The Digest
What’s Happening at KVCC
What’s below in this edition
ü Go Cougars (Pages 1/2) ü Meth’s perils (Page 8)
ü Any old tennies? (Pages 2/3) ü Family fun (Pages 8/9)
ü Need 30 (Pages 3/4) ü Surplus food? (Page 9)
ü Faculty in-service (Pages 4/5) ü Friday-night fun (Pages 9/10)
ü Turbine-class update (Pages 5/6) ü Depression (Pages 10/11)
ü Jeff Daniels (Page 6) ü Old cooking oil (Pages 11/12)
ü Grant deadlines (Pages 6/7) ü Behind the masks (Page 12)
ü New client (Pages 7/8) ü Auto Academy III (Pages 12/13)
ü Matson’s art (Page 8) ü Museum on TV (Pages 13-15)
ü And Finally (Pages 15/16)
☻☻☻☻☻☻
Lady Cougars facing elimination match
After a 1-1 record on the opening day of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s national championship in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., the KVCC women’s volleyball team is facing an elimination match at 2:30 p.m. (today) Friday.
The Lady Cougars defeated Hagerstown Community College in a spirited opening match, losing the opening set 23-25, winning the next two by the same 25-23 score, and being forced into a fifth by losing 22-25 to the Maryland spikers. KVCC advanced in the winner’s bracket with a 15-8 victory.
That’s when they collided with top-seed Illinois Central College, who swept Michigan’s only entry in the national competition 25-20, 24-14 and 25-17.
The win-one-or-be-done match is against Johnson Community College in Kansas, which has had similar experiences as its Michigan foe.
The Kansas team advanced in the winner’s bracket with a hotly contested match of its own. But Johnson City lost the first two sets to Iowa Lakes Community College 22-25 before snapping back to advance 25-19, 25-15, and 15-9.
Facing another one of the top seeds in Kishwaukee College in Illinois, Johnson lost three straight to set up its match with the Cougars. The winner moves on; the loser goes home.
The Lady Cougars traveled to tournament’s site at the Chula Vista Resort with a conference championship, a state title and a regional-tournament trophy – the first time a KVCC women's volleyball team has accomplished that in one season. KVCC entered the tournament with an eighth ranking nationally and an eighth seed in the tourney.
“What an amazing season we have had,” first-year coach Chad Worthington said. “The first day of practice started Aug. 1 with a three-mile run in less than 27 minutes, and it’s ending with a trip to the national tournament.
“This year has been defined by doing our best,” he said, and when the best has not been done, we have made corrections to do our best. This is the first team ever to be regularly seasoned ranked No. 8 in the nation, win a conference, state, and regional title in volleyball at Kalamazoo Valley.”
Team members are:
· Kaila Hull of Hanover-Horton High School
· Cara Greeley of Kalamazoo Central
· Kristina Hawkes of Portage Central
· Laura and Madeline McDonnell of Portage Northern
· Danielle Abitz of Shoreland Lutheran High School
· Hannah Bock of Kalamazoo Central
· Kristin Agren of Cadillac High School
· Kaitlin Noverr of Portage Northern
· Kirby Batterson of Bronson High School
· Emily Kesterson of Jackson Western High School.
Shilts wants your old tennies for DR kids
If those tennis/gym shoes you are wearing are due to be replaced soon, don’t junk them.
If there is any wear and tear left in them, some folks in the Dominican Republic would certainly appreciate the chance to completely wear them out as they engage in their passion of baseball and other sports.
The KVCC Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter this fall has been collecting used gym shoes to ship to the Dominican.. Chapter adviser Dick Shilts said more than 50 sets have been collected with 31 of the pairs already on their way to the Caribbean nation at a cost of $135.
Shilts’ contact is Nancy Willmore, a former KVCC basketball player who runs the Willmore Christian Foundation there.
“She explained to me that most of the youngsters who love to play basketball at her foundation do some barefooted. After we discussed this at our FCA meeting, it was agreed that we would do whatever little bit we can to make some youngsters in the Dominican Republic enjoy the game a bit more.”
Willmore is returning to the Dominican Republic in the middle of December and will be able to take another box of shoes with her. Other boxes may be shipped whenever they can be filed up.
KVCC folks can dropped off their donations in Shilts’ office. Financial gifts are also being accepted to help defray shipping expenses.
“This small thing we have undertaken surely will not impact the world,” Shilts said, “but it will make a difference for each of those who will gratefully receive these shoes given from our abundance. Any help from the larger KVCC community is appreciated.”
