Q2 2017 CW Review

The PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Review

Q2: JANUARY - MARCH, 2017 ● ISSUE #143

®

PAGE 2

NEW EMPLOYEES PAGE 6

MIDDLE STATES PAGE 8

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAGE 11

Photo captured from Gaming For Your Bachelors Read more on page 13

CW’S MISSION

The College of Westchester graduates individuals who have completed transformative and purposeful educational experiences that provide the foundation for successful, relevant professional careers.

As an academically student-centered, culturally diverse college, CW is committed to providing the highest quality of education for all career and entrepreneurial-minded students through the delivery of a carefully constructed and focused curriculum, informed by regional employers. The College supports and encourages academic excellence, career advancement, professional integrity, financial responsibility, and good citizenship through a distinctive and highly personal campus environment.

This is a confidential document for internal use only.

President’s Corner Mary Beth Del Balzo What’s up? How Our Grads are Faring, 52 in 52 & Coffee with the President Initiatives

Our Coffee with the President initiative has proved to be just as informative.

These sessions are being held monthly, with a maximum of three participants in each, in order for us to have enough time for a meaningful, in depth irstly, I would be remiss if I did not mention conversation. In February I met with Dave Lambert that once again, our Career Services team and Estelle Coffino who shared ideas and student reports a very high placement rate for grads feedback as relates to book options. March I met placed in jobs in their field within one year of with La-Keisha Smith, Darnell Dixon and Mary graduation at 88.76%. An additional 138 graduates Bennett, who had great ideas for student activities indicate they will be continuing their education. While and uniting all of our student clubs. Next month, I these numbers are only for internal information, they look forward to meeting with Paula Cancro, Jason are the backbone by which we continue to drive the Schoen and Steve Paris. I am happy to see these mission and the vision that is CW. This rate is calculated slots filling up and hope that eventually everyone by including every graduate with a graduation date has a chance to sign up! It’s a great opportunity for between 7/1/15-6/30/16. meet with those that I don’t get to interact with on a regular basis. These meetings are also giving us As I mentioned at the last quarterly meeting, my two the opportunity to enhance our service to students newest initiatives – 52 Classes in 52 Weeks and Coffee and embark on new initiatives, so thank you! with the President – have been quite enjoyable and informational. My goal with 52 Classes in 52 Weeks is to learn first-hand the depth of knowledge that is being shared in our classrooms and to get to know our students, and my expectations have definitely been exceeded! I am partaking in the classroom discussions, and quickly learning that I don’t have all the answers.

We have an amazing group of students who are intelligent, well prepared and insightful. And of course, the instructors are to be commended for educating our students and preparing them to be successful in the classroom and beyond. To learn more about the classrooms I have visited and what I have learned in each, please visit my blog at https://www.cw.edu/blogcategories/presidents-blog

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Board of Trustees - A Year in Review The Board of Trustees last met on March 20. In addition to the standing meeting items, which include: a Presidential Update, consisting of regulatory updates and a high level summary of what is going on at CW; Academic Update by Warren Rosenberg; New Student Enrollment Report by Matt Curtis; Total Student Enrollment, Retention and Graduation Rates report by Michael Sandick; and a Financial Update by Nancy Poli, the Board received a presentation from student, Mortlon Aulder. Mortlon shared with the Board how he became at student at CW, his experience as a student, his accomplishments and goals. The Board was very impressed with Mortlon’s achievements, drive for success, and his overall enthusiasm.

Prior to each January Board Meeting, the Board Liaison to each of the Shared Governance Standing Committees meets with the Chair of the Standing Committee and is given a full report on the committee’s accomplishments for the year as well as goals for the upcoming year. This year had a different twist as Middle States Self Study Steering Committee Liaisons also participated in the meeting. The Steering Committee Liaison summarized for the Board Liaison the Working Group’s report and findings. The individuals involved in these meetings are as follows: SHARED GOVERNANCE STANDING COMMITTEE & CHAIR The CW Way Jessica Muller

MIDDLE STATES STANDARD & STEERING COMMITTEE LIAISON Standard I, Mission & Goals Warren Rosenberg

