Despite the many technological advances in this fast-paced world, the hub of edu-cation has withstood the test of time. The most powerful tool on today’s college cam-pus is not the latest computer or some virtual reality program, but the same today as

CommunitasMVCC Faculty/Staff Newsletter September 18, 2006

Communitas 1

60th Anniversary Snapshots

September 18, 1949 – An adver-tisement in local newspapers an-nounced upcoming fall classes start-ing October 3rd in such subjects as (retail) Display, Credit & Collections, Textile Dyeing & Finishing, Cotton Yarn Manufacturing, Electron Tubes, and Time & Motion Study.

September 17, 1948 – The 1948 student handbook announced that the Student Activity Fee would be $5 for each 12-week on-campus quar-ter, and that the cost of books and supplies averaged $30 per quarter. The large number of World War II vet-erans in the student population was reflected in one of the acceptable reasons for absences from class: in-

Snapshots Continued on Page 2

Mechanical Technology 1947 - Originally called New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences at Utica when it was founded in 1946, Mohawk Valley Community College offered a two-year curriculum designed towards technical training on the heels of World War II.

MVCC Library Remains Hub Of Learning

it was 100 years ago. It’s the library.And while much of what the Mohawk Valley Community

College library offers can be found on the Internet, it is the understanding and utilization of this information that makes the library staff invaluable.

“We are here for the students,” says Stephen Frisbee, Director of College Libraries and the Learning Center at MVCC. “We have an excellent staff who are able to help the students find what they need and lead them in the right direction.”

With MVCC Campuses in Utica and Rome, the use of electronic technology is an important tool that Mr. Frisbee and his staff are continually upgrading and expanding.

“Students today are much more computer savvy with most of them having access to a computer at home,” said Mr. Fris-bee. “Having this information available on a database seems logical.”

MVCC uses a program called Easy Proxy which allows us-ers to logon from home and get access to all the resources

MVCC Library Continued on Page 2

Nice place to study – The Mohawk Valley Community College library remains the ideal place to study and complete course.

Communitas 2

terviews with representatives of the Veterans Administration. Student organizations included Lambda Chi Iota Sorority, Phalanx Fraternity, and the Toppers Club. The bus fare be-tween the New Hartford and Utica campus locations was 10 cents.

September 16, 1957 – The Utica Daily Press reported that MVTI Pres-ident Albert V. Payne had completed meetings in New York City with ar-chitects to review landscaping plans for the new campus, including loca-tion of buildings, main roadways, parking areas, and the athletic field. Final drawings of campus buildings had been completed earlier.

September 15, 1981 – The Rome Daily Sentinel reported that contracts totaling nearly $1.5 million had been awarded for construction of a “build-ing within a building” at the College’s Utica Campus, filling in an existing courtyard in the Academic Building. The new space would house the Col-lege’s Business Office, Registrar’s Office, Counseling Center and other offices on the first floor. The second floor would include laboratories for the Advertising Design & Production Department, and other space.

September 14, 1974 – Well-known local ceramist and potter Vincent Clemente, of Whitesboro, moved his studio for one day to the lobby of Payne Hall, where he gave demonstrations and discussed his techniques with spectators.

September 13, 1961 – According to the Utica Daily Press, the Evening and Extension Division of MVTI had reestablished an adult education center at Griffiss Air Force Base at Rome. A total of 175 military person-nel from Griffiss joined community residents as students. The center had begun at Griffiss in 1953, mov-ing to Staley Junior High School in 1958.

September 12, 1981 – MVCC

Snapshots Continued

Snapshots Continued on Page 3

offered by either of the libraries. Mohawk Valley Community College’s libraries are located in Payne Hall on the Utica Campus and in the Plumley Complex on the Rome Campus. There are over 90,000 books, 700 periodicals and a large selection of reference materials.

With the expanding dis-tance learning programs of-fered by MVCC, the library is challenged with provid-ing the necessary journals and periodicals for these students. For this reason, the library is reviewing the possibility of purchasing access to these materi-als in database form. With this major move toward electronic resources, the working relationship with the Information Technology Department has become even more fundamental to the success of providing the services needed.

With ever changing de-mands on the MVCC library, it has been a challenge to stay ahead of the curse. Students are doing more and more of their work on laptops which requires more electrical outlets, more workspace and printers the students have access to.

