Campus Champion

Alexis Kane is described by one of her professors as “an amazing role model with great civic engagement qualities and advocacy skills. Her impact in the community is beyond impressive and she inspires everyone else to take part as well.” What more can we say! This senior physical education major redefines the term “Campus Champion” and has more accomplishments than we can list. So, we’ll share her two most recent awards. Alexis was named the 2017 New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Jay B. Nash Outstanding Major of the Year and the 2018 SHAPE America Robert T. Pate Scholarship recipient. 

SUNY Cortland turns 150 this year, and alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends and members of the community will have plenty of opportunities to help celebrate.

The College’s sesquicentennial will kick off in July during Alumni Reunion 2018, according to Erin Boylan, executive director of alumni engagement, and Mary Kate Boland ’06, associate director of leadership and community development.

Boylan and Boland, who co-chair the 21-member sesquicentennial planning committee, announced the basic framework for the commemoration during President Erik J. Bitterbaum’s State of the College meeting on Jan. 18, which traditionally opens each semester.

“It just so happens that many of our big anniversaries align this year and that’s just an exciting coincidence,” Boylan said.

These include the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education at Camp Huntington, the 50th anniversary of the C-Club Hall of Fame induction year, and the 60th anniversary of Cortaca Jug, “America’s best little football game,” between Cortland and Ithaca College.

“It really will be a very big, celebratory year,” she said.

After the formal kick-off, a number of anchor events will continue to link up with the College’s 150th birthday. This year, these include Orientation, Academic Convocation, Welcome Week, Homecoming, President’s Circle Dinner, C-Club Hall of Fame, Parents Weekend and Cortaca Jug. In 2019, the anniversary will link to Transformations, Spring Fling, Honors Convocation, Commencement, and Alumni Reunion 2019.

Additionally, the committee is beginning to plan a standalone event, an actual “birthday party” that will likely feature a cake, fireworks and possibly a birthday-themed carnival organized around a football game. The date and details are being discussed but the committee plans to open the event to all.

Other events are still in the imagination stage. A pot of approximately $20,000 in funding has been set aside to support creative ideas for ways to mark the Sesquicentennial. Boylan and Boland encouraged faculty and staff to submit grant proposals for lectures, workshops, cultural events, concerts, theatre productions, academic activities, sporting events, receptions or other activities to coincide with the Sesquicentennial.

“The sky’s the limit,” Boland said. “A moment ago I thought I heard a proposal for a Cortland fight song competition.”

The request for proposals was announced through campus email. Ideas will be accepted through March 9. These proposals will be reviewed by a grant subcommittee of faculty, staff and students, and their picks will be submitted to the full committee for final consideration.

“We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity and run with it,” Boylan told the gathering.

The cornerstone from the original Old Main building located downtown, which burned in 1919, will be displayed prominently on campus.

Tying all of the special events together will be a new sesquicentennial logo by College Creative Services Manager Tony DeRado. That logo, which features Old Main, the oldest building on campus, was unveiled Jan. 18.

The Cortland Normal School was constructed during 1868 and opened for the first classes in 1869. Quite a lot has happened since then. Randi Storch, the History Department chair, is working with students to select and research 150 moments from the College’s history to be included on a digital timeline. The timeline will be part of a permanent, interactive website that allows visitors to access detailed information, images and more for each event. Storch and Web Operations Specialist Loren Leonard are designing the project.

“I’m very excited that Randi will be offering this as part of our sesquicentennial year because this is going to be very accessible,” Boylan said. “People will be able to tunnel through each decade and see individual moments in history. We also can share each component through social media and emails. So people will be able to go through the history relatively quickly and find the items they want.”

 “One of the first things we’ve recently done is establish goals of what we want to accomplish during the Sesquicentennial,” Boylan said. “This will be used to guide our decisions as a committee and also help with the marketing efforts.

“We identified three goals. First, we wanted to celebrate the long history, current accomplishments and expected future growth of SUNY Cortland. The second is to create or deepen relationships with alumni, parents, students and community members to encourage and support the College in its mission through gifts of time, talent and treasure. And finally we want to use it to strengthen the College’s brand and reputation.”

Boylan thanked Michael Sgro, former executive director of alumni engagement, and Storch, for their early work as the initial Sesquicentennial Committee co-chairs.

Andrea Lachance, dean of SUNY Cortland’s School of Education, regularly hears a common refrain from school administrators across the country.

“They’re looking for SUNY Cortland students,” Lachance said. “’Send us more’ is what we hear. It’s a reputation that’s well-grounded in the feedback and data we’ve collected.”

That reputation for excellence in teacher education was why SUNY Cortland ranked No. 23 nationally in BestValueSchools.com’s ranking of the 50 best value colleges for teaching degrees. SUNY Cortland was the top college in the SUNY system on the list and CUNY Queens College, which ranked No. 18, was the only New York state college to be ranked higher.

Lachance offers three main reasons why SUNY Cortland continues to produce quality teachers.

First, the College has well-qualified faculty who are knowledgeable both in their area of expertise as well as the general field of education.

While many colleges and universities lump future teachers together in a general adolescent education program, SUNY Cortland specializes by housing specific programs in their disciplinary departments.

“You have social studies housed in the history department and science education folks in biology, for example,” Lachance said. “To me, that’s a real strength because it speaks to both that content knowledge and also that education knowledge that they need.”

Education programs aren’t limited to the School of Education. They are also integrated into the School of Arts and Sciences as well as the School of Professional Studies.

Second, SUNY Cortland has partnered with school districts across the state to give its students a wide variety of student teaching options. Many faculty members also serve on advisory boards with local schools to ensure the College’s best practices are up-to-date.

Cortland’s Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.) was highlighted by BestValueSchools.com. C.U.R.E aims to prepare the next generation of teachers with the skills and understanding needed to become effective urban teachers and to improve the quality of education for New York state children. Qualified students are offered a scholarship if they pledge to teach in an urban area upon graduation.

SUNY Cortland’s professional retention rate for its C.U.R.E teachers is 75 percent. Nationally, approximately 50 percent of teachers in urban locations leave within their first five years.

“It’s very challenging, no matter how good your preparation is, it’s a challenging profession,” Lachance said. “For our people to persist, it really speaks to the quality of the program.”

Third, Lachance credits the caliber of student who chooses to attend SUNY Cortland. The College educates more teachers than any other New York college or university and is the 10th largest among public institutions in the U.S.