30 more ‘vols’ = one-page calling campaign for all
Here's the chance to put the thinking behind the new .edyou brand into play -- the calling campaign to contact enrolled students who have not yet paid for winter-semester classes.
It's a creed to live and work by, and it's also a numbers game.
For the fall-semester effort, 6,335 calls were made -- by 72 people! Do the math. That's one heck of a burden to put on peers and colleagues, especially if you can help, and most of us at KVCC can help.
If all of us step forward, it will be possible to drastically reduce that burden -- to as low as one sheet of calls to make per person. That's about 22 for each of us as opposed to 200-plus for some of us.
And it works. It's a chance to help prospective students not lose their classes, and to help the college keep its healthy, vital, ever-growing enrollment. So there is a self-interest factor at play as well.
Those who have made the calls in past years report that students, their parents, and friends deeply appreciate the gentle reminder, and the college's caring environment.
A typical effort involves making around 6,000 calls with 80 percent resulting in students making their payments prior to batch cancellation the following week.
Once again, the calling-campaign organizer is Pat Pojeta, who can be contacted at extension 7880 or . The dates are Nov. 30 through Dec. 4.
Volunteers may make their calls during the workday at their work stations. They will have the full week to complete their calls.
Scripts will be provided with clear, easy-to-follow instructions on how to record information. These scripts will be delivered to each volunteer the morning of Nov. 30, if not before.
“Many a volunteer has remarked how fun it is speaking with our students,” Pojeta said. “They seem happy to hear from us.”
Signing on as of late Thursday were:
Colleen Olson, Bonnie Bowden, Gordon Bielby, Steve Ott, Alana Green, Ezra Bell, Sharra Poncil, Stephanie Ceren, Chris Stroven, Michelle Davis, Steven Meeks, Ricardo Alexander, Amanda Fuller, Faith Muvuti, Zac Vanderpool, Ken Barr Jr., and Su Cutler.
They will be joining:
Lisa Peet, Amy Louallen, Laura Cosby, Gloria Barton-Beery, Sheila White, Lauren Beresford, Karen Visser, Dick Shilts, Jennie Huff, Gloria Norris, Steve Doherty, Steve Walman, Tarona Guy, Joyce Zweedyk, Patricia Pallett, Diane Finch, Candy Horton;
Helen Palleschi, Louise Wesseling, Lynne Morrison, Angie Case, Joyce Tamer, Judy Rose, Teresa Fornoff, Russell Panico, Sheila Eisenhauer, Rose Crawford, Carrol Targgart, Leona Coleman, Diane Lockwood, Jane Geschwendt, Lynn McLeod;
Nancy Young, LaJoyce Brooks, Sheila Rupert, Amy Triemstra, Jacob Johnson, Ebba Spyke, Diana Haggerty, Ray Andres, Catie West, Steven Meeks, Stephanie Strong, Laurie Dykstra, Marcia Shaneyfelt-Niles, Carolyn Brownell, Jim Tinsely, Amber Rees;
Jackie Cantrell, Ike Turner, Rosalie Novara, Chris Robbins, Denise Baker, Roxanne Bengelink, Carolyn Alford, Darryl Chapman, Patricia Wallace, Karen Phelps, Kristine Goolsby, Nancy Taylor, Ruth Baker, Mary Johnson, Robyn Robinson;
Connie Edlund, Jill Storm, Jim Ratliff, Mark Sloan, Brenda Moncreif, Marie Rogers, Mike Collins, Gerri Jacobs, Susan Reynolds, Pamela Siegfried, Jackie Zito, Marylan Hightree, Bonita Bates, Heidi Stevens-Ratti, Janet Alm, Dan Maley;
Nicole Newman, John Holmes, Jack Bley, Jonnie Wilhite, Anora Ackerman, Lois Baldwin, Maria Buccilli, Amanda Matthews, Martha Makay, Cynthia Schauer, Bruce Kocher, Sheila Baiers, Bala Balachandran, Francis Granzotto, Harland Fish, Arleigh Smyrnios, Patrick Conroy, Jaime Robbins, Terry Hutchins, Sue Egan, Pat Pojeta and Tom Thinnes.
December events for Faculty Success Center
If KVCC can have a “Success Center” for students, why not one for its band of instructors?
Under the auspices of Grant Chandler, dean of the Arcadia Commons Campus, the college has established the Faculty Success Center to assist the college community in focusing time, energy, and conversations on high-quality teaching and learning.
The pilot event was staged in September with an initial “Talking about Teaching seminar on “Characteristics of Highly Effective Teachers” as a follow-up conversation stemming from Ken Bain’s visit to KVCC during the fall Faculty Seminar Days.
