I expect all dedicated alums—and even some parents—to know where this is. By the bye, it’s not working, and I’ve fiddled with it several times, attempting to get it ticking again. Anyone out there want to try their hand?
If you think you know where it stands, please write your answer on a piece of paper and slip it carefully inside a King 3B trombone and send it to Newsline, Alumni Center, 229 Main St., Keene, NH 03435. Or use the “comments” link, below.
On May 5th, 1,107 KSC seniors accepted at least 1,196 degrees, making theirs the largest class in the College’s 103-year history. And the ceremony on Fiske Quad was also the greenest: KSC worked with the company Balfour to provide caps & gowns made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. It takes about 23 bottles to make one gown, and that’s 23 removed from the tens of millions that end up in U.S. landfills every day. The graduates could keep their gowns, or return them so the material can be used to make artificial turf.
During Commencement, Mary Ann Kristiansen, local entrepreneur, artisan, and community-builder, received the Granite State Award, and Janet Cohen, humanitarian, researcher, and advocate for the Holocaust and related issues of genocide, tolerance, and diversity, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Both women spoke during the ceremony.
When current Keene State College President Helen Giles-Gee and Provost Mel Netzhammer announced earlier this spring that they would be leaving the College to pursue new professional opportunities, the University System of New Hampshire Board and the Keene State College community immediately took steps to fill those critical leadership positions.
Jay Kahn, current vice president for Finance and Planning, will serve as president for a one-year term, and Melinda Treadwell, current dean of Professional and Graduate Studies, will take over as provost for a two-year term. They will assume their new roles in July 2012 when the positions are vacated. Read more. …
To fill the vacancies that drs. Kahn and Treadwell will leave, the College has selected Karen House, current KSC associate vice president for Finance and Planning, to serve as vice president for Finance and Planning for a one-year term and Wayne Hartz, current associate professor for Safety and Occupational Health Applied Sciences to step into the role of interim dean of Professional and Graduate Studies. Read more. …
KSC has also chosen Dr. Andrew Harris as its new dean of Arts and Humanities. That position became open when Dr. Nona Fienberg decided to step down as dean to focus on her work in the newly formed Holocaust and Genocide Studies department. Dr. Harris will begin his work here on August 1st. Read more about Dr. Harris. …
Keene State College puts a lot of effort into maintaining a sustainable campus. And our efforts don’t go unnoticed. For the third-straight year, the College has been listed in The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges, which profiles higher-education institutions in the United States and Canada that demonstrate distinguished commitments to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities, and career preparation. KSC also received a silver rating for a recent campus-wide sustainability assessment by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
“Sustainability is a value that Keene State College instills into everything it does as an academic institution,” said Mary Jensen, Keene State College Campus Sustainability Officer. “Faculty, staff, and students all have demonstrated their commitment to sustainability—from Ashuelot River cleanups to student research projects that help inform city governments. The most exciting part is that the College incorporates sustainability in the curriculum, operations, student life, and the College’s mission and values. It is truly a collaborative effort across campus.”
Assistant Professor of Geography Lara Bryant has received a $5,500 grant from the Marion & Jasper Whiting Foundation to support her project, “Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar: Exploring the Coexistence and Challenges of Neighboring Cultures.”
Dr. Bryant will attend a two-week seminar in Spain and Morocco offered by the Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE), where she will explore the links between Morocco and Spain on a variety of levels: their cultural and historic heritage, the differences between the “developing” and “developed” world, and the global impacts of terrorism and increasing animosity between historically Muslim and Christian societies.
Early Sprouts, KSC’s award-winning effort to instill healthy nutrition and eating habits in preschool age children, recently expanded its initiative to reach children in kindergarten through 6th grade participating in afterschool programs. Dr. Karrie Kalich and Dr. Marjorie Droppa, associate professors of health science, have been working on the after school component for over a year. In the afterschool setting, Early Sprouts continues to focus on nutrition by engaging children in gardening, exploring, and cooking fresh produce. However, a new addition incorporates activities that also foster math, science, and art skills.
