Bert's Alerts—Feb. 7, 2020
In the Spotlight
College of Western Idaho hosted Nampa Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Nampa series Wednesday, Feb. 5. Guests were given a tour of programs housed at the Canyon County Center including Media Arts (pictured), Law Enforcement, EMT, Plumbing, and Basic Skills Education. They also had a chance to hear from John Russ, Assistant Director of Job Corps at the College, about CWI’s partnership with Idaho Labor to deliver vocational and academic training.
Thank you to Media Arts student, Andrew Thomas, for this fantastic photo!
President's Message
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Board of Trustees has partnered with Entangled Solutions, an educational consulting firm, to assist the College in achieving greater clarity regarding the issues facing CWI and higher education both today and in the future.
The Board has commissioned Entangled Solutions to perform the following:
- Assess CWI’s Board of Trustees and Administration’s current state and build stakeholder relationships to ensure meaningful collaboration
- Articulate current challenges and research emerging trends likely to affect CWI
- Facilitate a CWI Board of Trustees and President’s Cabinet retreat to share findings and envision CWI’s future state
- Develop a strategy and implementation playbook
- Serve as an ongoing advisor to the CWI Board of Trustees
It is anticipated Entangled Solutions’ primary focus of work related to the above will extend through June 2020.
As part of their work, Entangled Solutions will be conducting interviews and focus groups with the CWI Board of Trustees, President’s Cabinet, and various CWI stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, and administrators. These focus groups will take place Feb. 24-28, 2020. Once Entangled Solutions has communicated the request for participants, an invite will be sent out. I appreciate everyone making time to be available to participate in this important initiative. All information submitted in the focus groups is confidential, and Entangled Solutions will provide a follow-up presentation during the March/April 2020 timeframe, which will include focus group findings and outputs to CWI faculty, staff, and administrators helping to provide visibility and transparency in this process.
I will continue to provide updates as CWI receives additional information and next steps from Entangled Solutions. Again, I thank you for taking time to share and support this initiative.
Learn more about Entangled Solutions and many other great things happening at CWI by watching my new vlog linked below.
News Highlights
A Successful Spring Start for Speech and Debate
College of Western Idaho’s Speech and Debate team is enjoying some downtime after a hectic, but successful, start to the spring tournament schedule. Competing at two tournaments on back to back weekends at the very beginning of the semester, the team rose triumphant!
The team received the gold medal winning first place in the Division III Sweepstakes at their first spring tournament, the Fred Scheller Forensics Speech and Debate Invitational, hosted at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, Jan. 24-26. This season-long award is measured across multiple tournaments.
“The team set this goal early last semester as something to strive for,” said Luke Yeates, Director of Forensics. “The results from Pacific are a testament to their ability to put in the work to be successful.”
Fred Scheller Forensics Speech and Debate Invitational Awards
- Gold Medal, Division III Sweepstakes: 1st place
- Open Duo
- 2nd place: Tim Cornell and Josh Young
- Top Junior, 6th place overall: Lydia Shearman and Joann King
- Editorial Commentary
- 1st place: Will Young
- Novice Impromptu
- 6th place: Tristin Andrae
- Junior Impromptu
- 6th place: Tim Cornell
- Open Poetry
- Top Junior, 2nd place overall: Joann King
- Open Dramatic Interp
- Top Junior, 6th place overall: Josh Young
- Novice Extemp
- 4th place: Tristin Andrae
- Junior Persuade
- 4th place: Tim Cornell
- Top Novice, 6th place overall: Will Young
- Junior POI
- 6th place: Zac Maggard
- Debate Awards
- The team had five novices advance to debate out-rounds, including two debaters competing for the first time in a collegiate tournament.
- Amelia Bailey and Noah Seward, competing for the first time, advanced to octofinals.
- Tristin Andrae, Lydia Shearman, and Will Young took octofinal positions.
- Josh Young advanced to octofinals in Junior Debate.
The following weekend, Jan. 31 – Feb. 1, the team competed in their second tournament of the semester, the Coyote Classic, hosted at The College of Idaho in Caldwell. Competing in tournaments for two consecutive weekends limited the team’s practice time. Additionally, this particular tournament did not include speech divisions, Novice or Junior, meaning people with no experience were competing against individuals with eight years or more of experience. Despite these obstacles, the CWI team performed above expectations.
