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Dear Colleagues,

As the academic year

comes to an end, we want

to acknowledge the many

contributions made by

faculty, staff, and

administrators, who have

helped students on their

academic journey. Under

the direction and

guidance of President

Miles, much has been

accomplished. While all achievements are

important, the successful implementation of

automated tools for faculty such as Degree Works,

Curriculog, Taskstream, and S25 will provide the

College with necessary academic infrastructures to

move the institution forward.

As Harvey Mackay, noted businessman once said,

“A great accomplishment shouldn’t be the end of

the road, just the starting point for the next leap

forward.”

In order to support our students, articulation

agreements, academic partnerships, and templates

for student guidance were developed by Curriculum

Chairs. The Academic Affairs support staff played a

significant role in day-to-day

activities and our students contributed by providing

important feedback to these processes.

At this time, Academic Affairs says, thank you and

have a great summer or continued educational

experience, here at WCC!

Sincerely,

Peggy F. J. Bradford, J.D., Ed. D. Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs (Interim)

First annual Academic Affairs End-of-the Year reception for

faculty, staff, and administrators (see attached program for

details).

May 2016 – Issue 4

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OFFICE OF ADJUNCT SERVICES,

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

AND ACADEMIC OPERTIONS

Dr. Dana Wilkie, Associate Dean

Location: Science Building, Room 251

(entrance through Room 252)

Phone: 914-606-6977

The Office of Adjunct Services, Professional

Development & Academic Operations held its first

Professional Development Conference, Challenges

and Innovations in Two-Year Colleges, on April

14th and 15th at the Gateway Center, Davis

Auditorium. The success of the conference was due

to the many contributors including the faculty

presenters, contributing audience members, and

staff members ensuring the behind the scenes

logistics flowed smoothly. A total of 75 faculty

members and administrators attended the

conference. Professor Holly Bukofser followed up

after the conference by saying,

“I want to thank you for the Professional

Development Conference you spearheaded

last week. It was also a great opportunity to

meet other adjuncts and discuss new

initiatives that are presently underway.”

A conference dinner was hosted in the Culinary

Dining Room and served by WCC Culinary

students. During the dinner, Dr. Peggy Bradford

and Dr. Dana Wilkie, presented the 2016 Adjunct

Faculty Awards of Excellence to five Adjunct

Faculty members. Nominations for the 2016

Adjunct Faculty Awards of Excellence were based

on outstanding teaching, instructional improvement,

effective pedagogy, innovative/creative

instructional delivery, impact on student learning

and collegial collaborations.

Photos of Awardees: Professor Renee Balotti - Accounting,

Professor Edward Hengel - Global Business, Professor Vidia

Saleem - Nursing, Professor Karen Schlusberg - Fashion

Design, Professor Maria Vittoria – Marketing.

DIVISION OF ARTS & HUMANITIES

Dr. Jessica Seessel, Dean Location: Hankin Academic Arts Building, Rm. 509

Phone: 914-606-6949

PERFORMING ARTS

Christian Vega, President of the Music Club,

received the Key Award at the Student Government

Association (SGA) Annual Awards Dinner on

Friday, April 15, 2016. The Key Award is the

highest student award given by SGA.

Sariva Goetz, Adjunct Professor of Music, recently

served as Music Director for the world premiere of

EMPIRE - THE MUSICAL, at La Mirada Theatre

for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, California.

Directed and choreographed by Tony Award

nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge, the show features

a book, music, and lyrics by the writing team,

Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull. Professor

Goetz conducted a 13-piece band of stellar

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musicians from Los Angeles for the three week run.

The music was singled out in several reviews

(“Absolutely Broadway caliber are Empire’s pit

orchestra under the baton of music director Sariva

Goetz. La Mirada Theatre's orchestra has never

sounded better.” The producers and creative team

are hopeful that EMPIRE - THE MUSICAL will

ultimately be produced on Broadway).

VISUAL ARTS / DIGITAL FILM

PROFESSOR CARLA RAE JOHNSON will be

retiring this semester after 27 years of teaching at

WCC. Please join us in thanking her for her many

years of terrific service. Professor Johnson will be

missed.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Several AAS Visual Arts students received

scholarships and have been accepted into various

institutions:

Courtney Quinn, received a $11,500

scholarship to attend the College of New

Rochelle

Gabriel Adams, has been accepted to SUNY

Purchase and School of Visual Arts

Michael Loeb-Pecci, has been accepted to

University of Hartford and School of Visual

Arts

Jose Ramos, has been accepted to Purchase

and School of Visual Arts

Samantha Wilber, has been accepted to

SUNY Purchase and School of Visual Arts

Justin Horacio, has been accepted to Hunter,

Manhattanville College and SUNY Purchase

FIFTH ANNUAL WCC FILM FESTIVAL

On April 20, 2016, the WCC Digital Film Club held

the Fifth Annual WCC Film Festival in the Davis

Auditorium. Throughout the month of March

students submitted short films to the festival,

showcasing their talents and hard work performed

throughout the year. Film Professors Craig Padawer

and Jenny Evans were instrumental in selecting the

nominees. The judges for the event were Brandy

Burre, actress in The Wire and Jacob Burns

Programmers Andrew Jupin and Gina Duncan. Nine

awards were given to student filmmakers, including

Best Short Film under five minutes, Best

Documentary, Best Long Fiction, Cinematography,

Script, Editing and Performances. Winners received

free membership to the Jacob Burns Film Center

and an attractive glass plaque. After the awards

ceremony, judges provided commentary and

feedback to the filmmakers on their work. Winners

included Marcus Johnson, for Long Fiction with

Fantome a la Maison; Seoyoung Hong and Kat

Torres, for Best Performances in Virginia; and

Adam Umanzor, for his documentary, A Hard

Knock Immigrant’s Life. The evening was well

attended with the Davis Auditorium full of

enthusiastic filmmakers, their parents and friends.

