Central Club raffle
The Central Club is raffling off a chance for a walleye fishing trip for six from Ballards Resort at Lake of the Woods in Minnesota. The trip includes four nights lodging, three days of guided walleye fishing and 11 meals. Winners can schedule their trip any time between May 15-Oct. 15 (mid-week rules apply). The raffle will be held May 1. Cost is $10 per ticket and all proceeds go to the Central Club. To purchase a ticket, contact Dave Pavlat (exercise science) at ext. 7636.
A Cappella Choir to sing in Des Moines March 2
The Central College A Cappella Choir will be the featured guest choir for Evensong at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in downtown Des Moines Sunday, March 2, at 4 p.m. A reception will follow. The event is open to the public.
Evensong is a historic, artistic Anglican contemplative choral service of music and prayer. The choir will perform the “Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis in C Major” by Charles Villiers Stanford and the anthem “Let the People Praise Thee, O God” by William Mathias. The exciting anthem was written for the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. It will feature Davis Folkerts, professor emeritus, on St. Paul’s grand 68-rank Casavant pipe organ. The choir is under the direction of Mark Babcock (music).
No news.
Employee Spotlight - Brianna Blake
Name: Brianna Blake
Department: Marketing and media relations
Title: Graphic designer
About me: A 2007 graduate of Morningside College with a bachelor's degree in advertising and graphic design; recently bought a house in Pella and will be spending a lot of time in the next few months painting and organizing; enjoys spending time outdoors with family and friends, especially water skiing in the summer.
Sabbaticals announced
Congratulations to the following faculty who have been approved for sabbatical leaves during the 2008-09 academic year:
Russ Benedict (biology) — fall semester
Gabriel Espinosa (music) — fall semester
Cathy Haustein (chemistry) — full year
Sam Mate-Kodjo (modern languages) — full year
Mike Patzia (philosophy) — full year
Mary Stark (English) — spring semester
Nominations for faculty awards
Nominations are now being accepted for annual faculty awards. Descriptions of each of the awards and a complete explanation of the nominating procedures can be found in Chapter 10 of the Faculty Handbook. Nominations for the Outstanding Performance Awards in the areas of effective teaching, professional growth and development, institutional service, and community service should be sent to Kevin Den Adel (economics/accounting/business management), chair of the personnel committee. Last year’s recipients were: Kris Kilibarda (education) and Debela Birru (economics/accounting/business management), effective teaching; Jim Shriver (chemistry), professional growth and development; Dave Pavlat (exercise science), institutional service; and Robin Martin (library), community service. Nominations for the David Crichton Memorial Award should be sent to Paul Naour (academic affairs), provost and dean of faculty. Last year’s recipient was Viktor Martisovits (physics). The deadline for nominations for all of the awards is Monday, March 31.
Hutch Bearce Community-Building and Faculty Leadership Award
The personnel committee is soliciting nominations for the Hutch Bearce Community-Building and Faculty Leadership Award. The award description and criteria are listed below. Please send nominations to Kevin Den Adel (economics/accounting/business management), chair of the personnel committee, by Monday, March 31.
This award pays tribute to the lasting impact Hutch Bearce, Central College’s academic dean from 1987-94, had on the college and the wider Pella communities. While serving in the leadership role as dean, he was known for his mentoring of new faculty, his sensitivity to the needs of others, his patience, and his integrity. In retirement, he led by example, freely giving of his time and professional talents in tireless service to a wide variety of community groups and causes.
This award is to be made annually to a member of the faculty in order to encourage and recognize:
- community building in fostering the creation and encouragement of community at Central College, and in serving as a bridge between Central and non-college constituencies to assist both groups to realize new potential in their mutual cooperation;
- mentorship of professional colleagues, including faculty, students and staff;
- leadership in guiding individuals and groups to serve others.
The recipient shall be recognized for these efforts over a sustained period of time especially in the category of community building and also in either one of the two other categories, mentorship or leadership. Service outside of the college which contributes to the recognition of the candidate’s contributions should have letters of support from those external sources, and these letters should be included along with the nomination from Central College colleagues.
