2019 Employee Service Awards

Opening week is almost here! As we prepare to kick off a new school term, we want to take time for celebrating our colleagues and their years of service at Green River. We hope you’ll join us on Thursday, September 19 2:00pm-4:30pm in the Grand Hall (SU). We will celebrate our service award recipients along with distinguished faculty and outstanding staff. Thank you to our service award recipients, and to all of you, for everything that you do in Service to Education!

See 2019 Service Award Recipients below:

5 Years

Phillip Andrist
Allison Beckwith
Katherine Cunnion
Kelsey Denton
Christine Dixon-Hundredmark
Kyle Evans
Sarah Franz
Peter Gudmunson
Inna Lukyanova
Megan Marchand
Timothy Mason
John McCormick
Manila Mercurio
Adriana Milligan
Anna Neil
Michael Nielsen
Carrie O’Brien
Kimberly Olsen
Tina Ostrander
Andaiye Qaasim
Kieran Raney
Megan Reiser
Olga Shostak
Kari Sutlovich
Chelsie Taresh Ciscell
Monica Tolas
Dale Wilkie
Michael Wood
Jennifer Youngquist

10 Years

Amanda Clifford
Devon Klein
Galina Marar
Andrew Orr
Wyatt Schill
Philip Smith
Christopher Ward

15 Years

Alan Carter
Hoang Do
Fia Eliasson-Creek
Raisa Gulchuk
Thomas Jackson
Elizabeth McKinney
Jeffery Perlot
Darcy Silvest
Lea Ann Simpson
Mark Thomason
Allison Warner
Elizabeth Williams

20 Years

Anita Behrbaum
Danielle Crivello-Chang
Barbara Iribarren
Allison Jansen
Walter Lowe
Julie Moore
David Nelson
Catherine Rabold
Thomas Tagliente
Elizabeth Valdivia

25 Years

Jean Carlson
Thomas Krause
Marcie Sims
Wendy Stewart

30 Years

Kathi Anderson
Sheryl Gordon
Nancy Kremer
Glen Martin
Lynn Nguyen
Cindy Small

35 Years

Frank Primiani

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2019 Opening Week In-Service Day

Opening Week is just around the corner! In-Service Day (Wednesday, September 18) will feature a number of faculty and staff-led workshops. We invite you to attend one (or more!) of the workshops on offer during the week. Click here[2019 Opening Week In-Service Day] for times, locations and facilitators and click the link below to sign up!

In-Service Day Signup

New Employee Spotlight – Erica Chang

We’d like to take a moment and recognize our newest employees to Green River. Please take a moment to learn more about them, in their own words.

Please tell everyone your new title and a little bit about your professional background.

Erica Chang

My new title is the Benefits Hub Campus Coordinator. I came from Treehouse, which is a nonprofit that advocates for youth in foster care. I have also worked at University of Washington-Tacoma, Tacoma Community College and Eastern Washington University where I gained experience in admission advising, academic advising and scholarship programming.

What drew you to apply to Green River?

I was drawn to Green River College and this role because I want to be in a position where I can be creative yet strategic in providing student support services while being in an environment that advocates for that. Green River College is innovative in its diversity of student support systems, academic programs, and resources and I am grateful to be part of it.

On the car ride to work, what do you listen to?

Currently, I am listening to the podcast, Yoga Land, which keeps me motivated on how I can create yoga sequences, understand biomechanics, and how yoga can be used effectively in schools and prisons.

What was the very first job you ever had?

My first paying job was working as a babysitter and a dog walker and I would often do both simultaneously.

What about your new position is most exciting for you?

I’m excited to see the Benefits Hub grow and help alleviate barriers for Green River College students.  I’m also excited to create, try and deliver new ideas.

What is one thing you’d love to accomplish in your first year at Green River?

I hope to learn as much as I can about what each department and program does and offers on campus. I am also interested in learning more about the students, what their needs are, and how to best help.

What three accomplishments are you most proud of in your life?

• Having the courage to try and fail and try again in my professional and personal life.
• Hiking the Enchantments in 12 hours. Such a beautiful, yet, challenging day.
• Taking the time to travel. Traveling has provided me with variety, made me more knowledgeable, and broadened my perspective.

If your coworkers were to give you an office nickname, what would that be? Why?

