CommunitasMVCC Faculty/Staff Newsletter Week of April 22, 2013

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Shaw

When Lindsey Geary came to the College a few years back, she had a dream of organizing a field trip across the country with her students to study her passion – Geology. Three years

later, with the help of three vice presidents’ offices, her fellow faculty members, Student Congress and Student Services, this dream became a reality.

Joining her in making this a reality was Brandon Shaw from the Center for Arts and Humanities. These two faculty members worked in tandem to create a Learning Com-munity and take more than a dozen students on a 19-day excursion to the Southwest for study in the field.

The work of these two faculty members was recognized at last month’s College Senate meeting when they were present-ed the Heart of the Hawk Award. This award is open to full-time faculty who consistently promote learning, accessibility, collabo-ration, excellence, diversity, affordability, and/or integrity.

“I followed their adventure on Facebook and the extraordinary effort and coordination, persuasion, attention to detail, good humor and sheer WILL that went into a very successful 19 day field trip to the Southwest,” Sandy Engel, who nominated Geary and Shaw for the Heart of the Hawk. “Lindsey’s resourcefulness and refusal to abandon hope got this going.”

Geary and Shaw arranged for the students’ work to be cred-ited toward Geology, English 2, and Physical Education as a Learning Community. The students presented their work during

the Fall semester and received many accolades for their dedi-cation, work and efforts.

“In my mind, they earned an enthusiastic MVCC “atta-girl” and “atta-boy,” said Dr. Engel.

MVCC is launching a new service, Instant Admit Weeks, designed for con-venient college enrollment by graduating high school students and adult learners. Upcoming Instant Admit Weeks are May 6-10, June 3-7 and July 8-12, from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Additional openings will be announced in the coming weeks.

During Instant Admit Weeks students can, in one visit to campus, take care of applying, placement testing and other steps required for a convenient entry to college. Students who drop in to the Uti-ca or Rome Admissions Offices with high school transcripts will be able to apply, receive an admissions decision and let-

ter of acceptance, and take or schedule placement tests. Health forms and other steps to enroll at MVCC for the Fall 2013 semester will be provided in person.

This will help students take care of all needed steps before Fall 2013 classes begin Aug. 28. In addition to the Instant Admit Weeks, traditional methods of ap-plying and completing enrollment steps will be available through Aug. 27, which is the deadline for new applications and registrations for Fall 2013. Instant Admit Weeks ensure that new students can apply, placement test and register early enough to meet this deadline and have the best selection of classes.

Traditional methods of applying for admission and completing steps to enroll will still be offered, and the MVCC Admis-sions Office is fully staffed to support students and their families in making application decisions and taking care of the necessary paperwork. MVCC is also accepting applications and registrations for the Summer 2013 semester, which begins May 28.

For more information call (315) 792-5354 or visit www.mvcc.edu/admissions. That page includes information about the process and a Live Online Chat with Admissions Counselors.

MVCC offers Instant Admit Weeks for convenient scheduling

Geary, Shaw represent College’s mission for ‘Heart of the Hawk’

PASSION OF TEACHING - Lindsey Geary, center, looks on as her students work on finding results during one of her class’ field trips to Proctor Park. Geary, along with Brandon Shaw, took more than a dozen students on a 19-day field study trip last summer. Their passion for teaching earned them the Heart of the Hawk Award earlier this month.

An increasing number of MVCC’s student body over the last two decades has been non-traditional students – otherwise classified as 25 years and older. Helping these students transi-tion into their retraining and education for much of this time has been Janet Visalli, Director of Adult Learner Services. She was recently recognized for 20 years of service to student in a ceremony.

Visalli began her career at MVCC under the Perkins Grant and quickly found a passion of helping students transition into higher education. She has been recognized for her dedication with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award in 2006 and the Genesis Award for Educator of the Year in 2008. The College further honored her work with the Pride of the Hawk and the Pride of the Pride in 2009.

“Janet is one of the most committed individuals that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. She has a depth of understand-ing about the significant challenges that adult students face when returning to college,” said James Maio, Associate Dean of Student Development and Transition Services. “Janet excels at building collegial relationships and openly shares this as a big part of her successes.”

Visalli is a member of the Women’s Employment Resource Center and the Student Development and Transition Services team within Student Affairs at the College. Many of the success stories in Adult Learner Services have been attributed to her ef-forts of coordinating with Academic Affairs and the department of labor.

