The
Review
NEW DESIGN!
Q4: OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2016 ● ISSUE #142
TABLE OF CONTENTS PRESIDENT’S CORNER
Pages 2-3
NEW EMPLOYEE’S ARTICLE Page 5
CW WAY CORNER Page 9
NEW 401K CONTRIBUTION? Page 10
2016 EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION AWARDS
Pages 12-13
2016 NOVEMBER HONORS CEREMONY Pages 14-15
This is a confidential document for internal use only.
President’s Corner
employers. We will continue to keep you apprised on our progress with that planning.
In addition, the college Mission, Vision and College Goals have been reviewed by the Cabinet and a larger group of CW constituents (employees including faculty, staff and standing committee members), and is now under review by the CW Board of Trustees. It will be discussed and approved at the January 23 Board meeting. This is a process which occurs on a regular cycle. The process helps to inform and influence the next CW Three Year Strategic Plan (20182020). Taken into account are regional, appy New Year! Another year national and international megatrends, gone by! I hope everyone as well as our own CW Key Performance enjoyed their holidays and Indicators and environmental scan, found some time to relax and enjoy which were discussed and considered the company of family and friends. when looking at who we are and who As always, we are hitting the ground we want to be. All of this information running as we embark on a new year. 2016 was a challenging year, but with our is instrumental in ensuring that we plan effectively and that we continue to serve great team, everyone was able to rally students in the best possible manner and work together to “make it happen”. and provide them with a quality college So thank you! education. Executive Office
H
The biggest initiative for 2017 is, of course, our Middle States Self Study! We are on track to have a visit from our Team Chair, Dr. Christopher Cyphers, in June, and the full team visit in Fall, 2017. Stay tuned for more info. Many of you have continued to participate in the writing of the Self Study, and I am delighted that we also have student input. I can’t thank you all enough for your devotion and enthusiasm for this process!!
Below you will find the highlights of each department’s successes as well as some goals for this year. ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
2016 Highlights: • Achieved greatly improved compliance with the federal credit-hour requirement in our Evening session hybrid classes. • Improved academic effectiveness through a re-organization of administrative positions, all of The CW Strategic Plan has been whom work collaboratively, to completed for year two (2016) of our include: three year plan (2015-2017). This o Dean of Faculty enables us to work creatively within o Associate Dean of Student Success the constraints of our budget. Both the o Assistant Dean of Online strategic plan and the college budget Education are reviewed and approved by the CW o Full-time Librarian Board of Trustees. Year Three (2017) has o Director of Retention been updated and is in place. Planning • Developed and gained approval for for the next three cycle will begin this new degree programs – BS degree in spring and is a process that will involve Interactive Digital Media and BBA representatives from each area of the in Health Care Administration college as well as students, graduates and 2 | Q4 REVIEW
2017 Top Goals: • Better document students’ acquisition of learning outcomes in academic and academic support programs and better document the use of SLOA data in improving internal processes • Improve onboarding program for faculty – particularly adjunct faculty. • Develop and gain approval for new programs, such as BS in IT and Dual Enrollment programs. ADMISSIONS 2016 Highlights: • Bring A Friend week initiative for both the day and evening student body allowing CW students to bring a friend to college. This has provided another opportunity for students to develop their pride in CW as well as potentially help a friend/colleague/family member get the courage up to embark on their own journey to go to college and pursue a degree. • Immediate Decision Days initiative in the fall of 2016. Over 250 mini interviews have taken place on high school campuses this fall where CW was able to give immediate acceptance decision as well as merit scholarship awards. Working in collaboration with the high school guidance office who provide the space for interviews, helped with getting applications filled out, and providing transcript information this program proved to be successful and will continue in the spring. 2017 Top Goals: • Dual Enrollment initiative well under way. Groundwork is process with four local key high schools. • Recent graduate of CW BBA program, Darnell Dixon, joining the admissions department. CAREER SERVICES 2016 Highlights: • 2017 Top Goals: • 169 mock interviews and 15 Career
•
•
Service events held in the calendar year. Thanks to all staff/faculty who volunteered their time and contributed to helping us sharpen our students’ interviewing skills. Currently working on closing out the 2015-16 graduate placement cohort and on track to meet goal. The cohort will be officially finalized in the beginning of March, 2017. The self-reported graduate salaries are running materially higher than this time last year.
