Dave

Technology and this generation's fascination/obsession with it.

I have been "interviewed" twice this past week by students who are researching the implications of today's technology on today's students.  One group is doing their senior project for Journalism and they spent over an hour with me - they recorded our conversation and they were full of questions about what I thought the impact was on college students today who are, according to recent reports, "using some form of media 7 hours and 38 minutes a day" - the other student is actually writing a book and he was looking for information on how social networking MAY be impacting students' interactions with each other.  As I shared my own enthusiasm for today's technology and acknowledged that I Skype, text, Facebook, email, use eCollege, construct PowerPoints for class, pilot new classroom technology such as Tegrity (this allows me to record my classes and it captures everything I share with the class on my computer - I use it to record student presentations, guest speakers, etc. and when students or I use PowerPoint presentations, Tegrity "captures" all of it at the same time) - I also have a "paperless" classroom which means that after 40+ years of carrying student papers home to grade, it is all done today on my tablet computer.  Our discussions were excellent and I was, as usual, impressed with the maturity and thoughtfulness of the students.  They had researched their topics and seemed willing to listen to someone "older" :)  discuss technology.  One of the things we agreed on is that technology itself is not the problem, when/if there is a problem it is in how that technology is used or abused.  Someone who spends hours and hours each day on FaceBook will most likely have other issues in their lives and their grades will suffer from that "obsession."  Students or anyone (parents and grandparents are now on FaceBook) who uses social networking to take the place of one-on-one - face-to-face interactions will someday come to regret that.  Many years ago, when new students arrived on campus in September our computer systems were shut down as they were infected with viruses - it took several days for our IT folks to be able to fix the problems - it was fascinating to watch how so many people went into panic mode because they couldn't "connect' with family/friends.  I remember when I was finishing my doctoral dissertation and "word processing" was first introduced.  someone suggested that I utilize that new technology instead of having a "typist" type each page for me at the exorbitant price of $.25 per page - yup, that was just a quarter.  At the time I was NOT willing to "trust" my dissertation to any darned computer :)  I laugh now as I get impatient when my computer doesn't boot up quick enough - how times have changed........

Things on campus continue at a steady and busy pace.  Papers, projects, presentations are a daily event in class.  Seniors are encouraged to work with our Career Services folks to make sure that they all have an up-to-date resume and the three career counselors are always willing to work with faculty or students and they provide excellent resources for the campus. Chris Clary will be coming into my Practicum class in two weeks to talk with my seniors (again) and to check in with them on the progress they have made in their post-graduation plans.  Prof. Pat Standen is a member of our Philosophy Department and an outstanding educator.  Pat was a 16 year old, two or three sport high school athlete when an automobile accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.  As he realized that there literally were NO activities available for someone who USED to be an athlete he began his own journey and now he kayaks, plays sled-hockey, skis, holds the record for the Burlington City Marathon for adaptive athletes and he is about to take up the biathlon next week since he has always been interested in this but never has tried it.  He is the founder of EDAA - Eastern Disabled Athletes Association.  Pat came to speak with my Sports Psychology class on Thursday and it was amazing to see how quickly he became a part of my class.  The students were intrigued, embarrassed (that they didn't know more about adaptive sports already) and full of questions.  Pat has such an honest and comfortable teaching style that we worked very well together.  A couple of my students know Pat because he is the Faculty Mentor for our Men's Hockey team and several of our men and women ice hockey players had assisted Pat when his organization put on a sled hockey event at Cairn's Arena.  I have seen Pat play sled-hockey and it is truly an amazing sport to watch.  I had Face-booked Pat during a recent Sunday afternoon Winter X Game run up to the Olympics because I had seen ski cross racing with adaptive skiers - he knows several of these competitors and so was able to also address that with my class. He and I agree that those of us who are TAB's (temporarily able-bodied) have an obligation to better educate ourselves on issues such as adaptive sports because we all know or will all know someone who has a disability that will restrict their ABILITIES - our awareness now makes us responsible for educating ourselves and those around us.  

We have a long weekend starting next Saturday and I will be heading out West to visit some of my former students who live in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and Reno.  It will be great to see them all and I am also looking forward to some great skiing while I am there.  While our neighbors to the South have certainly received a great deal of snow the past 48 hours, WE have received NONE.  I know it is useless to ask them to ship it up here but hopefully this week will bring us more snow in Vermont.  At least I know that they have a lot out West as my friends in Incline Village - outside of Lake Tahoe tell me that they received 7 FEET a week ago - 7 FEET - of course, their normal temperatures are also around 30 degrees so the snow isn't much of an issue - I will hopefully post some pictures on my blog upon my return.  In the meantime, take good care, be well, and as always, PLEASE keep all of the members of our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave

More joys of teaching.....

