HUDSON˅HERALD

Dutchess Community College Hudson Hall 315 Fall 2014 Issue

A Note From the Director: Jennifer Wrage

For many, DCC is a stepping stone in our life journey. Several

students will continue on to four year colleges and universities,

while others will begin their journey into the workforce. Moving

forward is an exciting and inevitable part of life, it is important

that we always remember where our story begins. This semester’s Hudson 315 Herald focuses on dedicated individuals who have

excelled in a campus community that we call home.

Each year many faculty and staff in the state are nominated with the New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence, recognizing

high performance and achievement. Here at DCC, the Office of Academic Services and Testing is proud to announce that three of

our professionals have received such an honor!

Sally Weglinski, Assistant Director of Academic Services and Testing received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional

Service. Working first as a math tutor in 1992 and six years later claiming her current role as assistant director, Sally has certainly

made DCC her home. Sally has worked here for over 18 years and has undoubtedly been recognized for her years of hard work

and dedication. Her caring demeanor has made Academic Services and Testing a homestead for many students.

Another member of the Academic Services and Testing family, Wendy Joyce, Ph.D. earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence

in Adjunct Teaching. This is the first year that adjunct teachers have been recognized through the Chancellor’s Award. Wendy has

been teaching math and chemistry for over 16 years and is a vital part in our students’ success. She also annually assists with

DCC’s Math and Science Matters, an initiative to inspire women to pursue careers in the fields of math and science.

Kathleen O’Connell is a strong member of the DCC community and the family at Academic Services and Testing. It has been a busy

year for Kathleen as she earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and received her Ph.D.! She has been highly

involved in the success of our Direct Link program, teaching students in the Wellness and Fitness course that is linked to our Col-

lege Success Skills course. Kathleen has been instrumental in student success at Academic Services and Testing and at the college.

We would like to congratulate Sally, Wendy and Kathleen on earning such a prestigious and admirable recognition! Thank you for

helping make our DCC home such an exceptional place to work and study! Remember, while you are moving onto whatever your

next adventure may be, DCC will be the home where your story begins.

Office of Academic Services and Testing

Hudson Hall – Room 315

(845) 431-8090 - www.sunydutchess.edu/academicservices/

Prepare. Enhance. Achieve.

Office Hours

Mon. - Fri. 8:30am – 4:30pm

Student Academic

Success Center Hours

Mon. - Thurs. 8:30am - 7:00pm

Fri. 8:30am - 4:00pm, Sat. 11:00am - 3:00pm

From left, Kathleen Hanlon O’Connell, Sally Weglinski, Dr. Pamela Edington, DCC President, and Wendy Joyce.

Spotlight on Office Staff and Student Outreach Page 2

Beth Utter, Student Academic Success Center Coordinator

Beth Utter joined our team at the beginning of September as the Student Academic Success Center Coordinator. Using her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from SUNY Brockport, Beth has had a diverse career working in the business world in accounting and business management for many years . Then she switched careers and found her passion in the educational industry! She was a teacher and administrator in public and private schools and is certified from preschool to 12th grade with New York State Elementary Education and Secondary Mathematics along

with a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology. She has tutored privately and managed teaching and tutoring programs in the past, so this position was a natural fit for her. Beth thrives on making a positive difference in students’ lives.

Beth’s role at DCC includes managing the tutoring program and coordinating academic support offerings by recruiting and supervising tutors in the tutoring program. She also oversees the certified tutor training program (through the College Readiness and Learning Association). She jumped right in and learned the ins and outs of TutorTrac, which is our new software program to match tutors with students to schedule tutoring sessions. Beth also oversees workshops that are presented by peer tutors for formal tutor training. She contributes to the positive culture of student success by meeting the needs of our diversified student body.

