Category: Uncategorized

FRCC Hires New Dean of Student Affairs

Written by Ezra Ekman

After Aaron Prestwich’s September departure, FRCC sought a new dean of student affairs.  Student organizations were invited to join a forum of faculty and staff to interview three candidates for the role on November 7, 2019.  The forum was livestreamed so that students, faculty, and staff who couldn’t attend the forum could watch remotely.

Written by Ezra Ekman

After Aaron Prestwich’s September departure, FRCC sought a new dean of student affairs.  Student organizations were invited to join a forum of faculty and staff to interview three candidates for the role on November 7, 2019.  The forum was livestreamed so that students, faculty, and staff who couldn’t attend the forum could watch remotely.

The candidates were Larry Loften, Chico Garcia, and Erica Ingalls.  Each candidate described their experience, background, and process, and was asked how they believed they could best fill the role.  Ingalls was chosen as the new Dean of Student Affairs.

Ingalls was involved in college leadership since 2004, beginning as President, V.P., Treasurer, and Education Director at Metropolitan State College’s Sigma Sigma Sigma.  Later at Metro State, she served as a Hispanic Serving Institute Committee Member, Speaker for the Senate, Leadership Facilitator, and Student Travel Coordinator. She became an academic advisor at Front Range in 2011, then Assistant Director of Academic Advising & Retention Services, and finally the Professional Experience Director of the Pathways Advising & Career Center.

The role “Dean of Student Affairs” might sound like a role specific to issues faced by individual students.  However, it’s more about providing leadership and direction than handling individual student concerns. Danielle Boileau, Director of Student Success, was a part of another panel and asked different questions to the candidates.

“The forms were open, and anyone who attended could bring any questions with them that they wanted. There were no pre-scripted questions,” said Boileau.  “My panel was the student affairs leadership team, which was made up of coordinators and directors who lead the various offices that make up the division that is student affairs.”

Boileau confirmed that additional questions, such as how each candidate would connect with and support students, were asked during that panel.  Thus, it was a priority that candidates also possess skills addressing individual student concerns.

Andrea DeCosmo and April Menzies are instructional deans at FRCC who work with Student Affairs.

“I rely on my colleagues in student affairs,” said Menzies.  “I reach out for advice, probably most often in situations where students come with a particular request.  We also reach out when there are overlaps between both Instruction and Student Affairs.”

“We all serve on the Westminster leadership team, with the facilities director and the vice president, Cathy Pellish,” said DeCosmo.  “We meet weekly and we stay connected.”

Ingalls herself saw the Dean of Student Affairs role as covering everything outside the classroom.

“The Dean of Students is the person who supports students through their academic journey outside the classroom,” said Ingalls.  It’s all the other stuff: navigating processes, understanding resources that are available, connection to students and creating a community, from the time of inquiry to the time of completion.

Ingalls described her path in higher education as starting with student government.

“Voices in student government and advocacy is where I found my passion,” she said.  “I’ll be meeting with all of my departments to learn more about their roles, to gain a better understanding of what their history and culture has looked like on campus so far, and then learn from them where they see my role in supporting them.  I’d love to go sit with student government and learn more about the student organizations process. Student government gave me that connection.”

Speaking about student advocacy, Ingalls reflected on her past experience.

“My background is overseeing veteran advising and career services,” she said.  “That has allowed me great opportunity to advocate for students in those areas.  This new position allows me to broaden that to continue being a voice for students.”

 

Good-Bye FRCC, a Farewell from Writer Hayley Hunt

Three years after getting accepted to Front Range, changing my major three times, and getting a job at the Front Page, I am finally graduating with my Associates in Anthropology.  Front Range has granted me the opportunity to work more towards my education, as well as meet people who will become lifelong friends. As I move on to further my education at CU Denver, I will always be able to look back on the lessons Front Range has taught me.

 

Three years after getting accepted to Front Range, changing my major three times, and getting a job at the Front Page, I am finally graduating with my Associates in Anthropology.  Front Range has granted me the opportunity to work more towards my education, as well as meet people who will become lifelong friends. As I move on to further my education at CU Denver, I will always be able to look back on the lessons Front Range has taught me.

Classes at Front Range were always personable with the smaller class size. You get to know your professors and fellow students so much more than any larger college. Many of my friends have stemmed from these classes, and I have continued visiting and speaking with multiple professors who have helped me get to where I am today. Everyone working at Front Range makes it a goal to have students feel welcomed and feel as if they belong here. It is these people who really make the college experience come to life.

Working for Front Range’s front page has been an enlightening experience. The people of the front page welcomed me with open arms, endless kindness, and compassion. Not many college students can say that they have conducted professional interviews that can help as experience for future jobs. By working for the front page, I have learned more about being confident when speaking, taking charge on projects, and writing out important information for others to learn from. 

