Alumni Hoops Golf Tourney
Join Central College alumni, parents and friends of the men’s basketball program at the Central Hoops Golf Tourney, Thursday, June 15, at Bos Landen in Pella, for a shotgun start at 1 p.m. Cost is $90 and includes golf, cart, dinner, gift and donation to the program. RSVP to coach Mike Boschee by Friday, June 9. E-mail boscheem@central.edu or call 641-628-5225. Make checks payable to Central College Men’s Basketball and mail to 812 University, Box 6600, Pella, IA 50219. For more information, go to http://www.central.edu/alumni/events.html.

More gatherings
Alumni will gather at Eastern Market in Washington, D.C., Saturday, June 24.

Join alumni, parents, friends, students and guests for an open house and dinner at the home of Sandy Saxena and LeRoy Timmer ’59 in Lombard, Ill., Sunday, June 25.

Graduates of the last decade (GOLD) are invited for an evening at an Iowa Cubs baseball game and picnic Wednesday, July 19.

Alumni, parents, friends, students and guests are invited to the Hunziker House at Reiman Gardens in Ames Thursday, July 20, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

An alumni event is being planned in Waterloo for July.

For more information about all these events, go to www.central.edu/alumni/events.html.

General Synod on campus
The 200th session of the Reformed Church in America General Synod will be on campus Thursday-Tuesday, June 8-13. Central will welcome nearly 600 delegates, official guests, chaplains and denominational executives for the event. For the first time, plenary sessions will be held in Kuyper Fieldhouse and daily worship services in Kuyper Gymnasium. A 24/7 prayer vigil for Synod will be held at Peace Lutheran Church. Saturday night, June 10, from approximately 9-11 p.m., Central will host a root beer float and popcorn reception for all of the meeting participants.   

All plenary sessions, unless the Synod moves into closed session, are open to interested visitors. Some of the interesting topics included in this year’s meeting are:

• Honoring covenant commitments among the various denominational sub-groups;
• Confessional approach to racism — three different commissions in the denomination have submitted recommendations for this Synod to address racism issues in the RCA;
• Dialogue on the church’s response to homosexuality;
• Report on human sexuality and marriage.

To see an overview of Synod activities, go to www.rca.org and click on General Synod. The May issue of the denominational magazine The Church Herald also includes a preview of Synod with photos from Central’s campus. For additional information, contact Don Morrison at ext. 5280.

Central College Pods declared green with gold rating
1203 Independence, known on campus as “the Pods,” is one of two buildings in Iowa to be selected to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building gold rating from the United States Green Building Council. Vermeer Science Center received the state’s first LEED-rating earning silver in 2003.

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 Pods, a 15-pod unit structure with 60 bedrooms that house 120 students, is the first residence hall in the state of Iowa to receive this award.

Geisler Library and media center summer hours 
Geisler Library and media center’s summer hours are:
Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Closed evenings, weekends and holidays.

KAC summer hours
Summer hours for employees, public and sports club members are Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. KAC is closed Saturdays and Sundays. Special hours will take effect when the General Synod is on campus Thursday-Tuesday, June 8-13. KAC will be closed to all users Thursday, June 8, with the exception of the fitness center and racquetball courts.

Thursday, June 8 Closed

Friday, June 9 Open 5:30-7:30 a.m. (Central athletic teams only)

Open 12-1:30 p.m. (racquetball and fitness center use only)

Open 4-7:30 p.m. (racquetball and fitness center use only)

Saturday, June 10 Open 6-8 a.m. (General Synod use only.)

Sunday, June 11 Closed

Monday, June 12 Open 5:30-7:30 a.m. (Central athletic teams only)

Open 12-1:30 p.m. (racquetball and fitness center use only)

Open 5-7 p.m. (racquetball and fitness center use only)

Tuesday, June 13 Open 5:30-7:30 a.m. (Central athletic teams only)

Open 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

(racquetball and fitness center use only until clean up is completed)

Wednesday, June 14 Regular hours resume 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

(limited floor availability until clean up is completed)

CampusTown
CampusTown will be published once a month during the next two months: July 12 and Aug. 2.

Van Wyngarden leads Elderhostel
Diane Van Wyngarden (extended education) was the course developer and lead instructor for the national Elderhostel program Exploring Unusual Communities:A Touch of History, A Taste of Utopia. The seven-day course led 43 people from 16 states through Iowa and Illinois, visiting inside the homes and domes of Old Order Amish, Mormons, Icarians, Vedic City Maharishi, Amana Colonies and Postville Hasidic Jews. The group also learned from 21 adjunct instructors, including Phil Webber (modern languages) about utopian societies of yesterday and today. Following completion of the May 7-13 program, the national Elderhostel office in Boston announced the program’s evaluation ranked among the highest they’ve received from participants in recent years. Registration is now open for this course to be held again in October.

Hartman presents workshop
Mark Hartman (music) presented a workshop at the Iowa String Teachers State Conference in Des Moines May 13 titled “Developing the Mind and the Fingers: An Approach to the Development of Technique on String Instruments Based on Jazz Harmony.”

