Campus Champion

Switching gears is all in a day's work for Jaroslava Prihodova, a member of the Art and Art History Department and installation preparer at Dowd Gallery. Along with handling, framing, archiving and building fixtures for the artwork featured in up to six exhibitions a year, her own work is on display in the “2015 Art and Art History Faculty Biennial.” In 2000, the young artist from the Czech Republic was invited to SUNY Cortland for a one-month residency. In 2012, she returned to live permanently, continue her studies and multitask her way through the day at the College’s highly regarded cultural resource.

The Bistro Off Broadway, the new dining facility in SUNY Cortland’s new Student Life Center officially opened as scheduled on Friday, Jan. 23, but the larger wing that includes the building’s wide array of recreational activities will not open until Monday, Feb. 16.

The three-week delay was caused by issues related to the Nov. 25 natural gas explosion on the construction site that damaged sections of the building and temporarily halted work.

Students, faculty and staff will continue to have access to most current recreational facilities, although availability will be limited as staff and equipment are moved into the new, nearly 150,000-square-foot structure.

“Both the construction team and our staff have worked valiantly to get this building ready for our students at the earliest possible date,” College President Erik J. Bitterbaum said. “I am happy to report that students returning for the spring semester will have immediate access to a brand new dining experience, and only a short wait for a recreational facility unlike anything else in the SUNY system.”

By Feb. 16, almost all features of the Student Life Center are scheduled to be available. They include the suspended jogging track, cardio fitness area, circuit and free weight area, climbing wall, bouldering wall, group exercise room, combatives room, equipment issue area, functional training room, three-court gym, multi-activity court, outdoor pursuits center and locker rooms.

The area most affected by the explosion is not likely to open by Feb. 16 and will be temporarily walled off until early March. That area contains the spinning room, golf simulator stations and mind/body room.

Construction of the Student Life Center began two years ago, after more than a decade of planning, on the former Carl “Chugger” Davis Field on Pashley Drive. It is intended to be a new hub for student life, providing fitness, recreational, dining and social options in the center of SUNY Cortland’s long, serpentine campus.

The new dining hall, The Bistro Off Broadway, officially opened Friday, Jan. 23, when new and transfer students arrived at SUNY Cortland. An official ribbon cutting for the 350-seat dining facility will be held Wednesday, Jan. 28.

The Bistro offers “unlimited” access through several campus meal plans. It features a cooking demonstration area and numerous on-site food preparation stations. The Bistro, scheduled to be open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, will offer a wide variety of healthy menu selections and offer options not found anywhere else on campus.

Fuel, a small retail shop featuring Starbucks coffee, energy drinks and quick foods, also opened in the Student Life Center complex - just outside the Bistro - on Friday, Jan. 23.

Much of SUNY Cortland’s Opening of School Meeting on Thursday considered national issues shaping higher education and what they could mean for the College in the future.

Four topics guided the morning gathering of faculty and staff members in the Corey Union Function Room. President Erik J. Bitterbaum spoke on student success measures as well as the importance of “soft” skills that college graduates should bring into the workforce, such as a strong work ethic and creative problem solving. College staff members then briefed the audience on the upcoming campus-wide electrical infrastructure project and on SUNY Cortland’s far-reaching measures to address sexual violence.

“Everybody right now is focused on higher ed,” President Bitterbaum said during his discussion of the political landscapes in Albany and Washington, D.C.

The president suggested graduation rates and student loan debt will continue to be important topics of conversation in addition to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), the legislation that governs federal financial aid programs.

“(The HEA) is very important to colleges and universities, primarily because it determines who gets money and the amount of money that is given,” Bitterbaum said, reporting that last year the U.S. government awarded upwards of $150 billion in financial aid.

He also cited a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that reported children born into poverty have a 9 percent chance of obtaining a college degree, while children from a high-income family have a 54 percent likelihood of earning a degree. More than 300 SUNY Cortland students come from families making less than $5,000 annually, the president said.

The challenge now facing institutions of higher learning is to demonstrate to the public, and to the government officials who control financial aid programs, that the value of a college education is worth significant investment, Bitterbaum said.

“There is tremendous value,” he said. “We have to prove that value.”

The president cited SUNY Cortland’s first-year-to-sophomore-year retention rate, which stands at 84 percent compared to the 67 percent national average. He also called attention to the College’s six-year graduation rate, which, at 70 percent, is higher than the 57 percent national average.

“We’re doing some very positive things here,” Bitterbaum said, detailing the increased importance of metrics in federal rating systems and statewide performance-based funding. “These comparisons will be very interesting as they’re trotted out in the coming years.”

In order to validate the importance of a college education, the president asked faculty and staff members to continue building meaningful relationships as mentors with students. The value of education is intrinsic, not simply a prerequisite for obtaining a job, he said.

“When I go on the road, what I talk about with alumni is not the physical buildings, although I do show pictures of them,” he joked. “It’s always about professor so and so or staff member so and so.”

