a p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e

Dear friends,
With the start of the 2014-2015 academic year, a new chapter continues to unfold at
Kirkwood Community College. Our third regional center, the Washington County Regional
Center, opened last month, and has been soundly embraced by the area it serves. With a generous gift of land by Jim and Margaret Dunn and family and strong support from the local community, the Washington County Regional Center is another great example of partnership and innovation.
All Kirkwood’s regional centers are community learning hubs, collaborating with local
K-12 school districts and with business and industry. The regional centers are also great examples of innovation and creativity, delivering 21st century training and offering a variety of pathways to learner success.
Kirkwood’s first regional center opened in 2009 in Jones County. From the first day, it was clear the new regional center concept was a winning model of efficient educational delivery.
In August of 2013, our second center opened its doors to students throughout Linn County.
Now, just a year later, enrollments at the Linn County Regional Center are double the initial projections, and already many more students than imagined have experienced the hands-on technical training as well as the general Liberal Arts and Science courses.
In one more year, the Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa will be open in Coralville, a trailblazing example of cooperation between a community college, a state university and Grant Wood Area Education Agency.
In this newsletter, you’ll read the story of Trisha Gardner, a nontraditional student who has improved her career prospects through the adult accelerated program held at Linn Regional.
You’ll also read about Transamerica, Kirkwood’s great corporate partner whose generous gift made the Linn Regional Education Center possible.
While these regional centers illustrate a new chapter in Kirkwood’s history, a new chapter is also unfolding for every new Kirkwood student who starts a college experience this fall, and for all the alumni who return for professional development training or a personal interest class throughout the year. Whether your Kirkwood experience is on campus, at a regional center, online, or in one of Kirkwood’s continuing education training locations, we are pleased to see you start here and go anywhere!
Have a great day,
Mick Starcevich
President
Kirkwood Community College
Kathy L. Hall, CFRE
Vice President, Development
Executive Director, Kirkwood Foundation
Kirkwood Community College

A n Oxford, Iowa native, Trisha
Gardner has many identities: a devoted mom and wife, a dedicated buyer for the Freund-Vector
Corporation in Marion, and a dualenrolled student in both Kirkwood’s program for accelerated learning and at Mt. Mercy University, where she will transfer after finishing her last classes in Kirkwood’s Computer
Science program.
Gardner realized she had a knack for programming by accident, working with IT consultants for her current pharmaceutical equipment manufacturer. “I really enjoyed the mix of creativity and logic,” she reflects, “and being able to figure out a way to make our existing processes more efficient.”
Gardner is among the first few semesters’ worth of students to receive the ACT Endowed
Scholarship for STEM students through Kirkwood, and was recently also awarded the Hites Family
Foundation Higher Education
Endowed Scholarship to continue her education at Mt. Mercy University.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how much the ACT Endowed Scholarship has impacted me… I never would have imagined I would receive a scholarship. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before! It’s helped me push harder through my schoolwork. It’s made me realize that someone believes in me - and how many people believe in me.”
One of those people is her daughter, Hayley, also a Kirkwood student who took her first engineering class while she continues to complete her high school curriculum. Trisha has made only As since starting classes at Kirkwood, while balancing her time to allow for a full-time job and her 11-yearold son’s and 16-year-old daughter’s many extracurricular activities.
“We have a huge calendar on which the whole family writes down their schedules so we can plan ahead how we’ll get to swim practice, marching band, baseball and other things,” Hayley explains.
“It’s a family effort, but I think my mom is doing something many people wouldn’t be able to do.”
Trisha does it, in part, with the help of Kirkwood’s advisors and instructors, whom she feels each personally have a focus on student success. “They’re so personable compared to some other schools
I’ve been exposed to,” Gardner says. One of her math teachers even wrote a letter of reference to help her obtain the ACT Endowed
Scholarship. Her advisors have been careful to keep her from doing too much.
“The accelerated program has really helped put balance in my life.
I’m with other students who are just like me: they’re adults, they’re responsible and have a vested interest in what they’re doing.”

