This academic year marks HCC’s 60th birthday.

Like all birthdays, this one gives HCC occasion to both celebrate and reflect. Based on what I've seen, there are going to be ample amounts of both. 

The sources of celebration are self-evident. First and foremost, we remain a vibrant resource for those seeking higher education:  applications to HCC are up 4 percent from last fall, new acceptances are up 3.3 percent, and the number of new applicants who have registered is up 7.4 percent.

It’s the reflection that deserves a bit of underlining. 

Students began trickling back to HCC during the last week of August.

Also in the coming year, we will be following up on the work of the Independent Commission on Civility and Free Speech through the establishment of a Task Force on Free Speech and Civil Discourse. Chaired by Doreen Larson, this group will lead the campus in examining the Independent Commission's report, and in making recommendations for implementation to the president. To view that report please click here.

Invited to serve on the Task Force are: Lisa Wyatt Ganson, vice president for academic affairs; Idelia Smith, director of academic administration; Orlando Isaza, special assistant to the president; Ted Leth-Steenson, interim vice president for administration and finance; Diane Beers, department chair of Critical Cultural Studies; Deborah Fairman, English faculty; Frank Johnson, coordinator of the Writing Center; Mimsy O’Connor, senior academic counselor; Theresa Eccles, business and community affairs clerk; Walter Rice, Student Senate president; Nicolette Poindexter, Student Senate vice president; one student to be named later; and (on a rotating basis) members of the original Free Speech and Civility Commission (Michael Burkart, George Williams, and S. Jane Morrissey).

Finally, the College Senate, under the leadership of Louise Hurwitz, will continue its examination of decision-making and the campus governance system. It is hoped that specific recommendations for changes to our governance system will be forthcoming by the spring semester.

In addition to these three special initiatives, other groups will pursue significant improvements. The Affirmative Action Committee will continue its examination of hiring and retention practices in order to enhance campus diversity. The Strategic Enrollment Management Group will extend its efforts at improving outreach to new students. The Business and Community Services Division will develop a business plan for its programming in the new Kittredge Center. And the IT Division will work with campus personnel to plan for its roll-out of our new Luminis Portal.

The above hopefully gives you some sense of the good work which many faculty and staff will be involved with over the next year in reflecting on the way in which we deliver educational services to our students and our communities. My expectation is that at the conclusion of these deliberations the college will be better prepared to build on its rich history of delivering quality education to the people of western Massachusetts.

Headlines

HCC welcomes its first Fulbright scholar

Professor Graciela Maglia

The Council for the International Exchange of Scholars has awarded Holyoke Community College its first Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. Professor Graciela Maglia from Colombia will join the HCC faculty for the 2006-2007 academic year.

While at HCC, Maglia will be a faculty member in the Division of Social Sciences and a guest lecturer in various courses across the disciplines. She will also assist in developing new curriculum related to the Latino education initiative and serve as an international resource both on and off campus, while pursuing her own research at libraries, organizations, and institutions throughout the Northeast.

If you haven’t already met Maglia, please drop by her office, Donahue 265, to welcome her. Her campus phone number is (413) 552-2708.

Established in 1945 by Arkansas Senator William J. Fulbright, the Fulbright program provides grants for college-level research and lecturing, as well as teaching at the elementary and secondary school levels. More than 273,500 scholars have participated in the program since its inception. Maglia is one of more than 45,000 scholars who have visited the United States through this program.

Originally from Argentina, Maglia is a tenured professor at the Instituto Caro y Cuervo, where she specializes in literary analysis. Maglia is also the founder and director of the Center of Managerial Communication at the College of Advanced Studies in Administration in Bogotá, Colombia. This summer, she defended her doctoral dissertation, which focuses on cultural identity versus national identity in post-colonial Caribbean poetry, at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Maglia has been the recipient of several grants, scholarships, and awards, including a 2002 Distinguished Professor Award for Teaching and Learning at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana’s Literature Department in Bogotá. She has presented papers and led seminars and workshops at conferences in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the U.S., most recently at the University of Delaware in Dover. Her publications include Sintaxis de la decisión trágica: Sófocles, Ayax: una lectura semiológica (2005), De la nostalgia demorada de la tierra al destierro amoroso de la nostalgia: Morada al Sur de Aurelio Arturo, Aproximacion sociocritica, and numerous essays on Hispanic literature and culture.

