Campus Champion

Jesse Campanaro helped wrap gifts but he declares that he didn’t single-handedly put $6,000 worth of new toys into the hands of tots enrolled in Cortland County Community Action Program, Inc. (CAPCO) Head Start programs. Members of the Student Government Association, the Education Club, Athletics and many individuals raised the funds, states Campanaro, the SGA president for a second year. He did conceive of the first Holiday Toy Drive, which presented 275 wrapped gifts to underprivileged pre-schoolers. It’s why we honor this Campus Champion. “It was great to help the children get a gift at the holidays,” said the senior business economics major from Monticello, N.Y.

Former SUNY Cortland student-athlete and 1975 alumna Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody received the 2011 Theodore Roosevelt award, the NCAA’s highest honor. The award, also known as the “Teddy Award,” on Jan. 14 during the annual NCAA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, whose concern for the conduct of intercollegiate athletics led to the formation of the NCAA in 1906, the award was established in 1967 and is given annually to an individual “for whom competitive athletics in college and attention to physical well-being thereafter have been important factors in a distinguished career of national significance and achievement.”

Dunwoody joined a prestigious list of “Teddy Award” winners that includes former U.S. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Other past winners include John Glenn, Bob Dole, John Wooden, Arnold Palmer, Bill Cosby, Sally Ride, Madeleine Albright and Jesse Owens.

Dunwoody is the first woman in U.S. military history to be promoted to the rank of four-star general and is the current Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command. She graduated from SUNY Cortland with a degree in physical education and was directly commissioned into the Women’s Army Corps.  She received a Master of Science in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1988 and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1995.

Dunwoody, a former gymnast and women's tennis player at Cortland, is the first woman in U.S. military history to be promoted to the rank of four-star general.

Nominated by recently retired SUNY Cortland Director of Athletics Dr. Joan Sitterly, Dunwoody was a starter and four-year participant on the College’s women’s gymnastics team under Coach Antoinette “Toni” Tiburzi and women’s tennis team under Coach Sylvia Stokes.

“They were just great role models, great people,” Dunwoody recalled about Tiburzi and Stokes. “They’re ‘people’ people. They just made sports fun. I will always fondly remember Cortland because it was a positive experience for me. I have been blessed to have lots of positive experiences. The encouragement I got from the faculty there, the friends that I made there, made my whole college experience a positive one.”

When Dunwoody began her military career, women had yet to be admitted to West Point.  Her brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather all attended the U.S. Military Academy, a family history that stretches to 1866.  Dunwoody’s father, a career Army officer, was a veteran of World War II and Korea and served in Vietnam during her college career.

In 1992 Dunwoody became the first woman to command a battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division.  She was the first female general at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the first woman to lead the Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Va.

Dunwoody was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm as a division parachute officer for the 407th Supply and Transportation Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division.  She served as the 1st Corps Support Command Commander in the deployment of the Logistics Task Force in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Dunwoody was promoted to the rank of four-star general in a ceremony at the Pentagon in 2008. Marking the occasion, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said, “History will no doubt take note of her achievement in breaking through this final brass ceiling to pin on a fourth star, but she would rather be known and remembered, first and foremost, as a U.S. Army Soldier.”

In a briefing to the press after the ceremony Dunwoody remarked, “I never grew up in an environment where I even heard of the words ‘glass ceiling.’  You could always be anything you wanted to be if you worked hard, and so I never felt constrained.  I never felt like there were limitations on what I could do.”

Dunwoody remains a proponent of an active lifestyle and enjoys running with her husband, retired Air Force Col. Craig Brotchie, and their springer spaniel, Barney.

For a fifth consecutive year, SUNY Cortland was ranked by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine among its 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, a list of national institutions that combine “outstanding economic value with top-notch education.”

For 2011, SUNY Cortland moved up in the rankings to 54th in the nation for out-of-state students and to 70th nationally for in-state students. Last year, SUNY Cortland was ranked 56th and 75th, respectively, in both categories.

“Once again, we at SUNY Cortland are very proud of the fact that we have made Kiplinger’s list of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges,” said SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “I think it points to our long history of accomplishing the remarkable at this institution: the fact that we have faculty and staff and students and alumni all committed to excellence. Having developed a new strategic mission and plan, we’re using it to move into even greater future success as we challenge ourselves to redefine what we think is possible in the 21st century.”