Bitterbaum listed many ways in which that connectedness already occurs: undergraduate research, study abroad, civic engagement projects, internships and career advice from alumni.

Those experiences also can serve as avenues to teach students about the importance of “soft” skills — vital traits that often are perceived as lacking in young adults. Bitterbaum showed a graphic from a study that shows students think they are much stronger in areas such as work ethic, communication skills and the ability to accept criticism than employers say they actually are.

“It’s a tough conversation to have, but the truth of the matter is that we have a lot of opportunity to have that conversation and be successful,” he said.

Following an overview of the impact tied to an upcoming campus construction project, five College staff members offered a panel presentation on sexual violence prevention at SUNY Cortland. They discussed legislative mandates such as the Clery Act and Title IX, campus policies, trends and statistics, and next steps to ensuring SUNY Cortland maintains an active approach to acts of sexual violence.

“The good news is, Cortland is in very good shape with regards to many policies,” said Nan Pasquarello, the College’s interim Title IX coordinator.

She was joined on the panel by Mark DePaull, assistant chief of the University Police Department (UPD); Cynthia Lake, associate director of residence life and housing; Frederic Pierce, director of public relations; and Gemma Rinefierd, the director of student conduct.

They elaborated on current campus efforts such as the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) training, a popular hands-on program led by UPD twice a year, and Sexual Health and Assault Prevention Educators (SHAPE), a six-hour session for campus community members that examines rape culture and aims to debunk myths associated with the crime.

The panel also shared plans for SUNY Cortland to join the national “It’s On Us” sexual assault awareness effort.

“‘It’s On Us’ can be used as an umbrella phrase to take all these different acronyms and programs … and make (students) realize they’re all part of a larger whole,” Pierce said. “…It’s like taking all of the wonderful things we do in civic engagement and having our students apply it to their peers.”

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) officially was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990, but the rights for which it stands were backed by SUNY Cortland decades earlier.

The College, for instance, admitted its first student who was blind during the early 1950s, at a time when other institutions turned him away. SUNY Cortland faculty members stood out as trailblazing pioneers, securing competitive federal funding for programs that benefitted children with disabilities. And nearly a half-century ago, the campus’ adapted physical education program existed as a model for other institutions to follow, just as it does today.

ADA, the civil rights act that prohibits discrimination based on a disability, celebrates its 25-year anniversary in 2015. The historic legislation will be recognized nationally throughout the year by the ADA Legacy Project, a program the College has endorsed. And given SUNY Cortland’s role as an educator of advocates as well as its longstanding commitment to people of all abilities, it would only be right for the College to join in that celebration.

The yearlong efforts will highlight the many projects that take place both on and off the campus, the daily work that’s done across several departments, and the many people who make all of it happen — students, faculty and staff members, alumni and countless others.

They’re tireless special education and adapted physical education teachers who find their greatest rewards in students who need the most assistance. They’re speech and language pathologists committed to teaching life’s basic skills. They’re therapeutic recreation specialists who educate through the outdoors.

They’re institutional movers and shakers who, for a quarter of a century, have ensured the steady removal of pre-existing physical barriers to full campus community participation in both academic and campus life settings. Since passage of the facilities requirements of the ADA law, campus leaders and facilities managers have designed for universal access whenever an existing building underwent a major renovation or a new structure was erected.

“All people, all abilities.” That’s the theme that ties together SUNY Cortland’s celebration in 2015.

You can see it online, through a webpage detailing the College’s academic programs related to ADA. You’ll see it in print, specifically in the Winter edition of Columns, the SUNY Cortland alumni magazine, where y about inspiring graduates who change lives every day.

And most importantly, you’ll continue to see it in the College’s progress in the future.

The Dowd Gallery at SUNY Cortland opens its “2015 Art and Art History Faculty Biennial” exhibition on Monday, Jan. 26. The exhibition runs through Friday, Feb. 20.

The show includes recent pieces by 10 Art and Art History Department faculty members including Martine Barnaby, Jeremiah Donovan, Lori Ellis, Charles Heasley, Kevin Mayer, Jenn McNamara, Paul Parks, Jaroslava Prihodova, Vaughn Randall and Bryan Valentine Thomas. Participants teach courses in art history, ceramics, design, drawing, fibers, painting, photography, printmaking, new media and sculpture.

“The exhibition offers students the opportunity to view work by their mentors,” said Gallery Director Erika Fowler-Decatur. “And it gives the campus community and region the chance to contemplate artwork in a wide range of media being produced within the department.”

An opening reception for the artists is set for 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29. Refreshments will be served.

The faculty exhibitors will discuss their artistic vision during two separate “Artist’s Talk” events, the first at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, and the second at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Donovan, Heasley, Mayer, McNamara and Thomas will discuss their work on Feb. 4. Barnaby, Ellis, Parks, Prihodova and Randall will be available to interact with the public at the Feb. 10 event.

