THIS WEEk@NCC - Norwalk Community College

This Week@NCC
January 27, 2015
Volume 29, Number 2
IN THIS ISSUE
Page 2
New Student Orientation Held
Page 3
Indoor Wellness Walks Start
January 27
Free Tax Preparation and Filing
through the IRS VITA Program
The NCC Food Pantry Ribbon
Cutting Ceremony
Page 4
Free Movie-of-the-Month
Nursing Pinning Ceremony Held
Page 4
Auditions for NCC Spring Musical
NCC to Be Recognized as
Healthy Workplace
Pages 5-7
News and Announcements
Page 7
Faculty and Staff News
SUBMISSIONS
to Karen Hart
khart@norwalk.edu
Next issue published:
February 3, 2015
Deadline for submissions:
January 29, 2015
This Week @ NCC is published
by the Public Relations Office
Copy Editor and Writer
Karen Hart
khart@norwalk.edu
Copy Editor and Writer
Madeline Barillo
mbarillo@norwalk.edu
Graphic Designer
Cindy Zaref
czaref@norwalk.edu
NCC President David L. Levinson, Ph.D. discusses plans for college renovation at the recent Convocation.
Spring Convocation Highlights
College Renovation Plans
At Spring 2015 Convocation held on January 20, President David L. Levinson,
Ph.D. announced $22.4 million in State capital funding for Phase III of the
college’s renovation and expansion projects.
Plans are underway for upgrading the East Campus PepsiCo Theater, creating
a new Student Union on the current site of the West Campus cafeteria, and constructing a “bridge” walkway over Richards Avenue connecting the two campuses.
The PepsiCo Theater redesign is expected to include new balcony seating, a
Green Room, an expanded stage, and improved stage lighting. “Our theater needs a
lot of tender, loving care. Redoing it is critical,” President Levinson said.
The proposed new Student Union will be a two-story structure with a second
kitchen built adjacent to the Culinary Arts Dining Room and facilities for serving
meals to more than 300 people. Plans for the new bridge over Richards Avenue
may include a “Richards Avenue Sky Café,” offering a light snack bar menu.
“These three projects will really transform the college,” Levinson said.
At the Convocation, Levinson also announced the re-launch of the NCC
Career Center. Amy Murphy Carroll, Special Assistant to the President for Career
Services and Community Outreach; and Kiran Somaya, Director of Career
Services, discussed the Center’s expanded services and future plans.
“We are working hard to be a resource for our students, to help them find
meaningful paid internships and work, and to make greater opportunities for
them,” Carroll said.
(cont’d. on next page)
Convocation also included a presentation titled
“Responding to Victims of Sexual Violence” by guest
speaker Setta Mushegian, M.S.W., Director of Counseling
and Advocacy for the Center for Sexual Assault Crisis
Counseling and Education in Stamford.
The training program educated faculty and staff about
Federal Title IX legislation, as it relates to victims of
sexual harassment or violence. Mushegian advised faculty
and staff on how to respond to student disclosure about
abuse or violence. She also cited the confidential resources
available to help students both on campus and through
the Center for Sexual Assault.
Scenes from Orientation:
Getting-to-know-you activities were held to encourage students to
make friends and feel comfortable.
Setta Mushegian, M.S.W., Director of Counseling and Advocacy for
the Center for Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling and Education speaks
to the NCC Community at Convocation.
New Student Orientation
Held at NCC
New Student Orientation for the Spring semester was
held on January 22 in the West Campus Cafeteria.
Students had the opportunity to meet members of the
administration, learn about Student Clubs, and get to
know fellow classmates.
A variety of workshops were held to introduce students
to NCC resources including the Library, Wellness Center,
Career Center and Veterans Lounge. Student success
workshops were presented on money management, study
skills, time management, understanding professors’
expectations, opportunities for internships and jobs, and
services for veterans and adult learners.
The morning event concluded with a prize drawing
led by Student Government President Greg Gisolfi.
Spring 2015 Orientation for New Students included workshops and
activities to help students learn about college services and resources
and feel connected.
NCC President David L. Levinson, Ph.D., Interim Dean of Students
Carol Smith Harker, and Interim Dean of Academic Affairs Vanessa
Morest (not shown) welcomed students to Orientation.