2017 Top Goals • Achieving placement goal for the 2016-17 graduate placement cohort. The cohort will be officially finalized in the beginning of March, 2017. • Achieving programmatic starting salary goals for graduate cohorts. HUMAN RESOURCES/ ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 2016 Highlights: • Continuation of Emergency Preparedness Training Program: Training provided to all new students, Day and Adult, in their Transformative Learning classes. • Updated Title IX Policy and Title IX training was provided to all staff and faculty, in conjunction with the Dean of Academic Services. • Implementation and completion of new ACA payroll reporting requirements. • New Employee of the Year Award nomination and voting process was developed and implemented successfully by The CW Way Committee. • Timely departmental monthly reporting of expenses. • Development of textbook pricing by major. 2017 Top Goals: • CW Way Training: Departmental Quarterly Meeting Presentations to continue through 2017. • Emergency Preparedness Training Continued: Provide ongoing emergency preparedness training for all employees and students, and continue to implement recommendations of Emergency Preparedness consultants. • Implementation of new bookstore
model that will give students more options. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 2016 Highlights: • Numerous significant technology refresh efforts completed on time, within budget (Network Server Farm, Routers, Phone System Upgrade, etc.) • Extensive planning and related work to prepare for Classroom Computer Tech Refresh and Windows 10 & Office 2016/365 Deployment • New custom Faculty Portal developed (displacing outdated, costly technology) • Upgraded Video Surveillance System 2017 Top Goals: • Develop 2018 – 2020 Strategic Technology Plan • Complete “Tech Refresh” of most computers on campus (new classroom computer & updated staff & faculty computers) • Enhanced and increased data and systems security awareness training for all staff & faculty • Provide web-based tool to reset CW network password INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH 2016 Highlights: • IR has completing a multitude of regulatory compliance reports and surveys requested from both state and federal agencies. • Real-time Dashboards for Strategic Enrollment Management purposes successfully created 2017 Top Goals: • Develop utile predictive models and natural language processing models to help facilitate improved institutional KPI outcomes. • Continued expansion of automated reporting and live Dashboards • Continue timely and accurate compliance with all external reporting MEDIA RESOURCES 2016 Highlights: • This year we created efficiencies in
• • • •
our internet marketing by reviewing our paid keywords for searches to eliminate those that did not perform allowing us improve our cost per lead on a monthly basis. We now create approximately 75% of all outward facing direct mail pieces and ads in house. We created more video than previous years and cut our costs without cutting quality. As a team, we made a collective effort to become more involved in student activities. Continually review and revamp our marketing, advertising and public relations channels to further restructure cost and efficiencies.
