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January 14, 2022
Greetings!
I have received many positive comments about the Jan. 6 Virtual Winter Summit. Please take time to access the feedback form and complete the survey by Feb. 1. Thank you for your participation and suggestions for future programs.
Regarding the pandemic, we continue to monitor and implement best practices related to minimizing the spread of disease, including COVID-19 and its variants. Our health and safety guidelines require the use of face coverings and proper social distancing in all college buildings. Vaccines and a booster have been proven as safe and effective tools, combined with other health and safety protocols, to prevent the spread of the virus and significantly decrease your risk of becoming seriously ill, even if you contract COVID-19. We strongly encourage everyone to become vaccinated. If you have not already done so, please seek out and receive the vaccine and/or booster.
College health and safety guidelines are based on recommendations from local, state and federal health and safety leaders. The college coronavirus webpage continues to house information related to Kalamazoo Valley's response.
Thank you for your continued dedication to our efforts. In spite of the significant disruption of the pandemic, I have noted how you continue to respond to the challenges by providing instruction, support services and all of the other services necessary to fulfill our mission, with innovation and integrity. This new semester will provide additional opportunities for innovation and our students and the communities we serve are counting on each of us to bring the best of ourselves to our work each day. Let's continue to work together to help students realize their goals.
Although our campuses will be closed on Monday, Jan. 17 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I hope that we will consider it a "day on" and contemplate the messages of this important American. In cooperation with many community collaborators, the college has scheduled multiple opportunities to further recognize, celebrate and honor the contributions and achievements of African-Americans throughout the month of February. Information about these events and activities is available on the college website.
Stay safe and stay warm!
Sincerely,
L. Marshall Washington, Ph.D.
President
Reminder! Conversations with the President are happening today! Please be sure to register here.
Conversations with the President
Description: What traditions do we have at Kalamazoo Valley Community College? What traditions should we have at Kalamazoo Valley? Please join Dr. Washington in a conversation focused on our traditions. All faculty and staff are welcome to participate.
Location: Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/97122055919
Date & Time: Friday | Jan. 14 | 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Conversations with the President
Description: What traditions do we have at Kalamazoo Valley Community College? What traditions should we have at Kalamazoo Valley? Please join Dr. Washington in a conversation focused on our traditions. All faculty and staff are welcome to participate.
Location: Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/97122055919
Date & Time: Friday | Jan.14 | 12 - 1 p.m.
Kalamazoo Valley Announces Workforce Training for the Expanding Cannabis Industry
Through a unique partnership with California-based Green Flower, a leader in cannabis workforce education, Kalamazoo Valley will provide training for the job readiness needed in the cannabis career field. The program will provide participants with the advanced job skills and knowledge needed to excel as a provisioning center associate, cultivation technician and manufacturing agent. more
New Dean of Instruction - Math and Sciences Named
Erin Shufro has been selected to fill the role of Dean of Instruction - Math and Sciences, effective March 1.
Previously, Shufro served as an assistant professor of chemistry and division chair of math and physical sciences at Georgia Highlands College in Rome, Georgia. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology and a master's degree in chemistry from Northeastern University in Boston.
Thank you to everyone who hosted a presentation during the Winter Summit on Jan. 6. We are constantly striving to offer meaningful sessions for both faculty and staff. To help us evaluate the quality of our offerings, we ask that you complete the feedback form by Feb. 1.
Years of Service Honorees Recognized
Congratulations to our faculty and staff members who were recognized for milestone years of service during the Winter Summit event. Dr. Washington and Board Chair Lucinda Stinson congratulated the group and they were treated to a to-go breakfast and swag.
To see the list of honorees, click here.
For photos from the event, see our the Flickr account.
Cafeteria, Starbucks Hours
The Cougar Cafe, located on the Texas Township Campus, is open 7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday - Thursday. Offerings include: Subway, coffee/tea, breakfast pastries, grab-n-go items, Coke fountain drinks, variety of canned & bottled drinks. Gift cards are now available!
Starbucks, located in the Student Commons on the Texas Township Campus, is open 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Monday - Thursday.
W-2s Now Available
The 2021 W-2s are now available via Banner Self-Service. As a reminder, if you wish to view them electronically, you will need to electronically consent when you try to view it. By doing so, you acknowledge you will not receive a paper copy in the mail and you will print any copies necessary to file your various tax forms. If you consented previously, your consent remains in effect and you will not receive a paper copy of your W-2 in the mail. If you wish to continue to receive a paper copy of your W-2, please do not consent to receiving it electronically.
Please see the document on the Employee Portal > Human Resources > Payroll Training Resources > W-2 Electronic Consent Information for details regarding electronic W-2 consent, including instructions on how to sign up.
For employees who prefer to receive a paper copy of their W-2, the forms will be printed and mailed no later than Jan. 31.
If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Herrmann at sherrmann@kvcc.edu or at x4068.
Phi Theta Kappa Resumes Mental Health Awareness Speaker Series on Jan 19
Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year colleges, will be resuming its Mental Health Awareness Speaker Series on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. via Zoom. Guest speaker and Kalamazoo Valley psychology instructor, Meredith Holland, will be discussing behavioral health and tips for its management. All are welcome to attend.