From left to right: Andrew Jupin, Gina Duncan, Brandy Burre

and Craig Padawer.

From left to right: Professor Craig and Marcus Johnson,

winner of Best Long Fiction for Fantome a la Maison.

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EXCITING COLLABORATIONS

THE WCC FILM PROGRAM AND JACOB

BURNS FILM CENTER

The Film Program is proud to announce that Digital

Filmmaking graduate Stefaniya Vey who was

awarded the Jacob Burns Emerging Artist

Fellowship. Stefaniya will work with Burns

professionals over four months to develop a short

fiction film. While in residence, Stefaniya will also

help administrators with implementing media

classes for children enrolled at the Jacob Burns Film

Center.

On June 22, 2016, at 7:00 p.m., the Jacob Burns

Film Center will host "WCC Short Cuts," a

selection of short films from some of the most

promising young filmmakers to emerge from the

WCC Film Program in the past few years. The

program will feature opening remarks by WCC

President, Dr. Belinda Miles, followed by a

screening of selected student films. There will also

be a Q&A featuring student filmmakers and Film

Program Curriculum Chair Craig Padawer.

PACE UNIVERSITY

In February, students from WCC’s Film Program

visited Pace University’s Dyson College of Arts and

Sciences at the Pleasantville Campus. The students

toured the facilities of the new Digital Cinema and

Filmmaking program with Professor Robert

Klaeger, Chair of Media, Communications and

Visual Arts. During the visit, Professor Klaeger

showed the students their new well-equipped sound

stage, equipment room, recording suites and editing

facilities. WCC students were very impressed with

the tour and many are making plans to transfer.

With the new Pace scholarship in place for students

who graduate with a GPA of 3.2 or more, a college

education at Pace is now within reach for many of

our students.

Center: Professor Robert Klaeger, Chair of Media,

Communications and Visual Arts) with WCC students.

WCC students watch a Directing Actors class in progress at

Pace's new sound stage.

SUNY-WIDE FILM FESTIVAL

Digital Filmmaking major Seoyoung Hong had his

short film Virginia accepted into the fiction

category of the SUNY-wide Film Festival held at

SUNY Oswego this April. Seoyoung’s film is a

reinterpretation of the Virginia Tech shootings in

2007, as seen from the perspective of the mentally

ill perpetrator - a role that Seoyoung himself played.

Seoyoung was the only SUNY community college

student accepted into the fiction category of the

festival. He travelled to Oswego with fellow WCC

students, Jon Leyton, his cinematographer and

Amanda Villalobos, President of the WCC Digital

Film Club. During their visit, they were able to

network with other SUNY students and returned

with plans to coordinate a SUNY-wide 48-hour film

challenge.

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STUDENT ART SHOW

The Student Art show, curated by students in their

final semesters in the Visual Arts Program, ran from

May 2, 2016 - May 7, 2016. The show contained a

variety of pieces by students, including sculptures,

paintings, and interactive conceptual art.

On May 2, 2016, at the opening students studied

pieces by Justin Horacio, Mark Mastrobuono and

Raina Jungeun Park entitled, I Feel Like a Minority

When...

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

RICHARD COURAGE was appointed to the rank

of SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in

November 2015. He continued his service as Co-

director of NEH- funded Collaborative Research

Project “Social Origins of Chicago's New Negro

Artists and Intellectuals, 1890-1930,” at Roosevelt

University, Chicago. He also received an advance

contract from University of Illinois Press for an

essay collection titled Root, Branch, and Blossom:

Social Origins of Chicago’s New Negro

Intellectuals and Artists.

HEATHER OSTMAN co-edited Kate Chopin in

Context: New Approaches (Palgrave Macmillan),

which also included her essay, “Maternity vs.

Autonomy in Chopin’s ‘Regret’.” That collection

of essays also features one by PATRICIA

SEHULSTER, titled, “American Refusals: A

Continuum of ‘I Prefer Not Tos’ as articulated in

the Work of Chopin, Hawthorne, Harper, Atherton,

and Dreiser.”

CYNTHIA ROBINSON was selected for the

Rising Circle Theater Collective’s INKtank 2016

playwrights’ residency, a 12-week play

development lab for playwrights of color. Also, her

play “Peola’s Passing” was performed before an

international audience in Bogota, Columbia at the

Alternative Theatre Festival (Festival de Teatro

Alternativo), where she also presented on “Writing

the Political Play.”

DONALD ANDERSON’S article “Gothic Nation:

Hawthorne, Ligotti and the Absent Center of the

Nation-State” was published in the latest issue of

Gothic Studies. He also presented on the films of

Laura Gemser at the 2015 PAMLA conference, in a

talk called, "The Racial Undecidability of Black

Emanuelle."

DYLAN EMMONS announced the release of his

memoir, Living in Two Worlds: On Being a Social

Chameleon With Asperger's this past March (Jessica

Kingsley Publishers).

RICHARD MACE had a book review of Katy

Chiles' Transformable Race published in NAISA

(The Native American and Indigenous Studies

Association's) journal; he also had a paper accepted

at the MLA Conference as part of the Boethius in

the Renaissance panel.

READING AND STUDY SKILLS

DEPARTMENT

The Thirteenth Annual College Success Awards

Ceremony, hosted by the Reading & Study Skills

Department, was held on Wednesday, April 20th in

the Student Center Events Room. The ceremony

was designed to recognize students who are often

experiencing academic success for the first time.

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Students in each College Success class submited an

essay in which they convey what they have learned

throughout the semester and the concept of success

based on their own personal experience. Each

professor identified two class winners based on the

essay and class performance to be submitted for

consideration by the College Success Awards

Ceremony Steering Committee for the

Distinguished Master Student Award. This year,

Emily Englert and Rolande Namegabe were the

winners. These two students read their essays to an

audience of 100 proud parents, grandparents, and

friends; who came to witness their loved ones

receive an acknowledgement of their academic

success at the College.