Very early Friday morning I left my home here and drove to Woburn, MA to meet my friend and former student Jim Howland '88 who was defending his doctoral dissertation at Boston University.  I have been a member of his Ed.D. Committee for the past two years and it was very rewarding to be a part of his defense.  He passed with revisions which is the normal path and will complete everything and graduate in May.  As a full-time husband, father and the Social Worker at the only school in MA for kids in recovery, he has worked really hard to complete his degree - I was rather proud of him as I have been of other former students who have continued on with post-SMC graduate degrees.  I have mentioned in my blog that preparing and submitting letters of recommendation take up a good deal of any faculty members time BUT it is also something I enjoy doing.  When I got home from Boston I received a call from Jason Fuchs, a current senior psychology major who told me that he has received his first graduate school acceptance.  He is the first of this year's seniors whom I have heard has been accepted - the next few weeks will bring many more and I did three recommendations this morning so the process continues.

Classes this past week were excellent and I continue to be impressed with the quality of my students.  Tomorrow's Men & Masculinities class will bring Dr. Frank Landry back to talk with my students about men's health issues.  Frank is an alum of SMC and this will be his 10th year as a volunteer speaker in my class.  Because I don't believe in teaching in isolation he will not only address men's issues but he will also address women's issues - this is always a fascinating class and I advise my students NOT to miss this one - it may save their lives someday.  He doesn't pull any punches and answers every question in an honest and direct manner.  Students always tell me how much they appreciate his discussion and HE is always amazed at the energy and honesty of my students.

I have heard from a couple of you who read my blog (thanks) and appreciate knowing that someone IS out there "listening" to the blog.  I have had  people express their appreciation for my asking for thoughts and prayers for the members of our Armed Forces - I will continue to do that simply because it is the right thing to do.  This past Tuesday our Student Association had a good discussion during Open Forum about how we could help out in the crisis in Haiti.  Since we have colleagues and students who have been very personally impacted by the recent earthquakes it was good to hear how concerned our student leaders are about trying to make a difference.  David Hiltz is our SA President this year and he referred to Dr. Jack Neuhauser's letter to the community about how SMC can help in Haiti in the short term AND in the long term - I posted Jack's message in my last blog.  David asked everyone to think about both avenues of assistance - now and for their future.  SMC students and faculty/staff have traveled to Haiti in the past doing volunteer work and I know that they will continue to do this - doing things simply because they ARE the right thing to do is just one of the many joys of working here.

please take care, be well and, as always please keep the members of our military in your thoughts and prayers as well as those impacted by the tragedy in Haiti.

Dave

Haiti - campus reaction

I returned late last night from Atlanta, Georgia where I had attended the NCAA National Convention.  I left Vermont early Wednesday morning when the news from Haiti was first starting to come in.  The initial reports were that there had been a 7.0 earthquake but little information at that time.  As things unfolded in Haiti I followed as much as possible while also attending the many meetings and workshops which took me to Atlanta in the first place.  I serve as the College's Faculty Athletic Representative and am the liaison between academics and athletics.  Our Athletic Director, Geri Knortz and I have attended the past few NCAA Conventions together and it is always good to renew friendships with colleagues from across the country who also work so closely with athletic programs and student-athletes.  I would try to catch up on what was unfolding in Haiti as Saint Michael's College has had a long and positive history with that country and its people.  A number of my colleagues from here are either FROM Haiti or have visited Haiti over the years so it was difficult to be so far away from here while things were being reported from Haiti.  The devastation is almost too horrific for us to comprehend but knowing that friends and colleagues have family members there who are unaccounted for makes everything so personal.  One workshop I attended was on academic support systems for student-athletes and as I read the bio's of the presenters I saw that one man - Jim Pignataro, was from Michigan State University so I went up to introduce myself to him as an alum of that fine institution.  Much to my surprise (and his) when I said that I was from Saint Michael's College he told me that he is the brother-in-law to my friend and colleague Moise St. Louis who is not only our Director of Multicultural Student Affairs/Assistant Dean but also someone FROM Haiti.  I was able to find out directly from Jim about some of the latest information about Haiti.  My brother-in-law is the Global Managing Partner for Human Resources/Talent Management for Deloitte Touche and someone who has many resources which have helped us here at SMC over the years during times such as this.  Jim kept me informed of the latest security briefings and I was able to forward those to my friends here on campus who are connected to friends in Haiti.  I will attach our President's comments to the community at the end of this posting on my blog.  We can donate money AND provide our prayers as we continue to support those more directly impacted than we are.  This also is such a stark reminder of just how fragile life can be and the reality that it is so important that we make sure that those we love KNOW it - NOW..............

