OFE 2023

• The top six individuals are all within 6,000 steps of each other
• The top five teams are within 30,000 steps of each other    

New College Collateral Available

1. Forward this message from your Kalamazoo Valley employee account to arr@kvcc.edu. You may also send a new message with "Employee Registration" as the subject. It must be from a "@kvcc.edu" address.
2. List the name and Valley number or birth date for each admitted person who will be registering.
3. We will add authorization to each person's record and reply to confirm.
4. Beginning Oct. 6, each authorized individual may log into MyValley, select "Register or Drop Classes" from "My Links" and register.

Updates from IT
The college takes seriously its responsibility to secure your personal information as well as the college's technical systems and resources. To improve cybersecurity the college has implemented additional security features and practices, such as multi-factor authentication, system log alerting, and engaging security partners to establish constant threat monitoring and response. We are planning more security and infrastructure enhancements to further strengthen our cybersecurity defenses.

The college will continue to enhance our cybersecurity tools, but user activity remains the most commonly exploited method of attack. Kalamazoo Valley will be starting a new KnowBe4 security campaign in October, and all employees are strongly encouraged to participate.

Please take the time to look at some of the cybersecurity resources linked below to help you stay cybersafe:

• Social Engineering Red Flags
• Look Out for this Two-Step Cyber Attack
• Security Awareness Training

Unfortunately cybersecurity threats are constant, and attacks directed against the college's IT resources are an everyday reality. We will continue to use the resources at our disposal to safeguard the integrity of our computing environment.

Loaner Laptop Program
Kalamazoo Valley's student laptop checkout program has been very successful in providing needed technology for our students. To date this program has provided laptops for hundreds of students, removing a barrier to learning and improving the chances of student success.

This semester the demand for checkout laptops has been significantly higher than previous semesters, with 525 laptops issued. While this is a testament to the success of the program, the increased demand has exhausted the available supply and we currently have no more laptops to issue to students.

Kalamazoo Valley is pursuing options to address this need, including increasing our laptop numbers and making further efforts to retrieve overdue laptops. We will send an update when we have additional laptops to issue.

Club Advisors Needed

Welcome New Employees
The following employees were hired or promoted to full time between July and September 2023. Join us in welcoming them.

• Devon Byrd, gym facilities coordinator
• Tyler Coughlin, custodial services manager
• Christopher Duchesneau, financial aid advisor
• Donald Florinchi, assistant director of financial aid
• Jason Garza, faculty-HVAC, industrial electricity
• Jeffrey Harms, brewery operations and maintenance coordinator
• Thomas Hunt, Food Hub flex � technician
• Beth Keith, horticulture lab coordinator
• Demond Jackson, Kalamazoo Promise coordinator
• Kevin Lavender, interim director, Early/Middle College
• Allison Lay, office manager,Student Development Services
• Ka Kit Leng, systems analyst/developer
• Jessica Lutz, financial aid advisor
• Ashley May, events coordinator
• Miranda McDowell, coordinator of student onboarding and organizations
• Vera Prince, administrative assistant in the president's office
• Alisha Siebers, associate vice president of college advancement and executive director of the KVCC Foundation
• Austin Wertheimer, Food Hub operations coordinator
• Adam Westhouse, program coordinator, corporate training
• Nicholas Yahr, systems analyst/developer

Flu Shot Clinics Scheduled for Employees
Kalamazoo Valley Community College is hosting flu shot clinics for all employees. The first clinic will be held at the Texas Township Campus on Wednesday, Oct. 11 from 1 - 4 p.m. in Room 5740. Reserve your spot by clicking this link and completing the required information.

A second clinic will be held at Anna Whitten Hall on Oct. 13 in Room 204. Sign up here.

Space is limited, so please sign up as soon as possible and be sure to keep your appointment. If you have health insurance, bring your insurance card for billing purposes. Those without insurance may sign up.

If you have questions, contact Becky Craft, employee benefit manager.

Many Informational Sessions Available through TIAA
Yolanda Hines from TIAA, Kalamazoo Valley's dedicated financial advisor, is available for virtual one-on-one sessions. Sign up at this link. Live webinars are also available. Attending a live webinar can help boost your financial know-how. Find webinar times below and register for upcoming sessions at www.tiaa.org/webinars. Topics include maximizing your health savings account, investing for success, cyber security and more.

• A 20 oz. numbered, Kalamazoo Valley Sustainable Brewing branded mug
• $1 off all draft beer food and specials
• Priority registration for special events and membership renewal

Film, Panel Discussions and Trainings Planned this Fall

• Mental Health First Aid training | Nov. 1 | 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | TTC Room 4380
• safeTALK suicide prevention workshop | Nov. 14 | 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | AWH Room 207

• Ableism 101 | Oct. 10 | 1- 2:30 p.m. | Contact Trice Batson
• The "Crip Camp" documentary (rated "R" for adult themes) | Oct. 11 | 1 - 2:30 p.m. | TTC Room 4370 & 4380 

The film is about a groundbreaking teen summer camp that inspired some of its alumni to join the disability rights movement.

For questions, email Trice Batson, diversity and inclusion director. Learn more at www.kvcc.edu/diversity/.

