The Bergen Community College Newsletter | Winter 2021 • Vol. 8, Issue 1
Welcome, President Eric M. Friedman! I n December, the Bergen Community College Board of Trustees announced the hiring of Eric M. Friedman, Ph.D., as the eighth president of New Jersey’s largest community college. Dr. Friedman began his tenure as Bergen president Jan. 1. “Dr. Eric Friedman brings with him an impressive resume of supporting student and institutional success - right here in northern New Jersey,” Board of Trustees Chair Dorothy Blakeslee said. “Dr. Friedman has the experience, temperament and academic acumen to lead Bergen, and its students, faculty and staff, into a new era of prosperity and progress. We congratulate him and look forward to watching his collaboration with faculty, staff and students to realize his vision for Bergen.” Dr. Friedman has “hit the ground listening,” prioritizing the voices of students, faculty and staff in his initial goal-setting. “I am incredibly grateful to the Board of Trustees for their trust and support,” Dr. Friedman said. “Bergen Community College is one of the finest in the nation and serves its communities exceedingly well. I am excited to start working with the trustees, faculty and staff within the College, and the wider community beyond the College’s campuses, to build on Bergen’s tradition of excellence in
serving Bergen County residents.” Dr. Friedman worked most recently as the executive vice president and provost/chief operating officer at Hudson County Community College. There, his expansive portfolio of responsibilities included leading the college’s recent reaffirmation of its accreditation, launching an array of new programs in highdemand fields, and overseeing the expansion of a center for online learning as a key area for fiscal sustainability. Dr. Friedman also created additional enrollment opportunities by leading the development of off-site locations, expanding early college dual-enrollment programs, and managing the development of Hudson’s first fully-accredited school of nursing. For his support of student success, Friedman earned the New Jersey Council of Community Colleges 2013 Spirit Award and the 2015 Distinguished College Administrator Award from Phi Theta Kappa. Previously, he taught at a number of public and private colleges, including Drew University, Passaic County Community College, New School University and The Art Institute of New York City. Dr. Friedman earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from the New School for Social Research, an M.A. in humanities and social thought from New York University, and a B.A. in English from the University of Denver.
Dr. Friedman’s hiring concludes a yearlong search that began when Bergen’s seventh president, Dr. Michael D. Redmond, retired Dec. 31, 2019 after serving the institution for nearly 40 years in a variety of roles. Dr. Anthony Ross guided the College as interim president since Dr. Redmond’s retirement. Be sure to read an excerpt from Dr. Friedman’s Studio Bergen interview on page six of this edition of Inside Bergen Community College! n
Registration for summer and fall classes opens April 1!
Fully online, hybrid and flexible start days available. Visit Bergen.edu to learn more. m
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Reopening Report
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The Number of Cases of Community Spread of COVID-19 on Campus During the Fall Semester!
Staff Weathers Storm
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nrelenting winter weather complicated College operations during late 2020 and early 2021. But thanks to the efforts of dedicated facilities, buildings and grounds and public safety staff, College roads, walkways and entryways remained clear - allowing students, faculty and staff to safely navigate the campus. In recognition of their efforts, President Eric. M. Friedman sponsored a “day of thanks” for the frontline staff workers that featured bagels and coffee in the morning and sandwiches and chips in the afternoon. n
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y their very definition, community colleges find identity through their open access and deep connections to the communities they serve. For more than 50 years, Bergen has embraced this responsibility, providing more than 600,000 local residents with the opportunity to pursue a college degree. Education not only enhances an individual’s economic, personal and social independence, but also serves as an engine for the region’s workforce needs through programs that enhance our local economy. The COVID-19 pandemic has further crystalized the mission of community colleges. And the region’s challenges especially hit home for us at Bergen. For one, community colleges educate and train many of the nation’s healthcare workers - nurses, respiratory therapists and diagnostic medical sonographers among them. In this battle against the virus, it’s not our military might or advanced counterintelligence that will help win the day. No. It’s these brave men and women who selflessly stand at the front lines of a struggle defined by compassion, rather than conflict. Speaking of individuals rising to the occasion, Bergen faculty and staff have once again done so to support the College during this crisis. They quickly developed remote learning curricula, moved entire student service operations online and supported critical on-campus requests from our federal, state and county leaders. We also commend our students, who transitioned to online learning, coped with the loss of on-campus activities and the social environment associated with a comprehensive college education. We know community college students represent portraits of resiliency. Our way of life changed in March 2020. We’ve dealt with fear, loss and limitations on our social lives, daily routines and expectations of “normal.” But we’ve learned so much, too. We’ve learned that we remain resilient. We’ve learned that when we bond together, we can withstand challenges. We’ve learned that education has never been more important. As the reopening committee taskforce at Bergen has relied on the advice of health professionals to shape our approach to providing students with an education, we devel-