The Mental Health Awareness Speaker Series, which was launched last month, will feature presentations by mental health professional guest speakers throughout the academic year. The goal is to bring awareness to the importance of understanding and nurturing mental health and to enrich the lives of our college community.
For more information, email ptk@kvcc.edu.
Explore Your Inner Child at 'Toys II' Exhibit Opening Jan. 22
Get ready to learn the history of toys throughout the ages while reminiscing and playing with toys of days gone by! The "Toys II: Inside Story" exhibit features 20 play/learn stations and displays that illustrate the simple mechanisms commonly found in toys, letting visitors create their own toy-like combinations of gears, pulleys, linkages, cams and circuits. This exhibition was developed by the Montshire Museum of Science and TEAMS Collaborative, with funding from the National Science Foundation. It runs from Jan. 22 through May 1. Free.
Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is showing two videos of first-hand reflections of him, including a woman sharing how she marched with King when she was a teenager. A third video is a story about peace, a value King promoted. Watch the three videos online here from Jan. 10 through March 10 any time, as part of the museum's ongoing virtual Storytelling Festival. The videos are located toward the bottom of the web page after clicking on the live link above.
Student Services Contact Sheet
An updated Student Services contact sheet is now available for the winter semester. Please utilize it when referring students to the different services available on campus.
A number of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day activities are available through Kalamazoo Valley's annual collaboration with Western Michigan University and other local organizations. See the list of community events. Note that the web page is being updated.
In honor of Black History Month, Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Office of Diversity and Inclusion in collaboration with the Office of Student Engagement invites you to attend a virtual program "Beyond the Dream III" - a deeper look at the perspectives of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his impact on our nation, particularly throughout the South in 1967. This college and community-wide conversation scheduled for Feb. 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., provides participants the opportunity to listen and share thoughts regarding Dr. King's philosophies and their relevancy in today's society. For accommodations and registrations details, contact Trice Batson or Ezra Bell.
Center for New Media to Host Black Artists Exhibit in February
In collaboration with community partners, Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Center for New Media will host an exhibition of works by local Black artists in February 2022.
"We are confident that this event will build on the success of the first Black Artists Exhibit in 2020 and last year's virtual event," said Center for New Media Director Tom Hamann. "The community's great response to both events proved that there was a large and enthusiastic regional audience for this type of programming and exhibition."
The exhibition is part of the college's celebration of Black History Month. Artwork will be exhibited in the Center for New Media and its Arcus Gallery throughout the month of February. The exhibit's opening will coincide with the city of Kalamazoo's Feb. 4 Art Hop.
Physical works and digital image copies of work for the February art exhibit should be delivered to Cindy Parks at the Center for New Media on the Arcadia Commons Campus. Please schedule a date and time for delivery by contacting Cindy or call 373.7881. Works must be received by 4 p.m. on Jan. 28.
The Center for New Media is located on Kalamazoo Valley's Arcadia Commons Campus in downtown Kalamazoo.
For gallery requirements and the call for entries and loan agreement forms, go to www.kvcc.edu/artexhibits.
Diversity and Inclusion Spotlight: Ashleigh Colpetsir
Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Trice Batson, is launching this Diversity Spotlight feature as a way to elevate and celebrate people, practices and programs modeling the behavior of diversity, equity and inclusion. Watch for these monthly articles in KV Focus Plus and on the website.
Enrolling as a Kalamazoo Valley student was an eye-opener for Ashleigh Colpetsir, who grew up in a small rural community. "I was very intrigued with all of the diversity and wanted to learn more," she recalled.
Today she's an instructor in the college's dental hygiene program and she incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion training into a two-week-long unit on cultural competence. "Diversity, equity and inclusion is important in general and especially in health care where disparities have been identified," Colpetsir said.
Colpetsir first invited Trice Batson, director of diversity and inclusion, to speak to her students in the fall of 2017 and has invited him back each semester since. "We do a workshop on implicit or unconscious bias," she said. "Self-awareness is so important. Students need to be aware that biases do exist. We're trying to give them enough information to get their wheels turning and give them the tools to be able to identify those biases and do some intrinsic work on their own."
Colpetsir appreciates the way Batson is able to lead important, but difficult conversations. "We're not going to have positive change without putting ourselves in a position to be able to talk about uncomfortable things," she said.
In return, Batson says he "appreciates Ashleigh's foresight and courage to invite me into her classroom. She knows how important it is to NOT gloss over concepts such as bias, culture and social determinants of health; all of which her students will face one way or another as dental hygienists."
She is certain that DEI training is useful in all professions, but especially in health care where everyone should be treated with dignity and respect and have equal access to care." I don't know if most Kalamazoo Valley instructors know that Trice will come into their classrooms to talk about DEI," Colpetsir said. "He's great! I would encourage anyone to invite him to help initiate these important talks."
For more information about DEI initiatives on campus, contact Trice Batson or ext. 4119.
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