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U pcoming
E vents
Indoor Wellness Walks
Start January 27
Tuesdays, 9 a.m., East Campus
Thursdays, 12 p.m., West Campus
The NCC Wellness Committee invites faculty, staff and
students to participate in Indoor Wellness Walks, starting
on Tuesday, January 27. These walks will be guided by
different NCC community members who will discuss a
topic of interest during the walk. A map and directions
for the indoor walking routes will be available at the East
and West Campus Security desks. Stopwatches are also
available. Please sign up in the binder before you walk
and return all materials when you finish so they will be
available for others to use at times other than the
scheduled walking sessions.
If you wish to determine your calorie expenditure go
to: http://norwalk.edu/dept/healthwellnesscenter/WAB.
asp and enter your body weight and the time it took you
to complete the walk. There is a separate calculator for the
East and West Campus buildings, each having different
mileage and number of stairs.
Volunteers are needed to help with the Wellness
Walks. If you are interested in volunteering, contact
Jennifer Lipps at jlipps@norwalk.edu or (203) 857-7148.
NCC Offers Free Tax Preparation through VITA Program
The Norwalk Community College Volunteer Income
Tax Assistance (NCC VITA) program offers free tax help
to taxpayers who make approximately $53,000 or less.
IRS-certified student and community volunteers provide
free basic income tax return preparation and electronic
filing of both federal and state income tax returns to
qualified individuals.
Before coming to NCC VITA, please go to the IRS
website and review IRS Publication 3676-B for services
provided and the list of “What to Bring” to ensure you
have all the required documents and information volunteers
will need to help you. IRS Publication 3676-B can be
found at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3676bsp.pdf.
For more information about the VITA program at
NCC, contact Prof. Tony Scott at tscott@norwalk.edu.
NCC VITA Preparation Schedule:
Saturdays: Now through April 11 (except for Easter
weekend, April 4, when the college is closed) 10 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. in West Campus, Room W138.
Tuesday & Thursday evenings: January 27 through April
14 (open during Spring Break), 7 to 9 p.m. in the UBS
Student Success Center, off the East Campus Atrium.
The NCC Food Pantry
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Monday, February 2, 2 p.m.
West Campus Main Lobby, between W104 and W105
NCC will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially
open an on-campus Food Pantry for students. Nonperishable food, household, and personal care items will
be available free for NCC students only.
The NCC Food Pantry has been created to help
students who may be experiencing financial difficulties
and forced to make the choice between educational and
food sustenance costs.
Organizer Rachael DiPietro says the purpose of the
pantry is to provide “short-term dependence in order to
encourage long-term independence through education.”
She notes that “Hunger is among us.” Many students
deal with food insecurity (not being afford to afford
nourishing meals) and being
hungry ultimately hampers their
ability to learn.
According to DiPietro,
the price of a low-cost meal in
Fairfield County is approximately $3.17, while the national
average cost is $2.52. Living
in an affluent area like Fairfield
County is a challenge for lowFeeding Student Success
income residents, sometimes
(cont’d. on next page)
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forcing them to choose between housing or tuition costs
and food for their family. The food pantry is geared to
address those anxieties for NCC students in need.
In addition to providing access to free food and home
and personal care essentials, there will be counseling and
computer access available. Counselors will help students
apply for “Connect Live” assistance through the Department of Social Services and find out if they are eligible
for state and federal benefits.
Donation bins are available in the Atriums on both
the East and West Campus. Donations of non-perishable
items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, laundry
detergent, and diapers are always appreciated.
Students who wish to use the Food Pantry must bring
a valid student Banner ID.
For additional information contact Rachael DiPietro
at rdiepietro@norwalk.edu or call (203) 857-7366.
Free Movie-of-the-Month
Pennies from Heaven (1981)
Thursday, February 5, 6:30 p.m.
East Campus, PepsiCo Theater
NCC presents the first film of the spring semester in the
free Movie-of-the-Month series with Pennies from Heaven,
directed by Herbert Ross. In this film, stunning, 1930’sstyle musical numbers clash with a bleak, vision of the
Great Depression. Steve Martin stars as a poor sheet-music
salesman dying to escape his dull marriage and dead-end
life, which are contrasted sharply with the cheery songs he
is trying to sell. “Pimp” Christopher Walken’s striptease
to “Let’s Misbehave”
is not to be missed!
The film also stars
Bernadette Peters.
For additional
information, please
contact Prof. Gary
Carlson at gcarlson@
norwalk.edu.