Vande Voort helps plan conference, re-elected as representative Pamela Vande Voort (education) served as president of the Iowa Association of Family and Consumer Sciences this past year, and presided at their annual conference April 21-22 in Des Moines. The theme of the conference was “Many Faces — One Profession.” Conference highlights included a tour of Meredith Corporation’s Better Homes and Garden’s test kitchens, photo studio and gardens, a tour of East Village, and a variety of speakers including interior designers, entrepreneurs and dieticians. Vande Voort also was a member of the planning team for the conference.

Vande Voort recently was re-elected to serve a second three-year term as the Central Iowa Classis representative to the Reformed Church in America Synod of the Heartland Discipleship Team (Christian Education).

No news.

Congratulations to Tracy and Matt Paulsen (athletics) on the birth of a baby girl, Tess Ellyn, May 29.

Mike Allison has rejoined facilities management as part-time grounds and utility worker.

Wally Kenison joined dining services as assistant director of catering.

The van headed east again! Off to Chicago to participate with 12 other colleges in a review of the feedback report of the AQIP Systems Portfolio and plan for the future. The next step in the re-accreditation process was to develop processes and plans for dealing with the items and issues identified in the feedback report.

The entire group of 13 schools met to learn about the changing climate of higher education and how accreditation processes are changing. Each school assessed the culture of their school against guiding principles used in institutions that are addressing improvement routinely. Schools shared best practices in helping their college improve.

Throughout the three days, Central’s group, made up of David Roe(president), Paul Naour(academic affairs), Barbara Bowzer (business and finance), Kevin Den Adel (accounting), Lyn Isaacson (Center for Academic Excellence), Steve Sanchez (academic affairs) and Vivian Rippentrop (academic affairs), worked together to learn new ways of dealing with campus issues and systematically solve some of the challenges identified through the feedback. There were many opportunities to work with trained facilitators who objectively observed the group at work and asked probing questions about the current practices and processes used at Central.

The Central team spent considerable time planning. For example, we brainstormed about the challenges of Central’s goal to attract 100 well qualified transfer students each year. We brainstormed about the perceived barriers for our students to study abroad. We thought about how study abroad could be a focal point in recruiting transfers. One of Central’s best practices to share with others was the encouragement of Central employees and students to ask tough questions which lead to improvement for the institution and moves Central forward. In addition, the group clarified and advanced the strategic planning process in the context of improving the ways Central College can achieve its mission with verve!

The strategic plan is evolving nicely as a large amount of information from a wide constituency is being processed. Four areas of focus are:

1.) Curricular — Enhancing Academic Quality through core renewal and weaving cultural affairs and arts education through the curriculum.

2.) Co-curricular — Advancing the health and wellness initiatives and review and renew residential life programs.

3.) Community — Build a community where personal and shared responsibility results in active participation and evaluation of all we do to support academic quality.

4.) Culture — Enriching Central’s culture through celebrating our history, enjoying our present and shaping Central’s future through care and precision.

The planning process continues and will result in a plan ready for distribution in the fall.

Vivian Rippentrop

A Cappella Choir and Chamber Singers take annual tour
May 15-24, 50 A Cappella Choir and Chamber Singers performed in several different venues in Iowa, Ohio, New Jersey and New York including St. Paul’s Cathedral on Broadway across from the World Trade Center site. The program included a variety of works from many countries and style periods including music by Weelkes, Palestrina, Bach, Beethoven, Orban, Manuel, Stroope, Child and Biebl.

Senior class gift
The senior class met their participation challenge of 40 percent to achieve the president’s office 1:1 match and are close to capping off its dollar goal of $1,700 needing just $96.

Fundraising efforts will continue of approximately another $5-6,000 and next steps are being planned to begin design and construction of a frisbee disc golf course on campus this summer.

Independence Day
All general offices will be closed Monday, July 3, and Tuesday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. There may be exceptions based on the need to cover ongoing services. Therefore, select personnel may be required to work, which will be arranged by immediate supervisors.

Summer attire for all office personnel
Office casual attire presenting a favorable and professional image will be permitted this summer through Friday, Aug. 11, for all administrative, support and student staff. Unacceptable summer attire for office personnel includes: T-shirts, halter tops, jeans, skorts (skirts/shorts combo) or shorts of any kind (no athletic, denim or walking shorts) athletic shoes or beach sandals (i.e. flip flops/thongs made of rubber or hard plastic material). Acceptable clothing includes: Central logo shirts with collars, Capri pants and dress sandals. Remember, through the professional image we present, “We create dynamic growth adventures which promote opportunities to improve lives.”

Summer coupons
Discount coupons are available in the human resources office for Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun in Kansas City and Adventureland in Altoona.

Open Positions

Administrative Staff Openings

Residence Hall Director

Catholic Campus Ministries Coordinator

Director of Merida, Mexico Study Program

Director of Annual Fund

Counselor (Half-time)

Admission Representative

Assistant Director of Academic Records and Registration

Director of Development

Support Staff Openings

Catering Chef Coordinator

Day Custodian

Please click on the position that interests you to see a detailed description. If you would like to download an application, click here or visit the college Web site at www.central.edu for more information.

Central College is strongly committed to creating a diverse community. In furtherance of that commitment, the college encourages candidates from diverse backgrounds, under represented groups, and/or those who have had experience working with and/or interacting with individuals from diverse populations to apply. Central College is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and actively seeks a diverse pool of candidates.