“Despite rising tuition costs, there are still many first-rate institutions providing outstanding academics at an affordable price,” said Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s. “Schools like these on the Kiplinger 100 list prove graduates can enter the workforce with a great education — and without a huge cloud of debt.”

“Kiplinger’s bases its rankings on a combination of academics and affordability,” reported the magazine. “We start with data from more than 500 public four-year schools, provided by Peterson’s/Nelnet, then add our own reporting. We narrow the list to about 120 schools based on measures of academic quality, including SAT or ACT scores, admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios, and four-and six-year graduation rates, which most schools reported for the class entering in 2003.

“We then rank each school based on cost and financial aid. In our scoring system, academic quality carries more weight (almost two-thirds of the total) than costs.”

The fallout and implications of Bernard Madoff’s infamous, enormous and long-term swindle of American and foreign investors both large and small will be discussed during a Community Roundtable on Thursday, Feb. 3, at SUNY Cortland.

Craig Little, a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and a professor of sociology/anthropology at SUNY Cortland, will discuss “White-Collar Crime in America: Bernie Madoff and More” from 8-9 a.m. in SUNY Cortland’s Park Center Hall of Fame Room. Refreshments will be served at 7:45 a.m. A question-and-answer period will follow.

Sponsored by the President’s Office and the College’s Center for Educational Exchange (CEE), the Community Roundtable is free and open to the public.

Discussing the upcoming lecture, Little noted that Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme defrauded investors around the globe.

“The victims ranged from relatively naïve personal friends to highly sophisticated institutional investors whose losses tallied hundreds of millions,” Little observed. “What, exactly, did Bernie Madoff do? How did he do it and why? The answers tell us much about the nature of white-collar crime in the 21st century and its relationship to America’s contemporary economy and society.”

The Community Roundtable series provides programs on diverse intellectual, regional and cultural topics of interest to College faculty and staff and community members. Each roundtable is held on the first Thursday of the month. Parking in the Park Center lot is open to the public during the roundtables.

For more information, contact the CEE at (607) 753-4214 or visit www2.cortland.edu/centers/cee/community-roundtables/.

When students return to the SUNY Cortland campus this spring, they will find life just a little easier thanks to the opening of Shop24, an automated convenience store.

The Shop24 stands nine feet high, is 13.5 feet wide and 10 feet deep and occupies space in front of Neubig Hall in the heart of campus. The store can dispense items ranging from 1 ounce to 8 pounds and will carry about 175 items. Students will find typical convenience store items.

The project is a partnership between the College’s Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) and Shop24, a world leader in the automated convenience store market. The Shop24 series of products are self-contained, unmanned retail stores designed to capitalize on the gap between staffed convenience stores and traditional vending machines.

ASC will celebrate the grand opening of its new convenience store at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28. SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum and Jason Santoro, vice president of sales with Shop24 Global, will offer remarks on the occasion.

Construction of the Shop24 kiosk was completed over the winter break to prepare for the start of classes on Monday, Jan. 24.

On Jan. 28 Ariel Morrison, an inclusive special education major from Madison, N.J., made the first official Shop24 purchase, of cookie dough, with Shop24 Global vice president for sales Jason Santoro looking on.

“We surveyed our students to identify what items they want to see in the store,” said Terry Cahill, who directs ASC’s College Store inside the adjacent Neubig Hall.

Patrons can choose the products they desire from a computer screen and the Shop24 robot selects the items and places them into the shopping basket. Up to eight items can be purchased in a single transaction.

The convenience store will carry a wide variety of foods and beverages as well as several non-food items that students use on a daily basis, Cahill noted. Shop24 accepts cash, credit cards and Connections cards, which feature a declining balance account that many students use for purchases on campus.

“By partnering with Shop24, we are able to leverage technology to offer our students all of the advantages of a traditional convenience store without the high labor costs typically associated with those operations,” said Pierre Gagnon, executive director of ASC.

While automated convenience stores are a relatively new phenomenon in the U.S., Shop24 has extensive experience in the field.

“We are the leader in the automated store market,” said Ken Horner, CEO of Shop24 Global. “We have the first-mover advantage with more than 230 stores delivered to date, predominantly located throughout Europe and now with a strong presence in the U.S. market at our locations in Ohio, New York and California.”

