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.

Enrollment Management
The issues of recruitment, retention and reporting have become increasingly important as enrollments have flattened over the past two years and more of the institution's resources are dependent upon tuition and fees. In response, the college has established an enrollment management group drawn from staff and faculty across departmental and divisional lines. Co-chaired by vice presidents Erica Broman and Doreen Larson, the group held its first meeting during the week of March 6. While the group will ultimately focus on developing an enrollment management plan, it will initially focus on developing a variety of specific action items for stimulating enrollment for the fall 2006 semester.

Breakfast Series
Over the past academic year the president's office has sponsored a series of six breakfast meetings with community leaders and organizations. The purpose of these meetings is to identify ways in which the college can be a more responsive community partner. The meetings have included local clergy, leaders of community-based organizations, elected officials, and superintendents from school districts that typically send students to HCC. The feedback received from individuals attending these sessions has been helpful in directing the institution's energies as it attempts to carry through on its efforts at being responsive to community needs. The next breakfast, with municipal department from Holyoke, will be held March 22.

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
The college has partnered with Mount Holyoke and Amherst colleges in two separate and successful grant applications to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to promote the transfer of students to these selective institutions. In early March, the Cooke Foundation awarded a total of ten grants to selective institutions of higher learning across the country to develop pathways for students who, under normal conditions, would have little hope of gaining access to elite colleges. HCC was fortunate to be a partner in two of the ten successful applications. Resources gained from these grants will financially support the students while also bolstering staffing and programs that facilitate the transfer process.

Saint Patrick's Road Race

This year's Holyoke Community College St. Patrick's Day runners

The college has entered a team of 15 individuals in the St. Patrick's Day 10K Road Race on March 18. Suitably titled the "Certain to be Hurtin' Walk/Run Team", the group is comprised of faculty and staff whose racing talents will be on full display through the streets of Holyoke. The editors of this bulletin will print race results in our next edition, assuming all participants have finished by that time.

Institutional vision
Over the past year the college has worked closely with Educational Marketing Group, Inc., of Colorado (EMG) on market research, vision, and positioning. In January, after much work with campus and community members, EMG representatives presented an institutional vision statement to the college trustees. Based on that statement, the college has now developed an institutional tagline that captures the essence of the promise HCC makes to its students. That tagline is “Futures Inspired.” Faculty and staff who developed this tagline feel that it addresses how the college assists its students no matter their educational goals. In the coming weeks the college will begin to roll out the new tagline in publications, letterhead, ads, signage and more. Additionally, working with Bauza and Associates, a local Hispanic marketing firm, the college has launched a Spanish language advertising campaign featured billboards and radio spots that will run through April.

Grinspoon Foundation taps four HCC students for awards

Congratulations go out to four HCC students who have been chosen to receive the 2006 Entrepreneurship Initiative Spirit Award by the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation. At a banquet scheduled for April 5, Sonya Yelder, Peter Leclerc, Barbara Paulo and Danielle Carriveau will each receive $2,000 to further their entrepreneurial ambitions.

Danielle Carriveau	Barbara Paulo	Sonia Yelder	Pete Leclerc

Each year, the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation disburses $65,000 to budding entrepreneurs across Western Massachusetts. The foundation also provides stipends to faculty members to promote entrepreneurial spirit on their campuses.

The foundation will pay for each of the awardees to attend the April 5 banquet at Chez Joseph. At that banquet, students from around the region will compete for an additional $500 in prize money, provided by area bankers and other business leaders.

All HCC students and faculty are welcome to attend the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative Spring Banquet. Tickets cost $10 each and should be purchased by March 30 by contacting Kelly O'Connor, HCC Kittredge Center for Business and Community, Room 419. You may also contact O’Connor at koconnor@hcc.mass.edu .

For the last nine years, Sonia Yelder has run Sophie’s Choice Catering out of her Springfield home. Last year she opened Catered-to Events so that she could incorporate other aspects of event management into her services. The award money will go toward a website and promotional materials.

Holyoke resident Peter Leclerc is owner and creator of Tumblebus, a mobile children's entertainment/recreational business. Tumblebus is a full-sized bus that has been converted into a safe and mobile mini-gymnasium, which provides regularly scheduled physical fitness sessions for area daycare centers, schools and playgroups. The award will enable Leclerc to upgrade his bus and provide better recreational instruction to children in the Pioneer Valley. Leclerc is working toward an associates degree in business administration.

Chicopee resident Barbara Paulo opened Shear Extreme hair salon in Northampton three years ago. Through her business, Paulo supports Locks of Love, a charitable organization that makes wigs for individuals who have lost their hair due to illness. She is currently helping HCC’s Waiting to Excel club, which is collecting hair for a similar charity, Wigs for Kids. Paulo is working toward a degree in business administration at HCC. She will use the award money for the education and training of herself and her staff.