Even though I have settled on Anthropology as my major, my love of journalism and writing has been brought forth again after working with the front page.  I know that even if I do not work in another job surrounding these skills, I will continue to write in my free time to help progress my learning and enjoyment of them.  Something as simple as a movie review or restaurant review, even if I have seen or eaten it before will only help to expedite my thinking and writing skills, which will stay with me forever.

Thank you Front Range, and the people at the Front Page for making my college experience that much better. I will always remember the lessons you have all taught me and will bring them with me to the next part of my college adventure.

– Hayley Hunt

Students: The Pantry has your next meal ready if you need it

Written by Lori Robinson

National Hunger Awareness Week, Nov.16 to Nov. 24, found Kirk Clark busy with activities designed to promote awareness of food insecurity among Front Range students. 

Wolfcast ep. 13 feat. Richard Ortner

Wolfcast ep. 13

Weekly news and events

Music by Foley

Feat.

Richard Ortner

Joe Fisk

Drew Lascot

 

Wolfcast ep. 13

Weekly news and events

Music by Foley

Feat.

Richard Ortner

Joe Fisk

Drew Lascot

The Wing Cave & Grill Review

 

Written by Legend Jones

Illustration by Madison Otten

This spring my friends and I made plans to go see the new Avengers movie. Obviously, we had to plan everything a whole month in advance because of the hype. We nearly had it all together: the number of people going, how much each ticket was, who was driving, what snacks were being brought… of course, there is always the battle of where to eat before the main event. We wanted The Wing Cave and Grill, which has been in Northglenn for 25 years. With over 25 different wing sauces and just off 104th Avenue, it was an obvious choice. Everyone was all for it, except for one guy who wanted Buffalo Wild Wings. We felt so disrespected.

It was about 6:30 in the evening, and there was a beautiful sunset when we pulled up to the lot. We saw a few of our friends and went inside to wait for the rest. Normally, it’s not a lively place during the time of day, but they turned on all seven flat screens posted on the walls with different games and sports; they even opened the bar since it was picking up, especially because it was the weekend. There were banners and flags for football and basketball posted up along the walls, with some pictures of boxers, basketball players, and footballs that had autographs (I can’t be sure that they were legit though). The floors and tables were decent and clean. I hardly saw any trash lying about, meaning the cleaning crew was doing their job well. 

Soon the rest of the gang showed up, and we got in line to place our orders. The service was very laid back and kind, so the line moved quickly. Because I am a picky eater and I can’t handle spicy food, I ordered a seven-piece combo of mild wings and some celery with ranch ($8.71).  They also had water cups at the counter if anyone needed one. 

Next, we sat at the last largest table available. Not even two minutes after we got settled and started talking, my friend’s order was already out. There was a two to three-minute wait time for our orders, each on their separate tray in a rectangular paper plate, and a smaller plate holding about four half-cut celery sticks and a plastic cup of ranch. Some of the orders came at the same time, totaling to about 10 minutes for our whole gang.

Now it was time to eat. All together, we took the paper covers off the wings and instantly got blasted with throwback feelings and thoughts to our old days from the aroma. “Dilly dilly!” we shouted, and bit into the wing. It was a little tender around the ends to chew off, but there was a good chunk of meat. My wings were overcooked by a few minutes, which I could tell from the crunchy ends. I thought the wings were spicy, and the sauce was hot in temperature too. I tried my friend’s garlic parmesan boneless wings ($8.71). The meat was somewhat dry but smothered in enough garlic sauce for  a dip for chips. Nonetheless, it was pretty good (after you wipe off some of the sauce). After trying them and taking a sip of Sprite ($1.79), I went for the celery but instantly regretted it, as it was warm and soggy. I do not suggest it unless they feel cold, or you’ve gone off the deep end with hot wings.

An hour had passed, and we were pretty much set to go. We cleaned up and walked out. There was no greeting between us as we came in and come out, but I wasn’t too concerned with that. Considering it’s near a high school, they’ve got some young workers there who do a good job of taking orders and serving food. But if you’re looking for an energetic worker who loves smiling and satisfying customers, then I’d recommend Red Lobster just adjacent to them. Overall, we had our wings, some good laughs and intriguing discussions, and there were essentially no problems that I had in the restaurant. My rating would be about three and a half out of five stars. The only issue that I could see were the wings being slightly overcooked, but the atmosphere and service are pretty good. So, if you are looking for a nice evening restaurant with a relaxed, casual environment, then Wing Cave is the place for fun and bonding with friends and family!

