The College community got its first taste of things to come as MVCC hosted its first representative from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) earlier this week. The College is at the launching stage of its 10-year accreditation process, which will be oc-cupying the time of many faculty and staff for the next two years.

Christy L. Faison, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Institutional Field Relations at MSCHE, which oversees the accredi-tation of 528 institutions. The reason for her visit was to familiarize the MVCC community with the new seven standards for accreditation. MVCC will be among the first institutions to be evaluated on these. Previous accreditations were based on 14 standards.

While MVCC has individual accredita-tions for many of its individual programs (Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc.; Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology; Engineering Technology Accredita-tion Commission of ABET; Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC); National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP)), the Middle States seal of approval requires an immense level of work.

According to Dr. Faison, the reason-ing behind the revision of the standards is that students were placed last among the previous requirements. The new standards place students’ interests and success at the forefront, followed by instruction, technology for the delivery of information, costs and regulatory environ-ment.

What this means is educational in-stitutions need to be mission-centered on student learning through the use of innovation with an eye on continuous improvement. Within the MSCHE mission statement is: “The Commission’s accredi-tation process ensures institutional ac-countability, self-appraisal, improvement, and innovation through peer review and

a rigorous application of standards within the context of institutional mission.”

The new standards are: 1. Mission and Goals; 2. Ethics and integrity; 3. Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience; 4. Support of the Student Experience; 5. Educational Effectiveness Assessment; 6. Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement; 7. Gover-nance, Leadership, and Administration.

An accredited institution of higher education must have an appropriate mission (Standard 1), live it with integrity (Standard 2), deliver an effective student learning experience (Standard 3), sup-port the overall student experience inside and outside the classroom (Standard 4), assess its own educational effective-ness (Standard 5), use planning and resources to ensure institutional improve-

ment (Standard 6), and be characterized by effective governance, leadership, and administration (Standard 7).

The new standards will be applied for all self-study cohorts beginning 2017. The timeline for MVCC’s self-study will be taking place over the next 18-24 months followed by a MSCHE visit in the spring of 2018. In the following months, the College will receive the MSCHE report at which time MVCC will have an opportu-nity to respond. The MSCHE evaluation committee will meet three to four weeks before Commission meetings, which are held in June, November and March. An action letter will result from this meeting.

If there are any actions to be taken from these letters, the College will have time to address Middle States’ concerns and take corrective actions.

Week of May 2, 2016

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College gets look at Middle States new standards

NEW RULES - Christy L. Faison, Ph.D., Vice President of Institutional Field Relations at Middle States Com-mission on Higher Education explains the new standards of accreditation during a visit to the Utica Campus earlier this week.

MVCC student Christina Carambia took third place in her divi-sion at the New York State Business Plan Competition at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s ZEN Building in Albany on April 29.

Carambia, who graduates this spring with a degree in Busi-ness Management earned on the Rome Campus, earned $1,500 toward her business, Underground Greens. Under-ground Greens is an urban farm concept that includes under-ground growing, field crops and a year-round farmer’s market. She will be opening her company later this year in a building on the Erie Canal in Rome.

Carambia worked with her advisor, adjunct instructor Pat Gannon, to win first place at the regional competition at SUNY Poly in Utica. She competed in the Sustainability/Green cat-egory, one of six divisions offered.

At the state competition, 86 teams from 55 schools compet-ed. The New York Business Plan Competition drew significant interest from student teams that represented 64 colleges and universities as they pitched their business plans for innova-tions in a variety of sectors that are driving New York State’s advanced economy, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and clean energy, among others. Com-petitors hailed from each of the state’s 10 economic develop-ment regions, based on Governor Cuomo’s Regional Devel-opment Councils that aim to support and expand economic opportunities across New York State.

Carambia and the two other students from community col-leges were recognized for their achievement in competing with doctoral students and teams, mostly from private colleges around the state.

The first-place winner in her category was from the University at Buffalo and has spent two years researching how to turn wa-ter into hydrogen fuel in his Ph.D program. The second-place team developed a prototype to turn household paper waste into logs for camp fires.

Each participant or team had to give a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation without notes and then take questions from judges for 3-5 minutes.

A panel of national venture capitalists, angel investors, and investment bankers selected the winning teams and offered invaluable feedback for each team that took part in the com-petition, which was once again presented by SUNY Poly, the University at Albany’s School of Business, and Syracuse Uni-versity.

The overall winner, from RPI, earned $100,000 for his inven-tion of a gun lock that recognizes fingerprints to operate.

Last year Carambia became the first MVCC student to qualify for the state competition. She took third place last year as well. In the seven years of the competition, she is one of only three community college students to place. This year MVCC joined colleges such as Cornell, Syracuse University, Buffalo and University of Rochester in having a team place in the competition.