“We do what we can with the space we have. We’ve moved and arranged tables so that students can do group projects and have the space to spread out their ma-terials. Biggest challenge is finding the space without disrupting any of the existing work areas,” said Mr. Frisbee.

But the college libraries don’t just serve the MVCC student body. The libraries also cater to faculty, staff, alumni, administrators, students from other institutions and the community. The libraries are accessible for users with disabilities. To check out materials from the library, all that’s required is a MVCC ID card.

Some of the material available for classroom instruction as well as personal use include bestsellers, children’s literature, picture files, microfilm audio books and pa-perbacks. There are educational and feature film videotapes and DVDs, music and software CDs, and a growing array of electronic resources such as full-text periodi-cal articles and reference materials, e-books, electronic databases and more avail-able both on- and off-campus.

The MVCC library is now arranging to provide workshops for new faculty and staff on how to effectively use the resources in the library. This includes periodicals, da-tabases and reference areas. MVCC is also offering an Information Literacy class worth three credits. This is in cooperation with the Humanities Department.

The library staff maintains open channels with all college departments, with the goal of providing any material needed to fulfill classroom curriculum. The library also works hand in hand with student support services such as the MVCC Learning Center which provides tutoring in subject areas from reading to writing and the sci-ences.

“Whatever learning materials a department needs, the library will purchase and order that material so that it is on hand,” said Mr. Frisbee.

There are 10 computers in the reference area on the Utica Campus that are meant for research purposes. Library personnel are on hand to assist. Also in the Utica

MVCC Library Continued

MVCC Library Continued on Page 6

Screen time – Students work in the MVCC Library’s Computer Lab.

Communitas 3MVCC Events Continued on Page 5

Monday, September 18• Women’s tennis hosts Hudson Valley CC, 4:00 pm• Board of Trustees Meeting, 4:00 pm, PH 300• Pilates, 5:30 pm, ACC116• Ballroom Dancing, 7:00 pm, MV Commons

Tuesday, September 19• Presidential Search Scoping Session, 9:00 am-5:45 pm• Voter Registration, 9:00 am-2:00 pm, AB Lobby• Yoga, 5:30 pm, ACC 116• Volleyball hosts Herkimer CCC, 6:00 pm• Night Hawk Café, 7:00 pm, MV Commons• Ballroom Dancing, 7:15 pm, ACC 116

Wednesday, September 20• Presidential Search Scoping Session, 8:00 am-3:00 pm • Voter Registration, 9:00 am-2:00 pm, AB Lobby• Men’s soccer at Finger Lakes CC, 4:00 pm• Cultural Series Lecture: “Explore the Geologic History of New York State”, 2:00 pm, IT 225• Couch Potato Game Show, noon, MV Commons• Rome Business and Professional Women’s Group, 5:30 pm-6:30 pm, RA 103, Rome Campus• SUNY Chancellor John R. Ryan – Panel Discussion, 7:00 pm, IT Theater• MVCC Concert Band Practice, 7:00 pm, ACC 116• Night Hawk Café, 7:00 pm, MV Commons

Thursday, September 21• Women’s soccer at SUNY Delhi, 4:00 pm• Justice Roundtable: “International Day of Peace,” 5:30 pm, ACC 212• Open Mic Night, 5:30 pm-7:30 pm, ACC 116• Volleyball at Broome CC, 6:00 pm• Ballroom Dancing, 7:00 pm, MV Commons• Cultural Series Performance: “Manhattan Piano Trio,” 7:30 pm, IT Theater

Friday, September 22• Informal Chess Games, 3:30 pm-6:00 pm, ACC Interlude• Women’s tennis at Hudson Valley CC, 4:00 pm• Cultural Series Lecture: “Connecting Art and Science: The Historical Influence of Culture on Anatomy,” 7 pm, IT Theater

Saturday, September 23• Volleyball at SUNY Cobleskill Invitational, 10 am• Men’s soccer hosts Genesee CC, 2:00 pm, MVCC soccer field• Women’s soccer hosts Genesee CC, 2:00 pm, Proctor HS field

