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The rules change GRCC students can
soon pass their prerequisite
classes with a C- or
better grade. The Academic Governing
Council (AGC) voted
on Nov. 27 to change the
prerequisite requirements
from a C to a C-. The change
will take effect in fall
2008. It is a move to create
consistency and fairness
among students. Howard Shanken,
GRCC registrar, said the
previous policy was “allowing
students from others schools to get into classes,
but not our students.” The previous college
policy for students transferring
to GRCC was to
accept a C- and above
for transfer. For prerequisites,
students
were required to earn
a C or better. According
to Shanken, this
created a conflict. For example, a
student transferring
from GVSU who
passed a basic English
class with a C- could have those
credits honored and be able to
take the English 102 course at
GRCC. A GRCC student would
be required to pass English 101
with a C or better. “It should be the same; it
would make it fair for people
staying here. I’m in English 101,
and I’d be angry if I couldn’t
pass with a C-,” GRCC student
Ashley Leblanc said. “From a registrar’s perspective, you
can’t have one population treated differently
than another,” Shanken said. Laurie Chesley, Social Science Dean
for Associated Arts, said the uneven
requirements caused some students
to have advantages over others.
She led the committee
that recommended the
change.“It needs to be consistent,”
she said. Previously, professors
of prerequisite classes
weren’t enforcing the
standard. By announcing a set C- requirement,
Chesley hopes to encourage
fairness. “We need to reassure students
they have what they need in order to
enroll,” Chesley said. “It makes sense
for consistency in transferring. It’s a
prerequisite enforcement.” At the AGC meeting, faculty and administration
reviewed the proposal and
agreed upon a C- standard. A committee
conducted a study of schools around
the state, and found many institutions
accept a C-. GRCC student Shawn Schrotenboer
agrees with the change but says it should
be raised to a C. “How hard is a C? It would be more organized,” he said. Because of the change, courses will
have to be edited and rewritten. An
updated catalogue of classes will be
published in time for enrolling for the
fall 2008 semester. Students can pass prerequisites with a C-, but will still need a 2.00 GPA to graduate. A C- average won’t meet that level. Heartbeat of a nation Punkin and her son Paul
Shananaquet demonstrated
a hint of their cultural
lifestyles using nature and
symbolic drums. The Cultural Approach
to Modern Medicine took
place on Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. in the GRCC science auditorium. The goal was to
discuss the low knowledge
of medical care for her
people and their ways of
life. The Native American
Student Organization
sponsored this event and
about 20 people filled the
seats. Shananaquet, 46, is a
Pottawatomie Indian and
her name, Wa-sa-bien-no-qua, translates to Lady of Northern
Light. She is employed as a community
health representative and carries on
her family traditions of beading, regalia
making, and dancing. She believes
in spiritual philosophy and the Three
Fires, and wants to seek help for her
people in need of routine health care. “We have people that do not trust
the medical community, and we have
low knowledge of the medical care that
is provided,” Shananaquet said. Her job is to help assist individuals
in direct care, and she sees herself as
having a “second set of eyes” for people
that are not always aware. “Lately I’ve been working with
elders; it’s a very rewarding job,” she
said. Shananaquet talked about the hardships
of having to deal with society today
and related it to living in two separate
worlds. “You have to get along in this world,
get your education and find your nitch,
and make it through that,” she said.
Shananaquet has two children ages
23 and 24, and has a gift for relating
to the woods, plants, and the spiritual
life. “Be grateful when you wake up
in the morning that we can touch and
see,” she said. Birth and death is a natural process
for her people. Death is actually another
birth to the spiritual realm, and the earth
is actually what is being married to. Shananaquet attended the event
with her son Paul. They both pushed
the importance of the different types
of drums such as the Pow Wow, Hand,
Water, and Alaskan The drums have a wooden frame and are carved and hollowed out of log. Moose hide or
elk skin is usually
stretched
out across the
opening. They
are quite large
and are two or
three feet in
diameter. The Pow
Wow drum is
the largest in
size and represented
the Great
Lakes Allegiance. The American
Indian
drums are called “Anishinabek Dewegan”
and are referred to as the heartbeat
of mother earth. People from the Pottawatomie culture
believe the drum was the same
sound as the heartbeat of children in
their mother’s womb. “Never leave the drums unattended,
the drum is a living object that has a
spirit,” she said. She also believes everything was
awarded to them through a blessing
poll that was lowered to the earth,
flowing east to west. Life to their tribe was
understood as being water
based and they strongly rely
on Mother Nature to take care
of them, she said. “Negative things affect
people’s water. Going without
food and water is a reminder of
the things that are out there,”
she said. Paul Shananaquet played a
few drum solos to assist in the cultural
experience. He is in a clan
called the Sturgeon. One of the
songs he performed symbolized
flying over the earth and landing
softly. He feels as if he can always
learn from the drum. “The drum is the keeper
of all these songs. Learning
the drum is based on a
student teacher relationship.
