Campus Champion

SUNY Cortland has long provided opportunities for young people with disabilities to participate in physical activity. After joining SUNY Cortland six years ago, Cathy MacDonald, associate professor of physical education, saw that adults with disabilities had limited opportunities to be physically active once they aged out of our programs, so she created a Wednesday night fitness program aimed at adults. The successful collaboration between the College and community was recognized when Cathy was presented with a Franziska Racker Centers Special Friend Award in May for supporting people with disabilities. Presently, Cathy is championing goalball as an adapted physical education community program. Read more about the College’s two national champion goalball teams.

SUNY Cortland seniors Pearl Fischer and Andrew Busch always wanted to study in a different country.

However, since both are putting themselves through college by patching together numerous part-time jobs, a college study-abroad experience always seemed financially out of reach.

And, having reached nearly the end of their academic careers, the School of Education students are finished with all but their student teaching, typically completed in New York state schools, until they graduate in December.

Yet this summer, the two will embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Both Fischer and Busch will begin their student teaching requirement in Queensland, Australia, classrooms.

It’s possible because both seniors were successful in obtaining expense awards of $3,500 each from the U.S. Department of State under the prestigious national Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program.

Gilman Scholarships, managed through the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, have helped send more than 25,000 ambitious students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies or internships around the world since the highly competitive national scholarship was started in 2001. The program aims to better prepare college students to thrive in the global economy and to expand the number of Americans studying and interning abroad, thereby gaining skills that are critical to U.S. national security and prosperity.

SUNY Cortland students have earned a total of 13 of the coveted awards, all of them since 2006.

“It’s my first study abroad experience,” said Fischer, a childhood and early childhood education major from Syracuse, N.Y. A non-traditional student who transferred in Spring 2016 with an associate’s degree from Onondaga Community College, she studied Spanish and Italian before college. But she is glad there won’t be a language barrier for her student teaching experience.

“I’ve been saving money for two years to study abroad,” said Busch, an inclusive childhood education major from Irving, N.Y., who studied French in high school and once took a class trip to Italy and Greece. “And Australia’s a place I always wanted to go to so that makes it even better.”

Only 23 other SUNY students across New York earned the summer scholarships. Fischer and Busch bring to three the number of SUNY Cortland students who have won Gilman Scholarships so far in 2018. Raheemah Madany, the third recipient, traveled to Germany in the spring.

“It’s pretty cool to have that many people and two of us from the same program that have gotten the Gilman Scholarship,” Busch said.

The two Gilman scholars are among 16 college students enrolled in SUNY Cortland’s Australia Student Teaching program on the Sunshine Coastfor 13 weeks from June 13 to Sept. 15. Offered for 15 years at the College, the program involves collaboration with Australian schools. Colin Balfour, who directs the program, already introduced the students to their future classroom mentors via four skype conferences held this spring in the College’s Sperry Center.

The Australia Student Teaching program will constitute their first required school placement as student teachers. It will give them a professional edge as not many American educators can boast having the opportunity to immerse themselves in a different country’s classroom culture and educational policy put into in practice.

“Having the chance to student teach in a different country gives you a greater perspective on our education system here, on teaching different students and on just being a teacher in general,” said Busch.

“They’re open to trying new things,” Fischer said of the typical Australian school setting he and Fischer are headed to. “They’re not stuck in this system that is struggling and constantly trying to dig themselves out. They are trying all these different, new and innovative approaches to education.”

“The wonderful thing about education is that the system may differ from district to district, state to state, and even country to country, but children are children no matter where they go to school,” said Fischer. “So what I learn in every classroom is relevant to future classrooms.”

As future teachers, both Fischer and Busch are required to take a heavily structured course load, and haven’t had much time available for possible opportunities to learn in other countries.

“Due to the rigorous demands of New York state teacher education programs, studying abroad is often not an option for education majors,” Fischer explained.

As seniors, they will need to complete their required semester of student teaching. And, like all their fellow School of Education classmates, by then they will have already completed hundreds of hours of field experience and thus have had to plan their time wisely.

Even if their schedules had been more flexible, financial issues stood in the way of an international education experience for both Fischer and Busch.

Fischer works two jobs when not in school. For the last three years, she has served as a customer services representative at a shopping mall adventure center during breaks and year-round as a server at a chain restaurant.

Busch had a job as an R.A. in Smith Tower since his sophomore year. Until recently and for the last seven years, he worked as a summer camp counselor. Busch also is employed at the SUNY Cortland Child Care Center and sometimes substitute teaches in the Cortland City School District.