Auditions for NCC Spring
Musical Avenue Q
February 3 through 5 (see bulletin board at
Room E108 for exact times)
East Campus, PepsiCo Theater Avenue Q is a musical that’s
known for its puppets who
perform alongside human
actors. The show is filled with
comedy and satire as it addresses
all those anxieties that one
faces after college. With 18 characters, there
are plenty of diverse roles for students, faculty and staff.
Please go to E108 to sign up for a 20-minute audition
slot to sing 16 bars of a song and read from a script. You
can pick up scripts, audition sides, calendars, character
descriptions, and audition forms there.
Rehearsals: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30 to 10 p.m.
Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
There may be additional times for soloists. For larger
roles, actors need to be free all (or most) of these times.
For smaller roles, there is flexibility around time
conflicts. Two weeks prior to opening, the entire cast
rehearses each night.
Performances: Wednesday, April 22 to Friday,
April 24, 7 p.m.
Wednesday is the preview. Thursday and Friday are the
actual shows.
For additional information, email Christine Mangone at
cmangone@norwalk.edu.
NCC to Be Recognized as
Healthy Workplace
Friday, February 13, 2015, 7:45 to 9:30 a.m.
Stamford Sheraton Hotel
Norwalk Community College will be among several
organizations recognized by The Business Council of
Fairfield County at the upcoming Healthy Workplaces
Best Practices Award Ceremony to be held at the Stamford
Sheraton Hotel. All Healthy Workplace winners will be
(cont’d. on next page)
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celebrated for their commitment to employee health
and well-being.
As part of the event, a panel of three companies will
share their wellness stories with the audience. Dr. Paul
Gallo, Director of the NCC Health and Wellness Center,
will represent NCC in the panel discussion.
NCC offers employees workplace health initiatives
such as wellness walks, a tobacco free campus, a Health
and Wellness Center that features a gym and exercise
studios, fitness evaluation services provided by both the
faculty and trained Exercise Science students, a lunchtime
N ews
and
health series that brings in lecturers to discuss health
options with employees, and classes in dance, aerobics,
weight training, yoga, meditation. The Wellness Center
also features a seasonal Farmers Market that provides
employees and students with fresh produce.
In addition, NCC has partnered with the Norwalk
Community Health Center bring the Health on Wheels
bus to campus on Thursday mornings. The bus medical
staff provide medical, dental and behavioral health services
to students, faculty and staff.
A nnouncements
NCC Annual Report
Selected as Finalist for 2015
NCMPR Paragon Award
The Public Relations Department is pleased to announce
that, once again, the NCC Annual Report has placed
in the top three finalists for the National Council on
Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR) Paragon Award
for college publications. In 2014, the NCC Annual
Report won the first place Gold Paragon award. NCMPR
will announce who will receive the gold, silver and bronze
awards in each category at the 2015 national conference
scheduled for March 22-24 in Portland, Oregon. The prestigious national Paragon Awards recognizes
outstanding achievement in communications at
community and technical colleges. It is the only national
competition of its
kind that honors
excellence exclusively
among marketing
and PR professionals
at two-year colleges.
Six NCC Engineering
Science Students Accepted
into MET2 Program
2
Mechanical Engineering Technologies &
Manufacturing Engineering Technologies
NCC is proud to announce that six of the college’s
engineering students have been accepted into the MET2
Program, a hands-on engineering and technology program
which prepares students for careers by having them
collaborate on projects addressing real-world challenges
and problems of industrial sponsors. The program
prepares students by integrating relevant technical skills
with necessary professional and entrepreneurial skills.
NCC Engineering Instructor Peter Cloudas said,
“Considering that there are only 40 seats available and
that there are 12 community colleges, and numerous
eligible Engineering universities in Connecticut, having
six NCC students accepted into MET2 is astounding.”
The NCC Engineering students accepted into
the MET2 Program are: Jack Gafney, Tyler Housey,
Isabel Melean, Samuel Michel, Sadrac Michel and
Gustavo Sazo.
Cover of NCC 2013-2104
Annual Report (publication
designed by Cindy Zaref)
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Tutoring/Writing Center
Opens for Spring Semester
Monday, January 26 to Saturday, January 31, Walk-ins
Welcome, Room W110
Starting Monday, January 26, the Tutoring Center will be
open for student walk-ins to come in to check for course
and tutor availability. Online tutoring also starts that day.
Online offerings include writing in all disciplines as well
as content tutoring. Students can access this service online
at www.eTutoring.org, using their student ID number.
