Welcome Students!

This week Reynolds celebrated the arrival of over 12,000 students to the College for the Fall Semester. To welcome the students, the Office of Student Life hosted Welcome Back parties on each campus that featured live radio remotes, information tables and numerous give-aways including water bottles, pens and free drinks, popcorn, pizza and snow cones. The Office of Student Life will be hosting a number of additional upcoming events, so be sure to visit www.reynolds.edu/events for a full listing. Good luck this semester.

Meet your representatives

Read the bios of this year’s JSRCC Student Council Officers and Student Ambassadors. Student Council Officers serve as advocates for all Reynolds students. If you have a concern or suggestion, your Student Council representative can help you communicate it to the right person at the College. Student Ambassadors are College leaders that serve the College as tour guides, orientation leaders and hosts of high profile College events. During new student orientation, they work with small groups of incoming students, familiarizing them with the campus and assisting them with class registration.  At the beginning of each semester, Ambassadors help welcome students by staffing “greeters” tables, where they provide information to students about classroom locations, where to get a student ID, and how to get a student parking sticker.  During the academic year, they provide tours to prospective students and assist during events for alumni and other outside constituents.

See their faces and read their bios here: http://www.reynolds.edu/studentaffairs/Student_ambassadors.html.

Reynolds hosts distinguished Cyber Camp

This summer, more than 80 computer hackers from across the United States attended a U.S. Cyber Challenge Camp hosted by J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. Reynolds is the first institution in Virginia to host the distinguished camp which offered specialized training sessions on cyber crime and terrorism prevention taught by renowned faculty and cyber security experts. A job fair, ethics discussion and roundtable discussion (which included State Secretary of Technology Jim Duffey and CEO’s from major cyber security firms) were also part of the camp.

According to JSRCC Information Security Officer Kristopher Cox, Cyber Camps provide a unique training opportunity in a field with excellent employability.

“Industry experts will tell you how important it is to hire people that know how to identify and stop threats to information systems,” said Cox. “As the volume of online attacks increase and scams become more sophisticated, the need for skilled practitioners will never be more critical.”

All attendees were able to network with employers. Many have genuine job prospects. The week concluded with a virtual “capture the flag” competition. The five winners of that competition received scholarships for further training.

Reynolds Opticianry team volunteers for RAM

This summer, Reynolds had a team of opticians at the 12^th annual RAM (Remote Area Medical clinic) mission in Wise County – an annual three-day event offering free medical, dental and vision care. Close to 1,000 eyewear prescriptions were filled or ordered over the course of the event and more than half of the orders were made on-site in the mobile eyeglass lab. About 450 orders were brought back to Richmond to be made and mailed to patients seen that weekend.  

More than 1500 volunteers were on site to help patients through the various areas and to provide food and cool drinks throughout the day. This was the first year Reynolds Opticianry faculty Kristi Green attended. She was invited by Opticianry Board Member Ray Guin and was pleasantly surprised to see Reynolds Opticianry Alumnae volunteering - Patti Guin and Linda Davis.

Kristi said “the Opticianry program is excited about the opportunity for future students and alumni to also work with the RAM organization.”

Brainy AND good looking

The science labs in Burnette Hall have never been more intriguing. Newly renovated, they now feature a stunning collection of restored and new works gifted to the College by Dominion Resources. From glossy and updated Periodic Tables to abstract oil paintings from Richmond artists, the pieces remind us of what is beautiful, fascinating and weird in the scientific world.  Reynolds President Dr. Gary Rhodes sees this installation, and the art beautification efforts overall, as a way to make students more comfortable and engaged – thus, more effective – in the Reynolds learning environments. Meet the people behind the project.

>>view the video

(left to right) Dr. Gary Rhodes, Reynolds President

Jennifer Kocen, Glave Kocen Gallery

Donna Kelliher, Dominion Resources