Founded more than 50 years ago, ASC is a not-for-profit organization that provides dining services, vending, bookstore, student ID cards and other essential services to the campus community. ASC is governed by a board of directors made up of students, faculty, and administrators at the college. ASC employs over 400 regular staff members and students and is the largest employer of students on the SUNY Cortland campus.

During the spring semester, SUNY Cortland’s Writing Committee will host a series of four presentations and discussions on academic integrity, titled “Plagiarism and Its Just Desserts.”

The committee bases its theme on the following famous line from an anonymous 1599 play titled, A Warning Faire Women: “Upon a pillory — that al the world may see, A just desert for such impiety.”

The talks from 4:30-6 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge are free and open to the public. Attendees will get what they deserve: a dessert reception of cakes, cookies and other sweets.

During the first presentation, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, a History Department faculty member and two librarians will address the topic of “Why Students Plagiarize and What Faculty Can Do About It.”

Gigi Peterson, assistant professor of history, will discuss “Bad Habits to Unlearn: New York State’s Regents Regime and Student Writing.” Daniel Harms, bibliographer and instructional services librarian at the College’s Memorial Library, will share his thoughts on “Academic Integrity and the New Media.” His talk will explore how electronic media has complicated the issue of plagiarism. Harms will explain the steps faculty can take to address academic integrity. Lorraine Melita, senior assistant librarian, will discuss “Electronic Media and Academic Faculty: New Technologies to Detect Plagiarism.”

On Wednesday, Feb. 16, Distinguished Teaching Professor of English Mary Kennedy and graduate students in her class, Research in the Teaching of English, will present “Readin’, Writin’ and Cheatin’.” The discussion will focus on research on the prevalence of plagiarism and cheating in U. S. schools.

A panel of School of Arts and Sciences faculty members will discuss “Plagiarism: Is It a Professional or Moral Infraction?” on Tuesday, Feb. 22. Panelists will include Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, associate professor of philosophy and director the the Center for Ethics, Peace and Social Justice; Jerome O’Callaghan, associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences; and Kathryn Russell, professor and chair of the Philosophy Department.

Three faculty members will explore “Cultural Perspectives on Plagiarism” on Thursday, March 24, rescheduled from March 3, from 4:30-6 p.m. in Old Main G-10. The panel discussion features Linda Lavine, associate professor of psychology; Kathy Lattimore, lecturer in English; and Hongli Fan, assistant professor of French.

For more information, contact Mary Kennedy at (607) 753-2086.

Thirteen senior physical education majors at SUNY Cortland were recognized with Lenore K. Alway/Anthony P. Tesori Awards for their outstanding work in student teaching in New York state schools during the Fall 2010 semester.

Physical Education Department faculty members nominated eight women and five men for the recognition. The students received a certificate.

The Alway award, given to women, acknowledges Lenore K. Alway, the late pioneering head of women’s physical education at the College from 1941 to 1965. The men’s award honors Anthony P. Tesori, a 1939 graduate who gave the College many years of leadership in athletics and administrative areas and earned the College’s C- Club Hall of Fame Award for his achievements before and after graduation.

The Alway Award honorees and the schools or school districts where they completed their teaching are as follows:

• Bethany Williamson of Lyons Falls, N.Y., at Whitney Point Central School District and Moravia Central School District.

• Melissa Fromm of Albion, N.Y., at Greece Central School District and Brockport Central School District.

• Sarah Wignall of Weedsport, N.Y., at Whitney Point Central School District and Ithaca City School District.

• Lisa Gallo of Lynbrook, N.Y., at Massapequa Union Free School District and Freeport Union Free School District.

• Danielle Panaro of Ossining, N.Y., at Irvington Union Free School District and Tarrytown Union Free School District.

• Roseann Morrison of Miller Place, N.Y., at William Floyd Union Free School District in Mastic Beach, N.Y., and South Country Central School District in Brookhaven, N.Y.

• Gabrielle Kanterman of Harriman, N.Y., at Monroe-Woodbury Central School District and Middletown City School District.

• Ashley Feyler of Binghamton, N.Y., at Susquehanna Valley Central School District and Owego-Apalachin Central School District.

The Tesori Award honorees and the schools or school districts where they completed their teaching are as follows:

• Michiel Ciaburri of Webster, N.Y., at Rochester City School District and Webster Central School District.

• Nicholas Tonini of Mineola, N.Y., at New York City Geographical District #28 and Glen Cove City School District.

