THE BRIDGE Connecting adjunct faculty to Rockland Community College
Burton Louis-Charles, Coordinator, Evening, Weekend, Day & Off-Site Studies • blouis@sunyrockland.edu
Spring 2013
Getting to Know Our Dean of Academic Services, Roger W. Davis, EdD
On weekends, you can usually find
me in Barnes & Noble at the Palisades Mall either in the magazine section or perusing books, especially new fiction. I always pick up the magazine, The Writer, since I dabble in writing fiction and drama. On page 11 of the April 2013 edition, Chuck Leddy reviews John Foster’s new book, Writing Skills for Public Relations. While the book title tends to speak to PR professionals, it is appropriate for anyone who wants to write better. After reading Leddy’s column, I wondered if I could possibly give the same specific, innovative, and practical advice to adjunct faculty about teaching as he did to writers. If you are like me, you have a few dozen flash drives of varying size (520 mb, 1 gb, 2 gb, 8 gb) strewn all around your office, home office, and coat pockets. In finding one of my flash drives from 2008, I had a great PowerPoint I created on it about teaching the Millennial Generation. The Millennial Generation is defined as having been born after 1982. The Millennial Generation makes up approximately 60% of our student body. As master educators, adjunct faculty must continue to study not just our subject matter, but the very students who sit at our feet waiting to be instructed, motivated, and launched into this sputtering economy-driven
• Provide lots of feedback. • Use technology (YouTube, clickers, blogs) • Make it fun. Millennial Generation learn best when they are entertained. • Be visual. Visual learners dominate this generation. • Break up learning in 20-minute segments. • Make learning relevant.
Dean Davis
society. Adjuncts keep accepting the responsibility to lift the craft of teaching each time we stand in a class or post online or work independently with students. Adjunct faculty remains, in my opinion, the most innovative, flexible and finger on the pulse of our students in academe. So what are the Top Teaching Skills for the Millennial Generation Student? • Encourage small group discussions, projects, in-class presentations, debates, peer critiques, team projects, service learning, field experiences, and simulations. • Provide lots of structure. Tell them precisely what is required, when it is due, and specifics about expectations.
The last strategy about relevancy is paramount. The best thing you can do is to link the readings, theories, and facts you teach in your courses with the skills students will need in their careers, and tie learning to real-work problems or to skills they can use immediately. As always, thank you for your continued contribution to this generation and all of our students. Please feel free to contact me with your teaching tips at 845-574-4280, rdavis7@ sunyrockland.edu, or stop by Barnes & Noble to talk. I’ll be there!
Acknowledging the Fantastic SPRING STARTUP MEETING 2013 On January 14, nearly 100 adjunct faculty members came out for an “Intellectual Affair� in the Cultural Arts Center. Our guest speaker, Dr. W. Joye Hardiman, is a renowned speaker, researcher and lifelong learner. Her lecture focused on growing as adjuncts through understanding and better communication on campus. In addition to the audience, nearly 80 adjuncts viewed the lecture online through our Ustream portal. To honor our prestigious adjuncts, a beautiful dinner was served. The following are some statistics of attending adjuncts from various departments: Math & Sciences_______________ Humanities & Social Sciences______ Business & Technology__________ Other_______________________ Total________________________ Viewed Online________________
31 37 14 12 94 in attendance 77
A special thank you to Dr. Cliff L. Wood, RCC President, Dr. Susan Deer, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Karen Gualtieri, Vice President of Student Services, and Dr. Roger W. Davis, Dean of Academic Services, for their kind words and support for this event.
Please join us for our
Fall 2013 Adjunct Fest Wednesday, August 21* 4 pm Behind the Technology Center in the Main Quad *Rain Dates: Thurs., Aug. 22 or Fri. Aug 23
RSVP Burton Louis-Charles 845-574-4789 or blouis@ sunyrockland.edu
SAGE Early Warning System This semester, Janelle Santiago, Interim Director, Academic Support Services, and Michael Albin, Educational Associate III, did a CETL presentation on “SAGE” and how important it is as an early warning for teachers as it relates to students. Also, they presented on how to make a referral through the RCC homepage. The SAGE Early Warning System is a module of TutorTrac. Many centers on campus that offer support services for students are using TutorTrac or its sister product, AdvisorTrac, to manage student appointments and visits. The SAGE module allows you to make a referral to encourage/require a student to utilize the services of one of the centers. Before making a referral, professors/instructors are encouraged to take the first step in the outreach process. This can be done via: • face to face discussions • phone call • e-mail
SAGE Checklist • Always double check Web Advisor before placing a referral • Outreach starts with the professor/instructor • Student Contact Information cards are available • Please call Academic Intervention at ext. 4357 or CAPS (Centers for Academic Progress and Success) at ext.4503 with questions • To assist with the collection of student information, Student Contact Information cards will be available.
Visit the SAGE webpage to make a referral at: http://www.sunyrockland.edu/current-students/student-services/academic-intervention/sage-early-intervention
All the Way With Chemistry Burton Louis-Charles chats with one of our first adjunct faculty members, Alton Bruso, Science Throughout my years at the College, I have met many wonderful people on campus. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing one of our first adjunct faculty members, Alton Bruso of the Science Department, who is still teaching on campus today. I asked him a few questions about his teaching career at RCC. When did you start teaching at Rockland Community College? I started my adjunct position on campus around 1966, but I have been teaching since 1959. I was teaching at the time for Spring Valley High School and my principal, Dr. Allen Sugarman, asked me if I would be interested in being a part-time professor at Rockland Community College. I agreed, and a month later, I started to teach chemistry. I remember when I first came to the campus it was just “The Red Barn Theatre” and Academic I building. My first department chair was Kathy Maryland, then Bill Baker.
Do you have any particular students who have made a great impact on you? I have had many students who have gone off to prominent fields and to this day have not forgotten me. After 47 years of teaching, you see a lot of people, but I love all my students the same and hope for them the best in whatever they do in life.
Alton Bruso
Describe your “teaching style” throughout the years. To do this day, I still teach the same way I have always taught; with my overhead projector and transparencies. I make sure the students understand what I am teaching and give them the opportunity to discuss and ask questions.
What advice would you give a prospective adjunct? If you love to teach, then do it to the best of your ability. Take time to know your colleagues and supervisors. I have worked with a lot of people throughout the years, and it has been an honor. I would like to acknowledge one of my colleagues, Bill Baker. Bill was supportive and helpful as my chair, and is a great colleague, thank you. When you have a moment in your day to walk around Academic I and Academic II, peek inside one of the classrooms; you might see Professor Bruso and his motto, “All the way with Chemistry.”
Poem Dedicated to Our Adjunct Faculty RCC PROFESSOR by Burton Louis-Charles
You stand in front of a class every day. Yet you still manage to smile and make the best of it anyway. Not many people know who you are, But to me you are a superstar. You are the stone that keeps the building up, You are the water that fills my cup. What I am trying to say is very true. RCC is lucky to have a professor like you.
Dear Adjuncts,
Do you have any tips or helpful ideas that your local adjuncts need to know? If so, please send them to me at blouis@ sunyrockland.edu and I will post them in our future newsletter. Hope to hear from you and as always, thank you for your help and support.
- Burton