Candlelight Christmas — The Central College music department once again generates holiday spirit as it presents its annual Christmas Candlelight Concert. The concert, a Central tradition for around 30 years, takes place at 8 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, Dec.4-6, in Douwstra Auditorium. Admission is $5 for the general public, $2 for students and seniors and free with Central ID. Tickets can be purchased at the information booth in the Maytag Student Center.

Bob Schanke to Read — Author Bob Schanke, Central professor emeritus of theatre, will read from one of his most recent books, “That Furious Lesbian”: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 9, for the Writers Reading series in the Geisler Library Reading Room. A native Iowan, Schanke taught at various schools throughout his career including William Penn College, Susquehanna University, Midland Lutheran College and finally, Central College for 27 years. Schanke has achieved many accomplishments, including writing for more than 20 publications as well as numerous honors, offices and awards for his efforts.

Festival of Trees — Come see Central’s sesquicentennial Christmas tree at The Festival of Trees 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 3, through Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Pella Opera House. The festival will also be open 4-5:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6. The tree auction will take place 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6. Trees may also be purchased by silent auction in the days prior to the auction.

Cox-Snow Trio to Debut Dec. 8 — Members of the newly formed Cox-Snow Trio will perform 7:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 8, at the Cox-Snow Recital Hall. Members of the trio are Priscilla Hallberg, violin; Julie Sturm, cello; and Carol lei Breckenridge, piano. The program for the evening consists of “Trio in C Major” composed by Joseph Haydn, “Trio in D Minor” composed by Felix Mendelsohn and “Two Tangos” composed by Astor Piazzolla.

Save the Date for MLK celebration 2004 — Central College is hosting three different events in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2004. Each of these sessions will examine important issues of justice, hatred, bigotry and American history related to the work of King and other advocates for peace, equity and justice for all. Award-winning actor and performer Darryl Van Leer will re-enact three of Martin Luther King’s most riveting speeches in his Norm of Greatness performance, 2 p.m., Monday, Jan. 19, in Douwstra Auditorium.

Following Van Leer’s performance, Peggy Fitch (psychology) and Eddie Moore, Jr. (intercultural life) will lead a session focused on the current state of intolerance in America, 4 p.m., Monday, Jan. 19, in the Boat-Moore-Weller Rooms in Maytag Student Center.

Van Leer will wrap up the MLK commemoration with Rated: Malcolm X, 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the Graham Conference Center banquet room. Rated: Malcolm X is a high-acceleration performance of Malcolm X’s Message to the Grass Roots and The Ballot or the Bullet speeches.

Robin Martin (library) attended the Iowa Library Association’s annual conference titled “Planting the Seeds: Growing Leaders for Tomorrow” Oct. 15-17, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She also participated in the association’s annual planning retreat Nov. 7 at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Martin chairs the nominating committee and is a member of a task force planning ILA’s first leadership institute, which will be held at Central College, in August 2004.

Dawn Reece (sociology) attended the National Council on Family Relations annual meetings Nov. 19-22 in Vancouver, B.C. The meetings were titled, “What is the Future of Marriage.”

Lowell Olivier (conference services) attended the Region 6 fall meeting for the Association of Collegiate Conference and Event Directors International Nov. 13-14 in Kansas City. He is the Region 6 director.

Pat Joachim Kitzman (career center) visited the Chicago semester program Nov. 12-13. Along with touring the office, meeting with the policy board and touring the proposed new facilities, she visited three of our current interns on-site: seniors Amanda Salmond, Brooke Tham and Adam Weiler. Vivian Rippentrop (academic affairs), chairperson of the policy board for the Chicago semester, also attended and led the biannual board meeting Nov. 13.

Mary Stark (English) and Stephen Johnson (William Penn, biology) have a paper titled “Collaborative Teaching and Ecological Literacy” scheduled for publication in the winter 2003 issue of Academic Exchange Quarterly. The focus for this issue is teaching environmental literature. The pair also presented (virtually) two papers at the international conference on New Directions in the Humanities, held at the University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece, July 2-5, 2003.