• Robert Krowiak of Endicott, N.Y., at Union-Endicott Central School District and Newburgh City School District.

• Robert Daly of Smithtown, N.Y., at Brentwood Union Free School District and Elwood Union Free School District.

• James Weiss of Lancaster, N.Y., at Lancaster Central School District and Cheektowaga Union Free School District.

For more information, contact the Physical Education Department at (607) 753-4955.

A couple from Stony Brook, N.Y., MaryGrace McCarthy Lynch and Mark Lynch, were announced as winners in the College’s Super Bowl XLV weekend package.

The prize included two tickets to the Super Bowl at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, this February, as well as hotel accommodations and $1,000 to offset travel expenses. The New York Jets presented the College with the two tickets this fall as part of their official partnership with SUNY Cortland.

The Lynches, who are SUNY Cortland alumni from the classes of 1983 and 1984, respectively, had purchased their winning ticket for $100. They won after College President Erik J. Bitterbaum drew their names on one ticket from a drum containing the 269 raffle entries.

Independent accountant Matthew McSherry observes President Erik J. Bitterbaum reading the winning raffle ticket.

 “I am very grateful to all of those who purchased tickets for a chance to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event,” observed Raymond D. Franco ’72, vice president for institutional advancement. “This year we raised nearly $27,000 and will be able to use the proceeds to support scholarships, the arts, and alumni and civic engagement programs.”

A similar amount was generated in last year’s Super Bowl ticket raffle.

“Once again, the Super Bowl raffle has proven to be a wonderful fundraiser for the Cortland College Foundation and the College,” Franco added. “This is a very valuable asset provided by our partner, the New York Jets.”

Matthew McSherry, an independent accountant from the firm of Port, Kashdin and McSherry, audited the entire raffle proceedings. He observed the Dec. 8 drawing in the Brockway Hall first floor conference room, attended by a small gathering of onlookers.

 SUNY Cortland’s Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department was reaccredited for five years by the national organization that governs the fields of recreation, park resources and leisure services.

The department’s four undergraduate majors were approved through Fall 2015 at a recent meeting of the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT), in Minneapolis, Minn.

The SUNY Cortland bachelor’s degrees options that meet or exceed COAPRT accreditation educational quality standards are: therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation/natural resources recreation management, recreation management, and the general degree in recreation.

“We strive to inspire our students to become engaged citizens and effective professionals,” said Sharon Todd, department chair. “The accreditation process has simply allowed us to reaffirm how we deliver our curriculum to our students. We make every effort not just to meet a set of minimum standards, but to prepare our students to make a true difference in the world.”

In a letter to SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum, the council commended the College for its extraordinary commitment to student development through excellence in instruction and curriculum development, faculty engagement in the assessment process, achievement of campus-wide respect and leadership; exceptional service learning and experiential learning programs; and overall commitment to excellence as evidenced by 20 years of accreditation.

Formerly called the National Recreation and Park Association/American Association for Leisure and Recreation Council (NRPA/AALR) Council on Accreditation, the renamed council’s accreditation process has evolved from one that focused on structure and process to one that focuses on assessment of student learning outcomes.

“The accrediting association has changed and we have, too,” said Lynn S. Anderson, professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies, who shepherded her department’s reaccreditation process as the previous department chair. “We moved from asking whether our classes had enough space for students and whether enough courses were being offered to being more student outcomes-oriented.

“We continued to seek reaccreditation for all four of our concentrations, something not many other schools have done,” Anderson continued. “And one of our biggest accomplishments since the last reassessment was our success in moving our four programs from the status of concentrations to majors.”

SUNY Cortland was one of only two colleges chosen to pilot the revised assessment program from among roughly 100 accredited nationwide offering this discipline, Anderson noted. Texas A&M University was first. The College is listed as one of the council’s self-study assessment sites at http://www.nrpa.org/coa/.

The new standards become mandatory for all similar academic programs nationwide in 2013.

“Being a national model for other colleges and universities has been an honor for us, and a testament to Lynn Anderson’s gifts and efforts to guide us through the new outcomes-based accreditation process,” Todd asserted.

SUNY Cortland is one of four colleges in New York with accredited recreation and leisure studies departments, Anderson said. The other programs are SUNY Brockport, Ithaca College and St. Joseph’s College. Among the four colleges, SUNY Cortland is the only one with four distinct bachelor of science programs. There are only two other programs nationwide that have four accredited areas: Western Illinois University and California State University at Chico.

