While the College celebrates the suc-cess of the students with a grand com-mencement ceremony in December and May, along with receptions afterwards, the question remained. Could MVCC honor its graduating students even more?

That question was put out to the universe earlier this semester and a group of dedicated employees rallied to the cause. The quad on the Utica Cam-pus and a smaller exhibit on the Rome Campus shout with pride the College has for its graduating students. When the construction on the Rome Campus is completed, there are plans to add further banners.

Displayed on the light poles in Utica are newly acquired banners congratulat-ing the students while other signs featur-ing inspirational quotations are displayed throughout the buildings.

The idea behind this campaign is to show MVCC’s gratitude and pride in those students who have completed their degrees while inspiring the students who are still a semester or more away from their completion. It also will be an ideal recruiting tool for perspective students who are visiting the campuses, showing that MVCC appreciates all the hard work its students put into their studies.

The group leading this campaign were Elizabeth DiRaimo, Sharon Zohne, Brett LaSalle, Michael Pede, Kathy Kresa, and Erica Carrock. They are aiming to expand on this for the fall graduates with additional workshops and other celebra-tions. They are open to new ideas from the College community.

The workshops they are organized for this spring include student loans and financial success for those students who are transferring to four-year institutions, cooking on a budget, as well as life skills and resume writing / job interview work-shops for those students heading off to a career.

Week of April 25, 2016

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Employees help College honor grads,inspire students to complete degrees

National Coming Out Day is Tuesday, Oct. 11, and this fall the LGBT Committee in collaboration with the Gay-Straight Alliance to plan a college-wide event.

Coming out is a figure of speech often used to describe the experience of a person’s self-disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The committee is hop-ing to display the coming out stories of faculty, staff, students, and alumni as a part of the event, so we hope you will consider sharing yours.

The committee understands that these stories are very personal, but it hopes the MVCC community will help as the College looks to support others who are on this journey. If interesting in sharing your story of coming out or as an ally, please submit it to Liz Doherty (ldoherty@mvcc.edu) or talk with any member of the LGBT Committee.

Thank you for your consideration and have a great day!

Celebrate National Coming Out Day

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Over the past decade, there is one person at MVCC who has made an indisputable impact at the College. And though he likes to talk about everything under the sun, it is rarely about himself or his accomplishments. He can be described as a humble man who lets his accomplishments speak for themselves.

Recently he was honored and recognized for 10 years of dedication and commitment to the College, its students, and his peers. Shane McGovern has helped the Dual Credit program become one of the most envied in Central New York.

As the Director of Dual Credit Programs, he has fostered the program to enable it to grow nearly three times its size when he took the position. Back in the spring of 2007 (earliest numbers available), the high school program had a total head count of 934. That number has blossomed to 2,428 individuals as of these week. As for credit hours, he has grown it from 4,030 in spring of 2007 to its current 13,735.

“I administer all aspects of the Dual Credit Program, main-taining educational partnerships with 24 local high schools and two BOCES,” said McGovern.

A native of Utica, he is always on the go seeking to get more dual credit programs into the county’s school districts.

He is also very involved outside of the College, helping to make contacts benefiting MVCC. He was on the organizing team for the first Lego League Regional Tournament and sits on the advisory boards for the Oneida BOCES Career and Tech-nical School, and the Madison BOCES Career and Technical School. Along with being the Co-Chair of the MSCHE Standard, he has been the Pathways in Technology, P-Tech Higher Edu-cation Partnership Coordinator.

McGovern was the recipient of the Genesis Award for Out-standing Educational Programs in 2015.

Honoring Employees for Years of Service

The Utica Campus Library helped to celebrate Na-tional Library Week with the Library’s inaugural book vote.

Thirty faculty, staff, and administrative members submitted a book for the vote. The identities of the members who participated were withheld during the vote.

The Library is now pleased to share the results of the book vote, and we wish to thank our thirty partici-pants for contributing to our National Library Week celebration.

First place: Jamie Cuda - “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Second place: Cassie Neary - “Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters” by Peter Vronsky

Third place: Hilmar von Strünck - “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown

Honorable mention: Visit the link to the NLW list of participants and titles on the Library’s homepage.

National Library Week inaugural book vote unveiled

The quad on the Rome Campus will be buzzing with excite-ment on Thursday, May 5, as the Cultural Series hosts chain-saw artist Mark Tyoe as he creates a sculpture out of a tree log beginning at noon.

This will be the first time that Tyoe carves a sculpture on the Rome Campus. Traditionally, he has worked on the Utica Cam-pus during his visits.

Tyoe, owner and operator of Wintergreen Knoll art gallery in Salisbury, is a sought-after talent and major draw at many events, such as grand open-ings and county and state fairs. He is a seven-time Northeast Chainsaw Carving Champion, whose work is influenced by the Black Forest carvings of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Tyoe always draws a crowd of people who gather at the sound of the saw, curious to see what the log will become. In his past two appearances at MVCC, he has carved an MVCC Hawk and bear cub.

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Students were afforded the opportunity to hear firsthand from a business professional and consultant on the best methods for preparing for an interview and landing that dream job.

The Business Etiquette Dinner was spon-sored by the BISS Center and held on Thurs-day, April 14, in ACC 116.

Keynote speaker Brian Earle of Cornell University provided unique insight on behavior interviewing, the importance of networking, use of social media, and what to expect dur-ing speed interviews – a growing trend among career fairs.

“Brian covered many of the topics these students will face as they go for their first ever

interviews,” said Rosemary Fuoco, Assistant Professor in In-formation Technology. “This was well-received by the students, which included many returning adult students.”

The event was presented in a business dinner format and the students were able to experience a speed interview workshop following the event with the help of faculty and staff. There were over 65 students from the administrative assistant program, hospitality, business internship, and business programs.

