Bert's Alerts - March 28, 2014
In the Spotlight
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Skills On Wheels Car Show returns to campus on Saturday, April 5, transforming the Micron Center for Professional Technical Education into a showroom of muscle cars, stock cars, eighteen wheelers, motorcycles, and more. The event will serve as a fundraiser for CWI SkillsUSA to help students travel to the organization’s national competition this summer. Admission is $5 for adults and free for kids 12 and under.
News Highlights
Ada County Campus Name Updates
College of Western Idaho (CWI) has announced name changes for CWI’s Ada County location. Due to the addition of three new leased buildings in the Blackeagle Center, CWI’s facilities located at the corner of Maple Grove and Overland Roads in Boise are now referred to as Ada County Campus. The following indicates the new naming and abbreviation codes for the four Ada County Campus buildings:
- Pintail Center - APIN
- Quail Building - AQUL
- Mallard Building - AMAL
- Lynx Building - ALYN
The Ada County Campus naming and abbreviations have already been implemented into CWI’s scheduling system. For more information on CWI’s Ada County Campus including a complete directory of services and directions please visit cwi.edu/locations.
CWI Speech and Debate Places Second at Nationals
College of Western Idaho (CWI) Speech and Debate has capped the 2013-14 season in successful fashion, earning a second place finish among two-year colleges at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind., March 21-23. The runner-up honor continues an incredible run of success at nationals for CWI, following first place finishes in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
CWI was represented by 12 students at the national competition, which included participants from 80 colleges and universities across the United States this year. CWI competitors received individual recognition for excellence in both speech and debate events, resulting in a first-place debate honor for the team and the second-place finish for overall sweepstakes.
Luke Yeates and Nathaneal McBride led the way for CWI with individual honors in both speech and debate events. They were joined by Megan Greco and Matt Mudd in achieving individual awards.
OVERALL RESULTS
Second Place Overall Sweepstakes, Two-Year Schools
First Place Debate Events, Two-Year Schools
DEBATE
Luke Yeates - Second Place Open IPDA
Nathaneal McBride - Sixth place Overall Speaker Open IPDA
Megan Greco - 10th Place Speaker Novice IPDA
SPEECH
Luke Yeates and Nathaneal McBride - Duo Improv Semifinalists
Matt Mudd - Impromptu Silver Award
CWI Students Enjoy Historic Spring Break
A group of College of Western Idaho (CWI) students took a non-traditional approach to spring break this year heading to Celebration Park, south of Melba, for a week of work, learning, and fun. Members of the CWI Anthropology and Geology clubs spent March 24-29 mapping and recording petroglyphs at the park, kicking-off a multi-year collaboration with the Canyon County Parks, Recreation and Waterways department.
“This opportunity has been tremendous for our students,” says Social and Behavioral Sciences Instructor, Nikki Gorrell. “The experience is providing a really valuable component to their education, giving them a chance to take anthropological theory and apply it to real world context. Along with the field experience, they are also learning teamwork, leadership, problem solving, and critical thinking.”
Gorrell says 15-20 students participated in the project each day, including a core group that camped out all week at the park. Students from the Geology Club helped create GPS mapping, while Anthropology Club students recorded and photographed the glyphs. She says the focal point for the group is recording the glyphs according to guidelines established by the American Rock Art Association, which has never been done at Celebration Park.
“On an academic level this is just incredible, because it is real field experience,” says Anthropology Club President, Jessica Mylan. “For me personally, it is really fulfilling because I get to do this with an incredibly smart group of people who are also some of my best friends. If we could, I would do this for another week.”
According to Gorrell, the goal is to make the partnership a multi-year project to allow students an opportunity to help continue moving the data collection forward.
“It is so rewarding to know we are part of starting this project,” Mylan says. “I hope I can come back and help again next year, if not for 10 more years, to see the project through.”
Writing Tutors Present Research at National Conference
In March, the College of Western Idaho (CWI) Writing Center proudly sent a tutoring staff duo to the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Indianapolis, Ind. The tutors, Rachel Durrant and Georgianna Collins, were two of just a handful of undergraduates who presented their work at the prestigious national conference. The conference is primarily attended by professors and writing program administrators from colleges and universities around the country.
Durrant and Collins presented their work with using Multiple Intelligence Theory in writing center consultations. Their work investigates the relationship between the ways a student learns and how that can be used in targeted tutoring strategies.