 

Name: The Wing Cave & Grill

Location:  1450 W. 104th Ave, Denver CO

Food: Wings, fries, chicken nuggets, celery, hot dogs, cookies

Drinks: Sodas, alcohol, tea, water, juice

Price: $3.99 ~ $13.99

Contact Information: (303) 242-5996

Other Information: http://www.thewingcaveandgrill.com

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Wolfcast ep 12 Feat. Tino Gomez

Wolf cast ep. 12 

Music by Foley

Feat.

Joe Fisk

Tino Gomez

Howl Writing and Art due Dec. 10th for the Spring 2020 publication

Submit yo HOWL.submissions@frontrange.edu

Wolf cast ep. 12

Music by Foley

Feat.

Joe Fisk

Tino Gomez

Howl Writing and Art due Dec. 10 for the Spring 2020 publication

Submit yo HOWL.submissions@frontrange.edu

Tamara White Feature

By Hayley Hunt

Tamara White was born in Denver, CO, but bounded around Arizona and Illinois for 10 years before coming back home. White accepted the position of assistant vice principal of student support and enrollment in May 2019. 

By Hayley Hunt

Tamara White was born in Denver, CO, but bounded around Arizona and Illinois for 10 years before coming back home. White accepted the position of assistant vice principal of student support and enrollment in May 2019. 

White decided to work with FRCC due to her interest in the pathways program and equity work, the smaller size of the institution and the “great staff and teams.” She also said that “the person that [was] in the role is someone that I have respected for years.”

“When the position became available, I… wanted to apply for that position because I have always wanted to do that role,” and “when I started doing research and saw the work that your institution was doing, I was definitely interested in the Pathways accomplishments that you all have done, interested in the equity work you all are embarking on, and interested in the size of the institution.” Working at FRCC is helping her get more experience in student affairs, registration, and financial aid.

Some hobbies of hers are crocheting blankets and scarves, reading, and watching The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner. When she is not enjoying free time, White is writing her dissertation for her doctorate. She is working towards her Ph.D. in higher education with a focus on African American women in predominantly white institutions. 

What White looks forward to most about working at FRCC is the staff and the students, as well as how the people working in her department already know what they are doing and are focused on student success. Her daily schedule includes listening to a book on tape for the car ride, answering emails, going to meetings, speaking with her supervisor and, “spend(ing) at least one day a week at each campus,” to talk to the staff.

For college, White went to the University of Denver, where she began getting involved with the school programs such as resident assistant, orientation leaders, student organizations, and executive boards. She started as an accounting major but switched to marketing, with a minor in finance. After getting her bachelor’s, White went to Western Illinois University for her graduate degree in higher education.

White has had the experience of being a hall director, working in student activities, multicultural affairs and leadership, and the women’s resource center. She wrote policies for the state, and helped revise the admissions standard policy for the state of Colorado. Afterwards, she moved onto the Colorado Department of Higher Education. She was then able to apply her knowledge from the K-12 system to higher ed policy, where she was the liaison, a person who helps coordinate activities between two organizations, on graduation guidelines.  

White said, “It’s really cool now to see all the conversations around the graduation guidelines,” She went on to discuss how her previous work is making an impact today. “The policy work that I was doing then it’s just now having an impact, and to see how it impacts the work that we do now, but the work that happened then to lay the foundation for what’s happening now.”

With challenges that came up along the way leading White to where she is now, she simply said that, “there are always challenges, and I think that you have to use challenges to help you grow.” One example she gave was when she was in her last role, when she was supervising a department in student affairs, where there was a challenge with a student. White supported the director in the decision-making for the students future, but she did not do her fact checking and policy checking. This resulted in significant ramifications.  She took responsibility for it and stated,“When you make a mistake, take what’s yours, own it, and figure out how you can do better next time.” Thus, she ensured she would not make the same mistake again.

When asked what she is most proud of, White said there were two things.  One being the work that she did at UCCA surrounding the guided pathways, where the deans were asked to create meta majors.  White took the lead in designing how their guided pathways would look at that college. 

She is also proud of the work around inclusive excellence, where she was able to be a part of the starting group and committee. Now there is training for staff and faculty, including workshops that are designed to help them further their teachings. White helped build the programs and make them include people, as well as look at how students would respond to the program in a way that will make them feel included. 

White has accomplished many things in her years of teaching, and has always found a way to use past experiences to better her future endeavors. She continues to enjoy her position of assistant vice president of student support & enrollment services at Front Range Community College in order to help students as others have helped her.