Classes began last Monday and I left on Wednesday so I am looking forward to re-connecting with my students tomorrow.  We will be talking about Haiti AND, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Some have complained that Saint Michael's College should join so many others and not have classes on this day in memory and tribute to Dr. King.  Our philosophy is that it is important for us, as an educational institution, to have classes and all faculty are encouraged to use this as a time to remember and recall the struggles that too many people today take for granted.  A recent Burlington Free Press article featured a front page story on the Society of Saint Edmund (the founding fathers of Saint Michael's College) and how the priests had worked so tirelessly in the South to bring peace and justice AND voting rights to those who were disenfranchised.  The picture that accompanied the article was of Fr. Maurice Ouellet, SSE, as he was on a playground at an iron jungle gym reaching up to help little black children climbing on that piece of fun equipment - that picture tells so much about Fr. Ouellet (he hired me here and is someone I have such great admiration and respect for) as he was always reaching out to help others.  There is always an afternoon convocation on campus with a featured speaker and talks by our students so instead of canceling classes and providing our students with an opportunity to "hit the slopes" we provide an educational opportunity - I think we make the better choice. 

Several times during my travels to Atlanta, as I sat in airports in Burlington, Washington and Atlanta, members of our armed services walked by.  When there was eye contact, I just gave a nod of thanks and they returned with a smile and a nod back.  On one flight our attendant mentioned that several members of the military were with us who were being deployed to Afghanistan and the plane erupted in applause for our soldiers.  As always, please remember the military and their families AND the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.  Here is the response from President Jack Neuhauser to our community in response to the tragedy in Haiti:

take care and be well

Dave

January 15, 2010

 

TO:   The Saint Michael’s College Community

FROM:     John J. Neuhauser

RE:        Haiti disaster

 

This week’s disaster in Haiti has affected many members of the Saint Michael’s community in a personal and profound manner, as family members and close friends have been lost.  A number of individuals served as host families for a group of Haitian students who were with us in the fall, and many others have personal friendships with Haitian people, including faculty members and students, that go back years.

Indeed, the College’s solidarity with Haitiwas affirmed in 1994 with a weeklong observance in which our community expressed its support for the people of Haiti, who were calling for the return of their democratically elected president.  The main event of the week was an address by then-exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who received an honorary degree.  Haiti Solidarity Week became an annual observance, bringing Haitian scholars, activists, writers and artists to campus, especially benefiting students involved in related MOVE service trips to several communities in Haiti and a service-learning course in 2002.  One of the invited speakers, Michelle Pierre-Louis, hosted our students during their 2002 trip, and the Student Association asked to invite her to return as commencement speaker in 2004, the year in which Saint Michael's College was celebrating its centennial and Haiti its bicentennial.  Michelle Pierre-Louis waslater Prime Minister of Haiti (from 2008 to 2009).  Sadly, Visiting Scholars Georges and Mireille Anglade, who became members of our community for the spring semester in 2001, have died in the earthquake.

 

It is important that each member of our community have a chance to respond in their own manner, including prayer, reflection and/or providing monetary and physical resources and even labor, at a time when this might be possible.  The initial need centers on financial support.  To expedite this process, I suggest that those who wish to contribute do so directly through Catholic Relief Services (http://crs.org/) or the International Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org/eng), as these organizations have the ability to see that resources are quickly and appropriately brought to bear.  Campus Ministry has already gathered some funds, and will continue to do so today and through a special collection at the masses on Sunday, January 24.

 

The College will also be developing a response that will allow members of the community to provide tangible and specific help to an educational organization, such as a school.  It will take some time to work with partners in Haiti to learn where our efforts directed at reconstruction might best be applied.  I believe it important that we develop an opportunity that involves students, faculty and staff directly, in keeping with the volunteer culture which so distinguishes Saint Michael’s.  Plans for this venture are just beginning, but you should expect to hear more in the days ahead.