“If you talk to education majors about why they come to Cortland, it’s because we’re known for education,” Lachance said. “Many of them say that they want to go to the best school for education. Our numbers relate to our reputation.”

BestValueSchools.com ranked four-year public and private institutions that offer multiple bachelor’s degrees in teaching, have an annual net price below $30,000 and have retention rates of at least 50 percent and admissions rates below 85 percent.

Other criteria included the percentage of the total graduating class that studied education, the variety of education programs offered as well as acceptance rate, graduation rate and the percentage of freshmen who return for their sophomore year. Net price was calculated by adding tuition, fees and room and board and subtracting the average financial aid package.

SUNY Cortland has been recognized nationally by a number of other organizations for combining high-quality academic programs with economic value. Money magazine named the College among the top 5 percent of four-year colleges in the United States on its “Best Colleges For Your Money” list in 2017. CollegeChoice.net named SUNY Cortland’s sports medicine program the 10th best in the country.

The neighborhood barber shop isn’t just for haircuts, according to Stephen Thomas. It can also be the place where middle-aged men learn they should probably get a colonoscopy.

Thomas, a professor at University of Maryland’s School of Public Health and founding director of its Center for Health Equity, has received national attention for his innovative approach to providing health information to African-American communities in the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area. His simple, yet incredibly effective idea was to enlist the owners and employees of 11 neighborhood barber shops to encourage customers to get colonoscopies, flu shots and timely checkups.

 “No self-respecting black barber would ever say ‘I will get you in and out in 15 minutes,’” said Thomas. “Unlike Supercuts, the black barber shop and black beauty shop remains a cultural center, a community center, where people are able to feel trusted.”

Thomas, who has a reputation for finding creative solutions to community gaps in health care and preventative education, has used a sports arena to host giant, free dental clinics; partnered on projects with Christian and Muslim organizations; and collaborated on research that contributed to President Bill Clinton’s 1997 decision to issue a formal apology to survivors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

On Monday, Feb. 5, he will bring his ideas for more effective public health outreach to SUNY Cortland. HIs talk, “Less Talk, More Action: Accelerating 4th Generation Disparities Research to Achieve Health Equity,” is set for 5:30 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium.

The presentation is free and open to the public. It is the eleventh Charles N. Poskanzer Lecture, sponsored by the College’s Health Department with support from an endowment fund named in honor of the late SUNY Distinguished Service Professor emeritus who taught in the College’s Health Department for 40 years.

Thomas’ current research focuses on studying chronic disease and how to develop community-based interventions to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. More specifically, Thomas has looked at how social context shapes attitudes and behaviors of underserved, poorly served and never-served segments of our society toward participation in health promotion and disease prevention activities.

Through his Center for Health Equity, Thomas applies his expertise to address a variety of conditions from which minorities generally face far poorer outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and HIV/AIDS. The center is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center of Excellence on Race, Ethnicity and Health Disparities Research. 

Thomas launched the Health Advocates In-Reach and Research (HAIR) program among D.C.-area barbershops a decade ago. His primary intent was to reach black Americans with the message that they are 45 percent more likely than other racial groups to die from colon cancer and they should be screened for it five years sooner than is usually recommended.

“The barber and beautician have historically been trusted opinion leaders in the African American community,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen a barber have more influence than a doctor over whether the patient takes that medicine or doesn’t take that medicine. The conversations that take place in the barber shops shape social norms.”

The HAIR model trains barbers and beauticians to discuss health issues with customers but always has medical professionals dealing directly with people in the barber shops and beauty salons.

Because other similar projects around the country have been successful and with the weight of randomized clinical trials indicating that this approach works, Thomas’ center will use his grant funding through the CIGNA Foundation to launch a National Association of Black Barbershops for Health.

“In this way, we are working toward building a sustainable model for ensuring that barbershops and salons that want to be part of this health movement can do so and have access to resources and tools,” he said. “And this will give us greater confidence that the information being delivered is done in a way that is respectful and evidence-based.”

Joining the HAIR model also provides an opportunity for health professionals, many of whom don’t come from these communities, to practice their cultural competence skills to become more comfortable working with racial and ethnic minorities.

“We think that’s a very important part of this work of transforming barber shops and beauty shops into health information portals,” Thomas said.

Another major public health issue that Thomas seeks to address effectively is the epidemic of people in the U.S. with severe dental emergencies who for lack of money are turned away in conventional health care settings.

Twice under Thomas’ leadership the center has partnered with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Washington, D.C., to offer Mission of Mercy dental clinics at the University of Maryland’s 17,950-seat Xfinity Center arena. In 2013 and again in 2017, each clinic served thousands of people. Clients had lined up outside the arena the day before for a chance to get their teeth fixed, address other health care needs, and in 2017, get a free haircut.

The idea for the dental clinic came to him by chance.

 “I say to students, ‘Don’t ignore the front page of your newspaper,’ Thomas said. “Because it was a story in the newspaper where I read about this (kind of) event.” Thomas had read about a dental clinic offered at a school gym through the diocese that was so popular it couldn’t handle all the comers.

Thomas was able to take this great idea to a whole new level.

“We can cry and whine and complain about the brokenness of the health care system but there must be something we can do to address the suffering right now,” Thomas said. “While the Mission of Mercy was not perfect, it was an opportunity to deliver in many cases lifesaving services to people who would otherwise not receive it and to wrap around it the other health needs they have. I would submit that our job in health equity is to run to the problem, run to the gap, and address the needs of our most vulnerable members of society. That’s how we can make the best contribution to promote health and prevent disease in our country.”

Central to Thomas’ research is an infamous 40-year study from 1932 until 1972 in which African Americans infected with syphilis were examined at local outreach clinics run by health professions but, unknown to them, never treated.

Thomas is particularly interested in how the legacy of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee has impacted trust and influenced the willingness of African Americans to participate in medical and public health research. His body of work, with Sandra Quinn, on overcoming the negative effects of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, contributed to the 1997 Presidential Apology to Survivors of the Tuskegee Study.

Thomas said during his doctoral studies at Southern Illinois University, classmate Alan Sofalvi, now a SUNY Cortland assistant professor of health, sparked his initial curiosity about the Tuskegee Study’s ongoing harmful effects of keeping American racial and ethnic minorities from seeking needed health care screening and treatment.

 “In that class, it was Alan who raised my attention to the Tuskegee Study,” with his project on the landmark 1981 book by James Jones about the study, Bad Blood, Thomas said. Thomas earned a doctorate in community health education at Southern Illinois.

