Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President, and Hilda Solis, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, arrive at Columbus State yesterday morning to kick off a three-day, five-state tour of community colleges. 
Health Rewards Briefing, 9 a.m., CT 107
Celebrating 50
President Harrison kicked off his 50th birthday celebration a couple of days early when Student Ambassadors surprised him in his office March 8. His actual birthday was Saturday, March 10. Later in the day Thursday, Board of Trustees and Foundation Board members also surprised him with a cake and a special gift: a $1,000 student scholarship set up in his and wife Tracy’s name.
The annual Outstanding Woman Student Leader Awards were held last week in honor of Women’s History Month, and 10 students were recognized for their academic success, leadership activities, community service, and personal achievement. Columbus State Board of Trustees member Lynne Bowman was the keynote speaker at the ceremony themed “Women’s Education—Women’s Empowerment.” The award winners are, front row from left: Debbie Strain, Leslie Mayes, Tanya Motley, Emily Gardner, and Samantha Swope. Joining the students at the ceremony in the top row, from left are: President Harrison, Master of Ceremonies Heather Borland, VP for Student Affairs Dr. Jan Rogers, and students Marlena Smith, Allison Fitch-Webb, Courtney Dalton, and Chelsie Damron. Keynote speaker Lynne Bowman, Board of Trustees, and Dean of Student Life Renée Hampton are top row far right. Not pictured is student award winner Barbara Ransom.
Winter Quarter graduates to hear from President/CEO of State Auto
The more than 500 Winter Quarter 2012 graduates who attend Friday’s ceremony at Veterans Memorial will hear from the chairman, CEO and president of The State Auto Insurance Group, Robert Restrepo, Jr., who will deliver the commencement address.
Restrepo was appointed to his positions with State Auto in 2006. He has a broad background in property insurance, with senior executive roles at Aetna, Travelers, Hanover and Main Street America Group insurance companies. He is a graduate of Yale University.
The State Auto Group is a $1.8 billion company founded in 1921 with independent agents and brokers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Winter Quarter Graduation Ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, March 16, in Veterans Memorial, 300 W. Broad Street. The ceremony is free and open to the public.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Due to overlapping events at Vets Memorial
on Friday, March 16, parking may be very tight. Overflow events parking is
also available across Broad street in the COSI parking lots.
Great Colleges to Work For survey coming
Columbus State is participating in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Great Colleges to Work For survey. On Monday, March 19, 600 randomly selected employees comprised of full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, administrators and exempt professional staff will receive, via email, a survey from the organization ModernThink. If you receive the invitation, please take some time to complete the survey.
The survey consists of 60 statements which participants will rank. There are also 15 benefit satisfaction statements, 2 open-response questions and 15 optional demographic questions. It typically takes about 20-25 minutes to complete the entire survey. Surveys must be completed before April 13 to be counted.
The confidential survey measures the strength of organizational competencies and relationships that most directly influence an institution’s culture. Your participation and honest feedback are critical. You will be representing yourself and your colleagues. To ensure the confidentiality of your responses, your survey will be processed by ModernThink LLC, a research and consulting firm focusing on workplace excellence. Our institution will not be given any information that would enable us to trace survey data back to any one individual.
For more information contact Rich James in Human Capacity Development.
New cuisine on the block
Columbus State Food Services is always looking for ways to make your dining experience better, and over the past year, we have conducted surveys asking for your ideas for additional food options on campus. Many people told us we needed to add more types of ethnic cuisine, with Asian food being top on the list.
Working with our food-cart vendor, Skyward Grille, we have added a whole new type of food cart, the Noodle Bowl, located on the sidewalk between Nestor and TL. Noodle Bowl serves Asian, Mediterranean and All-American favorites.
Cart manager and chef Douglas Harvey was the brains behind the operation – along with this mother Linda. “Between the two of us, we have over 65 years in the food services business. So when my boss asked me to for a new kind of cart, I asked her to help, and we came up with the concept, and the recipes.”
Harvey has spent his career as chef in four and five-star restaurants, and his flair for flavor is evident in the many choices at the Noodle Bowl. “So far, the Asian stir fry with General Tso sauce, and the Alfredo dishes are the big sellers,” he said.
The Noodle Bowl is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and bowls start at just $6.