2017 Top Goals: • Further develop our internet channels to attract our prospective student. • Continue to develop our relationships with our students to help them create the ultimate college experience at CW. • Reexamine markets where our student demographic needs further development or has declined. STUDENT AFFAIRS 2016 Highlights: • Began the process of reconstituting the governing document for the SGA and have placed student representatives on APSL and CAPC. • Began republishing ‘Student Voices’. • Ensured compliance with and provided training for faculty and staff regarding Title IX. 2017 Top Goals: • Finalize and publish SGA By-laws and populate SGA. • Increase the number of prestigious programs (such as i3) to which CW’s students apply and to increase the number of participating students. STUDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES 2016 Highlights: • CW Student Loan default rates continue to hold steady. FY 2013 5.5% FY 2012 7.8% FY 2011 8.6% Continued on Page 4 Q4 REVIEW | 3
Continued from Page 3 • Student FAFSA re-filing continues to be timely, complete and successful. • Processing of student aid, has been successful and turn around-time has improved especially in the areas of packaging; verification and TAP certification. • Completion of Key Pass project for SFS • Revision of SFS Wrapper for students for better compliance as relates to student financial aid information 2017 Top Goals: • MSCHE Compliance Completion responsibilities • USDOE Participation Agreement Recertification due December 2017 • SEVIS Recertification due March 2017 • Training/learning new Federal Audit requirements as relates to Title IV aid • Completion of Education Partners Verification Implementation • Continue to even further improve on completion of verification • Complete the student FAFSA re-file process as early on as possible in completion of PPY 2017-18 • Work to keep CW student loan default rate at National Average levels which for FY 2013 was 11.3% • Continue to hold and further enhance SFS staff training • Continue to lower student account balances by working closely with students and families on payment plan arrangements and also to ensure that students do not lose any aid for missing paperwork
Board of TrusteesA Year in Review The Board of Trustees met on January 23. 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
MIDDLE STATES STANDARD & STEERING COMMITTEE LIAISON
BOARD LIAISON/S
The CW Way Jessica Muller
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 Barbara Boyington Student Learning Experience Marc Hess
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
Standard VI, Planning, Resources & Institutional Improvement Pat Lyon
Barbara Boyington
N/A
Standard VII, Governance, Leadership & Administration Annette Casserly
Full Board
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. The Board also received a presentation from the most recent faculty of the year winner, John Strange. There are three topics to choose from for these presentations and they are as follows:
1. 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. Continued on Page 5 4 | Q4 REVIEW
2. 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.
3. 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 enjoy these presentations as it is an excellent opportunity to see first-hand 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. Upon approval of the mission statement, a college wide announcement will be issued and further work will be done as the college begins to prepare planning for the 2018-2020 strategic planning cycle. Standing meeting items for all Board Meetings include– Presidential Update, which consists 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. And to summarize some of the other major accomplishments by the Board this past year, •
They approved the college budget in November 2016
•
•
•
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. 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: 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. 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 Presidential goals, institutional level goals and 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.
endorsed President’s Del Balzo’s continued transition in this role and was commended for her successes and leadership ability. Her next review point is November 2020 •
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.
•
Annual Review of the Board Bylaws and Confirmation of No Conflict of Interest was also conducted in November 2016
•
In June of 2016, the President of CW Charitable Foundation, Beverly Tramontelli, joined the meeting to give the Board a progress report of the CWCF Board’s work.
•
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 Q4 REVIEW | 5
Welcome New Employees Submitted by Krissy Frano Administrative Assistant - Executive Office
Please join us in welcoming the following new employees to the CW Family: Darnell Dixon & Patria Smithey Darnell Dixon has joined CW as an Admissions Ambassador & Special Student Activities Assistant. He is a recent CW graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management. Prior to becoming an Ambassador, Darnell worked throughout the college as a work study in both the Student Financial Services and Facilities departments. He was also the first student to be an Assistant Coach for the men’s basketball team at CW! Darnell was born and raised in the Bronx, NY and now resides in Bridgeport, CT. Darnell recently became a father to his beautiful daughter named Londyn. He spends most of his time with his new family and enjoying every moment raising his first child. He is also a personal Disc Jockey, enjoys a good laugh and a good time. If you haven’t had a chance to meet him stop by and say hi, he definitely greets everyone with a smile. When we asked Darnell about his experience so far at the college he said, “Working at the college is definitely a great experience. Before attending The College of Westchester, I had no idea on what I saw myself doing after graduating. Through my experience working at the college I realized that helping people is what I would like to do after graduating. Staying with the college gives the students a familiar face to come and talk to, as well as someone who can relate to things they will be going through daily. This makes me love being here, because I am now someone that people can look up to.” Lastly, Darnell would like to add that he is an i3 scholar whose team has been selected to go to the iConference in March of 2017 in Wuhan, China to present their project to an IRB to see if they can have their idea approved. This also means that if they accept their idea, he will be a published author. HUGE!!
