Bookstore employees honored for their work



Terri Van Hove (left) and Karla Schaefer are employees
in the Waldorf Bookstore, the Department of the
Month for February.

 Waldorf Bookstore director Karla Schaefer was shocked to learn that she and her staff members were honored as the Department of the Month for February.

“I just couldn’t believe that we were named Department of the Month,” she said. “We really felt honored. I just didn’t realize that people knew how hard we work in here, and it really felt good to know they must. Thanks.”

The bookstore is run by two full-time employees and three student workers. Joining Schaefer is Terri Van Hove, bookstore assistant, and student workers Holly Gilbertson, Jessica Fiebig and Nadean Krueger. Gilbertson also helps out part time during the summer.

The Waldorf employee who nominated the bookstore for the award wrote the following:

“Karla, Terri and staff keep a smile on their faces as they help students and staff members find what they need in the bookstore: books, supplies and clothing. The Bookstore supports Waldorf College’s athletic teams and other causes such as breast cancer and Kids Against Hunger.”

The bookstore also provides a variety of merchandise.

“We supply textbooks, school/office supplies, Waldorf clothing and imprinted gift items for all students, staff, faculty and the surrounding community people,” Schaefer said. The store also offers food items, including new gluten-free chips and bars, and Hot Pockets.

The store also features outgoing UPS shipping.

Each month, the President's Council accepts nominations for the Department of the Month award, which honors department workers for their stellar work.

Students, employees urged to sign up for text-alert service, hotline in event of emergency

Waldorf College administrators have taken steps to make the campus safer in the event of a major crisis or emergency with the addition of an emergency cell phone text-alert service and hotline.

"These are two additional sources of information for people in the event of a problem that we did not have in the past," said Jason Ramaker, dean of students. "Before 2009, all we had was campus e-mail to alert the campus community in a timely manner that there was a problem. Between the three services and having information on our web page, I think we would be providing a good variety of options for students, employees and family members to receive up-to-date information."

The system, called FastCommand, will allow students, parents and employees to receive a direct text message from the college to their cell phone and e-mail (personal account) in the event of a campus emergency. Callers would not be able to leave a message.

Most students signed up for the text-alert service at the beginning of the semester. Now, Waldorf employees may sign up for the service, which Ramaker encourages.

Employees and students who are interested in signing up for the service may go to http://waldorf.fastcommand.com/. The link will take you to a custom Waldorf FastCommand website that will provide a page for inputting your information.

Additionally, Waldorf has added an emergency hotline phone number to its crisis communication plan. The hotline allows students, parents or employees to call and receive updates and instructions in the event of an emergency. The hotline number is 877-270-7333. Waldorf students and employees are encouraged to add this number to their mobile phones.

The text message alert system and hotline number would work in tandem if an emergency occurs. A message would be sent to the people who have signed up for the text alerts, and the hotline would have an updated message, instructions or information on the issue.

Waldorf officials will only use the service for periodic testing and campus emergencies, Ramaker said. The service will not be used for campus updates, general alerts or for basic information purposes.

"We hope these are services we never have to use," Ramaker said.

Waldorf to Launch Hockey Team

Douglas G. Ross

Waldorf College announces the start of its men’s hockey program to be lead by famed collegiate hockey coach Douglas G. Ross, a four-time national championship coach. The program will begin recruiting immediately in preparation for its inaugural 2011-2012 season.

“I know there is a lot of good hockey here in Iowa -- over in Des Moines and Mason City and in Minnesota,” Ross said. “There are some people who want to play hockey and get their education. This program is a good opportunity for high school students, college transfers and junior hockey players.

The team will start playing a club schedule and hopefully join a conference and play approximately 24 to 28 games at a nearby city ice arena in Albert Lea, Minn.  

“This might be really good marriage for Waldorf College and the youth hockey in Albert Lea because our boys will be good role models for the younger players. We will work with them at clinics and we hope that the Albert Lea community comes out and watches us play,” Ross said. Doug has over thirty-five years of hockey camp and clinic experience.   “We would love to get lots of players from Minnesota and Iowa that are dedicated to earning their degree and have a passion to play hockey for Waldorf.”

While recruiting is important to Ross, he does stress the importance of morals, academics, and being the best citizen you can be both on and off the ice. “The most important goal is to build a team that will play with a lot of passion, character and sportsmanship and develop a good reputation. We want them to achieve academically, too. I would love to have a bunch of honor roll students,” Ross said. “I will work with them and give them 30 years of coaching and some 20 years of playing experience.”

And that experience started when Ross played outdoor hockey as child and won several outdoor state hockey championships on the Sunnyside Hockey Team. He transitioned to indoor leagues at age 14 and later played for the Detroit Junior a Red Wings, Southern Ontario Hockey Association champions.  Ross continued his pursuit of hockey at Lake Superior State College in Michigan where he played on the NAIA National Championship winning team in 1972.

Ross transferred and earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University in 1975 becoming the highest scoring right wing in the nation. While there, Ross played hockey under the legendary coach Ron Mason and went on to play the right wing position for the U.S. National Hockey Team in 1975. Ross then played for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team competing in the XII Winter Olympic games which was coached by the legendary Bob Johnson.

Ross earned his master’s degree in education at Western Michigan University in 1979 while coaching Kalamazoo Central High School where he worked for two years. Then Ross went on to coach hockey for two years at Kent State University before transferring to the University of Alabama-Huntsville. 

“Everybody would say for years they didn’t know we had a hockey program in Huntsville, Alabama,” Ross explained. “But we grew it up.  We grew it up with a lot of support from the Huntsville community, especially the Huntsville Amateur Hockey Association, UAH, and the players from the 1982 Championship Club Team. Together we moved the program forward.”  The hockey program grew and thrived under his leadership from 1982 to 2006. The team won two club league national championships and later two NCAA Division II championships. During 2006, the UAH Chargers competed in the NCAA Division I Hockey tournament. Ross’ college hockey win-loss record is 510-294-43.

A top ranked Division I hockey coach, Ross chose to take a break from hockey to spend time with family and watch one of his sons, Jared, grow to become a NHL Philadelphia Flyers player. Jared now plays for the Atlanta Thrashers in the NHL.

After talking with Waldorf College President Dr. Joe Manjone, a former University of Alabama colleague, Ross “kinda’ got hungry again and wanted to “get back in the game.”  A year of talks with Manjone and visits to Waldorf finally lead to Ross’ return to men’s collegiate hockey and another opportunity to build a program into a national contender.

 “The growth of hockey continues to rise in the U.S.  Just about every state has hockey programs right now.  I look forward to growing a team from the ground up at Waldorf just as I did at University of Alabama, Huntsville.  There will be a lot of national recognition for Waldorf with the addition of the hockey team.”