Dr. Beverly Ferrucci and her 4th year math students graciously partnered with the Early Sprouts team to create fun and engaging math activities that utilized the Early Sprouts vegetables. For example, children explore the connection between the size of a squash and the number of seeds it contains, determine the volume of a bell pepper by measuring how much water it holds, and calculate the perimeter of a room using green beans.
KSC Geography Professor Jo Beth Mullens and Associate Professor of Education Prudence Cuper have recently published Fostering Global Citizenship Through Faculty-Led International Programs (Information Age Publishing). As colleges and universities commit goals and resources to the concept of globalization and internationalization, they often look for ways to embed the concept of global citizenship in undergraduate curricula. Fostering Global Citizenship offers offers theoretical, practical, and motivational resources for the development, execution, and assessment of effective, faculty-led international field courses.
Alum and former KSC assistant basketball coach Jim Ferry was named head coach at Duquesne University last month. After graduating in 1990, Ferry stuck around to serve as assistant coach from 1990–91. He then moved on as an assistant coach at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., for seven seasons before stepping into the head coaching position at Plymouth State. From there, he spent 10 years as head coach at Long Island University Brooklyn prior to moving into the top spot at Duquesne. Read more about him on the Pittsburg Post-Gazette’s site.
Heather Luhrs and William McAlister, both Keene State juniors and Safety and Occupational Health Applied Sciences majors, each received $2,500 scholarships from CNA Insurance. Basia Caya, Risk Control Director with CNA Insurance, and Dr. Larry McDonald, Keene State College Professor of Technology, Design and Safety, presented the awards. The students were selected for their outstanding academic achievement, grade point average, leadership, and future career interest in a Safety related field.
“Both Heather and William are outstanding students—these scholarship awards are well-deserved and will no doubt contribute to their future success,” said Dr. McDonald. “I look forward to continuing my work with these two, and watching their progress in the classroom and the workplace for years to come.”
Long-serving adjunct faculty member and alum Vaughn West passed away unexpectedly on May 17th. He came to Keene State in 1992 and has taught in the Theater Department ever since. Professor West taught courses in acting and in integrative studies and directed many shows both at Keene State College and within the region. He received his bachelor’s degree from Ohio University, did graduate work at Brandeis, and earned post-baccalaureate teaching certification from Keene State College. He was ever able to bring his love of the theater, and his true-life experience from acting in New York, and make his classrooms come alive. Prof. West is married to Susan Ericson-West, the Grant and Contract Administrator in the Office of Sponsored Projects and Research. His sons are Evan and James.
It has been requested that in lieu of flowers, gifts be made in memory of Mr. West to the New Hampshire Dance Institute, 29 Center Street, Keene, NH. or to the Vaughn West Program Fund in Theatre and Dance at Keene State College. Gifts may be made payable to Keene State College with “West Program Fund” noted on the memo line and mailed to Keene State College, 229 Main Street, MS 2701, Keene NH 03435. Calling hours, a time to gather and remember, are scheduled for Wednesday, May 23, from 5–7 p.m. at the Fletcher Funeral Home in Keene (33 Marlboro St., 603-352-4541).
If you knew Vaughn, please submit a comment. And make sure you read the wonderful, heartfelt comments others have left. And there are more on the KSC Facebook page.
Dr. Robert (Bob) Hawes, Professor Emeritus of Industrial Technology and Safety, passed away on Tuesday, May 15. Dr. Hawes began his career at KSC in 1969 and continued until his retirement in 1998. He involved his students through active engagement in the learning process, an approach well adapted to Industrial Technology. But it was his manner—always approachable, always respectful, and always knowledgeable—that drew students to him. Professor Hawes earned his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern in 1960 and a doctorate of education from Penn State in 1980. Assistant Professor of Modern Languages Dr. Stephen Hawes said that the family will be holding quiet family-centered services.
