Bert's Alerts—Jan. 19, 2018
News Highlights
CWI’s Economic Impact in the Region
A new study highlights College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) significant contributions and economic impact to the region.
The economic impact study, completed by Emsi — a company specializing in reports for educational institutions, workforce planners, and regional developers, discovered CWI generates $102.1 million annually to the economy in the College’s service area. CWI’s 2016-17 operating budget was $57.2 million.
Key conclusions:
- CWI produces $102.1 million of economic activity in its service area.
- CWI’s payroll and funds spent on day-to-day operations amounted to a $60.3 million infusion into the local economy.
- CWI’s net impact of payroll and expenses in the region is approximately $39.1 million in income.
- CWI employed 1,218 full-time and part-time employees in fiscal year 2015-16.
The study states, for every dollar of public investment for CWI, the taxpayers receive a cumulative value of $7.30 over the course of students’ working lives — the average rate of return is 15.8 percent. This is a significant return on investment for the community. The College is on track to serve nearly 30,000 students in 2017-18.
“This study illustrates the depth and breadth of CWI, as an economic engine for the Treasure Valley,” said David Shellberg, Executive Vice President for Instruction and Student Services. “The College is an incredible return on investment, especially when you consider CWI has only been operating for eight years.”
The economic impact study points out after CWI has been in operation for 30 years, the education and training provided by the College will have generated $574.2 million in added income to its service area.
“CWI is on an incredible growth trajectory, the $102 million economic impact figure will help us illustrate the importance of the College in the community, from a dollar and cents perspective,” said CWI President, Bert Glandon. “People have a good idea of the quality of programs we offer to help prepare students for the workforce, but this study reinforces what a great investment the College is for the entire region.”
CWI is an important driving force in the region and helps to build a strong economic base. The College takes pride in partnering with local business and industry to ensure CWI is delivering highly-skilled students who excel in the workplace and can adapt to future changes in the marketplace.
Early Childhood Education Preschool Among Top in the Nation
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Early Childhood Education Preschool located at the Nampa Campus Multipurpose Building, has earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)—the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children.
To earn NAEYC Accreditation, the CWI Early Childhood Education Preschool went through an extensive self-study and quality-improvement process, followed by an on-site visit from NAEYC Assessors to verify and ensure the program met each of the ten program standards, and hundreds of corresponding individual criteria. NAEYC-accredited programs are always prepared for unannounced quality-assurance visits during their accreditation term, which lasts for five years.
The program is proud to have earned the mark of quality from NAEYC, and to be recognized for a commitment to reaching the highest professional standards. Students in CWI’s Early Childhood Education Program teach in the preschool to get hands-on practice teaching young children with a qualified instructor.
“We want our students to see and experience a quality program, so when they graduate they can take this knowledge into the field with them and increase quality throughout Idaho,” said Sherri Lauer, Assistant Professor and Preschool Director. “Our preschool is open to three to five-year-old children, with discounts given to employees and students of CWI.”
In the 30 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education. More than 7,000 programs are currently accredited by NAEYC—less than ten percent of all child care centers, preschools, and kindergartens nationally achieve this recognition. CWI’s program is the first to achieve accreditation in Canyon County, and one of only 22 in the state of Idaho.
For more information, please visit our website or contact Sherri Lauer at 208.562.3483 or sherrilauer@cwi.edu.
Veteran Finds Warm Welcome at CWI
After spending years in the armed forces, many veterans attend college seeking degrees to help them discover the next chapter in their lives. A number of these veterans choose the College of Western Idaho (CWI) to begin their educational journey.
Dusty Johns, a 41-year-old Machine Tool Technology major and Gene Haas Scholarship recipient, is one such student.
Johns served 14 years in the National Guard. His service included deployment to Bosnia and Afghanistan – in 2014 he was medically discharged for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Two years later, he arrived at CWI, attracted by its convenience and affordability. Johns felt CWI could provide a promising future.
“I chose to come to CWI because of the Welding Program,” he said. “I want to build, make, customize, and fix guns.”
Johns, who said he has enjoyed his time at CWI, switched majors after his Welding Instructor, Mike Wheeler, helped him discover a bright career path.
“He really was a great welder,” Wheeler said, “but I saw right away he needed the Machine Tool Program – We want what’s best for the student.”
This type of support offered by CWI faculty is valuable for veterans. Veteran students can find it challenging to integrate into the routines of college life and navigate the benefits designed to help them succeed. Knowing they have support built in through student services and faculty is a huge help. Most recently, CWI has created VA-funded work-study positions for student veterans.
CWI offers many resources for students, like Johns, including the Student Veterans Association. Assistant Professor of Accounting, Joe Welker, and CWI alumnus, Dallas Hulsey, are both veterans and association advisors.
“We want to assist veterans who are returning from duty and help them assimilate into the college lifestyle,” Welker said.
In addition to serving alongside Welker as an association advisor, Hulsey is also the Veterans Services Coordinator at the College, helping fellow veterans navigate the Veterans Affairs system and organize social events to help ease the sometimes uncomfortable transition into civilian and student life. Johns expressed how valuable it was to have a Veterans Services Coordinator explain his options. “I was a lot better off,” he said.
“If I can get one more veteran to figure something out and to start doing something with their life, then that’s what I want,” Johns said. “Everybody at CWI is super-helpful.”
The College hopes veterans are inspired by Johns’ success story and can likewise experience the support and tools offered here; a hope Johns shares.
Aj Anderson
Anderson is a Communication student at the College and one of several students participating in an exciting partnership between CWI's Communication 273—Media News Writing and Reporting class and the CWI Communications and Marketing Department to generate content for the College.
