Campus Champion

During the summer months, more than 1,760 freshmen and transfer students, along with an estimated 1,700 guests, converged on the Cortland campus for summer orien-tation. Under the coordination of Abby Thomas and the Advisement and Transition Office, these students experienced an array of programs across campus, met with faculty, registered for fall classes and made their first face-to-face connections with their new Cortland peers. Abby and her team, working with some 230 faculty, professionals and student leaders, made these all-important visits to SUNY Cortland both enjoyable and educational for the College's newest students and their families.

Swing Café, an acoustic swing, jazz and rockabilly band that is seen in clubs around New England, will headline SUNY Cortland’s Family Weekend at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, in the Corey Union Function Room.

Other Family Weekend events include an art exhibition, informational talks, athletic events and educational and recreational activities for the entire family. Events are free unless noted otherwise.

On Friday, events include the conceptual art solo exhibition by Richard Jochum, “Unexpected Weight Loss,” in the Dowd Gallery; a women’s soccer game vs. Ithaca College on Holloway Field; and a Family Shabbat Dinner, departing from Corey Union to the Temple Brith Sholom.

On Saturday, participants who sign up will have access to the Tomik Fitness Center. The art exhibition “Unexpected Weight Loss” continues in Dowd Gallery. Other events that day include the information presentation, “How is Your Student Doing in College?” in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge; the annual President’s Brunch, hosted by SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum; an afternoon football game against Kean College at the Stadium Complex; a planetarium show in the Bowers Hall Planetarium; and a bus trip from Corey Union to Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill.

The weekend culminates that evening with Swing Café as SUNY Cortland continues its tradition of bringing up-and-coming, vibrant performing artists to Family Weekend. Presented by the Campus Artists and Lecture Series, Swing Café tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for all students.

Family Weekend event tickets may be purchased during registration in Corey Union, Room 209 from 4-8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, and from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Sept. 26. Swing Café tickets also may be obtained through the Campus Activities and Corey Union Office, Corey Union, Room 406, or at the door one hour prior to the performance.

For a registration form or more information about Family Weekend, stop by Corey Union, Room 406, visit the Family Weekend Web site at www.cortland.edu/family/familyweekend.html or call (607) 753-5574.

SUNY Cortland will be offering two information sessions on the threat of the H1N1 influenza virus and the steps students can take to minimize their exposure to contracting or spreading the virus.

Presented by Devin Coppola, M.D., the College's physician, the 15-minute PowerPoint presentation and five-minute video are titled "Influenza and You." A question-and-answer period will follow. The presentations will take place in Corey Union Fireplace Lounge at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Both events are free and open to the public.

"SUNY Cortland is continuing to monitor the activity of the H1N1 influenza virus," wrote Coppola in a letter to the campus community. "While the numbers of cases seems to be waning recently, there are still reports of illnesses all over the country and the world. The vast majority of influenza illnesses currently occurring around the world are the new H1N1 (swine) influenza. Therefore, the main focus of our attention now is on what might happen this fall and winter when flu season returns.

"We expect there will again be widespread outbreaks of both Novel H1N1 and the typical seasonal influenza strains. We are continuing to monitor the situation and recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and the New York State Department of Health on the status of H1N1. We are also actively involved in developing contingency plans to avoid disruption to our community. Please remember that this illness still appears to be relatively mild, so there is no reason for panic. We ask only that everyone use reasonable caution and stay alert to the situation as it evolves."

Coppola shared several basic health and safety guidelines from the New York State Department of Health to avoid contracting or spreading the virus.

• wash your hands frequently with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer;
• cover your coughs, preferably with a tissue or your sleeve, not your bare hands; and
• stay home or in your dorm room if you are sick.

"Please do not come to campus if you are ill," said Coppola. "Wait until your symptoms have resolved, or at least 24 hours after your fever has resolved without fever-reducing medications such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, before returning to campus. If you become ill while on campus, please stay at home or in your dorm room again for at least 24 hours after your fever resolves and avoid exposing other people. This will help us to greatly minimize the amount of illness on campus this coming academic year."

The most up-to-date SUNY Cortland information on influenza can be accessed via a link on the College's home page at www.cortland.edu.

With the flu season approaching, SUNY Cortland will be offering non-H1N1 flu shots to students only from 2-6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17, and from 2-6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-26. The cost is $10. Non-H1N1 flu shots will be available to faculty, staff and students from 2-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the same location.

