CWI News—Jan. 7, 2022
In the Spotlight
Members of Leadership Nampa had an opportunity to tour CWI’s Welding lab at the Nampa Campus Micron Education Center on Wednesday. Mike Wheeler, Department Chair of Manufacturing and Welding, provided attendees with an overview of the program, industry needs, outreach activities, and job-shadowing opportunities the College provides to high school students.
News Highlights
Gordon Jones to Serve as College of Western Idaho’s Next President
College of Western Idaho (CWI) Board of Trustees unanimously voted to hire Gordon Jones as the College's third president, following a nationwide search process. Jones succeeds President Bert Glandon, who retired in May, and will begin assuming his duties on Monday, Jan. 10.
Jones states, “I’m thrilled to serve students and brighten the future of our communities as the next president of CWI. As growth in the Treasure Valley continues to accelerate, I’m honored to join faculty and staff to deliver transformative learning opportunities and skills that empower students to thrive in our community and beyond.”
Jones is the founding dean of Boise State University’s College of Innovation + Design and has been at the University since 2015. Prior to Boise State, Jones was the Evans Family Foundation Managing Director for the Harvard Innovation Lab at Harvard University, helping thousands of students translate their education and ideas into new ventures and jobs within the technology, health sciences, consumer and non-profit fields. In addition, he worked as an executive for 15 years focusing on innovation, marketing, and sales growth with mid-sized and Fortune 500 companies, including The Gillette Company.
Jones has over five years of teaching experience in design thinking, business, and leadership at several colleges. He has a Master’s in Business Administration from Stanford University School of Business.
“The Board is enthusiastic to welcome President Jones to the College, his expertise in leveraging education and innovation to connect students with the workforce is exceptional," said Board Chair Molly Lenty.
Jones and his wife reside in the Treasure Valley, along with their four children, ages nine to fifteen. Jones stays active in the community through various board positions, coaching youth sports, and is an avid fly fisherman and outdoorsman.
Learn more about the presidential search process and campus visioning.
Fall 2021 Facts at a Glance
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Fall 2021 Facts at a Glance is now available to view online. This annual publication provides a statistical overview of the College and is a valuable resource for learning more about CWI.
Offering premier programs and degrees that make a difference, CWI remains a top choice for higher education in the Treasure Valley. Empowering the community one student at a time, CWI moves fearlessly forward paving the way to bold new futures with flexible options, exceptional tuition value, and support every step of the way.
Hard copies of this year’s Facts at a Glance are available by contacting College Relations at communications@cwi.edu.
Giving Tree Brings Holiday Cheer
College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) annual giving tree is bringing holiday cheer to children in the Treasure Valley once again this year. Gifts – collected by the College’s Psychology Club, Psi Beta, Veteran’s Association, Criminal Justice department, and Social Work Club – were delivered to CASA of Southwest Idaho.
“The Giving Tree at CWI has been showing up for our foster children every Christmas in a big way and has a beautiful impact on hundreds of lives,” CASA said in a statement. “This generosity serves as a physical representation of hope and a reminder to the children we serve they have a community of people rooting for them.”
“We gathered over 600 gifts,” said Heather Schoenherr. “The pictures don’t do justice for how big of a haul we had. Thank you to the CWI community for another successful year!”
CWI Launches Virtual Learning Center for Employees
College of Western Idaho’s Human Resources department is thrilled to announce the launch of an in-house Virtual Learning Center (VLC) for employees, Jan. 10, 2022. From onboarding to professional development, the VLC will enhance and streamline the employee experience providing both mandatory and optional training opportunities. Trainings will empower employees to learn new skills and abilities, which, in turn, can boost performance and productivity.
VLC Benefits
- Learning content is easily accessible and can be updated at any time through PageUp.
- Managers will have the ability to track team learning progress as well as assign individualized training modules and compliance training.
- Content analytics will help the College plan for future developmental strategies and resourcing.
FERPA Training
Mandatory FERPA training for all employees is coming soon! The training, done through the VLC, must be completed by Feb. 18, 2022. Please watch your email for more information on how to access the VLC to complete the training.
Contact HR Business Partner, Casey Brown, at caseybrown@cwi.edu with any questions.
Free Fitness Training for Employees
Help students gain critical, hands-on experience assessing a client and designing a fitness program while working on your personal fitness goals! College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Health Science department and students from the Fitness, Assessment, and Design (EXHS-163) course are partnering, once again, with the Employee Wellness Challenge initiative to provide short-term, individualized training programs to 25 lucky employees.
Program Details:
- Training is free!
- 25 spots are available for CWI employees.
- The opportunity is open to anyone who wants to have a custom-made training plan created for them and/or wants to help our students gain experience.
- Participants must be available for six weeks beginning in late March to meet regularly with a Student Personal Trainer and commit to a training plan.
- Program includes an initial consultation with student, fitness testing, training plan overview, in depth follow-up about training progression, and final consultation with student.
- Participants will be asked to submit an evaluation of their experience with the Student Personal Trainer.
- Participants may be requested to perform basic fitness testing on their own due to COVID-19 precautions. In this case, participants will be provided written instructions and the tests will be appropriate for their current abilities. Participant will not be required to purchase any equipment.
Participant Qualifications:
- Must complete the PAR-Q+ survey and either not require medical clearance OR have a doctor’s note allowing participation in physical activity. Please note, if the survey asks you to continue forward and fill out the ePARmed-X+ form, you will need to do so in order to get an accurate result.
Ready to participate? Complete these simple steps to apply:
- Complete the PAR-Q+ survey.
- Fill out a Personal Training Form.
The deadline to apply for participation is March 13. Spots will be filled on a rolling basis as applications are submitted. Apply early!
Please contact Tim Curry, instructor for EXHS-163, at 208.562.3077 or timcurry@cwi.edu with any questions you have about participating.
CWI Reacts to Antisemitic Activity in Boise
Recent antisemitic vandalism that has occurred in Boise has posed a concern for many within our college and extended community. College of Western Idaho (CWI) and CWI’s Inclusive Excellence Committee would like to share our support of our students and employees impacted by these acts. CWI has established a core value of Inclusive Excellence, and, as an institution, we value diversity and building a community respectful of each member.
However, these types of acts can be used to share our message of standing together to welcome students and employees from diverse backgrounds and in support of and in solidarity with our local Jewish students and staff.
The committee encourages students and employees who need support to reach out to campus resources:
Students
- Counseling and Wellness Services, 208.562.2200, or counselor@cwi.edu
Employees
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or 877.427.2327.
Let’s all renew our commitment to be kind, to learn, to respect, and to be part of a positive, peaceful influence to all those around us.