CTE Emerging Professionals Nominations
The Career Technical Education (CTE) Emerging Professionals program exists to recognize outstanding students for commitment to learning, demonstration of talent in their program, and potential to excel in their chosen industry. Students are nominated by their instructors and selection is based on academic integrity, innovation, and professionalism both in and outside the classroom. Students are nominated by their instructors.
The following students were nominated for the 2017/18 academic year:
Tia Hanna Harrington – nominated by Jo Greer, Drafting Technology
Greer shared the following from Tia's personal story:
"There is nothing like standing waist deep in a freshly dug grave, with a shovel in one hand and an aching back, to focus your thoughts on the future. Between filling graves and mowing lawns, I have had a lot of time to ponder my life. I have passed by the same headstones so many times that I know the names by heart... I know the marriage dates, which stones are worn with time, and which have funny little sayings that the sarcastic relatives have added... but mostly I have noticed the dash. You know the one that I am talking about; the dash that is between the birth date and the death date of some human being. The dash is everything in between. It represents how we live our lives, and I have thought a lot about my kids and what sort of example I was setting... what sort of dash I was leaving."
Melissa Wallace – nominated by Nicole Holten Baird, Marketing Management
"The activity I would highlight is her consultancy. Melissa was approached by several members of a business group here in the Treasure Valley after she spoke to them about personal branding – something she feels very passionate about. Since then, she has been meeting with her clients to help them build their online presence, fine-tune their websites, and work on business cards and other materials. She is always upfront about what she can and cannot not do."
Tiffany Gamel – nominated by Bonnie Noonan, Early Childhood Education
"Tiffany goes beyond expectations in assignments and teaching practice. Her impact will expand as she reaches a new professional level that will bring her into increased contact with others in her field. I see this as a gift to Early Childhood Education in our community because she is an example of the best that an early educator can be."
Caleb McQueen – nominated by Elisa Lowenstein, Software Development
"Caleb’s programming style is three-dimensional, like a chess player that has strategized his moves for his next several turns. He will be able to methodically analyze the problem, work through the logic, and not be dissuaded if he doesn't find a successful resolution on his first attempt. He has the perseverance to seek out the illusive solution."
Brian Jenks– nominated by Elisa Lowenstein, Software Development
"Brian wins the ‘Eye Spy’ contest for intentional and unintentional coding errors. He is able to explain what he sees, why it's not working, and offer a solution as to how the code could be fixed. He loves what he's doing and that is infectious to be around. It creates a positive learning environment for the rest of the class."
President’s Writing Award Submissions
The President's Writing Award is an annual writing contest which recognizes and honors excellence in student writing at College of Western Idaho (CWI). Writing, a foundational academic skill, celebrated across disciplines underscores its importance and encourages students to approach it from a variety of perspectives.
CWI students are encouraged to participate by submitting their writing into one of the following categories:
- Creative Nonfiction
- Poetry
- Fiction
- Critical Analysis
- Original Research
- Literature Based Research
- First-Year Writing
- Technical Writing
The contest is open to all manuscripts produced for coursework at CWI. Previously published writing is not eligible for submission. Students may submit to multiple categories, but are limited to one submission per category.
The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. Awards will go to the top three submissions in each category. Winners will be recognized at the Connections Project awards ceremony on April 26.
Visit the President’s Writing Awards page on the CWI website for submission link and contest guidelines.
Assessment Task Team Kicks Off
The Assessment Task Team had a kick off meeting with the President’s Cabinet January 3. The Assessment Task Team consists of members from each unit college-wide and is charged with developing recommendations/solutions to the six accreditation recommendations received from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities during the College of Western Idaho (CWI) accreditation process. All Assessment Task Team recommendations will be submitted to the Executive Team for review and approval.
The Assessment Task Team will be primarily conducting its work during Spring 2018 (January – March). The graphic below illustrates the tasks, timelines, and activities of the Assessment Task Team.
The most important responsibility of an Assessment Task Team member is to serve as a liaison to their respective area and get broad-based input and feedback, so that it can be incorporated with Assessment Task Team recommendations. Below are the Assessment Task Team members:
Co-Chairs:
- Patrick Tanner
- Alexis Malepeai-Rhodes
Members:
- Shari Davis (Business Office)
- Zac Ricketts (Communications & Governmental Relations)
- Amber Eubanks (Enrollment & Student Services)
- Connie Solis-Garcia (Enrollment & Student Services)
- Ryan Herring (Human Resources)
- Steve Foggatt (Instruction)
- Kelly Steely (Instruction)
- Aaron Von Lindern (Instruction)
- Jac Webb (Instruction)
- Mark Westcott (Operations)
An Assessment Task Team SharePoint site has been set-up, and all CWI employees have access to see the team’s progress. All Assessment Task Team presentations, templates, and documents will be posted to the website. It is located at https://my.cwi.edu/committees/att/Pages/default.aspx (myCWI > My Committees > Assessment Task Team). As the Assessment Task Team conducts its work in Spring 2018, additional information will be posted to the website.
If you have questions, please contact either Assessment Task Team co-chair.
December 2017 Faculty of the Month – Doug Rapley
Doug Rapley has been named the December 2017 Faculty of the Month. Rapley currently serves as the Department Chair for Education at the College.
Rapley received a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Saint Louis University in 2003 and a Master of Science in Geoscience Systems from Mississippi State in 2010. He began his career in education locally teaching high school Earth and Space Science and Ecology for West Ada School District.
At the College of Western Idaho, he honed skills to engage learners and selling science is his main priority. When not advocating for education, Rapley spends his free time pursuing interests in outdoor sports like mountain biking, running, backpacking, and snowboarding.