It should always be
strong,” he said. Shananaquet supports the importance
of everyday involvement and
not losing touch with the environment,
to not forget that the center of the universe
is “us”. “We have to work hard each day to honor our gifts. When our work is done, we are called home,” she said. Tired and frustrated by GRCC Despite years of frustration at GRCC, one promising student is determined to attend law school. Clayton Jipping plans to transfer
to GVSU after two years at GRCC
came to a halt when he received
a 2.475 GPA. He said his GPA
was deflated by eGRCC and the
inaccuracy of the system. Winter semester of 2006 was
when everything was “screwed to
hell,” Jipping said.“I had a full 17 credits and wanted to take a two credit independent
study,” Jipping said. “To do so, I
needed to drop a class so that I could
enroll.” The eGRCC Web site is where
students register for classes view
grades, transcripts, and drop
classes. eGRCC does not allow a student
to take more than 18 credits, GRCC
Associate Director of the Enrollment
Center Peggy Hallacy said. Jipping said his nightmare only
got worse after dropping the class
one week into the semester. “I really thought I dropped
the telecourse,” Jipping said. “I
was waiting to be placed in the
independent study.” Jipping began the legwork to
make sure his educational plans were
going the direction he wanted. “I was assured time and time
again that the college was working
on it and this took time so not to
worry,” he said. He said he met with the Registrars
Office and different deans on the
fourth floor of Cook Hall. He was not
expecting the independent study to
become only one credit when he was
told it would be two credits. After
the semester ended, he received a
failing grade in the class he believed
was dropped. Jipping said that, with his
GPA now “in the toilet,” he began
another quest to rectify the situation. He got the run around, needing
documentation and refilling out
paperwork that he had done three
times before. He became frustrated
with lost and redone paperwork
and no clear answer on what’s next.
Jipping decided to walk away from
college. “I had been at it since December
of 2005, just before the winter
semester began,” Jipping said. “It
was now June and still I couldn’t
get a straight answer. Stuck with
this GPA and Grand Valley wouldn’t
accept me. I ran out of money so I
gave up. I decided to take some time
off and went to work out of state.” If a student discovers error,
whether it’s grades or records, they
should contact the Registrars Office
within a reasonable time, GRCC Registrar
Howard Shanken said. “Usually we expect hear from
students at the end of a semester,”
Shanken said. “This is done with a
visit to the Records Office or access
on the GRCC web site where the
student can fill out a record review
form.” “I really have no paperwork, and,
at the time, I was tired of dealing
with these monkeys on typewriters,”
Jipping said. “I was frustrated and I
really thought I dropped the class.”
The whole review process should
be done in a reasonable time at the
end of the semester Shanken said. These reviews go to a committee with
the appropriate members involved.
Shanken said documentation is important
and students should keep
everything like one would keep other
important documents. “We do not want students frustrated,”
Shanken said, “I love education
and want to help.” The Registrars Office will try to
take the pain out of any grievance
and treat the student with respect.
They will do the best we can to help
or get you to the person who can help,
Shanken said. After about a year off, Jipping said he decided to come back to school. He really did not want to come back to GRCC. “I was not looking forward
to coming back to
GRCC, but I wanted to correct
the end of my 2006 winter
semester,” Jipping said. “I
wanted to retake the course I
got the failing grade in.” Jipping said he has a full
ride waiting for him as soon
as he can convince Cooley he
has been to college already.
