Bert's Alerts - May 1, 2015
In the Spotlight
College of Western Idaho (CWI) President Bert Glandon is going back to school and needs your help raising money for CWI student scholarships. On Thursday, May 7, Bert will become a student for the day to support the CWI Foundation’s first-ever participation in Idaho Gives, a 24-hour state-wide online fundraising effort for nonprofits. The community can follow Bert’s progress on Facebook to see if he has what it takes to troubleshoot a Wi-Fi connection, work on a car, learn how to save lives, and even dissect something in Biology. To learn more about how you can support Bert and the CWI Foundation for Idaho Gives, view the Idaho Gives announcement.
News Highlights
College of Western Idaho to Celebrate Graduates on May 9
On Saturday, May 9, the College of Western Idaho (CWI) will celebrate its 2015 class of graduates in a commencement ceremony hosted at Taco Bell Arena in Boise. The ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will recognize degree and certificate graduates, as well as GED completers.
For the second consecutive year, CWI will honor a record number of degree and certificate candidates as well as the most ever graduates with honors. Some of the highlights of this year’s commencement include:
- 1170 Degree and Certificate Candidates
- 328 Graduates with Honors
- 199 Graduates with Multiple Degrees
- 132 Veteran Graduates
- Average Graduate GPA 3.21
- Youngest Graduate - 17 Years Old
- Oldest Graduate - 62 Years Old
For more commencement details visit cwi.edu/graduation. Family and friends of graduates that cannot attend in person can watch a live stream of the event at cwi.edu. Community members are also encouraged to share messages with graduates using #cwigraduation on Twitter and Instagram. Messages will be streamed on screens for graduates to see while preparing for the ceremony.
College of Western Idaho and IDeal Announce Innovative Scholarship Program
The College of Western Idaho and IDeal—Idaho 529 College Savings Program announced Thursday that they have teamed up to launch an innovative scholarship program. This program is the first of its kind in Idaho. The scholarship, called “CWIDeal Boost,” will provide matching funds provided by the College of Western Idaho to qualifying students who make tuition and fee payments to CWI directly from an IDeal 529 College Savings Account—up to $500 per semester or $1,500 per year.
“By providing these matching funds, we hope to inspire students to plan and save for college. If you’re willing to invest in yourself, we’ll invest in you, too,” said Kevin Jensen, Dean of Enrollment and Student Services. “We want families in Southwest Idaho to know that affordable, high quality higher education is within reach and, as your community college, CWI is committed to helping students find ways to pay for a great college education while avoiding unnecessary student loan debt.”
To qualify, students must meet certain financial and enrollment criteria and apply for federal financial aid. Specific program details can be found at cwi.edu/ideal. The CWIdeal Boost scholarship program has $70,000 in available funds for the 2015-2016 school year and funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis to students who qualify. One semester of tuition at College of Western Idaho costs $1,632 for in-district students and $2,132 for out-of-district students.
IDeal is Idaho’s state-sponsored 529 college savings plan, which is a tax-advantaged investment plan that allows families to plan and save ahead for the cost of college.1 Unlike traditional savings accounts, money in an IDeal account is invested, meaning it has a greater chance to grow through compounding, and when funds are withdrawn they are not taxed if used on qualifying expenses like tuition, fees, and books.2
Christine Stoll, IDeal Executive Director, said, “Our hope is that the students who learn about and use IDeal because of this program will see the power of a 529 plan, and will open accounts for their children and perhaps grandchildren, creating a college-going expectation for succeeding generations.”
CWI President Bert Glandon encouraged Idaho’s other colleges and universities to create similar programs for their students. “Given our state goal to increase the percentage of adults who obtain a postsecondary degree or certificate, we believe programs that promote saving and going on to college are critical. Collectively, we can send the message that higher education is obtainable, and it’s a smart investment for the future.”
Footnotes:
1 Contributions to the IDeal - Idaho College Savings Program are deductible from Idaho state income tax, subject to recapture in certain circumstances, such as a non-qualified withdrawal or a rollover to another state's qualified tuition program in the year of the rollover and the prior tax year.
2 Earnings on non-qualified withdrawals are subject to federal income tax and may be subject to a 10% federal penalty tax, as well as state and local income taxes. The availability of tax or other benefits may be contingent on meeting other requirements.
CWI Volunteer Tax Program Concludes Successful Year
College of Western Idaho (CWI) hosted its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program once again this spring, providing CWI students an opportunity to gain valuable real-world experience while giving back to the community. More than 10 CWI students and graduates took part in the volunteer program hosted at CWI’s Nampa Campus Academic Building and Ada County Campus Pintail Center. This year volunteers helped prepare just under 200 individual income tax returns over three months. The service provided a savings of more than $48,000, based on average return rate calculated by the Internal Revenue Service.
