nursing simulation lab

Assistant Professor Courtney Smazinski works with a training manikin at the CMC Steamboat Spring nursing simulation lab. Photo by Benjamin Suddendorf

This story appeared in the Steamboat Pilot & Today on August 30, 2021

By Dylan Anderson, Steamboat Pilot & Today

Vernon Watkins wasn’t doing so well, evident by the hospital bed he was in. He has a line of stitches in his abdomen from surgery, and when nurse Mikaelyn Sullivan checks them, he can’t help but cry out in pain.

While Sullivan, a nursing professor, has his recovery on track, Watkins won’t be leaving the recreated hospital suite at Colorado Mountain College Steamboat Springs Campus anytime soon. Rather than a patient, Watkins is the teaching tool at the heart of three planned nursing simulation labs, the first of which opened last week in Steamboat.

The state-of-the-art lab on the Steamboat campus is built out like to look like several rooms in a hospital nursing suite, with high-tech patients that have vital signs, can tell students where their pain is and can be programmed for various medical scenarios.

“It allows the opportunities in our rural community,” professor Courtney Smazikski said. “We sometimes have more limited experiences for students here just because we don’t see as much.”

Nursing students are allowed to complete as much as half of their clinical hours in a simulation lab like the one now open in Steamboat, which can be crucial in mountain towns as clinical hours in smaller hospitals can be limited. Read the full story

CMC Rifle ceramics students create bowls, Chocolate Moose donates ice cream to benefit Grand River Meals on Wheels

RIFLE – In March 2020, the 6th annual Empty Bowls event was one of the first social gatherings in the area to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a year and a half later, organizers feel it is safe to host Empty Bowls again but with a summer twist. Instead of soup, attendees will take part in an end-of-the-summer outdoor ice cream social.

Organizers are busy getting ready for the Empty Bowls event, which runs from 12:30-2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1. This celebration will mark the 45th anniversary of Grand River Meals on Wheels.

“Grand River Health has always supported the community by providing Meals on Wheels to homebound seniors from Parachute to New Castle,” said Kaaren Peck, director of Grand River Meals on Wheels. “The service is more than just providing food. It helps with connecting the homebound with the larger community.”

In exchange for a $20 donation, the outdoor fundraiser provides guests with a bowl handcrafted by CMC Rifle ceramics students and ice cream with toppings donated by the Chocolate Moose in Glenwood Springs.

A single donation provides almost a week’s worth of meals for one recipient. During the past 15 years, Grand River Meals on Wheels has provided almost a quarter of a million meals to over 2,000 people in western Garfield County. In 2020 alone, the organization provided and delivered over 21,000 meals.

Empty Bowls is coordinated by staff and volunteers from Grand River Health, as well as faculty and students from CMC’s Rifle campus. The idea for the collaboration started in 2015 with Michelle McCurdy, an adjunct ceramics instructor at the college. The first year was a huge success, with nearly 200 bowls sold within 45 minutes. This year the ceramics students are crafting close to 400 bowls.

Although the fundraiser is a locally focused effort, it’s internationally based. The Empty Bowls Project conducts events around the world to raise money and bring awareness around hunger issues. The program also provides funds for food distribution efforts such as Grand River Meals on Wheels.

 

Meals on Wheels Empty Bowls Ice Cream Social

A fundraising partnership with Colorado Mountain College Rifle’s ceramics students and Chocolate Moose benefitting Grand River Meals on Wheels

When: 12:30-2 p.m. on Sept. 1

Where: Grand River Health’s Grand River Café Courtyard, 501 Airport Road, Rifle. Please park in the southwest parking lot.

How much: $20 includes a student-crafted ceramic bowl and ice cream with toppings

Why: To raise money for Grand River Meals on Wheels and to bring public awareness about those among us living with hunger insecurity

Contact: Kaaren Peck, director of Grand River Meals on Wheels, 970-625-6423 or kpeck@grhd.org

Mountains serve as classroom for Air Force cadets learning leadership

This story appeared in the Aug. 4 edition of the Leadville Herald Democrat 

Col. Lukes kayaking

Col. Clarence Lukes Jr., the vice commandant of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy, practices a brace stroke during CMC's outdoor leadership program. Photo by Patrick Bilow/Leadville Herald Democrat

By Patrick Bilow, Leadville Herald reporter

A group of 90 United States Air Force Academy cadets from around the world are taking to the trails, rivers and crags of the Upper Arkansas River Valley this summer. Known as the Outdoor Leadership Development Program, the experience is offered through a collaboration with Colorado Mountain College and is designed to teach cadets leadership skills while improving social and emotion intelligence.