Fairy tales, folklore and childhood games comprise the foundation of Barnaby’s work. In describing her own focus, she alludes to the C.S. Lewis statement, “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

Her recent series, which includes the 4.5-inch by 4-inch mixed media piece “Red, Mother, Grandmother, Wolf (detail),” explores notions of growing up, rites of passage and memory.

Lori Ellis painted this oil on birch panel piece called “Microclimate II. Above left, this digital print, film and vintage View-Masters piece, titled “Red, Mother, Grandmother, Wolf (detail),” is from Martine Barnaby.

“My imagery is a visceral response to the disguised symbolism of adult themes that are neatly tucked away in classic tales for children,” Barnaby wrote. “I am interested particularly in the traditional role of the storyteller as well as in the delivery of narrative structure using both old and new technology.”

For the last several years, the subject matter of Ellis’ paintings has been the microclimates of garden plants, the task movement of insects and many unanswered questions about the dynamics of growth and weather. 

Ellis has focused on gardens, artist studios, commercial kitchens and construction sites to study how environments are created in time and space from both material objects and patterns of task movement.

In her most recent work, she has begun to consider human patterns of time and movement in relation to immersive tasks and created environments. Her 2014 painting, “Microclimate II,” attempts to celebrate the “reverie of observation and the consequent suspension of time and space,” she stated for the exhibition.

“Full-sense observation — including the visual, auditory, kinesthetic and olfactory senses — has the potential to interrupt normal time cadence, both compressing and stretching the familiar markers of seconds, minutes and hours, Ellis noted. “Movement is stilled in varying lengths of time, leaving memory traces of pattern.”

All Dowd Gallery events are free and open to the public. The gallery is in Room 106, Dowd Fine Arts Center, which is located at the corner of Graham Avenue and Prospect Terrace. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment. The gallery is closed on weekends.

Group tours are available and can be arranged by contacting Fowler-Decatur at 607-753-4216 or erika.fowler-decatur@cortland.edu.

For more information, visit the gallery website.

Professional actress, singer and storyteller Joanna Maddox will pay tribute to Diana Ross, Tina Turner and Whitney Houston with “Life Lessons from the Divas: a Celebration of Song and Dance,” on Thursday, Feb. 5, at SUNY Cortland.

Maddox’s fast-paced, high-energy concert, which is intended to bring to life the music and stories of American’s most legendary musical performers, will start at 7 p.m. in Old Main, Brown Auditorium.

Presented by the Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS) as part of the College’s Black History Month series of events, admission to the show is free for SUNY Cortland students with College ID and children ages 10 and under. The general admission charge is $5.

Tickets may be purchased through the Campus Activities and Corey Union Office, Corey Union Room 406, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., or at the door one hour prior to the performance. For more information, call 607-753-5574.

The event also continues the College’s Black History Month series during February and early March. 

For more information on Black History Month, contact Distinguished Service Professor Sam Kelley at Sam.kelley@cortland.edu or 607-753-4104.

“Life Lessons From the Divas” features costume changes, vocals and audience participation. Maddox’s presentation offers several motivational messages and encourages audience members to love and respect themselves.

“The life experiences of these women are resonated in song and inspirational words of wisdom to encourage students to follow their dreams, believe in themselves and to never give up,” Maddox said.

A graduate of the University of Georgia, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, Maddox has captivated audiences with her dramatic portrayals of historical black women including Marian Anderson, Wilma Rudolph, Bessie Coleman, Dr. Mae Jemison and Madame C.J. Walker. Maddox presents her “live history lessons” to audiences of all ages at universities, schools, museums, festivals, corporate functions, community events and churches nationwide. “The Diva Tribute” has taken her from Las Vegas to Paris.

Maddox has appeared in numerous national television and radio commercials and corporate videos. Her television credits include “In the Heat of the Night” and “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.

She was commissioned by Annette Wise of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site to write and perform a one-woman play about Rachel Clark, a woman who had a profound influence on Carter, the former U.S. president. Titled “Raising a President, the Story of Rachel Clark and Jimmy Carter,” Maddox performed the play for President Carter on Sept. 29, 2004, in Plains, Ga., in celebration of his 80th birthday.

For more information about the performance, visit the website at joannainc.com. For information about this or other CALS events, visit the website at cortland.edu/events/cals.

For more information on Black History Month, contact Distinguished Service Professor Sam Kelley at 607-753-4104.

Black History Month events are co-sponsored by the College’s Affirmative Action Committee; offices of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, President, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Health Promotion; Student Affairs; Multicultural Life; Health Department; Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies; departments of Sociology/Anthropology, Sport Management, Political Science, Communication Studies, and Africana Studies; Black Student Union; and Campus Artist and Lecture Series.