In addition, DONNIE SIMMONS, Coordinator of

the Black and Hispanic Male Initiative, kicked-off

the event with a keynote speech that encouraged

students to continue to seek excellence and to

acknowledge the important role that their parents

played in their success. The event culminated with

a lunch, sponsored by the Division of Academic

Affairs. As students and their families ate lunch

and exchanged ideas with faculty, it was clear that

all in attendance felt that this event was significant

in keeping students of color engaged at the College.

HIGH SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS

Career Pathways visit to WCC: On Friday, April 8,

2016, the StepUp partner high schools (Alexander

Hamilton, Riverside, Ossining, New Rochelle and

Sleepy Hollow) sent approximately 135 students for

their third campus visit. Students toured our campus

and were joined by Curriculum Chairs in Civil

Technology and Electrical Engineering, Fashion

Merchandising, Cybersecurity, and Digital Film

Production; EMS, Nursing and Veterinary

Technology. Following that, students had lunch and

gathered in the Academic Arts Theater to engage

with WCC students on a student panel. The panel

included twelve student representatives composed

of the above programs, in addition to Paralegal

Studies and the Student Ambassador program.

WCC students shared their backgrounds, gave some

advice, and answered questions about their

experiences in WCC’s career programs and about

college life in general. The visit was a great

success!

COMPLETION CELEBRATION

PLANNED FOR JUNE 10, 2016:

The last campus visit for the StepUp program will

be a celebration for the students who participated in

the program. To start the day, students, chaperones,

and members of the WCC staff, faculty, and

administration will gather for certificates, awards,

and final words. Following this, the students will be

invited to the Student Center for a barbeque,

dancing and some games. During this time, the

students from the program who have passed the

course with a grade of 75 and who plan on enrolling

at WCC in the Fall 2016 semester will have a

chance to talk with representatives from

Registration, Financial Aid, Counseling and other

departments. This will give them a chance to

prepare for the practical matters of coming to

college in the fall.

DIVISION OFFICE

Numerous Academic Affairs faculty, staff and

administrators were honored at a reception on May

12, 2016. John Sheridan, Division Secretary, was

amongst the honorees.

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT DEAN

OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Danielle DiGrazia, Assistant Dean of Academic

Affairs, Location: Hartford Hall, Room 16

Phone: (914) 606-6719

TRANSFER ARTICULATION UPDATE

It was a busy semester for transfer articulation

signing ceremonies! Pathways have been made for

WCC graduates to the schools under articulation

agreements, including a number of “2 + 2 + 1”

options to students to complete master’s degrees.

These articulation agreements often include

scholarships specific to Westchester Community

College and the respective institution’s commitment

to assist with reverse transfer initiatives. For

details, please visit

www.sunywcc.edu/transferarticulation. With just

the colleges articulated this semester, there was a

165% increase in the number of programs

articulated, thus ensuring the continued success of

our students!

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ARTICULATION AGREEMENT PROGRESS: Y WITH

SIGNING CEREMONY WITH COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE

(CNR) - SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES - 3/30/16 From left to right: Dr. Dorothy Escribano, Provost and Senior Vice

President for Academic Affairs at CNR; Judith Huntington, President

of College of New Rochelle; Dr. Belinda S. Miles, President; Dr. Peggy Bradford, Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs

(Interim).

SIGNING CEREMONY WITH CONCORDIA COLLEGE

4/13/16

From left to right: Dr. Peggy Bradford, Vice President and Dean of

Academic Affairs (Interim); Dr. Belinda S. Miles, President; Dr. Viji George, President of Concordia College; Dr. Sherry Fraser, Provost of Concordia College.

SIGNING CEREMONY WITH LEHMAN COLLEGE - 4/7/16

From left to right: Provost Anny Morrobel-Sosa, Ph.D. from Lehman College; Dr. Ricardo R. Fernández, President of Lehman College;

Dr. Belinda S. Miles, President; Dr. Peggy Bradford, Vice President

and Dean of Academic Affairs (Interim).

SIGNING CEREMONY WITH MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE

3/29/16

From left to right: Dr. Jessica Seessel, Dean of Arts, Humanities and

Social Sciences; Dr. Peggy Bradford, Vice President and Dean of

Academic Affairs (Interim); From Manhattanville College: Dr. Lisa

Dolling, Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs; Dr. Anthony

Davidson, Dean of School of Business; Nikhil Kumar, Vice President

of Undergraduate Enrollment Management.

School

Date of

Ceremony Before After 2+2+1 Total

Chamberlain College of

Nursing 01/08/2016

0 1 0 1

College of New Rochelle,

A&S 03/30/2016

18 26 0 26

Concordia College

(Phase 1) 04/13/2016

2 9 2 11

Excelsior College 02/16/2016 4 27 8 35

Lehman College 04/07/2016 18 52 0 52

Manhattanville College 03/29/2016 9 35 9 44

Mercy College 02/12/2016 26 32 7 39

Pace University (Phase 1) 04/07/2016 7 15 0 15

TOTAL 84 197 26 223

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SIGNING CEREMONY WITH PACE UNIVERSITY - 4/7/16

From left to right: Dr. Uday Sukhatme, Provost and Executive Vice

President for Academic Affairs from Pace University; Dr. Peggy

Bradford, Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs (Interim).

NEW INITIATIVES IN THE PIPELINE

Passed at Curriculum Committee and on its way to

Faculty Senate is a proposal in collaboration with

the Westchester Educational Opportunity Center

(WEOC) to create non-credit to credit pathways,

specifically for the successful completion of the

WEOC Medical Administrative Assistant

Certificate and the WEOC Medical Billing and

Coding Certificate. Both program outcomes align

with the student learning outcomes in Office

Technologies courses: OFTEC 110, Information

Processing with Keyboarding and WCC OFTEC

120, Document Processing, Editing and Formatting.

The proposal is for students to receive a total of six

credits for the two courses advancing their

completion of the Office Technologies Certificate

or A.A.S. Degree. Many thanks to PROFESSOR

JANET RANUCCI and MARIA BOADA,

Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs of the WEOC,

for their work on this proposal.

