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eturning for their second year after a 20year hiatus, the women’s tennis team remains a highlight for Managing Director of Athletics Jorge Hernandez — especially in the midst of their postseason honors. “Our fall season will bring our student-athletes Citlali Stella ello will lead success both in the classthe women’s tennis room and on the field,” team. he said, noting women’s tennis — and volleyball team — received allacademic team honors in 2012-13. “All of our coaches look forward to participating in their Region *I* tournaments.” With new scoreboards illuminating the basketball courts and men’s soccer field, Hernandez said new coaches — like women’s soccer’s Mallorie Gillbride and men’s soccer’s Fredy Herrara — might make the difference for the Bulldogs in 2013-14. Herrara once earned all-region honors as a student athlete at the College. n
NJ’s Most Social Community College
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Lights, Camera, Bergen ive from Paramus … it’s Studio Bergen. The third season of the College’s monthly news magazine television program began with a live, one-hour premiere shot on-location from the student center at the College’s main campus (pictured, right). The broadcast aired on Torch TV, channel 26 of the Verizon FIOS cable system and streamed live on Bergen.edu and the College’s official Facebook page. New episodes air the first day of each month on Torch TV, Facebook and YouTube. n
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To Your Health!
Locations, Locations, Locations hile the College’s main campus in Paramus remains the flagship site, Bergen’s Hackensack and Lyndhurst outposts continue to roll out new opportunities for students and the community. For instance, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center will once again offer a “flex start” schedule beginning October 30 for students seeking to earn credits toward their degrees. Additionally, a slate of concerts and student activities scheduled for mid- and late-fall underscore the Ciarco Center’s attention to providing a comprehensive collegiate experience for students. Meanwhile, in Lyndhurst at Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands, in addition to a robust schedule of credit courses, the facility has begun to utilize its fifth floor conference center (pictured, above) — a signature addition years in the making since the College purchased the five-story office building in 2010. With all renovations completed, including classrooms, labs, student service offices and the aforementioned conference center, south Bergen finally has a public institution of higher education to call its own. n
ore than 100 Bergen Community College students, faculty, staff and guests gathered August 20 to witness the groundbreaking of the $26 million Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center at the school’s main campus. The building represents the College’s capital improvement project as part of the $750 million Building our Future Bond Act, approved by New Jersey voters in the November 2012 elections. Joined by a bevy of Bergen County and state officials, College administrators donned hardhats and shovels to ceremonially mark the start of construction on the three-story, 65,000 squarefoot facility. Construction is expected to take two years. “The Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center may very well become the Lcrown jewel’ building for what many people refer to as the Lcrown jewel’ programs at the College — of course, our health professions programs,” Bergen Board of Trustees Chair E. Carter Corriston said. Currently, more than 1,000 students enroll in health professions programs such as dental hygiene, radiography and nursing at Bergen. The College offers nine degree and certificate programs and nine non-credit certificate programs as part of its Division of Health Professions. While health professions programs have always proven popular, the center will allow the College to offer new amenities, technologies and community resources to meet the country’s evolving healthcare industry. In total, the center will contain 26 classrooms
nside ergen is a publication of the ffice of Public Relations. Send feedback to lhla1enka@bergen.edu.
Framework for the Future
Maximizing Potential for Student Success
First-Class Mail U.s. Postage PAID ParaMUs, N.J. PerMit No. 57
rom left ergen Community College Alumni rustee Margarita alde5 ergen rustee Anthony Miller rustee ice Chair Cid. . Wilson rustee r. o Anne Mecca ergen President r. . aye Walter ergen County reeholder Maura e icola reeholder r. oan oss rustee Chair . Carter Corriston and ergen County xecuti1e athleen A. ono1an.
and laboratories including medical simulation and computer labs. Additionally, the center will feature a ground-floor dental hygiene clinic, a laboratory for Bergen students as they work toward their associate in applied science degrees. The clinic offers lowcost preventive oral health care for the community and has hosted free oral cancer screenings and prophylaxis for children. n
A Framework for the Future 2013 - 2018
400 Paramus Road Paramus, New Jersey 07652
Bergen Community College
Approved by the Board of Trustees June 4, 2013
With a workgroup of Bergen faculty, staff, students and administrators serving as the architects, the College’s strategic plan, a blueprint for the next five years, earned final approval from the Board of Trustees in June. The plan outlines four strategic themes for Bergen: • Student success and excellence • Faculty and staff success and excellence • Commitment to Bergen County • Institution building
Each theme contains a number of goals that will result in action items for College officials to develop and execute in response. They include increasing course completion, retention, transfer and graduation rates; enhancing and expanding programs to serve the education and workforce development needs of Bergen County; and increasing professional development opportunities for employees. The plan took shape based on input from internal and external stakeholders. To read the full plan, visit www.tiny.cc/bergenplan. n
The School Bell Rings Morning clouds and humidity gave way to a crisp autumn breeze, ushering in the fall semester and the 5,000 new students and 11,000 continuing students arriving on campus September 3. n
Farm Finds in aramus
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Big stage talents… in Bergen County. Anna aria Ciccone Theatre Actress Ali Stroker Presented by the College Club of Ridgewood October 1, 1:30 p.m. uitarist 1 ar1 Lucas October 2, 7:30 p.m. 1 ocalist Cristina Fontanelli October 11, 7:30 p.m. usician 1 eter Yarrow October 1O , 7:30 p.m. 1 ocalist Ciss1 Houston November O , 7:30 p.m. Bergen Sinfonia Concert December 20, 7:30 p.m. Tickets for events: $35 (General); $20 (Faculty/Staff/Seniors); $10 (Students)
BergenStages Students share their talents and begin their paths to stardom. Blithe S1 irit October 25, 26, 31 and November 1 and 2 Ender Hall Lab Theatre Angels in America 1 art 1 ne1 1 illennium A1 1 roaches December 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre A Christmas Carol December 17 Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre Tickets.bergen.edu or (201) 447-7428 for tickets.