 “The history of research abuse has cast a long shadow on the African American community to this very day,” Thomas said. “This coincided with the AIDS epidemic and with the fear and mistrust. It shows you that just when you think the Tuskegee Study’s impact is all over, it continues to be relevant to this very day.”

Students in the health professions should listen to their instinct when it says something’s wrong, noted Thomas, who has received certificates in bioethics from Georgetown University and the University of Washington.

Thomas said he once met and talked to Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks.

Cells collected in the 1950s from Lacks, a poor black woman dying of cancer, multiplied so rapidly that they continue to be the basis for research and treatment of major illnesses today.

 The 2010 book juxtaposes health industry profit off the HeLa cell line with no consideration for even basic health care opportunities for the offspring of a poor, dying black woman whose cell line was taken and exploited without her knowledge or permission in 1951.

 “Skloot was in a biology classroom and she was kind of annoyed that something this important, this significant, as the question of where the HeLa cells came from, the professor couldn’t answer,” Thomas said.

It was a forgotten fact that the HeLa cells were shorthand for the name of the unwitting donor.  

“A decade later, Skloot was inspired to study and write her book about it. It’s like the topic picked her and not the other way around.

“In many ways, the legacy of the Tuskegee Study was the topic that picked me,” Thomas said.

He has been a lead investigator of multiple studies investigating racial differences in health outcomes, including an NIH study titled “Building Trust between Minorities and Researchers.”

Thomas is a principal investigator on the Center of Excellence in Race, Ethnicity and Health Disparities Research, funded by the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).

Additionally, he was awarded funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the CIGNA Foundation and numerous local foundations and donors.

The Poskanzer Fund was established through the Cortland College Foundation as an endowment to support an annual, public lecture offered by the College’s Health Department in honor of its former colleague. Since Poskanzer’s death in 2010, the fund has continued to grow through donations made in his memory. The Poskanzer Lecture allows the Health Department to bring national leaders in public and community health to campus to meet with students and faculty and to deliver a public lecture on a current public health issue.

For more information, contact Health Department Chair Bonni Hodges at 607-753-4225 or  Sofalvi at 607-753-2980.

SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum emphasized the College’s commitment to community during his State of the College address on Thursday, Jan. 18.

The new SUNY Cortland Cupboard pantry for food-insecure students and the 2017 appointment of James A. Felton III as chief diversity officer were highlighted as ways in which the College remains dedicated to helping its students both in and out of the classroom.

Bitterbaum shared the story of a 2017 graduate who came from an underprivileged background. This student had never read a novel or written a paper longer than three pages before arriving at SUNY Cortland.

A pair of faculty members, however, offered encouragement and support and also helped the student make the personal transition into an academic environment.

“His message was that you have to be intrusive,” Bitterbaum said. “That is the greatest gift you can give a student; by being intrusive in their lives. It shows that you care. They may not want you to write all over their paper, but if you can be intrusive in their lives, that can make such a difference.”

One quarter of SUNY Cortland students come from historically under-represented groups. That is an increase of 22 percent since Bitterbaum took office in 2003. He urged faculty and staff to continue to reach out to students who may be struggling to adapt to college life, both academically and socially. Minority and international students are all striving to enculturate, the process by which people learn the requirements and values of their surrounding culture.     

“We want this place to be a welcoming institution for everyone,” Bitterbaum said. “As we become more diversified, we have to be aware of a number of issues. Think of our international students, who are experiencing the same issues.”

Continued expansion of the College’s international programs, which have grown significantly since 2010, will also create a greater diversity of people and ideas at SUNY Cortland. President Bitterbaum spoke about his visit to Cuba in June 2017 and the connections he’s forged with Cuban ambassador to the U.S., José Ramón Cabañas Rodríguez. SUNY officials, including Bitterbaum and SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman H. Carl McCall, will return to Cuba in February to sign additional agreements to expand academic opportunities between the two nations.

Bitterbaum also addressed a number of challenges facing higher education, including the public perception of colleges and universities, changes to tax law that may impact charitable giving and the uncertainty surrounding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that may put 700,000 undocumented young people at risk of deportation. He stressed the importance of college education and how it significantly increases lifetime earnings and economic security and how college graduates are much more likely to volunteer, vote and have fewer health problems than their peers with just high school educations.

College enrollment across the country dropped by 2.6 million students between 2011 and 2017. Bitterbaum noted that SUNY Cortland has bucked that trend, as the College received 11,900 freshmen applications in 2016-17, an increase of more than 1,000 from 2015-16.

A number of recently awarded grants will help SUNY Cortland grow and expand its academic offerings. A $277,000 award will allow the College to develop the Institute on College Teaching, which will serve as a centralized resource for faculty from all 64 SUNY campuses. Online and in-person professional development programs and faculty learning communities will aid faculty from across the state in becoming better teachers. SUNY Cortland was chosen for the grant based on its history and expertise in teacher education.

Faculty and staff will develop and pilot a developmental writing program with a $20,000 grant. SUNY’s Developmental English Learning Community aims to improve student writing through the co-requisite Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). New courses will be developed this coming semester to be offered in Fall 2018.

Bitterbaum noted a number of grants and awards earned by faculty members during 2017, including the $1 million grant for milkweed study on which Steve Broyles, biology department chair, serves as co-principal investigator.

He also touched on the following topics:

• The Corey Union dining renovations are ongoing and will be completed by the start of the Fall semester. In addition to expanded food and beverage options, a living room space also is being built.
• The City of Cortland received $10 million from New York state as part of its Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which will bring a number of exciting changes to Cortland. A separate $2 million Regional Economic Development Council award will be used to construct bicycle and pedestrian connections between SUNY Cortland and I-81 Exit 11. SUNY Cortland was named a Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists in 2017. The City of Cortland was named one of the top 30 safest college towns in America and one of the top 10 “Best Small Cities for New Grads.”
• SUNY Cortland was ranked No. 23 nationally in BestValueSchools.com’s list of the 50 best values for teaching degrees earlier this month. The College was the highest-ranked among SUNY colleges.
• The College will continue to invest in capital equipment for academic departments, campus activities, environmental health and safety, facilities operations and services as well as outdoor education and recreational sports.
• The College is considering creating a series of academic camps, based on the success of the SUNY Cortland summer sports camps. Programs in math, creative writing, art, history and many other subjects would help introduce children to the idea of higher education and familiarize them with the campus.
• History Department faculty members Kevin B. Sheets and Randi Storch, as well as Amy Henderson-Harr, assistant vice president of research and sponsored programs emerita, are working on an illustrated book detailing the College’s history from 1990 to 2017.