Exploratory discussions are underway with the

Woodfield Cottage, Westchester County Youth

Detention Center, right down the road from

Westchester Community College. Options include

short-term coursework, assistance with college

readiness, internship opportunities for students in

the Human Services program of study and

opportunities to provide a bridge of support for their

educational and workforce needs.

On April 22, 2016, Deans and Curriculum Chairs

met with faculty and administrators from Southern

Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational

Services (SW BOCES). Discussion centered

around collaborations in the following areas:

Engineering Science, Culinary Arts and

Management, Paramedic, Digital Filmmaking,

Cybersecurity, Fashion Design and Fashion

Merchandising. In addition to expanding current

Advanced College (ACE) opportunities, pathways

between respective programs are being explored to

make intentional connections between institutions.

ACADEMIC RECOGNITION CEREMONY

On May 6, 2016, the College conducted the 42nd

Academic Recognition Ceremony celebrating 56

award recipients recognized for significant

academic achievements in each degree and

certificate program. The keynote speaker was

Dr. Peggy F. J. Bradford, Vice President and Dean

of Academic Affairs (Interim). Approximately 350

people were in attendance including 125 students

and their guests. In addition, special awards were

given by the Center for Learning Resources,

Library, Media and Instructional Technology, as

well as Workforce and Community Education

recognizing outstanding students in those areas.

Graduating students from August and December of

2015, as well as students graduating May 2016 with

cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 were

recognized. Many thanks to the Curriculum Chairs

and colleagues for identifying the recipients and

gathering biographies for the beautiful booklet

celebrating our students’ successes!

Academic Recognition Ceremony, 5/6/16

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DEGREE WORKS UPDATE

A lot of behind-the-scenes work is being done to

Degree Works. Presently, colleagues from

Information Technology are hard at work to build

the “RAD 11 bridge” which will be to transfer

information from PeopleSoft to Degree Works.

Building this new bridge is a necessity because the

old bridge will no longer be operational in the

future. Secondly, in conjunction with the State

University of New York (SUNY) Student

Information and Campus Administrative Systems

(SICAS) Center, preparations are underway to

migrate from the 4.1.4 version of Degree Works to

the 4.1.5 version, which requires reapplying

customizations and testing to ensure a smooth

implementation. Upon completion of these two

projects this summer, the educational plan templates

(full-time and part-time templates supplied by

Curriculum Chairs) will be transferred for use from

the development to the production environment. We

appreciate everyone’s eagerness and enthusiasm

regarding these templates which will provide guided

pathways for students!

Ellucian consultants were also on campus in early

May to assist in determining processes for data

extraction from Degree Works back to PeopleSoft

for a few purposes: First, it is designed to support

the financial aid packaging of Satisfactory

Academic Progress (SAP); second, it will pull

graduation and completion status information out of

Degree Works to pass to PeopleSoft; and to pull out

‘locked’ educational plan templates (the agreed

upon advising plan between student and advisor) to

export to PeopleSoft to inform registration

processes.

Simultaneously, other Ellucian consultants are hard

at work helping to build developmental blocks

(placements and developmental course sequences)

in Degree Works which will show if and when a

student is required to take developmental

coursework based on test scores. This will further

strengthen the pathways for students to clearly see

and identify required coursework for graduation.

CURRICULOG UPDATE

Our implementation team

has been having routine

meetings with consultants

from DigArc in order to

produce electronic courses, program, policy forms

and online workflow processes. At this time, the

team is in final stages of reviewing drafts of what

has been built in the system, providing feedback to

inform edits and changes, and reviewing those

changes. Soon the “key” will be handed over to

WCC, and the College will be moving forward with

a paperless process! Training on Curriculog will be

provided during the summer and fall semesters.

The system will be used by many administrators,

Chairs, Faculty Senate Committee members and

more.

Many thanks to our implementation team: Karen

Barnstable, Software Engineer; Danielle DiGrazia,

Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs; Craig Fischer,

Publications Manager; Amy Mozingo, Applications

Support Specialist; Laura Nudi, Academic

Scheduler; John O’Donnell, Manager of

Application Development; Matthew Sokol, Math

Instructor, Curriculum Committee member; Dana

Wilke, Associate Dean of Adjunct Services,

Professional Development.

DIVISION OF LEARNING

RESOURCES, LIBRARY, MEDIA

AND INSTRUCTIONAL

TECHNOLOGY AND ONLINE

EDUCATION

Pamela Pollard, Dean

Location: Library, Room 148

Phone: 914-606-8581

HAROLD L. DRIMMER LIBRARY

On September 14, 2016, the Library will offer

“Designing Research Assignments that Build

Information Literacy,” a workshop that reflects on

new learning principles promoted by the

Association of College & Research Libraries and

other recent scholarship. This hands-on session will

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address a few topics such as, characteristics of a

developing researcher, characteristics of a strong

research assignment, handling research roadblocks

and anxieties. Attendees will have the opportunity

to share an existing research assignment or to

develop a new one that addresses information

literacy competencies.

ONLINE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

The Online Education office had a very successful

Spring semester. The department offered

Blackboard training to 70 faculty members,

certifying 20 new faculty to teach online, and

introduced two new workshops - Best Practices in

Online Teaching and Introduction to Hybrids. In

addition, over 15 faculty piloted Ensemble, a video

storage solution that integrates seamlessly with

Blackboard. Any faculty interested in participating

in the pilot should email

online.education@sunywcc.edu.

TESTING AND ASSESSMENT CENTER

PROFESSOR ERICH (Ricky) WERNER (English) in consultation with PROFESSOR

KENT TRICKEL (ESL) developed a new rubric

for scoring placement essays.

The rubric is used as a learning tool to provide

information to students. It identifies the reasons

why a particular course was assigned.

This information is valuable to students who want

to review prior to taking a retest and/or who request

a copy of their rubric prior to taking the retest.

