SUNY Sullivan School Scene 2013

A Special Section of the Sullivan County Democrat April 23, 2013 • Section S • Callicoon, New York

A look at activities in

Sullivan County Community College

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Jazzed up about junior colleges New president invigorates SUNY Sullivan

A

t some point during her career in academia, Dr. Karin Hilgersom realized she did not want to spend her professional life publishing papers in obscure journals or even teaching at a large university.

“I knew I wanted to teach the students who needed me most,” said Hilgersom.

Appropriately enough, SUNY Sullivan’s new college president is passionate about the need and the value of two-year colleges.

“I’m in love with community colleges,” Dr. Hilgersom said. “I love that community colleges can focus entirely on teaching and learning excellence. I like it that we really are open access – that everybody can get higher education and career training.

I love it that a 35-year-old who always wanted to be a nurse can make that happen here.”

She’s also a great believer in the synergistic role that community colleges can play in energizing a community – a virtue that made her the

College President Dr. Karin Hilgersom came on board in February, selected for her background in administration, grants, research, workforce development and supervising capital building projects.

leading contender in the search for a new SUNY Sullivan chief.

‘A Look at Activities at Sullivan County Community College’ Published by Catskill-Delaware Publications, Inc. Publishers o f the

“Her experience leading transfer and workforce programs (preparing local talent for the real demands of local employers) will be an important asset,” said the college’s Board of Trustees Chairman Nick Speranza when Hilgersom’s hiring was announced. He also cited her background in policy analysis, research, grants and supervising capital building projects in the colleges she has served.

As a West Coast educator and administrator, Hilgersom has also watched and participated in the revival of towns such as Bend, Oregon and Walla Walla, Washington.

Walla Walla, for example, moved in the 1990s from a “boarded-up town with nothing but a prison and wheat farms” into a vineyard-and-winery tourist destination where the community college offers an associate's degree in winemaking and grape growing through its 10-year-old Center for Enology and Viticulture.

“I hope we can do things like that here,” Hilgersom said.

Her own education began as a communications major at California State University. After earning her PhD in Educational Policy and Management from the University of Oregon, she taught speech, public speaking and interpersonal communication at Oregon’s Spokane Community College and Gonzaga

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University, where she also launched women’s study courses.

She later moved up to college dean and then served as vice president for instruction at Walla Walla Community College and then at Central Oregon Community College.

SHORING UP BUDGET At her new post, she’s impressed with much about the half-centuryold college in Loch Sheldrake, with its 1,200 full-time students.

A strong liberal arts program, a committed and talented faculty, the power of the business and accounting department, an enviable “information technology cluster” of courses – digital media, graphic arts, multi-media and communication -are all key strengths of the college, she said.

But supporting them is a budget that has sadly eroded over the last six or seven years, and one of Dr. Hilgersom’s first steps will be to build up a reserve fund. “We will start setting aside two percent each year until there is six percent of the budget in reserve,” she said. Currently there is no reserve.

In many cases, “faculty salaries are abysmal and absurd,” and she wants to get the spending plan to a place where that can be mitigated.

She also has designs on giving the business and accounting program

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One way in which the local institution is an anomaly in the field of community colleges is the size of its campus. Built on what was 400 acres of

farmland, SUNY Sullivan uses only a portion of that land, and the college president is working with the county on how best to parlay some of the acreage into a win-win for both entities.

“We are beginning to explore how we can develop a private/public partnership to use this land” to help with the county’s economy and to develop in students an appreciation for the campus itself, she said.

Some possibilities are a health and fitness center, a coffee bar or a pub that could spur more of a college town feel on that huge piece of land.

Students could intern in the new businesses, Hilgersom noted.

In the meantime, the college president and her husband, web developer Matt Helmick, are busy exploring Sullivan County’s own must-see amenities.

“We discovered the Dancing Cat Saloon (on Route 17B in Bethel),” said Hilgersom with a delighted smile, “where on Saturday afternoons, they feature songwriters playing their music in the Distillery. Terrific!”

