Dec. 12, 2014
Santa Gets the Best Gift of All
“Santa” receives an early and awesome Christmas present
at the inaugural Holiday Shop at the MAC event last
weekend. Guests enjoyed discounted tickets, beautifully
packaged gift certificates and holiday treats. Ticket buyers
at the event received a 10 percent discount on the MAC’s
holiday performances, including country music legend Clint
Black’s Christmas Show (Dec.12), Von Heidecke’s Chicago
Festival Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” featuring live music by the
New Philharmonic Orchestra (Dec. 20-21), as well as New
Year’s Eve with the New Philharmonic (Dec. 31). Guests
also had an opportunity to win tickets or a gift certificate for
free massage offered by COD’s Wellness and Massage
Training Institute. Tours of the MAC and Cleve Carney Art
Gallery were also provided. Click here for more photos.
New Associate Dean
Blake Walter Joins COD
The College’s new
Associate Dean of
Learning Resources and
Library Director is Blake
Walter. The Wheaton
resident has worked as
an academic librarian in
Chicago for 25 years.
Most recently, he spent
12 years at Northern
Seminary in Lombard, where he worked as director of the
Brimson Grow Library, as an assistant professor and, since
2008, vice president of Academic Administration. Walter did
not grow up wanting to be a librarian. He actually attended a
seminary in hopes of becoming ordained. While there, he
worked in the seminary library and enjoyed it so much that
his career interests changed. “I fell in love with the whole
aspect of providing library services to an educational
institution,” he said. Read More
Giving Garland Holiday Event Dec. 18
All gifts collected through the Giving Garland
Project will be wrapped at a special event hosted by
COD Cares on Thursday, Dec. 18. More than 50
COD Cares Action Heroes have signed up to help at
the program, which includes hot chocolate and treats
for the wrappers, as well as a showing of the
(in)famous film, “Elf.” The first 30 volunteers who
show up in “holiday ugly-wear” will also receive a
special gift.
Ideas to Profits Business Conference
Matt Quigley, founder of the startup Deziner
Software, presents his business pitch to a group of
distinguished judges during the Center for
Entrepreneurship’s recent Ideas to Profits Business
Conference at College of DuPage. Quigley was one of
three finalists in the competition, which included a
Business Pitch Contest, received the $5,000 grand
prize. More than 125 participants gathered for this
inaugural event that brought together students, alumni
and industry experts to learn new skills as a startup,
understand how to execute a new business and learn
about resources to grow sales. Jim and Jason Ebel
from Two Brothers Brewery discussed a turning point
in their 17-year business and how they have become
one of the largest microbreweries in the U.S.
Kudos to…English instructor Trina
Sotirakopulos (pen name Trina
Sotira) who co-edited a new
anthology titled “Shifts.” The book
includes a collection of short stories,
essays and poems written by 35
women from different age groups,
geographic locations, marital status,
parenting status, professions and
sexual orientations who share their
experiences of growth as a result of
change. The anthology highlights the
strength of women as their life shifts
ultimately lead to increased confidence and internal peace.
The book is available at Amazon.com.
More Kudos to…Graphic and Web Designer Jeremy
Huggins whose work is included in The Best American
Infographics 2014. Click here for more information.
More Kudos to…COD alum Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz,
a businesswoman and public speaker who was recently
honored at Suburban Life’s “Best Under 40” ceremony.
More Kudos to…Motion Picture/TV student Rob Logan
whose film “Slit Scan Tango” was selected for screening at
the Mosaic Film Experience competition in Michigan.
More kudos to MPTV students Chad Novotny who
received an Award of Excellence in the Undergraduate/
Animation/Experimental category and Daniel Carrera an
Honorable Mention in the Undergraduate /Fiction category
at the Say It in Eight Student Film Festival sponsored by
the After Hours Film Society.
More Kudos to alum Dr. Edward E. Raspiller, the new
president at John Tyler Community College in Virginia.
Read how his experiences at COD changed his life.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow…
Holiday break at College of
DuPage is Wednesday, Dec. 24,
through Sunday, Jan. 4. The
College reopens Jan. 5. Classes
are not in session but the College
remains open on
Dec. 22 and 23.
Holiday Reminder…
Please take a moment to set your “Out of Office” messages
for your Outlook and voice mail accounts before leaving for
the holiday. Here’s a suggested message that can be
personalized for use by all employees: “Happy holidays.
College of DuPage is closed for Winter Break from Dec. 24
through Jan. 4 and will reopen Jan. 5, 2015. For Waterleaf
hours call (630) 942-6881 and for MAC performances
please call (630) 942-4000. Online registration will continue
during Winter Break for spring term at
MyAccess.cod.edu.”
Faculty Art Exhibit thru Jan. 10
Open during Holiday
performances in the Belushi
Performance Hall, an exhibition
of new work by College of
DuPage full-time studio art
faculty, Mara Baker, Charles
Boone, Glenn Hansen, Jennifer
Hereth, Kathleen Kamal, Brad
Killam, David Ouellette and
Terry Vitacco runs now through
Saturday, Jan. 10. Left: “Gothic
Spine” by Kathleen Kamal.
COD, Benedictine Host MLK Breakfast Jan. 19
College of DuPage and Benedictine University will sponsor
th
the 20 annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at
8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 19, at the Krasa Center Dining Room
on the Benedictine campus, 5700 College Road in Lisle.
Please visit www.cod.edu/mlk for more information.
Purchasing Dates
For an item to be recommended for purchasing approval to
the Board of Trustees at the March 19, 2015, Board
meeting, all specifications, rationales, requisitions and IT
equipment reviews must be in Purchasing by Thursday,
Jan. 8, 2015.
More Kudos to…Radiation Therapy Professor Jeff Papp
(above) who was featured in a recent Career Builder’s story
in the Chicago Tribune. Click here to read the article.
And Even More Kudos to…Assistant Meteorology
Professor Victor Gensini who recently presented
“Hazardous Convective Weather in the U.S.: A Dynamical
Downscaling Approach” at NIU. More kudos to the
Meteorology team whose lab data was used by
the Washington Post and WUSA during their coverage of
the massive snowstorms hitting Buffalo, NY, just before
Thanksgiving weekend.
Job Opportunities
To view and apply for any posted internal job opportunity,
go to: https://cod.hiretouch.com. Job opportunities will be
posted to the external web page after they have been
posted on the COD Portal for seven days. For questions,
please call ext. 2639.
Employment Information Lines?
(630) 942-2460 – For a listing of faculty, classified and
administrative positions. (630) 942-2639 – For detailed
information and to schedule skills testing for clerical
positions. Apply at www.cod.edu/hr.