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| HCConnectiion Online |
 Friday, December 14, 2007
. . . .
Bill’s Bulletin
is a feature of HCC Connection Online where President
William F.Messner shares news about all-college initiatives
and the college’s expanding involvement in the
region. .
In February, the HCC Lady Cougars won the Massachusetts Community College Women’s Basketball championship with a 57-38 win over the Quinsigamond Community College Lady Chiefs. In March A $100,000 donation from the Mass Mutual Financial Group allowed HCC to begin renovations on the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS) and to purchase 25 new computers, an LDC projection system, computer tables, and a walled-off study area for the library. Another grant from Health New England allowed a team of HCC health and fitness science majors to create a before-school fitness program at Holyoke’s Sullivan Middle School. In April the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS) celebrated 30 years of providing academic support to HCC students. The center has provided a wide array of academic and support services to students: one-on-one tutoring, academic coaching, and mentoring. The center serves as a bridge to success for many students who are the first in their families to attend college.
Also in April, HCC was officially incorporated as a member institution in NASA’s Massachusetts Space Consortium, a move that enables eligible HCC students to participate in NASA-sponsored internships and research opportunities. The college’s Dean of Science Engineering and Mathematics, Ran Duan, was named as the NASA liaison and two of our 2007 graduates received internships over the summer. In May, HCC honored four outstanding members of our community, naming Pamela Kennedy and Eileen Kelly as co-recipients of the Elaine Marieb Chair for Teaching Excellence, Graphic Designer Jack Scanlon as the Outstanding Non-unit Professional of the year, and SEM Secretary Linda Sullivan as the Outstanding Classified Staff Member of the Year. Sadly, we bid goodbye to the college’s first-ever Fulbright Scholar in Residence, Literature Professor Graciela Maglia, who ended her year-long stay at HCC and returned to teach in Columbia. June was full of things to celebrate. Most notably, the college celebrated its 60th Commencement with 867 graduates. Less than a week later, we celebrated our 60th anniversary as an institution with a grand gala at the Bartley Center. It was a lively affair that featured a 60-foot-long cake, dancing, and lots of HCC friends, supporters, alumni and staff.
In July, HCC’s longtime Athletic Director Rick Golas received a Founding Fathers Award from the National Association of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA). A fixture at HCC’s Bartley Center for Athletics and Recreation, Golas will be retiring in January, capping a 37 years of dedicated service to HCC. July was also the month we bid adieu to longtime Human Resources Dean Maureen Wildey, who left us after a great 14-year tenure. We were lucky to replace her on an interim basis with Pamela Baran and we look forward to welcoming Clara Elliot, our permanent appointee to that position, in January. In August, HCC put the final touches on a much-needed resource: parking. A new 164-space lot was added to the campus, making it easier for our busy students, faculty, and staff to access the campus. We also broke ground on an ambitious campus improvement project that has greatly improved the look and the safety of our central courtyard. While that project is now finishing up, construction will continue in the nearby G building, where crews have begun working on a new media lab. All of this upheaval has not displaced our sense of humor. The Student Activities Office staff – temporarily camped out in G-222 – have re-named their new home “Fronahue” in honor of the fact that it sits between the Donahue and Frost buildings. That office will reopen in the spring semester. In September, HCC welcomed sports legend Rico Petrocelli as the special guest at our 20th Annual Golf Tournament, an event that raised more than $25,000 for scholarships that are disbursed by the HCC Foundation, Inc. Also in September, we saw the revival of The Other Forum, an HCC publication that is “a unique blen
d of original and thoughtful explorations in scholarship.” The 81-page book is a compendium of poetry, research, and literary critique that was produced by the vice president for academic affairs. In October, HCC learned that our enrollments edged up 2.6 percent over last year, including a 10 percent jump in the number of Latino students who are choosing HCC for their education. We also saw that 36 percent of our students are under the age of 20, up 12 percent from five years ago, when only 24 percent were younger students. More than half of our students (54%) are enrolled full-time, and, this year, we saw the number of students who are taking credit courses is up by 4.5 percent over last year. In October we also learned that HCC was honored by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations with seven awards (five of them first place) for the terrific job we do promoting the college’s mission to the community. In November, HCC became the first western Massachusetts college to be chosen as a replication site for Portland Community College’s Gateway to College initiative. Funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this is a nationally renowned education program that will give HCC an opportunity to work with up to 350 Holyoke and Springfield youths who have either dropped out of school or who are at-risk for dropping out. . Also in November, we joined the city of Holyoke, Peter Pan Buslines, Head Start, and the PVTA in unveiling the new Multimodal Center at 206 Maple Street in Holyoke. The converted fire station will soon be home to local and regional bus service, a daycare center, and Adult Basic Education programs, provided by HCC. As December ends the calendar year, I am happy to announce that we will be sending our second Fulbright Scholar abroad in January. English as a Second Language Professor Vivian Leskes will be spending the spring semester in Irkutsk, Russia.