No news this week.

No news this week.

Campaign for Central Update

Central College is seven months into the public phase of The Campaign for Central and has reached $38 million as of Dec. 1, 2003. The college plans to raise $50 million by June 30, 2005.

In the past few months, the office of development held events in Oskaloosa, Des Moines, Newton, the Quad Cities and Barrington, Ill. The college had great turnouts at the events and have been able to share memories, stories and updates on Central College activities with alumni and friends.

The development team will hit the following locations soon:

San Diego, Calif. Jan. 7, 2004
Minneapolis, Minn. January 2004
Washington, D.C. February 2004
Atlanta, Ga. February 2004
San Francisco, Calif. February 2004
Phoenix, Ariz. March 2004
Cedar Rapids April 2004

If you have any questions or want further information please contact the development office at 5282 or you can e-mail Jim Danks at danksj@central.edu or Deb Willhite at willhited@central.edu.

VSC News

The December issue of the magazine College Planning and Management will discuss Central’s recent LEED certification. A recent $20-million renovation and expansion of the Vermeer Science Center turned the learning center into a showplace for active, hands-on teaching and research. It is also the first building in Iowa in receive the prestigious silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Central was originally awarded a certified level ranking, but Central facilities manager Mike Lubberden appealed the decision to vie for the advanced silver rating.

“The standards for earning a LEED rating are very strict and the process is complex and energy intensive,” said Lubberden, who spearheaded the new additions and renovation and was named Iowa’s first LEED accredited professional. “However, this keeps the LEED building rating process meaningful. When we say we built an environmentally friendly building, we mean it.”

In order to become LEED rated, a building is held accountable in six different environmental categories: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency and low atmospheric emissions, materials and resources used in construction, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. The USGBC scrutinizes everything from a building’s collection of recyclables and site erosion control, to light pollution reduction, use of certified wood and the number of parking spaces available for carpools.

Out of a total 69 points achievable, Central earned 34 for features such as reflective white roofing, light fixtures that reduce night sky pollution and a solar powered fountain.

The systems portfolio steering team has been established. This team will guide the process for writing the institutional self-study for the next accreditation review in November 2005. The members of this team are: Mick Angel (athletics), Robert Franks (computer science), Jann Freed (business management), Pat Joachim-Kitzman (career center), Mike Lubberden (physical plant), Robin Martin (library) and Diane VanWyngarden (extended education). While these are the people responsible for directing the process, they will be reaching out to other faculty, staff and students to help them. In a culture of involvement, we are drawing upon the expertise and experience of those people closet to the situation in collecting the information that is needed.

This new accreditation process is based on involving people at all levels, sharing information among all people and gathering fact-based information to support decision-making. The process builds understanding of the interrelationships among our systems and processes. This knowledge is critical in reaching the goals identified in the institutional strategic plan and in operational plans.

On Dec. 2, the three action project teams and the systems portfolio steering team participated in the North Central Region: Accreditation and Continuous Quality Improvement — A Partnership Worth Pursuing Webinar. Webinars are conducted via a toll-free conference call and an online meeting using a product called Sametime by Lotus.

Please contact Jann Freed via e-mail with questions about AQIP or for more information.

Department: Student Support Services
Description: GEAR UP administrative assistant
Des Moines East High School
Hours: Part time with benefits, Mon.-Fri.
Academic year only, 20-25 hours per week
Grade: SC4 (minimum hiring range $8.35 - $8.95/hr)

Qualifications: Responsible to the director of Talent Search and Gear Up for performing a variety of administrative support activities. Requires additional secretarial training beyond high school including computer operations and general office procedures. The GEAR UP program is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Education.
Effective: Immediately
Deadline: Review of candidates will begin immediately.

