friday takeout
October 1, 2021
CUPPA JOE | straight up news.
College welcomed business leaders, state legislators, Department of Education officials and high school students to Calmar for “Simulator Immersion” training event! … KCRG-TV story … video and photos
Legislative Update handout highlights the benefits of Work-Based Learning and simulation for local students and the workforce … link
Roger Huinker, Accounting Specialist '72, honored for 50 years of service in the banking industry … link
Sports Shooting team regroups with a full roster for Indian Hills Community College meet … news
FACULTY AND STAFF: Stay up-to-date on the College's Strategic Plan and Tracking document in NICC Shared Files!
WEEKLY FEATURE | good to know.
Going ... Going ... Gone! Saying Goodbye to the Peosta Campus Bridge
The bridge walkway is finally coming down this week, courtesy of Larson Construction. The walkway leading to the Main Building at Peosta is – like the silos that graced the exterior for decades – a memorable feature of the campus. Many television news crews have captured the simple b-roll footage of students walking across the bridge as part of their stories for years.
Ask our custodial and maintenance staff about their “fond” memories of the bridge structure, however. The bridge was very difficult to maintain, keep clean and safe throughout the year, especially with the snow and ice every Iowa winter.
With the bridge down, work begins on the front of the Main Building’s exterior and the new entrance.
NICC Organizational Development Site Reminder ... Training Calendar Widget Available
This is a reminder that last spring we added a one-stop-shop style district-wide training calendar widget to the NICC Organizational Development site.
This was done for a number of reasons; including to:
(1) limit the number of emails employees were receiving related to training and development at NICC, and
(2) encourage employees to visit the NICC Organizational Development site to find answers to questions related to training and development at NICC.
Since then, all NICC employees have been able to register for – as well as schedule - NICC organizational development and training opportunities using this wonderful tool.
We encourage you to investigate the site and the calendar widget it contains, especially if you have not already done so. Employees who have made a habit of doing this report a huge savings of time and frustration related to searching for such information in either archived or future emails.
Clicking on an event’s name will provide you with a brief description of the offering, along with its date, time, method(s) of delivery, and any necessary log-in-related information.
College employees may post organizational development events on the calendar widget using this form.
Archived content is also available on the NICC Organizational Development site, and continues to be added frequently.
Please contact the DIID team if you wish to upload videos, documents, etc. to the OD site.
If you would like to subscribe to this calendar widget via your NICC calendar, you may do so with this link.
Please keep an eye open for additional announcements related to the contents and usage of our Organizational Development site and the calendar widget it contains.
Best regards,
Seth Gilbert
Director of Organizational Development
APPETIZER | something for your appetite.
The Poem You Need is Just a Phone Call Away!
Last month a “Telepoem Booth” was installed in the Millwork District near East 10th and East 11th streets in Dubuque. Voices Productions, a nationwide initiative, has installed the booths in five cities across the US – Santa Fe and Las Vegas, N.M.; Bisbee, Ariz.; State College, Pa.; and now, Dubuque. People can go to the transformed vintage phone booth and “dial-a-poem” in the directory to hear a poem read aloud to them.
Our own Keith Leismeister, NICC Communications instructor, author and poet, has a poem featured in the booth. Keith said to the Telegraph Herald newspaper, “You don’t have to have a subscription; you don’t have to pay to view or read. I think it’s a wonderful way to connect the population in general with poetry and creative writing.”
Voices Productions partnered with Humanities Iowa to bring the booth to Dubuque for a one-year stay.
WELLNESS 360 | be well.
Pandemic Response Team (PRT) Update
STOP! If you are feeling sick do not come to campus. Please see more details about this policy.
If you've been in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, you may ask yourself what you should do next. These guidelines from Dubuque County Public Health can help you out:
3 Things to Know If You Are Exposed to COVID-19 & Vaccinated
What to Do if You Are Exposed to COVID-19 and Not Vaccinated
You can also find more COVID-19 resources on our webpage.
GREEN CORNER
Kara and Piper, our Green Iowa AmeriCorps Sustainability Coordinators, will be bringing us regular facts and tips to green your life and make it more sustainable.
Leave the Leaves. The days are getting shorter and the leaves are changing color, and it's almost getting time to put away the lawn mower and break out the rakes. Leaves are a rich source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and more. Their trees have mined minerals from deep in the subsoil and bought them to the surface. The leaves of one large tree can be worth as much as $50 worth of plant food and humus. Pound for pound, leaves contain twice the mineral content of manure. The huge amount of organic matter they offer can be used to improve soil structure.
Instead of bagging and discarding them, The Old Farmer's Almanac has the following eight suggestions on how to (re)use them all fall:
1. Create a compost pile.
2. Improve your soil.
3. Make leaf mold.
4. Make mulch.
5. Mow into lawn.
6. Protect and store root vegetables.
7. Leave leaves for wildlife.
8. Have fun!
For more details, read the full article.
BIG FISH | be amazed.
Daniel Snyder
Science Instructor | Peosta Campus
What lie were you told as a kid?
When I was a kid, I asked my dad how they launched fighter planes from aircraft carriers. Since he didn’t want to explain how a pneumatic catapult worked, he just told me that there was an enormous spring. Two years later, when we got to visit the USS Enterprise, I was very confused and he was very embarrassed ...
What is the most irrational fear or phobia that you have?
I am 45 years old. I have a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in one subject, and equivalence in another. I’ve published science papers and given talks. I’ve traveled to a dozen countries on four continents. I’ve studied four languages. I’ve taught at colleges across the country. You would think I would stop believing that IF I DON’T HAVE MY HEAD ON THE PILLOW WITHIN FIVE SECONDS AFTER THE LIGHTS GO OUT, VAMPIRES WILL GET ME. But I’m not taking any chances.
Share something or an experience that has changed your worldview.
When I was seventeen, I volunteered with Amigos de las Americas to go to rural Ecuador (see photo at left). My partner and I were put in a small town in the Andes and left in charge of a human sanitation program, which meant we helped build latrines. We were the only two English speakers for miles around. We relied on our neighbors for food handouts. We had no running water and a borrowed roof over our heads. Halfway through, my partner (the guy behind the camera) quit. When I got the news, my mind was a blur. Then, about a day and a half later, I realized that, although the responsibilities and challenges were all on me, the successes would be mine alone too.
It was challenging, it was heartbreaking, it was exhilarating. I can’t even begin to tell you how it changed my worldview, or all of the stories from that summer working abroad.
What is the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?
Cuy. See above.
What is a person or subject that should be made into a documentary, but hasn’t yet?
Part of my dissertation was on sharks from the Coal Ages. There are all kinds of really weird sharks from this period of time that have been touched on, but really not in-depth. Things with spiral-shaped jaws. Things with their fins up by their ears. Things that look kind of like foot-long clownfish with dentures. Nobody’s put together an ecosystem-level look at the oceans off the coast of Iowa from 330 million years ago. We need a “Walking with Dinosaurs, But They’re Sharks, Not Dinosaurs, and We’re Not Walking With Them, We’re Swimming With Them, and We’re Swimming Really Fast Because They’re Sharks”-kind of documentary.
Them, and the saber-toothed oysters from the age of dinosaurs.
If you have input on a upcoming feature, Big Fish, something to celebrate or a suggestion, email us at news@nicc.edu!