I n 1985, Kirkwood Community
College began providing customized training opportunities for Transamerica no cost to present customized employee training. By agreement,
Transamerica can use the building as an emergency business
Transamerica Endowed Teaching
Chair supports faculty professional development opportunities.
In 2012, the Kirkwood Alumni
(then AEGON USA) employees.
The business partnership grew from the seeds of a strong personal friendship between former Kirkwood President Norm
Nielsen and former AEGON USA
CEO Don Shepard. Professional connections quickly followed and led to the multi-faceted and lasting institutional relationship that continues today.
Kirkwood’s physical footprint has been profoundly shaped by its collaboration with Transamerica.
In 1995, Kirkwood offered land on its main campus to AEGON USA, where the company built a twostory secure site housing all North
American data processing services.
In exchange, AEGON USA donated the initial funding to build
Kirkwood’s Nielsen Hall, now a major campus building housing business, arts and computer education.
The Kirkwood Training and
Outreach Services Center (KTOS) in Marion is also a product of the Kirkwood-Transamerica collaboration. Transamerica allows
Kirkwood to use the building at resumption center, which can become active at a moment’s notice.
The agreement was put to the test when epic floods struck eastern Iowa in the summer of 2008. Kirkwood staff welcomed flood-dislocated teams from
Transamerica,
MidAmerican
Energy and
Alliant Energy to work at the
KTOS center.
Another recent opportunity helped make a new regional center in northern Linn County a reality.
In a bargain sale arrangement,
Transamerica sold the former
PAETEC building in Hiawatha to
Kirkwood, saving Kirkwood —and therefore every taxpayer in the
Corridor— millions in design and construction costs.
Transamerica has been incredibly generous with gifts for educational support, establishing three endowments: one supports single parents enrolled at Kirkwood; another supports Project FINISH, a scholarship/case-management program for at-risk students; and the
& Friends held its inaugural
“Celebration of Success” and awarded the first President’s Award,
Kirkwood’s highest honor for an outstanding corporate partner, to Transamerica. Lon Olejniczak accepted the award on behalf of the company, saying,
“Transamerica is very proud of our long-standing relationship with
Kirkwood Community College. The partnership has been beneficial to both organizations for over 20 years and continues to be valuable to both
Transamerica and Kirkwood.”
Since the mid-1980s, Kirkwood and Transamerica have worked together to enhance educational and economic opportunities throughout the Creative Corridor. Kirkwood
President Mick Starcevich reflects on this alliance, noting “the flexible and positive spirit that has grown over time is a model for how business and education can work together for the common good. We look forward with enthusiasm to the future chapters of this remarkable relationship.”

F ounded by an unprecedented partnership among Kirkwood, eastern Iowa high schools and local industry, Kirkwood’s regional centers make college education more accessible to everyone. From high school students who want to explore careers to adults needing certification for a promotion or a whole new career,
Kirkwood’s regional centers meet students where they are in life and help them to the next step.
“The four regional centers were a visionary educational investment in eastern Iowa,” said Kristy Black, dean of off-campus programs. “Delegates from Wisconsin recently toured the
Jones County Regional Center to learn more about starting something similar in their state. The centers are truly unique in the nation.”
The Jones County Regional
Center was built in 2009, the true flagship of the regional concept.
The Linn County Regional Center opened its doors in 2013 and immediately exceeded all enrollment expectations. The Washington
County Regional Center opens for its first students in fall 2014, while the Kirkwood Regional Center at the
University of Iowa is slated to open in 2015.
Industry partners provided thoughtful input for the classes offered at each strategic location, ensuring training programs directly feed the employment needs of those regions.
Kirkwood’s unique cooperation with area school districts puts high school students in hands-on technical programs at the regional centers, where they take advantage of state-of-the-art labs and training for high-skill, high-wage career opportunities. “Students also have a wealth of fully transferable arts and sciences classes to choose from, giving them a solid foundation of free college credit to take with them after graduation,” Black said.
In fact, in 2012-13, 4,500 students took advantage of dual credit programs, earning 25,416 credit hours. At Kirkwood’s tuition at that time, $133 per credit hour, eastern Iowa families saved close to
$4 million in college tuition costs.
“The tuition savings was calculated using Kirkwood’s very affordable tuition,” Black said. “Imagine the tuition savings if those credit hours were earned from a high tuition private university. The savings are almost priceless.”

