Get ready for the new Germanna website!

The Office of Marketing and Public Information will launch the newly redesigned Germanna website on Friday morning, Dec. 18th. This new design will be accompanied by a switch to a new content management system for the site. The nine-month redesign and migration project brought together content experts across the college in effort to improve the student experience online.

On the new home page, you’ll see minimalist, responsive design and navigation features such as new graphics, simplified menus, and new sliders highlighting Germanna services, announcements and upcoming events.

Marketing will swap out the Germanna website at 8 a.m. on Friday, December 18th. The website will be down for several hours during this process. In addition, the Google Search feature will not work completely for 24 to 48 hours after the site goes live. Google needs time to pass over our entire new website.

During the switch, services such as myGCC, Blackboard, Germanna Central, and Outlook 365 will remain available via the links below.

After the new site goes live, if you notice that something is missing please contact marketing@germanna.edu and we will find it for you and make it accessible to you. We hope you are excited by the new look and functionality of the Germanna website!


Resources:

myGCC (Blackboard, SIS, gmail, HRMS): https://gcc.my.vccs.edu/

Germanna Central: https://gcentral.germanna.edu/

Outlook Web Access: https://login.microsoftonline.com/

--CONTRIBUTED BY D. MIKE BREITENBACH

Germanna president nominated for literary prize

Germanna Community College President David A. Sam has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize.

A number of nominees will be selected for publication in the annual collection titled, "The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses," and one will be chosen for the prize.

Sam was nominated for his poem, “Taconic Orogeny,” published this fall in the Vine Leaves Literary Journal.

Previous winners of the award, first given in 1976, include Joyce Carol Oates at an early stage in her writing career.

“I am pleased and honored that the editors thought highly of my poem,” Sam said.

Sam, the author of "Memories in Clay, Dreams of Wolves," a semi-autobiographical 2014 book of poems, was born and spent his early childhood in McKeesport, Pa., a coal and steel suburb of Pittsburgh. Later, his family relocated with his father’s factory to Belleville, Mich., a Detroit exurb. Much of his childhood was passed exploring railroad tracks, woods, lakes, and rural farm fields, and they were the source of much imagery in his poetry. 

He's a grandchild of immigrants and a first-generation college student.

Profits from sales of "Memories in Clay, Dreams of Wolves" go to the Germanna Educational Foundation.

Sam is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University. He has taught creative writing, English literature, and composition at EMU, Marygrove College, Oakland Community College, and Pensacola State College.

Sam has written poetry for 40 years and has two published collections, the other being "Dark Land, White Light," published in 1971.

He's also been published in Carbon Culture Review, The Crucible, The Flagler Review, The Write Place at the Write Time, The Summerset Review, The Birds We Pile Loosely, and Literature Today.

Sam lives in Culpeper with his wife, Linda.

From the Pushcart Press website:

Since 1976, hundreds of presses and thousands of writers of short stories, poetry and essays have been represented in our annual collections. Each year most of the writers and many of the presses are new to the series. Every volume contains an index of past selections, plus lists of outstanding presses with addresses.

The Pushcart Prize has been a labor of love and independent spirits since its founding. It is one of the last surviving literary co-ops from the 60's and 70's.

Happy 240th birthday, Marine Corps!

On Nov. 10, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the creation of two battalions of Marines to serve on the frigates of the fledgling American Navy.  This birthday is celebrated each year around the world at Marine Corps installations and anywhere Marines are serving with a cake-cutting ceremony on that date to honor the memory and sacrifice of generations of Marines who have served and continue to serve our nation. 

Join the Veteran Affairs Center as Germanna Community College celebrates this 240^th birthday with a cake-cutting at noon, Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the second floor lobby of the Dickinson Building on the Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.

Figuring out how to cool coffee down fast is, well, cool

Prof. Mirela Fetea’s Physics 242 class was working on a “How to Cool Down Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate” project Tuesday at Germanna Community College’s Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.