6 | Q4 REVIEW
Patria Smithey is one of our new Admissions Associates. Prior to joining the CW, Patria received her Master of Science degree and Bachelors of Science degree in International Relations from Florida State University. While there, she worked for Florida State University’s oncampus bookstore, which was hectic but a fun place to work. She was able to get discounts on Seminole merchandise! Patria is originally from Tampa, Florida and now resides in White Plains, NY and says she is LOVING New York so far! Patria is very close to her mom and her younger sister. They are best friends and do everything together. Her hobbies and interest are eating, swimming, shopping, musical theater and socializing. When we asked Patria about her experience so far at the college she said, “I am loving working here at CW so far! The employees here have been so warm and welcoming. I feel like my experience here at CW has made my transition from college into the real world so much smoother because there is so much support here. I love my call center team and I am excited to see where CW takes me!” Patria says she looks forward to getting to know CW employees and the students more! Please also join me in welcoming new employees Dina Quintanilla, Kamlla Ramanand, Amanda Rivera, Marissa Wheeler, Kasci Alleyne, Kemique Jacobs, Noel Lelis, Jacqueline Shaw and Josef Simpser.
MSCHE Self-Study Update Submitted by Stacy Larson & Joann Mulqueen Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee The Working Group Leaders and the members of their Working Groups have really been working hard – gathering data, interviewing staff, faculty and students, and reading documents. The Steering Committee and the Working Group Leaders met in September and in November to review progress made on their reports. The Co-Chairs then met with each Working Group Leader and Liaison, individually, to review their reports. Feedback primarily involved recommendations for re-organizing the structure of the report, to ask for some specific information needed, and to determine what information would serve another group more effectively. Final reports were due by the end of December! This means that the work of the Working Groups is now completed, so at this time we would like to thank the Leaders and the Working Group members for all their efforts in putting together massive amounts of information. The final reports demonstrate how collaborative a process this was – each contributing to the overall final group reports.
So, Thank You! Standard I
Shamva Wright (Leader), Paula Cancro, Andy Capellan, Krissy Frano, and Maria Gangi
Standard II
Julie Schuler (Leader), Estelle Coffino, Cherell Coleman, Bob Onorato, Max Torres
Standard III
Terry Keyes (Leader), Michael Aman, Esperanza Cruz, Jessica Muller, Jason Schoen, and Darnell Dixon
Standard IV
Daphne Galkin (Leader), Mike Clarizio, Christian De Matteo, Mark DeSerio, Christy Poniros
Standard V
Alexa Ferreira (Leader), Roselle Glick, Jamie Kahhat, Chris Nwosisi
Standard VI
Paul Gugliemella (Leader), Grace Bonanno, John Jurgens
Standard VII
Roman Sierra (Leader), Cassandra McFadden, Jim McGee, Erica Schacht, Mortlon Aulder
NEXT STEPS: The work now returns to the Steering Committee who will put together a first draft of the Self-Study Report. When completed, input will be sought from the entire CW Community to ensure the information is accurate, to collect any concerns or questions, to see if any information is missing, and most importantly to inform everyone of what we have found out about CW!
Q4 REVIEW | 7
Brilliant Insights About Education From John Dewey Submitted by Kelly Walsh Chief Information Officer
E
Article written by Patrick Cole for my web site, EmergingEdTech.com
ducation has yet to Catch up to the Wisdom Dewey Offered Long ago Generally, society’s thinking about different topics will advance incrementally, as various individuals make their contributions to the foundation of our understanding. From time to time however, one individual will have a significant impact on an important aspect of society, pushing it forward by leaps and bounds. John Dewey was just such a person. This philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer was instrumental in advancing education. Throughout his life he worked tirelessly to advance our understanding of what a student-focused educational system should look like, and how it should work. Dewey is best known for his work in creating a more progressive educational system, but that isn’t the only field he wrote about. In fact, he was quite prolific. He wrote in such fields as epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, art, logic, social theory and ethics. To get into all of those, however, we’d need a whole book! Today we’re going to focus on what he’s best known for – his insights into teaching and learning.
