Main Building has made the transition to Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, the first step toward transforming our campus’s historic building into a 21st century learning space.
But there are going to be many little steps along the way. Finkelstein Hall was called Main Building for a long time, and we’ll need your help in finding all references to the old name.
Here’s what we’ve done so far, or are projects in the works:
We’re making many changes, but we’re sure we’ll find more as we move forward. If you see a reference to Main Building that needs to be updated to Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, please tell Victoria Janowiak, executive director of Operational Planning, at vjanowia@grcc.edu, (616) 234-3565.
We’re honored Mr. Finkelstein is investing in GRCC and its students. His support will not only allow our iconic building to continue serving our faculty, staff and students long into its next 100 years, but it will allow us to serve them better.
GRCC, Ferris State deal helps with in-demand hospitality management jobs, officials say
July 30, 2019; MLive
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – An agreement between Grand Rapids Community College and Ferris State University helps meet the region’s increasing need for qualified restaurant, food and beverage, and hotel management professionals, officials say.
College expanding pre-sports management program
July 29, 2019; Grand Rapids Business Journal
A local college is growing its pre-sports management program.
Beginning this fall, Grand Rapids Community College students will be able to earn an associate degree in the field and then transfer to complete a B.S. in sports management at Grand Valley State University.
July 26, 2019; Grand Rapids Business Journal
… Grand Rapids Community College is hosting an event to introduce young women to the world of careers in health care.
GRCC is teaming up with Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore for a Scrubs Camp for girls in seventh through ninth grades from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. July 29-Aug. 1 at Leslie E. Tassell M-TEC, 622 Godfrey Ave. SW. This is the second week of Scrubs Camp this summer, exposing students to health care career options. This project is a part of a grant from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation.
Removing the barriers of a higher education
July 26, 2019; WOOD TV
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Grand Rapids Community College is the pathway to success for many in West Michigan, but there are so many more people who need help to remove the barriers that are keeping them from getting the education they need. Dr. Kathryn Mullins, Vice President for College Advancement and Executive Director of the GRCC Foundation, is here to tell us about their efforts. The GRCC Foundation provided about 1,000 scholarships last year, but they know there are many more students who need help overcoming obstacles.
Program targets boardroom inclusion
July 26, 2019; Grand Rapids Business Journal
A new program is in the works to help the West Michigan nonprofit sector develop and maintain more diverse and inclusive boardrooms.
… Deb Bailey, GRCC board member and former Steelcase corporate relations director, also is providing input as the Ecosystem’s honorary co-chair.
Check out what Rush Creek Bistro is serving for Restaurant Week GR
July 26, 2019; FOX 17
Restaurant Week GR is once again making it’s way to Grand Rapids, where people have a chance to taste dishes from over 70 restaurants.
… It’s so much more than just a week to try a variety of foods, it also helps fund a scholarship program at Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at Grand Rapids Community College. Participating restaurants will donate $1 from every meal purchased during Restaurant Week to the scholarship fund to help train the next generation of chefs.
Change Ups: $40,000 grant makes meal deliveries possible
July 19, 2019; Grand Rapids Business Journal
… FOUNDATIONS
Larry Murphy retired as chairman of the Grand Rapids Community College Foundation board of directors, and GRCC alumnus James V. Buzzitta was elected the new chairman after serving as vice chairman. Kristine Babcock was elected vice chairperson and Doug Klein and Nancy Ayres continue as the board’s treasurer and secretary, respectively.
New York Jets will host AAF TE Nick Truesdell for the second time next week
July 19, 2019; nfldraftdiamonds.com
We are learning that Nick Truesdell, the huge target from the Salt Lake City Stallions will be headed to New York for his second visit with the New York Jets early next week. Truesdell worked out for the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in April and killed his workout for both teams.
… Nick has an amazing story. He was signed by the Colorado Ice as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He played college football at the University of Cincinnati before transferring to Grand Rapids Community College.
Ionia announces athletic Hall of Fame class
July 19, 2019; Ionia Sentinel-Standard
The Ionia Athletic Hall of Fame committee announced the members of the 2019 Class that will be inducted into the Ionia Athletic Hall of Fame.
… (Riley) Swinehart was a four-year gymnast and baseball player for the Bulldogs, as well as varsity football for one year. He was state champion in the trampoline in 1961 and member of 1962 West Central Conference baseball championship team in 1962. He played football, was a diver on the swim team and baseball at Grand Rapids Community college. At GRCC, he set a school record with a .443 batting average. Attended Central Michigan where he earned All NAIA honors in gymnastics. He coached numerous sports in high school as well as several years as football coach at Grand Valley State University.