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enough financial capacity to assist small businesses in Sullivan County.

A wish that is more than a dream is the construction of a new building to house the “workforce professions” – the programs taught in digital media and graphics, healthcare, green technology and business.

Putting a signature building on campus creates instant jobs for the county, solidifies strong programs, and most importantly would have a healthy impact on enrollment, she said. “When you build a new building, the impact on enrollment is immediate.”

Hilgersom pointed to $10.5 million in capital project funds promised to SUNY Sullivan through the SUNY system in Albany.

“We have to come up with matching funds – but I do think there are donors out there who want to fund workforce,” said Hilgersom.

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Wrestling more dollars to pummel budget woes W

hen colleges face financial challenges, attracting more students is the obvious solution – in SUNY Sullivan’s case, each in-county student translates to about $9,000 in revenue, while an out-of-county student earns the institution some $12,000.

So the college’s Athletic Director Chris DePew has come up a sporty way of grappling with enrollment issues and shrinking dollars.

“When I learned of our financial difficulties, I said, ‘I think I can help,’ ” Depew recounted.

His three-phased plan to attract between 100 and 130 new students to the Loch Sheldrake campus by offering more sports programs will begin in earnest this fall.

That’s when newly recruited student athletes will take to the mat and the net respectively in the new men’s wrestling and women’s volleyball programs to be offered at the Loch Sheldrake campus.

Both sports were specifically cho-

sen because of the minimal outlay in finances required volleyball takes place right at the gym, and wrestling will benefit from a “free” $12,000 wrestling mat, courtesy of SUNY Sullivan’s longstanding relationship with the New York City wrestling program called Beat the Streets.

Already, the college is hearing from prospective new student athletes.

“We have several athletes in both sports who will be coming there,” said DePew. “These are kids who would have gone somewhere else” were it not for the new initiative.

How did they learn of SUNY Sullivan’s new programs?

Each January, the college hosts the Eastern States High School Wrestling Tournament, and announcements were made then. In addition, DePew serves as an officer with the National Junior College Athletic Association, He’s clinching, grabbing and wrestling the college’s financial difficulties: Athletic Director and he’s gotten the word out that way. Chris DePew comes up with creative ways to get more kids into the college.

And Beat the Streets is spreading the news. That inner-city program to offer college wrestling for their to wrestle in college but found few had specifically asked SUNY Sullivan high school graduates, who wanted opportunities.

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“Nationwide, there are only 20 wrestling programs on the junior college level,” said DePew. “We think we’ve hit a market where there’s a real need.”

Phase 2 of the new sports plan will bring men and women’s soccer to the college, and Phase 3 will introduce men’s lacrosse and women’s softball.

SPORTS AS STUDENT AND COMMUNITY BUILDERS

Athletic Director DePew is quick to point out that participation in sports is not all play. Academically, students must keep good grades and, in fact, they tend to outperform the general student population.

“A sport teaches teamwork, discipline and following directions,” he said. “When you’re a student athlete, you’re held to higher standards. We have over a 94 percent retention rate of athletes (in other words, in those who stay in college for the full two years.) That’s a much higher rate than the college as a whole.”

Unlike most community colleges, Sullivan provides dorms for students, which helps to foster a sense of camaraderie among athletes and with their coaches.

For each one student who’s actively recruited by the college, studies show two others follow, according to Athletic Director DePew.

“We have 126 student athletes, 126 kids that we follow,” said DePew. “If someone is not in class, I know it. If someone fails a test, I know it.”

Struggling athletes work on academics in study halls, with computer help and by means of tutors.

A robust athletic program also boosts the college in other ways.

“Athletics on the college level is a draw, a way of life — look at Notre Dame, Alabama, Michigan, where

you’re bringing 100,000 people to your games,” said DePew. “That impacts the institution. Of course, we’re smaller than that but we’ve been fortunate to have great coaches and administrators, and we’ve built a sports program of national prominence.”

