Bert's Alerts - June 3, 2016
In the Spotlight
On Monday (June 6), College of Western Idaho (CWI) will welcome students back to campus for the start of Summer semester. Employees are asked to look for new students who may need help finding class locations and accessing services. Please take time to help these students and highlight the exceptional customer service at CWI. Also be aware the semester will bring more traffic to the College so please use caution when driving around campus, yielding to pedestrians. Have a great semester!
News Highlights
CWI Alum Wins National Video Contest
A College of Western Idaho (CWI) alum is receiving national recognition for acing a phone interview. While people often associate phone interviews with employment, Casey Bosse actually created an award-winning video using his cell phone. He entered the video into the American Psychological Association’s (APA) nation-wide Student Video Award contest, and won the top honor for community college student submissions.
Bosse, who recently graduated with an associate degree in Psychology, entered the contest on a whim. His task was to interview a psychology-degreed professional working in the field. He chose former CWI student Michelle Prince; a developmental specialist in Boise.
“I love making videos,” Bosse said. “I can visually see things in my head. If I can see it, I can create it.”
Casey’s natural ability to see things hasn’t always worked in his favor. He graduated from Mountain View High School in Meridian—more than a decade ago—with below-average grades. After bouncing between a variety of jobs and a stint with Job Corps, he ultimately ended up at CWI in January 2014.
“As soon as I got here, everything just clicked,” he said. “I knew going in I wanted to study psychology and that was it.”
A year into his studies, Casey was diagnosed with high-functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. The diagnosis explained his highly-acute ability to visualize things. The discovery hasn’t stopped him from working toward his goal of becoming a psychiatrist. If anything, he is more determined than ever. This spring he graduated from CWI with a 3.95 grade point average, served as the College’s Psi Beta Honor Society chapter president, and recently started taking courses through Lewis–Clark State College.
“People are people regardless of a diagnosis,” he said. “I’ll be working in a field that’s made a lot of progress in helping kids with special needs—like myself.”
Casey’s experience at CWI enlightened him in many ways, and created a turning point in his life.
“CWI offers intimate relationships with instructors and student peers,” he said. “Everything has worked out perfectly, which is exactly what I needed. It’s amazing when (everything) clicks—when I can look back at accomplishments and say ‘I did it.’”
Casey will receive $500 for his award-winning video. He has also been invited to attend the APA’s Annual Convention in Denver in August.
Fall 2016 Career Focus Magazine Published
The Fall 2016 edition of College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Career Focus Magazine is available online as more than 80,000 copies hit Treasure Valley mailboxes in early June. The magazine can be viewed online at cwidaho.mycareerfocus.org. Please email communications@cwi.edu for hardcopies.
CWI Enrollment Advisor Named Rising Star
College of Western Idaho (CWI) Enrollment Advisor, Oster Hernandez, has earned a distinguished honor from his peers with the Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling (PNACAC). Hernandez received the Rising Star Award at the association’s 50th annual conference hosted May 25-27 at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington.
The Rising Star Award is given by PNACAC each year to one secondary school or college admissions counselor. Nominees must have five years or fewer experience in the profession and display exceptional dedication to their job. Hernandez was nominated by CWI’s Assistant Director for Outreach and Enrollment Management, Kellen Willis, and Director of Admission and One Stop Operations, Luis Caloca. He was selected for the honor by a committee of admission and secondary education counselors.
Hernandez has worked at CWI since February 2014. He spent one year working in the College’s Assessment and Testing Department before transitioning to the Enrollment team. Hernandez has a bachelor’s degree in Communication with an emphasis in marketing and sales from University of Phoenix.
IT Changes Email Distribution Group Management
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Information Technology Department is making a change this weekend that will return Distribution Group (DG) management to those authorized to do so, without requiring a Help Desk ticket. This change will affect all users who send to DG’s. Please follow the steps below to ensure a smooth transition.
Outlook users can ensure emails sent to a DG are delivered by following the Clear Auto-Complete instructions.
Outlook Web Access users may have to clear the address cache to remove old entries for DG addresses. To do so, follow the instructions below:
- Create a new email.
- Start typing the name of the desired address in the To or CC field.
- When the desired address appears in the search window, hover over the name and click the X next to the name. Names must be cleared one at a time.
- Type in the address for the DG or Search the Directory for the DG name.
This update can take about 24 hours to fully complete. It is best not to email to DG’s from 5 p.m. Friday to about 5 p.m. Saturday. If an email must be sent to a DG over the weekend, follow these instructions to use the current DG in Outlook:
- Open Outlook
- Create a new email
- Select the To… or Cc… button
- Type in the address for the DG or Search the Directory for the DG name
Bounce back emails mean one of the steps above was missed. Please feel free to call the Help Desk at 208.562.3444 with any questions and for assistance.
Business Office 101 Set for May
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Business Office is offering another series of its Business Office 101 trainings in May. The Business Office would like to thank everyone that has attended a training so far and encourages employees to join one of the classes this month. The sessions are a great place to learn more about the presentation topics, as well as receive help or direction on related work needs.
Classes in May will be held at CWI’s Ada County Campus Pintail Center in room 1416:
Contracts – May 25, 2:30 – 4:00 p.m., RSVP JanetGonzalez@cwi.edu
Budgets – May 31, 2:30 – 4:00 p.m., RSVP PhilVarrick@cwi.edu
P Card training will not be offered this month as there have been weekly trainings related to the new upload process. Please contact susankodesh@cwi.edu with any questions.
The following information will be covered in each class:
Contracts
Presenter: Janet Gonzalez
Topics: Types of Contracts, Pertinent Clauses, Signature Authority, Contract Management, Contract Submittal, Purchasing, and Ethics in Purchasing
Budgets
Presenter: Phil Varrick
Topics: myCWI Budget Access, Using myCWI, The Budget Process, Completing a Budget, Budget Adjustments
Attached is the yearly class schedule.
The Business Office 101 trainings will resume in September. In the meantime, please contact the Business Office at BusinessOffice@cwi.edu with questions or if additional training is needed.
