PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Volume 4, Issue 4

September 2019

F&A Neighborhood News

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Cover Story 1

Tips 2

Food Service 2

Accounting 2

Interview 3

In the Spotlight 4

In the Spotlight (Cont.) 5

Chef for a Day 6

Facilities Round-Up 6

Did You Know? 7

High Five 7

Notable News 7

Inspirational Corner 8

STEVEN HARDY

Vice President Finance & Administrative

Services

COVER STORY

A message from Danielle Nepola-

DeFelice, Bursar, regarding an event

The inaugural Passaic County

Community College (PCCC) part-time

employee appreciation event took place

in August, thanks in part to the

collaborative efforts between multiple

departments and assistance from Dr.

Steven M. Rose, President of PCCC.

Three ice cream socials were held on

different days in the Paterson room and

the area surrounding the Panther Café.

Part-time staff members who attended

received a gift bag from PCCC as a

token of appreciation for all of their hard

work, integral to the successful operation

of the College.

In addition, a raffle was held for the

employees (in attendance) who worked

at PCCC for the longest and shortest

periods of time. And the WINNERS are…

Jita Majumda (longest - 1993) and Talal

Bilto (shortest - July 2019).

A very special shout out goes to Chef

Michael Grossi and the staff of the

Paterson Panther Café for making the ice

cream socials possible. Additional thanks

Page Saunders

(l to r) Marvin Espana, Ninfa Alcivar, Angelly

Cababa, Lisette Figueroa

to ALL the volunteers who assisted with the

event planning, including Janet Albrecht,

Michelle Baldino, Ricky Banks, Freddie

Benavides, Winster Ceballos, Mike D’Agati,

Tanya Da Silva, Stephanie Decker, Teya

Eaton, Brian Egan, Linda Gayton, Michele

Gotay, Liz Harrison, Ann Marie Keegan,

Sandy Levit, Svetlana Lider, Karoll Madera,

Maria Marte, Julie McCourt, Georgina

Mencher, Fabian Mira, Bob Mondelli,

George Myers, Dawn Norman, Elizabeth

Pachella, David Petriello, Clarissa Rosario,

Judy Santiago, Therese Slusser, Lorraine

Smith, Todd Sorber, and James Wallace.

We received an enormous amount of

positive feedback with a variety of ideas to

incorporate for possible similar events in

the future.

For any part-time employees who were

unable to attend the event and therefore

did not receive the associated gift bag,

please come pick one up on Thursday,

October 24th (after 10:00 am). We will have

them available in the basement area of

Enrollment Services. Gift bags will be sent

to those employees at the Wanaque and

Passaic Academic Centers who missed the

event as well.

Page Saunders

(l to r) Michele Gotay, Coran Smith

Page 2

FOOD SERVICE

Vending Update

The Passaic Academic Center received a vending upgrade this semester. The old Snapple

and snack machines were replaced with new, high-technology units, featuring touch pad

interface and various payment capabilities including cash, credit, debit, tap, and dip.

A fresh food machine is now available, serving cold sandwiches and snacks. In addition,

there are microwaveable choices so that students have hot food options as well. The cold

bottled beverage machine serves a wider variety of drinks and the traditional snack

machine remains, full of favorite treats. To round out the renovated service, a coffee

machine will soon be installed to provide a variety of popular coffee drinks.

Winster Ceballos

New Passaic Academic Center vending

ACCOUNTING

Annual Audit

The College’s annual audit began on September 9th. The audit covers the July 1, 2018 to

June 30, 2019 fiscal year and is being performed by the independent, external Certified

Public Accounting firm of Donahue, Gironda, Doria & Tomkins, LLC. The audit will be

completed in a shorter time frame, as the firm continues to dedicate more auditors than

usual. However, the total hours of actual audit time will remain the same. In addition to the

fiscal audit, the auditors will certify the College’s credit hours (Enrollment Audit), the

findings of which will be used to determine future state funding. The auditors will appear

before the Board of Trustees on October 15th to present their results. They will issue the

permanent record audit report shortly thereafter.

The Panther Café

now offers

ONLINE

ORDERING!

Check it out at:

https://pcccpaterson.my

restaurantops.co/

Interview with Alexandra Conte,

Associate Director of Human Resources

Q. Alex, can you tell us what a

typical day for you at PCCC entails?

A. In the fifteen years that I have

worked at the College, there has never

been a typical day in Human

Resources (HR) as one can be

completely different from the next. A

simple change in law, for example, can

affect employee contracts, policies,

and/or benefits, requiring all

department hands on deck. Regardless

of the project, the HR staff must

consistently work together. Many of

these projects appear seamless to the

College community, as the office runs

without anyone aware of the

scheduling and process completion

occurring in the background.