That’s why the Gilman awards are game changers.

The Gilman Scholarship application process is competitive, said Julie Ficarra, associate director of study abroad at SUNY Cortland. Among other requirements, scholarship candidates write essays describing what they’ll accomplish in their host country and how they’ll promote the importance of study abroad upon their return.

Around 2013, Gonda Gebhardt, associate director of international programs emerita, began working diligently to promote this program, said Mary Schlarb, director of international programs. Before her retirement in 2017, Gebhardt had even served one year on the national Gilman selection committee.

“Our students started submitting successful applications ever since,” Schlarb said. Ficarra, Jerome O’Callaghan, associate dean of arts and sciences, and other faculty even reviewed the school applicants’ essays to help increase their success rate.

 “The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is one of the most prestigious study abroad awards that U.S. study abroad students can receive and we in the International Programs office are so very proud of all of those students who took the time and effort to apply, but especially of this summer’s two recipients,” Ficarra said.

Gilman Scholarships usually go to students who choose more non-traditional study abroad destinations such as Latin American, Africa and Asia, Ficarra noted. So it’s remarkable that both Fischer and Busch will participate in the English language program in Australia.

“Their receiving these awards is a testament to how well they were able to articulate precisely how student teaching in Australia will impact them academically and professionally, and how they plan to give back to the field of international education,” Ficarra said.

Busch agrees that he and Fischer successfully promoted the Australia Student Teaching Program to the Gilman scholarship reviewers.

“Many people study abroad in their G.E.s. (general education courses) and those are important classes, too, don’t get me wrong,” Busch said. “But as a future educator, the classes that are really important to whatever you’re going to do in the future are your education classes or student teaching. Having the chance to student teach in a different country gives you a greater perspective on our education system here, on teaching different students and on just being a teacher in general.”

Fischer eagerly awaits her arrival in an Australian classroom.

“What I see is they are interested in building community within the school, and it’s more than just words,” she said. “They are looking to involve the families of the kids, including more of what’s going on in their lives into the classroom. It seems to be working very well for them.”

Fischer and Busch will finish their second student teaching placements at yet-to-be-named U.S. school districts in the fall and graduate in December. Fischer aspires to begin teaching English language arts while she pursues a graduate degree in library sciences. She considers her career goal an homage to the middle school librarian who turned her on to books.

Busch wants to begin teaching elementary-level children with an eye on eventually becoming a school administrator.

Upon their return from Australia, as a required service project Fischer and Busch will develop presentations to encourage current SUNY Cortland students to consider study abroad, particularly those majoring in education fields.

“Now the people who have gone through it can help the people who want to apply for it the next year,” Busch said.

Starting in the fall, SUNY Cortland students who are interested in working on the business side of healthcare can pursue a new undergraduate major in a fast-growing field.

The College will offer a bachelor of science in healthcare management as one of the first four-year programs of its kind within the State University of New York system. For current students, the degree provides foundational training for roles that include finance, human resources or business management across various settings — hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and larger healthcare systems among them.

In other words, SUNY Cortland is adding a high-demand major that officially links the College’s strong reputations in business economics and public health.

“While the name of the major is new, it’s important to remember that the training is built upon the excellent work that we as a college have been doing for a long time,” said Bonni Hodges, SUNY distinguished service professor and chair of SUNY Cortland’s Health Department. “Our offerings have been retooled and reimagined to make a more relevant degree program for the 21st century.”

Hodges and Professor Kathleen Burke, chair of the Economics Department, worked closely over the past several years to shape the new program. SUNY Cortland’s Economics and Health departments will share the cross-disciplinary major, which requires 120 credits and replaces the healthcare administration and planning concentration that previously existed within the College’s community health major.

“We wanted to make sure that we followed the right process in determining the courses that are most important for an entry-level person to have,” Hodges said. “The course requirements are pretty even across both departments, with an updated combination of economics and management courses that fit well together.”

Examples of required courses include Human Resource Management; Health Economics, Leadership and Ethics in Business; Organization and Administration of Health Programs; and Introduction to Health Infomatics and Communication.

“Adding a new major in a high-opportunity field made sense for several reasons,” Burke said. “Healthcare management has shown promising job growth and our campus already had many of the most important pieces in place.”

Three significant findings inspired SUNY Cortland to create the new major. First, the healthcare administration and planning concentration within the community health major saw a steady increase in enrolled students over the past eight years. Second, new graduates are working in a variety of roles and settings, including hospitals, physicians’ offices, outpatient care centers, rehabilitation facilities and home healthcare service agencies.