The wider community benefits as well. “In winter, our basketball games are the only game in town,” said DePew, referring to the throngs of

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locals and others who cheer lustily for SUNY Sullivan’s nationally ranked men’s and women’s basketball teams and who attend the National Men’s Basketball NJCAA Tournament, held the past three years on the Loch Sheldrake campus.

Tournament teams stay at the Villa Roma Resort in Callicoon, and eat locally at Liberty Diner and at many of the fast food restaurants in Liberty and Monticello.

Into the future, DePew looks forward to more wins all around – including boosting enrollment even further by means of athletics. “Studies show that for every one student who’s actively recruited to play a sport at a college institution, that brings two others to the college.”

Specifically with regard to volleyball and wrestling, decisions on new coach hiring are expected shortly.

And DePew said he particularly would like to get the word out about the new sports programs to local kids.

“We are full steam ahead and excited about adding these sports to our programs,” he said. “I’d like to say to prospective students ‘We’d love to have you as part of our inaugural team. Give us a call.’ ”

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Crucial role for respiratory therapists J

acob Crawley wants a profession as a flight nurse, and credentials as a respiratory therapist are mandatory.

Lori Mallia works as a medical assistant at the Center for Discovery in Harris, and wants to move into the field of respiratory therapy there, assisting sick children who have lung problems.

Marilyn Bacchus’s husband is a respiratory therapist who relates vivid stories about affecting people’s lives for the better.

“He saved the life of a person who had carbon monoxide poisoning,” said Marilyn. “That’s what I want to do: help people. I have a passion for that.”

The three college students, along with five others, are pioneers in a new

Respiratory Care program launched at SUNY Sullivan last January. They are being trained in a profession that has exploded in recent years to the point that Sullivan County’s health facilities have begged for help meeting their employment needs.

“There’s the baby boom generation coming into older age and living longer,” explained Respiratory Care Program Director Lisa Shultis. “We need to provide them with services for emphysema and chronic bronchitis, for COPD (cardio-pulmonary disorders).”

Furthermore, today’s medical advances allow doctors to save the lives of very young premature babies, but the tiny infants suffer from underdeveloped lungs and need services.

“Respiratory therapists work in labor and delivery rooms, burn units, intensive care units,” noted Shultis.

They also find jobs in doctor’s offices, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, outpatient clinics and

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practice in New York, graduates are required to apply for a permanent license.

Salaries for respiratory therapists are excellent, as are the job opportunities. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that employment for respiratory therapists is expected to increase faster than most other

occupations through the year 2018.

Word is out about the program – which can admit 20 students each spring semester – and excitement has mounted.

“Next spring,” said Shultis, “we have 50 students waiting for 20 seats.”

Posing with their mannequin “babies,” students from SUNY Sullivan’s first Respiratory Care Program are, from left, Marilyn Bacchus, Jacob Crawley, Dominick Abato, Ryan Hilton, Lori Mallia and Tracey Beltran.

All of this rigor is necessary, says Director Shultis, because of the important role played by RTs. “If you can’t breathe, [respiratory therapists] have two minutes to make the right decision," said Shultis. “RTs control the airway.”

After completing the program, students are awarded their degree and are eligible for the National Board of Respiratory Care Credentialing exam. Students first take the Certified Respiratory Therapist exam and then, on passing, they may take the more advanced Registered Respiratory Therapist exam. In order to

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provide care to victims of heart attacks, drowning or shock. They ride helicopters, keeping alive seriously injured individuals who are being transported to specialized hospitals.

Shultis, a respiratory therapist herself who has taught for 23 years, is also a member of the Medical Reserves. She was deployed during Hurricane Sandy to a hockey arena where she cared for patients on ventilators after their hospitals were flooded.

The SUNY Sullivan course requires two years of full-time study in order to earn an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Respiratory Care.

Students must be good in science and math – they study human anatomy and physiology, microbiology, cardiopulmonary physiology, to name just a few of the academic subjects they must master.

