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Community Open House
Community Relations Outreach held a very successful Open House on August 23 at Paris Gibson Education Center. The Open House was held to give community members the opportunity to meet Outreach instructors and register for fall personal enrichment and continuing education courses.
Great Falls College partnered with Great Falls Public Schools last year to combine the Adult Education Nitecap courses with the College's Community Enrichment offerings. Many of the College's non-credit courses are now offered at Paris Education Center and other public schools. Community Enrichment courses range from Belly Dancing and Italian Cooking to Woodcarving and Fly Tying. Professional and Continuing Education Courses are focused on upgrading your computer and professional skills. See the entire schedule at: http://outreach.msugf.edu/PDFs/Fall%202012_Outreach%20Schedule.pdf
Wight Graduates from HERS Institute
Laura M. Wight, Director of eLearning & Library Services, Great Falls College MSU, recently graduated from the HERS Denver Summer Institute. Responding to the current environment for higher education globally, the Institute had a special focus this year on Women Leaders: Facing the Challenges as We Re-Invent Higher Education. Her participation in the HERS Denver Summer Institute was sponsored by The Office of the President, Dr. Waded Cruzado, at Montana State University. She was selected to represent Great Falls College MSU through a process facilitated by Dr. Cruzado and former Dean/CEO of Great Falls College MSU, Dr. Joe Schaffer.
Congratulations 'Mastering D2L' Graduates
Submitted by Cheryl Stanley, Intructional Designer
Congratulations to the most recent faculty cohort to complete the Mastering D2L course! These full-time and adjunct faculty have gone above and beyond to further their mastery of the Desire2Learn learning management system. We congratulate them on their commitment to continued professional development and student success. I am forwarding the message below on behalf of the eLearning Instructional Design team:
I would like to announce that the following faculty have completed the Mastering D2L course this summer!
Courtney Johnsrud, Deb Newton, Elfriede Neber, Leah Ruggiero, Meredith Connie, Laura Craig, Michelle Storrusten, Sandra Bauman
Looking Back
Judy Hay, Assistant Dean for Student Services, reflects on her time at GFC as she prepares to leave for a position as Vice President of Student Affairs at Laramie County Community College in Wyoming. Join us for a Farewell Party in the Atrium at 4pm on Thursday, August 30.
My thoughts as I leave Great Falls College and all we collectively have done in a few short years are definitely a mixture of amazement, thankfulness, and satisfaction. 
I joined the College at the beginning of the formal and physical presence of our college on the campus of MSU in Bozeman. That year was definitely a highlight because of the excitement of helping to start something new with all new people who were inspired to make our mark with the students we were to serve. That group of faculty in Bozeman remain for me an exceptional team who form the core that is so successful now under the able leadership of Bob Hietala.
Here in Great Falls, where I have been since the summer of 2006 as the first Assistant Dean of Student Services, I feel so very proud to have been part of the formation of Student Central and developing of a team down there that are really the best at what they do. Through attention to professional development, team development, attention to how students experience us, and what we know they need to learn from their work with all elements of Student Services, I believe the College has a truly top-flight team working for and with them.
I remember when I first came to the College and the nervousness nearly everyone had about what someone in my position might do. That was both in Student Services and also with our faculty. Student Services folks wondered how I might change their world, and that was scary, and faculty worried about how I might change their relationship with students. Fast-forward to today and I have to smile at what all has happened in between! We quickly seem to have all grown to a good place with Student Services and with them actually leading the changes that happen there more than I do. With faculty, we have developed what I view as a very supportive environment for the mutual support of what we all do with and for students. I appreciate the fact that many faculty use me as a sounding board as they work with difficult student situations, and that they in turn are appreciative of the assistance I have lent them in terms of preventive measures that have helped them avoid problems altogether. That takes trust and confidence that I am very thankful for.
Working in the Community of Great Falls on behalf of the College has also been a high point for me. Our Bridging Opportunities group, the wonderful relationship we have with the Great Falls Public Schools through Tom Moore, Drew Uecker, and others has netted some amazing benefits for our youth in Great Falls and set us on a path of trail-blazing work in getting more area youth connected with what comes after high school. We have such a dedicated core of individuals we work with, and I am happy to already see that Dr. Wolff will carry on that work and take it to a new level.
Collectively, I am so very proud of what we all have done and continue to do at Great Falls College every day. We have made small and huge changes over the years that have made our institution more efficient so that we have always had resources to do what we need to do. We are transparent in our operations and have done brave things. One example is the quick implementation of our holistic advising model this past year that couldn't have happened without major adjustments in many other areas of the College. The evolution of our Learning Center has likewise been a wonderful story, and I am so thrilled to see it continue to grow and become such a hub of academic activity. There are so many other accomplishments we collectively have been able to achieve that I would go on for pages and pages. I will stop here and just say that it has been my high privilege to have worked here with all of the fine people we have at GFC. This may be the job in my career that I measure all others by, and that is always going to be because of the people who have been parts of every day.
Thank you all!
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