President Bitterbaum also shared some of the lessons he learned from a meeting with SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson, the 64 SUNY presidents and guest speaker Johnnetta B. Cole, former president of Spellman College in Atlanta. Cole, a cultural anthropologist, studies African proverbs and uses them to teach. She urges those in higher education to find the common humanity between educators and students and create value around collaboration rather than competition.

Lastly, President Bitterbaum shared a number of thank-you notes faculty have received from former students.

Brittany Chambers ’11, a senior development manager at the Good Food Institute in Washington, D.C., wrote to Randi Storch, chair of the History Department, to share her gratitude for the role SUNY Cortland’s faculty played in her academic development.

“I cannot quantify the pride I feel in reminiscing on the quality of my education,” Chambers wrote. “Your work as a researcher, professor and mentor is incredibly important. Please, please relay my sincere gratitude to the entire History Department for their tireless work guarding facts and empowering students. Superheroes exist in real life and for me, they are disguised in plain clothes as history professors.”

Following Bitterbaum’s remarks, Peter Perkins, vice president for institutional advancement, discussed the upcoming capital campaign. The fundraising effort will publicly launch in 2019 and will run through 2023, with a significant portion of the proceeds going toward scholarship programs.

Erin Boylan, executive director of alumni engagement, and Mary Kate Boland ’06, associate director of leadership and community development, spoke about SUNY Cortland’s plans to celebrate its Sesquicentennial in 2018 and 2019. The Cortland Normal School was founded in 1868.

A number of anchor events will link up with the College’s 150th birthday, including Commencement, C-Club Hall of Fame inductions, Cortaca, Transformations and Spring Fling 2019. Storch is working with a class to select 150 moments from the College’s history to build a digital timeline. Proposals for grants for activities, lectures and workshops to coincide with the Sesquicentennial will be accepted through March 9.

The hope is that by celebrating SUNY Cortland’s history, current accomplishments and expected future growth, the College can deepen its relationships with alumni, parents, students and members of the Cortland community.

Visitors to the upcoming international exhibition in SUNY Cortland’s Dowd Gallery will experience a dramatically vivid space where images are in motion and interactive pieces need the viewer to create the motion.

The exhibition “Loop: Connecting to the Beginning,” which starts Monday, Jan. 22 and runs through Friday, Feb. 16, visualizes the demanding process of animation, installation and the conceptual image in motion.  

Five selected artists will present their creative processes alongside historical photographs and objects using sequential imagery in time and space, according to the exhibition’s curator, Martine Barnaby, associate professor of graphic design and digital media in the College’s Art and Art History Department. 

The artists represented in the exhibition — Eric Dyer, Juan Fontanive, Laura Heit, Ondrej Janek and Anna Vasof — use a wide variety of multimedia in their pieces for this planned display, including participatory installations, objects, video and projection.

Their works explore a wide range of media and technical approaches that demonstrate high- and low-tech versions of the moving image, according to Barnaby. Contemporary works on display are juxtaposed with reproductions of photographs by film pioneers Harold E. Edgerton and Eadweard J. Muybridge to provide historical context for the study of motion.

All Dowd Gallery exhibitions and programs are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.

An opening reception is set for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, in the gallery.

Two artist’s talks are planned there as well. Janek will discuss his work from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25. Fontanive will talk about his art from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1.

Eric Dyer

Dyer’s interactive wall piece “Eadweard’s Menagerie” is based on the work and legacy of Muybridge, widely known as the “Grandfather of Motion Pictures.” His animated imagery reveals the hidden components of human and animal locomotion with hundreds of sequential photographic studies.

While his male subjects hammer anvils, box and ride horses, several of his female nudes pour buckets of water over each other, kiss and fall onto mattresses, landing with buttocks presented invitingly, said Dyer, of Baltimore, Md.

“One hundred twenty years before the pornographic Girls Gone Wild franchise launched, Muybridge directed nude women to perform exploitive actions in front of his array of cameras,” Barnaby said.

In “Eadweard’s Menagerie,” Dyer places a collection of these sequences into little virtual boxes under the gaze of a giant Muybridge, who posed nude for a number of his own studies, Barnaby said.

“Dyer digitally smoothed the subjects’ motion, adding images to the sequences that never before existed, and making them feel more like they were shot today,” she said. “The zoetrope-like artwork is spun by hand and comes to animated life under a synchronous strobe light.” 

Juan Fontanive

Fontanive’s small wall object, “Orinthology I,” uses machines that combine moving items with moving images, which attempt to explore the “unsaid of imagery” related to movement, color and sound.

“The work is founded in the moving image, and influenced by its attributes: shutters, reels, black and white flickering,” explained Fontanive of Brooklyn, N.Y. “Responding to the lack of movement found in our current digital age, I’m interested in actual movement in relation to virtual. My work longs to free images and tries to form a language to explore the vividness of living things.”

In addition, Fontanive will display his animation piece, “Yodelayee,” which offers original sound in the form of a single channel video played in a 90-second loop. This project was printed using wood and metal type found in the letterpress at the Royal College of Art, London in 2004.

Laura Heit

Heit’s installation piece featuring hand-drawn animation, “Hypothetical Stars,” employs the artist’s marks as interventions into 16-millimeter footage taken from the NASA Apollo 12 mission.

The Apollo 12 mission, which followed the first moon landing mission, was notable for attempting to capture the lunar exploration experience using a color TV camera. However, upon landing the camera was pointed at the sun and inadvertently destroyed, immediately terminating the television broadcast, observed Heit, an artist from Portland, Ore. 

“This piece asks the audience to consider a new view of that which we cannot see with the naked eye, where images sent back from the outer reaches are not seen as scientific truth but as deeply connected to our own desires and mirrors of our unconscious,” Heit said. 

Ondrej Janek

Janek’s installation work, “Projetorismus,” questions the mystery of the silver screen and how movement and illusion is sustained, Barnaby noted. The piece by this artist from the Czech Republic explores the materiality of the projected moving image and its inner-workings.

“Instead of focusing on the movie content and its aesthetics, Janek’s objective is to emphasize the form and technological structure of the film media using an interactive structure,” Barnaby said.

To accomplish that, the installation unveils technical aspects of a projection and exposes mechanical elements to the audience. The moving image is activated by a physical interaction between a viewer and the installation. The work’s structure allows up to three participants to manually set in motion three vintage 16-millimeter projectors.