Students have the option of writing the placement

essay in a blue book or typing the essay as a Word

document on a personal computer. The essays are

then saved on a network drive. The Testing Center

will provide the path to English and ESL faculty to

view student writing samples. For additional

information, call the Testing Center (Ext. 6127).

Information about the Academic Support Center

Hours, can be found on our web page:

www.sunywcc.edu/asc.

ACADEMIC SUPPORT CENTER

SUMMER 2016 SCHEDULE

Math, Reading & ESL Tutorial, Library – G31 Monday - Thursday: 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Friday: 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM - for evening and

weekend hours, call (914) 606-6470

Science Tutorial - SCI 219

Monday – Thursday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

For evening and weekend hours,

call (914) 606-6906

Writing Tutorial, Library – G13

Monday - Thursday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM.

For evening and weekend hours, call

(914) 606-7853.

ACADEMIC SUPPORT SUMMER BRUSH-UP

FOR THE PLACEMENT EXAM

The Academic Support Center will once again offer

FREE brush-up for the placement exam this

summer. The brush-up is open to students who

have applied, been accepted to the college and are

taking the placement exam for the first time. Help

will be available from May 23, 2016 – July 28,

2016. No appointment is necessary. Additionally,

specific topic workshops in Math and Study Skills

will be offered on Tuesdays and

Wednesdays. Students can drop-in to attend the

scheduled session(s) every Tuesday and

Wednesday, May 23 - July 28. Please see the

schedule below:

SCHEDULE

May 23rd - July 28th, 2016

Library – Ground Floor G31

TUESDAYS: Math Workshops - 12:00 – 1:00

Signed Numbers - 5/24 & 6/28

Fractions - 5/31 & 7/5

Decimals - 6/7 & 7/12

Percents - 6/14 & 7/19

Solving Equations - 6/21 & 7/26

WEDNESDAYS: Study Skills Workshops:

12:00 – 1:00

Time Management - 5/25, 6/15, & 7/6

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Improve Your Memory Techniques

6/1, 6/22, & 7/13

Reducing Test Anxiety - 6/8, 6/29, & 7/20

For more information, you can call us at 914-606-

6470 or visit us at www.sunywcc.edu/asc

DIVISION OF BUSINESS,

BEHAVIORAL/SOCIAL SCIENCES,

PUBLIC & HUMAN SERVICES

Dr. Carmen Martinez-Lopez, Dean

Location: Classroom Building, Room 201

Phone: 914-606-6435

PROFESSIONALS AS PARTNERS IN

ACCOUNTING: THE NATION’S TOP

RECRUITERS COME VISIT THE

ACCOUNTING CLUB

The Accounting Club has been busy since March.

The Club sponsored an excellent presentation on

interviewing by Dan Black, (Earnst & Young)

Director of Recruiting for the Americas. Mr. Black

spoke to an audience of over 50 students who

learned from a seasoned pro on how to ace their

next interview! We are extremely lucky to have

one of the nation’s top recruiters visit each year.

Mr. Black also spoke to the students on a field trip

to EY’s Stamford offices. They heard from a

number of young professionals, including a WCC

alumnus, about life in a Big Four accounting firm.

Shirley Claude of Rogers CPA Review provided an

update on the new CPA exam starting in 2017. She

also gave away a free review class valued at over

$1,500 to a lucky student.

WCC students were fortunate to work with Ms.

Carla Fischer, President of Annex Learning. Ms.

Fischer, travels the world training executives from

Dell Computers and other companies. Students

worked with Ms. Fischer a few times a year and

receive the same training on a small scale. In

March, approximately 50 students learned about

their social styles and how their way of

communicating can be perceived to be different

from others.

In addition, Mr. Ken Bouyer, Earnst & Young

Director of Inclusiveness Recruiting, talked to

students about having a global mindset. The

Accounting Club also visited Citrin Cooperman, a

medium-sized CPA firm in White Plains. Professor

Carolyn Christesen, Club Advisor, has been

instrumental in assisting in the planning process of

the club’s activities.

PROFESSIONAL BOOKKEEPER

CERTIFICATE

Fifteen of the twenty-three students enrolled in the

Bookkeeper Capstone class have chosen to take the

National Exam sponsored by the American Institute

of Professional Bookkeepers. (This is the first time

we have offered this class). Students passed 44 of

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the 52 exams taken and nine students earned perfect

scores by passing all four parts of the exam. We are

very proud of their accomplishments. These exams

are very challenging!

HAPPENINGS IN THE CYBERSECURITY

PROGRAM

The WCC Cybersecurity team won 1st and 3rd

place in the 5th Inter-Collegiate Computer Security

and Forensics Competition hosted by SUNY

Rockland Community College. The Cybersecurity

program has a new cyber-team. On May 1, 2016,

the cyber-team competed in the Spring NCL

(National Cyber League) Competition.

PROFESSOR JOHN WATKINS, faculty advisor,

coached the new team.

PROFESSOR JOHN WATKINS made a

presentation to Riverside High School students in

Yonkers on May 4, 2016, about the Cybersecurity

program. During the presentation, the students from

Riverside High School and the 40 Pathways in

Technology Early College High School (P-TECH)

students learned basic picture forensics techniques.

The Cybersecurity Program will be a part of a

summer camp for high school students in the

P-TECH programs.

The new Cybersecurity Club President and Officers

are going to be signing up high school students for

one-on-one mentoring with WCC students for

mentoring programs and National High School

Cybersecurity competitions. All of the activities are

designed to promote student awareness in

cybersecurity.

The United States Military Academy’s Information

Technology department visited WCC and they were

extremely impressed with the rigor of the

Cybersecurity program. Finally, our Cybersecurity

students now officially have internships available at

the United States Military Academy, West Point,

New York.

WCC student, CHRISTIAN OLIVA was awarded

a Cybercorps Scholarship for Service at Mercy

College. In addition to this full scholarship, he will

receive a stipend from the National Science

Foundation.