STEM Internships

By Hayley Hunt

Front Range Community College is participating in multiple science, technology, engineering, and math, known as STEM, internships this year. Max Miller, a faculty member at FRCC Westminster says that they are “trying to get students connected with internships in different STEM fields,” and to give them an opportunity to get experience in their future field. There are multiple internships in earth and environmental science, biology, energy, computer science, math, and engineering. Many of the internships have an application date that starts in November and goes through January 2020.  

By Hayley Hunt

Front Range Community College is participating in multiple science, technology, engineering, and math, known as STEM, internships this year. Max Miller, a faculty member at FRCC Westminster says that they are “trying to get students connected with internships in different STEM fields,” and to give them an opportunity to get experience in their future field. There are multiple internships in earth and environmental science, biology, energy, computer science, math, and engineering. Many of the internships have an application date that starts in November and goes through January 2020.  

Caitlin Caccavari, a STEM grants coordinator for Front Range, works for a couple different grants and internship opportunities. One that she works with is through Geo Launch Pad, a pre-research experience for undergraduate students from New Mexico and Colorado. The applications opened Nov. 14 and go till Feb. 1, 2020. 

It is a paid internship, and housing is provided for those who are coming from out of state or who live far away. At some point during the middle of the internship, students will get the opportunity to go to a professional conference and get experience talking with those who are already in that field. 

Another internship that Caccavari works with is the Bridges to Baccalaureate internship, which is going through Colorado State University. 

“Front Range students get to apply, and the students who get accepted will get fought over by different labs on CSU’s campus,” said Caccavari.

 This opportunity is for local students only, and is a research internship for undergraduates. 

Caccavari stated that the best thing about STEM is “the discovery, having a question and being able to find out if it’s true or not.” For students who are afraid to apply due to it not being in their exact field, everyone does everything in science, and so anyone can get something out of these internships. It is a great opportunity to put the experience on a resume, and will increase the chance of getting a job or another internship during or after college. The people that students get introduced to during internships will also help them further down the line, be it for job connections or even being invited back.

If students are unsure which field of internships they should apply to, talk to the teachers in STEM, including math, science. The teachers will have a good idea based off of the classes each individual student is taking, to help them decide which internship to go with. Even if students are still unsure, as Caccavari said, everyone will learn a bit of everything in the science and math fields. Students can only learn more by being involved in an internship, even if it is not in their area field.  If you are interested in participating in any of the STEM internships, talk to your science and math teachers, or check Front Range’s website.

Lighthouse Review

Written by Samantha Wolfe

“Keeping secrets, are ye?”

Since its premiere at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, The Lighthouse has been generating conversation across film fans and critics alike. Coming four years after director Robert Eggers’ feature length debut, The Witch, his sophomore feature engulfs viewers in a time long forgotten, using excellent cinematography, a smart script and a minimal but excellent cast to transport audiences along to the lighthouse with them.

Written by Samantha Wolfe

“Keeping secrets, are ye?”

Since its premiere at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, The Lighthouse has been generating conversation across film fans and critics alike. Coming four years after director Robert Eggers’ feature length debut, The Witch, his sophomore feature engulfs viewers in a time long forgotten, using excellent cinematography, a smart script and a minimal but excellent cast to transport audiences along to the lighthouse with them.

The film centers around Ephraim (Robert Pattinson) a drifter looking for work. He gets hired to assist Thomas (Willem Dafoe) an expert in keeping the lighthouse. The film follows the two as they bond the only way they know how—by getting drunk and sharing their darkest secrets, both of which they regret in the morning.

If that description seems oversimplified, it’s because that’s all the movie is. There’s no real plot; instead, it’s an opportunity to glimpse into the lives of two men slowly going mad together. They do their everyday chores, keep the lighthouse in order, eat dinner together; yet the entire time, something feels off. One is waiting for something—or someone—to finally snap.

Though the plot may not be very loaded, the themes that the film explores covers more than enough. Gradually exploring themes such as masculinity, homosexuality, and loneliness, one is left afterwards with a mountain of subtext to unravel.

With career-high performances from both Dafoe and Pattinson, there’s never an opportunity to be bored. Listening to their sailor-speak is entertaining enough, and when paired with the gorgeous black and white cinematography, it’s obvious that there is no filmmaker doing it as well as Eggers. Using vintage equipment from the ‘20s and ‘40s, the nearly square, seldom used 1.19:1 aspect ratio further creates a mood unlike any other. 

Films like The Lighthouse are few and far between. Oftentimes, films made today sacrifice originality and risk for crowd-pleasing blockbusters that are sure to cater to as many people as possible. While this isn’t always a bad thing, it’s refreshing to see a movie as unique and odd as The Lighthouse. It doesn’t ask general audiences to immediately enjoy it, rather it invites the audience to sit tight and give something new a chance. Even after the movie ends, one is left with more questions than answers, mainly, “What did I just watch?”