Week of February 22, 2016

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It was an evening of celebration as MVCC hosted a Black History Month Celebration dinner in the Alumni College Center on Thursday evening. This was an important event on the Utica Campus as the event was designed to include all the residence hall students along with faculty, staff and community leaders.

Organized by the College’s Healthy Lifestyles workgroup, Office of Civic Responsibilities, and Alumni Association Board, the event was designed to make learning about the civil rights movement’s key moments enjoyable and fun while sharing time with friends over a good meal.

The soul food menu consisted of fried and baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, bake ziti, black eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, banana pudding, and lemon cake.

As the MV Commons filled with people, they enjoyed the sounds of the Doc Woods Jazz Quartet.

This was the inaugural event, themed “If You Dream It, You Can Achieve It!” During breaks in the jazz music, the gathering was treated to a hip hop expression performance by William Hickey and Roheno Gayle, two students from the Black Student Union. There were many chances for the audience to win prizes as trivia questions were presented throughout the evening.

The most rousing message came from keynote speaker Evon Irvin, Deputy Director of the Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency and MVCC’s Alumni of Merit winner. She captured the meaning behind learning from lessons of the past and left the students inspired about the evening’s purpose.

MVCC’s own Dr. Nivia Cavic, instructor of psychology, gave a motivational talk while Fatimah Nelson performed a “Spoken Word” poem. There were other cultural activities such as the African drumming performed by Sean Liebel and a Read-In by several members of the College staff.

As the College heads into March, this was an exceptional event for wrapping up Black History Month.

It was an evening of diversity by celebrating Black History Month

FEELING THE VIBE - William Hickey and Roheno Gayle took the stage in the Alumni College Center to show their skills in the Hip Hop Expression portion of the Black History Month Celebration dinner Thursday evening. Below, the Doc Woods Jazz Quartet performs for the diners.

Associate Professor Edwin Isenberg has been on a mission of raising mon-ey for the 2016 Ride for Missing Children. He put the call out to the MVCC Community and it replied in force.

For everyone who donated at least $10 to this cause, he made a custom mug for them so they could show their support for missing and exploited chil-dren in Central New York.

The Aviation Maintenance Crew in Rome donated nearly $200. Seen here are the mugs for them. Isenberg is still collecting funds for the cause and can be contacted at x5384.

Mugs to keep children safe

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Pam Fess has a passion for the field of nursing, whether as a teacher or practitioner. This passion was recognized earlier this semester as she was recognized for 10 years of dedication and service at the College.

Fess has held a Registered Nurse license since 1986 award-ed by New York State Department of Education, Office of the Professions. An MVCC alumna, Associate Dean Fess docu-ments over 29 years of occupational experience as a Regis-tered Nurse working primarily in the specialty area of critical care. She has maintained national certification as a critical care Registered Nurse since 1999 and continues to practice at local healthcare facilities with healthcare providers she refers to as her extended family.

Fess was initially employed at the College as a part-time nursing instructor in 1999 and worked in this capacity until 2005 when she was approved by the Board of Trustees as a full-time tenure track Instructor in Nursing. She worked as the Second Year Coordinator for Nursing from 2007 to 2012. Mrs. Fess was appointed as Associate Dean of Nursing and Allied Health in the Center for Life and Health Sciences in 2011. She was awarded promotion in professional rank to Assistant Professor in 2008 and Associate Professor in 2011. She is currently seek-ing promotional rank as a full Professor.

Fess is also currently pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership at George Washington University in Washington D.C.

As the program administrator, Fess maintains communication with the New York State Board of Nursing; Office of Professions regarding programmatic requirements. She maintains active membership in the Associate Degree Nursing Council of New York State and serves on several advisory boards. In addition, Fess is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of all Allied Health programs at the College, three of which are nationally

Honoring Employees for Years of Service

accredited: Surgical Technology, Radiology Technology, and Respiratory Care.

Fess received the Adjunct Teaching Award in 2001 and the New York State Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2012.

In her free time, Fess enjoys quality time with her seven chil-dren, seven grandchildren, and loving husband. Her personal passion is running and she has completed 24 Boilermakers and several half and full marathons. She can also be seen on the road enjoying wind therapy on her Harley motorcycle.