Up-and-coming country music artist RaeLynn, who gained popularity on NBC’s The Voice and has sung with stars such as Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, will perform at SUNY Cortland on Saturday, Feb. 7. It will be the first country music concert presented by the College’s Student Activities Board (SAB).

Tickets for the show, which starts at 9 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room, go on sale at noon Wednesday, Jan. 28, at the Corey Union Information Desk. They cost $5 for SUNY Cortland students, $7 for non-Cortland students and $15 for College employees and the general public. Only cash will be accepted.

Doors will open the night of the concert at 8 p.m.

The 20-year-old Texas native has achieved steady success since appearing on the second season of The Voice in 2012, and has been described as the next Taylor Swift. She’s best known for her debut single “God Made Girls,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2014, making it the year’s highest charting debut single by a solo female country artist.

She performed it during a return to The Voice in December, then appeared on national television less than a week later when she sang the National Anthem during a Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons.

Last year, RaeLynn was chosen as iHeart Radio’s “On the Verge” artist, becoming the first female country artist to receive the honor. She currently is on the road opening Grammy Award winner Miranda Lambert’s “Certified Platinum” tour.

RaeLynn also is often associated with country music sensation Blake Shelton, who was one of her early supporters as a judge on The Voice. The pair sang together on Shelton hits that include “Boys ‘Round Here” and “Buzzin.”

For more information, contact SUNY Cortland’s Campus Activities and Corey Union Office at 607-753-5574.

One of the most popular type of student groups that many colleges around the country attract is Greek Life. Hundreds of different sororities and fraternities flourish all over the country including, as of recently, 15 at SUNY Cortland.  

On Nov. 3, seven young men were formally initiated into the College’s Greek life in a chilly, nighttime ceremony called a “probate.”

During the ceremony the individuals sang, chanted, danced and officially joined the Korones chapter of Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Incorporated (LSU), SUNY Cortland’s fifth National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations representative.

The new brothers — Jomar Estrella, Luis Flores, David Jimenez, Ramon Jimenez, John Martinez, Esteban Rodriguez and Andrew Rollins — are the founding members of the 68th chapter of the fraternity. Others chapters can be found at colleges and universities all over the country, including those in the New York cities of Syracuse, Binghamton, Buffalo, New York City and Oswego.

Chapter Vice President Rodriguez, a senior exercise science major from Hartsdale, N.Y., stated that LSU has four main goals to live by: academic excellence, cultural awareness and diversity, being a role model to the community at large and brotherhood.

“Our big goal is to really reach out and impact our campus but more importantly our community around us,” he said. “We go to school in this city, so we need to protect and respect the city.”

Members plan to work with local schools to show the children that they, too, can go to college and make it. They also intend to collaborate closely on civic projects with other campus organizations.

LSU has chosen HIV/AIDS awareness as its primary philanthropy.

President Estrella, with the support of his fellow brothers, wanted to found a different kind of fraternity from all the others.

The fraternity will have informational programs and events not only for recruitment purposes but for anyone who wants to get to know LSU better.

Next year, the brothers also aspire to have a house, bucking the campus and national trends in the other direction.

“One thing about longevity for Greek organizations, a house is a must,” Rodriquez asserted. “That's what we want on this campus. We did not put the work in to have a chapter die in three years. My line brothers and I want to be able to come back here in 10 years and see that the chapter is still making a positive impact on the community and campus.”

For more information, contact Rodriguez at greymer.rodriguez@cortland.edu.

Prepared by Public Relations Office intern Paul Barchitta

Steven Broyles, professor and chair of SUNY Cortland’s Biological Sciences Department, will discuss the pressing issues surrounding the role of genetically modified food in global sustainability on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

His talk, titled “Food Fight: When Genetic Engineering Makes Sense for Agricultural Sustainability,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125.

Broyles, a 2002 recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, will examine the scientific evidence regarding the safety of such foods and the arguments for their role in the sustainability of global food provision.

A reception will precede his presentation at 4 p.m. in the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum, Moffett Center, Room 2126. The Brooks series events are free and open to the public.

His lecture continues the 2014-15 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series, themed this year on “Culture, Technology and Sustainability.” The series explores the present and future on a planet with a rapidly growing population, critical food shortages, climate change and a host of other factors that affect the quality of life across the world. Presenters will discuss these issues and offer possible solutions to major global problems, including the role technology may play in helping or hindering progress toward a “livable planet.” 

Steven Broyles

A botanist, Broyles has a bachelor’s degree from University of North Carolina at Charlotte and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Georgia. A member of the SUNY Cortland faculty since 1992, Broyles teaches Biological Sciences I, Field Natural History, Field Biology at Raquette Lake, Ornithology, Biology of Trees, Conservation Biology Seminar, and Neotropical Biology.

Plant genetics is the focus of some of the considerable volume of research he has published in journals that include Evolution, American Naturalist, Journal of Heredity, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics and American Journal of Botany.