Beth thoroughly enjoys alpine skiing and NASTAR ski racing with her husband, Jim. She loves to sing in a local chorus with her daughter, Nicole. Additionally, Beth has two sons, Cameron and Shane. Her interests also include reading, sailing, playing tennis, hiking and raising the family’s puppy, Lexi. She is excited to be part of the team at Academic Services and Testing!

We are here to help you!

What is Starfish? Starfish is a software program that connects students with faculty, advisors and available campus resources to facilitate academic success. The program allows the scheduling of appointments and easier communication with faculty and advisors. Students now have more control and engagement over their academic success by tracking their progress while enrolled at DCC, and simple access to the resources offered by the College. Faculty can view their Starfish profile by logging into MyDCC and clicking the “Starfish” link under the “My Courses” tab.

How does Starfish work? Instructors raise Concerns (Academic Assistance Referral, Attendance Concern, Never Attended Concern and Behavioral Concern) and Kudos (Outstanding Academic Performance and Showing Improvement) in Starfish. In order to resolve the concern, the student must meet with his/her assigned advisor or the faculty member who raised the concern. The advisor will reach out to the student, but students can also contact and make an appointment with the advisor or instructor through Starfish. The student gets a notification that a concern has been raised by one of his or her instructors; and can then log into his/her Starfish profile for detailed information about the concern raised by the faculty. A meeting or follow up discussion with the advisor or the instructor will then provide the student with feedback on how to proceed in order to be successful over the course of the semester. Once a concern is addressed, either the faculty or the advisor “Close that Loop” by lowering the flag raised and adding comments as desired to indicate the final result of the meeting with the student.

How does Starfish benefit students? Starfish provides students with the knowledge of DCC resources that will assist with academic success. The program connects advisors, faculty and a “Success Network,” enabling students to seek support when having any questions or encountering difficulty in courses and automatically creating a community of resources for each student.

How does Starfish benefit faculty? Starfish provides a means of communication between faculty and students and allows faculty to reach out directly to the student. It provides awareness of a student’s “Success Network.” This promotes success for the student when faculty can reach out to other colleagues who are part of the student’s “Success Network” at DCC and collaborate on a success plan for the student. It allows the Starfish advisors to assist faculty in promoting success in the classroom by following up with the student and encouraging the student to engage with the faculty for feedback and mentorship.

Student Spotlight and Tutoring Program News Page 3

CRLA Tutor Certification Ceremony

Each semester since May of 2012, the Office of Academic Services and Testing has been honored to certify student tutors with College Reading and Learning Association certification or CRLA certification. The program has grown immensely in the number of students who become certified each semester. In spring 2014, the Office of Academic Services and Testing certified nineteen student tutors. These students have met the CRLA requirements for achieving Level 1 Certification.

Each of these peer tutors has attended 10 hours of tutor training and tutored individuals or small groups for at least 25 hours. The 10 hours of tutor training include five required trainings, which cover the basic “dos” and “don’ts” of tutoring, active listening and critical thinking. The tutors may then choose from an array of workshops, such as ethics, clear communication, study skills, test taking strategies, note taking skills and many more to complete the other five additional hours of training.

Clinton Hastings, a certified peer tutor who graduated this past spring and transferred to SUNY Binghamton stated, “The most challenging part of receiving my CRLA certification was to complete all the required hours by collectively tutoring and attending workshops, as well as making sure I completed the correct mandatory workshops.” Another certified peer tutor, Itzel Castellanos, also graduated with an A.S. in Liberal Arts and Science in spring 2014 and plans to finish her phlebotomist certificate in fall 2014 before transferring in the spring of 2015 to Hunter College. When asked what the most challenging part of earning

this certification was, she stated, “time management, because I was taking a lot of classes and I tutored 15 hours a week on top of working another part time job.” Yet, she stated “the most rewarding part is that I have become more social and more open, I feel less awkward and more confident when tutoring.”