Inside Bergen • The Bergen Community College Newsletter |
Winter 2021
oped a comprehensive plan that outlined our protocols and practices. I am so very proud to report that the College did not experience any incidences of community spread or person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 with those students, faculty and staff who visited campus. This speaks to many things, but none more important than the collective effort, commitment and persistence of our community. While we worked very hard to create protocols that sought to establish a safe campus environment, they would have meant nothing without the diligent execution and compliance put forth by our College community. In a year of so much darkness, this news stands as a ray of light. In the spirit of continuous improvement, we evaluate our protocols each day and seek ways to enhance our guidelines in the health, safety and well-being our College community. To this end, we recently began working on our plans for the summer and fall, driven by an overriding philosophy that seeks to examine how we can continue to provide Bergen’s renowned learning environment, support services and access to education - safely. For complete information on the College’s pandemic response, I encourage you to visit Bergen.edu/COVID-19. Please continue to follow all Centers for Diseases Control recommendations and, together, we will emerge stronger than ever before. n Sincerely, Dr. Larry Hlavenka Reopening Coordinator / Executive Director - Public Relations, Community and Cultural Affairs
One Stop One Big Step for Student Services
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n this case, “stop” means “go” - at least when talking about visiting Bergen’s completely reimagined one-stop student service center currently under construction. Once the institution reopens its on-campus student service operations, students will barely recognize the Pitkin Education Center’s interior, which has undergone a transformation in both form and function. Replacing a 1960s-era labyrinth design with modern stainless steel, wood and glass has created an open, sunlight-filled space that puts every student service function - including admissions, registration, the bursar, financial aid and more - at a student’s fingertips in an allinclusive environment. Still, there’s more to Bergen’s one-stop reimagination than terrazzo and drywall though the quality of materials and craftsmanship certainly capture the spirit of the refreshed space. The realization of the onestop’s reimagination comes after years of discussions by Bergen officials who recognized the institution had to offer a better
student service experience. As such, the brick-and-mortar redesign remains rooted in a reimagined student service philosophy as well. This philosophy strives to improve student satisfaction by enhancing communication with students, removing administrative barriers and streamlining the process for admission, registration and support services. In all, these improvements seek to enhance student enrollment, retention and completion rates by making the “non-academic” piece of studying in college easier to navigate and, thus, removing stressors outside the classroom. The concept took root once the institution secured funding through a State of New Jersey/Bergen County initiative that provided funding, solving the largest barrier to this sort of massive undertaking - finances. All told, the 14,280 square-foot project will cost approximately $3 million. Bergen Director of Campus Planning and Improvements Bob Coane and architect Arcari + Iovino led the design of the new one-stop,
while soliciting feedback from students, faculty, staff and other institutions of higher education. Longtime employee Coane knew the space had to simplify the student experience - but it also had to plan for the inevitable evolving needs of student body. With that in mind, the College has “future-proofed” the space by widening entry spaces beyond code requirements to support students needing disability accommodations, adding increased WiFi capacity and using durable building materials resistant to wear, ensuring the one-stop provides a seamless student service space for years to come. In addition to these amenities, the reimagined one-stop also features a welcome desk for students initiating their entry into the college, a dedicated office for students to meet with representatives from four-year colleges and a relocated photo ID station for new students. The College will open the new one-stop when on-ground student service operations resume. n
Inside Bergen • The Bergen Community College Newsletter |
Winter 2021
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Alumna Amanda Karpinski (’18) will serve as the vice chair of the Phi Theta Kappa Board of Directors this year. … In February, the Board of Trustees authorized the adoption of the 10-year facilities master plan, a project led by the College and NK Architects that provides the institution with a vision for facilities needs. … Jenny Gamez, a student conduct generalist in the Office of Student Life and Conduct, earned a Raymond Goldstone Foundation Scholarship to the 2021 ASCA Virtual Annual Conference (Association for Student Conduct Administration). … The College has submitted an application for a $4 million County College CTE Program Expansion grant application for the construction of an addition to the Technology Education Center that can support expanded career and technical education program enrollment. … Professor Dr. Leigh Jonaitis will serve as secretary of the Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) for a three-year term. … Recent media coverage has included a segment on a Korean radio station and interviews with Bergen faculty lending their expertise to stories on philosophy and history.
