Bert's Alerts - September 18, 2015
In the Spotlight
College of Western Idaho (CWI) held its third annual Truck Driver Appreciation Breakfast on Wednesday, Sept. 16, as part of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. The annual breakfast recognizes students in the CWI Professional Truck Driving program for their desire to enter this important industry. Seen here are students of the program’s current class with members of the College’s Professional Technical Education division.
News Highlights
CWI to Conduct Emergency Alert Test on Sept. 25
College of Western Idaho (CWI) will be conducting a test of its alert notification system, Rave Mobile Safety, to help ensure the CWI community is notified of any potential emergency situations. The test will occur on Friday, Sept. 25 at approximately 3:50 p.m. CWI uses Rave Mobile Safety to inform students, employees, and the extended College community of critical situations.
Employees and students are automatically enrolled to receive alerts to their CWI email and any phone numbers provided when joining the College. To ensure the safety of the CWI community and provide timely emergency messages it is important that current contact information is provided. Contact information can be updated by visiting cwi.edu/alerts. The service is free, but text messaging fees may be charged from cellular providers.
CWI partners and friends can sign up to receive alerts by visiting cwi.edu/alerts.
CWI Alerts are only used for critical circumstances including severe weather, snow closures, utility failure, hazardous material spills, violent incidents, and other situations with the potential to affect the health or safety of people on campus. Please email communications@cwi.edu with any questions.
Visioning Workshops – Potential CWI Boise Campus
College of Western Idaho invites CWI employees, students, and community members to provide feedback on early concepts for the College’s potential urban campus in Boise’s West End during a Community Visioning Workshop. The event will take place:
Tuesday, Sept. 22
6:30-8:00 p.m.
Whittier Elementary School - 301 N. 29th Street, Boise
Presentation starts promptly at 6:30 p.m. followed by interactive small group discussions.
Additionally, CTA Architects and Engineers will host visioning workshops at CWI’s Ada County Campus Pintail Center from 9 -11 a.m. and Nampa Campus Academic Building from 1-3 p.m. on September 23 for the convenience of faculty, staff, and students who cannot attend the public workshop. These workshops will take place in the common areas.
The CTA Architects team will share multiple campus concepts developed from guiding principles they gathered during the Community Insight Sessions earlier this month. At the interactive workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their opinions on the concepts.
For more information, please visit www.cwiadacocampus.com.
CWI Accepting Students for New Masonry Program
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is accepting students for a new Masonry Apprenticeship program that is set to begin classes in October. CWI will accept 30 students into the first class of the three-year program. The College will host an open house on Sept. 29 for anyone interested in learning more about the Masonry Apprenticeship program. The event will run from 5-7 p.m. at CWI’s Micron Center for Professional Technical Education in Nampa.
The program, which is offered through CWI’s Workforce Development division, is made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Idaho Department of Labor. Classes will be held at Meridian High School and CWI is partnering with West Ada School District on instruction and curriculum.
“This program is built to address a growing industry in the Treasure Valley,” says Christi Rood, executive director of Workforce Development at CWI. “The demand for skilled Masonry laborers is projected to increase substantially in the next several years and we are thrilled to be the resource to meet the training need.”
According to the Idaho Department of Labor Occupational and Industry Projections, the number of jobs in the masonry professions is anticipated to grow over 40 percent between 2012 and 2022.
Students in CWI’s Masonry Apprenticeship program will receive classroom and lab training while also experiencing on-the-job training. Registration will occur annually.
Visit cwi.edu/program/masonry-apprenticeship for more information on the open house and program information.
Zions Bank Provides On-Going Support to CWI Program
Gifts to the College of Western Idaho (CWI) Foundation are given in all shapes and sizes; from employees who donate out of their own pockets and paychecks to companies like Micron and Hewlett-Packard which recently donated phones and filing cabinets to support the College’s Administrative Specialist program. While all gifts make an impact, an on-going donation from Zions Bank is helping a group of people who want to learn something many people take for granted; the ability to read, write, and speak English.