Sue Nappi Susan Pusz

Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Michael Sandick

Standard II, Ethics & Integrity Perry Brown

Ann Conetta Karen Smith

Faculty Development Paula Cancro

Standard III, Design & Delivery of Student Learning Experience Marc Hess

Barbara Boyington

Academic Progress & Student Life (APSL) Daphne Galkin

Standard IV, Support of the Student Experience Judith Lilleston

Sal Corda Nancy Trim

Curriculum & Academic Policy Committee (CAP) Stacy Larson

Standard V, Educational Effectiveness Assessment Michael Flanagan

Richard DeMaria Vin Siegfried

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning (IEP) Pat Lyon Erica Schacht N/A

Standard VI, Planning, Resources & Institutional Improvement Pat Lyon

Barbara Boyington

Standard VII, Governance, Leadership & Administration Annette Casserly

Full Board

BOARD LIAISON/S

Continued on Page 4

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Board of Trustees - Continued from Page 3 Both the standing committees and working groups have been working very diligently and the Board was impressed with the work that has been done thus far. If you would like to learn more about CW’s Standing Committees, please visit the Shared Governance page in Cruiser.

The Board also received a presentation from the most recent faculty of the year awardee, John Strange.

There are three topics to choose from:

1

2 3

The Life of a CW Faculty Member.

A presentation to the Board of what a typical work week looks like for a faculty member – including in-class hours, preparation and grading time, advising, committee work, attending College functions, mentoring student organizations, pursuing scholarship, etc.

CW Faculty – Who Are We? A presentation to apprise the Board of just who CW’s full-time faculty are, their demographics, degrees held, institutions attended, prior teaching experience, research and artistic interests, prior business experience, etc. This information would be collected via survey and summarized for the Board by the selected faculty representative.

Faculty Development. A presentation to apprise the Board about how the College supports the continued growth and development of its faculty. The presentation can include a summary of recent years in-house faculty development workshops, externally delivered webinars, and a summary of the conferences attended by faculty over the past three years. The presentation would also include a summary of advanced degrees and credentials being sought by faculty.

Professor Strange chose topic 2.

The Board always enjoys these presentations as it is an excellent opportunity to see firsthand who our faculty are.

Also at the January Board Meeting, the Board reviewed the proposed new Mission Statement that has been drafted as a result of the meetings that took place in the fall with Cabinet and other college wide representation.

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The Board suggested minor changes to the Mission and College Goals and all were accepted based on these changes. The College Vision statement remains the same. A final version of these statements can be found on the Office of the President page in Cruiser. The Mission statement is now present on student computers, and will be featured soon across the college.

And to summarize some of the other major accomplishments by the Board this past year, They approved the 2017 college budget in November 2016, as they do every Fall The Executive Committee of the Board reported on the two-year performance evaluation of President Del Balzo. While the term for president is six years, upon President Del Balzo’s appointment in 2014, the Board felt a review at the two year mark would prove beneficial due to the fact that she is new to the role of president.

There is a long‐standing tradition that the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees reviews the President periodically. Historically, the Executive Committee has reviewed the president, and then prepared a summary for the full Board of Trustees to review. The Executive Committee of the Board requests performance feedback from individuals who have direct contact with the President. The results of their feedback are submitted in sealed envelopes to the Executive Assistant to the President who shares them with the Executive Committee. In addition to feedback from those who routinely come into contact with the President, the Executive Committee of the Board does its own Performance Evaluation of the President, some of the elements of include: >

Her next review point is November 2020.

Sharing Our Success, which through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) the Committee reviews the following KPIs: learning and growth, internal processes, customer perspective and financial strength of the College, as well as IPS and Noel Levitz data.

In November 2016 was the annual confirmation of trustees. The following trustees were appointed to another term: Karen Smith, John D’Agostino, Susan Pusz and Nancy Trim. Ann Conetta also agreed to continue to serve as Chair for another term.

Strategic Planning and Strategic Initiatives, whereby, current and future goals and regulatory compliance are assessed for enrollment, retention, curriculum development, student technology business viability, and regulatory compliance

Annual Review of the Board Bylaws and Confirmation of No Conflict of Interest was conducted in November 2016 In June of 2016, the President of the CW Charitable Foundation, Beverly Tramontelli, joined the meeting to give the Board a progress report of the CWCF Board’s work.