Because of the Thanksgiving holidays, the next two series of ““highly interactive conversations” led by KVCC faculty and administrators are slated for December:
· “Making Lectures More Interactive” – Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 3:30 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 3, at 2 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 5, at 10 a.m.
· “Leading Effective Discussions” – Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 3:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 2 p.m.
Those who wish to attend can e-mail . Refreshments will be provided. All sessions are held in the lower level of the Center for New Media. Chandler can be contacted by extension 7849 or
Here’s the rest of the “Talking About Teaching” line-up through the end of the 2009-10 academic year:
• January: “Classroom Assessment Techniques”
• February: “Dealing with and Preventing Classroom Incivility”
• March: “The Appropriate and Inappropriate Use of Instructional Technology”
• April: “Designing Appropriate Learning Activities and Lesson Planning.”
Serving on the new center’s advisory team are Chandler, fellow co-chair Cynthia Schauer, Lynne Morrison, Bill deDie, Philipp Jonas, Fran Kubicek, Jan White, Kevin Dockerty, Al Moss, Ron Cipcic, Theo Sypris, and Joe Brady.
“The Faculty Success Center is committed to nurturing and supporting all full- and part-time faculty as they strive for continuous instructional improvement,” said Bruce Kocher, vice president for academic services, “and to providing on-going learning opportunities as they seek to create the most meaningful and effective learning experiences for KVCC students.”
Among its goals are:
1. Provide ongoing professional-development activities related directly to teaching and learning to better connect full- and part-time faculty to the KVCC college community.
2. Create an inclusive, student-focused learning community in which all full- and part-time faculty work collaboratively to ensure the success of every KVCC student.
Student-designed, -built wind turbine taking shape
As students for decades have taken automotive courses to design, build and repair their own cars, so are their modern contemporaries concentrating on what many see as the nation’s energy future - wind turbines.
Designing a wind turbine, fabricating its components, assembling the power-generating unit, and making certain it produces electricity constitutes the mission of a new course that will be offered for a second time in Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s winter semester.
Meanwhile, the fall-semester edition of this course is winding down and students are in the process of completing their design and fabrication of the blades as December nears. That will soon be followed by work on the tower and finally installation of the unit on the Texas Township Campus.
With no technical prerequisites or prior knowledge of computer-aided drafting, machining, welding or electrical technology needed, the eight-credit, multidisciplinary offering (Mach 282) with a lecture-lab format is open to 18 enrollees on a first-come, first-served basis.
Lectures are slated for Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 to 4: 20 p.m. while lab sessions are booked for Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 10 a.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
All will be held in the college’s technical wing on the Texas Township Campus in the shadow of the 145-foot turbine that has been generating electricity since early March. The 2009 fall semester ends Monday, Dec. 21. The 2010 winter semester begins on Monday, Jan. 11.
The fee follows the college’s normal tuition rate -- $71 per credit hour for KVCC in-district residents, $113 for those out of district, and $152 per credit hour for non-Michigan residents.
The lead instructors are Howard Carpenter (machining), Rick Garthe (drafting and design), Erick Martin (welding and fabrication), and Bill Wangler (electrical technology).
“Our goal is to produce a functioning wind turbine that generates one to three kilowatts of electricity,” said Carpenter, the project leader who advanced the concept and received a two-year, $90,000 Innovative Thinking grant from KVCC to proceed with planning, equipment purchase and course design over the summer.
The enrollees perform the basic functions and tasks in the design, critical machining and welding phases that produce shafts, blades and other components. But the more detailed and complex jobs are handled by the instructors and advanced students. The electronics will be purchased units.
“It’s the process that is important for the students to see and understand,” Carpenter said. “The turbine that we build will produce electricity, but that’s not the main function. Its function is to demonstrate the basic design, manufacturing, welding and electrical skills that are needed in making a turbine.”
Course components include what a practical electrical output would be for a turbine in a variety of locations, wind-energy terminology, how to connect a unit to the existing electrical grid, the basics of electricity, the wiring required, metallurgy, how to optimize efficiency through design variations, fabrication techniques, how to prevent corrosion, and how to incorporate a small wind turbine into existing structures and buildings.
“We think this course will target anybody who has an interest in wind turbines,” Carpenter said, “whether to build one yourself or buy one. It will provide answers to questions about what to consider and how to evaluate what is on the market.”
The lead instructors prepared for the prototype course by purchasing instructional equipment and software that will also be applicable to other technical courses at KVCC. They joined forces last summer to build the training components that are key parts of the instructional process.