Two Cybersecurity students, Lindsay Peckham

(2017) and Sara DaCosta (2018), attended the 2016

Women in Cybersecurity Conference in Dallas, TX.

These women impressed Pace University faculty

and were invited to participate in a summer project

at Pace. They will each be awarded a stipend in this

collaborative effort.

The Angel-Tech program helped four students this

semester with loaned laptops and tech support

provided by Cybersecurity Angel-Tech students.

Professor John Watkins was awarded two Cloud

Grants Microsoft Azure Cloud and AMAZON

Cloud AWS. Both grants allowed Professor John

Watkins to enhance software equipment for our

Server Administration class.

STUDENT SCHOLARS AT TWO-YEAR

COLLEGES

WCC student, Olivia S. Mata will deliver a

presentation at the Beacon Conference at Bergen

Community College on June 3, 2016. Her paper is

entitled, "Tattoo Culture Amongst Women." Her

faculty mentor is PROFESSOR JO STOKES.

FIRST DEGREE: PRESENTATION FOR

FACULTY AND STUDENTS ON THE

BENEFITS OF PROVIDING COLLEGE

EDUCATION TO PRISON INMATES

Organized by the WCC Human Services Club with

the assistance of PROFESSOR SARA BRAUN,

Club Advisor, and supported by Abeles’

endowment money, a program was offered to

students and faculty on the impact of college

education to prison inmates. An audience of

approximately 50 people from the Human Services,

Education, and Criminal Justice departments

attended. The presenter, Sean Pica, is the Executive

Director of Hudson Link for Higher Education, a

human services program that links local colleges

with local prisons to provide quality in-house

college degrees to prison inmates. According to

Hudson Link, “nationwide, over half of released

inmates return to prison within 5 years, but for the

past 14 years, less than 1% of the inmates who

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received a college degree at Sing Sing returned to

prison.” Mr. Pica disclosed that he is a graduate of

the program himself. He shared that he grew up, for

the most part, in New York State Ossining

Correctional facility, a maximum security men’s

prison, for committing a murder when he was 16

years old. He said that he made a very bad decision

and went to prison before he graduated from high

school. He added, “I wasn’t even shaving yet.” Mr.

Pica obtained his GED, his college degree, and a

Master of Science in Social Work while he was

incarcerated. Now in his forties, he is the Executive

Director of this dynamic program and does

speaking engagements, “to whoever will listen”

about how college can profoundly change the lives

of people in prison.

WESTCHESTER FASHION DESIGN

During the Fashion Industry Career Panel, several

professionals from the fashion design and

merchandising industry came to speak with students

about their experiences in the field and their

pathways to their current positions.

The Spring Fashion Show – “Once Upon a Time”

Runway exhibited students’ work from Fall 2015 to

Spring 2016, showcased works from Garment

Construction, Patternmaking, and Apparel and

Design I and II courses. A reception followed the

show with a meet-and-greet with the designers. The

event was produced entirely by the Fashion Club of

Westchester Community College.

In addition, Catherina Lavelle, Admissions

Counselor at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT),

visited WCC to discuss the requirements and

transfer process from WCC to the FIT Fashion

Design Program.

PROFESSOR STACY SCIBELLI AND

PROFESSOR KAREN SCHLUSBERG have

been working with students to build their resumes.

Students attended Fashion Week, visited the

Metropolitan Museum and the Fashion Flea Market

to see the new fashion exhibits. Students also

volunteered at Operation Prom Giveaway, the Fund

Raising Fashion Show, and the Pop Up Fashion

Show at the Involvement Fair.

PHILOSOPHIA AND DIALOGUE

PROFESSOR DWIGHT GOODYEAR,

Co-Director of the Honors Program, reports that on

April 13, 2016, Philosophia, the WCC Honors

Program Club, presented the 20th Sophia and Joseph

Abeles Honors Dialogue in the Library Media

Theater. This year's well-attended dialogue was

entitled "Is Moral Relativism Moral?" and featured

a panel of three outstanding honors students: Chris

Curtis, Antonio Del Vecchio, and Samantha Eves.

Moral relativism is the view that there is no

objective truth when it comes to morality. Rather,

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moral judgments are simply the opinions of

individuals or groups of individuals. The students

discussed the nature of moral relativism, the

arguments for and against it, and the importance of

this controversial topic that, on one hand, seems

sensible and promotes tolerance and open

mindedness. On the other hand, moral relativism

seems unacceptable insofar as it leaves us

without an objective foundation for

condemning actions we take to be REALLY

immoral. A very stimulating question and answer

session followed. Barbara Abeles was kind enough

to come and share her wisdom with everyone.

Professor Goodyear is proud to say this was the

eighth dialogue he organized, directed,

and moderated. He is very proud of this year's

students; they worked very hard!

DIVISION OF MATHEMATICS,

COMPUTER, ENGINEERING, AND

PHYSICAL SCIENCES &

TECHNOLOGIES Dr. Kwesi Amoa, Dean

Location: Technology Building, Room 106

Phone: 914-606-6787

The Division of Mathematics, Computer

Engineering, and Physical Sciences & Technologies

has had an exciting year filled with many changes

and accomplishments. These accomplishments and

highlights include:

The development of the SUNY WCC Mobile

application by PROFESSOR CHRISTINE

THOMAS AND PROFESSOR DENNIS

RAMOS. Currently the application is being

designed, tested and built by a team of four students

in the Department of Computer Science. The

application aspires to help connect students with

essential campus services and faculty using unique

features available to mobile devices. The student

application development team consists of:

BRANDON FOSTER, is a senior and a

Mathematics/Academic Support Center Tutor. He

has an intense passion for application development

and software to serve the community. Brandon

hopes that his love for technology will provide him

with career opportunities within the videogame

development and/or robotics.