S1 eakers, Conferences and 1 1 ents Sand Artists Res ond to a nce and Future Su1 erstorm Art exhibition October 1 — December 4 Gallery Bergen, West Hall, Main Campus 1 ose Antonio 1 argas 8 atino 8 eritage Month keynote speaker October 14, 11:30 a.m. Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre 1 ositi1 e Roles of Senior Citi.ens in Su1 ur1 ia Sponsored by the College’s Suburban Studies 8 roup November 7, 11 a.m. Ridgewood High School
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eading, writing … and raspberries A transformation occurs every Wednesday in the Scoskie Hall parking lot at main campus, turning the asphalt car corral into the “Farm 2 Fork” market, a bustling bazaar of farmers, bakers and gourmet food purveyors offering a locally produced bounty of fruit, bread, sauce and cheese. During an August visit, Jodi Nicola, of Hackensack, and Melinda Randolph, of Garfield, (pictured l. to r.) shopped the artisanal delights from Meredith’s Bread, an O lster County, N.Y., bakery. The Farm 2 Fork market takes place in the Scoskie Hall parking lot Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. n
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he phrase “leading ladies” doesn’t apply just to Hollywood. In the case of the 2013-14 executive board of the Bergen Student Government Association — coincidentally, all female — (from left) President Alexis Bravo, Treasurer Elif aracayir, Chief of Staff ayla Williams and Vice President Victoria Tahhan the group aims to take the lead in student success initiatives for their peers. “We believe in strength in numbers,” Vice President Tahhan said, echoing sentiment of her fellow board members as they outlined their priorities for the year. Emboldened by improved voter participation during last spring’s elections, the SGA plans to amplify student engagement and establish alliances among campus organizations. n
������ aria akowiecka self-described “cultural chameleon,” English Professor Dr. Maria Makowiecka has found a home at Bergen since joining in 2000. And after recently taking the reins of the Dr. Judith . Winn School of Honors, she hopes to bring that spirit to students. “I believe in inclusion,” the professor — who knew she wanted to teach as early as childhood — said. “The School of Honors will have that flair.” For Makowiecka, her leadership of the School of Honors remains a return engagement — she served as co-director from 2007 to 2010. With 23 years of experience as a college professor in the .S., Professor Makowiecka says the School of Honors will “turn lives around.” In returning to the honors program, she wants all students who attend Bergen to have the opportunity to find their confidence to succeed. Her belief in extra curricular mentorship remains a staple of her teaching style. n
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hey haven’t quite figured out how to turn us into the Jetsons … but they are trying. Despite the absence of flying cars and robot maids, Bergen students have provided a glimpse into the future with high-technology projects that would make Mr. Wizard proud as they lay the groundwork for their entry into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Buoyed by a $3.O million grant from the O .S. Department of Education received in 2011, the College has sought to not only increase the number of students enrolled in STEM programs, but to improve the graduation and transfer rates of students enrolled in these programs at Bergen. Success stories have become frequent: • Student Blair Greene (pictured, left), recently completed an internship at Newark Liberty International Airport, using the skills he learned in one of the College’s newest associate in science degree programs: aviation. The College’s Emil Buehler Trust Aviation Center includes two flight simulators; • A group of student engineering interns worked with members of Division of Science, Math and Technology faculty to develop a five-foot tall wind turbine (pictured,right) capable of generating 225 watts of electricity (at 20 mile per hour winds); • Other projects have included working with biodiesel generators, electric cars and unmanned aerial vehicles. Dean of the division of science, math and technology Dr. P.J. Ricatto said STEM is here to stay. “Every time I stop by the STEM center, the manufacturing technology lab or the science research labs, I’m astonished with the progress our students are making on their projects,” he said. “Our student/faculty teams are doing work that rivals some of the most prestigious undergraduate research programs in the country.” n
on t Call it Summer School n a pilot program, two dozen high school students preparing for entry into the College participated in the “summer intensive,” a daily, five-week course that featured discussions on goal-setting, using Bergen’s technology and acclimating to the pressures of college study. As part of the program, students toured the campus, met with faculty and registered for fall classes before a send-off musical performance led by the students (pictured, left). Longtime Bergen faculty member and current executive assistant to the president, Dr. rsula Parrish Daniels — who helped lead the program — discussed the importance of the initiative at the closing event. n
Lifelong Learning with Continuing d rom prepping for pigskin to Legos and languages, the Division of Continuing Education, Corporate and Public Sector Training offers classes and programs to explore interests, grow professionally or prepare for future goals. For instance, the “Excellence in Visitor Experience: Providing a Warm Welcome” customer service and business retention technique program headlines the fall 2013 schedule. In cooperation with the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce, the class will prepare employees of Meadowlands retail, tourism, sports and leisure companies for the February 2014 Super Bowl. For more information, email WarmWelcome@bergen.edu. Other highlights include classes designed for kids and teens — such as “Lego Education” and SAT prep — and certification courses in construction and green technologies. Dean of Continuing Education Christine Gillespie, who joined the College this summer, said the division seeks to serve all members of the community through the division’s offerings. “The Bergen County region is a vibrant and dynamic community of diverse families, businesses and industries,” she said. “It is our goal to provide high-quality, accessible, innovative and affordable training and educational opportunities for all members of the community.” For information on all programs offered by the Division of Continuing Education, visit www.tiny.cc/ce2013. n
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