One area of concentration in my

position is employee benefits for full-

time employees, as is the recent

addition of part-time employee

benefits. I also regularly process new

hire orientation and employee leave

benefits.

For me, the best part of any day is the

pleasure of being able to help

someone with a question or problem,

as I genuinely care about all of our

PCCC employees. I find this beyond

rewarding so I make a point to go the

extra mile when the issue at hand calls

for it. Meeting with employees to

discuss what can be done adds the

“human” element to Human

Resources.

Q. We know October is a busy time

for HR. What information can you

share with us regarding employee

benefits?

A. The open enrollment period for

health benefits (effective January 1,

2020) is October 1, 2019, to October

31, 2019. However, all forms are due

to Human Resources by Friday,

October 18th, to ensure that the

Page 3

A. Yes. Both Steven Hardy, VP for

Finance & Administrative Services,

and Jose Fernandez, Associate VP of

Human Resources, supported six

College-wide health benefits

information sessions for employees,

with representatives from both

Horizon and OptumRX in attendance.

Providing an excellent opportunity to

learn about plan changes and ask

questions, these sessions helped

PCCC personnel make decisions as

to what was best for their own health

care, given the limited amount of time

they have to explore benefit options.

Q. Are there changes to the cost?

A. The State of New Jersey website I

previously mentioned posted a 4.5%

decrease in rates. The College will

support a base payment amount per

employee, per plan. There is more

information provided in the 2019

Health Planning Guide which was

distributed at the sessions. These

pamphlets can be picked-up in the

Human Resources Office if someone

was unable to attend.

Q. What’s the next step after the

health benefits information

sessions?

A. I sent out the new enrollment

forms, new rates, and plan overview.

Please look for my email (dated 10/2).

Q. What other changes take place

during open enrollment?

A. Open enrollment is also a time to

add or remove dependents so this is a

good time to look at your individual

level of coverage to see if it warrants

updating.

Q. Is there anything that you would

like to add?

A. Yes. I just want to emphasize that

Human Resources continually strives

to create and sustain a culture of

caring for the College community.

changes are recorded and captured

by the State of New Jersey. Any new

rates are posted on the State of New

Jersey website. Please note that

open enrollment for the dental plan

occurs annually in April.

Q. Have there been many changes

to the health benefits?

A. Yes. The State of New Jersey

completely removed the Aetna plan

option, leaving Horizon as the only

provider. This is a major change for

the currently enrolled Aetna

employees, as they will be re-

assigned by the State of New Jersey

unless they transition to a Horizon

plan of their own choosing. We are

not aware of the mechanics of this

type of move, but the best option for

an employee in this situation is to

make a choice during the open

enrollment period.

Q. Have you had any information

sessions regarding some of these

upcoming changes?

Ann Marie Keegan

Alexandra Conte, HR Associate Director

INTERVIEW

CENTURY AIR WORKSHOP:

Page 4

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

NASA’s Grant Funded Program –

PCCC Takes Flight

In the fall of 2018, PCCC was one of five

awardees who received grant funding from

NASA to expand students’ awareness of

avionics technology and provide STEM

students with opportunities for hands-on

experiential learning. With Dr. Ali Saleh

providing program oversight as the Project

Director, and Professors Grinberg and

Dada as Lead Faculty, the program

completed a number of activities:

Introduction to Engineering course now

revised to include avionics technology

content

With the help of STEM, created an

avionics lab (located across from the

STEM MakerSpace) which houses

avionics equipment, such as flight

simulators for students to practice on

Provided opportunities for students to

participate in hands-on experiential

learning activities through coursework

and workshops

Partnered with both Vaughn College of

Aeronautics and Technology and Century

Air aviation school to provide hands-on

workshops

NASA GSFC Internships

From June through mid-August 2019, nine

STEM students completed paid internships at

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in

various areas of avionics technology.

Interns were asked to share an essay with Dr.

Ali Saleh about their experiences at NASA –

what projects they worked on, lessons

learned, challenges they overcame, and if

they would do another NASA internship. Here

are excerpts of the interns’ experiences in

their own words….

“With my palms sweating as my presentation

ended, my mentor explained to me how my

creation benefits not only him personally, but

also holds the potential to be implemented in

future space travel missions. I successfully

developed a preliminary design for a celestial

navigation program. I worked on Prototypes for

Flight Software Platform.” Daniel Mirman

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)

(Top row, l to r) Michelle Ramos, Jehan Shalabi, Brenda Noriega, Jazhiel Cespedes (Bottom row, l to r) Daniel Mirman, Hussam Qaqish, Basheer Mahmoud, Roberto Saenz, Jeffrey Calixto

Dr. Ali Saleh

NASA’S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT

CENTER, MARYLAND:

VAUGHN COLLEGE WORKSHOP:

.