During their second year, students spend 81⁄2 hours each day, Monday to Thursday, as interns at one of nine clinical sites, which include Catskill Regional Medical Center, Crystal Run Healthcare, Orange Regional Medical Center and Wayne Memorial Hospital.

As a health care profession, Respiratory Care is practiced under a medical director, Dr. Rajan Subbiah, a pulmonary disease and critical care specialist.

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Dull committee? Not for this group of ‘changemakers’ W

hat began as the rather dry but necessary requirement for SUNY Sullivan to sit down and develop a strategic plan has galvanized the college community into a happy, zealous love fest in which people are saying some amazing things about their workplace and its future.

“This is the most productive thing I’ve done in 32 years.” (Mike Fisher, chairman of Division of Professional Studies) “We couldn’t be more excited.”

(Dr. Susan Rogers, assistant professor of psychology) “This is fun!”

(Dr. Paul Reifenheiser, chairman, Division of Liberal Arts & Humanities).

And the magic has spread. “I’ve been around a long time and have had a lot of interaction with the college,” said Scott Samuelson, chairman of the County Board of Legislators, “and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kind of energy flowing.”

Planning a vibrant future for SUNY Sullivan enlisted the expertise and energy of college leaders and faculty members including, from left, Dr. Paul Reifenheiser, Mike Fisher, Dr. Stephen Mitchell and Dr. Susan Rogers.

It all began last year when the college’s re-accrediting agency, called the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, said SUNY Sullivan must create a strategic plan for the future. The college then hired consultants in a technique called Appreciative Inquiry (AI) to begin the brainstorming process this past January.

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and good,” said Mike Fisher, who helped spearhead the AI process.

At a series of forums, students, faculty and community members from town supervisors to regular citizens contributed knowledge, experience and ideas. The college, participants said, began uncovering new ways to live out its future as a dynamic institution that cares about its constituencies.

The strengths of the college, and therefore the direction to go in the future, wound up revolving around five themes: enhancing relationships with students; encouraging community engagement; supporting “sustainability” in terms of farming and green technology; developing programs to provide careers for students

Credits: All photographs and stories for this special School Scene are by Sullivan County Democrat Photographer/Reporter Kathy Daley.

The Democrat would also like to thank the faculty and staff of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Sullivan for all its cooperation in this project.

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and to foster economic development; and ways to provide a more inviting learning and work environment on the campus.

Student Government leader John Miller participated as a facilitator in February, leading a packed room of students at the college dining hall.

“The school has been around for awhile, but I felt like we were still trying to get a name for ourselves – not many people know about us,” explained Miller. Personally, “I want to better SUNY Sullivan not just for myself but for others, not just now but for the future as well.”

Students at the forum were most interested in new programs and internships; upgrades to campus, residence halls and cafeteria; and access to more adult advisors and mentors.

“The energy in the room was surprisingly very positive and enthusiastic,” Miller said.

Other ideas generated at forums ranged from a new course offering on Sullivan County geology and natural science, to the construction of an outdoor amphitheater and a sculpture garden, to avenues for small businesses to offer ideas to the college.

Fisher said the ball is now in the court of the larger and more formal Strategic Plan Institutional Assessment Committee, which is chaired by Dr. Stephen Mitchell, dean of Workforce Development, Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning But the work of the Appreciative Inquiry players is already bearing fruit.

“The five themes (distilled from the AI sessions) will be used in the college‘s upcoming budget deliberations,” said Fisher, noting that the work of the 200 participants “has the potential to make positive change

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The two-year college at SUNY Sullivan offers students an opportunity to attend courses closer to home to prepare for an associate’s degree, or to gain credits toward a bachelor’s degree through a transfer to a 4-year college or university, or just to enhance and better their personal and professional skills.

that reaches for decades.”

And literal fruit bearing is in the offing as well.

Spurred by an idea at one of the forums, campus soil is now sprouting humulus lupulus, the hardy climbing plant known as hops, that is used in making beer. The project involves students and SUNY Sullivan’s Sustainability Committee chaired by teacher and director of Sustainability Helena Le Roux.

