The QVCC Foundation, The Hale Foundation, The Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center, and NOW announce TackleJR

The QVCC Foundation is pleased to announce TackleJR, a race for youth, aged 2 -12 years old. The race will be held the same day as Tackle the Trail™ on Saturday, October 16, starting at 9 a.m. at the Putnam Lions Memorial Dog Park, 16 Kennedy Dr in Putnam, CT.

Thanks to TackleJR sponsor Betty Hale and The Newell D. Hale Foundation the race will take place on a short portion along the river trail and on the Tackle the Trail™ course including finishing at the Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center (Hale YMCA) in Putnam.  Runners will receive official race medals, and enjoy cider and donuts thanks to Lapsley Orchard and the Bakers Dozen.

TackleJR sponsor, Betty Hale, said, “Tackle the Trail™ assists students in reaching their goal at QVCC by graduating from College with little to no debt, and is a healthy event for the community. TackleJR will now provide the opportunity for all ages to participate in this day.”

Monique Wolanin shared, “A heartfelt thanks to the Hale Family for their commitment to providing healthy, fun experiences to children and adults in Northeast Connecticut. NOW, The Hale YMCA, and The QVCC Foundation are excited to be able to offer this amazing free opportunity to kids. As a passionate advocate for getting people of all ages to get put down their screens, get outside, and get moving, I hope that families will make TackleJR their destination on October 16th, and that many of these children will one day run the entire course!

NOW Executive Director, Tayler Shea, commented, “NOW is thrilled to participate in Tackle the Trail by hosting TackleJR for the first time. Our organization’s mission is youth wellness, and the past two years have presented unique challenges to keep children engaged in healthy activities. With the cooler weather setting in, it is important to teach children not to fall into unhealthy habits, Tackle Junior is the perfect opportunity to do so.” NOW’s mission is to promote whole body wellness by providing the accessibility of health through youth sports scholarships, free wellness clinics, and nutrition education.

REGISTER NOW  for TackleJR

Tackle the Trail™ is a trail race through Northeast Connecticut for marathoners, half-marathoners, and relay teams.  Runners enjoy the quiet solitude of nature with bursts of energetic and supportive fans throughout this point-to-point race. Just 45 minutes from Providence and 1 hour from Boston, Tackle the Trail, a unique race in an amazing place! your gateway to trail racing in New England. (take out) Tackle is always the third Saturday in October and benefits students attending Quinebaug Valley Community College. Learn more about Tackle the Trail™ 

Earlier this year, Governor Lamont announced a major expansion of the Care 4 Kids program, which, among other actions, made financial assistance available to help with the cost of child care for students.

Students at any CSCU institution pursuing any kind of credential from a noncredit certificate to a bachelor’s degree may be eligible for these benefits. That includes Quinebaug Valley Community College.

How to take part:

Visit the Care 4 Kids website: (ctcare4kids.com)

• Check to see if you are eligible
• Use the income guidelines table to find out if your family income meets Care 4 Kids requirements (eligibility at application has now increased to 60% of State Median Income for a limited time)

Apply for Care 4 Kids

• If you are eligible, a certificate will be issued to you and your child care provider that specifies the amount Care 4 Kids will pay and any family fees you are responsible for

Find a child care program that works for you

• Families have 30 days to select a child care provider after applying and being found eligible
• These provider types can provide care (child care centers, family child care homes, after school programs, relative child care)
• Visit 211childcare.org for help finding a provider (211childcare.org)

If you are eligible, Care 4 Kids will pay for child care costs during your work, school, or training time, plus travel time. Families will be responsible to pay their child care provider any costs not covered by Care 4 Kids.

For more information, including FAQs, please visit ctcare4kids.com or call Care 4 Kids at (888) 214-5437.

$62,000 Raised to Support Low-Cost Education

The QVCC Foundation hosted its 29th annual Golf Tournament on September 15, 2021 at Connecticut National Country Club in Putnam, CT. The Foundation puts on this yearly event to help local students pursue their dreams of higher education attainment at QVCC. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and players, the Foundation raised $62,000 at this year’s outing.

