Join the GRCC Exercise is Medicine Team at the FREE American Cancer Society Making Strides of West Michigan Walking Event October 19, 2024  Support our GRCC community and families. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is a celebration of courage and hope, a movement uniting community to end breast cancer as we know it, for everyone. For three decades, these 3- to 5-mile non-competitive walks have collectively grown into the nation’s largest and most impactful breast cancer movement – providing a supportive community for courageous breast cancer survivors and metastatic breast cancer thrivers, caregivers and families alike. Event starts at 8 AM Walk starts at 10 AM Location: Calder Plaza 300 Monroe Ave SW Grand Rapids, MI  Registration at:   Join Making Strides   Exercise is Medicine video:  Moving Through Cancer Exercise Is Medicine is for all people living with and beyond cancer according to the  American College of Sports Medicine , the  American Cancer Society , the  American Physical Therapy Association , and the  American Society of Clinical Oncology . Exercise benefits during treatment include improved: Fatigue Quality of life Physical function Body composition Anxiety Depression Sleep Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema The American College of Sports Medicine’s Moving Through Cancer initiative offers  an educational booklet  that is also available  in Spanish , as well as a  program directory  to find exercise programs appropriate for survivors near you. The YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids has a Live Strong Program supporting cancer patients. More at  https://www.ymca.org/what-we-do/healthy-living/fitness/livestrong    

We’re just one week away from GRCC’s inaugural Giving Day! This is your chance to make a meaningful impact by supporting our students. Mark your calendar for October 10, and join us for a 24-hour celebration of generosity, community, and GRCC pride . What is Giving Day? It’s a 24-hour celebration on October 10, where faculty, staff, alumni and friends of GRCC unite with a common goal: to make a lasting impact on the lives of our students. This special day embodies our shared pride in GRCC and our commitment to helping current and future students succeed. Your Participation in Giving Day Will: Provide scholarships support to students to help remove financial barriers. Provide emergency grant assistance for students in need.  Provide financial support to keep the GRCC food pantry stocked. How You Can Make a Difference: Make a Gift:  Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us closer to building brighter futures for our students. Join the effort early! You can make your gift today by visiting  grcc.edu/givingday . Spread the Word:  Help us build momentum! Share this message and our social media posts with your network, and invite them to join in this meaningful cause. Together, we can make GRCC’s first Giving Day a huge success and help create brighter futures for our students. Thank you for being part of this incredible effort! If you have any questions about Giving Day, please reach out to Jenna Mencarelli at  jennamencarelli@grcc.edu  

As a reminder as the new school year gets underway, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex - including pregnancy and parental status - in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding.  If a student shares with you that they are pregnant, you are obligated under Title IX to provide the contact information for the Title IX Coordinator to the student. The Title IX Coordinator will be able to help with coordinating reasonable modifications and addressing other needs related to these areas. More information regarding pregnancy and parenting at GRCC can be found here:  Pregnant, Parenting and Childcare Resources . If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please contact the Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, Lisa Thomas, at 616-234-4999 or  titleix@grcc.edu .

Pop into Foodology (2nd floor ATC) and purchase some sweet treats made by the GRCC Culinary students this Thursday, October 4. 10:45 a.m. until everything is sold out! $5 small box $10 large box You pick and choose!

Technology Notification : Information Technology would like to remind faculty of the upcoming archival and deletion process for Blackboard Learn courses. As we approach the scheduled removal of Summer 2022 term courses on Thursday, October 3, 2024, we would like to emphasize the critical importance of maintaining course data. Timely adherence to archival procedures ensures the integrity of our educational resources, compliance with storage constraints, and seamless access for both instructors and students. For transparency purposes, the information below outlines the various timelines we adhere to.  Archival Timeline : Term courses within Blackboard Learn are available to instructors for two years after the semester in which they were taught. Upon the conclusion of a term, courses older than two years are archived and removed from Blackboard Learn. The offline archives are retained for an additional two years. Please note, if any existing courses in Blackboard contain links/references to Summer 2022 courses, those links will no longer function, as those courses and their content will be removed. Permanent Deletion: All Blackboard Learn courses that have been archived offline for more than two years will be permanently deleted. Instructors can request a restore of the course within the first two years of archival. Course Restore Request: To request a course restore, please refer to this knowledge base article . Additionally, instructors can manually create their own archive/exports at any time. For more information on archiving and exporting, please refer to this knowledge base article . Courses not associated with a term, such as templates, portfolios, master course shells, training and orientation courses, and any individual or departmental courses used for accreditation, are not subject to the standard archival process. Action Required: We kindly ask you to review your courses after October 3rd and report any possible issues to IT Support at itsupport@grcc.edu or via the IT Support Portal . We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring the smooth management of our Blackboard Learn platform. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to IT Support.  

Students and community members are invited to our Criminal Justice Career & Internship Fair on Wednesday, October 9.  The fair will be held from 9:00 a.m.-noon at the main campus on the Dr. Juan Olivarez Student Plaza. You can come at any time during this time. Be prepared to come and learn about career and internship opportunities within the Criminal Justice field! We hope to see you there!  

The government is once again offering free COVID-19 tests to all individuals for no cost. These tests are a valuable resource to help us maintain a safe environment on campus and in our community.  We encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity, whether you’re feeling unwell or simply wish to stay proactive about your health. You can find more details on how to obtain your free tests through USPS at this link:  https://special.usps.com/testkits Thank you for your continued commitment to keeping our community safe!

Attention all staff & faculty, GRCC is participating in the Real College Survey (QR code below). An email with the survey link went to all students last week and is being promoted a variety of other ways.  Please encourage students to complete the survey!   Each week, prizes are raffled off to participants. Prizes have been donated by the Fieldhouse, Athletics, Creative Dining and more!

Love the clean bathrooms?  Appreciate the quick response when a light bulb goes out?  Thrilled that the spill on the floor was cleaned up in record time?  Thankful you don’t have to clean up that overflowing toilet mess?  Happy to come in and find an empty waste basket and recycle bin?  Enjoy the vacuumed and polished floors that greet you each day?  Impressed that the exterior and grounds are in tip top shape?  And on and on… If you said yes to one or all of the above, then take the time to thank GRCC’s incredible custodial staff on Wednesday, in honor of National Custodian Appreciation Day (or any time really, they are awesome year round).   The custodial teams span three shifts in each building, working hard day and night to keep the campus clean and ready for students, faculty and staff. Thank you GRCC Custodians! You are appreciated!