Among the NCC activities Emigh discussed, were
the college’s recent installation of two electric vehicle
charging stations, the addition of an express shuttle bus
service from NCC to Metro North, free breakfasts for
public transportation riders during Earth Week and the
introduction of the NuRide program to students,
faculty and staff. To enroll in NuRide, which is free to all NCC
students and employees, go to the NuRide website at
http://www.nuride.com or contact Robert Emigh at
(203) 857-3358 or remigh@norwalk.edu. Left to right: CT
Rides Partner Panel
participants Prof.
Robert Emigh of NCC
and Mark Langdon
of the Cartus Corp.
Starting Monday, February 2, the Tutoring/Writing Center
will be fully operational with the following schedule:
Monday to Thursday: 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday: 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Faculty are invited to bring their classes to the Center,
or Diane Donovan will visit your classes to explain
the services offered by the Tutoring Center. To make an
appointment go to ddonovan@ncc.commnet.edu or
call extension 77205.
NCC Commuter Program
Honored by Department of
Transportation
Professor Robert Emigh, Vice Chair of the NCC
Committee for Active and Responsible Environmental
Sustainability (CARES), recently participated in a panel
discussion at a CT Rides Business Forum at UConnStamford and presented some of the environmentally
friendly ways NCC has addressed its commuting issues. CT Rides is a service of Connecticut’s Department of
Transportation that helps businesses, colleges and other
institutions develop cost effective commuter strategies to
reduce traffic congestion and carbon pollution.
NCC was one of three institutions in Southwest
Connecticut honored by CT Rides for its environmentally
conscious activities. The Bigelow Tea Company of
Fairfield and the Cartus Corporation of Danbury were
also honored. The three organizations were asked to
discuss the initiatives they had put in place to encourage
eco-friendly commuting.
Spring Wellness Center Hours
Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.*
*Closed Tuesday and Thursday from 3:50 to 5 p.m. for the
first 10 weeks of each semester for the Weight Training class.
Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
If you have not filled out a New Member Packet in the
previous three years, you must do so before accessing the
Center. Ask the attendant in the Center for a copy or
download it from the Wellness Center homepage link:
http://norwalk.edu/dept/healthwellnesscenter/pdf/
Revised%207-14%20Rules%20&%20Regs%20and%20
PAR-Q.pdf.
A valid NCC photo ID, available at the East Campus
Security Desk, is required to enter the facility. Check
with Security regarding designated hours for having a
photo ID made.
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Exhibit in Recognition of the
50th Anniversary of the Voter
Rights Act of 1965
Linda Lerman, NCC Library Director, conceived the
exhibit and purchased new materials on this subject which
are available to the NCC community. Linda Glowienka,
with the assistance of library student workers Myesha
Williams and Katie Uzar, created the exhibit.
To celebrate both the 50th anniversary of the bill’s
passage and Dr. Martin Luther King’s role in it, the
NCC Library has an exhibit highlighting the Selma to
Montgomery March and the Voter Rights Act. There is
a display of relevant books, films, and articles, and a
list of eBooks available at the Library. The display will
be in place through the end of February.
The exhibit highlights the Selma to Montgomery
Marches that were held by civil rights leaders which culminated in the passage of The Voter Rights Act of 1965.
Signed into effect by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the
bill banned literacy requirements for registering or voting.
F acult y
and
S taff
N ews
Dr. Forrest Helvie Publishes
Chapter in Anthology
In December 2014, NCC Professor Forrest C. Helvie,
Ph.D. published a chapter in the anthology, Critical
Insights: The American Comic Book (Salem Press), titled
“Comic Fandom throughout the Ages.”
His chapter provides a succinct discussion of the rise
of the comic fan community and the impact it has on pop
culture from its beginnings in the early 20th century to
the present day. Helvie says, “The comics’ medium—and
more specifically, the superhero genre of comics—was
predominantly seen to be a cultural place for straight white
men. Although this isn’t the most accurate assessment,
it has often been the case. However, we’re seeing this once
popular view being challenged every year as pop culture
conventions show us the audience is growing more and
more diverse.”
The Critical Insights series focuses on providing
students with an introduction to a given theme and the
dominant issues in that area. With the increased awareness
of comics in multi-media today, Dr. Helvie added, “I
wanted to do my part to set the record straight. We often
think one thing about people who read comics, but there’s
really a much more diverse audience out there. Comics
have been and continue to be something people from all
backgrounds can enjoy.”
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