More lessons from Hurrican Katrina

Seen here are volunteers from the American Library Association who helped rebuild a church while in New Orleans this past June. HCC Campus Activities Coordinator Vivian Ostrowski joined the ALA volunteers in June and will return to New Orleans in January 2007 with a group of HCC folks to help rebuild a part of the 8th ward.

This past June, when Vivian Ostrowski visited New Orleans, she was struck by what she calls a “creepy silence” that lingered nearly a year after Hurricaine Katrina swept through the area.

“There were no lawnmowers, no music, no children running around,” she said. “It got into my bones. It felt like a natural disaster that had turned into a human disaster.”

In January 2007, Ostrowski will return to New Orleans, with 39 members of the HCC community in tow, to bring some of the joyful noise of life back to the region. The college will participate in a week-long Habitat for Humanity project to rebuild 81 homes in the upper 8th Ward, a section known as “Musician’s Village.” Anyone interested in participating in this learning adventure is invited to attend an informational meeting, 4 p.m. on Sept. 13 in Frost 309.

Ostrowski says many sentiments motivated her to organize this trip. Pity was not one of them.
“ For me, I am a hands-on learner,” she said. “I watched everything about Katrina [before going to New Orleans] and I know now that I didn’t understand it. I want our community to understand, to connect with the people of New Orleans…We are not going there to ‘help those poor people.’ We are going there for ourselves.”

The January trip will not be the first time that HCC has reached out to those struck by Hurricane Katrina. Last year, the college community raised in excess of $3,000 to help Delgado Community College, a sister college in New Orleans.

Ostrowski said participants will be asked to recruit corporate and individual sponsors for the trip, which will cost $400 per person. While staff and faculty will be asked to pay the full amount, HCC will ask students to contribute $125. Minimally, that comes out to a $5,500 fund raising goal. Several student organizations have already said they will help meet that goal. Ostrowski thinks that once the word gets out, support will come from many sources.

Ostrowski said one such pledge, made by Colleen Cameron, brought tears to her eyes. The administrative secretary to the president has told Ostrowski that she will contribute the money she would have otherwise spent on Christmas presents for her nine month-old grandson, Thomas Crochetiere.

“ I want to sponsor an HCC student going to New Orleans, because my grandson needs nothing more,” said Cameron. “He’s already got my son for a father.”

Looking back - at HCC and the world

Acquisitions Coordinator Bob Stoddard holds a 1940-era radio, one of many artifacts of communication technology contained in Never-ending March of Technology, an exhibit at the HCC Library on the second floor of the Donahue building.

In honor of the college’s 60th anniversary year, the HCC library is inviting the campus community to view two exhibits: "Never-ending March of Technology,” and “60 Years of Library Service" on display in the library lobby and in the hallway outside the library in the Donahue building.

Library Acquisitions Manager Bob Stoddard said that when he collected artifacts for the “Never-ending March” exhibit— a history of communication technology—he noticed an interesting symmetry:

“ It begins and ends with a book,” he said, pointing first to a 100-year-old hardcover and then to a collection of brand-new books-on-tape. “In the beginning, we had books and today we have books. Only the form has changed. I think that shows that, no matter what the form, people want to have something to read.”

The exhibit contains some items that will likely tickle modern sensibilities. For instance, a 1904 book entitled “Vilore” purports to instruct young women on the “pathways to mental and physical perfection.” On its first page, “Vilore” has a photo of a young woman enthralled by a ball of yarn and some needles. Its title? “Busy and Happy.”

The book 'Vilore', written at the turn of the century, purports to teach young women how to have a good life. (Hint: knitting is That book is one of many artifacts contained in Never-ending March of Technology, an exhibit of communication technologies that are on display outside the library, Donahue building, second floor.