Monday, September 25• Women’s soccer hosts SUNY Cobleskill, 4:00 pm• Men’s soccer at SUNY Cobleskill, 4:00 pm• Cultural Series Performance: “Recycled Percussion,” 8:00 pm, IT Theater

Tuesday, September 26• Volleyball hosts Fulton-Montgomery CC, 6:00 pm

Wednesday, September 27• Men’s soccer at Jefferson CC, 4:00 pm• Women’s soccer hosts Jefferson CC, 4:00 pm

Thursday, September 28• Women’s tennis hosts Onondaga CC, 4:00 pm

Friday, September 29• Volleyball at Onondaga CC Invitational, TBA

Upcoming Events on MVCC Campuses

changed its academic calendar to the semester system after 35 years on the quarter system (since the Col-lege’s founding in 1946). The change coincided with the end of MVCC’s cooperative education program.

Snapshots Continued

September 1947 – Mrs. Jean C. Field appointed librarian. Library was established in 1948 with 1600 books.

1949 – Three rooms (reference room, stack room and combined reading-work room and audio-vi-sual aid library) were in use in the New Hartford building. A technical library also functioned at the State Street location. The collection stood at 3,061 books (up 1,274 from the year before). The library budget was $6,000.

September 8, 1952 – It was an-nounced that the Institute Library would also be used as the New Hart-ford Public Library

1953 – Institute library also be-came the New Hartford Public Li-brary. At that time the head librar-ian was Norva Havens. The library had 8,800 books, 285 filmstrips, 220 films, and 231 record albums of classical and semi-classical music, scores of Broadway musicals, many single discs of popular music. It was known as one of the most complete libraries on the subject of retailing in central New York.

1969 – A new library opened in Payne Hall, replacing one in the Aca-demic Building. The new library, tak-ing the entire second floor of Payne Hall, provided seating for 496 read-ers, as opposed to about 90 seats in the former library. Among new features were soundproof listening rooms, microfilm reading rooms, group study rooms, and a smoking lounge. Shelving was provided for 80,000 volumes, nearly triple the number of volumes which could be accommodated in the former library

MVCC Library Historic Highlights

Library History Continued on Page 6

Communitas 4

Tuesday, September 19

9 am Vice President Feola

10 am Student Congress Officers, full & part-time students, Utica & Rome Campus11 am Administrators & Directors, Utica & Rome Campus

Noon-1:15 Executive Committee

1:30 pm Faculty, full & part-time, Utica & Rome Campus2:30-3:30pm Professional Staff, full & part-time, Utica & Rome CampusBreak

4 pm Classified staff, Utica & Rome, Employees of Auxiliary Service (including bookstore), Sodexho, Dormitory Corporation and Security5 pm Members of the Board of Trustees5:45 pm President Schafer

Wednesday, September 20

8-9 am Members of the MVCC Foundation BoardBreak

10 am Classified staff, Utica & Rome, Employees of Auxiliary Service (including Bookstore), Sodexho, Dormitory Corporation and Security11 am Student Congress Officers, full & part-time students, Utica & Rome CampusNoon-1:15 Department Heads

2 pm Faculty, full & part-time, Utica & Rome Campus

3 pm Members of the Presiden-tial Search Committee

Scoping Session ScheduleRepresentatives from Isaacson,

Miller, the consulting firm involved in Mohawk Valley Community Col-lege’s presidential search, will meet with faculty, staff, students, and other key members of the commu-nity throughout the day on Tuesday, September 19, and Wednesday, September 20, to hear perspectives on the process.

Isaacson, Miller representatives will use these meetings to better understand the history and culture of MVCC and to determine how the new president will acclimate to the responsibilities. The consultants will also use this time to establish spe-cific short- and long-term objectives for the incoming president.

Group meetings will focus on: 1) Objectives for MVCC’s new

President: What do you want the new President to accomplish? What are the desired outcomes for the role and for the College? How will you know in three to five years that the right person was hired? What will have happened?

2) Qualifications and Experience: Based on the objectives identified, what do you think are the qualifi-cations and experience of an ideal candidate? What is essential and what might be helpful?

3) Personal Qualities. What are the personal attributes most impor-tant for this role?