Do you have exciting news about what is going on in your department or with your students? Or do you know of an alumni who is doing cool things? We’d love to share this with the GRCC Alumni Association! The GRCC Alumni Enews goes out to nearly 9,000 subscribers each month and allows alums to keep connected with the college.
Please email any stories you have to Corey Turner, Development Manager, Alumni and Planned Giving, at coreyturner@grcc.edu to be included in the next enews.
We’ve heard back from Stacia Barczak, one of the recipients of this year’s Van Marnius Swets Travel Award:
Hello! I’m sharing these photos as an update to my Van Marinus Swets Award for travel. The award was put to good use!!
Last week, my husband, Tom, and I spent a long weekend in Hilton Head, S.C., and Savannah, Ga. It. Was. So. Hot. But we had a great time and saw a ton. The award helped us with our lodging, which made the trip that much more affordable — so thanks again for providing this fun and important benefit!
We flew direct from GRR to SAV and then drove out to Hilton Head for a night, staying two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. Then we headed back to Savannah and stayed for two nights in a historic inn that may or may not be haunted (but it WAS once used as a funeral home, so who knows??).
I’ve included photos from various points in our trip.
Dr Bill Pink – GRCC President at Mackinaw
May 31, 2019; WOOD Radio
GRCC President Dr Bill Pink joined Steve and Rick at the Mackinac Policy Conference.
Statewide education issues take center stage at Mackinac Policy Conference
June 2, 2019; mibiz.com
MACKINAC ISLAND — Education reform took center stage at this year’s Mackinac Policy Conference, the annual gathering of the top business and government leaders in Michigan organized by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.
… Grand Rapids Community College President Bill Pink spoke at the Mackinac Policy Conference about a statewide decline in graduation rates, a lack of available training for skilled trades, and decreased rankings in math, reading, and science. He was joined by Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO Sandy Baruah and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. During his tenure as governor, Bush was an advocate for school choice, including school vouchers and charter schools.
May 31, 2019; Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education
Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) culinary students will reap the sweet rewards from a partnership with a local theatre company, Broadway Grand Rapids, and the generosity of theater patrons.
GRBJ: Task force wants to make city SAFE
May 31, 2019; WZZM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (GRBJ) – An alliance of Grand Rapids city staff, nonprofit and business organizations is reaching out to the community to gather ideas to reduce violence among youth.
… Community organizations partnered with SAFE include Spectrum Health, the Steelcase Foundation, Network 180, Heart of West Michigan United Way, LINC UP, the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan and Grand Rapids Community College, as well as out-of-state organizations like South Bend Group Violence Intervention in South Bend, Indiana, and NOLA for Life in New Orleans.
From Grief and Recovery to Graduation
May 31, 2019; schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School District newsletter)
The world as Sparta senior Miguel Vazquez knew it changed on December 5, 2018.
… After graduation, Miguel plans to attend Grand Rapids Community College to complete his general education requirements and then pursue a degree in electrical engineering at Grand Valley State University.
Ionia County K-9 handler Dion Sower promoted to sergeant
May 31, 2019; Ionia Sentinel-Standard
IONIA — Dion Sower knew it was time for a change in his role as he approaches his 17th year with the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office.
… Sower decided to attend the Grand Rapids Community College Police Academy.
Sushi caterer rolls with purpose
May 31, 2019; Grand Rapids Business Journal
After earning a pre-social work degree, Bawi Sung felt whatever career she found next should center on helping her fellow Burmese orphans and refugees.
… Aceu Thawng, who immigrated to Grand Rapids in 2008. Anu then earned a pre-social work degree from Grand Rapids Community College.
Jeff Bauer named head basketball coach at GRCC
May 29, 2019; FOX 17
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Grand Rapids Community College has named Jeff Bauer as it’s next men’s basketball coach.
Grand Rapids Community College names new basketball coach
May 28, 2019; MLive
Grand Rapids Community College has tapped a coach with more than 25 years of experience to lead the men’s basketball team.
GRCC names Jeff Bauer new men’s basketball head coach
May 28, 2019; WZZM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College today announced that Jeff Bauer will become the eighth head coach in the program’s history.
May 28, 2019; Grand Rapids Business Journal
A local college has launched a public effort to raise $3 million.
Grand Rapids Community College has $3 million left to reach its $15-million capital campaign goal.
May 28, 2019; Cadillac News
… Fiona Sullivan is a Senior Scholar at McBain High School. She lives in Lake City with her parents Ben and Jolene Sullivan and three younger siblings. While at McBain High School, she has participated in choir, track, National Honor Society, Art and Literature Club, and the Rambler Robotics team. She achieved a 1300 on her SATs. She has participated in the Missaukee Agricultural Youth Show for eight seasons, twice taking Market Grand Champion for her swine projects. She is active within her church family at Prosper Christian Reformed Church in Falmouth. She plans to attend Grand Rapids Community College and pursue studies in literature, art and design.