College announces new priorities The college's fiscal year 2009 priorities were voted on by a special session of the College Senate on December 12 and subsequently approved by President Bill Messner. To fully view the priorities, you may click on the following link: http://www.hcc.edu/Portal/RecommendedPrioritiesFY2009.doc If you are not entirely addled by the end-of-the-semester rush, you might have noticed a series of posters around campus and wondered to yourself: “What's with the Seven Cs, Seven Anchors?” These posters have come out of the Foundations of Excellence project - a guided self-study conducted over the last year and a half by members of the HCC community. The study focused specifically on what the college provides to students during their first year. Emphasis was placed on the policies and practices of college faculty, staff, and administrators and the extent to which we are providing the best for students. Through the study process, we learned that much of what HCC does is great - that students, largely, are happy, feel well-supported, and have access to a wide range of services. We also learned that we can do better. The Seven C’s, Seven Anchors represent themes that the Foundations of Excellence study team believes constitute a framework for thinking about what we do and for delivery of a truly intentional, cohesive, high-quality first-year experience. The Seven Cs, the study team believes, anchor students as they embark on their first year of college. They also anchor the college to build an intentional, cohesive, high-quality first year experience for students. If thinking about the Seven Cs as a 'framework' doesn't work for you, you might try thinking about them as values. Members of the Foundation of Excellence study team hope that when you see these posters, you will take a moment to reflect on what they mean and how HCC can improve upon their delivery. The study might be winding down, but the work of making these real will always be with us.
If you would like to join in the festivities, which will include a buffet dinner and cash bar, tickets are $30 each and they may be purchased from either Mary Shelasky at the Bartley Center, or Marsha Ryan, in the office of Student Affairs. RSVP by January 4. There will be music by Phil deFremery, HCC music faculty.
HCC student receives Marjorie Green scholarship from PeoplesBank
PeoplesBank of Holyoke has chosen East Longmeadow resident Yana Y. Abramovich to receive a $2,500 Marjorie Green Scholarship. Abramovich is a business administration major at HCC where she has earned a 3.9 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society. After she graduates in June 2008, Abramovich hopes to continue her business studies at a four-year college or university. Each year, PeoplesBank awards the Marjorie Green Scholarship to a deserving HCC business student in memory of the bank’s first female bank officer in the city of Holyoke. The scholarship is reserved for students who have achieved a GPA of 3.5 or more, and who are not receiving financial aid from another source.
HCC student play chosen for theatre festival “Logically Speaking” a play by HCC student Mark Hoffner has been chosen for production by the Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival, to be held January 29 – February 3 in Fitchburg. This is a great honor, as there are only six available slots for college productions and students from throughout New England vie for the opportunity. Welcome to the new staff at HCC
Please welcome some new faces to the HCC campus. Arthur Belanger has been hired as a business account representative and Sandra Berte has been hired as a clerk for the Human Services department. East Longmeadow resident Clara Elliot has been appointed to the position of Dean of Human Resources and will begin her tenure at HCC on January 8.
From the close of business on December 21 until business opens on January 2, the campus offices will be closed. The HCC website will continue to be operative.
. HCC Connection is published every other Wednesday (or
thereabouts) and is distributed to the campus community,
and friends of the college, and local media. . Natalia Munoz .
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