“Janet often gets accolades for her work with the dislocated worker population from the local workforce development of-fices. She manages the complex paperwork for Trade Act and the Workforce Investment Act which affords many dislocated works retraining opportunity at MVCC. Her efforts remove one of the most significant barriers that these students face when making the decision to attend college,” said Maio.

This past fall she worked with Orion Bus Corporation to offer their workforce retraining opportunities as the company pre-pared to close its factory in Oriskany. The work of Visalli and her team enabled more than 50 workers from Orion to enroll for

the spring semester.Outside of her duties, she is an advisor to RASA (Returning

Adult Student Association).

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Honoring Employees for Years of Service

The MVCC Board of Trustees granted promotions, appointments and continu-ing appointment for many of the MVCC faculty and staff during the April meeting which was held on the Rome Campus.

On the academic side of the house, David R. Katz III was promoted to full Professor prior to the approval of his moving to the administrative arm of the College in the role of Executive Director of Organizational Development.

Achieving the academic rank of Associ-ate Professor were Douglas Hyldelund, Kyle Lince, Rosemary Mink, Roman Santos, and Michael Sorrentino. Being promoted to Assistant Professor were Eileen Bush, Melissa Copperwheat, Lindsey Geary, Thomas Jennings, David Nackley, Fumin Pan, Todd Rankins, and John Swistak.

Several of the staff also received

Non-Teaching Professional Promotions. Achieving Level IV was Kathryn Barefoot while those receiving Level III promotions were Terry Kipers-Szatko, Joyce Palmer, Mary Jane Parry, and Bernard Raynor. Others being promoted to Level II were Michael Alsheimer, Todd Behrendt, Lizabeth Doherty, Justin Rahn, Ibrahim Rosic, Sergey Staskevich, and Kevin Siembab.

A Non-Teaching Administrator Promo-tion was granted to Jennifer DeWeerth.

Along with the promotions, two Profes-sional Association members received continuing appointment – Pattina Kenis-ton in the Center for Language and Learning Design and Debbie Schreppel in the Center for Life and Health Sci-ences.

On the Rome Campus, the Board renewed the appointment of Richard

Quest as the Dean of the Rome Campus while Diana DeFoe was appointed as an instructor in Allied Health Informa-tion Technology and Denise Smith as a Health Services Laboratory Assistant at the College.

Board approves promotions at April meeting

Also in April, the Board of Trustees resolved to approve the conferral of degrees at MVCC’s May Commence-ment. More than 1,000 students are eligible to graduate with Degree of As-sociate in Applied Science, Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associ-ate Degree in Occupational Studies, and Certificates. The ceremony will be May 24 at the Utica Memorial Audito-rium.

Conferring of Degrees

As part of the International Festival this spring, the College invited Tenzin Yignyen to perform the Mandala Ceremony in the lobby of the Library on the Utica Campus while also giving lec-tures on the discovery of peace through one’s heart.

A Buddhist monk ordained by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin spent three days creating a mandala while different classes sat in the viewing gallery and asked questions. A mandala is a cosmic diagram that represents the dwelling place or celestial mansion of a deity. Both the deity - who reside in the mandala - and the mandala itself are recognized as pure expressions of Buddha’s fully enlightened mind. The sand used in creating the mandala is considered to be a superb medium because of its number and the great skill required to create the mandala’s exquisite details.

According to Tibetan Buddhist history, the purpose, meaning and the tech-niques involved in the spiritual art of the sand mandala painting were taught by Buddha Sakyamuni in the 6th century B. C. in India. Mandalas are created for rituals of initiation and for meditations; it is also created to purify the envi-ronment and its inhabitants to promote harmony in the world.

On Monday of last week, Tenzin held a Dismantling Ceremony where he poured the sand into a clear container and then led a procession over to the nearest body of water where he performed a cleansing ritual.

Tenzin is currently a visiting professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, serving as a Professor of Tibetan Buddhist studies since 1998. He also acts as a spiritual counsel to groups and individuals, a traditional role of the lama in Buddhist practice.

The Medical Assisting students along with Jamie Cuda, Coordina-tor Allied Health, and Adjunct In-structor Maryanne Taverne hosted an information booth on Promoting Health & Wellness at the Ameri-can Heart Association Kids Walk earlier this semester. Over 300 children participated in activities to promote health and wellness at the Medical Assistant booth.