GRCC launches efforts to raise $3 million to improve buildings, boost scholarships fund
May 24, 2019; schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School District newsletter)
One in three Kent County high school graduates is connected to Grand Rapids Community College in some way, explained college representatives as they kicked off efforts to raise the final $3 million of $15 million earmarked for facility improvements and scholarships through its A Broader Vision campaign.
Mackinac Policy Conference 2019: Full schedule and agenda, speakers, how to watch
May 27, 2019; WDIV
… The Education Crisis: The Problem
Speaker: Bill Pink, President, Grand Rapids Community College
With more than 25 years of experience in education and workforce development, Bill Pink will share statewide data that articulates Michigan’s current state of education.
MSU, WMU tailor new workforce training programs to fit employers’ needs
May 26, 2019; mibiz.com
In response to employers’ calls for action, colleges and universities throughout the state are making a major shift in their workforce training programs.
… One of the results at WMU is the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Laboratory (AMP Lab) at the university’s campus in downtown Grand Rapids. WMU operates the AMP Lab in partnership with Grand Rapids Community College and local industry. Students who are interested in going into industrial engineering and advanced manufacturing jobs can earn accreditation at GRCC and WMU while working at a partnering employer. These employers have committed to helping pay for their employees’ tuition.
Precision Machining program at Kent Career Tech Center preparing teens for future
May 24, 2019; WOOD TV
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOTV) – Students from high schools around Kent County are experiencing high school in a unique way. They are learning in state-of-art labs at GRCC’s Applied Technology Center through the Precision Machining Kent Career Tech Center Satellite Program.
Grand Rapids school holds special graduation ceremony for student in the hospital
May 24, 2019; WZZM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A 17-year-old Grand Rapids high school student wound up in the hospital receiving emergency surgery just weeks before his high school graduation.
… Hassel will remain in the hospital as he continues to heal, but he has plans of attending Grand Rapids Community College in the fall.
Ionia’s Hausserman to tee it up at GRCC
May 24, 2019; Ionia Sentinel-Standard
With just weeks to go in his final season at Ionia High School, Tyler Hausserman secured his golf future with a commitment to Grand Rapids Community College next year.
Young actor headed to Big Apple stage
May 24, 2019; schoolnewsnetwork.org
In this spring’s school musical, “Crazy for You,” Eric Liu played the lead role of Bobby Child. A banker who aspires to be a dancer, the character is “at heart just a big goofball who wants nothing more than to be onstage and have fun with his life,” Eric says.
… Eric hopes the contacts he makes at The Jimmy Awards lands him some auditions and gets him on his way. If not, he plans to study theater beginning at Grand Rapids Community College, and to start auditioning for local productions. Either way, he has his sights set on a career of performing in the kinds of plays that have entranced him.
13OYS Mornings: On the road at Frederik Meijer Gardens
May 17, 2019; WZZM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – For the last couple weeks, the 13 ON YOUR SIDE Morning Show has been live from a different location in West Michigan. On Friday, May 17, Kamady Rudd and James Starks got a first look at the new rooftop garden space at the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.
…In higher education news, Grand Rapids Community College has launched an effort this week to raise the final $3 million of a $15 million plan to increase scholarships and expand and improve on campus facilities.
May 16, 2019; Inside Higher Ed
… Laurie Chesley, provost and executive vice president for academic and student affairs at Grand Rapids Community College, in Michigan, has been named president of Central Oregon Community College.
GRCC to raise $15 million to increase scholarships, improve facilities
May 14, 2019; WZZM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Leaders at Grand Rapids Community College launched an effort Tuesday to raise the final $3 million of a $15 million plan to increase scholarships and expand and improve campus facilities.
GRCC’s $15M fundraising campaign targets student scholarships, facilities
May 14, 2019; MLive
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Grand Rapids Community College announced Tuesday, May 14, the public phase of its $15 million fundraising campaign for student scholarships and facilities that are more conducive to 21st-century teaching and learning.
Just $3 million shy of goal, GRCC launches public fundraising campaign
May 14, 2019; WGVU
The fundraising campaign is called “A Broader Vision,” and it’s an effort by Grand Rapids Community College leaders to raise “the final $3 million of a $15 million plan to increase scholarships” and renovate two buildings on campus, according to a release.
GRCC launches fundraising campaign for campus renovations
May 14, 2019; FOX 17
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Community College kicked off a fundraising campaign Tuesday to raise money to put towards campus upgrades.