Holyoke resident Danielle Carriveau owns and operates Carriveau Photography, a studio that specializes in fine art photography. She plans to use her award to upgrade her equipment and to pay entry fees for the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton as well as the Amherst Arts show. Carriveau is a graphic design student at HCC.

Photo exhibit celebrates diverse families

The Akamatsu Family	The Rhodes family

As part of HCC’s celebration of Diversity month, the college has installed Of Many Colors: Portraits of Multiracial Families, a photographic and text exhibit that challenges viewers to question the climate of racism that lingers in society. The exhibit has been installed in the 3rd floor lobby of the Frost Building and will be on display until March 24.

Created under the auspices of the Amherst-based Diversity Projects, Inc., the exhibit uses photography and brief interviews to explore the experiences of inter-racial families living in and around the Pioneer Valley. Some families share their experiences with adoption; others, with inter-racial relationships. Assembled in 1994 by Diversity Projects Co-director Peggy Gillespie and photographer Gigi Kaeser, the exhibit has toured schools, galleries, and museums throughout the United States.

For Gillespie, whose daughter is of African-American, Native American and white ancestry, Of Many Colors was a deeply personal project.

“When my best friend’s daughter told my then preschool child that her brown doll was ugly, that was the beginning of knowing I had to re-examine and tackle the issue of racism - not only for the sake of my daughter and our family, but to address the needs of all families facing challenges of race and identity,” she said.

Gillespie and Kaeser let their portraits make the case against bigotry.

“It is hoped by coming forward and revealing their stories, these families will help educate young people and adults about the nature of love and change stereotypes and preconceptions,” she said. “Each family involved (in the exhibit) hopes that, eventually, race will not ever prevent love and closeness between people.”

HCC staff, faculty share Peace Corps stories

For a generation of young college graduates in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the Peace Corps was the answer to the perennial question: what do you do when money is scarce, your professional resume is blank, and the future is uncertain?

On March 1, the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps founding, four former Peace Corps volunteers – all HCC employees – shared the answers they received when they volunteered for the program three and four decades ago. Turns out, the international aid program changed their perspective of themselves, their education, and the world.

“Kennedy’s vision was that volunteers from the United States would journey abroad—not as rich tourist, but as regular people who would show foreign countries that Americans were not monsters,” said HCC sociology professor Larry Leavitt, who did his Peace Corp commitment in the Philippines from 1965 to 1968.

As a young adult, Leavitt and his fellow Peace Corps volunteers saw the program as a way to travel to far-away countries, defer student loans, and gain work experience. It became a life-altering experience – for them, and for the people they met.

“I speak from the perspective of a person whose family was a recipient of Peace Corp volunteers,” said Orlando Isaza, special assistant to the president for community affairs. “At twenty years old I was a young active student with strong ideas about the United States and foreign policies. Back then, I felt that the U.S. was an imperialist government determined to dominate other countries.”

In Isaza’s native Columbia, the Peace Corp was part of a project called Alliance for Progress.

“The volunteers were responsible for designing a housing development, which would allow families to have low monthly payments over a fifteen-year span. This project lifted families like mine own out of poverty and gang-riddled communities. Meeting the actual volunteers challenged my

Adjunct ESL Professor Maggie Sweeney

monolithic views of the United States. I found that these people were human beings just like myself, who did not necessarily agree with the foreign policies of their government, changing my attitudes and stereotypic thinking” he said.

Michele Sedor, associate coordinator for SABES (System for Adult Basic Educational Support), was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morroco.

“My experience showed me how I viewed the world,” she said. “It gave me an awareness of how people live, how we live as Americans and the privileges we have in this country.”

Today, Maggie Sweeney works as an adjunct ESL professor. Decades ago, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunesia.

“In the earlier years of the Peace Corps, it appeared that the United States was patriarchal in our view,” she said. “The United States tended to believe young people could serve their country by serving other countries who needed extra help. Today the Peace Corp has a more mature attitude, that, while still helping people of interested countries in meeting their needs, the Peace Corp aims for cross-cultural understanding which will promote a better understanding of Americans.”

Young @ Heart chorus wows HCC

Former HCC professor Jeanne Hatch, left, sings "Walk on the Wild Side"

On March 8, HCC hosted a spectacular performance by the Northampton-based Young @ Heart chorus.

If you could not attend, you missed a high-energy performance of dancing, singing, and just plain partying that left the audience howling and hooting for more. Composed of performers who range in age from 70 to 95, the internationally renowned chorus surprised the audience with unique renditions of pop tunes like the Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” They received a standing ovation for a heart-felt performance of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.”