My previous coworkers have called me by my last name, which has become a term of endearment.

If G.R.E.E.N. were an acronym for something, what would each letter stand for?

Go

Read

Everything

Especially

Now

New Employee Spotlight – Regina Terpay

We’d like to take a moment and recognize our newest employees to Green River. Please take a moment to learn more about them, in their own words.

Please tell everyone your new title and a little bit about your professional background.

Regina Terpay

I am the new Program Manager for the IEP Department. Before this role, I was a District Manager for Frito Lay. Furthering my education, I started at Green River receiving my Associate’s in Business and received my Bachelor’s in Business at Central Washington University.

What drew you to apply to Green River?

The community of people!

On the car ride to work, what do you listen to?

I listen to Podcasts & Audible

What was the very first job you ever had?

Delivering Newspapers for the Seattle Times

What about your new position is most exciting for you?

Working with international Students, I have an international background myself. I was born in Ukraine

What is one thing you’d love to accomplish in your first year at Green River?

I would like to be able to form great relationships with my team members

What three accomplishments are you most proud of in your life?

• Graduating College
• Completing District Manager Training at Frito Lay
• Working with teenage girls, and making a positive impact on their lives

If your coworkers were to give you an office nickname, what would that be? Why?

In the past, I have been nicknamed “Pam” from The Office. Not sure, but I’ve reminded coworkers of her when I was an Admin Assistant…Don’t know if that is a compliment? J

For Green River’s annual talent show (this doesn’t actually exist), what hidden talent would you showcase for everyone?

Piano, I have been playing for 15 years

If G.R.E.E.N. were an acronym for something, what would each letter stand for?

G – Grand

R – Resourceful

E – Ethical

E – Educational

N – Network

Accreditation 2020!

Green River’s Accreditation visit is coming in less than one year! Over the coming months, we’ll say more about how you can help Green River College to shine during our visit. For now, let us introduce you to what accreditation means and how it includes you!

Key Facts to Know:​

• Date of Accreditation Visit–April 29-May 1, 2020​
• Accreditation is not a separate thing.  Accreditation is a part of who we are in our responsibility and accountability to ourselves, our students and community.​
• Accreditation Steering Committee members in your areas will connect with you and your departments/divisions as we prepare.​

What is accreditation?​

Accreditation “is a process of recognizing educational institutions for performance, integrity, and quality that entitles them to the confidence of the educational community and the public” (NWCCU “What is Regional Accreditation?”).​

​Accreditation checks for:​

• Intentions – Has Green River defined a consistent mission and core themes?​
• Capacity – Does Green River have the resources it needs to accomplish its mission and core themes? ​
• Achievement – Is Green River accomplishing its mission and core themes?​
• Sustainability – Does Green River have the resources, staff, etc. it needs to continue to meet its mission and core themes? ​

Why is accreditation important?​

• Identifies areas of success and areas for growth for further planning and development​
• Makes the college eligible for Federal grants, loans or other federal funds ​
• Makes Federal Financial Aid available to students ​
• Allows for students to sit for state licensure examinations in professional fields
• Allows students to transfer of credits between institutions & ensures quality of those credits​

How are YOU a part of accreditation?​
How can YOU help tell our story? ​

• Truly understand the mission and core themes of Green River College. ​
  • Do you know the mission and core themes of the college?​
  • How does your work support the mission and core themes of the college?​​
• Be prepared to answer accreditors’ questions about the above as well as the following topics/questions:​
  • Why do we do what we do? ​
  • How does it support the college’s mission? ​

New Employee Spotlight – Beleqsa Tamaami

We’d like to take a moment and recognize our newest employees to Green River. Please take a moment to learn more about them, in their own words.

Please tell everyone your new title and a little bit about your professional background.

Beleqsa Tamaami

My new role is Basic Skills Navigator in the MAC (Master Achiever Center). This past May, I received my Masters in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University, where I served as a graduate supervisor in housing for two years. Prior to IU, I worked as an AmeriCorps college coach with College Access Now, serving first-gen and low-income seniors at Decatur High School. My professional interests are rooted in supporting marginalized students and disrupting systems of oppression.

What drew you to apply to Green River?