Presidential goals, institutional level goals and presidential professional development, whereby, the Executive Committee and the President jointly prepare the President’s Performance Planning Document draft that, upon feedback, is presented to the full Board of Directors.

In April of 2016 Cabinet presented “Unique Challenges and Opportunities” to the Board. An annual presentation that the Board finds extremely informative and impressive.

Upon review of the documentation, the Executive Committee of the Board endorsed President’s Del Balzo’s continued transition in this role and was commended for her successes and leadership ability.

The Cabinet Corner Towards the end of 2016, Cabinet Members were focused on wrapping up Year Two of the 2015-2017 Strategic Plan and fine-tuning the 2017 - Year Three plan. Additionally, much work has already begun to shape the 2018-2020 Strategic Plan. You will recall it being previously mentioned that Cabinet members and various other staff and faculty met last November to review the college’s mission, vision and college goals. Some minor changes were made and approved by the Board in January. This process is necessary prior to a new strategic planning cycle as it is the mission and vision that drive the strategic plan. So far, the goals for the new planning cycle have stayed the same.

Next will be to build out the plan with the input from a larger group; that work will be done in April and progress will continue to be shared college wide.

At its next meeting, Cabinet will review and discuss the most recent results of both the student Noel Levitz Student Survey and employee Institutional Performance Survey. The goal of this discussion will be to consider the rich feedback we have received both from students and from employees, respectively, then formulate recommendations to improve in those areas noted.

At the January meeting, the group also agreed that it must continue to be standard practice college wide that all documents for public viewing and for students are to be reviewed and proofed by the Office of the President.

Such documents include letters to students, admissions forms, all Academic Center, SFS, Placement and all other correspondence, notifications, programs, etc, throughout the college. Annette Casserly can answer any questions you might have.

At each meeting, Cabinet members also review data in all areas of the college, such as new student enrollment, inquiry generation, placement rate, and retention rate.

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Please join us in welcoming the following new employees to the CW Family: Brittany Fleiss & Patricia Alvarado

By Krissy Frano Administrative Assistant - Executive Office Brittany Fleiss is our new Assistant Registrar. Prior to joining CW, she managed an office of a start-up private school for two years. She wore many hats and was exposed to many different aspects of the school environment. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental studies from SUNY Purchase and a Master’s Degree in Food Studies from NYU. Brittany was born and raised in New Rochelle and currently resides in Mount Kisco, NY. She enjoys spending time with her dog, friends and family. In her spare time, she practices yoga, hikes and travels.

She enjoys reading, cooking and exploring local restaurants.

When we asked Brittany about her experience so far at the college she said, “I am having a wonderful experience getting acclimated to my new environment. I feel supported by the CW staff and am very grateful for everyone’s time and patience. I am looking forward to what the future holds for me here at CW, as my relationships and knowledge cultivate and develop.”

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Patricia Alvarado is our new full time Counselor in the Academic Center. Prior to joining CW, she was working for a non-profit organization called Violence Intervention Program. She would primarily work with children and families who had an open case with Child Protective Services.

Within this role she would provide individual and family therapy to help clients identify triggers and utilize their coping skills to meet the treatment goals that were in place. She worked with a lot of clients who experienced behavioral issues, trauma, were identified to have ADHD, and on parenting issues; just to name a few.

Patty attended the University of California for her undergraduate and Santa Barbara for her Bachelors of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelors of Arts in Women Studies. She attended Loyola Marymount University and obtained her Master’s Degree of Arts in Counseling with an emphasis in Community/Mental Health.

Patty was born and raised in Southern California and lived in Los Angeles area for most of her life. She currently resides in New York City. Her family is all back in California and she hopes to get a chance to visit them in a few times a year. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her dog Demi, travelling as much as possible and exploring New York City. Some of her interests include writing, running, reading or listening to audiobooks and collecting stationery.