Broyles has long enjoyed accolades as a scholar and teacher. His doctoral dissertation, “The Reproductive Biology of Poke Milkweed, Asclepias exaltata L.: Population Structure, Mating Patterns, Pollen Dispersal and the Evolution of Inflorescence Size,” was recognized by the University of Georgia with the 1993 Sigma Xi Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award. The university also presented him with its Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 1990 and its Outstanding Teaching Award in 1992.

The Botanical Society of America presented Broyles with its 1991 Margaret Menzel Award for Outstanding Paper in Plant Genetics. The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools awarded him its 1990 Outstanding Thesis Award in Natural Sciences and Mathematics. In 1989, he was recognized by the Association of Southeastern Biologists both for best student paper in ecology and for student research. He was inducted into the interdisciplinary honor society Phi Kappa Phi and the Blue Key National Honor Fraternity.

In 2012, SUNY Cortland presented him with its highest honor for faculty, the Rozanne M. Brooks Dedicated Teacher Award.

A frequent invited speaker by local community groups on a range of different biological subjects, Broyles oversaw the Cortland Tree Survey from 2004 to 2005 as a service learning course for his students to examine, evaluate and identify Cortland street and park trees. He chaired the City of Cortland’s Water Board from 2002 to 2003.

The 2014-15 Brooks Lecture Series is sponsored by a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation and the Cortland College Foundation. For more information, contact Sharon R. Steadman, SUNY Cortland professor of sociology/anthropology and Brooks Museum director, at 607-753-2308.

After two years of discussion, SUNY Cortland faculty and staff are participating in a referendum that would modify the college’s general education requirements to help make it easier for students to graduate on time.

Eligible faculty and staff members can read the details of the proposal and cast their votes online.  Click “yes” or “no” and cast your ballot by clicking “done.”

The deadline for casting ballots is 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

The proposal would eliminate two of SUNY Cortland’s 13 required general education categories, bringing it closer in line to the 10 GE categories mandated by the SUNY system.

If approved, western civilization will become an elective and will no longer be a required course category for all graduates. It would, however, still be offered as an option to fulfill the 30 general education credits needed for graduation.

The proposal would also eliminate one of the two science categories currently required under the college’s current general education policies. If approved, the new policy would require all students to take one, 4-credit science course with a lab as a prerequisite for graduation.

The referendum also asks faculty and staff to modify the description of the general education category of Science, Technology, Values and Society to strengthen the focus on how scientific methods apply to the analysis of, and judgments about, social issues. 

If approved, the changes will go into effect this fall.

All permanent and term faculty with academic rank, including librarians, are eligible to vote.  So are staff members with permanent or term appointments, as well as all employees designated as management/confidential.

The proposal reflects more than a year of work by the college’s general education committee and the input of many members of the SUNY Cortland community. The Faculty Senate voted to hold the referendum last semester.

SUNY Cortland senior Samantha Glassman never imagined in her earlier years of college that she would one day find herself representing her classmates and professors at the nation’s top health conference.

The senior community health major from Plainview, N.Y., said she was almost overwhelmed by the crowds at the American Public Health Association (APHA) annual conference in New Orleans, held Nov. 15 to 18. But an urgent health message motivated her presentation.

“You don’t have health, you don’t have anything,” said Glassman, explaining the reasons why she started her investigation into the genital human papillomavirus (also called HPV) vaccine as a research assistant in the College’s Health Department.

In fact, the quality of her diligent research ultimately led to the abstract that she presented on the HPV vaccine, the leading sexually transmitted disease in the country.

“I wanted students and everyone to be ‘educated and vaccinated’ about HPV,” Glassman said. Her presentation focused on how and why the HPV vaccination rate is so low among male college students.

Bonni Hodges, who chairs the College’s Health Department, was impressed at Glassman’s accomplishment.

“The APHA conference is the premier public health conference in the U.S. and includes presentations from all over the world,” Hodges said. “It is hard enough for we professors to get accepted to present at this conference, so the fact that Samantha’s work was selected is rather extraordinary.”

Glassman originally became involved with the HPV research while serving as an undergraduate research assistant to Associate Professor Jill Murphy and Hodges on a variety of projects. Glassman also worked with Associate Professor Sarah Beshers, who was working with Murphy to conduct a 2011 survey exploring the reason why the HPV vaccination rate is so low among young college males.

Glassman and her professors together submitted their research findings to the APHA late last spring. They learned the abstract was accepted last June and Glassman prepared for the presentation in the fall.

She developed an educational poster for the conference that combined Beshers’ survey with hew own related research. Glassman’s poster is displayed in Moffett Center’s main hallway near where the old and renovated corridors meet at a corner nearest Old Main.

Samantha Glassman stands beside the research poster that earned her lots of attention at the American Public Health Association in New Orleans, La.

Health Department staff members said they are proud of their young protégé.

“It’s a great opportunity to showcase our undergraduate community health program and all the experiences SUNY Cortland has to offer,” Hodges said.

