Bert's Alerts - May 19, 2017
In the Spotlight
On Saturday, May 13, College of Western Idaho (CWI) celebrated its 2017 class of graduates in a commencement ceremony held at Taco Bell Arena in Boise. As part of this year’s ceremony, President Bert Glandon was presented with CWI’s very first Challenge Coin. Veteran Services Coordinator, Dallas Hulsey, also presented Veteran graduates with a Challenge Coin that night.
“I’m really proud to be part of an organization that recognizes the value and tradition of military Challenge Coins,” he said. “It was an honor to present this inaugural edition of coins to this year’s Veteran graduates.”
Veteran graduates who were unable to attend commencement or did not receive a Challenge Coin are asked to contact Dallas at 208.562.3211 or dallashulsey@cwi.edu.
News Highlights
Summer 2017 Road Construction
Nampa, Idaho – The Idaho Department of Transportation (ITD) will repave Interstate 84 from the Franklin Boulevard Interchange, in Nampa, and the Franklin Road Interchange, in Caldwell, beginning the week of May 21.
Work on the interstate will take place on the weekends to avoid delays for commuters. During construction, traffic will be shifted to one side with a lane heading in each direction for travelers.
Construction will start each weekend on Friday at 7 p.m. and continue until 5 a.m. Monday. The project is expected to last until mid-July.
For those interested in learning more about this project, you can attend a public meeting on Thursday, May 25. The meeting will be open to the public from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn, 5750 Franklin Road in Nampa. To receive updates and alerts from ITD, text “Interstate84” to 22828 or visit the ITD website ITD.Idaho.Gov/I-84.
Eastern Idaho Technical College Established as a Community College
Voters in eastern Idaho said yes to a taxing district establishing Eastern Idaho Technical College as a community college. According to the Post Register, more than 71 percent of Bonneville County voters approved the bond. A two-thirds vote was needed for the initiative to pass.
Classes at the College of Eastern Idaho could start as soon as August.
2017 Commencement on Social Media
College of Western Idaho's (CWI) social media platforms experienced an exciting jump in traffic, and engagement, during commencement week.
This year marked the first time the College used a live feed of the ceremony via CWI’s Facebook page. The video was well received with 1,057 views, shared by 18 people, 71 likes, and 58 comments.
We had a total of 194,000 impressions on our Twitter and Instagram accounts, which included people adding the hashtag, #cwigraduation, to posts. The College had 120 Instagram posts related to graduation — nearly doubling the amount of posts from our previous commencement.
These analytics highlight the progress CWI is making as we grow our social media audience and increase awareness of the school.
The 2017 Commencement ceremony is available on the CWI YouTube channel.
2017 Northwest Biology Educators Conference
Five members of College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Life Sciences Department recently traveled to Tacoma, Washington, to participate in the 2017 Northwest Biology Educators Conference. The conference, focused on innovation in biology education, included various sessions, presentations, and field trips. Two CWI faculty members Holly Paquette, Biology Faculty, and Marianne Nelson, Support Faculty in the Biology Lab, had an opportunity to present on innovation work they are doing at CWI. Paquette presented on how her Microbiotic Me class prepares students for her Microbiology classes and Nelson presented on CWI’s Flex Lab. Faculty returned with new and great ideas on how to innovate biology education in the classroom.
Barnes Presents at National Conference
Dr. Yolonda Barnes, Program Chair for the Administrative Specialist program at College of Western Idaho (CWI), recently returned from the National Technology and Social Science Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The national conference, put on by the National Social Science Association, had over 1,000 attendees and more than 150 individuals presenting research.
Barnes had the opportunity during the conference to present her doctoral research “Dwindling Community College Resources Puts Pressure on Presidents to Increase Fundraising Efforts”. The purpose of her study was to identify underlying themes of chief development officer leadership competencies based on the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) six leadership competencies. The three groups participating in the research (presidents, chief academic officers, and chief development officers) were currently serving 28 Midwestern community colleges. Participants were asked to rank the AACC leadership competencies they thought were most important as it related to the chief development officer’s position and performance. Several themes emerged from the qualitative portion of Barnes’s study, which was conducted with a subset of Midwestern community college presidents: (a) communication is a vital skillset for presidents; (b) presidential fundraising preparedness is essential to fundraising success; (c) fundraising requires a dedicated time commitment; and (d) the traditional route to the presidency is evolving.
Barnes’s study identified the importance of the chief development officer position having a broad understanding of the entire college in order to effectively communicate the case for donor investment. This study also affirmed that collaboration, communication, and advocacy are important competencies for those who aspire to become community college chief development officers.
Physical Therapist Assistant Program Receives Full Accreditation
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) program is pleased to announce full accreditation status! The program received initial accreditation in 2014 in order to start the PTA program. Achieving full accreditation status is a multi-step process that takes several years to complete. In 2016, the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) granted the program full accreditation with a probationary status due to the absence of supportive documentation from graduates of the first cohort. CAPTE will remove the probationary status granting the program full accreditation in May 2018.
The PTA program, a consortium program with College of Southern Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College, North Idaho College, and CWI, is the first program of its kind in the nation. It is truly a tribute to the dedication of faculty and administration to participate in this forward-thinking concept of presenting educational material.
The PTA program is currently in the middle of their third cohort of students. Applications are now open for a fall start of the fourth cohort on all campuses. We anticipate great interest in this program. Congratulations to all involved in this great endeavor!
CWI Listening Tour Continues
College of Western Idaho (CWI) kicked off the first Listening Tour this week with three events. The CWI trustees and members of the executive team were on hand to listen to those in the community to formulate the future direction of the college.
This week’s events included locations in Boise, Nampa, and Parma where constituents spoke to CWI leadership on topics from campus growth to programs that will best serve individuals and organizations throughout Ada and Canyon County. Questions and input came from those in attendance and others that were following the event streaming live online.
The Listening Tour continues with five upcoming events:
- Middleton - May 23 - Middleton High School - Auditorium
- Caldwell - May 24 - Caldwell High School - Auditorium
- Eagle - May 25 - Eagle High School - Auditorium
- Meridian - May 31 - Meridian City Hall - Council Chamber
- Kuna - June 1 - Kuna High School - Performing Arts Center
Each event will be streamed live on CWI's Facebook page where viewers are encouraged to engage in the conversation.
There is also an online forum and email address for those that would like to engage outside of the events.
For complete details and links, visit CWIdifference.com.
An archive of the events has been established on CWI’s YouTube channel.