"We will be working with the local and state health departments to offer H1N1 vaccine clinics, when the vaccine becomes available, to all persons in the priority groups for vaccination," added Coppola. "These are all persons six months to 24 years of age, pregnant women, and those with chronic illnesses or immunosuppression which increase the risk of severe illness."

The SUNY Cortland College Council will hold its next regularly scheduled meeting at 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, in Miller Building, Room 405.

Council members will hear reports by College Council Chair Dorothea Fowler, SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum, Faculty Senate Chair Kathleen Lawrence and Student Government Association President Jesse Campanaro.

The Council will hear an update on the College's plans for dealing with the HiN1 flu virus plan. The Council will elect its officers and appoint its committees.

Prior to the meeting, SUNY Cortland Strategic Planning Committee members Lynn Anderson, Janet Duncan, James Reese and Carol Van Der Karr will give an update on the campus strategic plan.

Political scientist Jerome O’Callaghan will discuss a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court case that has significantly shaped American history during a noon sandwich seminar on Thursday, Sept. 17, at SUNY Cortland.

O’Callaghan, who is the SUNY Cortland associate dean for the School of Arts and Sciences and a professor of political science, will speak on “All You Need to Know About the First Amendment in One Case” in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

The talk, presented by the College’s Institute for Civic Engagement (ICE), is free and open to the public. The event marks Constitution Day.

Constitution Day must be observed by all educational institutions in the United States that receive federal funding. SUNY Cortland is a participant in the American Democracy Project (ADP), a multi-campus initiative that has focused on transforming that little-known federal mandate into an opportunity to reflect on government, liberties and obligations as citizens in this democracy.

“To understand how the First Amendment works in a conflicted Constitution, you need to look closely at one case on the Pledge of Allegiance: Jackson’s decision in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette,” said O’Callaghan.

In 1943, Justice Robert Houghwout Jackson, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, decided a case that tested just how far government could go to unify the country. O’Callaghan described this decision as controversial, inspirational, profound and divisive.

“It shaped the liberal view of the First Amendment for generations,” O’Callaghan said. “It provoked a remarkably eloquent dissenting view that reveals the core of the judicial restraint argument.”

For more information, contact O’Callaghan at (607) 753-4312 or Professor and ICE director Richard Kendrick at (607) 753-2481 or visit the ICE Web site at www2.cortland.edu/civicengagement/.

David Bauer '66 returns to Cortland to conduct Quality Circle Review (QCR) Workshop from 1-4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18 in the Corey Union Fireplace Lounge. 

The QCR is a mock review of a finished grant proposal that imitates as closely as is possible the makeup, timing and schedule of an actual grant proposal review by the granting agency (i.e.: National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts).

Participants will leave this seminar with an in-depth understanding of the peer review process for reading and scoring grant proposals and how QCRs can enhance their own proposal success rates.

To register, contact Pam Schroeder by phone at (607) 753-2511 by Tuesday, Sept. 15.

This workshop is sponsored by the Dean of Arts and Sciences Office, Research and Sponsored Programs Office and the Faculty Development Center.

Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel Little Women will be discussed at a Sandwich Seminar titled "Little Women on the Page, the Stage and the Screen" at noon on Thursday, Sept. 24, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

Karla Alwes, English, will talk about Alcott, her famous family, and her most popular book. Thomas Hischak, performing arts, will discuss the many stage, film and television versions of the beloved novel.

For more information on Sandwich Seminars, contact the President's Office at (607) 753-2201. For more information about the topic, contact Alwes or Hischak.

Swing Café, an acoustic swing, jazz, and rockabilly band that is seen at clubs, parties and concerts around New England, will perform on Saturday, Sept. 26, at SUNY Cortland.

Presented by the College’s Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS), the band will begin at 8 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room.

Admission is $3 for SUNY Cortland students and $5 general admission. Children 10 and under will be admitted free. Tickets may be obtained through the Campus Activities and Corey Union Office, Corey Union Room 406, or at the door one hour prior to the performance. For more information, call (607) 753-5574.

Combining lead and harmony vocals, archtop guitar, mandolin, double bass and drums, Swing Café has a smooth stage presence. Swing Café features the vocals and guitar of Ted Powers, the mandolin and vocals of Eric Kilburn, the acoustic bass of Peter Tillotson and the drums of Steve Rose. The band’s love of the material, drawn largely from pop standards of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, is obvious from the first downbeat. Featuring first-rate musicians and a Grammy-nominated sound engineer, Swing Cafe’s fun, classy stage presence and easy repartee are sure to delight audiences of all ages.