When we asked Patty about her experience so far at the college she said ,“I really enjoy working at CW; I feel that everyone is extremely supportive and easy to talk to. It’s nice to have a great working environment because then it doesn’t seem like work but somewhere where you want to be, and that’s the best feeling to have.”

CW Way Corner

WE ARE

“

ONE

By Jessica Muller Manager of Business Operations

”

People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

- Tony Hsieh

P

eople’s perceptions of CW as an institution are affected by their daily interactions with each and every member of the CW community.

The CW Way and the four statements that comprise it were crafted through input from CW employees across the college to describe the culture of our institution and the experience we want to provide to all of our “customers” on a daily basis, whether it be students, alumni, parents, visitors, vendors or fellow CW employees!

These statements provide a road map to embracing and fulfilling this goal.

One of the best ways to keep The CW Way in the forefront of everyone’s minds is to recognize our colleagues who are “making it happen.” That is why CW Way stories are highlighted at our Quarterly Meetings and also why we like to share them here in the CW Review. Recognizing someone else, or being recognized yourself, for a job well done is so rewarding so please take some time to consider submitting a brief story to The CW Way Corner!

We value on another.

We are one.

We inspire success.

We make it happen.

How have you or a colleague put The CW Way into action, or what does The CW Way mean to you? Has someone in your department made you or a student feel especially valued? Has someone gone out of their way to help you or a visitor? Have you noticed a particular colleague inspiring success in others? Please share your thoughts and stories with the CW Community by emailing them to Jessica Muller for inclusion in a future CW Way Corner!

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Middle States Update

By Joann Mulqueen and Stacy Larson, Co-Chairs of the Self-Study Committee

Please meet Dr. Christopher Cyphers!

Dr. Cyphers has agreed to Chair the MSCHE Evaluation Team that will visit CW in October 2017 in order to assess our Self-Study and determine how well CW meets the MSCHE Standards of Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation, thus making him a very important person in this process.

Who is he

Dr. Cyphers is currently the Provost at LIM College.

He has direct oversight and responsibility for Academic Affairs, Admissions, Experiential Education & Career Management, Graduate Studies, Instructional Technology, Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment, Registrar, Student Affairs, and Student Success. Prior to this, Dr. Cyphers was President of the New York School of Interior Design and before that, Dr. Cyphers was Provost of the School of Visual Arts, where he taught cultural and intellectual history. He has also served as senior research associate and chief of staff in the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Urban Affairs at the City University of New York.

What are his responsibilities as the Chair of the MSCHE Evaluation Team

First, the Team Chair and CW’s President set a date for the “Preliminary Visit.” The preliminary visit assists the institution in understanding how the team will operate and assists the Chair in planning how best to deploy the team. The purpose is to ensure that the self-study process and documents will support a useful visit.

The “Preliminary Visit” is set for June 6th, at which time Dr. Cyphers will: 1. Meet with the President for a confidential briefing; 2. Meet with representatives from the Board of Trustees and Cabinet; 8 | Q2 REVIEW

3. Meet with representatives from the faculty and student bodies; 4. Meet with the Steering Committee to provide feedback/needed changes to the self-study document, and 5. Review the accommodations for the Team both on campus and at the hotel.

Second, Dr. Cyphers and CW’s President agreed on the actual dates for the Evaluation Team Visit which will occur on October 15- 18, 2017. With dates set, the Team Chair will: 1. Assist the Commission in selecting and inviting peer evaluators to join CW’s Evaluation Team.

2. Review the evaluators’ data forms to determine which Standards they will review.

3. Host preliminary meetings with the evaluators to discuss process and logistics.

4. Serve as the leader during the Team Visit, and 5. Write the final report based on individual team member reports.

As noted during the February Quarterly Meeting, you will be contacted directly if you are needed for the June 6th visit, but all should be prepared since Dr. Cyphers will be in the building all day and is free to stop and chat with anyone.

Following that visit, you will be getting a lot more information regarding the October 2017 Team Visit, but meanwhile, “get to know” Dr. Cyphers – a critically important person in CW’s Self-Study process.

Need to Change your Tax Witholdings?