“Education is not preparation for life; it is life itself ” Dewey wrote about education throughout most his life and he regularly argued that education and learning, rather than being only between the
8 | Q4 REVIEW
Dewey understood that the best way was the middle way between the two conflicting schools of thought of his time. The first school was that of being curriculum focused and had as its primary goal to move through the material being taught.
teacher and the student, are really much larger than that. Schools are social institutions, which can and should serve to provoke and create a better society. What’s more, if the students – instead of being passive learners – are encouraged to interact with the curriculum and are allowed to take part in their own learning, they can advance their understanding and their social roles far more effectively. This would allow them to become far more engaged with both what their learning and with society as a whole. Schools, according to Dewey, are not just places where we learn facts and numbers, but also places where we learn how to live. In other words, the point is not just to learn a certain set of skills (though that helps as well) but rather to realize one’s full potential, and use what you’ve learned for the greater good. How did we lose sight of this?
“Were all instructors to realize that the quality of mental process, not the production of correct answers, is the measure of educative growth, something hardly less than a revolution in teaching would be worked.”
The big drawback of this school of thought, according to Dewey, was the inactivity of the student, or – to use his words – “the child is simply the immature being who is to be matured; he is the superficial being who is to be deepened.” This he believed was the wrong approach. For education to be at its most effective, he believed, content must be presented so that the information the student is learning is actually connected to their prior experiences. The secondary education philosophy was that of child centered excesses. Here he believed that being too focused on the child and too reliant on their previous experiences could be detrimental as well. The problem here was that in this educational philosophy the role of both the material and the teacher was overtly minimized. His belief was that a balance between the two philosophies must be found. “The child and the curriculum are simply two limits which define a single process. Just as two points define a straight line, so the present standpoint of the child and the facts and truths of studies define instruction.” Continued on Page 9
This realization led him to advocate hands-on learning, for he believed that it is through our interaction with natural objects that we can learn best, as opposed to simply thinking about them abstractly. In this way, students are engaged to consider the lesson actively and – when the question is asked correctly – to come up with the answer by themselves. In fact, this directly contributed to the very popular modern-day educational model of Problem Based Learning, where learning is achieved through active inquiry rather than through the passive absorption of abstracted facts.
“If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” His influence did not stop there, however. He also realized that the schooling system as it had existed was not up to the task of teaching the students of his time. Previously, students were taught a basic set of skills so that they could excel at specific jobs. Dewey realized that this was no longer a suitable way to educate our children. That instead of teaching them a set of simple skills, they needed to learn how to learn. This meant not just that students needed to be taught differently but that teachers needed to be taught differently as well. Because how can a teacher teach students how to learn if they themselves do not possess that skill themselves? And so it was necessary to change education so that students became active and vocal citizens rather than people who simply complied with authoritarian government.
Last thoughts Most of these thoughts Dewey wrote about in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And yet we can still learn much from them today – or to put it in a stronger light – we still don’t seem to have fully learned the lessons he’s supplied. In this modern era, technology and society is moving so fast that it is very
challenging to provide people the technical skills they need, as some will be obsolete before the person even leaves school. It has never been more evident that an educational philosophy that encourages continuous learning (as with many of Dewey’s other ideas) was well ahead of it’s time.
CW Way Corner
Submitted by Jessica Muller Manager of Administrative Services/HR
WE ARE ONE I think everyone who attended the December 2nd Employee Appreciation Event will agree that it was a wonderful evening. But not everyone may know how much work behind the scenes it takes to make that event so successful. Besides the obvious weeks of planning, so many members of the CW family worked together to ensure a great time was had by all. From all the planning and coordination and set-up done by Annette Casserly and Krissy Frano in the Executive Office, to the decorations planned by Mary Bennett and slide show put together by Kevin Zuniga in Media Resources, to the room set-ups done by Hector Cardenales and Carlos Lupercio on our Facilities team, with the help of Sean Capossela and Tracia Best in IT, to Charlie Boklan in Security arranging for the party’s bartender and security coverage, to Darnell Dixon lending his talents as our DJ for the evening, to the Cabinet members and other staff who stayed on after the event had ended to help clean up and to get the Student Center ready for the Admissions CW Access event being held the next day, and get Room 505 set back up again so that it was ready for classes on Monday morning, and ALL of the other people who assisted in various other ways (please forgive any omissions!). It was truly an example of The CW Way in action and the great things we can accomplish when we all work together as a team.