“Created dialog emulates historical motion picture methods such as kinetoscope or zoopraxiscope where the viewer is instrumental in the initiation of the animation process,” Barnaby said. “The activated object transcends obsolete practices and brings them to a context of the contemporary sculpture.”  

Anna Vasof

Vasof’s video documentation projection, “Self-portrait,” is described by the artist from Vienna, Austria, as “a new invention based on the essential idea of motion and time-based art.”

The piece is made out of simple everyday objects such as a metal bucket, an ordinary lamp, magnifiers, rope and paper cups.

“However, when the visitors move the rope up and down and the lamp starts pending (swinging), the object transforms into an audiovisual instrument, which animates a figure that interacts with its social environment,” Vasof said.

Her second piece in the exhibition, “Duel,” is an interactive wall-mounted work.

“By pulling its threads, the audience can decide in which direction the bullets will move,” she said. “Right or left?”

The project introduces a new technique — based on the early analog computer animation technology called Scanimation — that differs because the person who interacts with the artwork can move the frames in two directions.

“‘Duel’ is a static picture when no one touches it but when the threads with handles are pulled, it turns into a moving image and a metaphor for our participation in various socio-political conflicts,” Vasof said. 

For more information or to arrange group tours, contact Jaroslava Prihodova, interim gallery director, or Bryan Thomas, assistant director, at 607-753-4216.

SUNY Cortland’s Park Center Alumni Arena is in the running for a makeover, but it needs your help.

The campus rink was one of 33 from around the country to be selected as a quarterfinalist for the Light Like the Pros contest sponsored by the American Hockey League and power management company Eaton. One community rink in an AHL market will win the top prize: a free LED sports lighting system valued at more than $50,000.

Fans may vote online once each day from the same computer and same email address until Feb. 2 at LightLikeThePros.com.

“LED lights will have an immediate impact on the atmosphere of Alumni Arena for all of those who use the facility,” said Todd Malone, assistant sport facilities manager and Alumni Arena manager. “Changing to LED lights will minimize energy costs, as LED lights are said to save up to almost 75 percent in comparison to other lighting options. On top of savings, LED lights will make the rink a better and safer environment to not only play hockey but also to be a spectator at any event occurring inside Alumni Arena. These events include everything from Freshman Convocation, Honors Convocation all the way through Commencement. A goal of ours is that the Alumni Arena will be brighter, have a more welcoming feel, will be energy and cost efficient, and will make the rink experience better for all participants, spectators, and users.”  

Rink owners, coaches, players, parents and fans nominated their favorite local rinks at the start of the 2017-18 AHL season. A panel of judges selected the group of quarterfinalists. The top 10 in online voting will move on to the semifinals in February and the winner will be announced in March after additional online voting.

The Binghamton Devils are SUNY Cortland’s AHL partner.

When Alumni Ice Arena opened in 1972, it was the only rink in the Cortland area. It hosts local youth teams, high school teams and SUNY Cortland’s men’s and women’s varsity teams as well as physical education classes.

For more information on open skate times and rates, visit the Alumni Arena page online.

“Numerous AHL teams have benefited from Eaton’s Ephesus LED lighting and control systems in their arenas, so it’s fitting that we are able to provide one deserving community skating rink in an AHL market with the same great lighting that our players and fans experience at many AHL arenas,” said Christos Nikolis, executive vice president of marketing and business development for the AHL. “We commend all of the rinks that were nominated. It was not an easy job narrowing the field to these quarterfinalists.”

Columns, SUNY Cortland’s award-winning alumni magazine, isn’t just for graduates.

An online version of the Fall 2017 edition, which includes the 2016-17 annual report of the Cortland College Foundation, is available to all students, faculty, staff, emeriti, families and friends of SUNY Cortland at:http://bit.ly/2Dzg6fJ

This issue features stories that illustrate the phrase “Red Dragon Strong,” from an alumna who climbed mountains while battling cancer to a graduate who persevered through immigration, homelessness and medical tragedy to celebrate Commencement with her family. It highlights the College’s alumni-created Red Dragon statue, athletic achievements from the previous year and much more.

And of course it contains Class Notes, snippets about what alumni from all class years are doing in the “real world.”

Because this edition holds the Foundation’s annual report, you will also have access to reports on the College’s progress and a listing of all donors who generously provided gifts during the 2016-17 fiscal year.

Shaunna Arnold-Plank, who joined the College April 12 as interim general manager for the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House, accepted an appointment to the permanent general manager position on Dec. 21.

The unique position merges event planning, sales, customer service, alumni engagement and hospitality. Arnold-Plank reports to Erin Boylan, executive director of alumni engagement.

“It combines everything I enjoy,” she said.

“There’s always something new to do and figure out and work on. That’s what makes it fun and exciting. And I really, really like the staff here and the people I work with on College Hill, as well. It’s a really good match of the people I work with, the people who come to the house on a constant basis, the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association Board of Directors house committee folks. It’s just a good group of people.

Arnold-Plank previously worked at the Holiday Inn Express in Syracuse, N.Y. as general manager. Before that, she was associate director for alumni and parent relations at SUNY Oswego. She has worked for Marriott and Days Inn and was an event manager at the OnCenter in Syracuse, planning a number of events from small business workshops to concerts, sporting events and tradeshows.

Her primary interest is hospitality but Arnold-Plank also has spent 13 years in higher education. She first held a teaching position at Bryant & Stratton College in their hospitality program and then was promoted to a subject area coordinator. Later she was given the opportunity for the role of associate director of career services, working with students in the hospitality field and the medical field to help them find internships and job placement.

She gained her first taste of the hospitality field working as an intern at Walt Disney World while she was a student at Herkimer Community College.

“It was a whole mix of things, food and customer service,” Arnold-Plank said. “It was a lot of fun. It’s probably the one thing that made me realize what I wanted to do when I grew up, so I recommend it for college students. It’s so eye-opening; it’s in with people from all over the world. It’s an international experience.”

She later earned her Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in Business and Marketing Education at SUNY Oswego.

She’s glad to join SUNY Cortland.

“This is a great college and I wanted to come work here,” Arnold-Plank said. She is very familiar with the College through her nephew, Zachary Zufelt ’11.

Arnold-Plank is working on getting more involved with students and getting more of them to come down the hill to the Parks Alumni House.

“We’re also trying to get people in the community more involved, too,” she said. Recently, the house hosted its first “Sip-and-Paint” and staff are working with the Cortland Flower Shop to do a “Build a Garden” event on Feb. 1.