It’s my alma mater; who doesn’t want to be a gator? GRC, despite some of the challenges I recall as a former student, is also the place where I grew and broke out of my shell through my amazing mentors. For this reason, I look forward to pouring into students the same way folks did for me.

On the car ride to work, what do you listen to?

Shawn Mendes and anything pop music related globally (Bollywood, Kpop, etc.)

What was the very first job you ever had?

Internship with the city of Kent in the summer of junior year in high school. We painted a really beautiful mural on one side of the Kent pool (it’s still there) by Kent Meridian High School.

What about your new position is most exciting for you?

The connections and relationships I get to build with my students and colleagues. And the salary (I was on a graduate stipend for the past two years and prior to that an AmeriCorps stipend, the glo-up is definitely real ha)

What is one thing you’d love to accomplish in your first year at Green River?

Build meaningful connections with different departments outside of my immediate role  on campus and inspire/mentor students who might not always see themselves reflected in higher education.

What three accomplishments are you most proud of in your life?

• Graduating with my Masters this past May and seeing my family and friends fly out to Indiana for the first time to experience that with me. My graduating is as much theirs as it is mine.
• Studying abroad three times in undergrad (China, Morocco, and Jordan), all fully funded through scholarships and financial aid.
• Graduating with my BA again from UW Tacoma (after transferring from GRC in 2014), as a first gen student and the eldest of my siblings. This was a huge accomplishment and surreal moment for my family and me.

For Green River’s annual talent show (this doesn’t actually exist), what hidden talent would you showcase for everyone?

I don’t have a hidden talent so instead I would just show everyone the video my friends and I made dancing to the #BeforeILetGo challenge in our graduate gowns and making it on Beyoncé’s Instagram story.

If G.R.E.E.N. were an acronym for something, what would each letter stand for?

Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Everyone, Else, Nonessential

New Employee Spotlight – Ashley Brintzenhofe

We’d like to take a moment and recognize our newest employees to Green River. Please take a moment to learn more about them, in their own words.

Please tell everyone your new title and a little bit about your professional background.

Ashley Brintzenhofe

Hello Gators!

My new title is Event Coordinator 2. I am currently a member of Cohort 8 pursuing my Bachelors in Marketing & Entrepreneurship here at GRC. I was a bartender/manager at the SportsPage here in Auburn for years (some of you know me as “SMASH”), and when the place suddenly closed down, I decided to really shake it up. I came back to school. Shortly after I enrolled, I started working in Conference Services for Patty as a work-study student, and now I am excited to say I am a classified full-time employee.

What drew you to apply to Green River?

The opportunity to be a part of the army that works so hard to embrace, encourage, and support our students is what drew me to apply to Green River. The staff here at GRC helped me change my life, and I want to pay that forward.

On the car ride to work, what do you listen to?

On my ride to work today, I was listening to ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, and Wu-Tang Clan. Yesterday it was Blondie and Hed PE.

What was the very first job you ever had?

My very first job was a paper route for the Seattle Times when I was 10 years old.

What about your new position is most exciting for you?

This entire experience is exciting for me. I am an excited person, but if I had to choose only one thing, I would have to say that the most exciting thing about my new position is having the opportunity to help students create memorable experiences through their events. Being a part of memories that will last a lifetime is truly an honor.

What is one thing you’d love to accomplish in your first year at Green River?

One thing I would love to accomplish in my first year at Green River is to build our social media presence in a way that allows us to connect and engage with students and our community. Establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships with students and staff will help me address the needs of our diverse community throughout the event planning process.

What three accomplishments are you most proud of in your life?

• Surviving my late teens/early 20s
• Going back to school in my 30s & Graduating from GRC
• Being sponsored by GNU for women’s snowboarding

If your coworkers were to give you an office nickname, what would that be? Why?

“SMASH”

My family started calling me Smash when I was three (3) years old. It actually took me a few months after I came back to school to get used to being called Ashley, so if I don’t respond right away, that’s why. My friends, family, and most people that know me call me Smash. I will tell you why some other day. Sal calls me something else, but that’s another story. J

For Green River’s annual talent show (this doesn’t actually exist), what hidden talent would you showcase for everyone?

For our annual talent show, I would showcase either snowboarding, horseback archery, or my artwork.

If G.R.E.E.N. were an acronym for something, what would each letter stand for?

Gators Remarkably Encourage Embracing Nations