Exhibition Captures Essence of Social Justice
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allery Bergen’s latest exhibition, “Black Lives Matter @ Bergen Community College,” presents the work of Rowin, Denise, and Rae Breaux - a family of activist photographers who participated in the Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis and Brooklyn during the summer of 2020. The photographs display a sensitive and sometimes searing eyewitness account of the events that riveted the nation following the police killing of George Floyd. Visit youtu.be/6poPRuwu1Xw to explore the exhibition. n
Bergen Banks Arts Support
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leven metropolitan area theatres, including the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre came together to perform on the “Investors Bank Virtual Stage” with the “Theatres Together: Performing for a Purpose” benefit concert that featured alumni Divinity Montijo, Daniel Lipata and Yong Kwon. For every click, Investors Bank donated $5 to support the arts at the College. n
Did You Know? The Community College Opportunity Grant program provides a tuition-free Bergen education for working families with household incomes of less than $65,000. Nearly 650 students have taken advantage of the grant so far this year!
Entertainment from Another Era
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lucked from the radio waves of yesteryear, Jim Bumgardner, Mary-Ann Kho and Dean Mattson have delighted YouTube with Bergenstages Radio Theatre since late May. With almost 50 episodes completed, theatre students and alumni have expanded their acting chops and discovered treasured stories at the same time. Listen at tinyurl.com/gf70bths. n
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Inside Bergen • The Bergen Community College Newsletter |
Winter 2021
Students Seek to Solve Pandemic Puzzle
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espite sequestration from the STEM Student Research Center due to the pandemic, Bergen biology students nonetheless found their work published in American Pharmaceutical Review this semester. Their findings, “Microbiology of COVID-19: Chronicle of an Announced Pandemic,” found that higher temperatures did not stop the spread of the virus during the summer months, but best practices such as mask usage and social distancing played significant roles in stemming the spread. Under the mentorship of biology professor Dr. Luis Jimenez, students Anna Maciejewska, Brittany Cardona, Yara Abazah, Hadassah Haricha and Tae Min Kim participated in the research through grant funding by the National Science Foundation, the current 3SP STEMATICS program and previously by the STEM GPS Graduate Path for Success program. n
Leading Others “Out of the Darkness”
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tudents raised more than $1,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - North Jersey chapter’s “Out of the Darkness” virtual annual walk. The College’s “Bergen PRIDE” team consisted of 21 students, faculty and staff. Second-year student Hamza Chah raised the most money in the group. n
Busy Board of Trustees
A Hunger to Help
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uring its annual reorganization meeting, the Bergen Community College Board of Trustees selected new officers, naming longtime member Dorothy Leung Blakeslee as chair, Adam Silverstein as vice chair, Joseph Barreto as treasurer and Gerard L. Carroll as secretary. Blakeslee and Carroll swapped roles - the pair previously served as treasurer and chair, respectively. Carroll led the board as chair since July 2019 after the passing of former chair Carol Otis. Blakeslee had served as treasurer since 2004. She represents the first Asian-American chair - male or female - in Bergen history. Blakeslee first joined the board in 2003 and stands as the College’s current longest-tenured trustee. Also in trustee news, member Dr. Sheetal Ranjan will serve as the northeast regional director on the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) board of directors this year. Dr. Ranjan not only represents the first Bergen trustee to serve on the ACCT board, but the first individual of Indian descent to hold a position on the organization’s governing body after her election by her peer trustees. Finally, Secretary Carroll recently announced his intention to seek elected office as part of the Hackensack City Council this November. n
