The Joseph H. Casey Award recognizes individual students whose attitudes, traits, habits, qualities, and behaviors exemplify professionalism.  Students are nominated by the Faculty and award certificates are presented to students on a quarterly basis.

Nominees for this award exhibit maturity, focus, reliability, compliance with rules and regulations, professionalism in speech and comportment, responsibility for themselves and respect for others.  These students serve as examples for all Coyne students.

Congratulations to Spring 2012 recipients of the Joseph H. Casey Award are Loren Tieman (Medical Assisting) and Rodney Denton (Electrical Construction and Planning)!

Here is a list of companies that will be attending the Fair:

Hiring for HVAC Positions –

• Aire Serve
• Four Seasons
• Miura Boilers
• Nicor Home Services
• AWE – Air, Water, Energy
• Deljo Heating
• Tinley Ice Company
• Borter Heating & Air
• Johnstone Supply
• Johnstone Supply – Naperville
• Brilliant Electric Heating & Cooling
• Chiro One Wellness
• Johnson Controls
• Sears Home Services
• PolyScience

Hiring for ECM/ECP/EST Positions –

• Fusion OEM
• Jernberg Industries
• Interlake Mecalux
• Solo Cup
• Provisur Technologies
• MKD Electric
• RCM Industries – Inland Die Casting
• Metra
• Rein Electric

Hiring for HVAC and Electrical Positions –

• Covanta Energy
• Little Lady Foods
• Peacock Engineering
• Manufacturing Works
• Moncure Staffing
• Superior Staffing

 **To learn more about the companies, click on their names above.

For further questions and details contact:

Lisa Raap, Director of Career Services

773-577-8058

lraap@coynecollege.edu

“A manufacturer in Philadelphia has jobs available but has trouble filling those positions because applicants cannot pass their employment test.”²

Are your math skills going to hold you back? How can you develop skills needed to not only get the job but to do the job well?

Math teachers have found that many students who have trouble with math lack the very basic skills such as multiplying and dividing numbers.  If you have never memorized multiplication tables, you probably will have trouble with division and working with fractions.  Some of you may believe your calculator will save the day.  But studies have shown if you don’t have these basic skills, you will not be able to determine if the answer from your calculator seems reasonable.  Also, some employers and unions will not let you use calculators on their employment tests.

What can you do now?  You are an adult faced with the realization that you need to step back and acquire these skills.

This is the plan of action that we suggest:

1-      Determine your weaknesses and strengths.

2-      Find resources to help you develop your skills. Mathematic books or websites can provide you with study aids.

3-      Just like your physical exercise program, you need to determine a math exercise program to keep those skills sharp.

In future blogs, we will discuss each of these steps in detail.  We’d love to hear how you feel about Math!

Did you know that eleven Coyne employees are also Coyne graduates?  Can you name them all?

Here are the answers:

1. Green Street campus Registrar, Tina Fanucchi graduated from Coyne in June 2002.  She went through the Office Administrative Assistant program. 
2.  In 1981, Instructor Paul Rontos graduated from the Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration program.
3.  Several Coyne employees have graduated from two programs!  Instructor William Hunter graduated from the Electrical Maintenance program in 1977 and the Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration program in 1985. 
4. Durwin Morris, Operations Coordinator, graduated from the Computer Office Skills program in March 1995. 
5. Instructor Oliver Landry went through the Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration program. 
6. Donna Drabek in Student Accounts also graduated from the Computer Office Skills program.  She graduated five years earlier than Mr. Morris in 1990. 
7. Instructor Jens Olsen also graduated from two Coyne programs. 
8. Alvin Jones graduated from the Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration program in 1996 – he’s the Building Maintenance Technician for the Green Street campus! 
9. Director Lee Mueller graduated from the Industrial Electronics program in 1995. 
10. Instructor Kean Ryan graduated from the Electronics program in 1989. 
11. HVAC Instructor Tim Lesch graduated from the Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration program in 1988.

Make a Daily “To Do List”

Keep a list of everything you need to do that day. Make sure all of the most important tasks are taken care of first. When you’re finished make sure you cross them off. You’ll have a greater sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when you see what you have completed.

Use Your Extra Time Wisely

Do you have some extra time or break time? Use it to take care of some extra business. For example, do you ride the bus or train to class? If so, a good idea would be to start your homework on your commute.  Do you need to make an important call or maybe pay a bill online? Don’t jump on Facebook or start texting the first chance you get! Take care of your important tasks first and then use your free time to socialize.

Review Your Class Notes

Nothing makes life easier than being prepared. A good tip would be to read and review your class notes every day before class. With the content fresh in your mind it’ll be easier to pick up right where you left off the day before. Another great tip would be to rewrite your notes. By rewriting your notes you’ll be able to review them, memorize them and if they we’re written sloppily, you can rewrite them neatly to make it easier to read.

Get Some Sleep

Being well rested at the start of your day will make it easier to stay focused.  If you only have a couple of hours of sleep the night before chances are you’ll be burned out by the next afternoon and you won’t have the energy or motivation to take on other tasks.

Let Others Know Your Schedule

If you only have a certain window of time to run errands or do your homework, let your friends know that. Tell them to call you or text you after a certain time.  This way you won’t be distracted and you’ll be able to finish your tasks on time or even earlier than anticipated.

Don’t Procrastinate

Do you know you have a paper due by the end of the week? Don’t wait until the last minute to do your research and type it up. The sooner you start it then sooner you’ll finish it.

 Don’t be too hard on yourself

It’s difficult to juggle school, work and a personal life. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t finish all of your tasks in one day.  Just keep in mind what’s important and set attainable goals for yourself.  When you finish an important task don’t forget to reward yourself.