“I don’t know what I expected when I came to the show, but it was great to hear songs I remember sung by people I wouldn’t even think knew the songs,” said HCC student Candace Clement, 24.

One of the most-watched performers in the show was Jeanne Hatch, 79, a retired HCC speech and theatre instructor. Hatch wowed her former colleagues when she belted out Shot Gun’s “Please Send Me Someone to Love” and Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.”

“I have always loved to perform and it was a thrill for me to be back at the college and sing,” said Hatch who retired in 1999 after teaching for 30 years.

Poetry reading will benefit HCC Foundation scholarships

Maria Luisa Arroyo	Martin Espada	Daniel Shanahan

On March 28, the Avanza coalition and HCC will sponsor Holyoke in Native Tongues, a joint poetry reading by celebrated authors Martín Espada, Daniel Shanahan, and María Luisa Arroyo. The reading is free and will begin at 7 p.m. at Open Square, 383 Dwight St.

Autographed works by all three authors will be available for sale, and proceeds from a specially produced broadside will be donated to the HCC Foundation for student scholarships. Refreshments for the event will be provided by the Black Sheep café. This event is free of charge.

The author of eight volumes of poetry, Martin Espada has been called the “Pablo Neruda of North American authors.” His works have garnered many literary awards and have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Harper’s and The New Yorker. A professor at the University of Massachusetts, the Brooklyn-born Espada spent nearly 20 years working as tenant lawyer in Boston. He and his family currently reside in Amherst.

Born in Manati, Puerto Rico, Maria Luisa Arroyo was raised in the North End of Springfield. A poet, translator, and single mother, Arroyo works as the transition counselor for the CARE Center in Holyoke. She is also a doctoral student in Germanic languages at Harvard University. Her poems have been published in a number of journals including CALYX, The Women’s Review of Books, and The Bilingual Review.

Holyoke native and HCC alum Daniel Shanahan has published three books of poems and is currently writing “The Ground We Stand On,” a collection of poems that focuses on the characters, landscape and culture of Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley in the last century. A former shipyard welder, he is the founding member of the Stone Soup Poets, a Boston-based poet society, and Drumlin, a collaborative arts ensemble whose performances include poetry, story-telling, songs, mime and meditation. A Northampton resident, Shanahan is currently employed as a mortgage advisor in West Springfield.

Campus Briefs

New admission director Marcia A. Rosbury-Henne

New admission director joins HCC

On March 6, HCC officially welcomed Marcia A. Rosbury-Henne, the college’s new admissions director. Henne comes to HCC from Mt. Wachusett Community College, where she served as the associate director of admissions for more than five years. She takes over the helm from Mark Broadbent, who served as HCC’s interim admissions director for more than eight months. Broadbent will now happily return to his work as the coordinator of transfer affairs. Rosbury-Henne can be found in the admissions office, Frost 221.


Vet-Tech club makes low-cost rabies shots available

You are invited to bring your dog to a low-cost rabies clinic at Northampton’s Dave’s Pet City on March 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sponsored by HCC’s Veterinary Technician Club, the clinic will offer rabies shots for $10 per dog, and professional nail clipping for $7. Payment should be made in cash. All participants should bring their dogs’ current vaccination records so technicians can determine the correct vaccine. Dr. Walter Jaworski, a licensed veterinarian, will supervise the clinic. Notification of your dog’s vaccination will automatically be sent to your town hall for licensing purposes.

The clinic will also include a raffle, good for a gift certificate to Dave’s Pet City, and a bake sale. Tickets to the raffle are $1. The proceeds from this event will go to the HCC Vet Tech Club. Dave’s Pet City is located at the corner of King Street and Bridge Road, next to the D’Angelo’s sub shop. There is plenty of free parking available.

For more information, call the HCC Vet Tech Club at (413) 552-2507

Free creative writing workshop open to all

A free 10-week program is inviting all would-be writers to share the stories that only they can tell.

Tell me something I can’t forget is a free weekly workshop that will begin Thursday, March 23, from 1 to 2:45 p.m. in HCC’s Marieb Building, Room 124. You do not have to be enrolled in college courses to take advantage of this opportunity. It is free to all who truly want to write.

The workshop will be facilitated by Lynn Bowmaster, who will employ the Amherst Writers & Artists workshop method to bring out the best in each participant. This method is based on the belief that everyone is a writer - each, with a unique voice. The workshop will focus on every type of writing, including stories, poems and personal essays.

To find out more, or to register, call Jan Lamberg at (413) 534-8736 or Lynn Bowmaster at (413) 584-3373. You may also email questions to lamberg_Janice@hotmail.com.

This program is sponsored by the Holyoke Community College’s Writing Group.