 

It is unfortunate that tragedy once again reminds us that in small things, we may differ, but in the large things, we are all much the same.  Please continue to pray and offer comfort as you are able.

 

 

A new semester and Smugglers' Notch "rocks"

For the last three days I have gotten up early, had breakfast and headed to Jeffersonville and Smugglers' Notch or as those of us who enjoy the great skiing simply call it - Smuggs........  When we got 33.1 inches of snow last weekend, which set an all time record for Burlington, Smuggs got almost that much.  I have been skiing there for 28 years and it just gets better every year.  I love the fact that Saint Michael's College is one of the only, if not THE only college/university in the country which includes the opportunity (for a very nominal fee) of a season's pass at a great ski resort.  I know that a large number of our students take advantage of this opportunity and while faculty/staff don't get the same benefit of the nominal fee, many of us also ski there.  The President, the Chair of the Board, our VP for Human Resources Mike New and his wife Patti and many others of us who live and work here celebrate our weather instead of complaining about it.  I have also been out snowshoeing a couple of times and hope to either ski or snowshoe at least a couple of times every week - it is always fun to introduce students to the fun of snowshoeing as many of them have never tried this sport. With the start of our new semester just a couple of days away, it was good to get outdoors and enjoy the mountains.

On Monday the new semester begins.  Tomorrow (Friday) there are workshops on campus sponsored by our Information Technology folks who will make sure that all of the faculty are up-to-date on the latest technology available to us in the classroom.  Between spending some time on campus this week doing letters of recommendations for many of our seniors and revising syllabi I am ready for the new semester.  Men & Masculinities class has 15 men and 15 women - all seniors and I appreciate the opportunity to work with such eager students.  I talked with Bryan Brunton and Pat McGuirk at the rink last weekend at their hockey tournament and they are both looking forward to this class - while I have had many of these students in class prior to this semester, there are still several I have never met so it will be fun to get to see how they respond to a class with an equal balance of men and women which specifically deals with men's issues.  Sports Psychology is always exciting as we look at the intriguing connections between sports and psychology.  My Practicum class went very well first semester and as we get together again for second semester I get to review what their site supervisors had to say about their first semester WITH each of them and I am looking forward to how they view the challenges of working in social services.  Since many of the students told me in their semester evaluations that they want to spend some time this semester finalizing their post-graduation plans I have already spoken to Chris Clary, Director of the Office of Career Development who will come into class to work with my students on updating their resumes and help them figure out how to accomplish their career goals - since this semester will go very quickly, especially for our seniors, having folks from Career Development come into the classroom makes good sense.

I hope that everyone had a safe and fun holiday - I sure did.  Of course, I WILL again remind all of my students that the H1N1 has NOT gone away yet so they still need to be reminded to take the appropriate precautions.  I am getting my shot on Saturday now that they have lifted the restrictions and everyone is eligible for the shot.  While classes begin on Monday, I leave on Wednesday for four days in Atlanta for the NCAA National Convention along with Geri Knortz,our Athletic Director.  Stay tuned as I will probably blog from Atlanta.

As always, please take good care and keep all of our soldiers, veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers. 

Dave

A Hannukah party - final exams and grading way too many papers......

Last evening I attended an annual Hanukkah party at the home of my colleagues Ron and Naomi - it is always a wonderful event and not just because Ron makes the best latkes I have ever tasted.  It is a gathering of good friends - many of whom work here at Saint Michael's College and some of whom are their neighbors.  It is a luxury at this time of year to be able to gather socially with friends and colleagues and while we attemptto keep the conversation away from our students and/or our teaching, it is inevitable that we talk about the semester.  For me the highlight (in addition to the latkes :)) was the shared reading of a children's story by most of us gathered there - after the lighting of the candles on their menorah by Ron and a couple of the children who were there, we all gathered in the living room for the reading of a children's story and as Naomi so wisely pointed out - "most children's stories are really for adults" Ron and Naomi's son Ari is our assistant men's basketball coach and someone I admire and respect greatly.  I have also known him for most of his life and to see what a wonderful young man he has become is also one of those "perks" of working at SMC.