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Takei

MVCC will kick off its fall Cultural Series by hosting “An Eve-ning with George Takei: Actor, Social Justice Activist, and Social

Media Mega-Power,” Saturday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert R. Jorgensen Athletic and Event Center.

Tickets will go on sale to the public Monday, Aug. 1, at 9 a.m. at the MVCC Box Office and online at mvcc.edu. Tickets will cost $35 for the general public and $25 for MVCC employ-ees; a limited number of free tickets will be available to MVCC students. Takei’s appear-ance is sponsored in part by MVCC’s Student Congress.

Takei is best known for playing Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the

Starship Enterprise on the “Star Trek” television series. He’s also become a well-known activist for LGBTQ rights and mar-riage equality, a social media power with more than nine million followers on Facebook and 1.8 million on Twitter, and a celeb-rity spokesperson for Taco Bell.

Takei made his Broadway debut with the premiere of his first musical, “Allegiance,” inspired by Takei’s true-life experience and follows one family’s extraordinary journey in an untold American story of forgiveness, joy, and the redemptive power of love. Currently, Takei hosts the AARP-produced YouTube series “Takei’s Take,” and is the subject of “To Be Takei” (2014), a doc-umentary on his life and career. On his own YouTube channel, Takei and his husband, Brad, bring viewers into their personal life in the “heightened reality”-web series, “It Takeis Two.”

‘Star Trek’ actor, activist Takei to speak in Sept.

TOP BUSINESS PLAN – MVCC student Christina Carambia took third place at the New York State Business Plan Competition, where she completed against more than 500 student groups from around the state. She was joined by adjunct instructor Pat Gannon and Associate Professor Barbara Scantlebury, Ph.D.

MVCC student places third at state business plan competition

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OFFERING A BRIGHT FUTURE - Hilmar von Strunck, Ph.D., talks to prospec-tive students during the Spring Open House, which was held Friday, April 8, in the Jorgensen Athletic and Events Center. Dr. von Strunck was among the many faculty and staff on hand to inform the hundreds of high school students who at-tended the event. The Open House is designed to give prospective students the opportunity to learn about the many academic opportunities available at MVCC and to provide information students need to begin their path to academic and career success.

A former Syracuse native and graduate of MVCC was hon-ored this past month as Veteran of the Month at the Maine Vet-erans’ Home in Norway, Maine, where he has been a resident of the Residential Care Unit since June 2015.

Former U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. John F. Anguish was born Feb. 3, 1936, and raised in Syracuse. He graduated from Fabius High School at the age of 17 and then enlisted in the Air Force in October 1953. He attended Nazarene Bible College and graduated with an associate degree in Biblical studies. He also attended MVCC, where he graduated with an associate in applied science degree.

Anguish was stationed throughout the U.S. and completed basic training in upstate New York before going to Mississippi for electronic technician training. He then went to Louisiana for a year, to Limestone for four years, and Griffiss Air Base in Rome, and to North Dakota.

Anguish worked on B-52 bombers and the Tactical Air Com-mands, fighter planes.

He earned the rank master sergeant and earned the Good Conduct Medal with bronze loops, the National Defense Ser-vice Medal, the Air Force Longevity Service award with one Bronze Oak leaf cluster and the Air Force Reserve Medal.

He was honorably discharged Nov. 30, 1973, after 20 years of service. He became a minister for the Nazarene Church after the service. Anguish likes classical music, loves to be outdoors, hunting and fishing.

Former student, veteran honored in his golden years

The most inspiring speakers are those who draw from their own life experience. For this year’s commencement speech, Megan Murrin will be pulling out all the pain and anguish of her young life and how she over-came these pitfalls and vices to finally fine the right path for her.

As a recovering heroin addict, Murrin will deliver a message of triumph over demons and the traps young people can fall into. Her message is one of hope and recovery, that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and someone is waiting there to pick you up.

The journey has been long, but Murrin’s story is inspirational and spiritual. She pulled her life back together to graduate from MVCC in 2011. While en-rolled at MVCC, she was the Student Congress President and President of the Chemical Dependency Club. She completed her undergraduate degree, and received her Master’s in Social Work (LMSW), from Syracuse University in 2014.

She previously worked as a Dual Recovery Supportive Living Case Manager at Central New York Services in Utica. She is currently employed through the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA); working as a HUDVASH social worker.

Murrin is a prior recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award, a member of Phi Alpha Zeta National Social Work Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and a current member of the NASW (National Association of Social Workers).

Murrin currently resides in Utica, with her husband, Matt, and their 1-year-old son Matthew.

