MWCC's weekly e-newsletter

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005

FOCUS GROUPS’ INPUT TO KICK OFF
MWCC LIBRARY RENOVATION PROJECT

By Kimberly B. Caisse

The Mount Wachusett Community College Library renovation project gets underway next week with the formation of five focus groups that will suggest ways to create an academic library of the future.

	Students studying in the Library.

The college’s first-ever capital campaign, which raised over $3.3 million, will fund the Library renovations. The campaign funds are also targeted at the new Garrison Center for Early Childhood Education, Center for Democracy and Humanity and student scholarships and childcare stipends.

Assistant Dean of Library and Information Services Linda Oldach is looking for 10 to 12 individuals per focus group—representing day and evening students, college staff, faculty and the Gardner community—to participate. Pre-registration is required. Library staff and representatives of Beacon Architectural Associates of Boston will lead the focus groups. Refreshments will be provided. Each student participant will receive a free $5 copy card. All groups will meet in the faculty/staff lounge (adjacent to the cafeteria) of the Gardner campus.

“They’re trying to make this project fit us,” Oldach said of Beacon Architectural Associates. “Because this is going to be a creative process, it’s going to be exciting to see the final project.”

The day-student focus group will meet Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.; the evening-student group on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 4 to 5:30 p.m.; the college-staff-group on Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.; the faculty group on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.; and the Gardner community on Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

“We want to be attractive to meet the needs of our users, be comfortable, provide technology—PCs and outlets for laptops—and excellent lighting,” Oldach said. Research resources—both books and electronic databases—as well as wireless capabilities and enhanced cataloguing will also be installed. Additional security equipment is needed to protect these investments.

The trend in library design is to create an information commons, Oldach added. Ideas that have been discussed include creating quiet, group study areas, configuring computers in an Internet café design, creating an open concept in parts of the library, adding more individual study rooms, purchasing new furniture and being open on the weekends.

Beacon Architectural Associates will incorporate the focus groups’ suggestions into a proposed design. Construction is anticipated to occur over the summer and to be completed by September 2006.

For more information, or to pre-register for a focus group, contact Oldach at (978) 630-9126 or loldach@mwcc.mass.edu.

MWCC FOUNDATION AND NASHOBA VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER
TO HOLD HOLIDAY GREENS SALE

The MWCC Foundation, Inc. and Nashoba Valley Medical Center of Ayer will hold the annual Holiday Greens Sale in conjunction with the college’s sixth annual Basket Raffle and Winter Fest Fair at MWCC’s Gardner campus Wednesday, Nov. 30 and Thursday, Dec. 1 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

NVMC, which inherited the fund-raiser when parent company Essent Healthcare, Inc. purchased Deaconess-Nashoba Hospital in 2003, chose the MWCC Foundation to partner in this annual event to raise funds to support the professional development of the college's nursing faculty and to encourage highly trained nurses to share their knowledge with the college's nursing students.

The MWCC Foundation and NVMC held the Holiday Greens Sale at the Congregational Church in Groton in December 2004.

“We are proud to team with Nashoba Valley Medical Center to continue this fund raiser,” said MWCC Foundation Executive Director Darlene Morrilly. “Supporting our nursing faculty is another way to meet the incredible need for highly trained nurses in our communities.”

For over 55 years, the Deaconess-Nashoba Hospital Auxiliary operated the popular sale of holiday greenery, baked goods, crafts and more as a fund raiser for the hospital.

The Basket Raffle and Winter Fest Fair benefits student scholarships. Vendors and crafters will be selling items. College teams create the theme baskets that will be raffled off to raise money for student scholarships.

The MWCC Foundation is accepting pre-orders of holiday greens until Friday, Nov. 18. To place an order and/or sign up to volunteer, contact Diane Hamilton at dhamilton@mwcc.mass.edu or (978) 630-9387. Pre-ordered items can be picked up during the Winter Fest Fair.

MTV's Jeff Yalden speaks in MWCC's auditorium to 260 students from 10 area high schools during the sixth annual Junior Symposium Thursday, Nov. 10.		The winners of Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce's Community Service and Leadership Awards at the annual dinner ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 9. MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino stands in the back row, second from right. The college received a Roy L. Jeannotte Award, which is given to outstanding companies or organizations.

Upcoming Campus Events:

• MWCC’s Health Sciences department is sponsoring a lecture for area senior citizens on the Medicare D Benefit, which will begin on Jan. 1, 2006, Monday, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. in the Murphy Room at the Gardner campus. The presenter will be Hamid Mohaghegh, RPh, MS, MHA, pharmacist and owner of Family Pharmacy in Gardner, Ashburnham Family Pharmacy and Family Home Medical Equipment Supply in Gardner. The presentation will give a general overview and opportunity for to ask questions about the Medicare Part D Benefit, a prescription drug benefit offered through Medicare. Registration is limited to the first 30 people who register with Gayle Jaillet at (978) 630-9265 or gjaillet@mwcc.mass.edu.

