College News

Published March 15, 2013 11:36 am

Southwestern Community College's automotive programs will be hosting the 2013 Automotive Open House for students considering a career in the automotive field on Friday, April 5, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the automotive department on the north side of the Instructional Center, on SWCC's Creston campus.

During the Auto Open House, visitors will tour the automotive shops, meet with program instructors, compete in welding and tire changing/rotating contests, views automobiles at a car show, and meet with tool vendors.  The Patriot Chopper from Orange County Choppers will be on display during the car show.  A light lunch will be served.  

Potential students and their families may visit at any time during the Open House, but if students are planning to compete in the welding contest they must register from 8:30-9 a.m.  A written test will take place at 9 a.m. and individuals with the top scores will then compete in the hands-on portion of the contest at 10 a.m. in SWCC’s Tech Center I.  The car show is open to the public.

SWCC offers two esteemed programs in the automotive areas:  automotive repair technology and collision repair/refinish.  SWCC's automotive repair technology instructors are Master ASE (Automotive Service Excellence)-certified and use a hands-on approach in the classroom and lab.  The automotive repair technology program has ASE certification and National Automotive Technician Education Foundation (NATEF) certification. SWCC's collision repair program is the only program in Iowa to have the I-CAR (Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair) Gold Class designation and is one of two programs in Iowa to have the ASE/NATEF certification. 

Published March 14, 2013 9:48 am

Creston—The Southwestern Community College (SWCC) board of directors met Tuesday, March 12, 2013, at 5:30 p.m. in the Administration Center on the Creston campus.

The board approved the proposed room and board charges for fiscal year 2014 as presented by Teresa Krejci, SWCC chief financial officer.  The rates per semester (if the minimum level of Cafe Cash is selected) follow:

•    Wilson Hall/West Hall    $2,600
•    Spartan Suites/Hall    $2,900

Three levels of Café Cash for the Spartan Café will be offered for fiscal year 2014:  $750, $950, and $1,150.  The minimum level of $750 will be required for all students living in the residence halls.

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Published March 14, 2013 8:21 am

The SWCC carpentry and building trades programs (Osceola high school program, Creston high school program, and SWCC college program) are in Joplin, MO, this week to assist with continued tornado rebuilding efforts. Three instructors, three chaperones, and 15 students left for Joplin on Sunday morning.

According to Charlie Mundy, Osceola high school carpentry instructor, the students have made great progress and the project coordinators “can’t get us materials fast enough.”

Joplin continues to recover from the EF5 multiple-vortex tornado that ravaged their city on May 22, 2011. For additional photos, please visit the SWCC page on Facebook, www.facebook.com/swcciowa.

Published March 1, 2013 5:13 pm

Dakota Daniels, a freshman at SWCC, has been elected as the southwest district vice president of the Iowa region for Phi Theta Kappa.  The induction was held Fri., March 1, 2013, at the Iowa Regional Conference at the FFA Center at DMACC in Ankeny. 

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Published February 18, 2013 2:15 pm

Volunteers to Help Families Fill Out FAFSA

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA (Feb. 4, 2013) — Iowa students and their families can get free assistance with forms required for federal financial aid at Iowa College Goal Sunday, which will be held Saturday, Feb. 16 through Sunday, Feb. 24, in 29 Iowa cities.  Southwestern Community College in Creston will host a College Goal Sunday event on Wed., Feb. 20, from 2-7 p.m., in room 119 of the Technical Center.

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Published February 14, 2013 9:32 am

Creston—The Southwestern Community College (SWCC) board of directors met Tuesday, February 12, 2013, at 5:30 p.m. in the Administration Center on the Creston campus.

During the meeting, the board held a public hearing for phase two of construction for the Instructional Center improvement project.  Phase two will include renovation of the 100 bay classrooms.  Tom Lesan, SWCC vice president of economic development, presented the bids received.  Lesan explained there were five bids submitted with the lowest bid coming from Camblin Mechanical of Atlantic.  Following review of the bids, the board approved the Camblin Mechanical bid of $761,600 as presented.  Lesan said Accelerated Career Education (ACE) grant funds will be used to pay for the project.  Construction for the project will get underway on March 18, which is prior to the college’s Spring Break.  Classes in the 100 bay will be moved to other areas on the SWCC campus when classes resume following Spring Break.

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Published February 12, 2013 4:06 pm

Creston, IOWA—Known most widely for their work on NBC’s hit television show, The Sing-Off, the seven singers of Groove for Thought have been blowing audiences away for more than 10 years. They will be headlining two concerts at Southwestern Community College’s (SWCC) Vocal Jazz Festival, known as Fox Fest, on February 22 and 23, at 7:30 p.m., in the Performing Arts Center at SWCC.  Tickets for the concerts are $25 each and may be ordered at www.vocaljazzfest.com.

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Published February 7, 2013 11:48 am

Southwestern Community College student Samantha Takes, a sophomore music major and Phi Theta Kappa member, is organizing a community event, Join 1 Billion Rising, which will be held on Thurs., February 14, in two time frames, 11:30 am-1 pm and 6:30-8 pm, in Room 180, of the Instructional Center.

The event will be a part of the international social movement, 1 Billion Rising. The event recognizes and protests the violence against one in three women (more than one billion globally) who are raped and beaten during their lifetimes.  Come support these 1 billion women and those who love them by joining in poetry, live music, a short video, and dancing.  You are welcome to learn "Break the Chain"—a dance millions of others across the world will be doing at the same time. Leslie Tyler of Leslie’s Dance Emporium and Jen Frakes, Zumba instructor, will be teaching the dance portion of the event.

Southwestern’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter and the Rural Iowa Crisis Center are sponsors for the event.

Join one billion women rising with us in a global strike this Valentine's Day at SWCC!

Published January 21, 2013 8:10 am

Today, January 21, from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., come to room 220 of the Instructional Center to view videos documenting the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his service and dedication to equality, social justice, economic advancement, and opportunity for all. He taught us that everyone has a role to play in making America what it ought to be and with his leadership our nation made great strides toward increased civil rights.

King believed we should all serve each other, not making this holiday a “day off, but as a day on” of serving others.

Volunteer to go with a group of SWCC students from 1-3 p.m. Monday to Crest Haven nursing home to visit with the residents, maybe read to them, paint their nails, or just give them someone to talk with. Transportation will be provided to nursing home.

Questions may be directed to Tracey Evans, student activities coordinator.

Published January 17, 2013 1:29 pm

The Automotive Club raised a total of $1,456 for the automotive club through their raffle drawings held at the end of fall 2012 semester. The club will use this money for a scholarship, a field trip to the Kansas City Harley Davidson factory and Topeka Drag Races, and the Skills USA competition, as well as a donation to a needy cause undetermined at this time.

There were 37 students selling tickets and 10 students each sold more than 50 tickets. The top salesman was Colton Nelson, who sold 341 tickets and received a donation from Charlie Brown Auto Salvage for $100. Nelson is a second year automotive student from Osceola.

Congratulations to the automotive club raffle winners:
1st place - Justin Brown
2nd place - Denny Loudon
3rd place - Karl Olson
4th place - Gary Davis
5th place - Salvador Aguilera
6th place - Mary Adams