This IS exam week and while students all stress over our exams they often don't realize that we want them to do as well as they want to do themselves.  Grading is perhaps the one thing that most of us don't like - while it is a necessary evil it is always difficult to gradestudents on what they have learned over the course of a semester.  Perhaps I am jaded as I no longer have underclass students in any of my classes since I teach all upper-level courses but having watched my students grow and mature over a semester it is hard to place a letter grade on their accomplishments.  With 16 students out in the community for my Practicum course, I am getting their site supervisors' evaluations and am pleased to see that my evaluations or these young people is reinforced by the comments and observations of their site supervisors.  I asked my Theories class to provide me with a final paper in which they spell out the five most important things that they have learned over this semester about the field of counseling.  Those papers are amazing as their insights into their own growth is very rewarding after a difficult and intense semester together.  The final papers for Sports Psychology have also been submitted and now I am going to be reading their journal entries - I was NOT aware until three of them approached me that my assignment to "submit journal responses to all of the articles I post in eCollege" meant that they had to complete 32 responses - hummmm somehow I had simply lost track of the reality that I had, over the course of this semester, posted 32 different articles which pertained to the connection between sports and psychology.  I quickly apologized and told them that they only needed to do 10.  They were very grateful and those (few) who had already done many more were even more grateful when I told them that THEY would all get extra credit if they had already completed more than the NOW required 10.  Being flexible in this age of technology is essential.  :)

On Friday as I was driving from my home to campus I drove past the back of the Burlington Airport and watched as the soldiers of our Vermont National Guard filed out of the hanger into a waiting 747 which was to take them to Indiana for some final training prior to their deployment to Afghanistan.  1,500 Vermont men and women will NOT be home for the holidays with their families - they will either already be in Afghanistan or on their way - so once again, I ask that we all please keep all of our soldiers and their families and all of our veterans and their families in our thoughts and prayers at this time of year. 

Take good care - enjoy Christmas or Hanukkah and be well - my posts to this blog will most likely resume in January

Dave

The joy of teaching......

While there are many "joys" of teaching, re-connecting with former students AND hearing good things about current students constitute one of the great joys of my teaching.  On Thanksgiving morning I went kayaking at Indianbrook Reservoir in nearby Essex and as I was putting my kayak in I heard "I know you" and there was Katie Spinner and her husband, Mom and Dad and brother PLUS two dogs.  I haven't seen her in a couple of years and remember writing her a letter of recommendation for graduate school.  She and her husband are now living in New Hampshire where she is a school counselor - it was so good to see her again and her family.  On Monday I received an email from Vinnie D'Angelo who graduated in 1985 - he was going to be in Burlington on business and wondered if we could get together for dinner.  It was a spur of the moment thing but Vinnie is a wonderful person and he and his wife Mary and their kids live in New Jersey so I don't get to see him very often.  I ended up going to the Burlington Airport and picking Vinnie and a business colleague up and we all went to Winooski for dinner at Papa Frank's - a favorite dining place when Vinnie was here 25 years ago.  It was good to catch up with him and he mentioned that his sister Ann who is also an SMC alum had been in NJ for their Thanksgiving.  Vinnie was the President of our Student Association and then Ann was Vice-President (Pat Gallivan was President when Ann was VP) and since I am still the faculty advisor for our current Student Association it was fun to make some comparisons.  Last night I missed a call from Brian Ritchie who was also in the area on business and we usually get together for dinner when he comes to town but last night I wasn't able to due to prior commitments.  Three other members of the Class of '85 were recently on campus making a YouTube video to promote their 25th Reunion which is this coming summer - Dennis, Deidre and Pam created quite a stir and made an amazing video as they made their way around campus re-connecting with many of us - I suspect that the video alone will encourage many of their classmates to return here for their reunion this summer.

My classes are going well as we wind down the semester.  Practicum students have to provide their supervisors (I have 16 senior psychology majors out in the local community for 8 - 10 hours a week) with an evaluation form which I will use to help me in determining their grade for this semester.  This is a two semester course and these students are in class with me for 2.5 hours once a week.  I received the following email yesterday from one of the supervisors of two of my students:

"My name is Kristen Flanders and I am a special educator at the JFK elementary alternative program. I have two of your students, Tatyana Maklina and Crystal Bissett. While completing their evaluations, I wanted to send you a note just expressing how wonderful they have been. I have been very impressed with both interns, they go above and beyond tasks that are asked of them. I will submit their evaluations to the interns this week but I just wanted to let you know that it has been a great experience and beneficial to my students having them!" - now, neither Tanya nor Crystal know about this email (yet) but it is this type of unsolicited praise for our students that makes it all worthwhile.  All of my students are working hard at establishing themselves in their intern sites which range from this elementary school to an in-patient drug/alcohol treatment program - it truly IS a joy to work with these students. 