Page 5

IN THE SPOTLIGHT (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4)

“Learning and working were not all the interns

were doing. One of the biggest things is you have

to network with hundreds of smart engineers.

Networking at NASA is crucial because you get to

meet people who have experience and you can

ask them questions. I worked on Graphical User

Interface Development for an Attitude Control

System Design.” Jeffrey Calixto

“I learned many things this summer, such as

connecting with people, working in groups, asking

the questions and most importantly posturizing

what’s important since other people need your

results to finish their work. I know that I will be

using everything I have learned at NASA in my

future academic and career field. I will apply it at

NJIT, jobs, career fairs and even my personal life.

I worked on SmallSat Reaction Wheel

Mechatronics” Basheer Mahmoud

“This was my first internship and it wasn’t only an

educational learning experience, but I also learned

lots about communication skills, making

connections and a good first impression, being a

constant learner and problem solver, and most

importantly to always follow my passion and

interests. I worked on Spacecraft Standard

Component Specifications.” Jehan Salabi

“To begin, I was put into code 583 which involved

ground system software. My code was called

GMSEC, which means Goddard Mission Services

Evolution Center. I learned that our biggest

customer and the group we work with the most is

the Air Force. Many of the software that is made is

built for the Air Force. It was exciting to see that

everyone knew that some part of what they are

doing now will reach the Air Force. I worked on

satellites and GMSEC Services Suite (GSS)

Software Development.” Michelle Ramos

“At NASA, I wasn’t only doing the projects

assigned to me; I was also going to different

events that were set up for the students. I explored

the premises of NASA by going to different

buildings to see what other disciplines NASA has

and to see what other projects were being done,

and I networked and got to know many of the

workers there to see if there were any others

projects that I could do, while I did the ones

assigned to me. I also worked on Graphical

User Interface Development for an Attitude

Control System Design.” Jazhil Cepedes

“As an Aerospace Engineering major, this

experience helped me to collect various

perspectives on the type of work that is

expected for me. In addition, it was extremely

effective to discover more of myself and to

recognize if I am on the right career path. I

met many employees who have jobs that

reflect what I would like to work in the future

and established new connections. NASA

exceeded my expectations, and I would

definitely like to be an intern again. I also

worked on Prototypes for Flight Software

Platform.” Brenda Noriega

“The program I did had nothing to do with my

knowledge or the chemical engineering

program I want to study in the future.

However, that only motivated me to work hard

and it gave me the opportunity to extend my

knowledge in a subject I had no background

on. I believe that they tested my knowledge

and my ability to adapt to all learning material.

It helped sharpen my critical thinking skills by

helping me think outside the box. I worked on

SCaN: Cybersecurity Risk Identification and

Communication.” Hussam Qaqish

“I met my mentor, Dr. Gerd Fischer, who

made me realize the type of person that I

wanted to be - a knowledgeable, level-headed

person who can quickly think on their feet and

be depended on with whatever given task. I

met a lot of interns who shared similar goals

and interests (passionate about space

exploration, advancing current knowledge on

the universe, being a role model) from all

sorts of majors and degrees, three of which

became family to me - Jaznae Smith, Ethan

Goldschmidt, and Demetrick McDonald.

Meeting these individuals and everyone else,

both professional engineers and those in

leadership roles, made the experience

incredible. I worked on Spacecraft

Configuration Analysis and Documentation.”

Roberto Saenz

We thank you for your continued

cooperation, patience, and understanding

and we sincerely apologize for the broken

air conditioning system that plagued parts

of Academic Hall over the last month.

Multiple vendors and the system

manufacturer were employed in an effort

to get the unit running again, but it just

simply did not cooperate with us.

Specifications and drawings are complete

for the replacement of the original elevator

in Academic Hall. That project will be out

to bid this month. We are also working on

the design and specification to replace

one of the HVAC cooling chillers in the

building. A113 in the Paterson Library/

Learning Resources Center was

converted into the Center for Teaching

and Learning.

In Founders Hall, E207 was renovated

into a new avionics lab for the STEM

Department and E107, into a new Early

Childhood Education lab for the Early

Childhood Education program.

Two vending machines, grant-funded to

address food insecurity for students, were

installed… one outside A208 and the

other, opposite M230. They were

successfully connected into the College’s

ID card control system.

Several sidewalk repairs around the

Paterson campus were completed as

well as the addition of a sidewalk

between Shultis Lane and one of the gym

emergency exit doors.