Tournament Results

• First Place Team, score of 56 – Kevin Cole, Brendan Meehan, Aaron Vargas, Greg Kosma
•  Second Place, score of 58 – Trevor Cardinal, Mark Lowell, Jeremy Hendrickson, Andre Lavoie
•  Third Place, score of 59 – Vinnie Carminati, Jake Merritt, Bob Willis, Dave Fundin
• Middle of the Pack – MJ Burke, Jack Burke, Dave Mulford, Kathy Mulford

Closest to the Pin

• Hole 7– Chad Gemmill
• Hole 9– Rich Zajkowski
• Longest Drive Female – Kristen Willis
•  Longest Drive Male – Trevor Cardinal
• Skins – Eagle #6 Roger Noll, Sean Vigue, Pat Kozelka, Jon Cote

Special thanks to our sponsors for allowing us to continue support of QVCC students!  For additional information about the QVCC Foundation or donating to the Foundation, contact Monique Wolanin, mwolanin@qvcc.edu or 860.932.4174

PLATINUM SPONSORS:

• bankHOMETOWN
• Foster Corporation
• Putnam Plastics
• Westview Sports Medicine & Aquatic Center

GOLD SPONSORS:

• Archambault Insurance
• Baker’s Dozen
• Berkshire Bank
• Byrnes Insurance Agency
• Cargill Chevrolet
• Cerreto & Associates
• Gerardi Insurance Associates
• Jewett City Savings Bank
• Joseph & Dawn Adiletta, Foundation President
• Joe Markley, Foundation Member
• Levine Distributors
• Luminant – Lake Road Generating
• Northeast CT Dental Associates
• NorthStar Home Loans
• Sandhill Investment
• Sarantopoulos & Sarantopoulos
• Spirol International
• Weiss, Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors
• Zip’s Diner

SILVER SPONSORS:

• Brunet & Company
• Jack & Mary Jane Burke
• Centreville Bank
• Day Kimball Healthcare
• P3 Technologies
• Rawson Materials
• Sarantopoulos & Sarantopoulos
• WIN Waste Innovations

HOLE SPONSORS:

• A.C. Glass
• Stephen Adams
• Bachand, Longo & Higgins
• Bill’s Bedding & Furniture
• Brunet & Company
• Borner, Smith, Aleman, Herzog & Cerrone
• Bob Brex
• Bob & Karen Hynick, QVCC CEO
• Chase Graphics
• Christopher Heights
• Copeland Builders
• Creamery Brook Village
• David & Joy `78 Chartier
• Danielson Surplus
• Demers Enterprises
• Desmarais & Sons
• Dianne & Charley Williams
• Drock Trucking
• ERW
• George & Pam Brown, Foundation Member
• Fire Alarm Specialists
• Fluid Coating Technologies
• Fort Hill Farms
• Giant Pizza
• Inn at Woodstock Hill
• Jay Sinha
• Jim’s Upholstery
• John & Darlene Miller
• Johnny’s Pizza
• Killingly Fences
• King & Larkin
• LaFramboise Well Drilling
• Mike Smith Transmissions
• NECT Healthcare Credit Union
• Northeast Flooring & Kitchens
• P3 Technologies
• Page’s Tree Service
• Paquette Electric
• Parent Sanitation
• Peter Deary, Foundation Member & Kim Lane
• Pizza 101
• Pomfret Wine & Spirits
• Putnam Vision Center
• Precision Collision
• QVCC Alumni Association
• QVCC Maintenance
• Rene & Lynne Comtois, Foundation Member
• Diana Rose, Foundation Member
• Rocky & Jodie Wagner, Foundation Member
• Sierra Nevada,
• Signature Limousine
• Steve Bousquet’s Appliance & TV
• Steve LaPointe
• Stifel/Graffam Family
• Stomping Ground
• Susan Harrod & Dan Donahue
• Temporaries of New England
• Tri-State Rehab & Sports Center
• Truly Hard Seltzer
• Andrea Truppa, Attorney
• Vanilla Bean Cafe
• Wealthcare Investments
• Weiss, Stamper & Gadbois
• Westminster Tool
• White Claw Hard Seltzer
• Wile Hyundai
• WINY
• Bruce & Monique Wolanin
• Woodstock Building Associates

In Kind Donors:

• Steve Bousquet’s Appliance & TV
• Charlie Pious – UNICORR Nutmeg Container
• Danielson Surplus Sales
• Don Musial – WIN Waste Innovation
• Friendly Spirits
• Putnam Ford

Released: September 27, 2021

On September 27th, 1971, Quinebaug Valley Community College began offering classes at Harvard H. Ellis Technical School and Killingly High School prior to the construction of a campus at the 742 Upper Maple Street location in 1983. QVCC invites the community to celebrate 50 years of serving the communities of Northeast Connecticut on Thursday, October 21, 2021 beginning at 4:30 p.m. at our Danielson location.

In recognition of this monumental event, the College is seeking nominations for “Five Champions of QVCC”. Whether in a classroom setting, in a student support role, in a peer role or as a community member, champions advocate for our students and the college’s mission. Whether their presence was felt fifty years ago or today, they made impact on the history of the college. Nominations must be submitted online by Wednesday, September 29th for consideration.