 

I also reminded all of my students to remember that while they were home having a Thanksgiving celebration with their families they were also most likely going to bring some "germs" back with them and so advised them to continue to take the precautions we have been talking about all semester - we still have some students coming down with H1N1 and I am glad that we have all been asked by our Vice President for Acacemic Affairs Karen Talentino to keep this in mind when we calculate grades when attendance is a factor.  I spoke with a young woman who attends another college in NH and she has had the flu twice this semester and has received NO support nor assistance from her college about this issue - in addition to being sick for an extended length of time she also has had to "justify" her classroom absences - I told her what we do at SMC and she was saddened that her college doesn't do the same. 

 

As the President spoke last night about the upcoming increase in our military presence in Afghanistan I was struck by the number of comments I have received from readers of this blog about my endings of each blog where I ask for YOUR thoughts and prayers for our soldiers - I WILL continue asking for that - please keep them ALL in your thoughts and prayers...................

 

take care and be well

Dave

Much to be thankful for....

Our students are heading home tomorrow (Tuesday) although some have already left :)  but at this time of year as they are all stressed with papers, exams AND the end of the semester looming right ahead (seniors are already lamenting that this is their LAST Thanksgiving vacation from SMC) I have tried to remind them to take care of themselves, to enjoy home, family AND to get some much needed sleep.  I can't remember if my sleep patterns were the same as theirs when I was in college but I am amazed at what they can accomplish on so little sleep.I also remind them that we all have so much to be thankful for, even if that is simply because we have new friends, have learned new information about ourselves and our world or because we have more than many others do. Classes have been wonderful with both Theories and Practicum students continuing to learn more and more about themselves and the counseling profession every day.  The experiences they have either on their Practicum sites or in the Developmental Lab assure me that they ARE going to be good clinicians and that they will be more culturally sensitive, more compassionate and more experienced than I ever learned from my undergraduate education.  The Developmental Lab continues to be a great learning tool.  Sports Psychology class amazes students as they have never considered some of the issues we discuss in this "applied" psychology class.  They are gaining a greater insight into the working of the mind as we look at the behaviors of not only high school and college athletes, but the professionals as well.  They are also learning a great deal about parents and the impact that parents can/do have on young people who participate in athletics - I am grateful that so many of my former students from this class have stayed in touch with me and they send me information that they think the class can benefit from on a regular basis - I love those long-standing connections.

Yesterday afternoon my friend/colleague Kuntz and I drove to Lincoln, VT to visit OUR colleagues/friends Ari and Molly - their second son was born a couple of weeks ago and we wanted a chance to visit with them and their three year old son Noah.  I have posted pictures on Facebook and have already received many comments from friends on the pictures.  Ari and Molly are both in the Psychology Department and while she was at home awaiting Quinn's arrival and avoiding getting the H1N1 from our students I had the pleasure of taking over Molly's Practicum class and thoroughly enjoyed not only helping out, but also getting the perspective of 18 students on their Practicum experience.  Several of Molly's students are either in my Theories course or have been in other courses I teach so it was good to see them again in a different academic setting.  Practical experience is such an excellent learning tool for our students as it cements some goals and alters others - not a bad thing.

I have been working with the College and with Senator Leahy's office in securing veteran's benefits for one of our graduate students who served four years in the military and then was stop-lossed for an addtional year and a half - those of you who have been followers of my blog know I am talking about Alan.  I am amazed, infuriated, saddened and confused that we have asked so much from our young men/women who serve this country but the bureaucracy gets so bogged down that it takes months and months, too many telephone calls and faxes, senatorial intervention and he still doesn't have his benefits - this just simply isn't right!!!  There has to be a better way to make sure that these veterans who are returning to college or who choose to enter college for the first time are NOT forced to pay everything "out of pocket' at they wait for their benefits to kick in.  They have enough to deal with on a daily basis to have to also be worried about when they will be reimbursed............  Many thanks to SMC President Jack Neuhauser, Marilyn Cormier, our Registrar's Office and Katherine Long from Senator Leahy's Office for their assistance in this matter - even after the VA is  FINALLY notified (with the "correct" paperwork that Alan IS a full-time student here it will take 8 to 12 weeks for him to receive reimbursement from OUR government - as I said, it simply isn't right!!!!!  The latest is when the VA informed him that they didn't have records of his being stop-lossed ????????  I told Alan that perhaps he had really just been vacationing somewhere on a Caribbean Island those 18 months and that he really wasn't back in Afghanistan during that time - fortunately he knows that we ARE working with him to resolve these things AND he hasn't lost his sense of humor although he sure has reason to.