Because of the program’s accreditation, students in recreation and leisure studies are able to take national certification exams immediately upon graduation. Students from schools that are not accredited must work in the field for two years before they are eligible to take the exam.

Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies, one of six separate academic departments within the School of Professional Studies, has been in existence since 1948. The department, which has approximately 120 undergraduates and about 60 graduate students, was first accredited in 1985.

The most recent accreditation process began two years ago when the faculty began reviewing the curriculum, strategic plan and learning outcomes assessment. In May of this year, two council representatives, Michael Blazey of University of California at Long Beach and Jeffrey Witman with York College of Pennsylvania, visited the campus to interview faculty, students and administrators as well as review the course offerings and facilities.

The department had to show evidence that it was meeting outcome-based standards for the core curriculum and additional standards for the four curricular options. The standards are based on areas ranging from learning outcomes to the quality of the faculty and students to the department’s available resources.

“It was an honor to be chosen as a pilot school and it definitely was an effort on our part,” Anderson said. “We could have simply used existing standards, but by being a pilot I think it helped us improve our program and gave us a better way to look at what we were doing. It paid off in the end because we did really well throughout the whole process. We are nationally recognized and the process just affirmed why that is so."

SUNY Cortland’s College Council will hold its next regularly scheduled meeting at 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 24, in Miller Building, Room 405.

The agenda includes approval of the Nov. 15, 2010, minutes. Council members will hear reports by President Erik J. Bitterbaum, Faculty Senate Chair David Miller and Student Government Association President Jesse Campanaro. An executive session will be convened to discuss the naming of facilities.

A pre-meeting program beginning at 3:15 p.m. in the same location will highlight two Division of Student Affairs operations, the University Police Department and Career Services.

Carmina Burana, described as the brilliant, vivacious, frenetic and passionate choral masterpiece by Carl Orff, will be performed by the Choral Union in May, under the direction of Stephen B. Wilson, Performing Arts Department.

Last performed at SUNY Cortland in 1992, this year’s production will include three professional soloists, a battery of percussion instruments and two pianos, plus a large mixed chorus and two smaller choruses. 

“We invite all singers from the campus to come out of the woodwork and join the Choral Union on Monday nights,” said Wilson. Practices are held at 7 p.m. in Dowd Fine Arts Center, Room 108, beginning Monday, Jan. 24.

“A special invitation is extended to men, who will sing several robust selections by themselves as well as joining the women throughout the work,” explained Wilson. “One of the most memorable moments from this lusty piece is the “In Taberna” scene, a drinking song to end all drinking songs. As the selection builds in excitement, volume and debauchery, the pace quickens to the point of near madness.”

Ithaca resident Karen Dumont, soprano, and baritone Steven Stull will make their debut performances on the stage of the Dowd Fine Arts Theater. Stull performed in Cortland in April 2010, singing the role of Christ in The Arts At Grace/Choral Union performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Both are active singers in great demand.

Piano accompaniment will be provided by Edward Moore, Performing Arts Department, and Alan Giambattista, a noted harpsichordist who has performed with many orchestras in New York and on the east coast and has been the Choral Union’s pianist for several years.

There is no audition required to join the Choral Union, and music will be provided free of charge.

For more information, contact Wilson by e-mail or at (607) 753-4615.

Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS) Lecture Grant Applications are now available for the 2010-11 academic year.

Applications are eligible for a maximum award of $500 and are open to any club, program or department. These are lecture grants and will not cover performances of any kind.

Applications must be received by Wednesday, Feb. 2, for lecture programs taking place in February, March, April and May 2011. Applications received after Feb. 2 may not be eligible for any spring semester funds remaining.

For more information or to request a copy of the CALS Lecture Grant Application, contact Sandra Wohlleber at (607) 753-5574 or via e-mail.

Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) is now accepting Program Grant applications for the 2011-12 academic year. 

Application packages may be downloaded at www.cortlandasc.com/general/forms.cfm, picked up at the ASC Office in Winchell Hall or e-mailed by contacting Annette O’Hara at (607) 753-4325.

 Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, at the ASC Office.

Each year, the ASC Board of Directors allocates funds to support grants for a wide range of purposes and projects that enhance the life of the SUNY Cortland College community. 

