Employee safety and security forum planned for Friday

We are all affected by the tragedy at Michigan State University this week. Many employees want to know more about the safety and security efforts here on our campus, and what might be available at GRCC for training and support.

GRCC Police Chief Rebecca Whitman is leading an open discussion and question-and-answer session at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 17 in the auditorium of the Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center. The Zoom link for this meeting is: https://grcc.zoom.us/j/91969426589

The campus’ processes, plans, and training will be discussed, and employees are welcome to share their concerns.

Representatives from GRCC Police, executive leadership, Human Resources, Communications and other departments will be present to assist.

A representative from the college’s employee assistance program will also be available to discuss what is available. Additional information about that program is available on the Employee Assistance Program webpage. Bob VanderPol from Pine Rest will be available in room 205 of the Administration Building for drop-in sessions from 12:30 to 3 p.m.

The college also has added two sessions for employees interested in active shooter response training. Sessions are planned for 1 -2:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 in room 108 of the Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, and 4:30-6 p.m. on March 14 in Cook Hall room 212.

Registration for the classes is available through your Online Center.

Raider Salute to the ECLL

The Food Pantry at GRCC is always blown away by community support!

Two carts of food were donated this week by the students and staff at the ECLL and their families.

To top it off, the preschoolers did a wonderful job decorating the boxes the food came in!

Thank you Jenna Castle, Andrew Wolinski, and Martha Boks for reaching out and making this happen!

• 

• 

• 

• 

Career nights from Emersyn Koepke, Marlene Bussler and Myron Brewer help GRCC basketball teams sweep rival Muskegon

Emersyn Koepke, Marlene Bussler and Myron Brewer all had career nights helping the Grand Rapids Community College women’s and men’s basketball teams defeat Muskegon Community College on Wednesday.

David Glazier’s women’s team earned its biggest win of the season by defeating Muskegon 62-55.  The rivals had won 16 of the previous 19 against GRCC, including three in a row.

“Extremely proud of the effort we played with tonight,” Glazier said. “This was a big win in a big moment of this season and it came against a really good team in Muskegon.”

Koepke was a huge spark for GRCC, especially early on, scoring eight of the team’s 21 first quarter points.  She finished with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds.

Bussler’s career-high 12th assist to Karissa Ferry with 1:36 remaining broke a 55-all tie. GRCC hung  on after several defensive stops and five big free throws.

Ferry finished with her second career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Sally Merrill added a game-high 16 points.

The team is now 13-7 and moved into second place in the conference with a 7-3 record.

The men’s team jumped out to a nine-point lead, but Muskegon came back to take a 43-41 lead going into the break.

The visitors extended the lead to six points in the second half, but GRCC went on a 12-0 run and never looked back, leading by as many as 20 to win 95-78.

Brewer was one of 12 GRCC players to score in the game, including a career and team-high 19 points on 7-of-11 from the field, and four of the team’s 10 total three-pointers.

The Raiders shot 51.4 percent overall from the field and 34.5 percent from behind the arc.

Danyel Bibbs finished 6-of-10 for 14 points and a team-high seven assists. Chris Coleman and Herman Brown added 13 and 12 points respectively.

GRCC snapped a two-game skid to improve to 16-7 overall and 5-5 in the conference, holding on to third place.

The men’s team is in action again on Thursday, Feb. 16 for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off against the junior varsity of Aquinas College.  The women don’t play again until Feb. 18 at Alpena Community College.  

This story was reported by Ben Brown.

GRCC basketball player Sally Merrill earns national NJCAA Division II Player of the Week honors

Sally Merrill of the Grand Rapids Community College women’s basketball team was named National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Player of the Week after two games of scoring more than 20 points.  

Merrill was also named Michigan Community College Athletic Association Northern Conference Player of the Week, marking two weeks in a row that a player on the team received this honor.

“I thought Sally had a heck of a week for us and her numbers back that up,” head coach David Glazier said. “I’m proud of her efforts and think the recognition is well deserved.”

Merrill, an Allegan native who attended Hamilton High School, is coming off a 26-point game where she shot 12-of-19 from the field in Saturday’s game at Bay College, helping her team to a dominating 71-36 victory.

The two-year starter also added six rebounds and two blocks, giving her a two-game total of 46 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and four assists.

Merrill leads the team in scoring, with 291 points and averaging 15.3 per game, and free throw percentage at 69.4 percent.  She is also second on the team in rebounding and blocked shots.

Merrill last year was earned All-Region, All-MCCAA, First Team All-Conference honors, and was named to the All-Freshman Team.

Last week, Grace Lodes was named Michigan Community College Athletic Association Northern Conference Player of the Week after a career best performance, and earlier in the season, teammate Marlene Bussler was named Player of the Week for week ending Dec. 11.

The women’s basketball team is 12-7 overall, 6-3 in the conference and will attempt to stay in second place when it takes on Muskegon Community College in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.  

This story was reported by Ben Brown.

GRCC In the News 02/16/2023

Dr. Patricia Pulliam is publisher of the Grand Rapids Times and co-founder of the GIANT Awards

2/16/23 95.7 FM

All month long, the Grand Rapids Historical Society and I will be sharing Black History facts that have taken place right here in Grand Rapids.

… Dr. Patricia Pulliam has dedicated her life to uplifting and empowering the Black community here in Grand Rapids: first as a Grand Rapids Community College educator and later as a newspaper publisher.

News 8 Daybreak

2/16/23 WOOD TV

(Cascade Township officials will hold a meeting on airport changes at the ATC.)

New fitness resource for employees

Can’t make it to the gym? Prefer to get your sweat on at home? Not really a group exercise class person?

Check out 12 YouTube videos of GRCC employee exercise classes recorded via Zoom during the Winter 2021 semester (when we were all still at home). 

Nine video recordings of Rise & Shine Gentle Yoga with Cheryl are available, and three videos of Fitness Fusion with Beth are available on the employee wellness webpage.

Use them anytime, anywhere to get your wellness on!

Apply for a Sabbatical

If you’re a full-time faculty member with at least six years of service, consider applying for a sabbatical.

Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year are due Thursday, March 9, 2023 and can be submitted online.

More information is available on our Sabbatical webpage. If you have any questions, contact the Provost office at provost@grcc.edu.

Mental Health First Aid is back

Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course (divided up over two days) that teaches you how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders in adults (ages 18 and older). The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or is experiencing a crisis.

The next chance to participate in this learning experience is March 21 & 22.

Participants in past MHFA trainings had this to say about their experience:

“This training required the participants to step out of their comfort zone and have somewhat uncomfortable but necessary conversations regarding mental health. Conversation and sharing helped me realize that my own experiences were not that different than those of others in the group.” 

“I took this workshop to be sure I was using the correct verbage and steps necessary to assist a student appropriately in a crisis situation.  I had always wondered if I was saying the right things to them and was I taking the right steps to assist a student in a crisis. I was glad to find out that I was saying the right things and taking correct actions and I was also able to practice a discussion with a pretend student in a suicide crisis. Which I found it was not easy for me, but now I know what I must say and take action.”

“The Mental Health First Aid training is a valuable opportunity for all employees at GRCC. The training is beneficial for the work we do at the College as well as within our personal lives.”

“I’m glad to see training provided on another facet of first aid. If training exists for first responders to physical crisis, it makes sense that we are trained for those in mental/psychological crisis.”

Lunch will be served on both days.

Register for this opportunity via your Online Center account.