For more information about Swing Café, visit the band’s Web site at SunSwingband.com. For information about this or other CALS events, view an online brochure on the CALS Series 2009-2010 Web site at www2.cortland.edu/events/cals.

Children’s educational programs on making Chinese dumplings and family Web pages, pedestrian safety, paleontology and nature observation will be highlighted during the Fall 2009 Children’s Museum season starting on Saturday, Sept. 26.

The Children’s Museum offers interactive, hands-on educational experiences in an environment where Cortland community parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, college students, youth and young children can be inspired to play and learn together.

Presented by faculty and students in SUNY Cortland’s Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, the programs run on selected Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., unless otherwise noted, and are open to community families and their children. All programs will take place at the Children’s Museum, located on the ground floor of O’Heron Newman Hall at 8 Calvert St. in Cortland. Admission is free but donations are gladly accepted.

Emilie Kudela, SUNY Cortland associate professor of childhood/early childhood education, will lead participants as they learn pedestrian safety in the program “Tiny Town” on Sept. 26. Currently on loan to the Children’s Museum from the Cortland County Health Department's Injury Prevention and Traffic Safety Program, “Tiny Town” is a scaled down version of a town in which children practice safe walking, crossing the street, intersections and walking through parking lots. Early childhood classes within walking distance of the Children’s Museum also will have the opportunity to explore “Tiny Town” and the Children’s Museum during the following week. Arrangements for class visits must be made with Kudela at (607) 753-5525.

Susan Stratton, SUNY Cortland assistant professor of childhood/early childhood education, will lead three sessions of the “Nature Nook Series” during the fall, on Oct. 3, Nov. 14 and Nov. 21. Children will have the opportunity to take part in these nature study activities periodically during both the fall and spring semesters at the Children’s Museum, with the assistance of graduate and undergraduate childhood and early childhood teacher candidates. Supported by a grant through Cortland’s Auxiliary Services Corporation, the series will provide inquiry-based, hands-on activities for young children on nature-oriented topics. The children will view closely magnified seasonal topics, including insects, leaves, seed-producing plants, pumpkins, gourds and other fall produce.

Two SUNY Cortland faculty members will host a free Mandarin Chinese language/culture class for children ages 5 and older from 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. on Oct. 10. The program by Haiying Wang, a lecturer in SUNY Cortland’s International Communications and Culture Department, and Lin Lin, an assistant professor in the Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, is intended as a demonstration class. Parents are encouraged to attend, as the professors are interested in seeing how many children and parents would like to participate in a regular Chinese language program in the Cortland area next year. For more information, contact Wang at haiying.wang@cortland.edu or Lin at lin.lin@cortland.edu.

Junior paleontologists will find out what is hidden inside rocks during the “Great Dino Dig” on Oct. 24. Orvil White, SUNY Cortland assistant professor of childhood/early childhood education, invites the children to become junior paleontologists and chip away at the rocks to reveal their interiors. Other hidden treasurers include shells, bones and maybe a real fossil shark tooth. Adult family members are welcome to join the children in the dig.

The 18th annual Education Club Halloween Party will be celebrated on Oct. 31. The College’s Professional Development School Coordinator Karen Hempson will oversee the festivities. The event is open to community children ages 1 to 10. Activities will include face painting, storytelling, invisible writing, games and craft making. Donuts and other treats will be served and prizes awarded for games.

Children will be able to make Chinese dumplings and family Web sites on computers on Nov. 7 during the “Chinese Dumplings and Technology” program. Shufang Shi, SUNY Cortland assistant professor of childhood/early childhood education, will share her skills in making Chinese dumplings and creating family Web sites using Web 2.0. According to her, dumpling making and tasting is a time to enjoy conversation and company with family members and friends. The use of family Web sites is another way to connect with others.

On Nov. 14, a special program in the “Nature Nook Series” called “Insect Circus” will look at the habitats and behaviors of insects and bugs with entomology students from Cornell University’s Outreach Program. Stratton and the entomology students will have living and preserved samples available for the children to see. The participants will learn how insects survive the winter through special adaptations.

To reach the museum entrance, follow O’Heron Newman Hall’s driveway. Parking is not permitted in the driveway but is available in the parking lot of the Dowd Fine Arts Center on the corner of Prospect Terrace and Graham Ave.

