The Bergen Community College Newsletter Winter 2015
Volume 2, Issue 2
Vitals Excellent for Health Careers A
s construction continues on the $26 million Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center at main campus, two recent developments reinforced the College’s standing as the region’s leading healthcare educator. First, in September, the White House, Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Bergen will receive a $15 million job-training grant to fund a regional healthcare career pathways system. Bergen will lead a consortium of 12 two-year colleges, more than 20 employers and 10 workforce investment boards to serve more than 2,000 participants, including veterans and the unemployed, by providing training for healthcare jobs such as home health aides, pharmacy technicians and billing and coding specialists. “Workforce development remains a critical responsibility of our nation’s community colleges — including Bergen,” President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., said. “The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant will continue the College’s work in training the next generation of healthcare professionals to enter high-skill, high-wage pathways in this growing employment sector.” Meanwhile, the College officially took the wraps off its newest health professions program, paramedic science, during an October open house (pictured). The associate in applied science program — the first of any discipline based at Bergen Community
College at the Meadowlands — utilizes on-campus resources such as an emergency department receiving area to educate current emergency medical technicians seeking to advance their knowledge and employment prospects as licensed paramedics. Offcampus clinical rotations at local hospitals provide a practicebased learning environment to prepare students for immediate entry into the workforce. The inaugural group of students will enter a job market projected by the U.S. Department of Labor to grow “much faster than the average for all occupations.” n
Completion Counts
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ccording to the National Student Clearinghouse, which conducted a study on transfer students, 72 percent of community college graduates ultimately earned a bachelor’s degree. Only 56 earned one if they transferred without graduating. Other data show similar advantages to graduating from a community college before transferring. To raise awareness about these facts, and to encourage students to “commit to complete,” the members of Bergen’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the honor society of two-year institutions, hosted a series of events (pictured top left, bottom left and bottom right) as part of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges’ New Jersey Community College Completion Challenge (NJC4), a statewide initiative. Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands hosted the council’s annual NJC4 conference Nov. 1. PTK students also took center stage when President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., (top right) recognized the group’s 225 new members at an October ceremony. n
Campus Calendar Curtain Up! Big stage talents… in Bergen County. Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre The McLean Avenue Band March 14, 7:30 p.m. Ali Stroker March 20, 7:30 p.m. Larry Kirwin April 17, 2 and 7 p.m. Ben Vereen May 29, 7:30 p.m. Tickets.bergen.edu or (201) 447-7428 for tickets.
BergenStages Students share their talents and begin their paths to stardom. The Miracle Worker Feb. 27, 28 and March 5, 6, 7 The Compleat Female Stage Beauty April 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 Tickets.bergen.edu or (201) 447-7428 for tickets.
Events STEM Summit April 17, 8 a.m. Moses Family Meeting and Training Center Commencement 2015 May 21, 10 a.m. Location: TBD
A Schedule for All Seasons Spring • Spring 1: January 20 • Spring 2: February 12 • Spring 3: March 24 Summer • Summer 1: May 26 Register at my.bergen.edu.
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Faculty Focus
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mong only seven NJ peers, two Bergen professors have found seats at the head of the class … Princeton University. By notching Mid-Career Fellowships at the Ivy League institution, Janet Henderson, Ed.D., and Ilan Ehrlich, Ph.D., have participated in the nine-month program that has fostered collaboration to tackle issues in higher education and inspired participants to energize interests both past and present. Henderson, a composition and literature professor who has taught for more than 40 years, returns to the Ivy League university — she completed a previous fellowship years ago — with a new focus: mass media. “It’s important to educate students on the advantages and disadvantages of media,” Henderson — who was selected to present her abstract at The Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities — said. “Our job as educators, which is historically different from the pre-media era, is to teach students how to select what is true, not true and what is slanted.” Meanwhile, Ehrlich, a history professor, also completed two graduate fellowships at the City University of New York before starting at Bergen in 2009. A 20th century Cuba scholar with a book release slated for March, Ehrlich wants to expand advisement options for all students — especially for the unique needs of the College’s Hispanic population — by creating personalized opportunities. "As professors, we see only one side of students in the classroom,” Ehrlich said. “When I advise a student one-on-one, I see them as a three-dimensional person.” Fellows will present their findings to peers. n
County History Finds Home at Ciarco Center T