He has asked for help from
GRCC and they have given
him the runaround again
from one department to
another. “No one seems to be able
to give the help that I need,”
he said. Jipping said he is doing
another dance with GRCC
and Cooley after scoring
in the 97 percentile of the
Law School Admissions Test
(LSAT). The main issue is he
has not attended a four-year
university. “I got this letter claiming
I need to show proof from a
university I have completed
three fourths the work needed
for a Bachelors,” Jipping
said. “Cooley will not look
at these transcripts because
they are not from a four year
institution.” If he doesn’t attend for the winter semester of 2008, Jipping said will eventually be going to law school. Tuition does not cover it all The tuition at GRCC only
covers a small area of the
schools budget. Explaining the total costs
will be helpful in understanding
where the student’s
money goes and why they
are paying more for school
overall. According to the proposed
budget of 2007-2008,
the total revenue of the college
is $87,842,843. Last year
it was $4 million less. “Tuition pays for roughly
one third of the expenses
it takes to run the college,
which include everything
from our faculty and staff
to the heat and water bills,”
Juan Olivarez, President of
GRCC, said. Tuition, in general, helps
the school, but many other
things go into running a
school of this size with only a
certain amount of money. Tuition is a huge part
of the revenue at the college.
The total revenue for
residents, non-residents,
and out-of-state students is
$35,493,843, which is one
third of the income for the
school. Tuition rates have gone
up significantly. The millages,
which were proposed last
spring/summer, would have
meant $10 million received.
That would have helped
lower tuition costs and
update the school. Revenue for the
school also comes from
food service, the bookstore,
parking, printing
services, property
taxes, fees, state aid,
interest, and miscellaneous
income, which
makes up the other 2/3
of revenue. Robert Partridge,
Executive Vice President
of Business and
Financial Services, said
GRCC has the oldest
building in the state, 6th
or 7th in the nation, and
there are $24 million
worth of basic needs to
update the buildings. The majority of the
time, the cost for a resident
or student living in Kent
County is $50 less than
someone who lives outside
of Kent County. “In 1991, property owners
in Kent County voted to
allocate a portion of their
taxes ($1.9 million) to GRCC. Anyone not living in Kent
County does not contribute
to this revenue stream,
therefore they pay higher
tuition to make up a portion
of the difference,” Olivarez
said. “Having resident and
non-resident fees is typical
of most colleges and universities
across the U.S.” Even though prices have gone up, the school is making an effort with their revenue to improve itself. Get your student news online at GRCC Paper is no longer
necessary to read the latest
news about GRCC. The Collegiate has
launched a Web site called
CollegiateLive that brings
you the latest news, sports,
opinion and entertainment
articles from the latest print
edition of this newspaper. New stories are available
online the same day the latest paper edition comes
out across campus. You can also find a user
poll about hot-button issues
around campus, plus local
weather. Future plans for the
site include launching blogs
from staff editors and
writers about news, sports
and entertainment issues,
plus adding advertisements
from local businesses and
students. A link to the Web site has
also been added to the login
screen on Blackboard, with
a module available to add to
everyone’s MyBb under the“Modify Content” button on
the top right corner of the
page. The front page of the
current edition is also
available to view full-size online. An archive is available to
read stories from previous
editions. Scott McNabb, an English
instructor at GRCC and
previous adviser and editor
to the Collegiate, said this is
not the first online edition of
the paper. “There have been about
three attempts to do an online
Collegiate,” McNabb said. McNabb said the biggest
obstacle to maintaining the
Web site was having a staff
writer with enough free time
to update and maintain the
site. The CollegiateLive Web site now uses Dreamweaver software that is user-friendly and can be easily maintained from year to year. To visit CollegiateLive, go to www.collegiatelive.com. News Briefs for Dec. 12, 2007 Angel Tree on Campus Concern is voiced over privileged Early Enrollment Because of this
privilege, students that
are not part of these“populations” might have
their classes full by the
time they try to enroll,
even if they have the
needed 24+ credits. Although this practice didn’t create any problems in the past, the steady growth of students and demand has made it a controversial one, so the Academic Governing Council is trying to find a resolution to this matter. Holiday Shut Down Campus Police Report for Dec. 12, 2007 Larceny 11-6-07 Larceny
11-12-07 Larceny 11-12-07 Larceny
11-14-07 Larceny 11-15-07 Larceny 11-15-07 Larceny 11-19-07 Larceny 11-26-07 WAIT! CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE NEWS ON PAGE 2 Speak Out! Have something to say? Sound off to The Collegiate at grcc_collegiate@yahoo.com for your tips or views on the current news, sports, arts & entertainment and opinion. |
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