Stories like this are always so inspiring to hear!
Do you have a CW Way Story to share?
Please share your thoughts and stories with the CW Community by emailing them to Jessica Muller Q4 REVIEW | 9
New Year – New 401(k) contribution? Submitted by Jessica Muller Manager of Administrative Services/Human Resources how to grow your savings, and The New Year is a great time to various financial planning topics review your 401(k) contribution amount to make sure you are hitting through Empower’s library of article and ELearning resources. your savings targets! Empower • Access various financial Retirement offers some great tools planning tools, including and resources through their website to help you review your account savings and retirement planning calculators to help you plan for balance, assess your progress everything from retirement, towards your savings goals, and to college savings, to buying a determine what changes you may home! need to make to reach those goals. Through the website you can: All of these tools and more may be accessed by logging in to your • Check your account balance account at: • Get a retirement income www.empower-retirement.com/ projection based on your participant current account balance and contribution percentage, and The IRS has announced that for learn ways to improve this the calendar year 2017 the elective projection if your projection is deferral (contribution) limit for below your desired retirement employees participating in a 401(k) income level. plan will remain at $18,000 per year. • Learn more about investing,
The catch-up limit for employees age 50 and over will remain at $6,000. Even if you are not in a position to max out your contribution, even a small increase in your contribution percentage can make a big impact over time! If you are currently participating in CW’s 401(k) plan and would like to make a change to your contribution amount, please complete a “401(k) Plan Change Form” and return it to Jessica Muller. That form can be found on the HR page on Campus Cruiser and must be completed to activate a contribution change (contribution changes cannot be processed online). Please contact Jessica at ext. 408 with any questions.
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. 8 in | Qadvance 4 R E V Ifor E Wyour support of the CWCF Foundation! Thanks
Social Media Marketing and Millennials Submitted by Roman Sierra Public Relations & Social Media Coordinator
S
ocial Media Marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. Although social media marketing is an integral element of the 21st-century, the literature on social media marketing remains fragmented and is focused on isolated issues, such as tactics for effective communication, or how to produce and execute an effective social media campaign. Social Media Marketing (SMM) is increasingly being used in business to attract attention and gain website traffic. An examination of the digital marketing spending in U.S. from 2014 to 2019, broken down by segment reveals that social media is an area of marketing, which will receive heavy investment in the following years.
actually reach this audience and what is just a waste of time and resources. Many experts in the industry agree that reaching the millennials doesn’t have to be an arduous process. It just requires merchants to do some research into what is trendy now online and adapting your marketing so that your efforts are successful at reaching this highly sought after target market.
One way brands are capitalizing on this phenomena is to sponsor videos. They do this by sponsoring videos and getting YouTubers talking about their products in their videos. SNAPCHAT It’s safe to assume that as an eCommerce merchant you are probably on Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the bigger social media sites. And don’t worry millennials are still using them too. However, new social media platforms are taking center stage within this target market. One of them is definitely Snapchat.
I present here the top 3 things everybody should be doing online to Snapchat has fast become one of the keep up with the #millennials. most popular ways to communicate and connect with friends and brands are UNDERSTAND YOUTUBE catching on to. Taco Bell leads the way YouTube has become a massive attraction for teenagers and twenty by posting funny images, promoting its products and getting customers something’s alike, brands and engaged with the brand. Other stores performers are producing content soon followed suit and it has become that is both entertainment and a great way to share a brand story and lucrative. post creative fun pictures to engage with customers. One of the most interesting things for marketers about YouTube is the REACHING OUT TO TOP However, there is very limited rise of the “YouTube Star.” These BLOGGERS are people who create their own information regarding SMM Blogging is still a popular way to video content and garner millions and millennials. Reaching a market products to millennials. They of subscribers by posting content. young audience who are hard prefer the reviews from a blogger than From gamers to comedians to to reach, up to date on the a news story from a well-known news make-up gurus, millions of young latest trends and often more source. Bloggers have amazing influence Internet savvy than the average people are subscribed to channels especially with a young audience. producing interesting content. merchant can be a challenging Fashion, sports, beauty, and lifestyle People such as Zoella, PewDiePie task. It can be difficult to bloggers are all worshiped by their and Miss Glamorazzi all have know what online platforms followers and seen as leaders in regards millions of followers who look to and marketing strategies will to what’s trendy and what to buy. them for advice and reviews.