Melanie Abu-Nameh
Kirkwood Community College
Chad Bosch
Bosch Financial
Kristine Chiafos
Carl & Mary Koehler History Center
Michele Doyle
Wartburg College
Shawn Gallagher
Ladco, Inc
Deborah Gertsen
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust
Stephen Hanisch
Kirkwood Community College
Michael Ivester
ITC Midwest
Dennis Jordan
Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance
Patrick Kettmann
Rockwell Collins
Mary Klinger
St Lukes Foundation
Brad Marcus
US Bank
Brenda Moore
Retired, UIHC
Craig Mrkvicka
Kirkwood Community College
Andy Petersen
KISS Country FM
Robyn Rieckhoff
Freedom Festival
Stephanie Roberts
Rockwell Collins
Mary Schneekloth
Kirkwood Community College
Chris Wheeler
Point Builders, Inc
Virginia Wilts
Guaranty Bank & Trust
Dear friends,
Thank you to all the alumni who participated in our most recent alumni activities, spending time together and reflecting on your college years, remembering the way the campus looked, recalling a specific instructor or class, the chill of the outbuildings, or the great friends you made.
All of those stories generate excitement and passion, and it means so much to us as we hear your words. We value your treasured memories and the important role Kirkwood has played in your life and career.
In April, the college paid tribute to college alumni, exemplary staff and corporate contributors as Kirkwood Alumni & Friends held the third annual Celebration of Success at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, showcasing individual and company achievements. We highlighted the contributions of longtime corporate donor Rockwell Collins, recently retired administrator
Steve Ovel, and three outstanding alumni. Joe Ahmann, a 1985 graduate of Kirkwood’s Architectural Design program, branched out into commercial property management companies and a partnership in commercial building design: Fusion Architects; Compass Commercial Services, LLC; and Ahmann
Properties, LLC. RaeAnn Barnhart was a non-traditional student who chose the Human Services field at Kirkwood, and today, advocates for individuals and families as co-manager of the Partnership for Safe Families in Cedar
Rapids. In 1979, Mary Van Houten graduated from Kirkwood’s fairly new
Food Service Management program. In 2012, Van Houten came back fullcircle to Kirkwood, accepting the role of Catering Sales Manager at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center. Nearly 300 people attended this annual program that first launched in 2012. Please mark your calendar and join us for our next
Celebration of Success on April 10, 2015.
May 16th was a remarkable day, as we hosted a luncheon for and reconnected with 75 of our veteran alumni. Presentations by Kirkwood President Dr. Mick
Starcevich, Colonel (ret) Ken Rizer, and Kirkwood’s Veterans Affairs Certifying
Official Vicki Terronez filled the day’s program. Veterans were invited to place a ribbon on a blooming crab apple tree to be planted outside of Kirkwood Hall in honor of all 3,200 veterans whom Kirkwood has served over the years.
What fun we had, catching up with several alumni at the Run or Dye event hosted on Kirkwood’s campus in June. Affiliated with the Freedom Festival, the event brought 6,700 participants to run through and enjoy the college’s divine scenery. It was a perfect day for us to reconnect and see your smiles!
Please join us for Family Day on Saturday, October 4. It’s an opportunity for you to be reacquainted with Kirkwood’s 885-acre campus through walking tours, live demonstrations, music, a tailgate lunch and more! Please visit www.kirkwood.edu/familyday for more information about this free event.
Warm regards,
Jody Donaldson, Scholarship and Alumni Officer

Rockwell Collins, President’s Award
Steve Ovel, Trustee’s Award
Joe Ahmann, t
Distinguished Alumni
Mary Van Houten, Distinguished Alumni
RaeAnn Barnhart, Distinguished Alumni