An 1805 edition of the New York Herald was given to the library by a former HCC custodian, John Bresnahan. Two movie magazines from the 1920s were the gifts of Stoddard, who pulled them out of a dumpster when he worked at a chemical company years ago.
All of the items on display are ways of storing and transferring information in the forms of print, audio, and video. Some of them—beta max tapes, U-matic tapes, vinyl records, and e-books did not exactly pass the test of time.

In the library lobby Librarian Julie Bartlett has put together a photo exhibit “60 Years of Library Service” featuring many never-displayed images of the HCC library and its staff. Like Stoddard’s exhibit, Bartlett’s presentation includes objects and technologies such as an old barcode scanner, catalog cards, and a label iron.

Don’t know what a label iron is? Drop by the library for an explanation!

Bonham stresses the four C's of developmental education

Barbara S. Bonham encouraged HCC staff and faculty to embrace the four Cs of successful education programs when she spoke at the Professional Association Meeting, August 30.

Bonham is the coordinator of the higher education graduate programs and a professor in the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. She also serves as a senior researcher for the National Center for Developmental Education and is a faculty member for the Kellogg Institute.

During her hour-long talk, Bonham spoke about the importance of developmental education at community colleges, where nearly half of the entering students have some basic skill needs. She said adherence to the four Cs – comprehensiveness, connectedness, communication, and collaboration – can greatly improve a college’s retention and success rates.

“ Comprehensive learning efforts on college campuses include a variety of services designed to meet the cognitive and affective needs of diverse student populations and, when delivered college-wide, have the greatest possible impact,” she said.
She gave several examples of comprehensive services. For instance, if a college finds that a particular class has a high failure rate, it might consider spreading the material out over two semesters instead of one. The college might develop a learning assistance center or offer developmental learning courses in math, English, and reading. Also, instructors should employ a variety of teaching options, including group instruction, individualized instruction, supplemental instruction, paired courses, etc.
Bonham congratulated HCC in its efforts to achieve this goal.

“Comprehensive services are a necessary but not a sufficient condition for success,” she said. “These courses and services should be connected…this requires communication and collaboration between all of you.”

“It is a combination of people, programs and services that are interconnected which will lead to students’ success and retention,” she continued. “These connections require that person are communicating and working collaboratively across campus to help identify which students need these services and courses to be successful and monitoring who is using them.”

To accomplish these goals, she suggested:

• The establishment of a campus-wide advisory board for developmental education;
• Establishing regular cross-disciplinary meetings between faculty and administrators from different departments to discuss the pre-requisites for student success in their programs;
• The establishment of paired courses and learning communities.
• The establishment of connections between adult basic education (ABE) and developmental education.

Campus Briefs

"Shockers" exhibit on display in Taber Gallery

These are two of 40 movie posters that make up "Shockers!" now on display in the Taber Gallery

“Shockers!” - a collection of 40 hand-painted movie posters from Ghana, will be on display in the Taber Gallery from now until Sept. 28. The opening reception will be held Sept. 13, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Located next to the HCC library on the second floor of the Donahue building, the Taber Gallery is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The exhibit showcases posters that were hand-painted on flour sacks to publicize mostly Nigerian-made films that were shown in makeshift movie houses in Ghanian villages during the 1980s. The films were violent, the posters, graphic. The canvases on display are slightly tattered – a testimony to the fact that they traveled from village to village in their heyday. Their bold colors and striking imagery remain intact. Now in the private collection of Sarah Lawrence College anthropology and art history professor Michelle Gilbert, they may be purchased for $350.

60th anniversary stickers

Holyoke Community College will celebrate its 60th year in a number of different ways this year. You can get in on the fun by using the specially commissioned 60th Anniversary mailing stickers on all of your official correspondence. The inch-square, green and gold stickers will make your envelopes stand out in a crowded mailbox. And you’ll be spreading the word about Massachusetts’ oldest community colleges. To get your stickers, ask your office secretary, or stop by Donahue 101, or email Sue Doyle sdoyle@hcc.mass.edu.