Students get inside track on job hunting

Earl

Chainsaw artist to carve on the Rome Campus

MVCC will host a seminar entitled, “iam idecide” at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 1, in Schafer Theater, located in the Information Technology Building. Proceeds from this event will be donated to the American Federation for Suicide Prevention in honor and memory of Eric J. Smith.

This is a two-part event. It will begin with an hour-long presen-tation by MVCC Instructor Nivia Cavic, Ph.D., on the concept of “iam idecide,” and the role it plays in overcoming hopelessness and despair. Through the understanding of these concepts, individuals can begin to better comprehend human suffering, motivation and behavior, and can then realize that the power of thought as key to living a life free of desolation and torment.

The second portion will involve a canvas signing by all those who consider themselves “friends in the fight” out of darkness and despair. This will be followed by a reception.

Drawing from various schools of psychological thought, Dr. Cavic explores the topic of being (am) and doing (decide). Through conversation, she introduces the audience to the con-cepts of “the iam” and “the idecide,” and in pre-recorded video segments, members of the MVCC student body share their ex-periences and insights regarding the “iam idecide” philosophy.

They explain the role that these concepts play in success, both inside and outside of the classroom, as many of these stu-dents have been awarded academic honors in the community, have received scholarships, and have overcome great personal obstacles to achieve their goals.

Dr. Cavic has been working in the field of personal develop-ment and mental health for more than 30 years. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Capella University. As an neo-exis-tentialist and a social scientist, she teaches courses in introduc-tory, social, lifespan, learning behavior, and adolescent psychol-ogy grounded in the concepts of the “iam” and the “idecide.”

Seminar explores topics of being and doing

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On Monday, the Obama Administration announced a $100 million investment in increasing access to job-driven commu-nity college training programs through the America’s Promise Grants. Based on the America’s College Promise plan the Administration announced in 2015, the program will use H-1B funds to award competitive grants to sector partnerships be-tween community colleges, employers, and workforce develop-ments boards developing innovative training programs leading to middle-skill jobs.

Partnerships under the America’s Promise grants will be required to pilot and scale tuition-free programs that increase opportunities for all Americans, especially unemployed, under-employed, and low-income workers. The program is intended to catalyze more communities to create and expand employer-led partnerships and job training programs leading to jobs in grow-ing sectors such as technology, manufacturing and health care.

“President Obama is a champion for providing opportunities for the millions of Americans who want to earn a college de-gree, at a time when it’s more important than ever to have the skills that come with a college education,” said SUNY Chancel-lor Nancy L. Zimpher, who is a member of College Promise, a national advisory board that convened following the launch of College Promise Campaign in 2015.

Recipients of the funds will also be required to track and mea-sure participants’ credential attainment and employment outcomes to evidence the programs’ impact on supporting employers’ needs.

During his 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama unveiled America’s College Promise, a plan to make two years of community college free for “responsible students” – meaning those who attend classes and keep their grades above a minimum threshold.

“The president truly understands the important role com-munity colleges play as a gateway to higher education and opportunity. SUNY’s 30 community colleges throughout New York State are models for higher education-business partner-ships, working closely together to make sure a degree earned prepares a student to be both marketable and successful in the workplace,” said Zimpher.

This announcement came from vice-president Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, during a speech at the Community College of Philadelphia.

SUNY Chancellor supports Obama plan for community colleges

The Administrative Assistant students went to the Turning Stone Resort and Casino on Thursday, April 21.

Heidi Berger from the recruiting office spoke to the group. She informed the students the Turning Stone is looking for employees with good communications skills, positive energy, ability to speak to guests, and must have a professional im-age. Some of the soft skills she says applicants should exhibit include verbal communication and body language.

“You must be polished and have pizzazz,” said Berger.Applicants for administrative assistant positions must be

proficient in Microsoft 2013, as the offices use Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook extensively.

The students also met with Tina Szczesniak, an administra-tive assistant from the sales department. With 21 years at the Turning Stone, she works for the director of sales. She talked to the students about how she started in the Cage before working her way up through the accounting office and into sales.

Her duties include making reservations for conferences and meetings.

“It’s a very busy office,” said Szczesniak. “You must have good time management, be flexible and roll with the punches. You have to deal with a lot of personalities. Dress profession-ally.”

The students were directed to the Turning Stone website: turningstone.com\careers, to apply for positions.

After the speakers, Jennifer Walpole took the group on a tour of the Turning Stone. They went to Season’s Harvest for lunch.

Administrative Assistant students tour Turning Stone

Phi Theta Kappa has named Bellevue University to its inaugural Excellence in Community College Transfer Honor Roll, which identifies the top four-year colleges and universities for creating dynamic pathways to support community college transfer. Bellevue University is one of only 40 institutions on the honor roll.

Applications were judged based engagement, collaboration, impact and achievements related to the transfer of community college students as well as partnerships, support, admissions outreach, scholarships/financial aid, student engagement op-portunities, and institutional priorities.

“After helping nearly 20,000 community college transfer students earn their bachelor’s degrees, our experience con-

firms that our most successful students are those who first earn an associate’s degree,” said Doug Stewart, AVP of Commu-nity College Premier Partnerships at Bellevue University. “We proudly partner with community colleges coast to coast, sup-porting their commitment to build workforce-ready talent.”

Director of Scholarship Operations Christin Grissom said the new recognition program reflects the growing importance of transfer in helping the U.S. achieve its college completion goals, and will promote further study and sharing of best practices.

Bellevue’s Community College Outreach Manager at MVCC is Kimberly Snow. Her office is located in room 102 in the Alumni College Center. Contact her at ksnow@bellevue.edu or call 731.5848.

PTK names Bellevue among best for community college transfers