Although ASC is willing to consider a wide range of ideas, it seeks to avoid duplicating other funding sources or funding projects more properly supported by state funds. 

Therefore, applicants should first seek funding from primary funding sources. Other grant guidelines are described in the application package.

For more information, contact Jeffrey Johnson at (607) 753-5668.

To celebrate excellence in service to the community, SUNY Cortland will present Leadership in Civic Engagement awards to area students, faculty members, college staff and community members in recognition of significant contributions to the community’s quality of life through leadership in a variety of civic engagement activities.

Nominations of individuals or groups for an award and for students to receive a civic engagement scholarship are due to the Institute for Civic Engagement by Thursday, Feb. 24.

Nomination forms can be downloaded in Microsoft Word or as a PDF on the civic engagement website.

Completed forms should be e-mailed to getinvolved@cortland.edu.

Only those students who will return to SUNY Cortland for at least the first semester of the 2011-12 academic year are eligible for a civic engagement-related scholarship, which could be as much as $1,000.

Since April 2005, SUNY Cortland has presented awards to groups and individuals who have made significant contributions to their community’s quality of life through a variety of activities. Previous winners include:

• A student who actively served Cortland Against All Rape (CAAR) over four years in various capacities.
• Two students who created a Student Government Association-recognized environmental club named Cortland Students Advocating for a Valuable Environment (C-SAVE).
• Students and faculty who created and conducted Project LEAPE (Leadership in Education in Adapted Physical Education), through which Cortland- and Homer-area students with mental and physical disabilities enjoy a range of activities, while awareness of their strengths is raised.
• Members of the greater Cortland community who formed Gas Drilling Awareness for Cortland County, a group that helped to inform the community about potential environmental threats posed by hydrofracking.

For more information, contact the Institute for Civic Engagement at (607) 753-2403.

George F. Feissner, who served SUNY Cortland for 38 years, retired on Oct. 3. He was designated professor emeritus of mathematics.

A native of Freeland, Pa., Feissner earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a Master of Science in Mathematics from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., where he also captured the Robert W. Blake Prize and the Alumni Junior Prize in Arts and Sciences. He received a doctorate in mathematics from Cornell University, where he was a teaching assistant to undergraduates.

Feissner also taught for two years as an assistant professor at SUNY Potsdam.

Feissner joined SUNY Cortland’s Mathematics Department in 1972 as an assistant professor. He subsequently was promoted to the rank of associate professor and, in 1986, to professor. He chaired the department from 1995-98 and served as interim chair during 2008.

Feissner’s academic specialty has been the study of behavior of hypercontractive semi-groups on Orlicz Spaces. His research on hypercontractive semigroups and Sobolev’s Inequality was published in the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society.

He wrote a two-volume study guide to accompany the textbook Calculus, written by James Hurley of the University of Connecticut and published by Wadsworth, Inc.

For the past 15 years, he has collaborated with Professor Jan Kopka from Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic, to provide materials to help elementary school and high school students develop mathematical discovery tools.

In 2001, he presented a paper and chaired one session at the Eighth Czech-Polish Mathematical School Conference in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic.

In 1983, he was among the inaugural class of faculty, librarians, administrators and students to be inducted into the new Cortland Chapter of the interdisciplinary honor society Phi Kappa Phi and the arts and science honor society Phi Beta Kappa. His academic affiliations also included membership in Phi Eta Sigma, Pi Mu Epsilon, Pi Delta Epsilon, the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society. He served on the advisory committee that established a chapter of Phi Eta Sigma, the freshman honor society on campus, and later served as faculty advisor to the chapter.

He resides in Cortland.

Noelle Chaddock Paley of Endicott, N.Y., was named director of multicultural life and diversity at SUNY Cortland on Dec. 13, a role she has filled on an interim basis since June 2009.

Paley, who replaces Don Sawyer III, joined the College in September 2008 as a lecturer in the departments of Africana studies and philosophy.

The office she leads, Multicultural Life, will be renamed the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office on July. 1. A search is currently underway to hire an assistant director for multicultural life.

Reporting to C. Gregory Sharer, the vice president for student affairs, Paley is responsible for developing and implementing programs, workshops and services to enhance awareness and appreciation of diversity, multiculturalism and pluralism at the office.