By Jessica Muller, Manager of Business Operations

A

common question we are asked right after tax time is “where can I get the form(s) to change my tax withholdings?” If you’ve found you had to pay more in taxes than you were anticipating, or better yet, if you found you got more back in taxes than you had thought you would, you may be considering changing your withholding amounts.

Should you wish to do so, both the Federal (W-4) and New York State (IT-2104) tax forms can be found on the Human Resources page on Campus Cruiser, under the Payroll tab. If you need advice on what your new withholdings should be, you should consult with your personal tax advisor.

Once completed, your updated forms should be submitted to my attention.

Amazon is Amazing: Help Support the College of Westchester Charitable Foundation Do you like to shop online? If so, chances are you’ve done shopping on www.amazon.com once or twice, or a hundred.

Amazon really is amazing. Not only can you find virtually anything you are looking for on this site, but if you’re a Prime Member, you can also have your stuff on your doorstep in two days. Can’t beat it!

Another amazing thing about Amazon is that through their AmazonSmile program, they will donate .05% of your purchase to the charity of your choice. This is a great way to donate to our very own College of Westchester Charitable Foundation. It’s very easy to do. To register your charity, go to www.smile.amazon.com , and you will be prompted to select the charitable organization from almost one million eligible organizations, and College of Westchester Charitable Foundation is one of those organizations. From then on, for all eligible purchases, AmazonSmile will donate .05% to the charity.

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

Thanks in advance for your support of the CWCF Foundation!

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Are we Bringing our “A” Game for the Students we Teach?

By Kelly Walsh Chief Information Officer and proud member of the Faculty of Administration

G

iving students the opportunity to take more ownership of learning, and modeling the behaviors you wish to see, are just a few ways to bring your "A" game.

9. Are students afforded the opportunity to master what they are learning in your classroom (or do you just move on whether they've learned it or not)?

10. Do you throw up your hands and say, “I have no choice … the system makes me to do this”?

11. Are you having fun teaching?

I wrote and published this article recently on my “edtech” web site, EmergingEdTech. In it, I shared these 12. Have you thanked a student lately?

25 questions, written with the intent of making myself 13. How aggressively do you look for ways to allow students to learn and demonstrate learning in a way and other teachers look for opportunities to continuthat works for them? ously improve on the quality of our work with the 14.

If you're forced to “teach to the test”, do you feel that students we are privileged to serve. Granted, these means you have no choice about how you teach? questions were written predominantly with the K-12 15.

Do you require students to be quiet, sit still, and just environment in mind, but most of them apply equally listen? as well to higher education.

16. Do you think flexibility in your classroom equals a loss of control?

I hope these questions encourage you to think 17. Do you feel that it's not your responsibility to about opportunities to make sure you are bringing motivate your students to learn? your “A” game the students in your courses every 18. If you had the choice to make again, would you be a day! teacher?

19. Does the homework you assign have enough value 1. Do you set the tone of respect by showing your to make it worth taking away a student's opportunity students respect? to have a life, chill a little, or get enough sleep?

2. Do you model lifelong learning (if you aren't 20. Have you “always taught this way”? inspired to learn, why should your students be)?

21. Do you make a point of trying to get to know your 3. Would you want to be a student in your classroom? students?

4. Do you regularly look for ways to better serve your 22. Is your classroom focused predominantly on you, or students? on your students?

5. Do your students have opportunities to make 23. Do students have opportunities to make choices choices about how they learn in your classroom? regarding some homework activities (selecting from 6. Do your students have opportunities to make a range of options for example)? choices about how they demonstrate what they've 24. Are you helping your students learn how to learn? learn in your classroom?

25. Would you want your children to be in a classroom 7. Is the homework that you assign providing students like yours? an opportunity to connect what they are learning to the world around them?

8. If a student demonstrates on an assessment that they don't understand something, do they have an opportunity to correct that? If not, why not?

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Emerging Technology

By Raymond Giles, III Assistant Chairperson, General Education

Emerging technologies are often started from hobbies, from a horse driven carriage to a car, from standalone PC to internet, from plain old telephones (POT’s Lines) to cell phones, from paper printing to 3D Printers.