Denise Sukkar’s Conversations class is part of CWI’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program. It is comprised of one of those groups who are benefitting from Zions Bank’s annual $6,000 grant. This is the fifth year CWI has received the grant; which is used to help fund the program’s instruction and materials costs.
The impact of the donations can be seen in Sukkar’s class every day. Recently, the group was learning how to construct sentences using the proper tense: past, present, and future. They were also working on pronunciation and fluency. Using one of the student’s life as an example, the class built a timeline so they can practice. One-by-one, the students asked questions—using proper English—to fill out the timeline. The example student also gave responses in proper form. Once the timeline was filled out, they each took a turn at telling the student’s life story using all of the different tenses.
“That’s right,” Sukkar repeated to the class—echoing a student’s words, “Lucia arrived in Idaho on May 11. She was studying psychology in Peru when she met her husband in 2013.”
Her students come from many different places: El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines. Differences aside, all agree that learning English is hard; especially when they find out one word—using nursery as an example—can mean many different things. Most thought it meant being a nurse.
“A nursery is a place where you can grow plants,” Sukkar told the students. “It is also a place for a baby. It’s like our forefathers couldn’t make up their minds when they put the English language together.”
As confusing as it is, the students smile a lot and take a lot of notes. They nod when they understand and keep the conversations strictly English. By using real-life applications, Sukkar guides them all through what they are there to learn.
“They really want to know how to speak properly,” Sukkar said. “They want to go out, get jobs, and learn. We are truly thankful for Zions Bank’s donation in helping us help them.”
Visiting Artist Series Welcomes Marimba Boise
The College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Visiting Artist Series returns this October with an exciting presentation that is sure to provide a fun and entertaining learning experience. CWI will welcome Marimba Boise to the Nampa Campus Academic Building, Oct. 9-10, for workshops and a concert. All events are free and open to the public.
Marimba Boise, a group that specializes in Zimbabwean-style marimba music, will host a workshop from 7-9 p.m. on Oct. 9 and 9-11 a.m. on Oct. 10. The group will also present a concert on Oct. 10 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., with a reception to follow.
Marimba Boise plays on a family of xylophones, where each instrument adds an essential voice to an intricate and joyful sound. Drawing on music from southern Africa, their music celebrates the region’s infectious dance rhythms, traditions, and ever-unfolding beauty.
Space for the workshops is limited. Contact Jeff Davis at 208.562.3255 or jeffreydavis@cwi.edu to reserve a spot.
Tech Talk: New Office 365 Tools
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Information Technology Department would like to update CWI employees on some of the new features available through Microsoft Office 365. As you likely already know, all of the Microsoft applications are available online and your computer desktop. The following are a couple cool new features to explore.
Periodically Microsoft will make new apps available to the online page for Office 365 at outlook.office365.com and CWI employees are free to use any of these applications. One new app that has shown up recently is Delve, an application that helps you discover information that's likely to be most interesting to you. Office 365 has also unveiled Video, a place to load videos for sharing with colleagues and the public. Finally, you will notice the app Sway, an easy and quick way to create and share polished, interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, and more.
There has also been a new folder added to Outlook recently called Clutter. Microsoft added this as a tool to help manage your email. This new feature is optional and can be turned off. For more information please view the Microsoft Clutter Document.
Calip Named September Staff of the Month
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) September Staff of the Month goes to Tessa Calip.
Calip is an Academic Advisor at CWI’s Micron Center for Professional Technical Education and has worked for the College for a little over a year. She has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from San Jose State University. CWI is Calip’s first experience in higher education but she says that now that she has worked with students and experienced the mission of the College, she knows her career is paved in higher education.
Her nomination mentioned that she upholds all of CWI’s Core Values, but most recently with leaving a legacy of learning. In the last few weeks the College has experienced an influx of student’s attending orientations and she has stepped up to the plate, willingly giving up her Saturdays and evenings for students to experience in-person orientations. She is ensuring the students she serves experience CWI in a positive and professional manner.
Since moving to Idaho almost five years ago, she spends the vast majority of her time with her sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. They laugh a lot and enjoy taking family vacations together. Calip loves to travel and plans to someday venture to Costa Rica.