“We’re going to do our first blood drive soon, for anybody who wants to come,” she said. “I’m hoping it will get people interested who’ve probably never been to the house before to come see what’s here. They can see the house, they can ask questions about the house.”

She will continue to organize the events that have been planned in the past, such as weddings, baby showers, bridal showers and community events such as Harvest of Gold fundraiser for the Cortland Regional Medical Center.

 “We are really trying to do more things to get the students down here, the community here, to get more exposure,” Arnold-Plank said. “That’s going to be the biggest goal for us.”

She will oversee house maintenance, repair and upgrade projects.

Many private universities have a residential alumni house, but there are relatively few in SUNY.

“Honestly, I think the Parks Alumni House is a special place. We have the opportunity to provide lodging as well as event space for our alumni, faculty, staff, students and Cortland community. It’s a place for people to call home and place to come back to.”

“As interim I enjoyed working at the house,” she said. “We came up with some new programs and we have all come together to be a great and complete staff. I look forward to the next few years.”

After more than five years of raising funds for Cornell University athletics, Kevin Sackett ’10 decided to lend his considerable higher education advancement skills to his alma mater.

He started in March as a major gifts officer. In August, his duties were expanded to planned giving as well.

“I love working with our constituent base,” said Sackett, who was a sport management major and standout Red Dragon wrestler from Webster, N.Y. “I think they are down to earth, well-rounded people.

“I look at myself as a conduit to help them either re-engage or get further engaged with Cortland,” Sackett. said. “I want to be their go-to person for any questions or concerns. I form many meaningful personal relationships with alumni but that’s secondary to assisting them in any way I can.”

Although the major gifts and planned giving officer is now considered the first person to contact on things like estate planning and charitable remainder trusts and annuities, Sackett continues to reach out for major gifts from many of the College’s most loyal alumni. Since joining the College, he estimates that he has lunched, dined or met formally with some 80 graduates and connected with hundreds of alumni in his capacity with the College’s Division for Institutional Advancement.

The scope of their career choices never ceases to astonish him.

“It opened up my eyes, having gone here as a student a decade ago,” Sackett said. “I thought I had a sense of what many grads were doing. I now see how far-reaching a network our alumni have formed finding success in a vast array of endeavors.”

A case in point is how his own athletics-focused career path took a turn.

As a student, Sackett was captain of the SUNY Cortland varsity wrestling team, achieving NCAA Division III Scholar All-America honors, twice earning All-Conference Honors and ranking sixth all-time in Cortland wrestling wins at the time of graduation.

Moreover, between his junior and senior year, Sackett completed an internship with Cornell University’s Athletic Department.

“I had wanted to work in collegiate athletics, which was kind of my door into higher education,” Sackett said.

“After I graduated, I returned to Cornell in what was originally a temporary position as the housing director for camps.” The summer ended, and he moved into a new role as assistant ticket manager in the university’s athletic ticket office. One year later, he made the move to alumni affairs and development, and had most recently served as Cornell’s assistant director for athletic alumni affairs and development.

“My particular role encompassed both event work, fundraising and volunteer management,” Sackett explained. “At the end of the day, a lot of my responsibilities and goals revolved around fundraising.”

He worked to steward relationships with former athletes, other alumni and potential benefactors at dozens of athletic special events. Sackett’s responsibilities included the day-to-day operations of the department’s $5 to $6 million current-use annual fundraising efforts.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunities I was given and the experience I gained at Cornell,” he said.

Before joining the College, Sackett had maintained close ties to his alma mater.

In 2013, he served together with his wife, Stephanie Petfield Sackett ’08, M ’09, as co-overnight supervisors at the Parks Alumni House. They now live in Lansing, N.Y., with their daughter, Annabelle.

In 2016, he became one of the youngest directors on the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association Board, focusing his energies on its committee dedicated to advancing the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House. Now he feels he knows the College and its alumni well. Sackett finds SUNY Cortland’s graduates to be physically active and focused on the well-being of themselves and others as well as involved in their local communities.

“I think many alumni are grateful to the College,” he also noted. “Many of them are first-generation college students.”

Tuition was free until the early 1960s and very low for the next decade.

“People are grateful they were able to have an opportunity to go on and do great things,” Sackett said. “They are generous as far as being service-minded and want to give back to current and future generations of students. They are definitely a giving group of people — of their time and energies as well as financial support.”

Sackett looks to meet more alumni and ultimately to channel that school spirit into new ways to serve their alma mater. He stands ready to bridge any gap, whether he assists someone with tracking down a former classmate or sharing with a constituent what’s new at SUNY Cortland. He can be reached at 607-758-5309. For more information about giving to SUNY Cortland, visit cortland.giftlegacy.com.

“Whether it’s the situation of finding information for a niece or nephew who is considering enrolling at Cortland, or whether they want to know where they should be earmarking their year-end gift, I might not know all the answers but I will help them, either by getting back to them with an answer or putting them in touch with the right person.”

SUNY Cortland’s men’s and women’s basketball coaches each celebrated milestone, 400^th game victories within a four-day span earlier this month.

Jeannette Mosher earned her 400th career victory in her 20th season as the head coach of the women’s basketball team when the Red Dragons defeated Potsdam, 83-46, on Jan. 13.

Tom Spanbauer ‘83, who has coached SUNY Cortland’s men’s team for 23 seasons, recorded his 400th collegiate victory in an 80-64 win over Oneonta on Jan. 16.

Mosher has a career record of 433-205. She was 33-65 as the head coach at Alfred University from 1994-98.

At SUNY Cortland, Mosher has led her teams to 21 or more wins in 10 separate seasons and also has three 19-win campaigns. A six-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year, Mosher was the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) East Region Coach of the Year for the 2009-10 season in which the Red Dragons went 25-4, won SUNYAC regular season and tournament titles and played in the NCAA Division III tournament. She has guided SUNY Cortland to five SUNYAC tournament championships and has advanced to the NCAA tournament eight times. Mosher led her team to the NCAA “Sweet 16” in 2001, SUNY Cortland’s first appearance in that round since 1992.

Mosher was named Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Coach of the Year six times (2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2010) and was inducted into BCANY’s New York State Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

A 1990 alumna of St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., Mosher graduated as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,280 points. She was selected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2011 Silver Anniversary Team.

Spanbauer is 400-246 in his 24-year collegiate coaching career, including a 388-233 mark at SUNY Cortland since 1995. He was 12-13 as the head coach at Alfred University during the 1994-95 season.