“The Naval Academy and West Point, they have the universities and corporations of the East Coast,” said Lt. Col. David Huston, who works within the United States Air Force Academy’s (USAFA) Center For Character and Leadership Development. “But we are the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with Leadville and Buena Vista practically in our backyard. There’s so much to learn from here.”

Last week, Huston, Vice Commandant of Cadets Col. Clarence Lukes Jr. and about 15 cadets learned watercraft skills near Buena Vista before playing kayak soccer in Cottonwood Creek. Many of the participants, including Lukes Jr., had never been in a kayak before. Meanwhile, cadets who had already been in the water were mountain biking in Leadville, rock climbing in Buena Vista or backpacking around French Mountain in the Sawatch Range.

The cadets, all juniors and seniors at USAFA who came in three groups of 30 throughout the summer, are staying in dorm rooms at the Colorado Mountain College (CMC) Leadville campus, and will earn academic credit as CMC students this summer. Last year only eight cadets enrolled in the program, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also because 2020 was the program’s first year. After USAFA and CMC discussed expanding the initiative this year, about 90 cadets either volunteered or were mandated to participate this summer.

“I like to imagine cadets, who CMC can now consider alumni, flying above us in aircraft after they’ve graduated,” said Matt Gianneschi, chief operating officer and chief of staff at CMC. “It’s really great for us to be able to make some contribution to USAFA and the next generation of our nation’s military.”

According to Huston, that next generation needs to develop values like those emphasized in CMC’s outdoor recreation leadership program, which teaches CMC students group development, leadership theory and conflict resolution. In 2019, Huston approached CMC with the idea to collaborate. Since then, program directors have developed a summer curriculum that not only teaches cadets recreation skills, like kayaking, but also social and emotional intelligence in team dynamics. Throughout the three-week program, instructors at USAFA and CMC alternated in demonstrating these values.

Air Force cadets kayaking

Air Force cadets at the put-in at the shore of Cottonwood Creek during the outdoor leadership program, in partnership with CMC Leadville. Photo by Patrick Bilow

“Those interpersonal skills are the emphasis of this program,” said Amy Smallwood, associate dean of academics and student affairs at CMC in Leadville. “We’re working with cadets on broadening their character framework to include things like active listening, communication, transparency and trust — all things that are necessary for these types of recreation activities where there is inherent risk involved.”

Another trait that Huston said the program works to improve is growth mindset, a concept created by psychologist Carol Dweck in 2015 which asserts that people can develop any ability through dedication and hard work. Last week, growth mindset development was especially evident as a few straight-faced, white-knuckled cadets, who had never been in a kayak before, learned to wet exit their watercraft. Although some were skeptical before tipping into the water, all cadets were comfortable enough for kayak soccer just hours later.

So far, cadets seem to be learning from the program. According to a survey of last year’s eight cadet participants, nearly all said that they’d improved aspects of their growth mindset and learned more about their strengths and weaknesses as team members and leaders. Huston said that this year’s cadets have echoed similar sentiments.

Chanyuthea Nou, a squadron 40 class of 2023 cadet from Cambodia,  said that the program pushed him out of his comfort zone and taught him more about himself. When Nou and his group went backpacking near Leadville, they got lost and the cadet helped track down the hidden trail. Nou also took to mountain biking and showed off a few leg scars from a hard fall in Buena Vista.

“These are things I do for fun already,” said Andrew Puseman, a squadron 26 class of 2022 cadet from Bailey, “but it’s been really cool to have the opportunity to bike and climb with new people.” Puseman, along with Chia-Hsiang Shen, a squadron 32 class of 2023 cadet, also spent a lot of time along Harrison Avenue, visiting the Manhattan Bar and the Silver Dollar Saloon, and walking to Tacos La Mina for one-dollar tacos on Tuesdays. “Everyone is really kind,” said Shen. “I’ve really enjoyed being here.”

With the program having grown significantly in its second year, representatives of both USAFA and CMC hope to continue the summer courses. “I’m not sure that outdoor learning was necessarily the intention when USAFA was built in Colorado 70 years ago,” said Lukes Jr. “But this is such a valuable experience for these cadets, and I’d like to see it continued.”