Dorothy Leung Blakeslee
Adam Silverstein
Joseph Barreto
Sheetal Ranjan
ogether with the Black History Month Committee, members of the hotel and restaurant management program, including Professor Ronda Drakeford and Sherry Wilson, sponsored a “grocery care basket giveaway” to assist students, faculty and staff facing food insecurity. With donations from Englewood-based Riviera Produce, the group distributed more than four dozen baskets. n
Gerald L. Carroll
Inside Bergen • The Bergen Community College Newsletter |
Winter 2021
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A Conversation with President Friedman Just three weeks into his presidency, Dr. Eric M. Friedman sat down with Dr. Larry Hlavenka for a wide-ranging interview as part of the season 10 premiere of the College’s NCMPR Medallion Award winning news magazine, Studio Bergen. The following represents an excerpt from the interview. Visit youtu.be/ePDDq1Cj3iI to watch the conversation in its entirety! ciplinary in my approach, and my academic background reflects that. Dr. Hlavenka: With the career that you had at Hudson and the careers that you’ve had in the business world … why make the move to Bergen?
Dr. Hlavenka: Let’s talk a little bit about Dr. Friedman, your background, where you’ve come from, where you’ve been and what brought you to the state’s largest community college. Dr. Friedman: My background working at comprehensive community colleges and associate’s degree-granting colleges is really important because I’ve worked on everything from building partnerships with high schools and universities and industry partners to curriculum development, to professional development and human resource programs, and institutional effectiveness. The list goes on and on. You know, what’s important about my background, too, I had an early career … in hospitality management. There’s no better place to learn a sense of urgency than working in restaurants and hospitality.
Dr. Hlavenka: Out of the fire and into the frying pan. Something like that. Dr. Friedman: There’s lots of fires. There’s lots of heat. There’s just the urgency that people are going to come through the door. You’ve got to be ready. There’s no, well, we’ll do some of this later. Besides urgency, though teamwork. If you’ve ever been in a commercial kitchen, it’s almost palpable the amount of teamwork that’s going on. And so, to be a leader in those environments, you’ve really got to have team building and teamwork skills. It’s so important. Also, you asked about my background … academically, I’m an interdisciplinary thinker. And Bergen has so many programs that are strong in so many different areas. I love the humanities and social sciences, but I am a really strong supporter of career and technical education, STEM programs, health professions. So really interdis-
Grant Offers Childcare for Working Families
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ot only does Bergen offer quality childcare through its nationally accredited Child Development Center, but a U.S. Department of Education grant now offers additional
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tuition assistance for working families! For more information on the Care Access Means Parents in School program, please call (201) 447-7165.n
Inside Bergen • The Bergen Community College Newsletter |
Winter 2021
Dr. Friedman: Larry, that’s a really deep question. And I wake up every morning knowing that I can make a difference. I carry around this quote from Barack Obama: he wrote, “It’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.” I’m really here to make a difference, to help and support you and everybody that’s working at the college to best serve our community members. That’s it in a nutshell. Dr. Hlavenka: What is the message that you want to convey to the Bergen Community College community right now from the president’s desk? Dr. Friedman: We are here, we are open although many of our services are virtual. But we are here. We are here to serve you and to have the programs, the courses, and the opportunities that you need to move forward and to improve your quality of life. Secondly, I want everybody to know that I’m working with a big team here. And my phrase that I keep talking to them about is continuous improvement. I want them to be looking at their areas, continuously improving what we do to serve our community, to serve our students, and to do even better what it is that we’re already doing. n