Vol. 3, Issue No.5                                                                                                                                                
March 20, 2015   
From the Hawk's Nest is distributed on the first and third Friday of each month. We need your input!  Please send your ideas for stories on upcoming events, reports on attendance at conferences, awards and honors received, photos or information on outstanding employees or students to Elizabeth Belcher, ebelcher@newriver.edu or Kelly Taber, ktaber@newriver.edu. The deadline for the next issue is 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. 

Jill Holliday Among "Generation Next" 

 

Make sure to look for Jill Holliday, Regional Director of Operations for Raleigh and Mercer Counties, in The State Journal's Generation Next: 40 Under 40.    

 

"'This year's class of Generation Next winners shows us the true Mountaineer spirit,' said Ann Ali, managing editor of The State Journal. 'These are the people who wake up early and stay late, but still find the time to volunteer and give back.' West Virginia will always have challenges in front of it, but each installment of the State's Generation Next is helping to overcome those barriers and build new bridges to a better West Virginia." 

     
Dr. Kyle and Ann Fort Scholarship Established

 
Dr. Kyle F. Fort, M.D., F.A.C.S., and his wife, Ann, have established endowed scholarships in Nursing and Allied Health at New River Community and Technical College's Mercer and Nicholas County campuses.

Dr. Fort has practiced medicine, specifically as a Board Certified Urologist, for more than 30 years in West Virginia. He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of New River CTC Foundation. He and Ann have served on the board for New River CTC Foundation and its predecessor for more than 20 years.

The criteria for the Dr. Kyle and Ann Fort Scholarship are as follows:
*    Preference for students attending the Mercer or Nicholas County Campus;
*    GPA requirement of 2.5;
*    Minimum of six semester hours; and
*    Students in nursing or allied health related programs.

In addition to the $10,000 endowments, the Forts have provided $500 at each campus in current funds so students will benefit in the upcoming academic year. Future awards will be made from the funds' annual earnings.

(l-r) Karen Harvey, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Ann and Dr. Kyle Fort, and Dr. Washington

"Dr. Kyle and Ann Fort have given so much to the College in their time and energy. This generous scholarship fund creates a legacy of their spirit of service and care for the well-being of our region by helping students who want to pursue careers in the health care profession," said L. Marshall Washington, President of New River Community and Technical College.

Inaugural Sector Strategies Meeting to be Held 

 

Mark Julian, WVCCTCE Director of Workforce and Economic Development, will be keynote presenter at the first Sector Strategies meeting to be held 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 23 at Raleigh County Campus. The meeting is hosted by New River CTC and Region 1 Workforce Investment Board.  

 

Julian also previously served as head of the Business and Industrial Development section of the West Virginia Development Office. 

 

Sector Strategies meetings aim to build partnerships between employers, training providers, community organizations, and other key stakeholders around specific industries to address the workforce needs of employers and the training, employment, and career advancement needs of workers.  

 

The initiative is part of Bridging the Gap, a U.S. Department of Labor TAACCCT grant involving all nine community and technical colleges within the state. Lunch is sponsored by Little General Stores, Inc. For more information about the initiative, contact Amanda Sauchuck at asauchuck@newriver.edu.
New River CTC Team Participates in the Higher Learning Commission's (HLC) Planning Workshop
 

As a kick-off event for New River CTC's acceptance in HLC's Persistence and Completion Academy, James Fedders, Interim Director of Institutional Research; Dianna Putorek, Instructional Specialist of Developmental Education and Educational Counselor; and Allen Withers, Vice President of Student Services, traveled to St. Charles, Illinois in early March for a first meeting held for institutions participating in the Academy. 

 
(l-r) Jim Fedders, HLC Senior Scholar Susan Hatfield, Dianna Putorek, and Allen Withers 
In addition to New River CTC, 22 other colleges and universities have been accepted in Cohort 4 of the Academy representing 15 states. The other West Virginia college participating in Cohort 4 is Huntington Junior College.   

 

The Academy has been designed to help institutions build capacity for improvement of student persistence and completion and assist in focusing institution efforts on three things: (1) collecting and analyzing relevant, granular data to determine the causes of student departure, (2) developing and testing strategies to deal with remediable causes, and (3) improving student persistence and completion. An HLC trained Mentor and a Senior Scholar will work with New River CTC's Academy team. 

 

Next steps include a "Data Discovery" visit from the HLC Mentor in preparation for the Academy Roundtable meeting scheduled for June 2015. If you have any comments or questions about the College's participation in the Academy, please feel free to contact Jim Fedders, Dianna Putorek, or Allen Withers.

From the Payroll Department: What happened to the Bi-Weekly Paydays?  


If you missed the Finance Office email to all faculty and staff recently, here is a quick update for everyone on the bi-weekly payroll change: Bi-weekly pay, along with the new OASIS HR/Payroll system, has been delayed, again.

According to WV State Auditor, Glen B. Gainer III, New River CTC is scheduled to be in group four of all WV State agencies that will go live. The date has not been established.

We will update faculty and staff once we have more information via New River CTC group emails and the Hawk's Nest Newsletter. There will be ample time to plan for your personal budget changes and for OASIS training.
MCC Employees Featured in Newlywed Game

  

Mercer County Campus newlyweds Raymond Frost, Trades Specialist, and Wendi Frost, Instructor, participated on The Newlywed Game Show on Valentine's weekend at Turnaround Concert and Gathering Hall.

   

Here are a few pictures from the event, hosted by Princeton Rennaissance Project:   

 
  

Women's History Month Movie and Panel Discussion 

 

A Women's History Month Movie Screening and Panel Discussion of "A League of Their Own" from 12:15 until 3 p.m. on March 30 with confirmed panelists Judy Stennett, Associate Professor of English; Jill Holliday, Regional Director of Operations for Raleigh and Mercer Counties; John Mullens, Associate Professor of English; and Nancy Wemm, Professor of Speech and Theater.  

 

"A League of Their Own" is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Lori Petty, Rosie O'Donnell, and Madonna.  

 

According to Wikipedia, "A League of Their Own" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2012 by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". 
In Gratitude

  

Dr. Kristi Dumas and her Sociology 210 class would like to thank everyone who participated in Day of Research at Raleigh County Campus. The class is excited about the data collected and intend to extend research on one of their topics.  

New Hire Note  


Deena Rodgers, previously Administrative Assistant, has transferred to Student Services as the Student Program Advisor at the Greenbrier Valley Campus.