Bert's Alerts—Sept. 15, 2017
Spotlight
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI), Andrea Schumaker, Department Chair of Physical and Agricultural Sciences, discusses some of the exciting changes to the Agriculture Business, Leadership and Education Program at CWI during a live interview on Friday, Sept. 15, with Kevin Miller on KIDO Talk Radio. Additionally, a few select faculty, staff, and students shared highlights of CWI’s exceptional programs and services with the Treasure Valley during the broadcast from the Nampa Campus Academic Building.
News Highlights
New CWI Campus Virtual Tour
Exploring College of Western Idaho (CWI) campuses can now be accomplished conveniently via your desktop or mobile device. CWI Admissions Team in Enrollment and Student Services and the Communications and Marketing Department have been actively working on an ambitious project to construct a virtual tour of the College. The interactive campus map went live this week and features many benefits; it is mobile friendly, includes location hot spots, and delivers a convenient campus experience while still encouraging in-person campus visits. To simplify navigation, the tour is organized by four areas; Nampa Campus, Canyon County Center, Ada County Campus, and Horticulture. Within each area, building hot spots are included with photos and descriptions of key features. Links have been added throughout CWI’s main website, including the Visit CWI page, and plans are being made to incorporate the virtual tour into recruitment and print materials. Visitors can access the page directly at cwi.edu/virtualtour.
NIH Awards Two Southwestern Idaho Professors $1.5 Million to Support Students
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) and Boise State University will share an award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is one of largest competitive awards in CWI’s history and a first for the Department of Biological Sciences!
Dr. Cheryl Jorcyk (Boise State) and Dr. Steve Lysne (CWI) teamed up to draft a proposal to NIH to bring the Bridges to Baccalaureate Program to Idaho; a process that took nearly two years to complete. The final award letter was delivered last week. The $1.5 million award will be distributed over five years and will support students in the Bridges to Baccalaureate program as well as others in courses supported by program funding. CWI laboratories will see new computers, software, and equipment to enhance instruction and support our students’ advanced biomedical research skills.
The Southwest Idaho Bridges to Baccalaureate program (B2B) is a NIH sponsored effort to fuel the biomedical research pipeline beginning with two and four-year colleges and universities. The B2B program does this by specifically recruiting underrepresented students from community colleges and encourages their transfer to a partnering four-year school by way of authentic research experiences in biomedical research laboratories. Underrepresented students, for the purposes of this NIH program, are students coming from ethnic minority backgrounds, rural areas, veterans, or other groups that historically do not follow a course of study leading to a biomedical research career path. Participating students enter the program while at CWI, are mentored, and placed in paid positions in research laboratories during their “bridge” summer and during their first academic year at Boise State. Students will engage in a variety of professional development opportunities such as social networking and responsible conduct of research training.
Students will meet regularly with faculty advisors and laboratory team members and attend one or more conferences at the end of the program to present their specific contribution to the team’s research. The B2B program is an excellent opportunity for students who might not typically follow a biomedical research career path to experience what it would be like to be a researcher and advance knowledge in an exciting and highly technical field. For more information on the application process or to see if you are eligible for participation, please write to Dr. Steve Lysne at stevelysne@cwi.edu.
Fall 2017 Transfer Fair
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) invites you to the Fall 2017 Transfer Fair! College and university representatives will be on campus Tuesday, Oct. 3, to discuss programs, majors, and transfer requirements. Times and locations are listed below.
Tuesday, Oct. 3
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Ada County Campus Pintail Center (APIN)
Student Commons
1360 S. Eagle Flight Way
Boise, ID 83709
12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Nampa Campus Academic Building
1st floor lobby
5500 E. Opportunity Drive
Nampa, ID 83697
For questions, please contact Brittney Hernandez, brittneyhernandez@cwi.edu, or Erica Compton, ericacompton@cwi.edu, in Student Advising and Success.
CWI to Host Public Job Fair on Sept. 22
College of Western Idaho (CWI) will help students and community members connect with job opportunities during a job fair on Friday, Sept. 22. The event is open to the public and will focus on seasonal employment and jobs ideal for students working their way through school. The fair, presented in partnership with the Idaho Department of Labor, will take place:
Friday, Sept. 22
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
CWI’s Nampa Campus Aspen Classroom Building
6002 Birch Lane, Nampa
Over 50 employers have registered for the job fair, including organizations in the following industries:
- Health care
- Caregiving
- Food Service
- Manufacturing
- Law Enforcement
Job seekers at the event will also have the opportunity to learn about resources such as resume writing, networking, educational opportunities and more from CWI and Idaho Department of Labor. Attendees are encouraged to take their resume and be prepared to interview with employers.
FY18 Annual Work Plan
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Information Technology (IT) Governance Committees have been working hard to finalize the FY18 Annual Work Plan (AWP) for all IT projects. The AWP was approved in August and work will continue on exciting projects such as the .edu migration for CWI’s website, One Stop check-in, and the online catalog. To find the AWP, go to myCWI < Employee Resources tab < Information Technology Department < FY18 Annual Work Plan icon or by clicking here! This will provide
August 2017 Faculty of Distinction – Ryan Witt
Ryan Witt was named as the August 2017 Faculty of Distinction. Witt grew up in the Boise area and attended the University of Idaho, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Philosophy and a Master Fine Arts in Creative Writing-Poetry. Recently, Witt completed his Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric at Temple University. In addition to teaching at universities in Idaho, Kansas, and Pennsylvania, he has been a poetry fellow, a grant writer, a writing tutor, and a public services associate at the Nampa Public Library. Witt has been teaching writing courses at College of Western Idaho (CWI) since 2015, where he loves working with students from all backgrounds—even those who think they hate English classes.
Whenever he can, Witt loves to spend time with his three daughters—ages seven, six, and four—and his wife, a social work professor at Boise State University. He also likes to fly fish, travel, write, and brew beer, although not usually at the same time.
August 2017 Staff of the Month – Grace Barnes
Grace Barnes has been named the August 2017 Staff of the Month. Barnes has been with College of Western Idaho (CWI) since 2009 and her current job title is Administrative Assistant III. She serves as the assistant to Workforce Development’s Assistant Vice President, Christi Rood. Although she has been with CWI for eight years, she has been with Workforce Development for 23 years.
“My college education is non-existent—other than the education I’ve received working at a college. Life… life is an education. I love working for CWI,” said Barnes. “At the risk of sounding cliché, it is awesome to work somewhere you can literally help people change their lives for the better. It can be difficult at times working through our self-imposed red tape, but I always try to keep in mind the end game, which is ‘how does this affect the students?’. Even the seemingly small changes we make in paperwork processing ultimately impact students. Workforce Development students are typically a population coming back to school that didn’t have a good previous experience with school, or never attended college – meaning a lot of fear and lack of confidence. I feel like a cheerleader sometimes, telling these potential students they can do it regardless of their age, previous experience, or current circumstance. I feel passionate about our department and what we offer, which is another alternative for schooling leading to employment. We do good things, and I see us do those good things almost every day.”
Barnes was actually born and raised in Boise. She has been married to her husband, Michael, for 31 years and they have two adult sons and one awesome daughter-in-law. Her husband has his own business doing lawn maintenance. Barnes is a huge Boise State Bronco fan and has a love for all college football, but will watch the occasional NFL game. She also loves NASCAR. Chase Elliott is her driver (other NASCAR fans will understand). She also is an avid reader. Her favorites are mysteries and non-fiction.