SUNY Cortland advanced to the NCAA Division III “Sweet 16” during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Spanbauer is a four-time recipient of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) East Region Coach of the Year and has won the New York State Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year three times. He was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year six times, most recently after the 2015-16 season when SUNY Cortland went 21-8 and won the SUNYAC tournament title.

Spanbauer previously served as an assistant coach at the University at Albany from 1986-89 and was an assistant at Alfred University for five years before he became the head coach. He currently teaches in SUNY Cortland’s physical education department and also serves as head coach of the Red Dragons’ women’s tennis program.

A native of Niagara Falls, N.Y., Spanbauer was a three-sport standout at Niagara Catholic High School and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2012. Spanbauer was a two-time team captain of SUNY Cortland’s men’s basketball team during his playing career, finishing with 1,106 career points. He was a two-time All-SUNYAC selection and also earned All-ECAC and All-State honors during his senior season.

SUNY Cortland employees contributed $39,785 to the 2017-18 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign.

The only authorized fundraising campaign among New York state workers, SEFA is directed by the United Way of Cortland County and brings together fundraising efforts for a broad group of agencies under one common umbrella. This annual fundraising effort offers SUNY Cortland employees the opportunity to support local, statewide and global charities.

The College, which relies on state employee volunteers to canvas co-workers for donations, kicked off the two-week appeal Oct. 18. Results were tallied recently.

According to the 2017-18 SEFA Campaign co-chairs, Pam Schroeder and Heather Drew, 274 SUNY Cortland employees pledged donations to 45 agencies. 

The campaign gives generous support each year to local agencies such as the United Way, YWCA of Cortland, Lime Hollow Nature Center, SUNY Cortland Child Care Center and many other charities, the organizers noted. Donations helped provide aid to victims of violence, support to parenting or pregnancy-risk teens, literacy education for adult learners, scholarships to working parents for quality childcare, and many other essential services.

Donations were given to other charities such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Doctors Without Borders, and many other worthy charities across New York state and around the world.

In New York, SEFA campaigns also are conducted at the State Department of Labor, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Transportation, the Office of Court Administration and the State Police. Decisions are made locally about which agencies are included and how funds are distributed. The community-based SEFA committee is composed of representatives from state agencies and managers of human service agencies. Pledging takes place once a year.

Donors may choose to have their gifts shared among different organizations within Cortland County, used in another county of their choice or designated for individual local, state, independent or international organizations.

Schroeder and Drew said they were glad to reach out to the campus community to help make the campaign successful.

“I was honored to co-chair this year’s SEFA campaign, along with Pam,” Drew said. “I would like to thank all the volunteers that helped distribute and gather pledge forms. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. We couldn't do it without you.”

“As a community, Cortland has given back for many years,” SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum said. “I am proud that so many faculty, staff and even students give to the United Way Campaign.”

Participants were entered into a drawing for prizes. Winners are as follows:

Louanne Simons — a $50 Tops card in the United Way Gas and Grocery drawing

William Skipper — a personal parking space on campus

Kathryn Coffey, Tina Aversano and Patricia Roiger — $25 ASC Gift Cards

Darlene Miller, the CSEA winner — a $50 Downtown Partnership Gift Certificate

Local members of the Cortland County SEFA Committee and the employee group represented include: Kathleen Burke, SUNY Cortland United University Professions (UUP) employees; Christella Yonta, federated campaign coordinator for the United Way for Cortland County; Gary Evans, SUNY Cortland management/confidential employees and Cortland County SEFA chair; Lori Porter, SUNY Cortland management/confidential employees; Laurie Klotz, SUNY Cortland UUP employees; Lois Marshall, NYSDOT, CSEA employees; and Donna Raymond, NYSEC, CSEA employees.

For more information about SEFA in New York State, visit the website http://www.sefanys.org.

Whether it’s rain, sleet or snow — or anything else Mother Nature has in store — SUNY Cortland is ready.

The College, through the University Police Department, was recently awarded StormReady certification by the National Weather Service and the New York State StormReady Advisory Board.

StormReady helps communities, counties, Indian nations, colleges, military bases, government sites and commercial enterprises prepare for hazardous weather conditions. The program improves the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property during disasters. Emergency managers are provided with clear guidelines on how to handle severe weather.

“This is an important accomplishment for SUNY Cortland,” said David Nicosia, warning coordination meteorologist for NOAA’s National Weather Service in Binghamton, N.Y. “The Cortland area has a long history of severe weather, snowstorms, floods and even a few tornadoes. SUNY Cortland has taken all the necessary steps to be prepared for whatever Mother Nature has in store. These efforts will no doubt make the College safer and even save lives in the future.”

To qualify for StormReady status, organizations must establish a 24-hour emergency operation center. They must have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and alert the public. The StormReady recipient must also promote public readiness through community seminars and develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training spotters and holding emergency exercises.

“The College’s emergency response team and the university police are very pleased to be recognized by the National Weather Service’s StormReady program,” said University Police Department Chief Mark DePaull. “The program will strengthen our local weather safety plan and our hazardous weather response operations.”

SUNY Cortland is one of 2,682 StormReady or TsunamiReady sites across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Pacific island territories. 

The campus emergency notification system will inform the SUNY Cortland community of any severe weather activity via New York Alert.

Continuing its tradition of weekly encouragement for successful college lifestyles and a lifetime of wellbeing, SUNY Cortland has announced its Spring 2018 “Wellness Wednesday Series” schedule.

Programs will focus on physical and mental health, including yoga, hugging, substance abuse and bulimia, and social issues including social media, networking with introverts, hazing and changing sexual violence.

Sponsored by the Health Promotion Office and the Student Development Center, the series will take place on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge, unless otherwise noted. The events are free and open to the public.

On Jan. 24, “Experience a Yoga Class” will be held at 6 or 7 p.m. in the Student Life Center Mind Body Room. Samantha Cascardo, trained to teach YogaFit Levels 1 and 2, and Registered Yoga Teacher Anna Crandell, will lead two separate classes that demonstrate the benefits of this ancient form of mind/body activity. Participants are asked to wear loose and comfortable clothing. Mats and all other required accessories are supplied. Attendance is limited to 40 people on a first-come, first-served basis.

Learn about the new campus food pantry by sharing a dinner with friends of the “SUNY Cortland Cupboard” on Jan. 31. Located at the Interfaith Center, the dinner will begin at that location at 6 p.m. Cupboard Intern Kaley Decker, Campus Minister Rachel Ditch, Health Educator Lauren Herman, Assistant Director of the Cortland Fund Natasha McFadden and Institute for Civic Engagement Director John Suarez will share the history and plans for this new student resource.