Q4 REVIEW | 11
2016 EMPLOYEE APP
Congratulations to the following CW em
5 Years of Employment
Matt Curtis
10 Years of Employment
Mary Bennett
Paula Cancro
Maryanne De Salvo
Terence Keyes
Not photographed: Alan DelFavero, Michael Aman, Anice Dawadi, Reeham Neshiwat, Daniel Bremen, and Michael Ulanski
Not photographed: Daphne Galkin, Noel D’Allacco, David Lambert, and Sherill Nembhard
12 | Q4 REVIEW
PRECIATION AWARDS
mployees for their years of employment! 15 Years of Employment
Cherell Coleman
25 Years of Employment
Susan Rucano
Anna Bravo
Not photographed: Brian Trim
Employee of the Year
Faculty of the Year
John Jurgens
John Strange
Q4 REVIEW | 13 1
2016 NOVEMBER HONORS CEREMONY
Phi Theta Kappa (above photo) Justin Abraham, Brianda Aguilar, Tracy Barett, Melissa Blackellar, Yoseiry Cabrera, Priscilla Camarillo, Jonathan Caraballo Ann-Marie Carr, Claudia Cherrington, Courtney Cochancela. Trina Cognatello. Mario Dajti, Aneika Daniel, Julio De La Cruz, Jemima Debras, Marie Ermionne Demosthene, Lori Derby, Nicholas Diloreto, Anthony Dimatteo, Moctar Diop, Gabrielle Espinoza, Olga Fernandez, Michael Fusca, Jamisha Gill, Sandra Godoy, Jurianna Guerrero Caceres, Jiccela Herrera Cardoso, Nicole Hutchinson, Saidou Jatta, Angela Jennings, Kenneth Jimenez, Cindy Johnson, Erica Joyce, Tiffany Lal, Emily Leopold, Paul Martin, Ryan Mclean, Jolimar Morales, Yessica Morel, Kahleel Neil, Christine Owen, Jessica Pinos, Jessica Puff, Iliriana Rexhaj, David Rivas, Kenny Rivera, Luciano Robles, Stephanie Roche, Alejandra Rojas, Jonathan Romano, Naika Saint Preux, Abdulai Sallah, Julyan Santiago, Desiree Scretching, Lydia Segree, Elmina Selimaj, Michael Sirdar, Alvin Smallwood, William Smith, Nicole Spafford, Francis Tamayo, Lashaunda Thomas, Maria Urena, Alexandra Velasquez, Armangi Villanueva, Tashika Warmington, Savier White, and Erica Williams
BBA Honors (above photo) Hellen Aguilar, Lourdes Cabrera, Edgardo Ilagorre, and Althea Josephs
Sigma Beta Delta (right photo) Lerika Hahn Abada, Rollson Clement, Patricia Desroches, Darwina Goff-Romanski, Miosotis Hernandez, Dorian Hester Joshua Intrator, Elida Loci, Isaias Lopez Serrano, Agnes Maisonet, Jennifer Mitchell, Aleena Nazir, Jodian Nichols, Kadeem Pitkin, Christina Ramirez, Shane Roberts, Marie Russo, Maria Sosa, Sasha Surujballi, Latiefah Stewart, Nikendra Thomas, Tommy Tolentino Bryson 14 | Q4 REVIEW
Q4 REVIEW | 15