Take care, have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and please keep all of the members of our military - current and veteran alike, in your thoughts and prayers as WE get to celebrate so much.

Dave

JibFest a success!!!!!!!

Last night on the 300's field there were over 200 of our students who either participated directly as competitors or who were there to cheer their friends on as the SMC Ski and Snowboard Club once again presented their JibFest.  It was a huge success as the members of the Club and their friends trucked "snow" in from local ice rinks (the Zamboni scrapes the ice surface clean before every game and between every period of every game and our students were able to truck all that "snow" to the 300's field on Thursday and Friday), constructed scaffolding and the rails and a few "obstacles" for the competition.  They had three ramps and the competitors, carrying their skis or snowboards, climbed to the top, strapped on their skis/snowboards and hurtled down the ramps to the cheers of the crowd.  Grace Kelly (Director of Student Activities), Mark Litchfield (Assistant Director of Special Events), Marilyn Cormier (Director of Corporate and Community Relations) and "grill master extrordinaire"  Dave Vorozilchak (senior Engineering major, three year RA, captain of the men's ice hockey team and all around good guy cooked up over 200 hamburgers and all of us, myself included, served our students ALL of those burgers.  At one point, around 8:00 I looked over and saw Jack Neuhauser, our President standing there enjoying the competition and talking with students and some parents who also were visiting the festivities.  So here we all were on a Friday night with over 200 students having an absolute blast.  Anyone who wonders about the behavior of college students today should have been there to watch everyone having such a good time.  A couple of students came up to Grace as she was slapping more burgers on the two grills and asked her what she was doing still on campus at 8:30 in the evening on a Friday night?  She said that she was doing what the rest of us (Jack, Marilyn, Mark, moi) were doing - having a great time helping our students have a successful event on campus..........  That says it all - THAT is what makes this place such an amazing place to live and to work....

I am in the office grading papers and writing letters of recommendation for some of my seniors. I am going to head over to the Ross Sport Center for our swim meet at 1, then to the ice rink for our women's hockey game at 3 and then the men's ice hockey scrimmage at 5 and then back here for the 6th Annual International Festival sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs - this event is great with music and dancing from all over the world AND spectacular food from all over the world.  Kemi Brewster and Joy-Anne Headley are from Barbados and they have both promised me some amazing Barbadian food.  All in all, another great day at SMC. 

I want to leave you all with the following prayer which appeared in last Sunday's Burlington Free Press - since this past Wednesday was Veteran's Day, I feel it is appropriate:

"Dear God, I pray to give all of our soldiers the courage and strength to do the duty that is required of them.  May they always remember our appreciation for the sacrifice they are making for us.  We are thankful for the men and women who are willing to risk their lives to protect our freedom. I ask you to go with each one of them and protect them wherever they go.  Amen." 

take care and be well.

Dave

I

Collaboration at its best.

On Tuesday of this week Tim Ford ’83 came to campus to speak with a group of five of our psychology majors (all seniors) who are working with Carolyn Whitney and me on independent research into the organizational behaviors and the psychological implications for four different groups within the work environments of today’s corporate world.  These four groups are the traditionalists, baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y.  Four students are researching each of these four groups and the fifth student is looking at the gender implications of all of this.  It has been a fascinating experiment with these students who have already submitted two papers to us and who will complete a major collaborative paper before the end of the semester.  We may even present their findings at a “brown bag” luncheon on campus. Jim Wall'74 also came and spoke with the group during the Career Symposium which was held a couple of weeks ago.  I had contacted Jim and he provided the students with several excellent articles on how the corporate world is dealing with the various personalities of these four groups and what the implications are for integration of the various personalities of each group into the corporation.  He provided us with some in-house research that Deloitte has been doing and he spent over an hour and a half with us on the Thursday night prior to his keynote address to the Symposium.  On Saturday morning of that weekend I was on campus for the Admission’s Office Academic Preview and ran into Ryan Devane, one of our students – he was in a workshop that Tim Ford was presenting and as they talked, Tim commented that he had all four of these groups in his work site locally AND Tim offered to have our students come to that workplace (Hackett, Valine, McDonald ) to interview these folks (he has a 70+ year old partner in the firm who doesn’t even have a computer in his office and he has a number of 20-somethings who work for him).  Tim came in Tuesday and spent over an hour with us and has offered to be a resource for our students as they progress in their individual and collective research.  Each student is working on his/her own research area and sharing it with the others in the group. There will be a final “product” which will combine the efforts of all five of them.

