input into the present and future direction of the College.  This team will guide the development and on-going implementation of our strategic plan, review benchmarking data, study budget realities and offer recommendations for budget priorities.  SLT’s membership includes over 90 representatives of the college community.  Please visit this page to learn more about SLT.

New police officer

Grand Rapids Community College Police welcomed Officer Mario “Nick” Jimenez Jr. to the force at Monday’s board of trustee meeting.

Officer Jimenez, attending with his wife, son and mother, was presented by Lt. Robert Decker and sworn in by board chairperson David Koetje.

He comes to GRCC after serving with the Hastings Police Department, the Grand Valley State University department and the Michigan Department of Corrections.   

Fall 2022 Homecoming: Celebrate with the GRCC Pride photo contest

Show Us Your GRCC Spirit!

Gear Up Raider Nation! Sport your GRCC pride in celebration of Homecoming on two Spirit Day Fridays, September 30 and October 7. 

 Employees, departments, families, retirees, even pets! – everyone with Raider spirit is invited to put it on display.

Suit up in your best GRCC gear – apparel, socks, hats – anything blue and gold works! 

Snap and share photos: individual, department/team, family (kids = future Raiders) and of course photos with your furry friends!  Submit your photos to this online form to be entered into the contest.  

Photos shared by Monday, October 3 will be displayed in GRCC Today during Homecoming week, October 3 – 7, and entered into a challenge for best 2022 Homecoming GRCC spirit.

Winners will be selected from various categories: department/team, employee, student, alumni, retiree and family/pet.

For questions, contact Erin VanEgmond or Lina Blair.

Audrey Gower, Karissa Ferry and Audrey Torres reach milestones as GRCC volleyball team wins two against Alpena

Audrey Gower, Karissa Ferry and Audrey Torres reach milestones in a doubleheader sweep for the Grand Rapids Community College volleyball team over Alpena Community College, giving the team eight straight wins after an 0-2 start to the season.

Ferry earned her 200th career kill and Torres picked up her 400th career kill in a 25-23, 25-15, 25-10 win in the first match of the evening.

“Today we came together as a team and played what we like to call, Raider volleyball,” said Ferry, who finished with 14 kills and four blocks. “We kept our energy high during both games and had a lot of fun.”

Gower, a sophomore libero, collected her 600th dig in the second match helping her team to a 25-10, 25-15, 25-16 victory.

Torres led the team with 16 kills while adding 21 digs over the two-match sweep.

Other team leaders included Gower with 23 digs, Shannon Russell with 35 assists and six aces, and Alena Visnovsky with 14 blocks, including four solos in the second match.

GRCC, the pre-season pick to finish first in the new Northern Conference, wrap up its northern trip against Delta College on Tuesday in a single match starting at 4:30 p.m.

The GRCC golf team also was in action on Monday, kicking off its fall season with a third-place finish at the Mott Community College Invitational in Flint.

This year’s team has 10 men, allowing coach John Forton to send two teams to the course.

Forton was proud of his players, but noted that they have work to do, especially after a dominating performance by the home Mott squad that ran away with the crown with a 20-stroke victory.

GRCC’s first team finished with a score of 312, just two strokes back of second-place Muskegon Community College.

Freshmen Mason Anderson and Drew Harrington led the Raiders with scores of 76, while sophomores Connor Oman shot a 78 and Sam Foss a 79.

The golf team is back in action on Wednesday, playing in the Aquinas College Invitational at LE Kaufman Golf Course in Grand Rapids.

Tech Tip: Google Calendar work locations

Google has been working on updating various applications to make them more accessible for users no matter where they are working.

The latest update is the ability to add working locations within Google Calendar. Google Calendar now allows users to set where they will be working on specific days.

You can set your location as working in the office, at home, or specify a specific location. This is helpful so people know your location when they’re inviting you to an event or appointment. 

Calendar Working Locations

Once this is set, locations you will be working on a specific day will display to anyone who access to your calendar. 

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 09/20/2022

Athletes to take the pitch in 2023

9/19/22 School News Network (Kent Intermediate School District)

For the first time in Grand Rapids Community College history, women’s and men’s soccer teams will be competing next year.

A promise kept: Flint native donates uniforms to Hamady basketball team

9/19/22 Flint Side

FLINT, Michigan — Playing basketball was always a lifelong dream for Flint native Roy “Rackk” Jackson Jr., but keeping a promise was something even more important he wanted to fulfill. 

… Jackson played college basketball for Grand Rapids Community College and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He played professional basketball abroad in Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Croatia. He is signed to the Colorado Springs Crossover Professional Basketball Minor League. 

Mendez promoted to head coach at Olivet

9/19/22 d3baseball.com

OLIVET, Mich. – After conducting a national search, Olivet College Athletic Director Haley Diringer has found a familiar face to lead the baseball program. An assistant coach for the last three seasons, Santiago Mendez has been promoted to head coach.

… A native of Lansing, Mendez graduated from Lansing Eastern High School. He played baseball for one season at Grand Rapids Community College before transferring to Lansing Community College (LCC). At LCC, Mendez pitched for one season and was named a 2015 All-Michigan Community College Athletic Association Second Team honoree.

New vaccine rolls out: Where can you find yours?

9/20/22 secondwavemedia.com

A new tool in the fight against COVID-19 became available this month. The new bivalent booster works to protect against both the original disease variant as well as new Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants. 

(This article is illustrated with a photo from a GRCC vaccination clinic.)

New calendar for student events on grcc.edu

The Web & Digital Strategy team have built a tool in Drupal, the campus web content management system, to feed events from GRCC Raider Connect to an event calendar on grcc.edu, and on department web pages.

That calendar is now live!

Students can now explore virtual and on-campus events at Raider Connect and grcc.edu. They will also see events on the GRCC department webpage that published the event to Raider Connect.

This centralized, user-friendly calendar of events for students will build stronger student engagement!  

Raider Connect builds student engagement

Raider Connect is a student engagement platform operated by Student Life & Conduct.

Students can:

• See the latest GRCC news curated just for them.
• Check into online or in-person events and activities online and earn credit for their attendance.
• Track their campus involvement to add to their resumé.
• Be automatically notified of any future events hosted by an organization of an event they attended.
• Add events to their Google Calendar, and create event reminders.

Promote your virtual and on-campus events to students

The creation of the new student event calendar on grcc.edu has given Student Life, Web & Digital Strategy and Communications a chance to partner and develop an easy way for you to promote events to students on the grcc.edu homepage, your department page, digital signs and social media.

Your event for students will be promoted on the grcc.edu homepage, and your department page, automatically once you submit your event on Raider Connect.

Social media posts, and digital signs, will regularly encourage students to check Raider Connect to learn about events and opportunities on and off campus. And your event may be used to highlight Raider Connect on digital signs and social media.

Learn how you can promote your event across all of these channels with one easy process. Contact Tyler Anderson to schedule a meeting with Student Life and Communications starting in September.