If interested, please complete an application at human resource office or call 628-5199 or 628-7681 with questions. For more information on this position, please go to our Web site at www.central.edu/humanresources. Central College is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

TIAA-CREF Individual Counseling Sessions — Forty-five minute sessions will be available noon to 4:45 p.m., Monday, Dec. 8, and 8 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 9, in Graham Conference Center Rooms 2 and 3. You may schedule your appointment time by going to the Web at www.tiaa-cref.org/moc or by calling Anna Lowery at 1-800-842-2005, ext. 5633.

Staff Christmas Banquet — Don’t forget to return your RSVP slip for the staff Christmas Banquet 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 11, in Graham. This year’s theme is “150 Years of Holiday Tradition.” There will be the Festival of Trees again this year and our community service project will be to provide new or slightly used children’s winter hats, gloves and mittens to the Pella Community Food Shelf. You may also bring new or slightly used children’s books (reading, puzzle or coloring books) for distribution by the food shelf. Please bring the hats, gloves, mittens and books to the banquet Thursday night or you may drop them off in the human resources office by Wednesday, Dec. 10.

Christmas Break — We are pleased to announce that the college will be closed Wednesday-Sunday, Dec. 24-28. Offices will be open normal office hours on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 29-30, and until 2 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 31. Then offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, Jan. 1 and 2. This will add three paid holidays for all regular full-time and majority-time employees based on budgeted hours for the current fiscal year. Minority-time and temporary employees are not eligible for holiday pay. There are a few areas that will require minimal staffing during these days and the relevant supervisor will arrange the necessary coverage. This will allow travelers to make plans well in advance and all of us to be able to look forward to a refreshing break.

New Year’s Eve Release Time — Dr. Roe has approved an early release time of 2 p.m. for those employees working on campus on Wednesday, Dec. 31. In addition to the three paid release days during the week of Christmas, all regular full-time and majority-time employees who are working on campus that day will be paid from 2 p.m. through the end of their normal work shift for that day. Offices must have adequate staffing until 2 p.m. Please be sure to note the release time on your time sheet. Check with your supervisor if you have questions regarding release time.

Inclement Weather Policy — Since the college is basically a residential college, it is not possible to completely close the college in the case of inclement weather. Even if classes are not held, there are essential services that must be provided. Closing announcements will be made through mass voice mail, e-mail and local radio stations in Pella, Knoxville, Oskaloosa and Des Moines by the college relations office through direction of the president or a designated representative.

When the college is not officially closed, even though the weather may seem threatening, classes will be held at the discretion of the faculty member. Faculty members are urged to be sensitive to their own, as well as to, student safety in applying this policy. The policy is not intended to force people to take unwise risks, but rather to keep the academic program operating.

As is the case with faculty and students, members of the administrative and support staff will be permitted to exercise discretion with respect to the relative safety of travel to and from the work place. In this spirit, it is anticipated that staff members will make every effort consistent with their own safety to be at work. If the staff member is unable to get to work, notification to immediate supervisor is required.

When the president of the college, or his/her designated representative, officially closes the college, staff members will be excused from work and will receive pay in the following circumstances:

• The staff member is at work when the closing is announced and is released and paid for their regularly scheduled hours.

• The staff member whose work schedule begins during a closing will not be required to work and will be paid for their normally scheduled hours.

Those staff members who work in areas that cannot close, such as dining services, security, critical maintenance and snow removal should follow the specific procedures established for their area of operation. Employees in these areas will receive equivalent time off during the same week for the hours worked during the official close down period, based on the decision of immediate supervisor. Hours worked before and/or after the close down do not qualify for equivalent time off.

Staff members who do not come to work or leave the college at their own discretion due to inclement weather when the college is not officially closed down will be required to use vacation time, or to forgo their pay for those hours not worked. The absence will be considered excused. Supervisors may require that time lost from work be made up if the workload in their department makes this necessary.