Coyote Classic Awards
- Impromptu
- 3rd place: Will Young
- 7th place: Dayanna Mora
- After Dinner Speaking
- 3rd place: Josh Young
- 4th place: Zac Maggard
- Poetry
- 1st place: Joann King
- 5th place: Dayanna Mora
- Persuade
- 4th place: Will Young
- Dramatic Interp
- 2nd place: Joann King
- 4th place: Tim Cornell
- Duo
- 1st place: Joann King and Lydia Shearman
- 2nd place: Tim Cornell and Josh Young
Debate at the Coyote Classic was different from other tournaments with Novice and Junior debate divisions combined, meaning Novices with limited experience stepped into rounds with competitors with at least one year of competition under their belt. In Junior Debate, CWI had two competitors advance to out-rounds. Both Noah Seward and Zac Maggard advanced to quarterfinals.
“Success at tournaments comes down to a few things,” commented Yeates. “First, competitors need to be able to manage themselves and their events on their own time. Speech and Debate takes effort, and there is no way a weekly practice can cover everything everyone needs. Second, success requires consistency. Every event at a tournament is timed meaning everyone is working on the clock. Finishing too early or speaking for too long is a fast way to lose rounds. Finally, teams need cohesion. Competition lasts for three days, starting at six in the morning and lasting well in to the evening. Teammates need to be gracious and understanding of each other’s needs as well as supportive of each other’s events. Without these things, teams fall apart and rounds go poorly. The fact this team was able to take first in a season-long award is credit to their ability to do all of these and more.”
Support Student Success – Give Today!
With this year's open enrollment period for benefit-eligible employees upon us, the College of Western Idaho (CWI) Foundation would like to remind faculty and staff about the opportunity we all have to support students through employee giving.
Whether you choose to give to Greatest Needs, CWI Foundation scholarships, the SCORE Big Scholarship, Wishing Well Fund, a specific program, or want to create a scholarship of your own – your donations directly support student success opening doors to opportunities and the future.
Since 2011, employee giving has raised more than $184,000 in support of students and programs at the College. In 2019 alone, employee giving contributions reached nearly $25,000. Now is the perfect time to review your current giving status and payroll deductions. Not only are your donations tax deductible, they are an investment in the people, programs, and ideas that strengthen our community.
“I believe in CWI and the future of the community in which we live,” said Eric Anderson, Assistant Professor in the Automotive Technology program. “I give to CWI because I know that giving is living, and living is helping others.”
Contact the CWI Foundation at 208.562.3100 or foundation@cwi.edu to learn more about employee giving opportunities.
Diaper Drive to Benefit Idaho Diaper Bank
College of Western Idaho’s Student Nurses Association (SNA) is hosting a diaper drive now through Feb. 14. Diapers can be donated at any time in the collection box located outside the Nursing department offices in room 207 at the Canyon County Center. Additionally, SNA representatives will be at the Nampa Campus Micron Education Center on Thursday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., to collect donations.
At the conclusion of the drive, diapers will be donated to the Idaho Diaper Bank. Contact Angela Franklin, SNA Secretary, at angelafranklin@my.cwi.edu or Cydney Jensen, SNA Project Chair, at cydneyjensen@my.cwi.edu to learn more.
Spring 2020 Transfer Fair
Join us for College of Western Idaho’s Spring 2020 Transfer Fair! College and university representatives will be on campus to discuss programs, majors, and transfer requirements. This is a one-day event will be held at two campus locations at the times listed below.
Tuesday, March 3
Ada County Campus Pintail Center
Student Commons
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Nampa Campus Academic Building
Lobby, First Floor
12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
For questions, please contact Brittney Hernandez in Student Advising and Success at brittneyhernandez@cwi.edu.
2020 Juried Art Show
College of Western Idaho’s Visual and Performing Arts department is proud to be hosting its fourth-annual Juried Art Show, open to currently registered students at the College. Selected works will be displayed in the CWI Art Gallery during the College’s annual Connections Project event, April 23, and will remain on display through the summer. This year’s juror is CWI Art instructor, Bryan Moore. One artist’s work will receive the Connection’s Excellence Award and be honored during the awards ceremony. The selected artist will additionally receive a $150 prize.
Last year, the exhibition was honored to have Dan Scott, a professional artist and Art Department Chair at Boise State University, serve as juror. Scott selected 13 works to be featured at the Connections Project event selecting Arielle Johnson’s untitled still-life drawing featuring a skull as the winner.
Artwork must be submitted by Friday, March 13. For full submission details, please visit the Connections Project page in myCommons on Blackboard. Questions can be directed to karenbrown@cwi.edu.
Mark your calendars for this year's Connections Project, April 23, 2020, at the Nampa Campus Academic Building from 3-8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