 

This is an excellent example of the positive effects of ALUMNI, FACULTY, STUDENTS, CAREER SERVICES collaboration.  The Symposium brought our alums back to campus – they listened to Jim Wall and connected with our current students and are following up with some of those contacts such at Tim Ford.  CAREER SERVICES staff are connected to the students and the alumni.  This is not only a great example of collaboration at its best, but it also is an example of what Carolyn and I have been able to craft with five of our senior psychology majors who had a specific interest and how that is all coming together in a great educational experience.

 

I have been "subbing" for Molly Millwood's Practicum class for the past few weeks as she just gave birth to their second child this week.  Ari and Molly are both members of our psychology department faculty and very popular with the students who have been quite excited as we have all awaited the arrival of Quinn Alexander Kirshenbaum.  It has been great to get to know another class and to see how their internship sites are going as they, like my 16 Practicum students are having a very challenging and very educational experience out in the local community providing services in agencies across the county.  It is very reinforcing when we get to see how our students are able to take classroom learning and apply it in real-life situations.  I am very proud of our students.

 

Please take care, be well and please keep the members of our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.  One of my students saw some of our Vermont National Guard soldiers and their families as the soldiers were preparing to deploy and she too, much like I experienced last week, was struck with the reality of this WAR.  I spoke with Prof. Bill Grover the other morning as we both walked to our offices.  He has maintained a wall covered with pictures of all those killed in the Iraq War and he asked me if I felt that he should begin a wall for those soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan - I told him YES and when I mentioned this to my classes, they agreed.  It is a sad reality that too many of us can easily forget that there are WARS going on and that we all need to remember not only those who HAVE served, but those who ARE serving and their families.

 

Dave

 

 

More reasons to love Vermont

'It is Friday afternoon and I just got home from kayaking out on IndianBrook Reservoir in Essex Junction.  It was very peaceful when I first started but then the wind picked up quite quickly and the exercise part of exercise/solitude which I so enjoy with kayaking soon became more exercise and less solitude.  It WAS a great time and the whitecaps were unusual for IndianBrook.  As I left there heading home I remembered that I needed to go to the Alpine Shop and pick up my skis - I took them there last Friday for a tune-up.  So here I was, at the Alpine Shop with my kayak on the roof of my car going in to pick up my skis.  I talked with Pat Sheld '06 and Andy Driscoll '09 both of whom work there and who always take good care of me and we had a good laugh about how much we all love Vermont so much because of the cross-seasonal activities we all get to engage in.  It was 38 degrees out last Friday when I went kayaking and took my skis in for the tune-up and today it is 62 degrees outside - I will also call for an appointment this afternoon to get my snow tires put on because this IS Vermont and things can change quickly. :)

Classes are going very well and we have now finished pre-registration and our seniors registered this week for their second and final semester classes.  I enjoy academic advising as it gives me a great opportunity to help students match their classes with their future career plans.  I have 20 advisees and they are required to see their adviser before they can register for classes but our jobs are made so much easier these days because the students take responsibility for their course selection through using KnightVision which provides them with access 24/7 to their academic program and they get to not only see where they are as they progress towards commencement, but it also allows them to "try out" other possibilities in their curriculum choices.  It is especially rewarding to talk with my psychology majors as we get to make plans for their courses AND graduate school.  I will be in the office for several hours this weekend (it is supposed to rain so no kayaking) completing letters/forms which are recommendations for graduate school.  Jason Fuchs, Bryan Brunton and Joy-Anne Headley are all applying for graduate school and have requested a letter of recommendation from me and I have promised them that I will get all of them done this weekend.

Take care, be well and this morning as I was heading to the campus for a meeting I was surprised to see a large troop carrier and a bus heading towards the Burlington Airport the "back way" but then I remembered that more of our local Vermont National Guard members are heading south for additional training before being deployed to Afghanistan in December for a year.  The total number of Vermonters heading to Afghanistan is 1,500 - the largest deployment of our soldiers since World War II. The bus was carrying our soldiers as they head out - a truly sobering sight.  Please keep all of them and all of our military members and their families in your thoughts and prayers.   

Dave