Hayden is the toast of Holyoke

Jeffrey and Mary Hayden at the August 22 Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce breakfast

The Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce tipped its hat to Jeffrey Hayden during its August 23 breakfast meeting. Hayden, the longtime director of economic development for the city of Holyoke, was appointed this summer as HCC’s new vice president for business and community services and executive director of the Kittredge Center. Hayden was joined at the head table by two HCC alums: Joshua Vassallo, the newly appointed general manager for the Country Inn & Suites, and Kathleen Anderson, who took over for Hayden as the director of planning and economic development for the city of Holyoke.

The traffic jam of HCC graduates at the head table prompted the breakfast’s host, Donna M. Bliznak, to declare that HCC is “everyone’s alma mater.”

HCC recognized as pacesetter

The Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce has tapped Holyoke Community College to receive a Pacesetter Award for operational excellence. The honor will be bestowed at a special awards breakfast, Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 a.m. at the Delaney House.

The college received the “Business Advocate of the Year” in recognition of its efforts to promote business through the newly opened Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development. Other honorees include Marcus Bordeaux Printing Company and Loomis Communities.

HCC and Elms sign joint admissions agreement

HCC President William F. Messner (left) and Elms College President James Mullen

On August 22, Holyoke Community College President William F. Messner and Elms College President James H. Mullen signed an articulation agreement to streamline the transfer process for associate degree graduates seeking a baccalaureate degree at the Chicopee college.

The agreement allows HCC associate degree graduates with a gradepoint average of 2.5 or higher to move seamlessly into their junior year at Elms. No transfer application will be required and all academic credits earned at HCC will be accepted.

This agreement goes into effect immediately and allows HCC graduates with associate degrees in accounting, biology, computer information technology, business, general studies, law enforcement, liberal arts, management, and marketing to move directly into the appropriate program at Elms.

Students with higher gradepoint averages will be eligible for merit-based scholarships from Elms College ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.

Multimodal Center moving forward

HCC educators anxiously await the opening of the $5.2 million Holyoke Multimodal Transportation Center (HMTC), slated to house an Adult Learning Center on the second floor. HCC will partner with the Juntos Collaborative and other adult basic education providers to staff that center, which focuses on improving literacy and workforce skills, particularly among Holyoke’s low-income, unemployed, and minority populations.

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority and the Picknelly Development Group are in the final stages of negotiating development and leasing agreements on the Maple Street property. It is anticipated that the 32,000-square foot former fire station will be fully transferred from the city to the Picknelly group in late October, pending federal and state approvals. The planning, design, and bidding will take place in November with work beginning this winter. It is hoped the facility will open September 2007.

In the meantime, HCC is working with potential partners to identify a program for the facility. Interested parties should contact Jeff Hayden, vice president of Business and Community Services at (413) 552-2587.

Mount Tom Academy and Early College High School return to HCC

Two programs dedicated to the improvement of lifelong learning opportunities, the Mount Tom Academy and the Early College High School, will return to HCC this year.

Twenty students will come to HCC for the Mount Tom Academy (MTA), an alternative high school program run by Hampshire Educational Collaborative, Holyoke Community College, and Hampshire Regional School District. The MTA focuses on the strengths, talents, and unique abilities of its students by challenging them in a non-threatening, supportive environment. Modern technology and teaching methods provide opportunities for remediation and individualized enrichment. Academic learning is reinforced by real-life, work-based experiences. Qualified students can earn both high school and college credit through this program. Classes will run from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. daily.

One hundred and twenty-five students will come to HCC for the Early College High School (ECHS), an alternative high school program run by the Springfield Public Schools, the Commonwealth Corporation, and HCC. ECHS provides a performance-based high school curriculum to introduce students to the culture and rigor of higher education.

This year, the students enrolled in the ECHS come from Commerce High School, the High School of Science and Technology, Central High School, Springfield Academy for Excellence, and the New Leadership Charter High School. ECHS is staffed by Springfield public school employees who go above and beyond the traditional model of educating and who believe that all students will be successful when given the right support and opportunities.