Commencement speaker learned hard lessons during younger years

Megan Murrin

GIRLS IN STEM EXPO – MVCC’s WISE group (Women in Science and Engi-neering) hosted a Girls in STEM Expo on Saturday, April 9, to introduce girls in grades 9-12 to opportunities in the historically male-dominated fields of engi-neering and science. Jill Reale, StormTracker 2 meteorologist at WKTV, was the keynote speaker. WISE is dedicated to educating, advancing, and mentoring women in the pursuit of STEM-related fields at MVCC.

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The MVCC Hawks held their annual athletic awards banquet this week with each team’s Most Valuable Player being recog-nized individually, while the team as a whole was honored as well.

There were several special awards presented. Receiving the Robert R. Jorgensen Award for men was Zakaria Djouma, while Africa Williams received the honor for female athletes.

The Kiwanis Awards were presented to Devonte Wilson and Sashagaye Patterson. The Alumni Athletes of the Year Awards were presented to Ahmet Bademkiran and Morgan Talma.

The Scala Award was presented to Cortlynn Jepsen while the MVCC Scholar-Athlete honors went to Tanner Trzepacz and Katherine Elsenbeck.

For the performance of these teams up to this point, the men’s cross country team ran to a 53-1 overall record, win-

ning the Mountain Valley Conference and Region III Championships while finishing second at the

NJCAA National Championships. The team was led by All-Americans Zakaria Djouma, Alec Ambruso, and Tyler Beattie. Djouma finished the season undefeated against

all competition including two- and four-year colleges on his way to winning the individual national title.

The women’s cross country team ran to a final record of 36-9. The team finished ninth at the NJCAA National Championships behind Anna Roberts and Carolyn Peck.

The men’s soccer team finished with a record of 9-7-1. The team qualified as the No. 8 seed in the NJCAA Region III Tournament where they defeated Jefferson

CC, 3-2, in the quarterfinals before being eliminated in the semifinals. Leading the Hawks was All-Conference players Mohamed Kuwa, Mark Hennings and Kareem Hamad.

All-Conference player Maeline Hollenbeck led the women’s soccer team to a 5-9-2 season.

The women’s volleyball team more than doubled its win total from last season with a 9-17 record while posting a 7-4 mark in Conference play. Courtney Scheer was selected to the All-Mountain Valley Conference First Team.

The women’s tennis team returned for the 2015 season

with a 4-7 record. The Hawks were led by number one singles player and NJCAA Region III Champion Ella Brutsky. Brutsky qualified for the NJCAA National Singles Championships held in Peachtree City, Georgia.

The winter athletic programs saw just as much success as the men’s basketball team won the NJCAA Region III Cham-pionship advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament where they finished in sixth place. The Hawks were led by Region III MVP Devonte Wilson, and All American Kyron Allen.

The women’s basketball team finished 29-5, winning the Mountain Valley Conference and Region III Championships. The team finished third at the NJCAA National Championships for the second consecutive year. MVCC was led by All Ameri-can Africa Williams, and All Region III Cheyenne Clark and Sashagaye Patterson.

The ice hockey team finished 7-17 with a freshman dominat-ed roster, while the men’s bowling team finished second in the Mountain Valley Conference and the Region III tournament, and sixth at the NJCAA National Championships. The Hawks were led by All American Robert Jones; 1st Team All-Conference, All-American. The doubles team of Robert Jones and Justin Durham placed 3rd at the Region III Tournament and 2nd at the NJCAA National Championships.

The springs athletic teams are wrapping up their seasons this week.

Hawks enjoy another successful year

SCIENTIST OF THE FUTURE - MVCC student Joshua Cough-lin explains the results of his Silver Nano Particles project dur-ing Tuesday’s Modern Physics presentation. Coughlin was among five Modern Physics students who presented their re-search posters.

The STEM Center hosted its annual Modern Physics Poster competition where students demonstrate their research projects on a display board and then explain it to visitors.

There were six entries this year with Joshua Coughlin doing a project on Silver Nano Particles. There was a Cloud Chamber display created by Tyler Donlon, while Sean McKenna focused his research on Shadow Moire Inter-ferometry in Depth Analysis below 40um Threshold Heights.

The other two projects were by Andrew Fountain, focused on The Mecha-nism and Production of an Organic LED, and Hannah Waldo’s 3D Printing Prosthetic Limbs Can Be Handy.

The judges this year were Leila Choobineh, professor of mechanical engi-neering, and Edmond Rusjan, professor of mathematics. They are both from SUNY Poly. Some of the projects are funded through an experiential learning grant provided by Student Activities.

Physics students present poster projects at competition