Bert's Alerts—Nov. 15, 2019
Spotlight
College of Western Idaho celebrated a fantastic night of fundraising for students during the Opening Doors Benefit Event, hosted on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at JUMP in downtown Boise. The evening included program demonstrations by Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), Studio Art, Fire Service Technology, and Law Enforcement, so visitors could experience some of the exciting opportunities at the College.
News Highlights
Campus Visitors Observe Rare Mercury Transit
Under a clear sky, College of Western Idaho faculty Dr. Irwin Horowitz and Dr. Ehab Marji, adjusted a powerful telescope at the Nampa Campus Academic Building to view the transit of Mercury across the face of the sun on Monday, Nov. 11.
“This was my third Mercury transit, and I always find it fascinating to observe the motion of a solar system object, because most of the time objects in the sky appear quite static,” said Horowitz. “When Mercury transits the sun, we are able to see the planet move across the disk of the sun for a few hours.”
The next time this celestial event will take place is in 2032. Horowitz and Marji discussed the historic event with visitors – many people were surprised at how tiny Mercury looked as it passed the sun.
Spring 2020 Registration
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is excited to announce registration dates for the Spring 2020 semester.
Continuing Students
Priority registration at CWI for the Spring 2020 semester began Monday, Nov. 11. Priority registration allows continuing students a chance to enroll in classes ahead of others in order to stay on track to graduate.
- Continuing students are required to meet with their Student Success Advisor prior to registering.
- Once advising is completed, students can register online anytime on or after their assigned registration time.
- Continuing students, who enrolled and attended classes any semester since fall 2017, are eligible.
- Assigned registration times are based on cumulative credits earned.
- Students can check myCWI and CWI email for their assigned time.
- Dual Credit students are not eligible for priority registration.
New and Returning Students
Open Registration for all students, including new and returning, begins Monday, Nov. 18 at 8 a.m.
- New students must complete Student Online Advising and Registration (SOAR) and attend New Student Orientation prior to registering for their classes.
Visit us online to learn more about applying to CWI, orientation, registering for classes, and for One Stop Student Services hours and locations.
Barnyard BBQ
Round up yer boots and grab yer partner for the employee Barnyard BBQ Thursday, Nov. 21. Join us in the Wild West for a night of hoot-hollerin’ fun, delicious grub, themed games, and a rowdy good time.
Come show off your bull-riding skills, play some poker, and take a line dance lessons. Play a game of checkers, cornhole, steer lasso toss, or bingo and enjoy a menu of BBQ, root beer floats, cow pies, and haystacks. Come dressed in your best Western duds to receive a ticket for the prize jar.
Please RSVP by Nov. 15. Contact the Culture and Employee Engagement Committee at ceec@cwi.edu with questions.
School Supply Drive
Help families in need by donating unused school supplies. The Education department at College of Western Idaho, in partnership with the University of Idaho is collecting backpacks, markers, notebooks, calculators, pencils, and other necessary school supplies to help the City Light Home for Women and Children in Boise. In addition, a portion of the school supplies will be donated to middle school classrooms.
Donation boxes are located at two locations:
- Nampa Campus Multipurpose Building Library
- Ada County Campus Pintail Center, Room 1102 – the Adjunct Offices
The school supply drive will run through Tuesday, Dec. 3. For those who would like to participate, please contact Scott Straub at scottstraub@cwi.edu.
The Bridges Program is in its Third Year and Students are Crushing It!
Former College of Western Idaho students are making a big difference; changing the world and their careers through the Southwestern Idaho Bridges to Baccalaureate Program (or just B2B!). Our students are building knowledge through research, and sharing this knowledge with other scientists around the country. From College Park, Maryland to Ashland, Oregon – coast to coast – B2B Fellows have presented at numerous scientific symposia, won awards, and conducted outreach to motivate others in following a research career path.
“We just couldn’t be more proud of the students from CWI, they’ve come to Boise State ready to hit the ground running and have exceeded our expectations for undergraduate scholars," said Dr. Cheryl Jorcyk, Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of Clinical/Translation Research at Boise State University.
The B2B program is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored effort to fuel the biomedical research pipeline beginning with 2 and 4-year colleges and universities. The B2B program does this by specifically recruiting underrepresented students from community colleges and encourages their transfer to a partnering four-year school by way of authentic research experiences in biomedical research laboratories. Participating students enter the program while at CWI, are mentored, and are placed in paid positions in research labs during their “bridge” summer and their first academic year at Boise State. They will engage in a variety of professional development opportunities such as social networking and responsible conduct of research training. Students will meet regularly with faculty advisors and laboratory team members and attend one or more conferences at the end of the program to present their specific contribution to the team’s research. The B2B program is an excellent opportunity for students that might not typically follow a biomedical research career path to experience what it would be like to be a researcher and advance knowledge in a rapidly changing, exciting, and highly technical field. For more information on the program or to see if you qualify, please write to Dr. Steve Lysne: stevelysne@cwi.edu.
If you’d like to make a difference or explore a career in research, the B2B program is now accepting applications for our fourth cohort of B2B student researchers. If you’re planning on transferring to Boise State for the fall of 2021 then now is the time to apply. For more information see the B2B program.
B2B QUICK FACTS -
- B2B is a 5 year, $1.5M grant to BSU & CWI from NIH
- B2B Fellows will be compensated during their Bridge summer AND during their junior year
- B2B is designed to increase participation by underrepresented students
- B2B expects to help students transition to a biomedical research career path via
- Advising and Mentoring
- Academic Preparation
- Authentic Research Experiences
- Opportunities for Networking
- Financial Support
Halloween Costume Contest Voting
College of Western Idaho’s Culture and Employee Engagement Committee (CEEC) was overwhelmed with frighteningly fantastic pictures of employees dressed up for Halloween. CEEC would like your help deciding the favorites.
Vote for your favorites. Voting closes Friday, Nov. 22.