And third, several projections suggest significant career growth over the next decade. The projected growth rate for health services managers by 2024 is 17 percent nationally and 12.5 percent in New York state, with an average annual salary of $128,470 for hospital administrators statewide, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A full-time, semester-long fieldwork experience will be required of all healthcare management majors. In the past, SUNY Cortland students have worked closer to campus with Cortland Regional Medical Center and SUNY Upstate Medical University or further away at Northwell Health and Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island.

Students also will be encouraged to explore a specific healthcare interest through several elective offerings within the major. Someone who is interested in working primarily with medical clinicians may choose to take a health course in chronic and communicable disease. A person looking for an introduction to community-based, non-profit health clinics could pursue an elective in sociology.

“There are so many different healthcare settings,” Hodges said. “Then there are different areas within those settings. We want students to think about the areas they’re most interested in and find elective coursework that speaks to their interests.”

Barbara Barton, an assistant professor of health and a registered nurse with healthcare management experience, will serve as program coordinator for the new major. Two new full-time faculty positions that came with the major included a health economist in the Economics Department and a healthcare management expert in the Health Department.

“To ensure that we were aligning the curriculum with the needs of the field, we also questioned a panel of alumni working in the healthcare management profession,” Burke said. “We utilized their feedback to develop a program that will prepare our students to succeed after completing their degree.” 

All told, several years’ worth of planning, analysis and development has established a more visible major in a growing professional field. 

“We want students to know that healthcare management could be an exciting option if they’re interested in health or business or both,” Hodges said. “And we’re not pulling it out of thin air. Instead, we’re building on SUNY Cortland’s success in two disciplines. We’re introducing a well-designed entry point to a fulfilling career.”

SUNY Cortland students and faculty have been making beautiful music together with residents in Cortland County for a very long time.

That will continue, thanks to a local philanthropic family’s wish to support the future of the College-Community Orchestra and the Choral Union.

Soon, as the College ends its primary sponsorship of the two musical ensembles cherished by many Cortland-area people, the Dan & Rose McNeil Foundation will step in to provide financial support and a rehearsal location. Both the College and the foundation will share performance venues. 

“The vision of The Dan & Rose McNeil Foundation is to support the arts in the Cortland community,” according to an announcement by the foundation, which is run by the owners of the local commercial development firm and past College benefactor, McNeil Development Company. 

“With this in mind, we are proud to announce that the Dan and Rose McNeil Foundation, in collaboration with SUNY Cortland, is committed to the preservation of the SUNY Cortland Choral Union and Cortland Community Orchestra.”

Long associated with music and performance in the local community, the Dan and Rose McNeil Foundation also plans to sponsor extended performances to enhance the presence of the two ensembles within the community.

“We’re still in the process of organizing the relationship for next year,” said SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “What I can share is we’re very excited about this joint relationship between the College and the McNeils.”

Bitterbaum originally was approached last fall by McNeil family members Daniel McNeil Sr. and David J. McNeil, who had expressed concern about the future of the vocal and orchestral ensembles.

“They had an idea,” Bitterbaum said.

The McNeils had purchased a former church at 19 Church St. that they were turning into a community space and a venue for concerts and lectures.

“They will be excited to promote both music and speakers,” Bitterbaum said. “We’re very interested in joining forces in order to provide this enrichment for the community.”

SUNY Cortland students who participate in either ensemble will earn college credits and enrich their lives as they gain mastery of these musical forms.

The new partnership comes at a key time. The College’s Performing Arts Department must devote more of its rehearsal and performance space, faculty and student participation and fiscal resources to its growing musical theatre program, according to Professor of Performing Arts David Neal.

The fall 2018 freshman class, with 23 students, is the largest in the College’s history, and classes have been steadily increasing for the last three years, according Department Chair and Associate Professor Deena Conley.

OnStageBlog.com recently named SUNY Cortland as one of “The 5 Most Underrated Theatre Colleges” for the Northeast, lauding the College for its contemporary training standards, facilities and past performances.

Neal led the Choral Union for three semesters and will continue to lead it going forward.

“I think this is a really positive development,” Neal said. Non-majors and community members will continue to have these ensembles as a part of the Cortland experience, while the department will be able to direct its resources to capitalize on the growth of the musical theatre major.

“I was encouraged when the McNeils proposed the establishment of the foundation in order to help support it,” Neal said.

