Roanoke College will be on campus next Monday, April 9th to conduct on site-reviews. This is a great opportunity to sit down with a representative from Roanoke College and have your application reviewed and receive an admissions decision on the spot! Appointments will be made in 30 minute increments from 9-12. To make an appointment, please email rkraemer@virginiawestern.edu or come to the Advising and Retention office in Chapman Hall, Room 105 by Thursday, April 5th by 5 p.m.. Walk-ins will be worked into the schedule as time permits. The Roanoke College on-site reviews will be located in the Student Center, Room 209.

What you need to bring to your appointment:

• Paper copy of your Roanoke College application
• Copies of your college transcript (unofficial are accepted)
• High School transcript (needed only if this is your first semester at VWCC)

Please contact me with any questions at rkraemer@virginiawestern.edu

Last days for Spring 2012 open gyms are Monday April 2 for Pin Dodgeball and Indoor Soccer at 3:00 PM, and Friday April 6 for Men’s and Women’s Basketball at 3:30 PM.  Open gym are held in Humanities Building, H100.

Help Virginia Western choose a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) topic and have a chance to win an iPod Shuffle!  The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools ( SACS) is the primary accreditation agency for school systems, colleges and universities throughout the southeast region of the United States.  Accreditation is a good check on our overall processes.  Students and their families want to be sure that we as a college can provide the education and value that we say we do. 

Virginia Western is currently working on our ten year reaffirmation process with SACS-COC. As part of this process, Virginia Western is designing a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) to improve student learning and/or your learning environment, and we need your input and ideas. We have been working diligently this semester to gather ideas for our QEP topic. 

In February, several focus group sessions provided an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to provide their input for a QEP topic. Through the focus groups we found that there were several recurring topics: adjunct faculty training, dual enrollment, distance learning, K-12 partnership, and advising.  Along with these ideas, the campus community presented a total of 18 possibilities for our QEP. 

We would appreciate your help in choosing a topic for our QEP. Please take a few moments to complete the survey below. Your participation in this survey is an excellent opportunity to provide your input and ideas on what we can do collectively as a college to improve student learning at Virginia Western. Two survey participants will be randomly selected to receive iPod Shuffles.

We would greatly appreciate your feedback by Monday, April 16th.

If you have any questions about the QEP or the survey, please contact Sarah Chitwood at schitwood@virginiawestern.edu.

http://survey.vccs.edu/wsb.dll/s/41gcf8

Thank you for your help in this important project.

The Cultural Diversity and International Education Committee exists to:

• promote global education and the acceptance and inclusion of a diverse population,
• develop and promote initiatives and programs for diversity awareness and understanding, and
• identify academic issues of international students, such as English as a Second Language, and develop methods to address the issues.

As part of our charge to promote inclusion and increase diversity awareness and understanding, we will be sharing Diversity Events with you every month via the Daily Bulletin.  We hope you find this information informative and inspiring.    

Diversity Events APRIL 2012

Information obtained from the National Education Association:  http://www.nea.org/grants/41388.htm

April 1-30 - Child Abuse Prevention Month - In the early 1980s, Congress resolved that the week of June 6-12, 1982, should be designated as the first National Child Abuse Prevention Month, in commitment to identifying and implementing solutions to child abuse.

April 1-30 - National Donate Life Month - Each day in the United States, about 77 people receive an organ transplant, but 19 others die waiting for a donated organ. Learn more at the OrganDonor.gov web site. 

April 1-30 - Autism Awareness Month - See The Autism Program (TAP) of Illinois site and the Autism Speaks web site to learn basic information about autism.

April 2 - World Autism Awareness Day - Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate the day with fundraising and awareness-raising events. See the World Autism Awareness Day web site.

April 2 - International Children's Book Day - The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) was founded to promote international understanding and good will through books for children and teenagers.

April 10-16 - National Environmental Education Week - National Environmental Education Week (EE Week) is the nation's largest environmental education event held each year the week before Earth Day, inspires environmental learning and stewardship among K-12 students.  The 2011 annual theme is Ocean Connections.

April 12 - Anniversary of First Man in Space - Yuri Gagarin become the first man in space on this date in 1961, when he made a one-hour, 48-minute voyage, orbiting Earth in a spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union.

April 20-22 - Global Youth Service Day - Youth Service America publishes a set of posters, toolkits, and curricula guides to help you plan your Global Youth Service Day (or Semester of Service!) event. This year's theme is Youth Changing the World. Find out more at the Global Youth Service Day web site.

April 15-21 - Public School Volunteer Week - Encourage parents and community members to sign the online Parental Involvement Pledge at  Project Appleseed web site.

April 7-15 - Passover (Pesach) - Passover or Pesach is an eight-day long celebration during which Jewish families traditionally commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. The highlight of the Passover celebration is the ceremony of Seder performed on the first two evenings of Passover. 

April 22 - Earth Day - Check out resources for celebrating Earth Day at the Earth Day Network web site and The Nature Conservancy web site.

April 8 - Easter - In the Christian faith, Easter Sunday commemorates Jesus's resurrection. Lent, Ash Wednesday, and Holy Week mark a period of spiritual preparation for Easter.

April 19 - Holocaust Remembrance Day - The internationally recognized date marks the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah.

April 26 - Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day - Always the fourth Thursday in April. This program encourages parents to bring their kids to work with them and show them the wide range of jobs available to them. For more information, see the Daughters and Sons to Work web site.

April 30 - El día de los niños/El día de los libros/Children's Day - Día, sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The event was originally proposed by children’s author, Pat Mora.

HOTTOPIC” SESSION - SOCIAL MEDIAT AT BROWN LIBRARY

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 4; 1:00 p.m.

WHERE:  Webber Hall 307

FACILIATOR:  Ms. Kalyca Schultz

Come to this session to find out about Brown Library’s blog, “In the Stacks,” the library’s Facebook page, and more!

Ms. Desiree Frye

Retention Services

Virginia Western Community College

(540) 857-7583

Career Bytes Seminars are 30-minute informational seminars on interviewing skills, resume writing, and job searching.

• Wednesday, April 4 - Winning Interviewing Skills. Seminars held at noon and 5:15 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 17 - Resume Writing. Seminars held at 12:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 24 - Job Searching. Seminars will be held at 12:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 1 - Interviewing Skills. Seminars will be held at 12:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. 

Call 857-7298 or email rrice@virginiawestern.edu to register.

Lunch Leads for April will be of interest to students in the Human Services field. It will be held noon to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 19 in the Natural Science Center. FREE lunch is provided. If you are interested in a job in Human Services or with a company in this field, you will want to come and find out all you can about employment opportunities. Be sure to register in the Hall Career Center, S202. Space is limited. This event does qualify for a Hall Career Center passport stamp.