DENZIE GRAY, is a senior and a Computer

Science/Academic Support Center Tutor. Denzie

leverages his game design and application building

experience to help make WCC Mobile a reality. His

work provides the foundation for the application as

a whole.

ETHAN WEILBMAN, is a Computer

Science/Academic Support Center Tutor. Currently

designing artificial intelligence (AI) for multi-agent

systems. Ethan's long-term focus lies in the moral

and ethical considerations of AI design; as well as

the beneficial possibilities inherent in the

application of statistical analysis. He designed the

campus map and GPS integration for WCC Mobile.

JAMES O’KEEFE, a former graphic designer and

SUNY Purchase graduate. He uses his creative

history to provide the front-end architecture and

design schema for WCC Mobile.

We truly thank our amazing faulty members and

students in the support of this initiative and for their

services to the College and community.

WELCOME DEPARTMENTS OF BIOLOGY

AND CHEMISTRY

In the Fall semester of 2016, the division will be

renamed the School of Mathematics, Science, and

Engineering. This rebranding effort will also afford

the institution the ability to bring the Biology and

Chemistry Departments into this arena. With all of

the technology and sciences housed within one

school, the institution will be better enabled to

provide students with an even stronger offering of

opportunities and collaboration. We welcome

faulty/staff from these areas along with the 2,874

students they currently serve.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SYMPOSIUM

On March 25, 2016, the Math and Computer

Science Department hosted a very successful

symposium for over 150 high school student

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participants. This event provided the students with

an understanding of the academic offerings at

WCC.

OTHER EXCITING FACTS Over the last six months, we had some exciting

developments and progress towards student

centeredness. Some highlights from the Division

include:

Completion of the General Education

Assessment for Math and Physical Science

The Division welcomed its new Bright

Future Coordinator, Diane Krusko, who is

responsible for enhancing the participation

of STEM students

In Fall 2016, we will launch a new

assessment for Math Placement

Students enrolled in Quantway pathways

classes continue to outperform their non-

Quantway peers by an average of 10%

DIVISION OF NATURAL & HEALTH

SCIENCES Dr. Ronald Bloom, Dean

Location: Science Building, Room 252

Phone: 914-606-6910

CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT

On April 27, 2016, Dr. Jody Reifenberg and her

student, Edward Amelemah, represented WCC at

the American Chemical Society's Spring

symposium, where Edward received the College

Chemistry Achievement Award. Dr. Reifenberg

selected Edward, who is originally from Ghana, for

this honor because of his great interest in chemistry

and impressive scholarly performance in his

chemistry studies. In addition to receiving his award

at this symposium, Edward had the opportunity to

hear the keynote speaker, Dr. Stephen A. Cooke,

discuss his chemical research dealing with

Molecular Rotational Resonance

Spectroscopy. This experience gave Edward a

greater understanding of chemical research and its

many applications and will help inspire him as he

pursues his career in chemistry.

CULINARY ARTS & MANAGEMENT

PROGRAM

Events our program participated in during the 2015-

2016 Academic Year include:

December Completion Celebration

American Association of University

Women’s Luncheon

Southern BOCES Luncheon

The Annual Seder

Westchester Magazine Wine and Food

Weekend

Food Bank of Westchester Fundraiser

High School Counselors Luncheons

F.A.S.T. Programs

Foundation Donor’s Luncheon

Excelsior College Articulation Luncheon

Presidential Inauguration Week Events

New York State Association of Two Year

Colleges’ Dinner

Veterans Club Fundraising Luncheon for

Staff Sergeant Joseph Lemm

Veteran Appreciation Reception

FOODS AND NUTRITION/DIETECTIC

PROGRAM

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS

HANNAH TRESITMAN, a student graduating from

the Dietetic Technician Program was awarded the

Westchester Rockland Dietetic Association's

Honorarium. The award is given to a student who

displays potential to achieve excellence in the field

of Dietetics.

Dietetic Technician students from Westchester

Community College were recognized at a Volunteer

Luncheon at Andrus on Hudson on April 28, 2016,

at their annual volunteer Recognition program. All

students were given a certificate to show

appreciation by the facility for the time spent in

working with the staff and the residents.

Approximately 60 WCC students were honored by

the facility’s administrator and Director of

Community Services.

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PARAMEDIC/EMS DEPARTMENT

The EMS Department has been working tirelessly

towards accreditation and their hard work has been

paying off. After compiling data from the past few

years, we submitted our initial self-study report to

the Committee on Accreditation of Educational

Programs for the Emergency Medical Services

Professions. We have received a response from our

Executive Analysis and we were informed that we

have fulfilled all of our requirements. We look

forward to our next big step, the site visit. Upon

successful completion of the site visit, we will be

well on our way to accreditation.

NURSING DEPARTMENT

The faculty and students in the Nursing Department

have been engaging in many exciting activities!

On March 31, 2016, the Nursing faculty submitted

the application for candidacy to the Accreditation

Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).

On April 13, 2016, over 20 nursing faculty and

students attended NYSNA Lobby Day in Albany.

The students were given the opportunity to meet

with legislators to discuss safe staffing issues for

RNs.

There were nineteen A.D.N. IV students who

participated in the Capstone Program: Bridges to

Professional Practice. Each student was paired with

an RN at several local community hospitals

including: St. Joseph’s Medical Center, White

Plains Hospital, Westchester Medical Center;

Phelps Memorial Hospital, Student also paired with

RNs at NYP-Hudson Valley Hospital Center, and

Greenwich Hospital. WCC students worked with

the RN for 8 shifts, caring for various types of

patients.

The Nursing Department is extremely proud of our

Adjunct faculty member, PROFESSOR VIDIA

SALEEM. On April 14, 2016, she was awarded the

Adjunct Excellence Award.

PERSONAL TRAINING PROGRAM

The Department of Physical Education hosted an

Open House for the new Personal Training

Certificate Program on Tuesday, April 26, 2016.

The event drew 40 prospective students, as well as

fitness professionals from several local fitness

clubs.