M atthew Aucutt is exactly how you would picture an emergency room physician to be: motivated, dedicated, assertive, passionate about health care.
And, a huge Kirkwood fan.
The Cedar Rapids native and 1989
Kennedy High School graduate first went to the Naval Reserves to help prepare for the rigors of life ahead.
“Boot camp was a great thing for me.
It really helped me buckle down and get ready to be an adult.”
“I knew I had to pay my own way through college,” Dr. Aucutt continued. “I did my research and, at the time, Kirkwood was an economically good decision for me.
The college had a great track record.
Small class sizes, which I appreciated and needed at the time. Great faculty, and it was close enough that I could live at home and cut costs. I can’t say enough truly what a great experience I had at Kirkwood.”
After graduating from Kirkwood with a liberal arts degree, Aucutt enrolled at the University of Iowa to pursue a bachelor’s degree in
Psychology. During those years,
Aucutt worked at Linnhaven in
Marion, caring for developmentally disabled teens and adults. It was there that he realized his deep desire to care for people; his calling was medicine.
“I really like a challenge. I’m a very competitive individual. I wanted a fast-paced career that would be a challenge for the rest of my life. I need something that is mentally, emotionally and physically demanding,” he said. The emergency room was the perfect fit.
Aucutt came to Mercy Medical
Center in 2006 as an emergency room physician. In 2009, he was elevated to medical director. “Mercy is a great match for me,” Dr. Aucutt said. “They are true to their not-forprofit mission – they care for anyone regardless of their ability to pay.
There’s no corporate feel here. They care for everyone in the community.”
Aucutt said he believes the same to be true for Kirkwood. “The things the college is doing are awesome.
They are really helping to raise the educational bar with excellent labs and facilities and great faculty. The community is grateful for their effort.
“Kirkwood really prepared me well for my future education,” Aucutt continued. “Small class sizes meant
I was more accountable and I really needed that. I received a scholarship that helped me pay for classes. If
Kirkwood wasn’t an option for me,
I think I would have assumed I couldn’t afford to go to a university, so I may not have gone on to do anything else.”
The impact of scholarships is evident in so many Kirkwood success stories. “Scholarships are important for those who are motivated to succeed,” Aucutt said. “Getting to go to college at a place like Kirkwood is an awesome opportunity. It’s really a great place to start.”
At Kirkwood, you really can start here and go anywhere. Even to medical school and beyond.
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2–26 Common Thread
Iowa Hall Gallery
5–6 Kirkwood Invite volleyball tournament
Johnson Hall
9 Vino van Gogh on The Patio
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
21 Gospel Brunch at the Iowa Soul Festival*
Sheraton Iowa City
10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. seatings
26 Oysterfest on The Patio
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
27 A Night with the Rat Pack*
The University Club, Iowa City
7:30 p.m.
4 Family Day
Kirkwood’s Cedar Rapids Campus
8 Volleyball: Kirkwood vs. DMACC
Johnson Hall
6:30 p.m.
30 KCCK’s Discover Cuba trip begins*
6–9 The Robber Bridegroom
Ballantyne Auditorium
7:30 p.m. Nov. 6–8
2 p.m. Nov. 9
15 Jazz Ensembles featuring James Miller
Ballantyne Auditorium
7:30 p.m.
5 Concert Chorale and Jazz Transit
Ballantyne Auditorium
7:30 p.m.
28 Basketball: Kirkwood vs. DMACC
Johnson Hall
Women’s Game 5:30 p.m.
Men’s Game 7:30 p.m.
11 Celebration of Success
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
6 p.m.
24 Taste of Jazz*
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
5:30–8 p.m.
*For reservations, call KCCK at 319-398-5446
For a full listing of college events, visit www.kirkwood.edu

D r. Dale Simon, Kirkwood’s associate vice president on the Iowa City campus, retired on June 30, 2014 after 39 years as a Kirkwood accounting instructor,
Leader Scholarship will be given in honor of him and his inspirational role as a volunteer in the Iowa City community.
Simon completed his bachelor’s
Kirkwood and transfer to UI to pursue four-year degrees.
“I’ve really enjoyed it,” Simon adds. “I worked several years past the traditional retirement age because I administrator and dean of business.
But that doesn’t begin to describe the interests or contributions of this farmraised, North Dakota native.
Retirement for Simon will allow him to indulge several healthy pastimes: long-distance bicycling (including
RAGBRAI), cross-country skiing, golf, hiking – and philanthropy.
For years, Simon has contributed to the Kirkwood Foundation to support student scholarships in the performing arts and in sports. Since 2000, he has built an endowed scholarship fund that will support Kirkwood students in perpetuity.
Giving back for Simon includes generosity and compassion, but also serving on the boards of the Salvation
Army, United Way, YMCA, Elder
Services and Goodwill Industries.
He delivers Meals on Wheels to the homebound.
“I really feel that I’ve had greater opportunities than some, so I need to give back to help other people,” Simon notes. “You need to be involved in your community to help it improve.
I’m very much committed to that civic engagement.”
That ethic was instilled early in his life by his parents, Simon adds.
It’s also reflected in his career: last fall, several Iowa City faculty and Phi
Theta Kappa students organized a 5K
Fun Run, with proceeds designated to create a new scholarship in Simon’s honor. The Dale Simon Community degree in accounting at Minot State
College and his master’s and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Iowa.
Kirkwood hired him in 1970 as an accounting instructor; from 1984 to 1991, he was Kirkwood’s dean of business.
“I liked helping develop curriculum and new programs the community needed,” Simon explains. “These are programs for medical records, a career option program in accounting, and a culinary program utilizing a transfer agreement with Iowa State University.”
From 1991 to 1997, Simon was campus dean at Davenport College in Michigan and vice president of instruction at Iowa Lakes Community
College, returning to Kirkwood in
1997, where he became associate vice president on the Iowa City campus.
Upon his return to Kirkwood’s Iowa
City Campus, there were
1,500 students and 10 faculty members, while today there are
3,500 students and 37 faculty.
“We’ve more than doubled the size of the campus,” Simon notes.
Kirkwood’s Iowa City curriculum expanded through partnering with University of
Iowa to better serve students of both schools, Simon says.
Students needing classes in lower level math or foreign language, for instance, can complete those through enjoyed working.”
For now, Simon is focused on volunteering with the National Park
Service and at the Herbert Hoover
Library, and completing a class with the Iowa Senior Health Insurance
Information Program to learn how to help Iowans make informed decisions about Medicare and other health coverage for their retirement.

