CWI Compass Connect - Sept. 4, 2018
Spotlight
Incoming freshman kicked-off fall semester and their college experience by heading to McCall for CWI’s second-annual CollegeTREK, made possible through Wells Fargo Bank. CollegeTREK, Aug. 24-26, offered students the opportunity to better prepare for college through networking with peers and student mentors while engaging with faculty and student support staff.
News Highlights
Nursing Program Receives Reaccreditation
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Nursing program has received reaccreditation, for the next eight years, through the Accreditation Commission of Education in Nursing (ACEN)!
Faculty and staff have been working on the reaccreditation process for the past 14 months, completing multiple reports focusing on standards used to deliver instruction to students — ACEN members also made a site visit. The accreditation body reviewed funding and support the Nursing program receives from CWI’s administration. Accreditation is crucial to maintaining the program at the College.
“I feel really honored to work with the group of people I work with, they are highly professional, and they really do what is best for nursing as a profession, and our students,” said Allison Baker, Nursing Department Chair. “I love the community college atmosphere!”
CWI’s Nursing program is incredibly effective, the students get a tremendous amount of personal attention, and 97 percent of students pass the state board exam for nursing on their first attempt. The majority of students continue their education at a four-year institution to receive a bachelor’s degree, but are qualified to work as a registered nurse.
Harvest Time at the Campus Garden!
Fresh cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and eggplants are just a few of the goodies ready to be picked in College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Campus Garden!
On Monday, Aug. 20, Andrea Schumacher, Department Chair of Physical and Agricultural Sciences, was busy collecting summer squash before the start of class. Schumacher received a Wishing Well Award, from the CWI Foundation, to launch a new garden on the east side of the Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB) parking lot. Last spring, she cleared an area with Dusty Perkins, Leslie Blackburn, Dan Schults, Debbie Lady, and other volunteers and installed dripline irrigation. She spent the summer watering and clearing weeds from the garden.
“I’m a person who likes to feed people, so it feels good to see students have access to fresh produce that they can eat with their family,” she said.
During harvest, students can volunteer on Monday’s from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. to help pick vegetables or pull weeds. Produce collected throughout the week is made available to students on a cart in the lobby of NCAB.
Schumacher was handing out vegetables on Monday at NCAB. “A lady came up to me crying and said ‘You don’t know how much this means to me, I’ve been having a hard time putting food on the table this month,’” she said.
Remembering Joyce Bair
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is sad to share the loss of a member of our team. Joyce Bair passed away Tuesday, Aug. 28, following a recent cancer diagnosis. This sudden loss has been felt by the entire CWI family. Joyce will be remembered for her many contributions to our science programs throughout her six and a half years at the College, as well as her sense of humor and wit.
Joyce, a Lab Materials Specialist for four years, prepared and purchased lab materials for all of the College’s Biology labs, she implemented numerous cost-saving and safety measures while working closely with the faculty. As CWI grew, Joyce served as the Biology Lab Materials Supervisor for two and a half years. In this capacity, she supervised two Lab Materials Specialists and numerous work-study students.
She was always thinking of the students first. For instance, Joyce arranged for a local meat producer to donate animal hearts for use in the anatomy labs. This not only reduced CWI student course fee expenses compared to preserved specimen costs, but most importantly, students were not exposed to the harsh chemicals used in preserved specimens. She also assisted in the planning and opening of the current CWI Biology lab at the Ada County Campus Mallard Building.
The labs Joyce supported included: Biology, Microbiology, Environmental Science, Ecology, Field Biology, Anatomy and Physiology. One semester, she successfully took on the challenge of supporting a Chemistry 101 lab with her typical can-do attitude. Most recently, Joyce provided biotechnology expertise and worked closely with instructors, Teresa Rich and Holly Paquette, in the planning and development of Cell Biology and Genetics labs. She loved biology and loved working at CWI. She always contributed much more than she gave herself credit for, and she will be greatly missed by the entire lab materials team.
A scholarship is being established in Joyce’s honor, details will be communicated in the near future.
For those of you who would like help processing this loss, please take advantage of our Employee Assistance Program. You can access more information about that service at https://ogi.idaho.gov/counseling/.
