| Article Headline |
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| Learning the Business of Business |
There are as many paths into the world of business as there are colors and shades in the spectrum. But, as these profiles of four businessmen with connections to Kalamazoo Valley Community College illustrate, there are some common denominators that can lead to a desired color of black at the bottom line as opposed to too much red. (read entire story here...) |
| Your ticket to careers in tourism, hospitality – where the customer is always right |
The staff at a resort or hotel can turn a business trip or vacation into a nightmare, or a dream come true for guests. With a variety of responsibilities from checking in to checking out, the staff at a hotel works around the clock to satisfy customer needs. (read entire story here...) |
| As teachers, they’re tops in their shop |
KVCC’s three-man instructional team in automotive technology is the reigning holder of a statewide award for teaching excellence in its field. And, for this academic year, it has to be classified as a four-person instructional unit. The KVCC trio of Larry Taylor, Charlie Fuller and Douglas Martin brought home from the Michigan Occupational Deans Administrative Council’s annual conference the Team Collaboration Award that is symbolic of teaching excellence in the occupational trades. (read entire story here...) |
| Right brain plus left brain equals ‘Imagination Applied’ at KVCC’s Center for New Media |
Dispelling the imaginary barriers perceived by many people to exist between art and technology and left-brain and right-brain thinkers, KVCC’s Center for New Media is forging a symbiotic relationship between the desire to create and the desire to work with computer technology. The evolving business world, one that is heavily dependent on computers and the Internet, is experiencing great demand for creative, tech-savvy thinkers who can translate abstract ideas into formal designs that visually, as well as textually, communicate a company’s message. (read entire story here...) |
| ‘Toons in the ‘Zoo’ due three days in May |
Animation as entertainment, education, employment and art will be in the spotlight when the third Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) is staged the weekend of May 13-15 in downtown Kalamazoo. As with the events in May 2002 and 2003, professional animators, artists, students, and fans will gather in Southwest Michigan to hone their creative skills and turn downtown Kalamazoo into “Toon Town” for three days. (read entire story here...) |
| KVCC hires student designers to promote its Center for New Media |
Any way you read the notes, Rachel Flanigan is a heart-and-soul musician — she’s played the clarinet since she was a child and earned a bachelor’s in music composition from Western Michigan University in 2000. She’s also a member of the first generation of Americans to grow up in a home that always had video games and a computer available, a benefit she attributes to her father, whom she says “was big into computers.” (read entire story here...) |
| Students creating computer game to teach reading |
It was the field trip of a lifetime. Nearly two dozen first-graders from St. Augustine Elementary School trekked through KVCC’s Center for New Media to see how a computer game is actually created. Wide-eyed and full of questions, these youngsters clustered around a computer to watch KVCC students Stephen Abrams and Ben Soderstrom turn simple pen-and-ink drawings into animated figures. (read entire story here...) |
Medical coding:
another key health-care job in demand |
A few strokes at the computer keyboard makes all the difference in whether you pay for your visit to the doctor or your insurance or other third party does. Done correctly, the money flows smoothly from insurer to doctor, and you have little to think about after leaving the office — except getting well. (read entire story here...) |
| Grandpa goes back to school to retool career, and stay in Kalamazoo with his grandchildren |
Family? Or job? Most people struggle balancing time between these two valuable aspects of life, but in today’s working world, it can also mean giving up one or the other. Douglas Decker of Kalamazoo was a research scientist and young grandfather (in his 40s) when he was faced with this dilemma through the Pfizer Inc. takeover of Pharmacia/Upjohn. (read entire story here...) |
| Nursing: Making a difference one patient at a time |
Karen Miller chose a career path because her mother was a registered nurse. “When I was growing up,” said Miller, who graduated from KVCC in 1981, “there was always someone in the neighborhood or at a family reunion getting hurt, and she always knew what to do. People always came to her, and I thought that was cool.” (read entire story here...) |
| With her husband in Iraq, mother of three launches nursing studies |
Not everyone would agree that education is a distraction, that it keeps them focused on what’s important. Kristin Watkins does. She’s a full-time pre-nursing student at KVCC, who has had to be both mother and father to three children — ages 8, 6, and 3 — because of her husband’s 16 months of service in Iraq. (read entire story here...) |
| Ceramics Class: More than artistic pot-making, It’s a real-life chat room spanning generations |
Tucked away in the southwest corner of KVCC’s Texas Township Campus is a real-life chat room where intergenerational friendships bloom amid the coil pots and glazes. Students in Francis Granzotto’s ceramics classes share more than clay, potters wheels, and a creative spirit—they share life itself. (read entire story here...) |
| Let your keyboard do the walking |
The computer-savvy students of the still-new millennium want information now, want it delivered at warp speed, and want it wherever they have access to the Internet.
No longer do they have to go to a music store as mom and pop did to buy their favorite band’s new song or collection, visit a library to conduct research, or venture to the mall to purchase apparel and books. (read entire story here...) |
Seeking a job –
what to do, and what not to do |
This is a no-doubter. Always – always – show up early, 10 to 15 minutes. If late is a trait, it will seal your fate as an unsuccessful job-seeker. When gearing up for finding that first job, there are almost as many things not to do as there are positive steps to take. “If there is one piece of advice I can offer,” said Nick Rankin, employment coordinator in the KVCC Office of Human Resources, “it is to significantly research the company to which you are applying. There are many available resources. (read entire story here...) |
Preparing for jobs
that don’t even exist yet |
When Marilyn Schlack came to KVCC as an assistant dean of instruction in 1974, training courses to become a “key-punch operator” were among the “hot” programs that pointed enrollees toward an “in” career. More than 30 years later, prospective students would probably have no idea what “a key-punch operator” was — that the dawning of the Information Age featured rectangular pieces of thin cardboard that transmitted or collected data in gargantuan machines via a series of punched holes. (read entire story here...) |
| A weekend with ‘Have-nots’ teaches life’s lessons |
KVCC students have been sampling the lives of urban “haves and have-nots” in a long-running series of service-learning excursions designed to nurture a give-back-to-the-community outlook. Working in conjunction with United Campus Ministries at Western Michigan University, the “Urban Plunge” experiences have taken students to Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia and New Mexico. Some are tailored for those interested in various careers – the human services, teaching, health care, and even business. (read entire story here...) |
| Profiles: |
(read entire story here...) |
PROGRAMS OF STUDY |
Arts &
Communication |
Arts and communication careers are related to humanities and the performing, visual, literary and media arts. These careers are interesting to people who value creativity, are imaginative and innovative, enjoy communicating new ideas to others, are skilled writers, and/or seek self-expression through singing, dancing or acting. (see course list here...) |
| Business, Management, Marketing & Technology |
These careers are related to all aspects of business including accounting, business administration, finance, information processing and marketing. They require leadership, organizational, math, computer and sales aptitudes and skills. (see course list here...) |
| Engineering/ Manufacturing & Industrial Technology |
Working with tools, equipment and other kinds of machinery is important to people in these careers. These highly educated and skilled employees are results-oriented, accurate, curious, inventive, hands-on and self-motivated. (see course list here...) |
| Health Sciences |
These careers are related to the promotion of health as well as the treatment of injuries and disease. They are best suited for those wishing to work with people and those who care about helping others. Examples of careers in this pathway are physicians, nurses and dental hygienists. (see course list here...) |
| Human Services |
Careers in Human Services include the areas of child care, civil service, education, hospitality and the social services. Valued and respected workers in this pathway include counselors, teachers, religious leaders, and public safety officers. (see course list here...) |