Activities included putting “germ” gel on the children’s hands and demonstrating proper hand wash-ing techniques along with interac-tive demonstrations on proper nutrition and exercise. Many children and parents participated in the effects of alcohol activity in which participants tried to accom-plish simple task such as walking a straight line and dribbling a ball while wearing alcohol simulation goggles.

Although some found the activity silly it was an excellent visual for children to see the loss of simple motor functions and the effects of alcohol impairment. Many chil-dren enjoyed listening to their heart beat through a stethoscope while parents took advantage of complementary blood pressure screening.

It is estimated that over 1,500 people attended the event. The medical assistant students benefited from gaining confidence with public speaking, interpersonal communication skills, and teaching activities.

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Monk performsMandala Ceremony

Medical Assistant Students Promote Health & Wellness

Health & Wellness TipsTips to Quit Smoking

• Believe that you can quit.• Write down the benefits of

quitting.• Set a quit date.• Begin an exercise program to

relieve stress.• Find another smoker who is

trying to quit for support.• Have your teeth cleaned to

realize how good it is to quit.• Drinks lots of water to flush out

your body’s system.• Learn what triggers your desire

for cigarettes.• Reward yourself for reaching

milestones.• If you fall, get up and learn from

your mistakes.

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The MVCC baseball team is hitting on all cylinders this spring as the Hawks are 14-6 overall and 5-3 in the Moun-tain Valley Conference. Playing a major role in this success is Bryan McGuire, who was honored with the MVCC Athlete of the Week Award for the week ending April 21.

McGuire led the Hawks to five victories in six games, including a four-game sweep of Schenectady Community College. McGuire averaged .470 at the plate to accu-mulate five RBIs. In 18 games this season, McGuire has a .462 batting average during 39 trips to the plate. This led to scoring 10 runs along with nine RBIs.

During the Schenectady CC series, he had the game-winning hit in the first game and game-tying triple in the second game.

McGuire is a sophomore Sports Medicine major and a graduate of Herkimer High School.

Athlete of the Week

McGuire

As a student, if you are thinking that getting ready for life after MVCC is about job interviews, transferring, and resume writing you might have forgotten one very important element. A recent speaker explained the missing link to students with a focus on business etiquette.

For many students, cocktail parties, business lunches, inter-view dinners, receptions, and other social occasions that soon will become part of life.

Many cultures have customs and tradition surrounding food and eating that our students should be aware of. What do you do with that extra fork? Is there a proper way to eat soup? Is there a tactful way to tell a server there is a bug in your salad—in front of someone interviewing you for a job? And how does all this vary from one culture to an-other or even one part of the U.S. to another?

Renowned speaker Profes-sor Brian Earle of Cornell Uni-versity brought his unique insight into business and dining etiquette during an interactive four course meal.

The Administrative Assistant students and the Internships--Business, and the Hospitality attended this event. Approxi-mately 75 students, staff, and faculty were in attendance.

Everyone learned something valuable at this event, which was organized by Assistant Professor Rosemary Fuoco.

PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR – The College hosted its annual etiquette dinner with students, faculty and guests attending to hear renowned speaker Profes-sor Brian Earle (seen here) of Cornell University on the power of professional behavior while in business meetings. On hand were Emily Tracy, Director of Ca-reer Services and Human Resources, and Sheilah Ciotti, Admissions Associate, from the Utica School of Commerce in order to discover how these skills can be incorporated into course lessons.

Speaker on power of professional behavior

In early April, students and advisors traveled to the Interna-tional Convention of Phi Theta Kappa in San Jose for three days of educational forums, general sessions, officer elections, a senior college transfer fair, a reception honoring their partici-pation in Competitive Edge and more with 3,500 other PTKers from chapters all over the country.

The keynote speakers, Geoff Colvin and Billie Jean King, ad-dressed the PTK Honors Study Topic, The Culture of Competi-tion. This is the Honors Study topic for 2012-2014 and serves as the basis for Honors in Action projects for chapters through-out the country during that time.

While at the convention, MVCC was once again honored for being a Five Star Chapter, reflecting the highest level of involvement in campus and community service and leadership, and was also named one of the Top 100 Chapters in the Inter-national Society!

Congratulations to all of the members of the Lambda Beta chapter for an outstanding year and thank you to the college community for their support of our various activities.

PTK members attendInternational Convention

Submit information for Communitasto rhaubert@mvcc.edu

Approximately 1,000 MVCC students are being surveyed this spring for the SUNY-wide Survey of Students?

Did You Know!