Election Day is Tuesday, November 5.  Participating in elections is one of our fundamental rights and responsibilities as American citizens, and every vote truly matters. We encourage all employees to take the time to cast their votes on Tuesday, November 5. Please coordinate with your teams to ensure flexibility, allowing everyone to vote in the morning, during lunch, or in the afternoon without needing to use personal or vacation time. We ask that all offices remain open with adequate coverage during regular business hours, so we can continue our work while also prioritizing civic engagement. Thank you for being a part of our commitment to encouraging our campus community to exercise their right to vote. Together, let’s make our voices heard!  

All students, staff and faculty are invited. October 31 11 AM to 3 PM  Inside Student Life There will be activities, traditional Day of the Dead bread & drinks available and an altar as part of the celebration.  The Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is a multi-day holiday traditionally involving family and friends gathering to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died.   

The GRCC Finance & Administration team is excited to roll out a fully digital employee reimbursement form! Beginning Monday, November 4, reimbursement requests can be submitted via the Employee Online Center.  Instructions for completing the updated forms can be found on the  Employee Reimbursement Webpage  beginning Monday. In-depth instructional professional development offerings are available on Thursday November 7, in-person and virtually. Sign up for these sessions via the Employee Online Center.  Questions or concerns? Reach out to Grace Blanchard-Griffioen via phone at ext. 2177, or email, graceblanchard@grcc.edu .  

Do you have an employee who is leaving, transferring positions or retiring and want to make sure their access is removed for the systems they used? Here are some things to know about. Removing employees' access Network Accounts To have access removed from an employee’s network account, supervisors should fill out the Employee Separation service form upon separation with the college or retirement. This would include access to systems such as Peoplesoft, Web Editing Access, Document Imaging and shared Network Drives. To submit an Employee Separation, visit the  IT Support Portal . Google groups Each Google Group has one or more managers that controls the member access. If you have someone that needs to be removed from a Group, notify one of the Group managers. If you are not sure who the manager of a Group is, click the Member tab in a Group and the Manager(s) will be listed there. You can add or remove users from your Google Group by following the steps listed in our  knowledge base. Google Team drive IT has empowered managers of Google Team Drives to update access for their employees.  You can add or remove users from your team drive by following the steps listed in our  knowledge base .   Google Spaces/Team Chat IT has empowered members of Google Spaces to update access for their own chat spaces. You can add or remove users from Chat Spaces by following the steps listed in our  knowledge base .  Email An employee’s email access will automatically be removed when an Employee Separation request is processed. Separations are processed on the effective date which is typically the day after the employee’s last day. Supervisors should coordinate with their employee before the date of separation to transfer important departmental emails. Lastly, we strongly encourage managers to have their employees share the content of their Google Drive, J Drive, or GRCC email that may be relevant to their position as it becomes difficult to recover after someone leaves GRCC. For more information and helpful tips, please visit the  IT Support Portal  or contact the IT Support Desk at x4357.

Here’s a quick reminder of the TLDE Learning Sessions coming up in November! To learn how to register, go to the Professional Development Registration Process   webpage. Upcoming learning sessions Teaching & Learning with AI: A Community of Practice - TLDE Staff November 6   3-4 p.m. Virtual This session is an opportunity to come together to explore and discuss A.I. in service of teaching and learning. In this month's topic, we will discuss leveraging AI for course design followed by open discussion and sharing of ideas and practices from the classroom. Program Director & Department Head Table Talks - Shelly Richter  November 19 3-4:30 p.m. In-person Please join your colleagues at GRCCs PD/DH Table Talk. Each session will have a particular focus aimed at supporting your success in the PD/DH role. Session agendas will also include time for open dialogue, asking role related questions, seeking input on navigating challenges, and simply getting to know available resources, including your colleagues. Office Hours Reimaged Using Google Calendar -Justin Vogelar  November 13 3-4 p.m. HyFlex Get hands on practice creating an appointment schedule using Google Calendar and integrate it with your Blackboard course. Learning Circle: Cultures of Growth by Mary C. Murphy - Amy Lyn and Rachel Lutwick-Deaner  November 12 4:30-6 p.m. Virtual Learning Circle: Grading for Growth by Mary C. Murphy - Lauren Woolsey View resources and meeting dates on Padlet In-person Training by department request  Email TLDE to schedule one of the workshops below for your area. UDL: Teaching for All Learners In this session, we will explore the research supporting UDL and consider ways to apply the UDL Guidelines in your classroom. If you are new to UDL, this workshop will help you to unpack the guidelines and share your insights. If your comfort with UDL falls further along the continuum of experience, this workshop will invite you to take your learning deeper and share your expertise. Understanding How Attendance Can Impact Our Students This presentation will give an overview of the GRCC attendance policy and how it works. We will also cover the different components and how they can affect a student's progress. Additionally, we will share strategies for how to monitor attendance and communicate with students about absences. Teaching With Panopto In this Panopto session, we’ll cover the basics—logging in, recording, organizing, and sharing videos—then dive into advanced features like the desktop recorder, video editing, quizzing, and LMS integrations. Traveling with Students Off Campus This session will prepare attendees to successfully create and facilitate a range of employee-led travel experiences designed to enrich the student experience. We will review the College Sponsored Student Travel policy and procedures and answer two questions; "What does the college need to know to approve/support a travel experience?" and "What do employees/students need to do once the trip is approved?" Tending the Garden: Promoting a Culture of Academic Integrity As educators, we sow the seeds to grow and support academic integrity. Rather than AI becoming an unwelcome intruder, let’s discover how we can use AI as a tool for opportunity and growth. Equipped with this knowledge, how can we leverage strategic course design, cultivate a sense of community, and empower students to embrace academic integrity? We’ll explore this self- paced asynchronous Canvas course. Other offerings Visit the TLDE Learning Sessions page to learn more about other sessions being offered throughout the academic year.    