The National Science Foundation has awarded mathematics Professor Beverly Ferrucci a grant to attend the 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME) in Seoul, Korea, this summer. ICME is held once every four years and is one of the largest international congresses in mathematical education, serving as a forum for mathematics educators, researchers, mathematicians, and practicing teachers from all over the world to present their latest research and to discuss trends in mathematics education from international perspectives.
A KSC Distinguished Teacher, Dr. Ferrucci was selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants by a committee of representatives from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Mathematical Association of America, the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, the American Mathematical Society, and the US National Commission on Mathematics Instruction. She will serve as the editor of the Congress’ international research publication that will be published jointly by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Mathematical Association of America.
KSC has established two new academic departments: the Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Department of Journalism.
Since the College offers the nation’s only baccalaureate degree in Holocaust and genocide studies, it was a logical next step to create a department to build on this successful and growing program. Dr. Paul Vincent will chair the department, which will also include Dr. James Waller (endowed chair of the program), Dr. Henry Knight, and Dr. Nona Fienberg as faculty members.
“I am very pleased to announce our new department. This move demonstrates the college’s commitment to educating students on the issues of genocide and the Holocaust, which continue to shape and challenge our world today,” Dr. Vincent said. “Students have chosen to attend Keene State specifically to take part in this program.”
Keene State College has been teaching journalism since the 1950s, and turning out journalism majors since the 1980s. It also offers New Hampshire’s only journalism degree program in the state’s public education system. The Journalism Department was previously part of the Department of Communication and Philosophy.
Dr. Rose Kundanis will chair the new Journalism Department. Additional faculty includes Julio DelSesto, Dr. Chad Nye, Dr. Marianne Salcetti, and Dr. Mark Timney, who bring a broad range of experience in newspaper and broadcast journalism, including news reporting, editing, anchoring, photojournalism, and multimedia.
For a history writer, uncovering an engaging but forgotten story among dusty and long-untouched archives must be like the prospector who catches the glint of gold among the dirt in the bottom of his pan. And Christopher Pagliuco ’99 is one such history writer, with a new book, The Great Escape of Edward Whalley and William Goffe: Smuggled through Connecticut (The History Press), to show for his efforts.
Continue reading Chris Pagliuco ’99 Publishes Tale from 17th Century New England
On May 1, French linguistics students at Manhattanville College in New York had their first encounter with Cheshire County’s Franco-Americans, via the wizardry of Skype.
From her office in Morrison Hall, Professor Margaret Langford delivered her interactive PowerPoint lecture, An Invisible Presence: The Franco-Americans in New England (Une Présence invisible: Les Franco-Americans de la Nouvelle Angleterre), to Professor Andoveloniaina Rasolofo’s students and guests at Manhattanville. Dr. Langford explained to her audience how more than 900,000 French-Canadians (Québécois) immigrated to the United States, primarily coming to New England and upper-state New York, from the mid 1800s to well into the 1930s, and that many of their descendants still abide there. Using the Franco-American experience in Cheshire County, New Hampshire as a model, Dr. Langford examined the question: “Why don’t we know more about the Franco-Americans today, despite their significant numbers and contributions?”
“My students and I learned a lot about a topic that is seldom discussed,” explained Professor Rosolofo.
Professor Langford found it “an exhilarating experience!”
KSC’s Upward Bound program prepares high school students for success in high school and college by building the academic skills, motivation, and self-confidence necessary for success in college. Funding for the program comes from the United States Department of Education, so the Upward Bound experience is free for students from low-income families.
In these days of economic turmoil, funding for important programs such as this is uncertain, at best. When NH Senator Jeanne Shaheen was on campus in early May to discuss student-loan debt, Upward Bound staffers contacted her to express their funding concerns. The following week, Senator Shaheen reported that the Dept. of Ed. announced renewed funding to the UB programs at both UNH and KSC. UNH will receive nearly $478,000, while Keene will receive nearly $422,000. According to UB’s Assistant Director, Beth Zinn, this will allow the program to serve 94 high school students and their families from eight local high schools in southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire—more students than it could serve before. “It’s exciting to know that we now have the money to continue to serve these awesome kids,” Zinn said.