CLASSICAL RECITAL - Onondaga Community College professor Kevin Moore gave an arousing piano recital in Shafer Theater on Wednesday with more than 100 in attendance enjoying the classical sounds. Moore is a distinguished performer in Central New York and a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2002. Having performed more than 270 concerts in the Central and Western New York regions since arriving in Syracuse in 1975, he has also performed more than 90 full-length solo recitals and many chamber music, choral, and vocal programs. Moore, who holds a Ph.D. from New York University and a J.D. from Syracuse University, performed Beethoven’s “Sonata Pathetique, Opus 13”; Mozart’s “Sonata in F major, K.332;” and Schumann’s “Traumerei, Opus 15, No. 7.”

George J. Searles, Ph.D., continues to enjoy reaching out to community groups with literary discussions.

On Friday, Feb. 19, he held a film discussion at Acacia Village, the Masonic Home’s retirement community. Dr. Sear-les, a professor in the Center for Arts and Humanities, led the group talk after they viewed an adaptation of a Guy de Mau-passant short story, “La Parure.”

Dr. Searles leads film talk on ‘La Parure’

Commitment and dedication do not come close to the impact Rosemary Mink has made on the students, faculty, staff or community at Mohawk Valley Commu-nity College.

When it comes to the one person ev-eryone wants on their committee, Mink’s name quickly rises to the top of the list. With that said, it comes as no surprise that she was selected as the Spring 2016 recipient of the Heart of the Hawk Award during the February College Senate meeting.

“Rosemary is an incredibly effective classroom teacher. She is the kind of teacher who is not only dedicated to her individual students, but to all of the students at MVCC,” stated one of the nominating ballots.

Mink is highly effective both in and outside of the classroom, with students seeking her out for advice and help. She consistently promotes learning, accessi-bility, collaboration, excellence, diversity, affordability, and integrity.

When not in the classroom, Mink sits on the College Senate and has served on the General Education Committee, the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, the College Wide Curriculum Committee and she served on the Periodic Review Report Team for our Middle States Ac-creditation. She has been lauded by her colleagues for the work that she does on these committees.

“(Rosemary’s) work as Chair of the Achieving the Dream Reading Imple-

mentation Team attests to this dedica-tion. In the classroom, she uses various approaches to teaching to ensure that all modalities of learners are accommo-dated. She is kind and patient with her students and colleagues, and the time that she spends assisting others and preparing and perfecting her craft as a teacher is no less than astounding. She constantly strives to improve her classes, as well as address issues that will help to keep the overall curriculum viable and vibrant,” stated another nomination ballot.

Mink understands the importance of classroom and program assessment, and uses this information to help accom-modate the students and improve the education at MVCC. She has created

in-depth syllabi that reflect her commit-ment to assessment efforts, and she also has created rubrics to help the students understand her expectations and to as-sist them in their efforts to improve.

“It is my opinion that Ms. Mink has mastered the art of teaching, and that she brings to her students not a breadth of knowledge and experience but also a love of learning that is contagious. I can-not think of someone more deserving of this award,” stated yet another nomina-tion ballot.

This semester she is teaching several sections of (EN101) English 1: Com-position, (EN102) English 2: Ideas and Values in Literature, and (HU188) Film Appreciation.

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Mink true heart of MVCC

MVCC had seven Airframe and Powerplant Technology stu-dents complete the January 2016 Atlas Academy.

This program is a specialized airline-provided training pro-gram that includes aircraft-specific training and airline industry specialized training. The students received Boeing 747-400 passenger and cargo, and Boeing 767-200/300 passenger and cargo general familiarization training, each consisting of 40 hours of classroom and on aircraft training.

They also received GE CF6-80 turbofan engine training, CATII/III auto landing, and RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) familiarization training. Non-aircraft training received covered required inspection items, shipping and receiving of aircraft goods, and other aviation-related topics.

This specialized training is a result of a co-operation between three New York State based entities: Premier Aviation Over-haul Center (Rome, NY), Atlas Air Airlines (Purchase, NY), and Mohawk Valley Community College. The training material is provided by Atlas Air and presented by an MVCC Airframe and Powerplant Technology certificate program instructor, and Premier Aviation Overhaul Center provides the employment for

the students who will ultimately be maintaining aircraft for Atlas Air while working at Premier Aviation.

Enrolling in the Atlas Academy allows full-time MVCC Air-frame and Powerplant Technology certificate program students to work as apprentice mechanics at Premier Aviation Overhaul Center part-time, while they complete their studies in Aircraft Maintenance Technology.

While working part-time, the students are able to earn a very good wage to help pay for college expenses, and, when they complete all the required training at MVCC including the Atlas Academy, they are automatically granted full-time positions as aircraft mechanics with a pay increase at Premier Aviation right at Griffiss International Airport.

A&P students complete Atlas Academy