InDepthA collection of our most-followed stories. From immigration to administration, we cover it all.
A collection of our most-followed stories. From immigration to administration, we cover it all.
August 27, 2020
COVID-19 confirmed at Goshen College: First Case in isolation, varsity team plus seven others in quarantine
The first case of COVID-19 on Goshen College’s campus was confirmed last Tuesday, Aug. 18. Soon after, seven individuals were notified through contact tracing and are now quarantining on floors one and two of Miller Residence Hall for two weeks. Positive COVID-19 numbers remained stagnant until Aug. 26, when Student Life informed athletes that an entire varsity team would be quarantining after being exposed to a single positive case. “The Crossroads League has been notified, and the first matches of this team’s season will be rescheduled to a later date,” Erica Albertin, interim athletic director and head athletic trainer, and...
August 27, 2020
Albertin leads Goshen through uncertainty
The 2020 fall sports season will be different, and at the helm of leadership for Goshen College is Erica Albertin, interim athletic director. Albertin has been the athletic trainer for Goshen College since 2016, and with the release of former athletic director Harold Watson last spring, she stepped into a bigger role in the athletic department. “[She] has demonstrated the ability to lead in her area,” said Gilberto Perez, vice president of student life, in an earlier interview this year. Along with her role as head athletic trainer, Albertin was the associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator in 2018. ...
March 15, 2020
SST units to return home, all international May Term classes cancelled
The current Ecuador and Tanzania Study-Service Term units were informed over the weekend that they will return home this week, nearly three weeks earlier than planned. This decision came only hours after all Goshen College international May Term classes and summer SST units were also cancelled following a level 2 or 3 travel advisory issued by the U.S. State Department of Bureau of Consular affairs. While those who were set to travel in May digest the information, the SST units have begun preparing to return home. Noelia Calderon, a sophomore business major currently based in San Vicente, Ecuador, explained that...
March 14, 2020
GC Athletics Suspended for Three Weeks
All Goshen College athletic events will be suspended until April 1, the interim athletic director team informed student athletes in an email Friday evening. The announcement followed a decision by the Crossroads League earlier in the day to suspend competition in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, of which the men’s volleyball team is a member, canceled the 2020 spring season for good. The GC athletic teams most affected are the four currently in season: baseball, softball, track and field and men’s volleyball. The men’s volleyball team found out Friday evening that their win against Judson University...
March 14, 2020
Workshops to prepare students and faculty to move online
As Goshen College prepares to transition to online classes on Monday March 23, workshops will be available on Thursday March 19 and Friday March 20, to train faculty and students in preparation for the change. Ann Vendrely, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, is currently working alongside Erin Milanese, head of learning technologies, to plan for the faculty workshops. “Moodle will be the primary learning platform for online courses,” Vendrely said. “We will also provide training on Zoom for use in some courses and for advising. Some faculty are already using Google Hangouts and FaceTime, so that will...
March 13, 2020
Transitions in athletic department leadership
Harold Watson, former athletic director, was released from Goshen College two weeks ago. A team of four current GC employees have been selected to take over as an interim athletic director team and will continue to unfold the athletic department’s strategic plan until a new athletic director is hired. The strategic direction for GC athletics aims for a community in which athletes are involved and integrated in spaces across campus while still supported to win games. To achieve this goal, the athletic department will look to hire an athletic director and coaches who can model interdisciplinary engagement for the athletes...
March 13, 2020
Coronavirus cancels China SST
On Thursday, March 5, Goshen College announced that the China fall Study-Service Term would be relocated to Indonesia. The announcement was made on the college’s website where a specific Coronavirus page has been set up to keep the campus community updated and informed about the virus and its impact on the college. An email was then sent out to students, employees and retired Goshen faculty and staff from the Dean’s office to inform them of the change. The change in the SST destination is a result of China remaining at a level 4 on the travel Advisory scale by the...