Bitterbaum noted that Ubaldo Valli likewise has offered to continue to conduct the orchestra ensemble.

“The McNeils hope to hire someone to represent their interests in working with the College in the future,” Bitterbaum said.

Bruce Mattingly, dean of arts and sciences, will serve as the College’s liaison with the Dan and Rose McNeil Foundation.

Both ensembles have existed for many decades.

Cortland: Our Alma Mater, by Bessie L. Park Class of 1901, relates that in 1952, the existing College Symphonette became the College-Community Orchestra by inviting members of the community to join its original ensemble composed of students and faculty.

Although the Choral Union is mentioned in neither Park’s 1960 history book, nor the 1991 book Cortland College: An Illustrated History, by Leonard F. Ralson, the choir’s likely early precursor was the Varsity Choir, which is included in Park’s book.

Now, town and gown will continue to work together to improve cultural life in Cortland County.

“We’re just very, very pleased this could come about for the future,” Bitterbaum said. “I believe it’s a win-win situation for the College. And it’s because of the McNeils.”

Audiences at the Dowd Fine Arts Center have known it for years. Red Dragons can act, sing and dance with the best of them.

Now, SUNY Cortland’s musical theatre major is getting national attention.

OnStageBlog.com recently named SUNY Cortland as one of “The 5 Most Underrated Theatre Colleges” for the Northeast, lauding the College for its contemporary training standards, facilities and past performances.

In addition to the quality of its faculty and its productions, the musical theatre major at SUNY Cortland is growing. The fall 2018 freshman class, with 23 students, is the largest in the College’s history.

“This class coming in is the largest since the creation of the musical theatre major,” said Department Chair and Associate Professor Deena Conley. “Our classes have been steadily increasing for the last three years. Every year has built upon the other.”

Those students will have opportunities to perform on-stage and behind-the-scenes in a variety of productions during their time on campus. The 2017-18 season featured two musicals, “Little Women” and “9 to 5” and two non-musical plays, “Kindertransport” and “Top Girls.” A theme of women’s perspectives throughout history linked those shows.

“We are very interested in exposing the students to all different genres of musical theatre as well as non-musical theatre,” Conley said. “We’ll do a show like “Top Girls” that hasn’t necessarily been a commercially successful play but is definitely a play that is respected within the theatre world.”

SUNY Cortland’s Performing Arts Department sets itself apart by offering musical theatre as its only degree. Students focus on acting, dance and voice and all are able to audition for a part in the cast for productions, whether it is a musical or a non-musical play.

“We are teaching them to pursue a career in musical theatre,” Conley said. “If a student attends an institution that includes another performance focus such as acting or directing, many times those students will receive priority in casting for non-musical productions. At Cortland, that is not the case.”

The faculty in the Performing Arts Department are experts in their fields and have connections with other industry professionals. Those relationships have led to numerous campus visits from significant voices in the musical theatre industry, including Jonalyn Saxer, part of the cast of “Mean Girls” on Broadway, and Jeff Whiting, artistic director and founder of the Open Jar Institute in New York City.

“We do have faculty who are working in their respective fields,” Conley said. “Not only are they teaching it, but they go out and work professionally or act professionally or are performing in some sort of venue and keeping their chops up.”

SUNY Cortland also holds a showcase in New York City for recent graduates to display their skills in front of industry professionals after Commencement. It’s a significant opportunity for actors who are looking to work in the performing arts field.

The Performing Arts Department’s social media accounts — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — share the successful outcomes that its students and alumni have enjoyed on Broadway and around the world.

OnStageBlog.com’s Northeast Region included the New England states as well as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Other colleges to make the list included Clark University, the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, Rider University and Susquehanna University.

Visit the Performing Arts Department online for more information.

SUNY Cortland faced a dilemma when Shop24 went out of business in 2016, leaving thousands of on-campus students without a convenient fix for late-night munchies. Shop24 operated the popular round-the-clock vending machine located outside Neubig Hall. 

To meet the challenge, Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) contacted its snack machine  contractor, Cortland-based Robbins Vending, for help in finding a solution to the problem. Working with Dan Davis, ASC’s director of facilities, equipment and planning, Robbins developed a plan to renovate the former Shop24 and create a new Campus Mini Mart using equipment developed by Jofemar USA, a Florida-based provider of vending machines.

“Colleges from around the country have been contacting us for information on the installation as they have looked to find their own solution for 24-hour vending since Shop24 folded,” said Pierre Gagnon, ASC’s executive director.