The Certificate program is designed for individuals

who:

wish to enter the fitness industry

are non-certified personal trainers, or

fitness-industry professionals pursuing a

valid personal trainer credential or

wish to start a second career

A Personal Trainer is a fitness professional involved

in exercise prescription and instruction. They also

educate their clients in many other aspects of

wellness besides exercise, including general health

and nutrition guidelines. According to the US

Department of Labor, “Employment of fitness

professionals is expected to increase 27% over the

next decade, much faster than the average for all

occupations.” Personal Trainers work in a variety

of employment venues including: public and private

fitness centers, athletic venues and sport-specific

training centers, spas and rejuvenation centers,

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public and private schools, college recreation

centers, hospital-based wellness centers, hotels and

condominiums, and resorts and cruise lines.

The program will be offered for the first time in the

Fall 2016 semester. It is a 32 credit-hour program,

which results in a certificate from Westchester

Community College, and qualifies graduates of the

program to sit for the national credentialing exam

given by the National Council on Strength &

Fitness (NCSF). Students who pass the NCSF

examination are awarded the Certified Personal

Training (CPT) credential. Students who complete

the program will be offered the opportunity to

interview with Equinox, a leader in the fitness

industry.

For more information about the program, please

contact the Curriculum Chair, Dr. Richard

Gennaro at richard.gennaro@sunywcc.edu.

RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT

The Radiologic Technology faculty and clinical

instructors attended the Association of Educators in

Radiologic Technology, State of New York annual

conference on May 3-6, 2016, Lake George, New

York. This is a yearly event in which all faculty

participate along with some board members who sit

on committees.

The conference offers twelve continuing education

credits pertaining to clinical and didactic education

in the Radiologic sciences. These credits are

mandatory for maintaining licensure and national

certification. Lectures for this year will include

some of the following: The Importance of Good

Patient History, Educational challenges in

Radiologic Technology, Outcomes Assessments

and Accreditation 101 for Radiologic Sciences.

The conference gives faculty the opportunity to

learn, network and catch up with our fellow

educators from across the state.

Radiologic Technology students Anthony Nytko

and Teresa Migliore were awarded a certificate for

outstanding performance at Lawrence Hospital

Radiology department clinical experience.

RESPIRATORY CARE DEPARTMENT

October 2015, the Respiratory Care program

received full accreditation compliance from their

accreditation agency (CoARC) which assesses

success on Board Exams, attrition/retention rates,

on-time graduation rates, and job placement.

In April 2016, PROFESSOR JOSE QUINONES

received the ACCS credential: Adult Critical Care

Specialist. Also, this semester the program received

approval to have students attend Hudson Valley

Hospital.

BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

PROFESSOR IRIS COOK participated in the

following events:

Served as Grant Reviewer for SUNY Professional

Development Center on IITG grants. Innovations in

Instructional Technology Grants (repeat of former

years); Member of Advisory Council to review

Distinguished Service Professor nominations (also

repeat of last three years); Reviewer for SUNY

University Faculty Senate Programs and Awards

Committee for Conversations in the Disciplines

Grants (also repeat of prior years); Liaison to the

University Faculty Senate Programs and Awards

Committee (determine criteria for Chancellor’s

Excellence Awards); Chair of Faculty Council of

Community Colleges Awards Committee and

member of the Executive Committee of FCCC;

Attended a conference of Empire State Association

of Two-Year College Biologists, Orange County

Community College (April).

APPLIED LEARNING INITIATIVE

According to the SUNY Board of Trustees, each

campus is expected to develop a plan for making

applied learning activities part of the educational

experience. SUNY has asked all campuses to

examine the feasibility of making applied learning a

requirement for graduation. To this end, an Applied

Learning Steering Committee, co-chaired by Ronald

Bloom, Dean of Health Careers, Technology and

Applied Learning, and Gelaine Williams,

Counselor/Coordinator Career Services, was

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established to design a campus plan for Westchester

Community College. The committee includes John

Watkins, Curriculum Chair/Cybersecurity, Sandra

Ramsay, Director of Scholarships/Foundation

Office, Leonore Rodrigues, Adjunct & Credit ESL

Administrative Coordinator High School Pathways,

Miroslawa Sakrajda, Faculty/English Department,

Frank Maddalena, Faculty/Modern Languages, Sue

Hacker, Senior Adjunct Career Counselor, and

Craig Padawer, Department Chair & Curriculum

Chair/Digital Film & Photography (sabbatical).

During the Spring 2016 semester, the Committee

continued to address SUNY’s initiative to enhance

the breadth and scope of applied learning

opportunities for students at WCC. By initiating

conversations with faculty and student governance

organizations, the Steering Committee has begun to

develop a campus-wide plan to collect and report

data on applied learning activities and their impact

on the student experience. The committee identified

several stakeholders at WCC who are in a position

to support applied learning activities. This includes

the Office of Learning Initiatives and Success,

Institutional Advancement, Workforce

Development and Community Education, and

Office of Career Services, Counseling & Student

Development.

On April 14, 2016, the Steering Committee

participated in WCC’s Professional Development

Program by offering an interactive workshop

entitled “A Framework for Expanding Applied

Learning Opportunities.” The panel utilized the

SUNY umbrella concept to distinguish among three

types of applied learning activities: SUNY Serves

(e.g., service learning and civic engagement),

SUNY Discovers (e.g., study abroad and research

mentorship) and SUNY Works (e.g., work-based

activities and internships). The panel not only

emphasized the pedagogy of applied learning, but

also the infrastructure WCC will need to initiate

SUNY Works. Internships can serve as a bridge

between the classroom and the workplace by

creating partnerships among departments, faculty,

Career Services, industry and business.

The subcommittee’s next steps are to investigate the

campus’ ability to administer and provide such

opportunities to students. This will entail evaluating

the local community’s capacity to support applied

learning activities, studying the impact applied

learning would have on the local workforce, and

determining whether adding such a requirement

would add value to students’ credentials.

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