Attracting four-year students for the summer
May 14, 2019; Community College Daily
Whether it’s because of the lower tuition, the ability to gain credits while living at home, a particular course they want to take, or a preferable option to a summer job, an increasing number of four-year college and university students have been enrolling at community colleges during the summer to take a course — or two or three.
… The number of “guest students” at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) in Michigan increased nearly 80 percent between the advent of its summer marketing push in 2011 and last year. In 2018, 1,374 students from other colleges and universities took GRCC summer courses, nearly a quarter (22 percent) of all students enrolled.
Sophia Carlson, Vivian Gay named top grads at Belding High School
May 14, 2019; Ionia Sentinel-Standard
BELDING — Aerospace engineering and worship ministry are the planned college majors for the top two students academically in the Belding High School Class of 2019.
… (Vivian) Gay, 17, is the daughter of Robert and Nadine Gay. She plans to attend Grand Rapids Community College before transferring to Grace Christian University for worship ministry. Going to Grace would be a dream for Gay, she said, with a goal of becoming a worship leader.
Final comments taken in K-12 Social Studies Standards debate
May 14, 2019; schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School District newsletter)
Local educators and students weighed in on the proposed revision of State Social Studies Standards — under debate and hotly contested for the past five years — during a session hosted recently at Kent ISD by the Michigan Department of Education.
… Gertrude Croom, retired Grand Rapids Community College professor, said she attended because of a concern for Michigan students overall, and spoke about the global economy they need to work and live in.
1908 mansion with full pipe organ featured on 50th anniversary Heritage Hill tour
May 14, 2019; MLive
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – As the Heritage Hill Association celebrates the 50th anniversary of its annual home tour this weekend, organizers are bringing back a Georgian mansion that was a star attraction on the first Heritage Hill tour in May 1969.
… Advance tickets are $18 and are available on the Heritage Hill Association website, as well as the Heritage Hill association office at 126 College SE, Family Fare and D&W stores, Lake Michigan Credit Union branches, Martha’s Vineyard and Art of the Table. Day of tour tickets are $25 and are available at the ticket booth at the GRCC DeVos Campus, 435 East Fulton St. Children under 12 are admitted free.
Those attending the launch of the public phase of A Broader Vision heard from President Pink, campaign co-chair Dr. Jim Buzzitta, campaign co-chair Trustee Deb Bailey, and Raleigh J. Finkelstein.
Morning News
5/14/19 WZZM
Leaders from Grand Rapids Community College want more students to be able to get scholarships to go to GRCC and they also want to improve their facilities. Today, we’ll learn how the school plans on doing that. They’ll tell us about their new campaign during a news conference at 10 o’clock this morning.
Street Talk: Let’s talk streets
5/10/19 Grand Rapids Business Journal
… Grand Rapids Community College has identified nearly 300 students who met all of the requirements for an associate degree but never claimed it.
Change Ups: WMU Cooley Law School taps McGrath as president, dean
5/10/19 Grand Rapids Business Journal
… EDUCATION
Grand Rapids Community College student Jake Dabkowski teamed up with Kendall College of Art and Design students Aiden Wysocki, Matthew Veenhoven and Jonathan Moroney, winning first place and $4,000 from MWest Challenge, a student venture competition for pitching a business that would help summer camps handle medications.
Grand Rapids Community College geology students Maegan Bouwens and Madison Jones will spend four weeks doing fieldwork through a fully funded research experience at the University of Texas-El Paso to study 34- to 56-million-year-old igneous rocks in El Paso. The students will continue their research in Michigan.
Record-breaking season shows what heart and hard work can do
5/10/19 schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School District newsletter)
Now that the gold dust has settled on the Godfrey-Lee wrestling season, coach James Maxim has some time to think about the team’s record-breaking accomplishments.
… As for team leader Enrique (Moreno-Martinez), he will never forget the adversity and experiences he had with Lee wrestling, even as he moves on to study culinary arts at Grand Rapids Community College next fall.
KCAD Alum, Faculty Member Tara McCrackin Named Interim President
5/10/19 ferris.edu (Ferris State University press release)
GRAND RAPIDS — Ferris State University President David Eisler announced today the appointment of Tara McCrackin, associate professor of Interior Design at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) as the interim president of the college.
… McCrackin serves on the Grand Rapids Community College Interior Design Advisory Board and as president of the Michigan chapter of the International Interior Design Association. She donates her time to Kids’ Food Basket in Grand Rapids, and most recently completed the interior design for their new facility opening this summer.
The daily employee newsletter of Grand Rapids Community College 