4) Source and candidate recom-mendations: Who should the search firm contact in the outreach to identify candidates? Obviously, we will draw upon our own networks, but we want

Presidential Search ConsultantsVisit MVCC Campuses This Week

to tap into yours as well. This certainly means suggestions of possible candidates, but just as important, suggestions of good sources that might lead to strong candidates.

Based on conversations with Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students and others in the MVCC community, Isaac-son, Miller will complete the position profile, which will be shared with the search committee in draft form before it is made publicly available. It will also be shared with candi-dates and sources in the search.

All candidate nominations and applications should to be

directed to Isaacson, Miller, not to individual search com-mittee members as committee members will not be meet-ing with or assessing candidates outside the formal search process.

If unable to attend the meetings this week or to present ad-ditional comments after the meeting, contact Michelle Cruz-Williams, Vice President and Director at Isaacson, Miller, or Kate Barry, Associate, directly to discuss in confidence any thoughts about the position, the search process or to suggest

Presidential Search Continued On Page 5

Communitas 5

MVCC Events ContinuedSaturday, September 30

• “Walk for Obesity,” 7:00 am- 2:00 pm, Utica Campus• Volleyball at Onondaga CC Invitational, TBA• Cross Country at LeMoyne College, noon• Women’s soccer hosts Mercyhurst N.E., 2:00 pm• Cultural Series Performance: “Spoon River Anthology,” 8:00 pm, IT Theater

Sunday, October 1• Men’s soccer hosts North Country, 1:00 pm

Wednesday, October 4• Men’s soccer hosts Herkimer CCC, 4:00 pm• Volleyball hosts SUNY Cobleskill, 7:00 pm• Women’s soccer at Herkimer CCC, 7:00 pm

Saturday, October 7• Women’s soccer at Hudson Valley, 1:00 pm• Volleyball at Tompkins-Cortland, 1:00 pm• Cross Country at Hamilton College, 11 a.m.• Men’s soccer hosts Hudson Valley, 1:00 pm

When it comes to putting in a hard day’s work, there are two things Mo-hawk Valley Community College As-sistant Professor Deborah Boyce is passionate about: Making sure her students understand the course work and rolling up her sleeves to fix one of her classic automobiles.

As a member of the Business and Information Technology Department, Mrs. Boyce is a shining example of a professor, mentor, teacher who goes that extra mile for her accounting and finance students. Staying late on a Fri-day to help one of her struggling stu-dents is not unheard of.

Mrs. Boyce also has a love of clas-sic automobiles, currently owning 17 classic cars. These vintage cars range

MVCC Faces: Deborah Boyce

Deborah BoyceAssistant Professor

Business Information and Technology

from the 1930s through the 1970s. But on the MVCC Utica Campus, Mrs. Boyce has dedicated herself to the

students for the past six years. During the 2003-04 academic year, she took a leave of absence to complete the course work and residency required in the doctoral program at SUNY Albany.

Mrs. Boyce holds an AAS in Accounting from SUNY Canton and a BS in Business from SUNY IT. She has also earned an MBA in Finance from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy and is a Doctoral candidate at SUNY Albany.

Mrs. Boyce is also very active in other MVCC groups and organizations. She is a member of the College Senate and Student Success Planning Team.

She also serves on the Transfer Advisor Council SUNY Oswego; is a SUNY Business Council representative; advisor to the SUNY IT Account-ing Club; and an advisor/contributor accounting textbooks for McGraw Hill, Prentice Hall and John Wiley.

Other committees she is involved in are NYSSCPA – New York State Society of CPAs education committee; and AICPA American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, education committee. She’s an advisor to the Women’s Employment Resource Center; member ASWA American Society of Women Accountants Syracuse chapter.

Through her hard work, she has been honored with the Student Associa-tion award for Excellence in Teaching at SUNY IT 2004; Ralph Eannace WERCing Partner Award 2005, and Who’s Who Among American Teachers 2003-2005.

When not teaching or working on her cars, this Marcy resident enjoys traveling and amateur photography with her husband Richard Panella. She also has a 24-year-old son Spencer.

candidates. Contact information is as follows: Michelle Cruz-Williams, Kate Barry, Isaacson, Miller; 334 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116; (phone) 617-262-6500; (Fax) 617-262-6509. Kate can also be reached at 518-439-7210.

The MVCC presidential search committee will maintain the con-fidentiality of candidate names throughout the search until finalists are identified.