The holiday season is almost here, and Dell is excited to bring you exclusive offers during our Early Holiday Savings Event starting 10/28 – 11/10. Get ready for the biggest savings of the year on our top-of-the-line tech. Use your exclusive MPP coupon for an extra 5% off.  Shop Now at:  Dell.com/MPP Few of our featured limited-time offers below - save an extra 5%:   Inspiron 15 Laptop | $429.99 | Save $120 i5 | 16GB | 512GB SSD  On-sale 10/28 - 11/3  XPS 13 Laptop | $1,499.99 | Save $500 Ultra 7 | 32GB | 1TB SSD  Alienware x16 R2 Gaming Laptop | $1,599.99 | Save $500 Ultra 7 | 16GB | 1TB SSD  On-sale 10/28 - 11/3  Dell UltraSharp 24 Monitor - U2424H - $234.99 | Save $15 On-sale 10/28 - 11/3  Members save an additional 5% on select Dell.com purchases with this exclusive coupon.   Request your exclusive coupon at:  Dell.com/MPP Verify work email through “Get Coupon” button. Copy & paste coupon in checkout. Exclusions may apply.

  The Secchia Institute for Culinary Education, in collaboration with the MRLA.  hosted the ProStart Bootcamp on Friday, October 25. This event brought together 130 high school students from across Michigan participating in the MRLA's ProStart program – a unique blend of culinary arts and hospitality management training to prepare the next generation of industry leaders. With over 80 high schools in Michigan participating in ProStart, this program reaches more than 6,500 students annually. All of them are preparing for regional competitions to potentially earn a spot in the national spotlight. For us, this boot camp was a tremendous opportunity to showcase the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education's state-of-the-art facilities to students who are on the cusp of making decisions about their college careers. ProStart utilizes "The Foundations of Restaurant Management & Culinary Arts" curriculum and ServSafe guidelines, equipping students with well-rounded, career-ready skills that directly translate to the workplace.  Hosting the ProStart Bootcamp allowed us to engage with future culinary and hospitality professionals and their faculty and mentors.  Big kudos to Chef Sean Marr, who was instrumental in organizing this event. Chef Marr shares a passion for the ProStart program because when he was a high school student he participated in ProStart, which helped launch his culinary career. Chefs Bob Schultz and Katy Waltz were other faculty volunteers that day, and Quinn Thomas and Seho Lee were student volunteers. As always, for events like this, our culinary operations team, led by Michael Kidder, ensured that our facilities were in tip-top shape.      

We want to provide you with important details from the City of Grand Rapids about the upcoming closure of the Division and Lyon intersection as well as provide an update regarding the intersection work at Division and Fulton. Starting Thursday, October 31, the Division and Lyon intersection will be closed for approximately 5-6 weeks. The Division and Fulton intersection is scheduled to reopen on November 11. This means that both the Division/Fulton and Division/Lyon intersections will be closed from October 31 to November 11. For your reference, we've attached a map outlining the planned detour routes. We encourage you to plan accordingly and give yourself extra time to travel to and from Main Campus. Thank you for your cooperation!    

The G3 program started in 2016 and was created to provide support for young ladies to assist them in developing life, self-esteem and career skills.  GRCC women employees volunteered to help kick-start this conference with girls from different GRPS schools. The girls each met their facilitator, an individual who is an advisor, a teacher or an advocate they can connect to from the school. Throughout the year, scholars will engage in monthly workshops, conversations or activities to support this year's theme of "Sisterhood." The year will conclude with a closing conference to be held at GRCC Ford Fieldhouse in May 2025 where scholars will present on their progress for the year.