Bert's Alerts - July 10, 2015

College of Western Idaho (CWI) Internetworking student, Lisette Baer, secured a silver medal finish at the 51st-annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) in Louisville, Kentucky June 22-26. Baer was one of ten competitors representing CWI at the prestigious event, which hosted over 6,000 career and technical education students from around the country.

In addition to the runner-up title secured by Baer, fives students competing in the Quiz Bowl competition earned a Bronze award. The Quiz Bowl competition tests the team’s ability to quickly respond to questions covering areas of academic knowledge, professional development, and current events. CWI competitors included Adam Hayman, Cole Rogers, Marcus Sirounian, Tera Filan, and Andrew Doxey.

Another CWI participant, Lisa Webb, is also being celebrated for a number of achievements she enjoyed at nationals. Along with finishing seventh in the Prepared Speech competition, Webb also experienced a couple firsts for the state of Idaho. Webb was one of 74 participants honored at the conference with the President’s Volunteer Service Award; making her Idaho’s first recipient of the award through SkillsUSA. She also had the opportunity to represent the state as a member of the student voting delegation, which serves as governing body for affairs associated with the organization’s student constitution.

The most recent national awards for SkillsUSA add to the College’s reputation of quality education demonstrated through students qualifying and securing top national recognition for career and technical skills.

College of Western Idaho (CWI) has introduced a redesigned approach to college-preparatory math. Starting this fall, CWI will offer a new structure for remedial math instruction, which was created, in part, to address one of the key strategies from the State Board of Education’s Complete College Idaho plan. The new model replaces three courses from the previous delivery method with one course delivered in an emporium-style model.

Rather than utilizing traditional classroom delivery and same-pace instruction, the emporium model allows students to receive an individualized study plan that focuses on the mathematical concepts the student needs to master before entering college-level math courses. They will be required to attend two sessions each week in one of CWI’s new Math Solutions Centers (MSC), located in Nampa and Boise. The MSC will be staffed by faculty teams that provide one-on-one instruction and assistance during all hours of operation.

Over the past two semesters CWI served approximately 4,800 total students in college preparatory math. While the previous model saw 83 percent of college prep math students pass their courses in the 2013-14 academic year, 37 percent of students needed more than one semester to complete remedial coursework. The new model is designed to help students move through remedial math more quickly by focusing their efforts on concepts they have not yet mastered.

“The new model is designed to eliminate overlap between multiple courses,” says Susan Knights, director of CWI’s Math Solutions Center. “It will also position our students to complete the math remediation learning they need to be successful in college much more efficiently, saving them time and money.”

CWI’s new college prep math delivery is modeled after similar programs around the country that have reported high success rates.  

The College of Western Idaho (CWI) will host a special event perfect for anyone who has started the admission process at CWI or is just thinking about starting college. In just one day, future students will be able to explore all the opportunities CWI offers as well as complete the enrollment process—from applying to registering for classes. Anyone applying to CWI at the Explore CWI event will have the $25 application fee waived.

The Explore CWI event will take place July 15 (Wednesday) from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at campus locations in Boise and Nampa. Extra assistance will be available to help future students complete the steps to become a college student at CWI this fall.

Attendees will be able to:

• Explore CWI programs and services
• Tour various locations, classrooms, and labs
• Meet with advisors and faculty
• Apply, be accepted, and register for Fall 2015
• Apply for financial aid

No appointment is needed. Sessions will start throughout the day for future students to join as they walk in. This is a great opportunity for students to do everything in one day. Don’t miss this opportunity!

When:

Wednesday, July 15

11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Where: 

Nampa Campus - Micron Center for Professional Technical Education

5725 E. Franklin Rd., Nampa – View Map

AND

Ada County Campus - Pintail Center,

Blackeagle Center , 1360 S. Eagle Flight Way, Boise – View Map

Recommended items to bring:

• High school transcripts, or official GED transcript, or official college transcripts
• ACT, or SAT, or Compass test scores
• Photo identification

If these items are not available for the event, CWI encourages future students to come and advisors will help them through the process.

Apply for Financial Aid today.

Have questions? Contact the CWI Enrollment team at enrollment@cwi.edu.

The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Chemistry Club has canceled its science exploration event that was scheduled for Wednesday, July 15. For more information contact Chemistry Instructor, Bryan Hess, at bryanhess@cwi.edu.

Each semester at College of Western Idaho (CWI) means the return of a number of wonderful activities occurring throughout the College. The Marketing and Advancement Department encourages employees to share these happenings through Bert’s Alerts. Activities may include events, recognition of employees and students, changes in processes or policies that affect employees, or simply letting peers know what is going on in departments or campus locations.

Bert’s Alerts requests can be submitted through Help Desk, by selecting “Marketing” under the Request Type drop down menu. Bert’s Alerts is distributed every Friday and the deadline for submitting content is end of day Thursday. Please direct all questions regarding Bert’s Alerts to communications@cwi.edu.