Glassman’s future looks bright. She’s applying to nursing school to start her clinical background, and beyond that aspires to the top public health department posts in the state and country.

“I’m inspired to be a bigger and better official in the public health community,” she said.

Prepared by Public Relations Office intern Paul Barchitta

SUNY Cortland’s groundbreaking wilderness education program for teachers of the Gilded Age has won another $180,000 federal grant to help two new groups of working educators gain a fresh perspective on the typically urban topic in the Adirondack Mountains.

The new grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will allow Kevin Sheets, associate professor of history, and Randi Storch, professor and History Department chair, to take two groups of teachers to the College’s facility at Raquette Lake this summer as part of “Forever Wild: The Adirondacks in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.”

Forever Wild, a one-of-a-kind Landmark NEH program, will be offered to teachers across the country for the second time in three years. NEH’s initial $180,000 grant for the program was awarded to SUNY Cortland in 2012.

Camp Huntington at the William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education is the only national historic landmark in the State University of New York system. Sheets and Storch again will use the facility to demonstrate how the wilderness shaped history from the 1870s to the early 1920s. In many classrooms, the history lessons from those years are defined by urbanization and industrialization that took place in large cities.

“All the attention goes to New York City,” Storch said. “But you can’t have New York City unless you have the resources from the wilderness.

“It’s distant, it’s remote, it’s forested, it’s wild space and so therefore it’s not really talked about. But our argument is that the two places are related.”

A common obstacle in teaching about the Gilded Age involves the time period’s storylines, dominated by economic issues such as tariffs and cyclical depressions, which can come off as dry.

“There’s a real challenge to engage students with those topics,” Storch said.

One of the many unique experiences shared by Forever Wild participants is a seaplane ride to take in six million acres of Adirondacks landscape.

Enter the proposal from the SUNY Cortland pair. It presents the wilderness as a missing dimension of the Gilded Age story and uses Raquette Lake as a crucial lens. The Forever Wild program finds its strength in the outdoors experience and complete immersion in the Adirondacks environment. Participants not only learn from authoritative scholars and visit national historic sites written about in textbooks, but they taste the wilderness lifestyle for a week — sleeping on bunk beds, assuming kitchen duties for a night, and spending many hours outdoors.

“What we found the first time through is that place really was critical in fostering relationships,” said Storch, reflecting on the initial run in 2013. “It was transformative for so many of those teachers to be in that place and to really feel like they were part of something big.

“Having them all there together — living together, working together, studying together, eating together — really made the critical difference.”

That residential component distinguishes Forever Wild from other opportunities in the NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers Education Program. Although all of the programs are rich and diverse in their content, few can replicate the element of place like SUNY Cortland’s Parks Family Outdoor Center at Raquette Lake. A scholar studying in Chicago, for instance, likely will stay in a hotel. In contrast, the Forever Wild participant will sleep in a cabin that’s part of a Great Camp — a luxurious wilderness retreat — of the Gilded Age.

Sheets said he initially wondered if the wilderness aspect would scare people away. Instead, it brought participants closer together. Likewise, several other unique components of the program proved just as meaningful. The nearby Adirondack Museum and its exhibits perfectly illustrated the grant’s themes. Participants also toured Camp Uncas, a private Great Camp that once was owned by J.P. Morgan, and took a seaplane ride for a full view of the Adirondacks landscape.

“There’s something about having them up in the air and seeing what six million acres looks like,” Sheets said. “You can describe what it is, but you don’t know what it looks like until you’re up there. It’s vast.”

The basic logistical structure of the workshop will stay the same, with teachers arriving on a Sunday and leaving on a Saturday. Before they travel to Raquette Lake together by bus, participants will tour the city of Cortland to gain an urban perspective to contrast with the wilderness.

“Cortland is totally typical of the Gilded Age,” Sheets said. “Go to any small city in upstate New York and it’s littered with the evidence of industrialization and the 19th century.

“It’s a nice grounding — the perfect laboratory and workshop for us.”

At Raquette Lake, participants will learn from noted scholars Rebecca Edwards, a history professor from Vassar College, and Philip Terrie, professor emeritus at Bowling Green University. The most noteworthy programmatic addition to Forever Wild is a comparative international lesson to be offered by Scott Moranda, a SUNY Cortland associate professor of history and an environmental historian. Moranda will discuss the international dimension of the Gilded Age story by comparing forestry practices of the time period in Germany with those in the United States.

Educators from all grade levels and content areas are invited to apply to the Forever Wild program. They receive $1,200 to put towards travel expenses.

In 2013, Forever Wild participants came from across the country, from states ranging from Wyoming to Alaska. Some were intrigued by the subject matter, others by the attraction of the wilderness, and several for the parallels that could be drawn in other classroom lessons involving the natural world.