Jennifer Wimbish Visits Kalamazoo Valley on Oct. 10

 

Featured Item: Hewlett-Packard Laptop, $646.79
Looking for an inexpensive, thin laptop with long battery life? Employees and students alike might be interested in knowing that Hewlett Packard 15.6" laptops are sold for $646.79 at the Texas Township Bookstore. This model has a drive capacity of 256 GB. Payment can be made using financial aid, credit card, cash or a combination thereof. The Bookstore also sells a number of computer accessories, such as keyboard protectors and laptop sleeves, carrying cases, hard drives and chargers. Buy in person at the Bookstore between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., or online anytime. Web orders may be picked up at TTC or the Anna Whitten Hall Library at the Arcadia Commons Campus in downtown Kalamazoo, or mailed to any address. Shipping is $5.

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Visiting Writer Sara Lupita Olivares
Kalamazoo Valley's "About Writing" Visiting Writers series is coordinated by English instructor Julie Stotz-Ghosh, Ph.D., and offers students and community members the opportunity to talk with professional writers and to listen to their work. The visits take place in the Student Commons Theater, Room 4240, at the Texas Township Campus. All events are free, open to the public and include a craft talk and a reading by the author.
 

 
 

Sara Lupita Olivares 
Oct. 19 | Student Commons Theater, Texas Township Campus
10 a.m. craft talk | 2:15 p.m. reading
Olivares is the author of "Migratory Sound" (The University of Arkansas Press), which was selected as winner of the 2020 CantoMundo Poetry Prize and the chapbook "Field Things" (dancing girl press). Her poems have appeared in The New York Times, "Hayden's Ferry Review," "Black Warrior Review," "Salt Hill Journal," "Quarterly West" and elsewhere. She is an assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois Springfield.

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Kalamazoo Valley Libraries: Resources for Health and Wellness
Visit us at the Texas Township Campus (TTC) or at the Arcadia Commons Campus (ACC) on the third floor of Anna Whitten Hall.
 
Why should students study in the library?
Research shows that viewing green plants and landscapes benefits mental health. 

• TTC Library: 96 enormous windows (or 3,024 square feet of glass) overlook the woods
• ACC Library: 39+ eclectic potted plants provide a green environment downtown

Check out books like Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us or The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Healthier, Happier and More Creative to learn more.
 
Database Spotlight: MedlinePlus
Are your students seeking reliable, accurate health and wellness information? MedlinePlus is a consumer health database published by the National Library of Medicine that covers all areas of medicine and dentistry. Learn about new treatments, look up information on a drug or supplement or get links to the latest medical research. You can even find healthy recipes and safety information. Access MedlinePlus through our Health Sciences Databases.
 
Be Well with Library Research Guides
In addition to books and databases, the Libraries have online guides dedicated to topics, both academic and personal. Point your students to these research guides that promote good health and positive habits with links to videos, books and websites.

• Concentration, Distraction and Focus
• Kalamazoo Area Food Resources
• VALLEY Reads: Reading at Kalamazoo Valley

 Hours and Contact Information

• Hours
• Email: libraries@kvcc.edu
• Call 269.488.4328
• Visit our website: www.kvcc.edu/library
• Chat: Ask a Librarian 24/7

Super Heroes at the Center for New Media
Art instructor Aubrey Rodgers has invited some special guests to her animation class this semester so the students could draw them. The Olivia Grace & Company characters stopped by Anna Whitten Hall last week and posed for some photos.

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Study Tips Session Offered for Valley Athletes
Valley athletes from all five sports last month attended the "Student-Athlete Study Table Kickoff," a first-ever event to hear from representatives from Kalamazoo Valley Community College departments with resources to assist academic success, including the Learning Center, Office of Student Access, the Libraries and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. They also received study tips from Aaron Williams and Jeff Stone, pathway advisors for Student Development Services, which organized the program. The event allowed athletes in different sports to get to know each other better.
 

Valley Basketball Teams Volunteer at Beyond the Backpack
Thank you to Kalamazoo Valley's women's and men's basketball players for volunteering at the Beyond the Backpack school readiness fair held Saturday, Sept. 9 at Bronson Park in downtown Kalamazoo. Nearly 800 families attended! We enjoyed meeting many of them at the college's information table. Kalamazoo Valley Community College was one of the sponsors of this annual program. More photos can be found here.

Proposals Wanted
Submit your proposals now for the Winter 2024 Summit. It takes place on the morning of Jan. 4, 2024 and includes the Board of Trustees breakfast and employee years of service recognition. Proposals are due Oct. 31.

  

New Exhibit Showcases Furniture from the last 200-Plus Years
Explore the Kalamazoo Valley Museum's furniture collection that spans over 200 years of history, from one-of-a-kind items to mass-produced pieces made by local and international craftspeople and manufacturers in "Off the Shelves: Exploring the Kalamazoo Valley Museum's Furniture Collection." The exhibit will run Oct. 31 through Jan. 21. The museum, which has a wide-ranging collection totaling around 60,000 items, is currently undergoing a large-scale project in collections storage. As a result, many larger objects which are often not in the exhibit limelight are freed up for viewing. The exhibit will display a range of objects the museum has, including trunks, chairs and other pieces that all tell stories. Learn some of their stories and find out more about the museum's collection.