“There’s a lot of physics in something as simple as making a cup of coffee,” Fetea said. “We all have burned our tongues trying to sip coffee when it’s too hot--waiting to take that first sip can seem like it takes forever.”


She challenged students to apply some of the basic concepts and principles studied this semester in the physics class--heat radiation and absorption, conduction and convection, insulation, etc, to figure out what succession of steps would cool down the liquid the most in three minutes:


Quickly pouring the creamer and sugar in, or pouring them in right before you drink, stirring or shaking the cup, blowing on it.


Fetea explained the winning strategy, which involved continuous movement of an aluminum foil tray full of hot water around a table in the physics lab:


"By moving the tray around they tried to maximize the loss of heat via conduction - transfer of energy by the movement of particles that are in direct contact with each other. The larger the temperature difference between the objects, the quicker the heat transfer is. As soon as the temperature of the table surface increased, they moved the tray to another spot, having a slightly lower temperature--room temperature--and therefore speeding up the heat transfer."


The results:


First place: Nathan Helmly, Ethan Martin, Joseph Medawar, and Vincent Eastman.


Sexond place tie: A team of Ali Hayder, Gabriel Simmons, Michael Hales, and Nathan Richters and a team consisting of Daniel Carder, Kristy D'Alessandro, Donnie Lewis, and Justin Wray.


Third place: Nicholas Short, David Brown, Jake Polend and Matt Perry

Nathan Richters waves a styrofoam cup while team members Gabriel Simmons,
Michael Hales and Ali Hayder blow air onto a tray of hot water
 to cool down a hot liquid during a Germanna Community College physics class.
 Six teams of four students had three minutes to apply some of the concepts
 and principles studied in their University Physics II  class.
(Photo by Robert A. Martin)

Germanna bans vaping on campus

GERMANNA BANS VAPING ON CAMPUS

If you’ve got ‘em, don’t vape ‘em.

Germanna Community College has banned “vaping” on campus.

During a meeting at the college's Stafford Automotive Center, GCC’s Local College Board voted Thursday evening to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in campus buildings and within 25 feet of entrances and exits.

Germanna President David A. Sam noted that many believe use of e-cigarettes to be healthier than tobacco, but there’s debate about whether it’s safe. Some say it's helped them quit smoking tobacco.

Dr. Jeanne Wesley, GCC’s Vice President for Workforce, told the board that there have been complaints about students vaping.

She didn’t speculate about safety, but said: “I can tell you one thing. They stink.”

A heating element powered by a battery allows e-cigarettes to atomize a flavored liquid solution that often includes nicotine, creating aerosol instead of smoke. 
According to Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, 587 U.S. campuses banned vaping as of Jan. 1.

Only e-cigarettes that are marketed for therapeutic purposes are regulated by the FDA. The agency has proposed a rule that would extend its authority to cover e-cigarettes. Congressional Republicans oppose the change.

The new Germanna ban also includes clove and herbal cigarettes. A ban on tobacco smoking at GCC had already been in effect.

Dogwood Village of Orange County awards scholarship to Danielle Wallace

Dogwood Village of Orange County has awarded a major scholarship to Germanna Community College nursing student Danielle Wallace.


Wallace is a 2013 Orange County High School graduate.

Vernon M. Baker, administrator of Dogwood Village Health
 and Rehabilitation and Senior Living, Germanna student
 Danielle Wallace and GCC Dean of Nursing Patti Lisk

She works at DVOC as a certified nurse’s aide and is studying at Germanna toward her associate’s degree and her registered nurse’s license. Her ultimate goal is earning a master’s of science in nursing degree and working in a hospital.


The new scholarship was established by the Dogwood Village of Orange County Foundation to promote the nursing profession.


Scholarships are awarded for up to $3,000 per year towards the initial licensure and associate’s degree in nursing, either as an LPN or RN, including the transition from LPN to RN.


Once awarded, the scholarship automatically renews as long as the student remains in good standing in the program. Once the licensure is received, the recipient agrees to work for DVOC in at least a regular part-time position for two years. DVOC also has a traditional reimbursement program that will help towards advanced degrees if recipients are interested once they receive the initial license.