On Feb. 7, a discussion about “Anti-Social / Social Media” will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Corey Union’s Exhibition Lounge. Health Educator Lauren Herman and students Kyra Newcombe and Adam Marino will lead a discussion on the potential effects of using smartphones as a safety blanket — and they’ll offer tools to make conscious connections.

 On Feb. 14, Health promotion interns along with Campus Ministers Rachel Ditch and Shawn Allen and the Interfaith Center Crew will demonstrate the many health benefits of hugging. “Free Hugs” is the topic of this table presentation from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center lobby.

National presenters Doris and Tom Smeltzer, the parents of a college student who lost her life to an eating disorder, will present the Wellness Wednesday discussion on Feb. 21. Their talk, “Andrea’s Voice: Silenced by Bulimia,” will focus on eating disorders, from a daughter’s insights to a parent’s perspective. Bright, talented, creative — Andrea's voice was silenced when she died after a one-year struggle with bulimia. Her parents will share her compelling story as well as vital information on eating disorders. The event takes place in Corey Union Function Room. A book signing will follow. For more information on the Smeltzers, check out their website.   

On Feb. 28, the important topic of hazing prevention will be discussed at 7:30 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room. Hazing is a societal concern that impacts everyone. The College’s program, to be announced at a later date, will help the campus community understand why it should be eliminated from college campuses.

On March 7, a “Safe Spring Break Fair” will offer tips for a carefree spring break. The fair, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center lobby, will feature tips from student interns with the Health Promotion Office and representatives of Substance Abuse Prevention and Education. Free items will be given away.                                             

A “Networking with Introverts” workshop on March 21, led by career counselor Meredith Morell, will provide an understanding of why networking is important, how to make connections with others in person and online, some tips and tricks, and provide some stories along the way. Come to Corey Union Exhibition Lounge at 6 p.m. and learn how to maximize strengths and gain confidence in your ability to network.

On March 28, health promotion interns and Andrea Hart, a registered dietician and New York state certified dietitian-nurse employed with the SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC), will offer “Go Further with Food” from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center lobby. Whether it's starting the day off right with a healthy breakfast or fueling before an athletic event, the foods you choose can make a real difference in nutrients, food waste and money.

Consultant and Coach Keith Edwards will present “Ending Rape: A Social Change Approach to Sexual Violence” on April 4. The session, to begin at 7 p.m., in Corey Union Function Room, will explore the realities of sexual violence and reframe the issues for proactive prevention, leaving all genders empowered to make positive change happen.

On April 11, Lauren Herman, health educator, and Christopher Scagnelli, academic tutor, will present “Life Hacks for Adulting.” There are many aspects of being an adult that can be difficult. Participants are invited to come learn some “life hacks” to make the process of being an adult a little easier. The session will begin at 6 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

“DWHigh: Beyond the Legal Consequences” will involve conversations about the body’s response to marijuana and why these responses do not mix with driving. Led by Health Professor Page Dobbs and Substance Abuse and Prevention Education Associate Marissa Whitaker, the discussion will be held at 6 p.m. on April 18 in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

The series will conclude on April 25 when the Student Affairs Sustainability Committee, health promotion interns and Green Reps share “Air Plants” from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center lobby. Learn what air plants are and the benefits then receive a free air plant.

For more information or accommodation to attend an event, contact Lauren Herman, the College’s health educator, in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-1, or at 607-753-2066.

The SUNY Cortland men's lacrosse team was one of four participants that helped raise $11,712 for the Room2Smile Fund at the Upstate Cancer Center during the Fifth Annual Room2Smile Fall Classic. Cortland, Le Moyne College, Onondaga Community College, and RIT participated in the tournament on Sunday, Oct. 1 at Le Moyne.

The Room2Smile Fall Classic promotes and generates awareness of Room2Smile, a charitable organization started by former Le Moyne Dolphin men's lacrosse student-athlete Brandon Spillett (Class of 2005). Room2Smile provides emotional support and other services to children and adults in the Central New York region who have been diagnosed with cancer. The organization offers companionship to these individuals and their families through in-home or in-hospital visits, recreation activities, and other services with a goal of improving the quality of life for individuals and families of those facing a cancer diagnosis.

The Upstate Cancer Center, part of Upstate Medical University, is located in Syracuse and is a comprehensive resource in the region for cancer care. It offers advanced outpatient treatment, clinical research studies, and support services.

Event Photo Gallery (USLacrosse Magazine)

Upstate Cancer Center web page

Room2Smile Fund web page

Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) is now accepting Program Grant applications online for the 2018-19 academic year.

Applications are submitted online and must be sent by midnight on Friday, Feb. 16. 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, email Judy Standish or contact her by phone at 607-753-4325.

Jennifer Kronenbitter was named permanent director of libraries by President Erik J. Bitterbaum effective Jan. 11.

She has been with SUNY Cortland for 11 years, serving as interim director of libraries since July 2017. She began her career here in 2006, progressing from senior assistant librarian to coordinator of bibliographic services, assistant director then associate director. 

Having served in multiple roles at the College, Kronenbitter has extensive experience in a breadth of library services and with each position increased her leadership, personnel and budget responsibilities. As associate director, she had responsibility for the entire library collection, including monographs, databases, inter-library loans and Teaching Materials Center materials. She managed the budgets for these collections and worked collaboratively with faculty and librarians to ensure the College’s collection fully supports its curriculum and research needs. As associate director, she was second in charge of the library, and served as a key member of the Library Leadership Team participating in all decisions concerning the library.

Kronenbitter earned a bachelor’s in anthropology with a minor in geology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, a master’s in geoenvironmental science from Shippensberg University and a master’s in library and information science from Southern Connecticut State University.

The University Police Department (UPD) announces the promotion of Jennifer Olin to the rank of lieutenant effective Jan. 8. Lt. Olin has been with UPD for eight years and has been actively involved within the department and in the campus community. In her new role, she will supervise campus patrol operations on the second and third shifts. 

As an officer, Olin earned the distinction of being certified as a New York State Drug Recognition Expert. She has been actively involved in the Stop-DWI Program and has extensive investigative experience with DWI and drug impairment cases. Lt. Olin is also one of UPD’s accreditation program managers, a field training officer and a police instructor.

Lt. Olin is currently attending the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Service’s Police Supervisor School.