• MWCC’s Transfer Services Office is hosting the annual Transfer Fair on Monday, Nov. 14 in the Gardner campus’ South Cafeteria from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Over 40 four-year college transfer representatives plan to attend. With a “Ticket to Transfer Fair,” MWCC students can enter a drawing, being held in conjunction with the fair, to win a $100 gift certificate to a Barnes & Noble bookstore. For a full list of the colleges that will be at the fair, visit http://www.mwcc.edu/services/transfer/fair.html on the MWCC Transfer Services webpage. For more information, contact Nancy Greenlaw at (978) 630-9321.

• Help create the MWCC Library of the future. MWCC Library, located at the Gardner campus, is looking for 10 to 12 individuals per focus group who would like to contribute their ideas to the library renovation project. Pre-registration is required to participate. Refreshments will be provided. All groups will meet in the faculty/staff lounge (adjacent to the cafeteria). Each student participant will receive a free $5 copy card. The day-student focus group will meet Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.; the evening-student group on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 4 to 5:30 p.m.; the college-staff-group on Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.; the faculty group on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.; and the Gardner community on Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, or to pre-register, contact Assistant Dean of Library and Information Services Linda Oldach at (978) 630-9126 or loldach@mwcc.mass.edu.

• In observance of National Family Literacy Month, the annual Family Literacy Fair, sponsored by Project Apples – CPC, will be held at the Leominster City Hall auditorium Wednesday, Nov. 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This event will feature many literature-based craft activities, live entertainment, and popcorn. Pathways to Family Success, a MWCC program, will have a table at the fair, will be doing a literature-based craft with children and distributing copies of “Every Grownup is a Famous Storyteller,” courtesy of Massachusetts Department of Education and The Connecticut Commission on Children. Pathways to Family Success will also participate in “Meet Your Government Leaders,” the culminating event of a month of lessons on basic civics, voting rights, citizenship and more with families, at Northwest School, 45 Stearns Ave., Leominster, on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 6:30 to 7:30 or 8 p.m. For more information, contact Pamela Banister at (978) 534-0964.

• The Entrepreneurial Resource Center at MWCC will present “Marketing Your Small Business” Thursday, Nov. 17, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in room 127 at the Gardner campus. This free seminar will assist small business owners and those planning to start a small business to turn their idea/product into a moneymaker by marketing more effectively. Discover what to say and how to say it to sell your product. The expert presenters will answer questions, and attendees are urged to come prepared with questions regarding their present or proposed business. This seminar is free, but pre-registration is requested. To pre-register, contact MWCC Enrollment Services at (978) 630-9123. For more information, contact Denise Whitney at (978) 630-9124.

• Photographs by Ellie Moore and MWCC Professor Joyce Miller of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work “The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005” are on display in the East Wing Gallery through Friday, Nov. 18. “The Gates,” free-hanging, saffron- colored fabric panels suspended from gate structures, were installed around New York City’s Central Park in February 2005. For more information, contact Professor Joyce Miller at (978) 630-9221 or

	"Inscriptions" by Christopher Willingham

jmiller@mwcc.mass.edu.

• Artist Christopher Willingham work is on display in the East Wing Gallery of MWCC’s Raymond M. LaFontaine Fine Arts Center through Friday, Nov. 18. An artist reception will be held Wednesday, Nov. 17 from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information, contact Professor Joyce Miller at (978) 630-9221 or jmiller@mwcc.mass.edu.

• The Student Government Association (SGA) is accepting donations for their Thanksgiving Food Drive. This year, the collection will benefit MWCC students who could use assistance. There are two ways to help: Donate non-perishable food items and make a monetary donation to go toward purchasing Stop & Shop gift certificates. Each student on the list to receive assistance will be receiving a $20 gift certificate along with a box filled with non-perishable food items. The gift certificate is meant to be used towards the purchase of a turkey and other perishable food items. After purchasing the necessary gift certificates, monetary donations may also be used to purchase any additional non-perishable food items still needed to fill the student boxes. Two grocery carts will be located on the first floor to collect the non-perishable food items. After the non-perishable food items have been distributed to the MWCC students, the remainder of the food will be donated to the MassPirg Fill the Chair campaign, which benefits the Gardner Community Action Committee. For more information, contact Student Life Director Greg Clement at (978) 630-9252 or gclement@mwcc.mass.edu.

• MWCC will host an American Red Cross Blood Drive Monday, Nov. 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the commons area of the college’s Gardner campus. To register, contact Marianne Stoy at (978) 630-9136. Walk-ins are welcome.

• The MWCC Library will be open for extended hours during the fall semester’s final exam period: Friday, Dec. 9, open until 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 11, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call the Library’s main desk at (978) 630-9125.

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