Por Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser

La resistencia, las agallas y la obstinada determinación nos definen. Ganarse la vida en el remoto oeste de Colorado nunca ha sido fácil ni está garantizado. Aunque tenemos la suerte y el privilegio de vivir aquí, hace falta un auténtico amor por el lugar para soportar las dificultades comunes a nuestra región–escasez de viviendas asequibles, grandes interrupciones del transporte, incendios, inundaciones, ventiscas, sequías y ahora un virus.

Los retos inherentes a nuestra querida parte del mundo nos obligan a innovar y adaptarnos, a imaginar con ingenio nuevas estrategias y a abrir nuevos caminos. Al hacerlo, también profundizamos nuestro compromiso con nuestras comunidades y con los demás.

En mayo, poco después de la graduación de una de las clases más numerosas de la historia del CMC, parecía que la niebla de la pandemia se disipaba. La esperanza era omnipresente y aparentemente palpable. Las vacunas milagrosas estaban disponibles en abundancia incluso en comunidades rurales como la nuestra.  En consecuencia, se levantaron las órdenes de salud pública, se quitaron las máscaras, volvieron los abrazos y los choques de manos y los turistas –muchos, muchos turistas– llegaron a nuestras ciudades turísticas.

Con cierta confianza en que lo peor había quedado atrás, el equipo del Colorado Mountain College hizo una promesa a nuestros estudiantes y comunidades tras uno de los años más extraños y difíciles: el CMC estará completamente abierto en el otoño de 2021.

Durante gran parte del verano, esta promesa parecía asegurada; empezamos a prepararnos para un curso de otoño "normal". Programamos el mantenimiento necesario de las residencias, contratamos a la mayor cohorte de nuevos profesores de los últimos tiempos, pusimos en marcha nuevos programas de grado y adaptamos nuestras aulas a la configuración anterior a la pandemia.  Los estudiantes respondieron, las inscripciones se recuperaron y nuestras operaciones volvieron a funcionar con un zumbido entusiasta y anticipado.

Sin embargo, en las últimas semanas, nuestros planes llenos de esperanza se vieron interrumpidos como los deslaves que cerraron la I-70 a través del Cañón Glenwood. El virus mutó y regresó con fuerza, sobre todo entre las poblaciones no protegidas por una vacuna desarrollada por algunos de los mejores científicos que el mundo ha conocido. Siempre supimos que un acontecimiento así era posible. Habíamos visto las señales y escuchado las advertencias, pero esperábamos que todo estuviera BIEN.

No todo está BIEN, todavía.

El resurgimiento puede ser una "pandemia de los no vacunados", pero es de hecho una situación real para la universidad y nuestras comunidades. Aunque agotados por los últimos 18 meses, todos en el CMC nos estamos adaptando de nuevo para garantizar que los estudiantes puedan volver al campus y evitar los trastornos derivados de un resurgimiento del virus.

Hicimos una promesa.

Y, porque cumplimos nuestras promesas, estamos haciendo ajustes en tiempo real para lanzar un semestre de otoño seguro y exitoso.  A partir del primer día de clases, exigiremos el uso de mascarillas en todos los edificios y aulas del CMC. Esperamos que este requisito sea temporal, ya que nuestra universidad parte de una posición de fuerza. Casi el 90% de nuestro profesorado y personal ha sido vacunado, lo que supone una tasa de vacunación más alta que en muchas de las comunidades a las que sirve el CMC.

Al exigir inicialmente el uso de mascarillas, esperamos evitar la transmisión de la variante Delta, altamente contagiosa, y cumplir nuestro compromiso de ofrecer un entorno educativo seguro.  Si las condiciones de salud pública mejoran y los índices de vacunación aumentan, reevaluaremos nuestro procedimiento de mascarillas.  Si empeoran, también nos adaptaremos a esas realidades.  En cualquier caso, no renunciaremos a nuestros alumnos ni a nuestras comunidades.

También es importante recordar que Colorado Mountain College es una institución de inscripción abierta. Acogemos a todos y no rechazamos a ninguno. Mantener este nivel de acceso es una parte importante de la misión y los valores del colegio.

Estamos más que emocionados de dar la bienvenida a miles de estudiantes de vuelta a los campus del CMC para el trimestre de otoño 2021. No veremos sus sonrisas al principio, pero sabemos lo mucho que significa para estos estudiantes volver a un entorno "normal".

A todos los miembros de las comunidades del CMC, y en nombre de los valientes profesores y personal y de los ansiosos estudiantes que comienzan o continúan su carrera académica, gracias por apoyar a su universidad local.  Por favor, ayúdennos a empezar este año de forma ordenada, con gracia, humildad y amabilidad.

