Striving to simply provide the best service possible to the community, Brian David was surprised to learn that his participation in a new technical training program had resulted in his winning a brand new laptop computer.
Employed at Eastside MotoSports, a Suzuki motorcycle and ATV dealer serving the Bellevue area, this graduate of Lake Washington Technical College earned his prize by taking part in a sweepstakes contest centered around the introduction of a new technical training system by American Suzuki. The system consists of a library of 32 CD-ROM video tutorials covering a wide variety of service-related topics. Each time Brian passed the test that concludes each training video he had his name placed in a grand prize drawing, which took place in June.
But Brian didn’t watch the videos or take the tests with prizes in mind. “Anything that I can learn from and put on my résumé, I’m all for it. I went through the whole library before and after work and took all the tests. It took a while, but there were quite a few little tips and techniques that I picked up and use on the job regularly. It’s a very convenient system, with all the knowledge right at your fingertips. It helps take the error factor out of what you might otherwise learn only from trial and error. It’s a great resource that can only help us do our jobs better.”
As a key business member and employer in Bellevue, dealership owner Rick Nakagaki is a strong proponent of technical training for his service staff. He and all his personnel realize how important competent customer service is to their success. “I’m extremely proud of my service department,” stated Nakagaki. “The entire service staff completed all of the required tests, willingly and on a timely basis, and I’m ecstatic that one of our technicians was a grand prize winner. I think it’s a wonderful program, and I’m sure that CD-based training like this will be the wave of the future.”
Community Colleges of Spokane Chancellor/CEO Gary Livingston received the 2005 National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) District 7 Pacesetter of the Year award.
Presented annually, the award recognizes a community college chief executive officer who demonstrates special leadership and support in college communications and marketing. District recipients automatically qualify to compete for a national award.
District 7 NCMPR includes community and technical colleges in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory and Saskatchewan.
The Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants (WSCPA) has awarded its 2005 Outstanding Community/Technical College Award to Spokane Community College accounting instructors Renee Goffinet, Rick Street and Jeffrey Waybright.
They received the award on October 28 at the organization’s educators’ dinner in Bellevue.
The Shoreline Community College Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Acting President and Vice President of Human Resources Lee Lambert as the college’s interim president.
Lambert was hired as vice president for human resources and legal affairs at Shoreline Community College in January of 2005. He came to SCC from Centralia College, where he served as vice president for human resources and legal affairs. Among his accomplishments at Centralia College, Lambert developed, implemented and evaluated a comprehensive affirmative action plan and a campus-wide training program. He negotiated and administered two separate contracts for faculty and classified employees.
Prior to working at Centralia College, Lambert worked for five and a half years as special assistant to the president for civil rights and legal affairs at The Evergreen State College. In addition to advising college management staff on legal and policy issues, he analyzed and anticipated trends in law that could present legal issues and problems for the college. He conducted ongoing training for the board of trustees, faculty, staff and students regarding discrimination, sexual harassment and legal issues and managed a public records program. While at The Evergreen State College, Lambert was an adjunct professor who taught courses on Law, Civil Rights and Social Justice, and Employment Law.
Lambert has a J.D. degree from Seattle University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from The Evergreen State College. He is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and chair of the Human Resource Management Commission.
Dale Croes, professor of anthropology at South Puget Sound Community College, was given the American Community Colleges Trustees Association’s William H. Meardy Faculty Member Award last month at the association’s Leadership Congress in Seattle.
Croes was nominated for the award by South Puget Sound’s Board of Trustees, which highlighted in its nomination Croes’ innovative approaches to teaching anthropology and archaeology, putting South Puget Sound’s anthropology program on the map.
Croes was also one of five community college faculty members across the nation to compete for the association’s national outstanding faculty award.
Malcolm Cash , a scholar in English and multi-culturalism, has joined the Bellevue Community College faculty as Scholar in Residence for the Fall 2005 Quarter.
In addition to teaching a course entitled “Race in the United States,” Cash is helping the college improve student retention, especially students of color. Cash is contributing to planning for the retention program and also will facilitate activities that help faculty and staff understand the barriers to student success and use retention tools.
Cash, who teaches English and creative writing at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio, is a noted scholar, author, consultant, columnist, lecturer, editor and poet. His areas of expertise include African-American literature; African literature; creative writing; the Civil Rights movement; religious studies, multi-cultural leadership, and 20th century and world literature
Cash earned a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Oberlin College in 1990 and a Master of Fine Arts in English from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000.
In 2006, Cash will publish his first book, Sweet Home, a narrative of his family’s sojourn in America, from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement.
BCC’s Scholar in Residence position is funded in part by a Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education.