For more information, contact Kudela at (607) 753-5525 or Stratton at (607) 753-2467, by email at childrensmuseum@cortland.edu or visit the Web site.

A program titled "Behind the Disney Songs" will be presented by the authors of The Disney Song Encyclopedia, recently published by Scarecrow Press.

Thomas Hischak, performing arts, and local teacher Mark Robinson '98, will tell stories and anecdotes behind famous and not-so-famous songs from Disney movies, television, theme parks and Broadway at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27, at the Blue Frog Coffee House on Main Street.

Some Disney songs will be played and discussed and there will be a question and answer session. Admission is free and refreshments will be on sale.

For more information, contact Hischak at (607) 753-4206.

SUNY Cortland’s Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies will hold a conference titled “Succeeding as Women in Higher Education” from Friday, Oct. 23-Sunday, Oct. 25, at the College.

Keynote speaker Sarah Fenstermaker, a professor in the Sociology Department at University of California, Santa Barbara, has written extensively about gender inequality. She will speak at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. Conference speakers will explore, through presentations, workshops, and artistic presentations, essential questions concerning the reasons women are not in leadership positions in higher education in general. They will discuss the institutional practices that exist to support, enhance, and cultivate gender equity in higher education; the values that impede or promote women in leadership positions; and the attributes or credentials that are required for women in leadership positions.

Philosophy Professor Mechthild Nagel, who chairs the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS), organized the conference.

Admission is $125 for those who pre-register by Sept. 30 and $140 after that date.

The full schedule, registration form and a complete list of sponsors, is available on the conference Web site at www.cortland.edu/swhe. For more information, contact the conference at gender@cortland.edu or the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies at (607) 753-5784.

Marley S. Barduhn, a SUNY Cortland alumna who has served the College for 30 years in many different capacities, most recently as associate dean of the School of Education, has been named interim assistant provost for teacher education. She began her duties on Aug. 24.

"This position was created to recognize that teacher education at SUNY Cortland is an endeavor carried out across all three schools," said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Mark Prus, to whom Barduhn reports.

A search for a permanent assistant provost will commence this fall.  

In the newly created position, Barduhn of Tully, N.Y., is responsible for the NCATE accreditation process and all services that support campus-wide teacher education programs. She chairs the Teacher Education Council and oversees the Field Placement Office, the Center for Educational Exchange and the Professional Development School. She also oversees the several grant-supported education programs on campus, including Access to College Education, Center for the 4th and 5th Rs, Cortland Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.), Liberty Partnerships, and Migrant Education Outreach Program (MEOP).

Barduhn, who received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service in 2006, began her long relationship with SUNY Cortland as a student. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Education in 1976 and a Master of Science in Education in Health Education (K-12) in 1979. She received her Ph.D. in human development, specializing in child and family studies, from Syracuse University in 1985. She holds a certificate in gerontology.

She joined the SUNY Cortland faculty in 1979 as an instructor in the Health Department and achieved the rank of associate professor in 1990. Barduhn was awarded a post-doctoral research fellowship in applied gerontology in 1988 from the Gerontological Society of America. She conducted research at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. She used a 1991 University Foundation of the State of New York grant to study the role of mothers of the church in African-American churches.

She served as the Health Department's interim chair in 1995 and, the following year, was assistant to the dean of the School of Professional Studies. In 1996, Barduhn was named interim associate dean of professional studies and served until 1999, when she was named permanent associate dean of professional studies. She helped develop and implement academic policies, most notably a new suspension and dismissal policy, a transfer credit articulation and online posting. Barduhn was responsible for reviewing all in-school and College-wide curricula. Along with the associate dean of arts and sciences, she collaborated extensively with the Registrar's Office and campus community to assist in the transition to a more modern student records management system.

In 2002-03, Barduhn was a catalyst in the development of a campus-wide automated external defibrillator program, assisting in identifying key areas and developing policy for usage. She led in the development of Emergency Squad/EMT program policy and management.

As director of MEOP, with its extensive outreach services, her efforts have resulted in enhanced visibility for MEOP via statewide presentations and a steady increase in grant funding, which is currently in excess of $1 million.

As associate dean of professional studies, Barduhn played a major role in the New York State Education Department (NYSED)'s re-registry of all 71 teacher education programs in 2000 and 2001. She provided leadership in the development of both the Child Abuse Reporting (CAR) workshop and the Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) workshops, which are mandated by NYSED for state certification.