March 13, 2020
Goshen College begins transition to online instruction
Shortly after noon on Friday, March 13, Goshen College’s Crisis Management Team announced the plan for the college to transition from in-person classes to online instruction on Monday, March 23, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goshen is joining campuses across the country, including sister school Eastern Mennonite University, in transitioning to online education for the immediate future. Many colleges, especially larger universities, have a somewhat robust digital education system already in place; online lectures and webinars are a regular part of the curriculum at Arizona State University and Pennsylvania State University, and even at regional schools like Trine University...
March 13, 2020
International students granted permission to take classes online during national emergency
On Friday, March 13, Dan Koop Liechty, director of alumni engagement and international student advisor, announced via email that international students would be able to make the transition to online courses without it affecting their visa status. According to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program’s (SEVP) website, international students are restricted to only one online or distance learning class a semester in order to maintain their status as an F-1 student in the U.S. This means that transitioning to online classes could impact the students legal ability to remain in the States. Liechty’s email informed the students that during this...
February 7, 2020
Coronavirus causes concern for SST
On Saturday, Feb. 2, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular affairs announced that China is now a Level 4 on the travel advisory scale. This announcement informed U.S. residents to not travel there due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus. On Wednesday, Chinese health officials raised the death total of the virus to 490 people. The recent news has created concern amongst those set to travel in the fall to China on SST. Jan Bender Shelter, director of international education, contacted the students who are currently signed up for the trip and their parents via email. Shelter expressed...
January 31, 2020
“Teaching me more than anyone else”
Editor’s Note: Every once in a while I invite someone to share a story with the Record in the form of photojournalism, with a short statement detailing what the pictures mean to them. If you’re interested in that kind of storytelling, reach out to the Record or myself. This week’s come from Gloria Bontrager-Thomas, a sophomore currently on SST in Tanzania. “This is Henry. He’s two, and doesn’t speak English. Since coming to Tanzania two weeks ago, we’ve been trying to figure out how to communicate without being able to speak the same language. We play ball, tickle, and chase...
January 31, 2020
New climate tool highlights varied effects of global warming
Climate change is affecting Goshen College programs around the world in very different ways, a climate tool published in a New York Times article confirms. In Goshen, the number of days in a year at or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) has hardly changed, hovering around 11 since 1960, but that number has increased profoundly in warmer study abroad locations, the tool shows. By the end of the century, projected warming is more striking still, even in best-case scenarios. In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, where 17 Goshen College students are currently living with host families on SST, the...
January 31, 2020
Spring SST units depart, new curriculum finalized
As classes began last Wednesday on campus, 38 Goshen College students embarked on an intercultural journey as the spring 2020 Study-Service Term units departed. 17 students made the trek to Tanzania, while 21 departed for Ecuador. This semester’s unit marks only the second group Goshen College has sent to Ecuador following the switch from Peru. As with the fall semester, the group is led by Andrew Hartzler, professor of accounting, and his wife Ruth. The unit in Ecuador partners with the Cofan Survival Fund, which is a carbon-offsetting partnership. After leading a fall unit of only six students, Hartzler recognizes...
November 29, 2019
Vote set to approve SST pilot program
The first faculty-wide vote on revised Study-Service Term curriculum will take place on Thursday, Nov. 21, beginning the process of approval for the 2020-21 SST pilot program. The proposal, which originally included changes to SST core courses, course sequence/length of SST term and cost, was altered to solely address the piloting of two new courses, after faculty and staff addressed their concern. “The faculty, administrators, everybody is about the big idea,” said Jan Shetler, director of international education. “They’re happy about it, but it’s the logistics of this thing that kind of boggles the mind. How do you have all...
November 13, 2019
New additions join athletic department
The Goshen College athletic department has continued to expand this semester with the addition of two new administration staff, Mara Beck and Sarah Hart, along with the introduction of the U.S. Highway 20 Cup. Both Beck and Hart graduated from college this past spring. Beck graduated from Goshen College with a degree in social work, while Hart graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in sports management. Beck, who ran track all four year at GC and cross-country during her first year before switching to play soccer during her sophomore year, has taken on the position as coordinator of...