The research done by Durrant and Collins is completely original and has never been approached in a higher education setting. The presentation went so well, that Durrant and Collins were encouraged to submit a proposal to present further developments in their research at next year’s conference.
“The impact of this study could be monumental,” says CWI Writing Center Coordinator, Rick Coonrod. “It will be interesting to see how this will change the way we approach the tutoring of writing at CWI.”
CWI Hosting STEM Out! Event
College of Western Idaho (CWI) will be presenting a day of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) exploration, April 26, as STEM Out! Into PTE returns to the Micron Center for Professional Technical Education. The event is intended to help connect girls, grades 6-9, to STEM and Professional Technical Education opportunities.
The event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. Attendees will learn about careers in STEM, experience demonstrations of some of CWI’s professional-technical programs, participate in hands-on STEM related workshops, and have fun. CWI and Idaho's Career Pioneer Network are sponsoring the event.
The event is free. Lunch and materials will be provided. Registration is required and space is limited. To register, visit stem.signupsheet.com. For more information, contact Allison Molitor at allisonmolitor@cwi.edu or 208.562.2378.
Women's & Children's Alliance Presentation Hosted at CWI
On Wednesday, April 9, a presentation is being hosted at the College of Western Idaho (CWI) Micron Center for Professional Technical Education to help promote general awareness of the Women’s & Children’s Alliance (WCA). The Tour in a Box information session will take place from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in room 1701A and be hosted by Alicia Stephens, who is a CWI student. Stephens volunteers with the WCA and will earn ambassador status with the organization by providing the presentation to at least 25 attendees. The CWI Fun and Culture Committee is helping promote the event and would like to invite all employees to stop by and learn more about the Boise-based WCA. (O68)
CWI Night at the Steelheads
College of Western Idaho (CWI) invites employees, students, alumni, friends, and family to support student scholarships by taking in CWI Night at the Steelheads, Friday (April 4), at CenturyLink Arena. CWI has partnered with the Idaho Steelheads hockey team to offer discounted $15 tickets, of which $5 will be donated to the CWI Foundation for student scholarships. The puck drops at 7:10 p.m. and the game is sure to provide a fun night in downtown Boise. To purchase tickets, visit:
www.igrouptix.com/idahosteelheads
Username: CWI
Password: TICKETS
Date Set for Annual Staff Association Meeting
College of Western Idaho (CWI) Staff Senate is pleased to announce the third annual Staff Association meeting will be held May 8 from 8-10 a.m. All benefit eligible staff members will be receiving an email with details on the meeting within the next few weeks. The results of the Staff Senate elections and an update from Staff Senate are just a few things that will be covered in the meeting. Staff Senate looks forward to seeing you there!
Staff Senate Nominees from Instruction and Student Services Introduced
College of Western Idaho (CWI) Staff Senate would like to introduce employees to the 2014-15 Staff Senate nominees from Instruction and Student Services. There will be three Senators elected for Instruction and Student Services this year. A biography of each nominee can be found on the Staff Senate page on myCWI, under 2014 Election.
The nominees for the three positions are:
- Melissa Bechaver - Executive Assistant, Instruction and Enrollment and Student Services
- Joel Beesley - Specialist, One Stop
- Linda Hyde - Specialist, Registrar
- Cami Jefferies - Specialist, One Stop
- Jenny Johnson - Advisor, Registrar
- Sam Stone - Senior Specialist, One Stop
- Christine Ward - Instructional Tech Support Specialist
Benefit eligible staff members will vote for Staff Senators and Officers April 15-30 on myCWI. Please email staffsenate@cwi.edu with questions about elections or with trouble viewing the Staff Senate page.
Employee Bingo Coming to CWI
The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Fun and Culture Committee (FCC) is excited to announce its next employee activity – an ongoing game of bingo which will use a Bert’s Alerts scavenger hunt to announce numbers each week. All CWI employees are invited to participate in the game, which will run throughout April and May. Starting April 4, three bingo numbers will appear randomly in Bert’s Alerts articles each week in the following form: (B20). Employees are allowed to play two cards each, which can be obtained from one of the following FCC members:
- Trisha Thomas - Ada County Center
- Lindsay Reynolds - Micron Center for Professional Technical Education
- Shannon Chapman - Nampa Campus Administration Building
- Shannon Cordova - Canyon County Center
For questions, help locating cards, or to confirm a bingo and claim a prize, email fcc@cwi.edu.