Get to know Kirkwood’s 885-acre campus through hayrack rides, walking tours, live demonstrations and more!
Bring your appetites, lunch is on us!
10 – 10:30 a.m.
10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
10:45 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Noon – 12:45 p.m
.
1 – 3 p.m.
Registration
Welcome
Open campus, tours, informational sessions, hayrack rides, live demonstrations.
Eagle’s Tailgate — free cookout.
Kirkwood Athletics, current student athletes and alumni scrimmages.
Family Day is a great way to connect with your college!
Check out the classrooms, tour the buildings and maybe even reacquaint with an old friend!
• Register at www.kirkwood.edu/alumnirsvp .
• Call 800-363-2220 with questions.
• Check out our hotel: www.thehotelatkirkwood.com
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JoAnn Beer
6 Years of Service
Continuing Education/
Training Services
Virginia Hootman
4 Years of Service
Facilities
Terry Brase
15 Years of Service
Agricultural
Sciences
Pat Keyes
24 Years of Service
Iowa City Campus
Paul Burdick
28 Years of Service
Industrial
Technologies
John MacGregor
10 Years of Service
Institutional Effectiveness/
Research
Bob Carpenter
36 Years of Service
Facilities
Jim Mercer
13 Years of Service
Facilities
Bob Cook
13 Years of Service
Facilities
Judy Oehlerich
22 Years of Service
Hospitality Arts
Cynthia Fabor
10 Years of Service
Math/Science
Nancy O’Geary-Smith
14 Years of Service
Business and
Information Technology
Tim Feldkamp
27 Years of Service
Arts/Humanities
Laurie Perry
14 Years of Service
Facilities
Sally Filkins
40 Years of Service
Business and
Information Technology
Ron Reisner
4 Years of Service
The Hotel
Nancy Glab
11 Years of Service
Allied Health
Dale Simon
39 Years of Service
Iowa City Campus
Richard Hamer
20 Years of Service
Bookstore
Karol Spores
19 Years of Service
Enrollment
Management
Leanne Harman
14 Years of Service
Print Services
Randy Stolte
10 Years of Service
Agricultural
Sciences
393

Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Cedar Rapids, IA
Permit No. 94
6301 Kirkwood Blvd. S.W.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404
Let’s talk more!
To receive our monthly e-newsletter, or to update your contact information, contact us at (319) 398-5442 or foundation@kirkwood.edu.
Please consider including the
Kirkwood Foundation in your charitable and estate plans.
Steve Caves, President
John C. Bloomhall, Vice President
George F. Grask, Treasurer
Marcia Rogers, Secretary
Stephen West, Past President
Robert W. Allsop
Pat Cobb
Mike Denney
Jim Dunn
Richard L. Ferguson
Jay Gruenwald
Dwight Hughes, Jr.
G. Richard Johnson
Kevin King
Roger Klouda
Sherry Kramer
Gerald Meis
James Mollenhauer
Greg Neumeyer
Anne Parmley
Chuck Peters
Bernard Rehnstrom
Rose Rennekamp
Sara Sauter
Audrey Savage
Chris Skogman
John M. Smith
Kent Statler
Pat Baird
Don Canfield
Pat Dreibelbis
Steven Dummermuth
Pat Falconio
Barbara Hennings
Kathy Lamb
Bob Sierk
David Unzeitig
John Vernon
Mick Starcevich
President
Kirkwood Community College
Kathy L. Hall, CFRE
Vice President, Development
Kirkwood Community College
Kathy L. Hall, CFRE
Executive Director
Carrie Anderson
Executive Assistant
Jody Donaldson
Scholarship and Alumni Officer
Tresa Ertmer
Foundation Services Specialist
Susan Ovel
Director of Planned and
Endowed Giving
Sarah Peters
Senior Accountant
Eric Weiler, CFRE
Annual Giving Officer phon e
(319) 398-5442
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