A teacher from Florida looking to discuss land-use issues throughout history, for example, might look to the Everglades in the same way Forever Wild incorporates Raquette Lake. Similarly, teachers from the west could use a similar approach to discuss mineral extraction and preservation.

“One of my favorite experiences of the grant weeks was listening to teachers sharing their insights and ideas with one another,” Storch said. “Their work created professional networking opportunities that were truly enriching.”

Sheets said a major goal for the program is to attract an even more diverse participant group, particularly from places that could use the wilderness as an educational lens. Up to 36 teachers will join each cohort, and educators from all grade levels and content areas are invited to apply. Each participant receives $1,200 to put towards travel expenses.

The 2013 group included mostly social studies teachers from the middle school and high school levels, but also art teachers, science teachers and librarians. Just as the wealthy industrial barons who developed the Great Camps in the wilderness blended the simplicity of nature with modern building methods and designs, Sheets and Storch infused the latest teaching technologies into their Forever Wild workshop.

Participants used iPads to take photos and videos, then turned them into basic documentaries on the period. Throughout the week, they interviewed scholars, photographed sources and used iMovie to pull all of their theme-based work together.

“Some teachers came to us with little to no technical knowledge,” Storch said. “But everyone left with new teaching skills.”

They also departed with memories of an inimitable outdoor teaching laboratory.

“We have this incredible asset that’s made for historians,” said Sheets, referring to the College’s property at Raquette Lake. “And we have this longer range goal in mind to position SUNY Cortland to be a leader in social studies education in New York state.

“When teachers think about social studies materials or resources or support, we want them to instinctively think of SUNY Cortland.”

Interested participants can learn more about Forever Wild, including the application process, on the program’s web page or social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

When tragedy changed Esosa Aideyan’s life during her senior year in high school, the idea of traveling abroad to study suddenly seemed an impossibility.

But this semester, the sophomore psychology major is in Costa Rica, studying Spanish at la Universidad Veritas in San Jose on a prestigious national Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

The congressionally funded Gilman Scholarship program, geared toward students who might not be able to study abroad because of financial constraints, will cover many of Aideyan’s expenses, making this potentially transformational experience possible.

Growing up in a middle class family in Brooklyn, N.Y., Aideyan never expected to experience economic hardship. She attended the highly respected Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development, a small, predominately African-American institution listed as one of New York’s top public high schools by U.S. News and World Report.

“My mother was a registered nurse and my father worked for New York City,” Aideyan said. “Then my father retired and my mother stopped working, and we were living off my father’s pension.

Esosa Aideyan

“Then a couple months after that my parents took a trip to Nigeria and my mother died soon afterwards, in December 2012. My father buried her there and he stayed there. Now it’s just me and my siblings.”

Aideyan shares the family home with two adult sisters, both college graduates, and a brother who is still in college. From afar their father helps pay their living costs.

“But all my expenses I pretty much have to handle myself,” Aideyan said. “It’s not all bad because mentally I’m a stronger person. I’ve grown to be really independent and self-sufficient.

“I really needed the help to pay for this study abroad thing, I needed the support of the Gilman scholarship,” she said. “The school gave me $500 but if I only got that I wouldn’t have been able to study abroad.”

Aideyan is only the second SUNY Cortland student to earn this award, which covers up to $5,000 in international studies expenses and is named after the former, 30-year congressman from Greenville, N.Y., who chaired the House International Relations Committee. She is one of 800 students nationwide selected to study or intern abroad during the spring 2015 academic term by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Institute of International Education administers the program.

“The College is fortunate to have Esosa serve as a Gilman scholar ambassador to our partners at Universidad Veritas in Costa Rica,” said Mary Schlarb, who directs SUNY Cortland’s International Programs. “We expect her success will encourage other students to apply in the future.”

The Gilman program aims to diversify the students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go. Scholarship recipients have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages and economies — making them better prepared to assume leadership roles within government and the private sector. 

“I’ve always been interested in Spanish since high school and I figured it would fulfill me to learn the language and also make me more competitive in the job market,” Aideyan said during an early December interview.

“My father was from Nigeria but he never taught us the language because my mother was not Nigerian, she was American,” Aideyan said. “So I always wanted to learn another language.

“I didn’t grow up around people who spoke Spanish,” she explained. “It might sound weird but it’s just the feel of the language. I just liked the sound of it.

“I originally wanted to go to Spain but then I realized I was more interested in the Latin American version of Spanish than Castilian,” she said. “That’s why I chose Costa Rica. I’ll be living with a host family and they can’t speak English so my Spanish is going to improve very, very much.”

La Universidad Veritas is a popular student choice offered through SUNY Cortland’s International Programs. Staff there encouraged her to apply for the Gilman Scholarship and also awarded her a $500 Uschald Study Abroad Scholarship, named for its creator, Willi A. Uschald, professor emeritus of foreign languages and director emeritus of international programs at SUNY Cortland.

When not in class, Aideyan can experience the cosmopolitan city’s many museums and theaters.