The program was led by Assistant Professor of Accounting, Joe Welker, and Instructor of Business and Information Technology, Michel Boldt. Student participants included Lisa Farnam, Bryan Smith, Christopher Henderson, Wade Aldridge, Marcie Pyorie, Crystal Hammer, Sarin Jensen, and Syd Dietrich.
Basalt Launch and Reading Set for May 8
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) student-run literary magazine, Basalt, is hosting a launch party for the unveiling of its third issue. The celebration event will feature students reading original fiction, nonfiction, and poetry published in this year’s magazine.
The free public event will take place:
Friday, May 8
7:00-8:30 p.m.
The Cabin
801 S. Capitol Blvd., Boise
Light refreshments will be served and copies of Basalt's third issue will be available for purchase.
CWI Celebrates Three Business Students of the Year
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is proud to announce three winners of the fourth-annual Pearson's CWI Business Student(s) of the Year Award. Kimi Clifford, Yadira Morales, and Ryan Lewis have been recognized for their accomplishments in and out of the classroom.
Clifford, who was born and raised in Idaho, is finishing her associate degree in Business-General this semester. The Middleton High School graduate will complete her degree at CWI with a 3.8 cumulative grade point average (GPA). She is transferring to Northwest Nazarene University (NNU), starting this summer, and plans to study accounting and business.
Morales was born in Mexico and moved to the United States when she was 11 years old. She says she has fallen in love with Idaho and its people. Morales has maintained a 3.922 cumulative GPA at CWI and plans to transfer to NNU this summer to pursue an Accounting and Business degree. She says she has learned so much at CWI and hopes to learn more at NNU.
Lewis, a Meridian High School graduate, was born in Ogden, Utah and moved to Meridian when he was five years old. Following high school he served a two-year mission in Nashville, Tennessee before enrolling at CWI. Lewis has managed to maintain a 3.83 cumulative GPA at CWI and plans to transfer to Utah State to study Economics.
Blackboard Upgrade Scheduled
College of Western Idaho (CWI) will be conducting an annual update to Blackboard on Saturday, May 16, following its protocol of completing upgrades between the spring and summer semesters. Employees should be aware of the following impacts as a result of the upgrade:
- Blackboard will be offline May 16. Starting May 17, CWI will be running the October 2014 edition of Blackboard.
- All courses from the Summer 2014, Fall 2014, and Spring 2015 semesters will be moved to the Blackboard Archive Site (bbarchive.cwidaho.cc).
- All content prior to Summer 2014 will be moved to an external hard drive as an archived course after July 31 to support Blackboard functionality. After July 31, accessing this course information will require submitting a Helpdesk ticket.
- Additional details have been provided to all faculty.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Courtney Bond, director of CWI’s Center for Teaching and Learning, at 208.562.3084 or courtneybond@cwi.edu.
Tech Talk: Exploring Office Upgrades
Office 365 Email
The migration of all CWI accounts to Office 365 was completed in March, which hopefully means employees have been able to explore the options available with Office365, in addition to email. Office 365 provides online access to tools like calendars, task lists, and OneDrive. Employees also have access to online versions of the Office 2013 suite of applications. The full suite of Office 2013 applications can also be installed on personal devices directly from the online portal.
To help employees learn more about the applications available, IT will be highlighting specific apps in the weeks to come and provide tips and other useful information on using these valuable tools.
Office 2013
This summer IT will be installing a new version of Microsoft Office for all staff and faculty computers. Office 2013 is part of the Office365 package and includes updated versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, OneNote, Outlook, and OneDrive.
In addition to this software, IT will be installing the new version of Lync to replace the outdated Communicator. Before any of this software is rolled out, IT will provide training information on the applications. More information will be provided soon along with specific dates for the deployment.
CWI Hosts Second Employee Night at Wahooz
For the second consecutive year, College of Western Idaho (CWI) is thrilled to present CWI Employee Night at Wahooz in Meridian. This year’s event will take place Thursday, May 14, from 7-10 p.m. The night is for all CWI employees and their families to enjoy some time with colleagues outside work. Guests can include any person living in an employee’s household. Employees who are single are allowed to take one (1) guest.
Attendees will enjoy unlimited access to Laser Tag, Go-Karts, Bumper Boats, and the Kiddie Cove. They can also ride the new XD Dark Ride for just $5 per person. Passes can be purchased at any open register in Wahooz or at the Pinz control desk at the event. Attendees will also receive a $5 game card to play in the arcade and access to bowling in Pinz. Teams of at least four people for bowling and ten people for laser tag are encouraged. While food will not be provided this year, there will be unlimited soda. Alcohol is prohibited. Anyone interested in purchasing additional tickets for other guests can do so at a discounted price of $15.99 at the door (normally $29.99).
Anyone planning to attend must RSVP by Tuesday, May 12, and print confirmation tickets. Tickets are required to attend the event. Please click here to RSVP. Please contact Human Resources at hr@cwi.edu or 208.562.3287 with any questions.