Le Roux wrote a mini-grant and was awarded funds from Sullivan Renaissance to get the hops project started.

Microbreweries such as one planned for Livingston Manor by Catskill Mountain Director Ramsey Adams are interested in which variety of hops can grow locally.

The link between students, learning, farming, and local business and economy sounds good to those in the know.

“The whole agriculture-tourism business connection is starting to grow in the county,” said County Legislator Samuelson. “Growing hops – that’s exciting. That’s cool.”

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College celebrates women STORY AND PHOTOS

BY SHARON SPACE-BAMBERGER

O

n April 1, a multitude of women converged on SUNY Sullivan for the 17th Annual Celebration of Being a Woman. This year’s theme was “Finding The Best You: The Confidence Connection.”

The conference fee included breakfast, a keynote speaker, two workshops (from among a multitude), lunch with brownies to die for, shopping, raffles, a bag of gifts and time to network.

Some of the women had attended previous women’s celebrations at the college. They looked forward to an enriching day.

Carol Milewski of Liberty, who attends every year, spoke of her plans for the day: “I’m taking a morning workshop about healing crystals and I’ll do ‘Adventures of Decluttering’ in the afternoon. It’s a very good feeling to get rid of that stuff or finding a home for it.”

The women filled the Seelig Theatre to hear Keynote Speaker Nancy Lombardo, a comedian who has appeared on Saturday Night Live, All

This year’s theme was “Finding The Best You: The Confidence Connection.”

My Children, and Comedy Tonight.

The women began laughing as the comedian outlined highlights of her career. Throwing a black shawl over her head, Lombardo hunched her shoulders like an old lady. She gave piercing moans and explained, “I’m the consummate Italian Mourner; I’ve played that part on ‘Law and Order’ and in the movies.”

Lombardo’s snappy one-liners kept the laughing ladies in danger of needing the ladies’. “I’m the mother of two, one is my husband!” “We’re in the Middle Ages, everything heads to the middle.” “A man is like a shoe, buy a good one and break it in and it will last.” “What do you call people who use the rhythm method?

Answer: Parents!” Mary Todd Lincoln to her husband, “Would it kill you to go to the theatre with me?”

“What’s the furthest distance between two points?

A man’s underwear and the hamper.”

The women shared their experience during a wonderful lunch catered by Chartwell’s and Michael Weintraub. All agreed the workshop presenters delivered on their promises.

Theresa Geed of Callicoon enjoyed Cephora’s “The Healing Crystal Connection” class and planned on buying crystals after lunch.

Comedian Nancy Lombardo’s one-liners had the women Sue Long took “Artful laughing helplessly at the Seelig Theatre.

Glass Painting” but was

Callicoon Center resident Theresa Geed checked out the healing crystals and jewelry offered by “Cephora” the leader of “The Healing Crystal Connection.”

not too sure about her painting tal- Hillary Egeland, SUNY Sullivan direcent. She sighed, “Maybe it will look tor of Special Events and Campus better after it dries.”

Activities was pleased with the Alberta Hillriegel said she plans to Conference. “We had one hundred teach her grandchildren the minia- and fifty women sign up and it went ture garden techniques she learned smoothly,” she said. from Master Gardener Susan Dollard.

Cynthia Crisp, BA, LMT, a massage therapist and Celtic Shaman with a private practice in both Jeffersonville and New York City led two workshops. The morning session was “Steps to Empowerment” in which participants practiced aligning their physical and energy bodies, envisioning what they wanted for their lives. They learned an ancient form of prayer to help them achieve the life they always dreamed of.

In Crisp’s afternoon session “Circle of Healing, Circle of Power,” Crisp led her students as they drummed and shook rattles to attract healing spir- Alberta Hillriegel of Callicoon shows the miniature garden its for their journeys to a she created in a class presented by Master Gardener Susan Dollard of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan magical world.

Conference co-chair, County.

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