“SUNY Cortland is poised to make great strides towards academic excellence and diversity,” Paley said. “Equity and social justice are at the center of what we need to do. The biggest task ahead of me now is to get everyone at and around SUNY Cortland to locate themselves as part of and benefiting from diversity, equity and social justice.”

“We recognize that diversity is central to institutional effectiveness, excellence and viability,” Sharer said. “With the support of the Multicultural Council and other stakeholders, Noelle will help the College become a truly diverse community and achieve the benefits of diversity.”

During her 18-months as interim director, Paley has adopted the work of Daryl G. Smith, professor of education and psychology at the Claremont Graduate University, as her model for how diversity should be shared in a college community, Sharer said. Through her, the College is gaining regional and statewide attention for multicultural endeavors. Paley serves on the University Faculty Senate Committee for Diversity and Cultural Competence as well as the Chancellor’s Innovation Team: SUNY and the Seamless Education Pipeline.

“Noelle has demonstrated a great commitment to SUNY Cortland and working with all aspects of campus,” Sharer said. “She has brought a great deal of energy and creativity to a fundamental aspect of our campus.”

Paley coordinates intellectual discourse among students, faculty and staff to promote the social benefits of diversity and multiculturalism. She also serves as a student advocate to ensure fair and equitable treatment and investigates ways to increase multicultural representation and enhance student graduation rates. Paley advises student organizations and supervises a professional staff member and student workers.

This spring, she also teaches two courses, Introduction to Africana Studies and Hip Hop Culture. Paley’s areas of teaching and research include mixed race identity politics and formations; Hip Hop culture; Hip Hop as a philosophic discourse; Africana women on film; prejudice, discrimination and morality; diasporic fiction; philosophy and law; markets, ethics and law; methods of reasoning; reproductive justice; racial and gender justice; prison abolition; research methods; performance activism and voice training.

Paley, who grew up in Endicott, N.Y., has completed all but the dissertation for a doctorate in philosophy, interpretation and culture at Binghamton University, studying on a Clark Fellowship. She previously earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Binghamton University and served as a graduate teaching assistant.

On campus, Paley strives for a collaborative leadership style that consists of building relationships across campus.

“I am most proud of co-existing in student affairs and academic affairs, as it has provided optimum student engagement opportunities,” she said.

Paley has presented many seminars and conferences at SUNY Cortland as she attempts to bring her passion for academia to her students and has arranged for them to attend academic conferences across New York state. Under her leadership, the office has developed and will host, for a second year, the Student Conference for Diversity, Equity and Social Justice.

In Spring 2009, her SUNY Cortland students honored Paley as an “Exemplary Woman of Color.” In May 2006, SUNY Binghamton presented her with its Human Development Faculty Award for Scholar Activist as well as its Human Development Faculty Award for Outstanding Commitment to Racial and Gender Justice.

Paley will move to Cortland with her husband, Mike. They have five children, including Ben and Kendra, who are grown and married to Kim and Adam, respectively; and Matt, Joshua and Morgan Celeste; and one grandchild, Liam.

Keith Smith of Ithaca, N.Y., who has directed SUNY Cortland’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) for 18 years, will retire on Dec. 30. He has been designated as director emeritus of the program.

Smith, who joined the College in 1992, also has served since 1993 as an adjunct instructor in Africana studies.

During his tenure, Smith estimates that 540 students without the academic credentials to be admitted to SUNY Cortland have successfully completed the program and graduated.

Similarly, SUNY Plattsburgh, where he was EOP project director from 1981-92, recently honored him for the 330 students with similar credentials who graduated during his 11 years there.

When he first joined SUNY Cortland, 40 students in the program were on academic probation. Since then, his staff reduced the failure rate to well below 10 per year and to zero some semesters.

Since 1997, New York State’s Office of Opportunity Programs (OOP) has awarded 230 OOP Chancellor’s Awards to SUNY Cortland EOP students who achieved the necessary 3.0 cumulative grade point average and over the years a number of these students also were honored with a Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.

Under Smith, SUNY Cortland’s EOP has consistently ranked among the top five SUNY comprehensive colleges for its six-year graduation rate of EOP students, and often has achieved the top three ranking.

Despite SUNY funding and subsequent size reductions in recent years, the SUNY Cortland EOP currently serves 129 students per year, with many of them flourishing as student leaders and later in educational, health, government and other careers.