The Campus Mini Mart features four dispensers linked to a central control module. Two of the dispensers are refrigerated and dispense items such as 2-liter bottles of soda, milk, full-size boxes of breakfast cereal as well as personal care items such as toothpaste, nail-clippers and razors. The machines can handle items ranging in weight from one ounce to eight pounds.

The machine is most heavily used between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Customers may use cash, credit cards, cellphone-based payment apps or their SUNY Cortland I.D. to pay. Receipts may be emailed electronically.

The local innovation has proved so successful that Vending Times, the primary trade magazine for the vending machine industry, featured SUNY Cortland’s Campus Mini Mart in its May/June issue.

SUNY Cortland senior catcher Justin Teague (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) has been selected as a 2018 Google Cloud Division III Baseball Third Team Academic All-American. The team was chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Teague is one of only three catchers recognized nationally on the Division III level. He is an Academic All-American for the second straight season; he was a first-team honoree in 2017.

An early childhood and childhood education major, Teague entered the spring semester with a 3.63 cumulative grade point average.

In 41 games this past spring, Teague batted .324 with three homers, 42 RBI and 26 runs scored. He finished his career ranked eighth at Cortland with 168 games played and 14th with 174 career hits. A career .343 hitter, Teague hit better than .300 in each of his four seasons as a Red Dragon. He was a three-time All-New York Region catcher, including first-team honors as both a junior and a senior, and was a three-time All-State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) honoree from 2016-18.

Teague's award is Cortland's 33rd Academic All-America honor and the 13th since 2011. The baseball program has earned seven of those 33 awards.

Cortland finished the season 35-12 and earned its 26th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance - the longest active streak nationally in Division III and the second-longest all-time in Division III behind Marietta's 27 straight showings from 1976-2002. The Red Dragons tied for 17th nationally in the NCAA playoffs after posting a 3-2 record at the NCAA New York Regional in Auburn.

Posted on SUNY Cortland Athletics Website

High school students with a passion for art and creativity will get an opportunity to explore their interests at SUNY Cortland’s Pre-College Art Program in July.

The College will host a hands-on, immersive studio art program for students entering grades nine through 12 from July 16 to 20 at Dowd Fine Arts Center. The program runs daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Interested students may register online.

“Constructing Character” is the program’s theme and students will investigate the creation of characters through contemporary art concepts and a variety of media. Participants will develop a short narrative or story that will use the art pieces for a recorded performance.

They will also be introduced to visual layering through dyeing and printing techniques and drawing, digitizing and editing animated shorts centered on the “Constructing Character” theme.

An art show will be held on the final day of the program for family and friends.

Three SUNY Cortland Art and Art History Department faculty members will serve as instructors. Martine Barnaby, associate professor, has experience teaching courses in design, animation, multimedia, digital illustration and graphic design. Jenn McNamara, associate professor, teaches courses in weaving and surface design, embroidery, piecework, dyeing and photo-silkscreen. Bryan Thomas, lecturer and interim director of Dowd Gallery, is a mixed media sculptor and teaches courses in drawing and design.

The cost per student is $175 if registered by Thursday, May 31. The registration fee rises to $225 for those who register between Friday, June 1, and the deadline of Friday, June 29. Space is limited. Students should bring their own lunch and snacks.

Additional information will be sent to registrants approximately two weeks before the start of the program.

Contact the Extended Learning Office at 607-753-5643 for more information.

SUNY Cortland’s Summer Sports Camps begin on June 24 and will run through August 24, offering young athletes a chance to learn from college coaches and players in a variety of sports.

Camps for baseball, basketball, field hockey, football kicking, gymnastics, lacrosse, pole vault, soccer, soccer goalkeeping, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball are among the offerings. Returning this year will be the popular Summer Blast Day Camp in which participants compete as teams in a variety of fun activities.

Ages and grades vary by sport.

For more information, including dates, fees and details on how to register, visit cortlandreddragons.com/summercamps.

The Summer Blast Day Camp will run from Monday, July 30 to Thursday, Aug. 2. Campers between the ages of 7 and 13 will be split into two teams, red and white, and will compete in a week-long series of challenges to earn points. Some of the activities will include basketball, flag football, a scavenger hunt, whiffle ball derby and a three-legged race, among many others. The athletic challenges and logic games will stress sportsmanship, camaraderie and fun.

The camps are guided by SUNY Cortland’s coaches and student athletes on the College’s 51 acres of state-of-the-art facilities.

For questions, contact the Summer Camps office at 607-753-2739 or email summersportscamps@cortland.edu.