he College has added a new chapter to its history. Bringing with it more than 300 years of documents, publications and artifacts, the Bergen County Historical Society Library and Archives opened at its permanent home, the Bergen Community College Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center, Nov. 6. President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., who made the relocation a priority project, said the central location benefits students, faculty, staff and the community at large. “The library, which first opened many years ago in Hackensack, now returns to home to the county seat — the center of Bergen County,” she said. “As a learning resource, the library remains a natural fit at the College.” The library holds a collection of more than 4,000 documents, publications and artifacts reflecting the county’s growth from its 1683 establishment to the present day. Items include an English/Dutch dictionary from 1727, hand-drawn area maps and even a local resident’s Civil War discharge certificate. Historical society volunteers staff the library on Wednesdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., enabling free public entry. For more information, visit bergencountyhistory.org. n
Inside Bergen • The Bergen Community College Newsletter |
Winter 2015
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1. Together with faculty, staff and students, many of Bergen’s 130 veterans enrolled under the Post 9/11 GI Bill participated in the College’s annual Veterans Day remembrance. 2. The Cerullo Learning Assistance Center’s John Findura, Margaret Roidi, Khairia Fazal and Luis De Abreu accepted the Frank L. Christ Outstanding Learning Center Award from the National College Learning Center Association at the group’s conference in Albuquerque, N.M. 3. Volunteer knitters organized by the Division of Continuing Education and the Bergen County Technical Schools gave the homeless the gift of warmth. 4. Latino Heritage Month 2014 closed with a banquet featuring festive food, student recognition and dancing. 5. At the annual holiday open house, Bergen faculty and staff enjoyed treats prepared by hotel/restaurant/hospitality students. 6. STEM Career Day opened eyes to job opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. 7. Students like Elizabeth Staub, studying in Seville, Spain this semester, represent Bergen’s commitment to participating global educational opportunities. 8. The Bergen Community College Foundation raised more than $120,000 for student scholarships at the Nov. 21 Medallion Awards Dinner at the Rockleigh. 9. “Youth Empowerment through Sports and Academics” offered workshops and an evening basketball game for prospective students. 10. Bergen professor Kil Yi, attorney Roy Cho, professor Win Win Kyi and Dr. Victor Hartanto led the panel discussion during “Asian Americans in Suburbia.” 11. As an honored guest of the Paramus Sunrise Rotary, President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., lit the group’s customary meeting candle and accepted a donation for scholarships. 12. Students in the horticulture program outfitted the greenhouse with holiday plants and arrangements to benefit scholarships. 13. President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., discussed the College’s health professions initiatives on NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams. 14. Guest speakers, staff and faculty like Kathy Pignatelli led professional development workshops at the College’s biannual Day of Service and Community in October.
Inside Bergen • The Bergen Community College Newsletter |
Winter 2015
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Bergen Strikes a Pose T
Alums Awarded
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he educational journey of more than 48,000 graduates began at Bergen. At the fifth annual alumni dinner Oct. 9, the College recognized three members of that group — and an accomplished faculty member — during an evening ceremony at Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands. (From left): Honors Alumni Network Founder Steven Chung (‘12) received the Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors Outstanding Alumni Award; Bergen Assistant to the Athletic Director Elaine Korinko (’79) earned the Alumni Hall of Fame Award; Bergen Vice President of Facilities Planning, Operations and Public Safety William Corcoran (’76) collected the Living Legacy Award; and nonalumnus Associate Professor Joseph Sivo, Ph.D., won the Rising Star Award. Sponsored by the Alumni Network, the yearly dinner serves as the group’s signature event. n
he red carpet runway to Paris, Milan and New York now includes a stop in Paramus. With the hopes of inspiring the next Calvin Klein or Betsey Johnson — and preparing them to enter an industry just across the Hudson River with 180,000 employees earning $10.9 billion in total wages — Bergen has glamorized its fashion design offerings. Coupled with its existing Division of Continuing Education offerings (an open house, pictured below, took place in the new design studio at main campus last semester), a degree program in fashion apparel design remains in development to offer handson labs on topics such as sewing, draping and pattern-making coupled with core general education classes. Bolstered by the College’s fashion passion, the trend-setting students of “F.A.B.” (Fashion at Bergen) club sponsored the second annual “Rip the Runway” show at main campus in November (pictured above). n
Technically, Bergen Opens High School NJ’s Most Social Community College 18,000+ followers. Join the conversation.
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ast semester, the College partnered with the Bergen County Technical Schools to establish an Applied Technology High School at the Paramus campus, enabling an inaugural class of 30 high school freshmen to earn both a high school and associate degree in less than six years. n InsideBergen is a publication of the Office of Public Relations. Send feedback to lhlavenka@bergen.edu.