Emerging technologies are taught in the General Education Department’s newly revised, Digital Literacy in the Workplace. This course familiarizes students with digital technologies that are being used in the workplace today. The course exposes students to these new and different technologies to better position them for jobs in the Digital Age. One revolutionary development is the introduction of drones , now called Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) which are beginning to revolutionize the aviation industry.

There are already many successful

as far back as the 1800’s when Nikola Tesla unveiled his wireless miniature ship in an indoor pool in 1898. In fact, according to UAS jobs are currently in an emerging Tesla: A Man Out of Time, written

by Margaret Cheney's, when commercialization phase and asked about the boat's potential those who start businesses now as an explosive-delivery system, could benefit by being the first.

Interest is growing in civil uses, Tesla retorted, "… you see including commercial photography, there the first of a race aerial mapping, crop monitoring, of robots, mechanical advertising, communications and men which will do the broadcasting, so our business students need to pay attention as laborious work of the well. Drones may increase efficiency, human race." save money, enhance safety, and even save lives.

Drones are simply one example of a technology that has replaced For those who do not know much humans in the workforce, as noted about drones, here is a brief history.

by Mr. Tesla more than a century A small, unmanned aircraft system ago. So, while we know that the (sUAS), sometimes called a drone, Digital Age is here to stay, we need is an aircraft without a human to find a way to keep up with it. pilot onboard – instead, the UAS And, the way, is education. is controlled from an operator on the ground. Drones can be traced Q2 REVIEW | 11 commercial drone businesses and jobs being developed all around the world right now.

Social Media Spring Cleaning

By Roman Sierra Public Relations & Social Media Coordinator

S

pring is around the corner, and most people associate the season with a fresh start. It’s the time to go through the storage unit, the garage, and the walk-in closet to grab all the clutter that you never use in order to make room for the new and better things in store.

This should be the same mentality for social media.

It includes both your social media platforms and apps.

A thorough cleansing will ensure that your platforms are organized, up-to-date, and operating at their optimum efficiency. Here are some helpful tips:

1 Unlike any pages that are not longer relevant 7 Change your passwords. Internet security to you. experts recommend changing all of your 2 Delete any apps that you are no longer using. passwords quarterly. When was the last time 3 Create folders in your smartphone and you changed yours? organize all your apps. When you create 8 Keep consistency across all profiles. It may folders for all your needs you’ll notice there sound like a trivial point, but if you want your are apps you haven’t use in several months. followers to trust your accounts, you need Personal, work, teaching, news, etc., is always to be sure that they are consistent across all a good start for your folders. platforms.

4 Unfollow (on Instagram and Twitter) any 9 Review monthly activities and engagement by fake accounts, those that have never engaged channel. You may use five different social media or connected with you, and those that do not sites, but unless you know how much you’re offer any value to you. Don’t feel forced to posting or engaging on each one, you can’t follow back all your followers. Many of them know where to focus. On Facebook and Twitter, are fake accounts. you can check these metrics by going to their 5 Make sure that your profile photo is current dashboard and reviewing how much you and professional, especially in LinkedIn. posted in a particular period.

10 Network. Who influences your industry/ 6 Check over the “about” section and “contact

information” in all your social media channels. field? Which networks should you be a part Make sure this information is recent, accessible, of? To maintain a healthy network, you must and well written. constantly be adding to and working within it.

Give your social media profiles a deep clean and start the new season with a fresh new look.

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GamingFor ForYour YourBachelors Bachelor’s Gaming

The Office of Bachelor Studies put together an interactive and eventput called The Office of informative Bachelor Studies Gaming For Your Bachelor’s on February 21. The games involved were intended for together an interactive and informastudents to have fun but to also educate them about benefits the bachelor’s tive the event calledof Gaming For Yourprogram.

Bachelors. The games involved were intended for students to have fun but to also educate them about the benefits of the bachelor’s program.

The Adobe Education Exchange

By Marc Hess Chairperson and Associate Professor, Digital Media

Over a year ago I learned that Adobe began providing a virtual school and library of resources that goes beyond articles and references that one would regularly find searching the Web. Located at https://edex. adobe.com, the site is organized and categorized into Self-Paced Workshops, Collaborative Courses, and Live Events. These are the main features in addition to the previously alluded to articles, references, and other available online resources.