Notices

It's easy to apply for a scholarship

The process for applying for an Holyoke Community College Foundation scholarship just got easier. The form can now be completed entirely on line. Students can find the link for the application right on the home page of the college's website. They can also click on www.hccscholarships.org.

The scholarship deadline in March 31. The Foundation has over $100,000 available in award money to students in all academic programs and in amounts
varying from $750 per academic year for full-time students to more than $2,000.

Upcoming Campus Events:

Student Activities and Events:
Contact Vivian Ostrowski (413) 552-2418; vostrowski@hcc.mass.edu for more information.

Every Tuesday, noon
Every Friday at 1 p.m.
Campus Walks
You can sneak some physical activity into your day by joining the campus walking brigade every Tuesday at noon or Friday at 1 p.m.. Meet at the fountain. Different leaders, including everyone’s favorite, Ace the Vet-Tech Dog, or one of his canine friends, will join us.

Now - March 24, Frost Building, 3rd floor corridor
"Of Many Colors - Portraits of Multi-racial Families"
The Office of Student Activities is sponsoring a free photo exhibit focusing on multi-racial families exhibition produced by Amherst’s Family Diversity Projects, Inc. Come view this insightful exhibit. Free and open whenever the campus is open.

Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19
HCC Joins the Holyoke's Annual St. Patrick's Day festivities
On Saturday, March 18, several members of the HCC community will join in the 10k St. Patrick’s Day road race. Look for the HCC T-shirts and cheer us on!

On March 19, HCC has sponsored a float and will send a contingent of students, staff and faculty to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 19.

Anyone wishing to ride on the HCC float or march with the HCC contingent should contact Vivian Ostrowski at (413) 552-2418. You can show up at the KMart Plaza at 11 a.m. or park at HCC and take a van to the Plaza at 10 a.m. To reserve a spot in the van, call Vivian Ostrowski

March 22, 11 a.m., Frost 343
Open forum on free speech and civility
The Independent Commission on Free Speech and Civility will hold an open forum so that members of the HCC community can share their thoughts, feelings and suggestions for promoting free speech and civility on campus.

The commission will give students, faculty and staff of HCC the opportunity to express their views on past issues of tension, including the September 29, 2005 incidents. Participants will also be able to make recommendations for the future.

Friday, March 24 - Saturday, March 25, Leslie Phillips Forum
The 9th Annual HCC Jazz Festival
March 24, 8 p.m.: John Ambercrombie performs with the Amherst Jazz Orchestra. $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors (HCC faculty, staff and students get in free with ID)
March 25, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.: A series of free clinics and musical performances.

Professional jazz educators from our area will critique each group. Saturday’s events are free and open to the public.

For more information or to sign up for a clinic, call (413) 552-2485.

March 27 - April 19
“Stories of War and Return”
Over the next several weeks, HCC will explore the issues faced by returning soldiers through talks, poetry, arts, and film. Six nationally known speakers will come to campus to present their perspectives: Chris Hedges, Brian Turner, Doug Anderson, Michael Casey, Charles Berkowitz, and Kristin Henderson

• Monday March 27, 9 a.m. Frost 309
Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, classical scholar, and professor will speak about his 15 years as a war correspondent.

• Tuesday, March 28, 11 a.m., People’s Bank Conference room in the Kittredge Center
War veterans Brian Turner, Doug Anderson and Michael Casey will read from their works.
Turner is an Iraq War veteran and author of “Here, Bullet” a collection of poems. Anderson is a Vietnam war veteran, playwright and author of “The Moon Reflected Fire” and “Blues for Unemployed Secret Police.” Casey is a Vietnam war veteran and poet who was the first Vietnam veteran to publish a volume of war poetry.

• Wednesday, April 12, 11 a.m.
Filmmaker Charles Berkowitz with his documentary “Achilles in Vietnam.” The location of this event has not yet been determined. For more information, call Vivian Ostrowski, (413) 552-2418

• April 17 – May 1, Frost 3rd Floor
Iraq: A War A collection of Pulitzer prize-winning photographs from Iraq
This collection of photos taken by staff of the Associated Press will be on display in the 3rd floor lobby. HCC photography instructor Frank Ward will speak at a grand opening ceremony on April 18 at 1 p.m.

• Wednesday April 19, 7 p.m., Frost 265
In her memoir “Driving by Moonlight: A Journey Through Love, War, and Infertility” U.S. Navy spouse and author Kristin Henderson writes about the military spouse’s perspective on deployment and homecoming. She will share her thoughts at this event.

HCC's Taber Gallery
Contact Amy Johnquest (413) 552-2614; ajohnquest@hcc.mass.edu for more information.

Monday, February 27 to Thursday, March 30
The campus and public are invited to view Burnt Unit, an exhibition of mixed media digital photography and welded steel sculpture by artists Jeff Derose and Michael Martindell.

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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.