Notices

Auditions for Necessary Targets

The HCC Theatre Department will hold auditions for Necessary Targets, a play by Eve Ensler, on September 20 and 21 from 1-3 p.m. in the Leslie Phillips Forum. There are seven roles for women.

The play will be performed by the HCC Players on November 10 and 11 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, November 12 at 2:30 p.m. in the Leslie Phillips Forum. Tickets are $7 general admission, $5 for seniors and students. Members of the HCC community will get in free.

The play is based on interviews Ensler conducted with women who survived the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. Performances will be in the Leslie Phillips Forum. Additional performances will be at The Elms College on November 17 and 18. For information contact Patricia Sandoval at (413) 552-2486 or psandoval@hcc.mass.edu.

Disney comes to HCC

September 8 is the priority registration deadline for “Team Creativity-Disney Style,” a one-day seminar for businesses seeking more efficient ways to engage their employees.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 26 at Holyoke Community College’s Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The $349 registration fee covers all materials and lunch. To register or to find out more, please call (413) 552-2122 or visit www.thecenter-hcc.org/disney.htm. Any company that registers three or more participants will receive one free registration.

Calling all workforce development professionals

Workforce development professionals are invited to attend the First Annual New England Workforce Development Professionals Conference on Friday, Sept. 15, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.

The priority registration deadline is Sept. 8.

The fee, which includes lunch and all materials, is $99. Holyoke Community College will provide free transportation to and from the conference from its 303 Homestead Avenue campus. Included in the fee is a one-year membership to the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) a $50 value. For more information or to sign up, call Keith Hensley at (413) 552-2506; email khensley@hcc.mass.edu, or visit www.TheCenter-HCC.org.

Golf anyone?

Singles as well as established foursomes will flock to the Springfield Country Club on Sept. 11 for the 19th annual Holyoke Community College Foundation Golf Tournament. This event features two shotgun starts at 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The entry fee, $150 for a morning tee time, and $175 for the afternoon, covers the use of a golf cart, greens fees, a light breakfast or luncheon, refreshments on the course, and a sumptuous buffet at the end of the day. Proceeds will benefit the Foundation, which enhances the college by purchasing much-needed equipment and disbursing thousands of dollars in student scholarships.

To find out more, call (413) 552-2546.

Career Center announce hours

Beginning Sept. 5, the HCC Career Center will be open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Job listings for full and part-time positions, and a large collection of career-related handouts and books are available in the center. Services include career information assistance, resume and cover letter critique, information on the cooperative education program, and help in locating colleges for transfer.

The Career Center is located in the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development and is open on a drop-in basis, although one-on-one appointments with a career counselor are recommended for more extensive issues such as choice of college major, career decision-making, or developing a resume from scratch. To make an appointment with a career counselor, call (413) 552-2597 or (413) 552-2322, or stop by the Career Center to make an appointment.

Prospective students, current students, and HCC alumni are encouraged to visit and learn more about the center’s many resources and services.

HCC Connection is published every other Tuesday (or thereabouts) and is distributed to the campus community, and friends of the college, and local media.

To be added to our email distribution list, please email: Kimberly Wilson, kwilson@hcc.mass.edu
To submit campus event information for inclusion in HCC Connection, email Natalia Munoz, nmunoz@hcc.mass.eduwith details including date, time, location, cost if any, open to public or not, web links (if appropriate) and contact information (name, phone number, and email). Deadline: end of day Friday before publication.

Natalia Munoz
Assistant Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Holyoke Community College
Phone: (413) 552-2183 Fax: (413) 552-2479
cell: (413) 348-8515 (emergency)
nmunoz@hcc.mass.edunmunoz@hcc.mass.edu
Holyoke Community College is the Commonwealth’s oldest community college, serving almost 9,000 students annually in 82 associate degree options and 42 certificate programs, and over 4,000 in noncredit and workforce development courses. The college has the highest transfer rate of any community college statewide, holding articulation agreements with 27 colleges and universities. Recognized for its Honors Program, distance learning curriculum, learning communities, and service to students, HCC anticipates opening its state of-the-art Kittredge Business Center in Spring 2006.