“Dogwood Village of Orange County’s generous and forward-thinking scholarship program will help keep local residents healthy for decades to come,” Germanna President David A. Sam said. “As more and more of us retire and need for health care increases, there will be more and more competition for good nurses. Dogwood Village understands that, as do we.”


Germanna Dean of Nursing Patti Lisk said Wallace is an outstanding student whose intelligence, commitment to patients and upbeat personality will make her a great nurse.

G.E. Gallas talks about the poet William Blake on Feb. 4

Writer and illustrator G.E. Gallas will share work related to William Blake, the English poet, at 11 a.m. Feb. 4 in Sealy Auditorium on Germanna's Fredericksburg Campus in Spotsylvania.

Get an early start on college with Dual Enrollment

Attention High School Students

Get an Early Start on Your College Education with Dual Enrollment.
Through your school's partnership with Germanna Community College, current high school students have opportunities to take college courses while in high school.  Learn more at an upcoming Dual Enrollment Information Session:

Through Dual Enrollment courses, students gain exposure to college academics, learn from instructors with credentials to teach at the college level,  and have access to GCC Resources that facilitate student success.  Students earn college credit (most of which transfer to 4 year-colleges and universities) while fulfilling high school graduation requirements!

For more information, please visit the Germanna Community College
http://www.germanna.edu/dual-enrollment/

Time to fill out your FAFSA

Don’t leave $150 billion on the table.

It’s time to fill out your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The 2015-2016 FAFSA became available Jan. 1.

For college-bound students, parents and counselors, filling out a FAFSA is the path to access $150 billion in grants, loans and work-study funds.

For more information, email financialaid@germanna.edu .

Seven ways to squeeze more college aid from the FAFSA.

Germanna has Great Expectations for foster care youth

Simply keeping a roof over their heads is an accomplishment for teens aging out of the foster care system.

“A lot of our foster youth here in Virginia have become homeless,” said Jennifer Lawrence, a Student Success Coach at Germanna Community College who heads up the Great Expectations program at GCC.

Jennifer Lawrence talks with Great Expectations students at holiday event.

Great Expectations is a statewide program that helps foster care youth who are aging out of the system make the transition to college and employment.

According to the Virginia Community College System, Virginia has the highest percentage of teens aging out of the system without a permanent home:  

•   As of Jan. 2010, Virginia had approximately 6,000 children in foster care. Of these, 53% are teenagers.
•    Nationally, of those who have recently aged out of the system, over 25% will be incarcerated in the first 2 years after leaving the system.
•    Over 54 percent will be homeless or unstably housed.
•    Only 20 percent of those 19 or older will take advantage of the educational programs available to them.
•    Only 58 percent will earn a high school degree by age 19, compared with 87 percent nationally.
•    Less than 2 percent will earn a college degree, compared with 28 percent of the general population. 

More information is available at www.GreatExpectations.vccs.edu

 During a recent holiday party and celebration of Great Expectation students’ achievements, Lawrence had the students stand up and talk about what they’ve accomplished.

• ·     A number had maintained grade point averages approaching 4.0.
• ·     One did so while learning to manage a chronic illness while continuing in school and working.
• ·     One had become an officer in the community college honorary society Phi Theta Kappa.
• ·     One had begun a home health care job.
• ·     One had been certified as an emergency medical technician and firefighter.
• ·     One is doing volunteer work at his church.
• ·     One had earned her cosmetology license worked at two jobs while going to school, saved her money and bought a used car.

 The latter encouraged other students to: “Go for it. Work hard. Don’t stop.”

 According to the Great Expectations helps Virginia’s foster youth complete high school, gain access to a community college education and transition successfully from the foster care system to living independently. Key components include:

• • Individualized tutoring
• • Help applying for college admission and financial aid
• • Career exploration and coaching
• • Help applying for and keeping a job
• • Life skills training, including managing finances