The MVCC community will have an opportunity to take part in interviews once the search committee has se-lected the finalists, which should oc-cur sometime in the early spring.

The search committee will make a recommendation to the MVCC Board of Trustees who will make the final selection.

Presidential Search Continued

Please submit information for inclusion in Communitas to

Rich Haubert at rhaubert@mvcc.edu

Communitas 6

The International Day of Peace will be celebrated on Mohawk Valley Community College’s Utica Campus with an informal “Justice Roundtable” discussion on Thurs-day, September 21, in Room 212 of the Alumni College Center. This event is open to everyone and will begin at 12:30 p.m.

This is the first of four scheduled “Justice Roundtable” discussions on criminal justice and social justice issues to be held this fall on the Utica Campus. The topic for the September 21 event will be the planet’s urgent need for a culture of peace.

The other three “Justice Roundtable” are: Justice for Victims, Monday, October 16; Human Rights, Wednesday, November 15; Justice for a Diverse Society, Tues-day, December 5.

The “Justice Roundtable” discussions have been organized with the support of the Social Sciences Department. For more information on the “Justice Roundta-ble,” contact Beverly Quist at 792-5653 or by e-mail, bquist@mvcc.edu.

Justice Roundtable Marks International Day of Peace

When it comes to experiencing wonderful artwork, Mohawk Valley residents don’t have to travel great distances. Mohawk Valley Community College’s Small Works Gallery is currently hosting an MVCC Alumni Exhibit by Walter Kopec as part of the 2006 Fall Cultural Series.

Kopec, a 1974 MVCC graduate from the Advertising, Design and Production De-partment, will present a lecture on “The Unspoken Word” exhibit on Thursday, Sep-tember 28, at 4:00 p.m. in Room 225 of the Information Technology and Performing Arts Conference Center on the Utica Campus. There is a reception immediately afterwards which is open free to the public.

As part of his “The Unspoken Word” exhibit, Kopec uses minimal material and eco-nomical gesture to realize a modest perspective of contemporary relevance - social, political and cultural. Kopec combines his interest in writing, philosophy and contem-porary issues into word-based sculpture and design.

Kopec is a Whitesboro native who is a practicing graphic designer currently living and working in Boston. Bob Clarke assisted with this exhibit.

“The Unspoken Word” exhibit will be on display through September 28, in the Small Works Gallery. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 1:00-6:00 p.m., and Thursday evenings until 7:00 p.m.

Small Works Gallery Hosts Alumni Exhibit

MVCC Art Exhibit - The Small Works Gallery features an exhibit by MVCC alumni Walter Kopec called “The Unspoken Word.”

MVCC Library Continuedlibrary is a Computer Lab with 19 computers that are used for class-room instruction by a professor or member of the library staff. When not being used for instructional pur-poses, this room is available to stu-dents as an open computer lab.

“Our staff stresses library instruc-tion. We’ll bring in classes so they know what resources are available and we’ll instruct them on how to best use the periodicals, reference books or the microfilm,” said Mr. Frisbee.

The MVCC library is now a mem-ber of SUNY Connect, an automa-tion system for all SUNY libraries. SUNY Connect enables delivery of materials within 48 hours from all SUNY libraries.

MVCC is also connected with the Central New York Library Council, a consortium of regional libraries that bargains as a unit for paid services.

The MVCC library’s online site (www.mvcc.edu/academics/librar-ies) offers research resources that include databases for magazine and journal articles and reference works to find print periodicals or electronic journal titles. There are also links to the Quick Reference Guides, sub-ject resource lists, MVCC Educa-tion/SUNY Oneonta Resources and term paper/writing tips.

There’s a Faculty Resource link for Online Instructors Resources as well as Faculty and Staff Resources.

– 35,000. The library staff at the time included: Professor Alice Griffith, the Library Director; Barbara Kane, Catalog Librarian; Bonnie Mitchell, Circulation Library, and Audrey So-tendahl, Reference Librarian.

(Utica Newspapers, Aug. 24, 1969) “MVCC Library Developing Ameri-can Negro Collection” – A selected collection of books about the Negro American is now being developed by Mohawk Valley Community College. The collection will include more than 200 books devoted to Negro history and literature.

MVCC Library Continued