Between 1993 and 2010, Smith’s successful grant writing resulted in awards totaling more than $850,000 to SUNY Cortland for EOP Summer Institute funding. In 2001, he obtained a grant for almost $50,000 from SUNY Systems Administration for multiple EOP initiatives.

He has presented at conferences and co-authored reports in his field.

Smith served as human rights chair of the College Student Personnel Association of New York.

He has served the College on numerous committees, currently as an ex-officio member on the Teacher Education Council and on the Ethnic Minority Student Recruitment and Campus Climate Committee of the Multicultural Council. He collaborated on the creation of the SUNY Cortland Vice President for Student Affairs Merit Award in 2001 and served as collaborator and co-author of the 1999-2000 report, “SUNY Cortland President’s Task Group on Ethnic Minority Recruitment and Retention.”

For many years, he served on the Africana (formerly African-American) Studies Faculty Committee and, from 1993-97, chaired the College’s Affirmative Action Committee.

At SUNY Plattsburgh, he also taught Afro-American Studies on its faculty.

Smith taught pre-college mathematics at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., from 1983-86.

He directed the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) at Utica College of Syracuse University from 1979-81, having previously served as coordinator of Academic and Supportive Services and as program counselor since 1975.

Smith also taught science from 1974-75 at Red Creek (N.Y.) Junior-Senior High School and the prior summer was an outdoor recreation specialist/recreation supervisor with the New York State Department of Parks and Recreation at Fair Haven (N.Y.) Beach State Park.

He was raised by a single mother of Native American heritage in Bronx, N.Y. Smith lost her at an early age and lived for a time in the Caribbean before graduating from high school in Brooklyn, N.Y.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Natural Science from SUNY Potsdam, where he made the President’s List on three occasions. He received a Master of Science in Counseling from Syracuse University and completed additional graduate course work in counseling, social work, photography and business administration. At Plattsburgh, he took additional graduate and undergraduate courses in counseling, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

Smith is listed in Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who Among African Americans and Outstanding Young Men of America.

Smith’s immediate retirement plan is to visit friends in Southeast Asia and the Philippine Islands.

Abby Thomas of McGraw, N.Y., was named director of advisement and transition at SUNY Cortland. She began her new duties on Jan. 3.

She replaces Carol Van Der Karr, who left that position in 2007 to become the interim associate provost for academic affairs and later was named associate provost for academic affairs.

Reporting to Van Der Karr, Thomas oversees advisement and transition, which operates under the umbrella of the Division of Academic Affairs. In addition to managing the office, she provides leadership for academic advising, transitional and retention programming for approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students a year at SUNY Cortland. Thomas directs services within the office and works collaboratively with offices across campus to assess student need and enhance the student experience. Advisement and transition provides walk-in support and outreach in multiple media to assist both students and faculty in the advising experience.

Thomas supervises programs including academic advising, Orientation, the first-year seminar for all incoming students called COR 101: The Cortland Experience, first-year learning communities, transfer credit evaluation for new and continuing students, transfer student support, nontraditional student support, pre-major outreach for undeclared students, and graduate student services.

Thomas and Lori Schlicht had co-directed the office since 2007, both serving as associate director of advisement and transition.

Thomas joined SUNY Cortland in 2002 as coordinator of Orientation and academic advisor. She was promoted to assistant director in 2006 and associate director in 2008.

Previously, she served at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Housing and Residence Life Office from 2000-2002, as residence hall director and staff assistant for multicultural programs and community development. From 2003-04, Thomas was an external consultant to develop the university’s first-year residential program.

She was a house director for Residential Life and Housing Services at Hampshire College from 1998-2000.

Thomas began her career of service to college students as a resident director at Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y., from 1997-98.

She earned a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. Thomas received a Bachelor of Arts in Clinical/Counseling Psychology with a minor in women’s studies from Alfred University.

She currently chairs SUNY Cortland’s General Education Committee and the Suspension Review Panel of the Judicial Affairs Office and serves on the Middle States Self-Study sub-committee on Academic Excellence, Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee and the New Student Academic Convocation Committee.Thomas is a member of the National Academic Advising Association, National Orientation Directors Association, psychology national honor society Psi Chi and international honor society in the social sciences Phi Gamma Mu.

She is married to Bryan Thomas, a SUNY Cortland Art and Art History Department faculty member and interim gallery director at the College's Dowd Gallery. They have two sons, Owen and Drew.