April 13, 2009 The Digest

The work-out sessions are held in Room 6040. They are open to students as well. No sign-up is required.

Program coordinator Blake Glass reports that KVCC employees also have the opportunity to have up to five sessions with a personal trainer. “If you are interested in getting some help with beginning an exercise program,” he said, “or maybe adjusting your current regimen, then call the Wellness and Fitness Center desk at extension 4184.” Corrections Academy IV set for fall

Having received state approval, KVCC will offer a fourth Corrections Academy in the fall.

The dates will be Sept. 14 to Oct. 9.

Under the auspices of the Kalamazoo Law Enforcement Training Center at the Texas Township Campus, the next edition of the Corrections Academy, which prepares people for jobs in county jails and other lockup facilities operated by municipalities, will be held on the Arcadia Commons Campus as the third one has been.

The fee for 160 hours worth of training in 14 modules is $1,100.

David Reid, the in-service training coordinator for the center that includes the Kalamazoo Police Academy, reports that the third academy produced a “healthy” waiting list, which set the stages to conduct a fourth. Those interested should contact him.

Past enrollees hailed from sheriff’s departments in Kalamazoo, Van Buren, Cass, Barry, Branch and Allegan counties. About half were in an in-service mode because they already were in the profession while the others have been using the academy to launch a career.

The concept of an academy, he said, sprang from state legislation that now requires certification for professionals in the corrections field.

“Most of the enrollees come from those already in the profession who now need the required state certification,” Reid said, “but there are people who are interested in establishing careers in the corrections field.”

Those who successfully complete the 160 hours of training will also receive 10 credit hours that they can apply to a degree in criminal justice at KVCC.

The college’s center, which is directed by Rick Ives, is offering the academy in conjunction with the Michigan Sheriffs Coordinating and Training Council.

“The academy was created,” Ives said, “to not only meet the need for corrections certification, but also to offer a different kind of career opportunity to KVCC students. Pre-certified candidates would set themselves up with an edge in the employment market.”

All of the instructors are certified and approved by the council.

Completion of the 160 hours of training becomes one of the requirements needed to become certified as a corrections officer. Each enrollee must have a high school diploma or its equivalent.

The 14 training modules are: booking and intake, correctional law, cultural diversity, custody and security, defensive tactics, ethics in corrections, fire safety, interpersonal communications, prisoner behavior, report writing, workplace harassment, stress management, suicide prevention, and first aid, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, and automated external defibrillator (AED) familiarity.

For information about the academy, contact Reid at (269) 488-4459 or dreid9615@kvcc.edu. Another source of information is at the college’s web site – www.kvcc.edu – under the keyword of “Corrections Academy.”

New internship venture placing students

KVCC’s Community Partners Internship Program, launched in January, is off and running.

Funded for a three-year period by the KVCC Foundation, the $100,000 project seeks to place at least 55 students over a three-year period with enterprises interested in a grow-your-own-workforce alliance.

The bulk of the grant funds will be used to pay up to 50 percent of the wages for each intern, with the companies they work for providing the balance. The program will last through December of 2011.

Salary terms are established on a case-by-case basis and agreed upon prior to the commencement of the internship. The pay can range from the minimum wage of $7.40 to $12 per hour.

An internship usually lasts 15 weeks, but students can apply at any time and be assigned year round.

“The number of students who take part could increase,” said Diane Vandenberg, assistant director of the KVCC Student Success Center, “if a company agrees to increase the ratio to 75-25, or to pay the entire amount.”

Lois Brinson-Ropes, the internship coordinator for the center’s Student Employment Services unit, said the initiative is targeting enterprises involved in bio-medical services, alternative energy, and the digital arts, but companies involved in other sectors of the regional economy are also invited to take part.

“We see this internship program as the college’s wish to join forces with Southwest Michigan employers to produce and retain a highly talented and trained workforce,” Vandenberg said.

For many enterprises -- and not just those in emerging businesses -- the No. 1 factor for achieving success is finding the right people to fit the right jobs.  Internships are tried-and-true ways to “grow your own” and identify prospects with high potential.           

It’s the classic win-win equation:  great experience for those who are selected as interns and a no-strings-attached arrangement on the part of the employer because internships are basically akin to temporary jobs.           

The employer gets essentially a low-cost look at a potential permanent employee who could either be somebody who would not be a good fit or somebody who has “the right stuff” to be a future leader.           

In order to find that out, interns -- while supervised and operating within a structured work environment – can be given enough autonomy and enough leeway to determine their own direction. 

That allows the employer to evaluate the person’s judgment, how he or she works with other people, and work habits.  Few one-on-one interviews provide those types of measurements.

“This will give students a strong foundation of work experience,” Vandenberg said, “while providing an opportunity to cultivate professional networks that could jumpstart their careers with businesses in our part of the state.

“Because of financial constraints,” she said, “many students have not been able to participate in an unpaid internship program. KVCC will be able to attract more students in more career paths because of these paid internships.