NOMINATION APPLICATION

Program

• 4:30 – 5:30 Cocktail Hour
• 5:30 – 6: 30 Celebratory Ceremony including comments from QVCC President Emeritus Dianne E. Williams, Regional President Robert Steinmetz, QVCC CEO Karen Hynick, and the President of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Terence Cheng
  • Recognition of the Five Champions of QVCC
• 6:30 – 7:30 Memories & Mingle

The College’s COVID-19 policies on masking and social distancing will be in effect. In the event we are unable to host the celebration on October 21, we will postpone until Thursday, April 14, 2022

RSVP is required. Please respond by October 7th, 2021, to Jennifer Green,  or 860.932.4140

The Joule Fellows Program at the University of Connecticut (UCONN) gives middle school, high school, and community college instructors a chance to participate in current research and develop lessons and activities to bring engineering principles into their classroom. As part of the program, Joule Fellows attend various enrichment activities around the state in interesting and relevant locations.

In early August, Joule Fellows from UCONN attended a tour of QVCC’s manufacturing and engineering programs and completed a related workshop on 3D scanning, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), 3D printing, and Laser Cutting. They measured parts, made simple sketches on paper with relevant dimensions, then created those parts using a 3D CAD program, SolidWorks. They took a 3D-printed box, and cut and etched a matching lid from mirrored cast acrylic with their own custom text on it using our laser cutter. There was also a brief live 3D scanning demo.

Two students, Cassandra Miller from QVCC, and Amit Thakkar from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), helped Prof. Jakob Spjut run the workshop and assisted the Joule Fellows with their workshop tasks. They also shared some details of their summer project, as they worked on a NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium (CTSGC) Undergraduate Student-Faculty Research project to redesign the statewide Community College Quadcopter Challenge under Prof. Jakob Spjut (QVCC) and Prof. Ravindra Thamma (CCSU). As QVCC campus director for the space grant, Prof. Spjut also shared additional statewide opportunities for high school teachers to get involved with the Space Grant, which is NASA’s educational outreach arm inside of Connecticut, administered out of University of Hartford.

QVCC is offering a vaccine clinic in September and October for faculty, staff, and students at the Danielson campus.

Griffin Health is providing all three vaccines, free of charge. No appointment is needed:

DAYS & TIME

September: SPIROL Art Gallery, located off the main entrance to the campus.

Tuesdays: 9 -1 p.m.
Wednesdays: 3-7 p.m.

October: The Fireside Lounge, enter through the main entrance or Fireside Lounge entrance

Tuesdays: 9 -1 p.m.
Wednesdays: 3-7 p.m.

Released: August 31, 2021

Republished from The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.

Michelle Warren, The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
Sat, August 21, 2021, 11:59 PM·3 min read

WILLIMANTIC — In an era when community college enrollments are dropping nationwide, it can be difficult for schools like Quinebaug Valley Community College to recruit new students. For more than 30 years, the college has served the region with a satellite campus in Willimantic, acting as a resource for those who wish to obtain an affordable college education. While there has been an uptick in non- traditional students attending the Willimantic center, the goal is to increase the total enrollment at that campus, according to QVCC Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Services Joseph Cullen.

” We absolutely adore the Willimantic community,” he said. ” We want our program to grow but in order to grow, we need people to come.” QVCC has had a satellite campus in Willimantic since 1986. The main campus is at 742 Upper Maple St. in Danielson. Cullen said the school didn’t always have a ” center” in Willimantic, per say, but at times, it just had space in buildings. In 2017, the center moved from Main Street to Windham Technical High School. Starting this past fall, QVCC has been on Main Street once again and it currently shares space with EASTCONN’s Learners Empowered to Achieve their Potential ( LEAP) program, an alternative high school, at 729 Main St. QVCC has four classrooms in that building, as well as a break room and office space.

” This is just the start,” Cullen said. ” We just really hope and anticipate the community will partner with us and then we’ll build something special.” He said there was a drop in enrollment after the move to Windham Tech, but enrollment has bounced back somewhat since the return to Main Street. ” It feels like a more adult environment than a high school environment,” Cullen said, comparing the current site to the Windham Tech site. Cullen said there was an increase in enrollment during the past spring semester at the Willimantic site. “It was modest,” he said. ” I want to say, maybe, 5 percent.” Cullen said, last semester, 137 students were enrolled at QVCC’s Willimantic center.

The registration period for the fall semester is currently underway. QVCC offers both credit and non-credit courses. The registration deadline for the fall semester is Sept. 16. The regular term courses start Aug. 26 and the late term classes, which are shorter and more compact, start Sept. 27. The institution is attractive to students who just graduated high school, referred to as traditional students, as well as non- traditional students. Some non- traditional students are attending college for the first time while others are continuing their college education. “I have a lot of non-traditional ( students) who have families and want to finish in two years, but it’s not always that easy,” QVCC Community Outreach and Evening Coordinator Maria Garcia- Alvarez said.