La elección personal también conlleva la obligación de considerar y cuidar a los demás. En última instancia, volveremos a la "normalidad" en su sentido más amplio.  Hasta entonces, mantendremos nuestra promesa. El CMC está abierto al público.

Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser es Presidente y Director General de Colorado Mountain College. Se puede contactar con él escribiendo al correo president@coloradomtn.edu o a @CMCPresident.

Colorado Mountain College President & CEO Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser. October 2020

By Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser

Resilience, grit and stubborn determination define us. Carving out a living in remote western Colorado has never been easy or guaranteed. While we are lucky and privileged to live here, it takes a genuine love of place to withstand the hardships common to our region—scant affordable housing, major transit disruptions, fires, floods, blizzards, drought and now a virus.

The challenges inherent to our beloved part of the world force us to innovate and adapt, to resourcefully imagine new strategies and blaze new trails. In doing so, they also deepen our commitment to our communities and to one another.

In May, shortly after graduating one of the largest classes in CMC’s history, it seemed that the fog of the pandemic was lifting. Hope was pervasive and seemingly palpable. Miracle vaccines were abundantly available even in rural communities like ours.  Consequently, public health orders were lifted, masks came off, hugs and high-fives returned and tourists—many, many tourists—poured into our resort towns.

With some confidence that the worst was behind us, the team at Colorado Mountain College made a promise to our students and communities following one of the strangest and most challenging years ever: CMC will be fully open in fall 2021.

For much of the summer, this promise seemed assured; we began preparing for a “normal” fall term. We scheduled needed maintenance to residence halls, hired the largest cohort of new faculty in recent memory, launched new degree programs and adjusted our classrooms back to pre-pandemic settings.  Students responded. Enrollments rebounded and our operations again hummed along with an excited, anticipatory buzz.

In recent weeks, however, our hope-filled plans were disrupted like the mudslides that closed I-70 through Glenwood Canyon. The virus mutated and returned in force, most acutely among populations unprotected by a vaccine developed by some of the greatest scientists the world has ever known. We always knew such an event was possible. We’d seen the signs and heard the warnings, but hoped all would be OK.

It’s not all OK, yet.

The resurgence may be a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” but it is indeed a real situation for the college and our communities. Though exhausted from the past 18 months, all of us at CMC are again adapting to ensure that students can return to campus and avoid disruption resulting from a viral resurgence.

We made a promise.

And, because we keep our promises, we are making real-time adjustments to launch a safe and successful fall semester.  Starting the first day of classes, we will require the wearing of masks in all CMC buildings and classrooms. We hope this requirement will be temporary, as our college is starting from a position of strength. Nearly 90% of our faculty and staff have been vaccinated, which is a higher vaccination rate than in many of the communities CMC serves.

By requiring masks initially, we hope to prevent the transmission of the highly contagious Delta variant and deliver on our commitment to provide a safe educational environment.  If public health conditions improve and vaccination rates increase, we will reevaluate our masking procedure.  If they worsen, we will adapt to those realities as well.  Either way, we will not give up on our students or our communities.

It is also important to remember that Colorado Mountain College is an open-enrollment institution. We welcome all and turn away none. Maintaining this level of access is an important part of the college’s mission and values.

We are beyond thrilled to welcome thousands of students back to CMC campuses for the fall 2021 term. We won’t see their smiles at first, but we know how much it means for these students to return to a “normal” environment.

To all of the members of CMC’s communities, and on behalf of the courageous faculty and staff and eager students starting or continuing their academic careers, thank you for supporting your local college.  Please help us start this year in an orderly way, with grace, humility and kindness.

Personal choice also comes with an obligation to consider and care for others. Ultimately, we will get back to “normal” in its fullest meaning.  Until then, we will keep our promise to you. CMC is open for business.

Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser is President & CEO of Colorado Mountain College. She can be reached at president@coloradomtn.edu or @CMCPresident.

Online, hybrid, live stream and in-person classes begin Aug. 23

Colorado Mountain College's fall semester begins Aug. 23. The college is offering students a range of options - from online to in-person learning - at its campuses, including at CMC Leadville.

Colorado Mountain College will begin its fall semester on Aug. 23 with a range of innovative and accessible options for students to learn, while keeping all involved as safe and as healthy as possible.

And even though registration for the fall has been open since May, those who may not have yet signed up for classes are encouraged to do so now.