Barduhn served as a member of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Executive Board, undertaking a rigorous national review that required three full years of campus-wide preparation, and was a member of numerous key committees.

In 2003, Barduhn helped the College develop a School of Education, a task involving extensive planning to separate the School of Professional Studies into two schools. Subsequently, she was named associate dean of the School of Education.

Barduhn served as interim director of international programs overseeing 33 study abroad programs in 13 countries and supervised the international student advisement process and study abroad orientation sessions. In 1999, she became a member of the Clark Center for International Education, traveling on behalf of the College to Belize, Venezuela and England to review existing international initiatives and foster new ones. Notably, she was co-creator of the College's Australia Student Teaching program and developed the Australia Teaching Fellows program.

She is the author of book chapters and articles on topics ranging from gerontology to extra credit, oral health surveys, blood pressure and the role of the health educator in fire/burn prevention. She has made more than 40 statewide, national and international presentations on migrant education, pediatric crisis management, critical incident work, academic advisement accountability, death education, aging and hospice issues, rural mass disasters and emergency medical services.

Barduhn has served as a consultant to several agencies, including U.S. Behavioral Health, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cortland County Area Agency for Aging and the New York State Education Department.

A member of the Phi Kappa Phi national interdisciplinary honorary, she was inducted into the Sigma Phi Omega national gerontologists' honorary, the Sigma Phi Alpha national dental hygiene honorary, and elected to the New York State Emergency Medical Services Faculty.

At SUNY Cortland, she has served on more than 40 College-wide committees, including co-chairing both Undergraduate and Graduate Commencement Committees.

A Rural Metro Medical Services clinical director since 1990, she has provided counseling services for crisis intervention and helped develop its Critical Incident Stress Management Team policies, procedures and protocol. A founder and member of the Board of Directors of Caring Community Hospice of Cortland, she was a consultant to the Syracuse Fire Department's Fire Prevention Bureau, co-developing an award-winning fire prevention video series titled, "Firestation 7." Barduhn is a long-time member of the Central New York Regional Continuous Quality Improvement Committee of the Central New York Hospital Association.

Nancy J. Aumann of Cortland, N.Y., has accepted appointment as interim associate dean of education in the School of Education at SUNY Cortland.

She replaces Marley Barduhn, who accepted the position of interim assistant provost for teacher education.

Aumann, who began her duties on Aug. 28, will fulfill the duties of associate dean while she continues overseeing the College's curriculum matters as associate provost for academic affairs. She has served in that capacity since 2005. While maintaining an office in the Miller Building, she plans to be available the majority of the time in the Dean's Office suite in the Education Building.

Her responsibilities for oversight of the College Writing Program, the Honors Program, the Institute for Disability Studies and the Institute for Civic Engagement will revert to the Provost's Office.

Aumann, a former dean of arts and sciences at SUNY Cortland, first came to the campus in 1990 as associate dean of arts and sciences. She served as acting dean of general education and advisement during the 1993-94 academic year before being named dean of arts and sciences in 1995. She was also an adjunct professor of history while at Cortland.

In 1996, she left the College to serve as vice president and dean of the college at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla., until 2000. She was an instructor of history at Genesee Community College in Batavia, N.Y., from 2001-03 before joining the Lebanon Valley College history faculty as a visiting associate professor. She also was the director of graduate studies and continuing education there for two years in 2003-04. She returned to SUNY Cortland in 2005.

From 1986-90, Aumann was campus dean at the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield, one of 13 campuses that comprise the University of Wisconsin Colleges.

In 1974, Aumann began her professional career as a member of the History Department faculty at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan. From 1983-86, she served as the Social Science Division chair and, in 1985, was also the acting academic dean. She was involved with the development of an overseas study program at the college.

Aumann, a native of Williamson, N.Y., earned a bachelor's degree in European history from Hope College in Holland, Mich., and received both her master's degree and Ph.D. in Central European history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has studied in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

The Florida Southern College Board of Trustees presented her with its Recognition of Achievement in 2000. She was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honorary, and Delta Phi Delta, the national German language honorary. She was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi and is an honorary member of Phi Eta Sigma and Omicron Delta Kappa. She was named to the outstanding Young Women of America in 1976. She has received fellowships from both the Ford Foundation and the Rotary International Foundation.