“This connection with local businesses will allow students to practically apply what they have been learning in the classroom,” Vandenberg said. “Better yet, they will bring back that experience to our classrooms and help the college continue to provide relevant training and instructions.”

KVCC students can apply when they have achieved the skills and education required by the company offering the internship, and when they have completed 50 percent of the course work in their respective majors.

They will also be required to complete pre-employment-skills training provided by the center’s Student Employment Services. This training will include resume writing, effective cover letters, interviewing skills, professional attire, personal hygiene, promptness and dependability, communication skills, and non-verbal behavior.

Each company can request an intern based on the area of study, skills needed, duties expected, hours of work, and when the person is needed on the job. Each will select an intern based on the organization’s existing hiring methods and criteria.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, nearly 70 percent of interns receive full-time positions from their employers. This ratio has increased 13 percent since 2001.

Learn ‘Who Hit John’ at the museum

A mandolin, guitars, a banjo, a fiddle, a harmonica, a kazoo, a jaw harp, and an upright bass all will come into play when a Kalamazoo Valley Museum audience gathers to find out “Who Hit John” on May 7.

The quintet will wrap up the museum’s 2008-09 series of Thursday-night concerts

with a performance of its styles of bluegrass and folk music beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

Tickets are $5 and seating is limited in the Stryker Theater.

“Who Hit John” has been performing and jamming around Southwest Michigan since 2006 in bars, basements, street corners, and concert halls. The group is starting to branch out, with upcoming gigs at the Haymarket House in Chicago, the Fennville Summer Concert in Allegan County, the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and the Green Food Bluegrass Festival in Holland.

The band was formed by Nick "Hamdog" Vander Vliet on mandolin, Kris "Will DoLittle" Kehn on guitar, and Daniel "Catfish" McCartney on banjo and slide guitar. Shortly thereafter, Nathan "Django Watley" Dannison joined on fiddle, harmonica and jaw harp. The fresh-faced foursome went through a slew of bass players, before meeting recording engineer Ian "Dr. Hoot" Gorman while mixing its debut CD, “Old Gray Road.”

More information about events, attractions and tickets is available by checking the museum’s web site at www.kalamazoomuseum.org or by calling 373-7990.

Science Direct journals available through libraries

If the world is your oyster, then almost all of its pearls of wisdom can be found through the KVCC libraries.

Director Janet Alm reports that the libraries’ latest acquisition is the health and life-sciences collection of Science Direct, which offers peer-reviewed content dating from 1995 to the present.

The full text of nearly 1,000 life-science journals, now available via your computer, can be accessed by going to:

● KVCC Libraries at http://www.kvcc.edu/library/default.htm

● click on "Find articles," then

● click on "Science" or "Health Sciences/Dental Hygiene/Nursing.”

● "Science Direct - Health & Life Sciences"

To limit your search to full-text articles only:

● Click on the "Advanced Search" link

● In the "Sources" pull-down menu, click on "Subscribed sources"

For assistance with this new resource, contact the Texas Township Library at extension 4380 or the Arcadia Commons Library at extension 7848.

Easing exam-week stress

A pair of “Stress Relief Days” are planned to help both students and faculty survive final-exam week of the 2009 winter semester.

Free massages by Kalamazoo Center for the Healing Arts practitioners and free munchies are planned for Wednesday, April 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and again on Thursday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Each “Stress Relief Day” will be held in the Student Commons Forum.

Spreading the word

OK, your new program, project, activity, community service or happening has been given the green light by the powers-that-be. Or, you have been selected to make a presentation at a statewide or national conference.

Your next telephone call or e-mail should be to Tom Thinnes (extension 4280, tthinnes@kvcc.edu) to begin spreading the word both around the college and around the community.

Don’t - REPEAT - don’t wait around until the week before to contact those whose duties include public relations, promotions, marketing, communication and dealing with the news media.

What’s important to remember is that members of the news media and other vehicles of communications don’t sit on their hands waiting for calls giving them clues on what to do.

As with all of us at KVCC, they have schedules, full platters and agendas, and plenty to do. They appreciate as much advance notice as the rest of us so that they can properly apply their resources and their responses.

The same modus operandi applies to those who organize and present annual and repeating events. They, too, are often just as newsworthy and require as much advance notice in order to generate the public exposure many of them deserve.

Helpful Hint No. 2 - There is no such animal as making a contact too early.

Helpful Hint No. 3 - If something in the program, project, activity, community service or happening changes or is eliminated, make another contact - and quickly -- so that the material/news release can be revised or updated.

When the college’s “branding” initiative reaches its conclusion, all of this will come into play - so be ready.

And finally. . .

In one of the major scientific breakthroughs, a modern-day Dr. William E. Upjohn discovered a way to package knowledge in a pill.

Given a “math” pill, a young woman began reciting trigonometric equations and the Pythagorean Theorem.

After a fellow downed a “history” pill, he began to expound on the significance of the Spanish Inquisition.

The ultimate test would come with a “philosophy” pill. This time, a student choked and gagged, his face turning red.

“Man,” the student gasped. “That was hard to swallow.”

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