“While we never ceased delivering instruction during the pandemic, I’m pleased that all campuses will soon be fully open for learning,” said CMC President Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser. “We are beyond excited to welcome students this fall, whether they choose to learn in-person, virtually or some combination.”

Colorado Mountain College has 11 campus locations including Aspen, Breckenridge, Carbondale, Dillon, Glenwood Springs, Leadville, Rifle, Salida, Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs, Steamboat Springs and Vail Valley at Edwards. The college also has administrative offices in downtown Glenwood Springs.

Public health directives

 CMC leadership has been discussing vaccination and masking requirements at great length, gathering data and broad-based input before announcing a plan for the fall semester.

“While this decision comes less than a week before classes begin, it was not made hastily,” said CMC Chief Operating Officer Dr. Matt Gianneschi. “The decision-making process has been lengthy, inclusive and deliberative. In fact, we have been planning for the start of the fall term for months.”

Heading into the fall semester, CMC is not currently requiring a COVID-19 vaccine for most faculty, staff and students. However, students living in CMC residence halls, athletes or those enrolled in health care, public safety and first responder programs are required to be vaccinated. Exemptions from vaccination may be requested for medical reasons or religious/personal beliefs.

In order to stop transmission in buildings and classrooms as students return to campus, masks will be required in all CMC buildings for the first few weeks of the semester.

“If vaccination rates continue to increase and transmission rates improve, we expect to conform our procedures to county-level public health guidelines,” said Gianneschi. “In the meantime, and while the summer tourism season is still in full-swing, we will ask students and staff to wear face coverings while we monitor local public health data in order to consider adjustments to our procedures.”

College leadership will re-evaluate the mask procedure on or about Labor Day, after which the college may adjust its policies to follow prevailing local public health guidance.

“Not everyone will agree with the proposed directions, but I hope all can appreciate that clear, consistent guidelines will allow every CMC campus to welcome back students that have been yearning to return to in-person instruction,” said Gianneschi. “For many of our students, the college campus is the safest, most stable environment in their lives. If we all do our part to keep CMC campuses open, we hope to return to a mask-optional environment in the very near future.”

For those who are not comfortable attending classes in masks, the college added new sections of online classes. Online classes start one week later than in-person classes, so there’s still plenty of time to register.

CMC is actively monitoring developments involving the delta variant with local public health authorities. Up-to-date information on CMC’s response to COVID-19 is available at the CMC Trail Map.

Vaccine rates, clinics and testing

 A survey conducted on Aug. 16 revealed that 89% of CMC faculty and staff have voluntarily received a COVID-19 vaccination. This very high inoculation rate is equal to or higher than the vaccination rates in many of the mountain communities that CMC serves.

“Big congratulations to CMC’s employees – both full and part-time – for achieving this high vaccine rate and modeling the path forward to our communities,” said Hauser.

This year, the college is also encouraging campus communities to follow these “Crush COVID Commitments:”

To assist those with limited health care options or those who cannot access one of the many free testing sites, the college will cover the cost of testing for faculty, staff and students who need a COVID-19 test. Additionally, free vaccination clinics will be available at most CMC campuses this fall.

“We are in this together – even when we bring different views, experiences and perspectives to our togetherness,” said Hauser. “So, let’s treat each other with open minds, civility, patience, flexibility, respect and kindness as we navigate a new academic year safely.”

Four pathways to learning

Depending on the nature of particular courses – some require on-campus time, while many others can be taught online – the college is delivering course content in four ways:

  • In-person courses are held face-to-face at a CMC campus
  • Live-stream courses are held virtually in real time
  • Hybrid courses are a combination of in-person class time and online interaction
  • Online anytime courses are recorded virtual courses that students can take on their schedules

“Throughout the pandemic our goal has been to meet students where they are in their needs for learning and engagement,” said Kathryn Regjo, vice president of Academic Affairs. “These course types provide clear and diverse pathways to earning a degree or certificate at CMC.”

Please visit our information page for more information on CMC’s fall semester.

New programs

 The college is also introducing four new academic programs this fall:

  • Certified addiction technician certificate
  • Certified addiction specialist certificate
  • Pharmacy technician certificate
  • Associate of Science with an emphasis in ecosystem science and management

Visit our programs page for information on these and over 130 other certificate, degree and non-credit programs. Most classes start on Aug. 23, with additional courses starting throughout the semester. More information is available on CMC's webpage 800-621-8559.