Wilkinson receives award for directing
Ann Wilkinson (theatre) received an award for meritorious achievement in directing from the American College Theatre Festival, Region Five for the 2007 spring production of “Kindertransport.”
Freel completes training
Gayle Freel (facilities planning and management) recently completed and graduated from the Association of Higher Education Facility Officers’ (Association of Physical Plan Administrators of Universities and Colleges) Institute for Facilities Management. The institute is a four-track curriculum based on the disciplines of maintenance and operations, energy and utilities, planning, design and construction, and general administration.
Harris and Butt get grant
Eric Harris ’08 and Anya Butt received a $1,000 grant from IOWATER for establishing a Thunder Creek monitoring network and monitoring activities this year. Harris developed the proposal as part of his Environmental Studies Senior Seminar and will spearhead the activities this semester, as well as organize a Thunder Creek Watershed community council.
Korcheck presents paper
Kathy Korcheck (Spanish) presented a paper at the international, interdisciplinary conference The Spanish Civil War: History, Memory, Representation held in Cardiff, Wales, Feb. 8-10. The title of her paper was “It Just So Happens We’re Not Jews: Postmemory and the Appropriation of Trauma in C.M. Hardt’s Death in El Valle/Muerte en El Valle.”
Kiel official delegate at TLU
Annique Kiel (CCA) represented Central College at a president’s inauguration at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas, in January.
Strategic Planning Initiatives
No news.
Students Doing Interesting Things
Justice team helps tear down apartments
In an effort to reach out to others and care for the environment, Central’s justice team volunteered their time and efforts to help with the deconstruction of the married student housing apartments on campus.
Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, nearly 35 students removed materials from the apartment building with the hopes of salvaging some of the better quality materials to donate to charity. The team removed doors, exterior light fixtures and 30 windows. They saved some of the materials for a future mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico, and donated others to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Des Moines, where they will be resold to fund other Habitat projects. The team also collected almost 500 pounds of copper pipe and aluminum sheeting that will be recycled for compensation to be used to help fund a mission trip to Malawi, Africa, in May. While in Africa, students will work with children at an AIDS orphanage in the village Ntcheu through Save Orphans Ministries; they also will build a kitchen for the orphanage. The group will assist other families in the village as well.
The team received permission from Mike Lubberden (facilities planning and management) to salvage anything possible. The team also received help from Arvin Terlouw at Pella Rental and the members of Federated Fellowship Church, who donated tools and equipment to the cause.
Welcome
Mark Doll joined facilities planning and management as a custodian.
Best wishes
Leanne Halma, campus ministries office assistant, resigned.
No news.
We extend our sympathy to Trudy Van Zee (campus security) on the passing of her husband Clarence (former campus security employee) Jan. 30. Thanks to the Central community for the cards and continued caring and support after Clarence’s passing and following Trudy’s hip replacement surgery.
Benefit change: employee tuition reduction benefit
The budget committee approved the request to increase the amount of hours an employee could take per academic year from 10 credit hours to 12 credit hours. This would apply to majority-time employees or salaried employees who are .50 FTE or more. If you have questions about taking courses through Central, contact HR for more information.
Lunch and learn
A lunch and learn about “Everything You Wanted To Know About Financial Aid But Did Not Want To Ask Directly” will be Thursday, Feb. 21, from 11 a.m.-noon in Vermeer Science Center, Room 180. Jean Vander Wert (financial aid) and Carol Williamson (admission) will answer questions on Central’s financial aid. All employees, faculty and staff, are encouraged to attend. Bring your own lunch.
Open Positions
Central College invites applications for the following faculty position openings:
Tenure-track position in religion at the rank of assistant professor
Visiting instructor/assistant professor of chemistry
Tenure-track position in exercise science at the rank of assistant professor
Tenure-track position in physics at the rank of assistant professor
Full position descriptions can be found at www.central.edu/jobseekers/jobs.
To review general open positions and download an application click here or visit the college Web site at www.central.edu and select job seekers on the home page drop-down menu 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.
News items should be submitted to Abby Gonzales by noon Friday, Feb. 29.