Posts from November, 2020

Eastern Wyoming College nursing instructor on the Torrington Campus, David Currie, was acknowledged as the EWC winner of the 2019-2020 Innovative Educator of the Year, along with winners from the other Wyoming community colleges and the University of Wyoming, during

the 2020 Wyoming Innovations in Education Conference, held virtually November 5-6.

This award recognizes exemplary educators who demonstrate a commitment to education by bringing innovative learning experiences to their students. They embed innovation in their instructional practice to create a collaborative, student-centered, and active learning experience, thereby demonstrating connectedness with students and their learning.

“COVID has been difficult on everyone involved in education and healthcare. We were not prepared for school and clinical closures. I am

proud that others have built a new platform for education in these unusual times. We now have the ability to teach and test remotely. Virtual clinicals are awesome and useful,” said Mr. Currie. “I am deeply honored to be acknowledged for the invitations. Much of the credit should go to those who built the technology we have incorporated. I thank everyone who has trusted me with this task.”

In 2008, Mr. Currie began a career change after being in agriculture for over 20 years, making nursing a second education and career. He returned to school and received a CNA certificate, LPN license, ADN RN and a Master’s in Nursing with an emphasis in Leadership and a specialty in acute care in rural settings hospitals. David then worked in four different locations in Wyoming before adjunct teaching for the EWC nursing program on the Douglas campus in 2016. In 2018, he moved to Alaska to teach for a year in a private Nursing Program. 2019 brought David back to the EWC nursing program to teach the night cohort in Torrington.

During and after the shutdown for COVID-19, David began searching for platforms that would enable EWC nursing faculty to teach remotely with virtual assignments and testing. The idea was to be proactive, not reactive, which was the case at the beginning of the shutdown. No nursing programs were ready or prepared for such an event. During the summer of 2020, he recommended, and the EWC nursing faculty selected, NurseTim products. “This has been a success and has us ready for another possible shutdown involving hospitals or school due to COVID-19,” Currie said. “It also allows us to continue student participation if they become quarantined or ill or during inclement weather events. No classroom or clinical hours are lost. The idea behind initiating new software was to be prepared for non-conventional teaching. EWC Nursing Program now feels it is ready for almost anything!”

“I can think of no one more deserving of this Innovative Teacher award than David Currie. He stepped up to the plate when EWC Nursing Program needed him most and exceeded all expectations of navigating a difficult situation in trying to provide clinical experience to our Nursing Students. David is well deserving and we are very proud of his accomplishments,” shared EWC Nursing Director Suzey Delger.

In light of the rise in COVID positive cases and exposures to COVID positive individuals, the administration at Eastern Wyoming College has decided to close the Torrington and Douglas campuses the week of November 23 -27.

“The College was only going to be open the 23^rd and 24^th anyway, so we feel it is in the best interest of our employees to just shut the college down for the week,” said President Lesley Travers. “Our employees need to rest and take care of themselves so we can come back on the 30^th and finish out the year strong. This will also give us another opportunity to deep clean the facilities on top of the daily cleaning and fogging already occurring.”

The College had originally planned to transition to online course delivery beginning after November 20^th but the Torrington Campus transitioned to mostly online October 27^th. Following the holiday closure, the College will open for regular business and limited face-to-face course delivery as regularly scheduled.

Eastern Wyoming College Vet Tech Club announces that the dog wash scheduled for Saturday, November 14 has been cancelled.

The Eastern Wyoming College Lancer golf team traveled to Lubbock, Texas to compete in the NJCAA D1 National Preview tournament. The team finished in 8^th place with scores of 297, 301, and 304 for a total of 902. Hutchinson Community College won the tournament with a score of 828.

“It was great to get the guys down to Texas to play in the NJCAA National Preview tournament where the national championship will be held in May,” said Coach Zach Smith. “We were able to see how we stack up against some of the best teams in the country. Overall we played okay but took some major takeaways from the tournament that should help us in the spring. Tomas had a great tournament, finishing in the top 10. I’m looking forward to the guys working out hard in the gym and finishing their classes strong.”

Leading the Lancers was sophomore Tomas Kubata, sophomore, Prague, Czech Republic with scores of 71, 73, 72 for a total of 216. He tied for 8^th place. Other Lancer scores were as follows:

Brendan Thomas, freshman, Farmington, UT – 73, 73, 81 – 227, 31^st
Russel Sprecher, freshman, Casper, WY – 75, 80, 75 – 230, tied 34^th
Remington, Newell, freshman, Spanish Fork, UT – 78, 84, 76 – 238, tied 41^st
Conrado Chozas, freshman, Madrid, Spain – 86, 75, 81 – 242, tied 44^th

The Lancers will begin the spring competitive season in March 2021.

Eastern Wyoming College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and is a member of the North Central Association of College and Schools. As part of this accreditation and membership, every ten years, EWC conducts a self-study of its programs and processes to reaffirm its accreditation status.

EWC will host the HLC Reaffirmation Team on Monday, November 16, and Tuesday, November 17, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all sessions will be conducted via Zoom. EWC has posted the HLC Itinerary, which includes the Zoom links for all open forums, on its website at ewc.wy.edu. These forums are open to all stakeholders and participation is encouraged.

Accreditation is important because it allows students to be eligible for federal and state financial aid, gives assurance that the EWC degree or certificate is valid, assures donors and potential students that an EWC education is valuable, and provides flexibility for transfer of credit to or from other institutions.

Questions on the EWC accreditation can be directed to Mr. Roger Humphrey, Vice President for Student Services at 307.532.8257 or by email at roger.humphrey@ewc.wy.edu

The Eastern Wyoming College Veterinary Technology Club will be holding their final dog wash of the semester on Saturday, November 14^th. Appointments will begin at 8:00 am and will conclude at 1:30 pm. The student technicians will do minimal brushing and do not shave out mats. A current rabies certificate is required to participate. If you have a dog that is scared of the dryer, they need to be here early so they can stay until they are dry.

Pricing per dog is as follows:

Bath:
Small Dog (0-20#) $10
Medium Dog (20.1-50#) $12
Large Dog (50.1 – 90#) $15
Extra Large Dog (90.1 and above) $20.00

Added charge for long hair: (Require additional grooming and Drying Time)
$5.00 per dog

Other Services:
Nail trim: $10

If the weather permits, the students will set up a registration table outside of the north entrance to the Veterinary Technology building. EWC requires all visitors wear a mask and sign in when entering all buildings on campus.

Vet Tech students will be calling previous customers for appointments. To make an appointment please contact Bethany at 307.254.2702 or AdMarie at 307.797.0964. Leave a message and a student will return your call.