There are actually 3 stages to note taking. You have to be prepared before the class starts, during the class and after class.  Here are the different stages and what you should be doing during each of those.

Before Class

Make sure you’re prepared to take notes. Do you have your notebook, pens and paper? Are you sitting close to the instructor so you can hear him/her easily? Can you easily see the whiteboard where diagrams and notes will be made by the instructor?

Did you prepare for class? Did you complete all of your chapter readings and finish your homework? It will be difficult to keep up with your instructor if you have no idea what they are talking about.

Review your notes from the previous day before the start of class. With the content fresh in your mind it’ll be easier to pick up right where you left off the day before.

During Class

Pay attention to keywords your instructor may say. Key words to look for include, “Remember that…..” “An important part of…..”

If the instructor writes notes or draws diagrams on the whiteboard make sure you do the same in your notes. Diagrams and pictures will help illustrate an idea and make it easier to remember the information.

An instructor may talk faster than you can write your notes. Make sure you abbreviate as much as you can. For example, use the % sign instead of writing the word percent, use other symbols like &, @ or abbreviate words so you can write them down faster.

After Class

Rewrite those notes! Remember all those abbreviations you used? This is the time to rewrite your notes. You’ll be able to review them, memorize them and if they we’re written sloppily, you can rewrite them neatly to make it easier to read.

Use your textbook or ask a student if you have any missing information in your notes. Or even if you just want to double check them.

Have you started filing your taxes yet? Do you need a little help figuring out just what information goes on what line?  Good news is that there are lots of FREE services out there to help you!

For families earning less than $50,000 and individuals earning less than $25,000 you can get your income taxes prepared for free by the City of Chicago.  Sites all around the city will be open from January 19 – April 17. View the pdf below to receive a complete listing of the locations, dates and times.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/obm/supp_info/CTAC/EITCFlyer.pdf

 The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Programs offer free tax help for taxpayers who qualify. The VITA Program generally offers free tax help to people who make $50,000 or less and need assistance in preparing their taxes. For more information view the IRS’ link below:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=107626,00.html

Do you not quality for the assistance above but still need help? Most IRS offices offer FREE walk-in tax help for technical or tax questions about tax forms and tax returns.

For assistance with your Illinois state taxes you can visit these locations:  http://www.revenue.state.il.us/AboutIdor/locations.htm

For assistance with your Federal state taxes you can visit your local Taxpayer Assistance Center. For more information visit the link below: http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/article/0,,id=98273,00.html

Keep in mind, if you cannot visit these offices in person you can always call them with any questions you may have.

According to the event’s website, www.ahrexpo.com, the Expo started in 1930 and “attracts tens of thousands of attendees from all facets of the industry, including contractors, engineers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers, OEMs, architects, builders, industrial plant operators, facility owners and managers, agents and reps.”  Held every three years in Chicago, this year’s Expo took place January 23^rd through January 25^th at McCormick Place Convention Center.  This year was touted as the largest show in the event’s 82-year history with “nearly 2,000 exhibitors and more than 50,000 attendees from around the world.” 

In honor of the 2012 AHR Expo taking place in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel proclaimed January 23 – 25 to be Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Week.  In the Proclamation, Mayor Emanuel writes, “the AHR Expo has served as the premier resource for HVACR professionals by offering them the newest technologies and techniques available in the field.”  The Proclamation also recognizes the $12,000 contribution the AHR Expo makes to a local charity.  In ten years, the Expo has donated more than $100,000 to charitable organizations. 

After attending the Expo, Coyne students, graduates, and faculty commented about the wonderful experience of attending the show.  Attendees received product information, samples, and inspiration.  It was a motivating and fun learning experience for students and faculty alike.  One student said, “I’d like to thank Coyne for the wonderful opportunity of attending the AHR Expo. It was an awesome experience, and I definitely learned a lot.”  Coyne College looks forward to 2015 when the AHR Expo is back in Chicago!

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/word2010

If you need additional help creating and editing Word documents stop by the Resource Center for a MS Word workshop. This workshop will introduce most of the topics necessary to create and edit Word documents for your class papers and resumes. You’ll also learn how to format your research paper using the MLA format. In no time you’ll be able to navigate its features and preform common tasks like a pro!

You shouldn’t be using an encyclopedia as a reference source. As a college student (or even as a high school student for that matter) you should not be using an encyclopedia as a reference source for academic research papers.  An encyclopedia whether in print or electronic form is not considered an academic or scholarly source.  For more appropriate references you should seek out books or journal articles which have been in many cases peer reviewed and painstakingly researched.  The difference is seeking out quality information not just convenient information.

Wikipedia articles can be written and edited by anyone, not necessarily someone who is an expert in the topic.  Wikipedia is a source of shared information with the online community. That means that the content you are reading on Wikipedia may have been written by an expert in the field or some guy in his basement watching South Park at 3am.  Pretty much anyone with an Internet connection can add to or edit information on Wikipedia.

If the creator of Wikipedia discourages it I think it’s a safe bet not use it

Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales made an interesting comment at a conference at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Mr. Wales said that he gets about 10 e-mail messages a week from students who complain that Wikipedia has gotten them into academic hot water.

“They say, ‘Please help me. I got an F on my paper because I cited Wikipedia’ and the information turned out to be wrong,” he says. But he said he has no sympathy for their plight, noting that he thinks to himself: ‘For God sake, you’re in college; don’t cite the encyclopedia.’

 “Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation” http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/wikipedia-founder-discourages-academic-use-of-his-creation/2305