There are currently 20 courses offered in a variety of subjects at the Willimantic campus, including courses in English as a Second Language, English composition, math, environmental science, and general psychology. Currently, the plan is to offer hybrid classes in the fall at the Willimantic center, with both in- person and online components, but that could change as the pandemic evolves. Cullen said the decision to have hybrid classes was based on a survey students took. He said if conditions of the pandemic change, the school can easily move to entirely virtual classes. Students who don’t have a car can either walk to campus, if they live nearby, or ride a Windham Region Transit District bus, which runs between the Danielson and Willimantic campuses twice a day.

Cullen said tuition rates are ” very reasonable” and there is financial aid available for those who qualify. Students from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island taking 12 or more credits, but no more than 17 credits, would be charged $2,253, including tuition and fees. After 17 credits, there is an additional flat tuition charge of $100 per semester. Students may qualify for free tuition through the free community college program offered by the state.

A limited number of hotspots and laptops are also available to students.

Follow Michelle Warren on Twitter — @mwarrentc.

The fall semester begins on Thursday, August 26 and if you need assistance, we are here to help. Schedule an appointment today with admissions, advising, financial aid, Willimantic staff, and Veteran Services.

ADMISSIONS
Schedule your appointment
Mon – Thurs, 8:30 am – 4pm
Email Admissions

ADVISING
Schedule your In-Person Appointment
Schedule your  Phone or Video Appointment
Danielson: Mon – Fri, 9am – 4pm
Willimantic: Mon – Thurs, 3 – 8pm

Drop-In:
Danielson: Mon and Tues, 9am – 11:30am, Wed and Thurs, 1 – 3:30pm
Willimantic: Wed, 3 – 8pm

FINANCIAL AID
Schedule your In-Person Appointment
Schedule your Phone or Video Appointment
Mon – Thurs, 8:30am – 4pm

Bookstore
Mon – Thurs, 9am – 3pm (closed from 1 – 2pm) and Fri 9am – 12pm

Library
Mon – Thurs, 9am – 4pm and Fri 9am – 2pm
Evening hours by appointment: (860) 932-4007 or library@qvcc.edu

Records
Mon – Thurs, 8:30am – 4pm (until August 16)
Mon – Fri, 8:30am – 4pm (after August 16)

RELEASED: August 10, 2021

Quinebaug Valley Community College is pleased to welcome Dr. Karen Hynick as QVCC’s Chief Executive Officer. Appointed July 1, Dr. Hynick succeeds QVCC’s fifth CEO (formerly referred to as President), Dr. Rose R. Ellis, who served in the interim following Dr. Carlee Drummer.

As campus CEO, Dr. Hynick assumes the role as President, overseeing the day-to-day operations at the College. Prior to coming to QVCC, Dr. Hynick served as North Shore Community College’s Vice President of Academic Affairs since 2014. During her tenure at NSCC, she led the college’s development of its Master Academic Plan, Two Year Schedule Process, Guided Pathways Implementation, Early College with Lynn Public Schools, advanced the college’s role as the statewide consortium lead for prior learning assessment, focused the college’s efforts on student learning outcomes, and redesigned the academic program review process.

Prior to her role at NSCC, she served as the Chancellor’s Fellow at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities in St. Paul assisting in “Charting the Future”, a system-wide strategic framework. She also simultaneously served as the System Director for P-20 for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities reforming developmental education and expanding early college and dual enrollment programs throughout Minnesota. Additionally, Dr. Hynick also spent six years as Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Support at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Early in her career, Dr. Hynick taught at Leominster High School, Quinsigamond Community College, and at several Department of Youth Services sites.

Dr. Hynick is a native of New England and earned her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, her Master of Education at Worcester State University, and her Ed.D. in Educational Administration at Bethel University, St. Paul, MN.

“I am deeply honored and excited to begin my role as the new campus CEO of Quinebaug Valley Community College. I look forward to working with the exceptional QVCC students, faculty, staff, and community members to continue our work supporting access, student success, rigorous academic programs aligned to workforce and transfer needs, and improving equity and student outcomes,” shared Dr. Hynick. “This is a transformational time for our college and the state as we navigate the COVID pandemic and its aftermath and as we move towards the one college concept of Connecticut State Community College to better leverage resources to support our students’ needs. I am confident in the vision of our collective future and the ability to work together to fulfill our mission to our students and our community and am excited to be part of the team.”