The Phase One plan to start the

renovations for the PCCC Institute for

Emerging Workforce at the Firehouse

building on College Boulevard has been

completed. Phase Two of this project, the

renovation of the building’s core and

shell, has just begun. This work will make

way for Phase Three, which will

encompass the interior fit-up of the

space.

The plan to replace the original HVAC

roof top equipment at the Wanaque

Academic Center is moving forward as

the design is complete and the bid

package will be released shortly.

Additionally, work to build a retaining wall

near the entrance to the upper rear

parking lot has been completed. This

project originated as a means to ensure

that soil erosion on the adjacent slope

would be controlled, as required by the

State.

Planning for a small addition to the

Public Safety Academy in Wayne is

ongoing.

FACILITIES ROUND UP

Page 6

This is my “go to” recipe for pumpkin bread. It’s straight out of Joy of Cooking… quick, easy, & delicious. Enjoy! – Chef Michael

QUICK PUMPKIN BREAD

Sift: 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour ¼ tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. cinnamon, ground ¼ tsp. cloves, ground Cream: 1-1/3 cups sugar 1/3 cup shortening 2 eggs 1 cup canned pumpkin

(NOT pie mix) Mix in: 1/3 cup milk ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together first ingredients and reserve for later.

In electric mixer, cream together sugar, shortening, & eggs. Once smooth, add pumpkin and mix until just incorporated. Alternately add in sifted/dry ingredients, along with milk and vanilla. Mix until just smooth. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into greased 9”x5” loaf pan or muffin tin.

Bake for 30-60 minutes. Check for doneness with toothpick.

Page 7

The sign tower on the roof of Founders Hall was not only built to house the elevator machine room but also to house and disguise a 15,000 gallon water tank that was used to provide water pressure to the building during the early years of its use, before city water pressure was strong enough to push water up to the fourth floor.

HIGH-FIVE!

Chef Michael Grossi would like to give a shout-out to ALL the departments who had

a hand in making Convocation such a success! There was an abundance of excellent

feedback regarding the menu offerings from the new vendors.

Facilities would like to congratulate James Diamond on his promotion to

Mechanical Services Person. Jim started as a Custodian Handyman in July of 2018

and immediately started to prove his talents by almost single-handedly re-carpeting

half of the Paterson Library. Join us in wishing Jim much success in this new

position.

Svetlana Lider has joined the Payroll Department as Payroll Administrator. She

has an A.A.S. in Accounting from Suffolk County Community College and a B.A. in

Education from Kiev State University. Svetlana has worked for the Suffolk Y JCC

for many years. Best of luck in your new position!

A huge high-five goes out from Danielle Nepola DeFelice to the many members of

the various Finance & Administrative Services Division departments! The secret

Foodservice word is six-dollar combo lunch, which is valid for the first five readers

who email Chef Michael Grossi with-in five business days of the newsletter’s

distribution/email date. Their much-needed assistance over the course of a two-

week period (making student tuition-related phone calls, in addition to helping with

the new parking decal process) was well-appreciated by both students and the

Bursar staff.

.

Brown

NOTABLE NEWS

Brian Egan would like to thank Steven Ernst who was extremely helpful with the

implementation of the controlled grant-funded vending machine project.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Winster Ceballos

Alex Conte

Brian Egan

Michele Gotay

Michael Grossi

Steven Hardy

Ann Marie Keegan

Sandy Levit

Heather Mayer

Danielle Nepola-DeFelice

Ali Saleh

Page Saunders

Value

A popular speaker started off a seminar by holding up a $20 bill. A crowd of 200 had

gathered to hear him speak. He asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”

200 hands went up.

He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He

crumpled the bill up.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

All 200 hands were still raised.

“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” Then he dropped the bill on the ground and

stomped on it with his shoes.

He picked it up, and showed it to the crowd. The bill was all crumpled and dirty.

“Now who still wants it?”

All the hands still went up.

“My friends, I have just showed you a very important lesson. No matter what I did to

the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth

$20. Many times in our lives, life crumples us and grinds us into the dirt. We make bad

decisions or deal with poor circumstances. We feel worthless. But no matter what has

happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special – Don’t

ever forget it!

“15 Best Inspirational Short Stories (That Will Motivate You).”, livin3, 13 Oct. 2013,

www.livin3.com/5-motivational-and-inspiring-short-stories, Accessed 30 Sep. 2019

INSPIRATIONAL CORNER

Page 8

Please email any comments/topics to amkeegan@pccc.edu

CONGRATULATIONS

to last edition’s

Secret Word Contest winners!

Winster Ceballos

Lisa Thom

Manisha, Joshi

Karoll Madera

Allen Blackburn

Lorraine Hicks

Cheryl James

Rosemarie Weinmann

Nina-Louise Alsbrook

Elizabeth Pachella