“The National Museum and National Theater of Costa Rica, for example, both showcase Spain’s conquest and Costa Rica’s history,” she said. “Attending these places is a fascinating way to explore Costa Rican history and culture while also developing a sense of its lifestyle and values.”

La Universidad Veritas was the perfect fit for Aideyan because she can complete 13 credits worth of her SUNY Cortland language and academic major requirements there.  

She hasn’t yet decided yet whether to focus on becoming a counselor or a psychiatric nurse.

“Anything having to do with psychology makes me happy,” she said. “I can see myself as being the aide in the situations where someone doesn’t speak English.”

As a Gilman scholar, upon her return Aideyan has committed to complete a service project. She chose a project that involves informational outreach to underprivileged secondary school students.

“I am sure that I am not the only student who dreams of traveling the world, but lacks the finances to do so on their own,” she said. “I can be the reason that someone takes the initiative to fulfill their dreams, even when all odds are against them.

“Studying abroad is not only an academic goal, but a life goal,” she noted. “I can hear my mother now, telling me to go for it.”

Thirty-five students who balance family, jobs and other commitments were recognized for their hard work and commitment during Non-Traditional Students’ Week Nov. 3 to Nov. 9.

The College defines its non-traditional undergraduate students as those who are at least 24 years old or have had an interruption or delay in their education since high school. Also, they might have dependent children, regardless of their ages.

Faculty, staff and students submitted 45 names, some students being recognized by more than one person, to the “Celebrate a Non-Trad” campaign and a certificate of recognition was given to the following non-traditional students:

Tammy Anderson

Vickie Burns

Christopher Caughey

Adam Cole

Shannon Constantino

Ridi Dauti

Corrine Edick

Darlene Endy

Jessica Garrow

Kevin Ivory

Dyan Kummer

Tierra Labrada

Konstantina Lazaros

Sean Lord

Justin Miller

Ashley Owens

Shareefah Pereira

Ashlee Prewitt

Eric Prior

Madelyn Reilly

Laura Rivet

Jon Rocha

Sara Sampson

Josephine Schmeling

Karyn Scott

Azuredee Secrest

Amanda Shaw

Sheila Shea

Yessenia Simon-Mendez

Brittani Smith

Nadia Snell

Saraiya Solomon

Christine Thomas

Kristen Vroman

Brian Zoll

This program is sponsored by the Advisement and Transition office. For more information, contact Cheryl Hines, coordinator of non-traditional student support, advisement and transition, at 607-753-4726.

Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) is now accepting Program Grant applications online for the 2015-16 academic year.

Applications are submitted online and must be sent by midnight on Friday, Feb. 20. Applicants are asked to read the grant guidelines carefully before submitting an application.

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 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.

ASC grant funds may not be used for salaries, honoraria, travel normally funded by the College's budget, or scholarships for SUNY Cortland faculty, staff or students. Funds may not be used to purchase computers, related hardware or software. All purchases will be processed in accordance to ASC’s financial and related GAAP policies.  In general, Program Grant funds may not be used exclusively for food for SUNY Cortland students, faculty or staff. Funding for food may be considered if the food is deemed integral to the success of the program or event. All food shall be provided by ASC. Other grant guidelines are described in the application package and online.

For more information, contact Annette O’hara at 607-753-2761.

Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS) Lecture Grant Applications are now available for the 2014-15 academic year.

Applications are eligible for a maximum award of $500 and are open to any club, program, department, etc.

These lecture grants will not cover performances of any kind.

Applications must be received by Tuesday, Feb. 3, in order to be considered for February, March, April and May 2015 lecture programs.

Applications received after this date may not be eligible for any spring semester funds remaining.

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

Lisa Court joined the Division of Institutional Advancement as associate vice president for development on Nov. 17. This is the second time she has worked for the College, having previously served from 2000 to 2004 as executive director of the Cortland College Foundation. Court most recently was Binghamton University’s senior director of principle and major gifts for five years. She also served the university as senior director of development from 2007 to 2009 and director of development from 2004 to 2007. Court was executive director of the Cortland Memorial Hospital Foundation from 1995 to 2000 and director of development at the University of Maryland Dental School from 1990 to 1995. Earlier in her career, she fulfilled other marketing and development roles in higher education and the arts.

Noelle Chaddock on Sept. 1 was named the College’s chief diversity officer, responsible for promoting diversity throughout all four divisions of the College and in ensuring that the diversity, equity and inclusion needs of both the campus and SUNY are addressed. Chaddock serves as the institution’s primary contact for issues of diversity and as a College liaison with the SUNY System Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Since 2011, she has directed the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office. Recently, she facilitated anti-bias conversations for the SUNY Cortland community, an initiative that she plans to continue. Chaddock joined the College in 2008 as a lecturer and teaches in the Africana Studies and Philosophy departments. She has a doctorate in philosophy, interpretation and culture from University at Binghamton.