The Lyon street parking ramp now houses the campus police. This move completes the swap of locations between the campus police and the Lake Michigan Credit Union.(Photo by Ryan Tyrell,Collegiate)

Campus police move to Lyon St.
By Dave Westra
News Editor

The campus police have now moved to the old Lake Michigan Credit Union location in the Lyon street parking ramp.

According to dispatcher Mercedes Barnum, the move happened suddenly on Jan. 15.

“I came in Friday morning, and low and behold, we’re moving everything and everyone,” Barnum said.

Though the new location is open for operation, the move isn’t quite finished yet.

“We’re still moving stuff,” Barnum said. “We’ve got everything we need that’s essential to operate on a day-to-day basis but we’ve still got a lot of our old reports and files and everything back in the old office.”

According to Barnum, the move should be finished within the next two weeks.

Executive Vice President of Business and Financial Services, Bob Partridge said the move happened for two reasons.

“As Campus police was expanding, it was out-growing its space,” Partridge said. “It was very crowded, very uncomfortable, very limited private space for interviews with people who need their services. They were split on two sides of the hall.

“The Lake Michigan Credit Union approached us a year and a half ago about possibly downsizing their footprint where they were. They wanted a smaller branch presence on campus.”

According to Partridge, the solution presented itself.

“It worked out that the credit union was very interested in the campus police space on the fourth floor,” Partridge said. “So it became kind of a natural discussion and became a good potential solution to the campus police department and a good solution for the credit union.

“Its more visible; they’re not hidden on the fourth floor,” Partridge said. “The response time to the street for the officers in case something’s going on. It’s closer to the traffic that they monitor on campus, specifically at the start of the semester.”

The renovations cost about $250,000 said Director of Facilities, Planning and Projects James Van Dokkumburg.

Van Dokkumburg is also pleased with the location swap.

“I think it was beneficial to both parties,” Van Dokkumburg said.

Some students do not like the move.

“I think its too far away from the main building,” GRCC student Bhagya Mann said. “I think we need it here because its closer to all the other buildings.”

But others are happy with it.

“It’s a better location,” GRCC student Jake Reminga said. “They’re in their own building and they’re able to patrol better.”

(Top/Index)

Policy ‘appears’ to affect student success
By Christina Kim
Editor-in-Chief

GRCC’s Academic Probation Policy has given students a path to success, according to administrators.

The policy, which was implemented in the Fall of 2008, requires student to meet set standards in their academics in order to remain at GRCC.

“Our goal behind the policy is to encourage student success,” said Registrar Howard Shanken. “It appears that the policy is having an impact on student success since it began.”

Students who are placed on probation must work with counselors to make a plan for success.

“They have to meet with a counselor,” Shanken said. “It’s to ensure that they’re going down the right road now. Without a plan, students will not get to where they need to be.”

More information can be found online www. grcc.edu/academicstanding.

(Top/Index)

Advising Day may be cancelled
By Tim Nellett
Collegiate Staff Writer

It might be the end of Advising Day at GRCC.

According to the Advising Day web page at the GRCC website, Advising Day is an all day event held once each semester and is designed to provide students access to faculty advisors and counselors, campus resources, and transfer information.

But according to Frederick van Hartesveldt, Faculty President and a professor of the English epartment,
Advising Day may be on the way out.

“Right now the numbers are low, especially in the winter semester,” van Hartesveldt said. “If you want advice, it’s all there. One day, one place. That was the idea around advising day originally, to make it easy and convenient, but not many students attend. We, the faculty and students lose instructional time because of that day, time we’re not getting back through advising.”

However, the decision isn’t to eliminate Advising Day, but to replace it.

“We’re waiting for another proposal from the Provost’s office,” van Hartesveldt said. “It isn’t, ‘should we keep advising day?’ It’s, ‘what should we replace it with?’”

But according to Dr. John Cowles, Associate Dean of Counseling, Advising & Retention Services,
Advising Day isn’t broken.

“Actually, students are very supportive,” Cowles said. “I think the total number of students who attend
both the Fall and Winter programs is actually pretty good. The student evaluations are pretty clear; they
appreciate the day.”

Student Josh Holubik, doesn’t feel advising day is something he needs and has never attended Advising Day.

Holubik said, “I think I’m perfectly capable of figuring out what it is I want to do.”

Student Mieke Stoub, hasn’t been to advising day either.

Stoub said, “I’ve seen a counselor many times. But I probably won’t go to Advising Day.

Both Cowles and van Hartesveldt had ideas to make Advising Day better, or what to do if it was replaced.

V a n Hartesveldt said, “I’d like the day to become classroom instruction, and have advising be done throughout the year. If there’s value in something, people will do it.”

(Top/Index)

GRCC’s neighbors choke on student smoke
By Ashley Eerdmans
Collegiate Staff Writer

Since GRCC became tobacco free on Nov. 20, 2008, surrounding businesses, like Fountain Street Church and the Grand Rapids Public Library are receiving the tobacco we have banned from our campus.

But these properties are smoke free and have their share of signs to prove it.

Kristen Corrado, Marketing and Communications Manager at the Grand Rapids Public Library, is well
aware of the situation.

“The Grand Rapids Public Library is a smoke-free campus,” Corrado said. “We are currently working with GRCC’s leadership to keep students from smoking on our property. Our security staff monitors the area where students gather to smoke and asks students who are smoking on our property and not using the library to leave.”

Many people smoke, it’s a personal choice. The problem is where the smoking is taking place and how it is being looked at.

“It becomes a problem for us when smokers are disrespectful of Library property and patrons,” Corrado said. “GRCC students leave trash around our buildings, put out their cigarettes on our building, walk all over our landscaping and leave their butts everywhere. They loiter on the sidewalks, blocking edestrians; they sit in our windowsills, creating disruption and an often unpleasant view for our patrons inside.”

Pamela Clark, Executive Director of the Fountain Street Church remarks that the problem with the smoke free environment has increased greatly after GRCC’s “tobacco free campus” emerged.

“When school first started again, we had hundreds of GRCC students on our sidewalks smoking, so we put up more signs saying ‘no smoking,’ but we still had many students smoking here,” Clark said. The only thing we can do is to notify the police because it’s not like we have the authority to fine them. Usually by the time we would call the police, they would be gone.”

Student, Heidi Bustance, takes a cigarette break in between her classes. “I smoke on the sidewalk in front of the Library; it’s public property so why not?” Bustance said. “We can’t smoke on campus, so we go off campus. Now we can’t smoke on the sidewalks off campus either?”

(Top/Index)

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