In the past year and a half, I have enrolled in over a half dozen of these Collaborative Courses and Workshops; which include Game Design, UX to UI Design, Web Design, Digital Video, Animation and Motion Graphics, just to name a few. Each involves using one or more of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite of products, and these collaborative courses run for 5+ weeks and contain readings, videos, a live one-hour long online “class”, discussion forums, and an assignment.

I’ve been able to gain much from these courses and have integrated material and concepts into some of my classes. This has been a benefit to myself, my students, and CW as a whole.

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Dealing with Change

C

hange is oftentimes something that is difficult to manage while being an inevitable part of life. When thinking about change, it is important to realize that some change we can control and other change we cannot control. Some of the things that we cannot control can be things like the weather or traffic. It can be frustrating to not be able to do the things that we had planned to do because of extraneous situations, things that we cannot control. Noticing that there are many things that we can control can help us through the change factor that sometimes we so desperately need.

Change can occur in many ways, shapes, and forms. In some situations, if we feel uncomfortable enough, if we make people feel bad enough, we begin to make changes to avoid the negative feeling. In other situations, constructive behavior change can come from a place where the person willing to change connects it with value, a goal in mind, something important, something cherished.

This now becomes the motivation to do things differently and want to be better, depending on the situation.

While the motivation to change can be present, there can be a sense of ambivalence that can be present, the thoughts of, “I want to change and I don’t want to change.” When thinking about when working with a student, they might see it as, “I want to do well in school but I’m not confident in my abilities to do so.” Similarly, within your personal

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By Patricia Alvarado Counselor, The Counseling Center

life or the personal life of a student, it can look like, “I want to make more friends but I am scared that no one will like me.” Exploring those thoughts and feelings to help decrease ambivalence can move us closer to the change piece that we often desire.

So how do we get there and how do we manage?

Following a change model can allow us to monitor our progress and understand what needs to be different in order to do better in school, within our profession, within our relationships, and throughout our life. Within the initial phase of the change model we explore pre-contemplation, where you might not notice or consider that a change needs to happen. Thereafter, we move towards the contemplation stage, where you as an individual begin deciding the pros/cons of change, because something might have occurred to instill this thought in you – possibly, for a student it would be a midterm alert or academic probation, as an example. Then follows preparation, where you begin to plan what you want to do commit to do various things to prepare you for change. Action would be the fourth stage, the place where students would begin meeting with success coaches, academic counselors, engage with the professors, and other professionals within the college or community to hold them accountable with what they have intended to accomplish. >

Continued from page 14 Professionally, it would be creating small achievable goals, go the gym if that what needs to change, go to a counselor or therapist, engage in a fun activity, etc. The final and fifth stage would be maintenance, the place where we work to continue the behaviors we have worked hard to achieve and continue relying on our support system to help us achieve them.

As mentioned before, oftentimes we have to change simply because we are growing as individuals, we have different needs, and the same things that we needed in the past are no longer needed in the present. Going from high school to college, from years of working within a professional career to going back to school, constantly moving from home responsibilities to work responsibilities; they all require us to continue growing and changing. Being able to manage oneself when the expectations are high is important. Actively participating in self-care to decrease stress during a change period is beneficial. Reminding yourself that you are doing the right things is important through positive self-talk. Utilizing your coping skills to assist is important.

Q2 Highlights Albany TAP Trip

Students lobbyed in Albany for Tuition Assistance Program.

Go Red For Women

CW’s Allied Health Club showed their support and prepared a fundraiser to help raise funds for the American Heart Association.

Black History Month

The National Association of Black Accountants’ club at CW, invited Michael Spencer of TD Bank to talk to our students, about his experience in the banking industry.

Women’s History Month

CW’s Sisters United Club hosted a tribute to different successful women around the world.

ACE Women’s Conference

Dr. Joann Mulqueen, participated in a panel discussion entitled, “Strategies to Build a Career in Higher Education: Tips and Techniques from Successful Women!”

Day Students of Semester

BBA student Jennifer Mitchell and AAS student, Olga Fernandez were recognized.

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