In addition, minimum qualifications to be a tutor include, being a current student at DCC (taking at least one course), maintaining a GPA of 3.0, earning an A or B in the classes to be tutored, and completing a self-evaluation, tutee evaluation and coordinator evaluation. These students have made a huge commitment to themselves as well as to their tutees when they sign on to be a peer tutor. It takes hard work, dedication and patience and the Office of Academic Services and Testing is thrilled this program offers such promising outcomes for the students being tutored as well as the tutors.

TutorTrac is here!

This fall, DCC upgraded all campus labs to TutorTrac, a new system

for tracking student visits, replacing the older SICAS

system. TutorTrac is user friendly! A simple slide of a DCC ID card

logs the student in and a quick swipe signs the student out.

TutorTrac also provides a quick method for our Office to schedule

tutoring appointments as it conveniently sends e-mail notifications of

the date and time of appointments to both students and tutors. If

students apply for a tutor, they should be sure to check their myDCC

email for notifications from TutorTrac! TutorTrac not only facilitates

scheduling tutoring appointments, it also tracks whether students

attend their appointments so it is important that students sign into

the system within 15 minutes of their scheduled appointments.

Student Academic Success Center Tutor Guides - They are here to help!

Tutor guides in our Student Academic Success Center are experienced tutors who also assist in running our tutoring program. They assist students when signing in at the kiosk and answer any questions they may have, mentor new tutors by helping them get established, and present many of our New Tutor Orientation seminars. Additionally, they are peer presenters of the many workshops that we offer to give tutors the necessary hours that are needed to become a certified tutor (CRLA- College Reading and Learning Association). Our Tutor Guides play a crucial role in helping to run an effective and successful tutoring program.

DCC South and Enrichment Programs Page 4

SOMETHING NEW AT DUTCHESS SOUTH

DCC South is pleased to announce the opening of the new Student Academic Success Center (SASC), located in room 237.

The new Center is equipped with computers and smart-room technology and is designed to accommodate students by providing a quiet area for peer and professional

tutoring, study groups and space to host Academic Workshops. The SASC is also the home of the Writing Center at DS.

The SASC is open Monday through Thursday from 9am – 5pm and Fridays 9am – 1pm.

Walk-in tutoring is available in many subjects, such as Math, Accounting and Biology. The walk-in tutoring schedule is listed below:

Accounting (104 & 204): Tuesdays 11am -1pm; Wednesdays 12:30pm – 3:30pm Biology: Fridays 10am -1pm Math: Mondays 3-6pm; Wednesdays 4:30pm – 7pm & Thursdays 1pm -3:30pm “Strictly Statistics”: Tuesdays 12pm-2pm & Thursdays 11am – 1pm Writing Center: Tuesdays & Thursdays 10am – 12:15pm

If students prefer one-on-one tutoring, peer tutoring is available by appointment.

For additional information, or to set up a tutoring appointment, please call (845) 790-3615.

Office Team Members:

Jennifer Wrage, Director

Sally Weglinski, Assistant Director

Lori Scolaro, Assistant Director

Kathleen Collins, Student Academic Support Specialist

Jean Pomarico, Student Academic Success Coordinator at DCC South

Patricia D’Amato, Coordinator of Academic Services Bridge Programs

Beth Utter, Student Academic Success Center Coordinator

Keith Tombrello, Bridges to College Liaison

Nancy Geer, Office Secretary

Debbie Scardaci, Clerical Support

Eileen Cultrera, Clerical Support

Academic Services and Testing Mission Statement

The mission of the Office of Academic Services and Testing is

to support students in pursuit of their academic goals by

providing programs and services that enable students to realize

their individual potential.

Prepare. Enhance. Achieve.

Real People Real World!

Coming again in the spring, this career networking event will

feature service professionals in the Nursing, Human Services

and Criminal Justice fields - to name a few.

Thursday, April 5, 2015

on main campus

and

Date to be announced at DCC South

For more information, contact our office at

431-8090 or send an email to DCCLearningCenter@sunydutchess.edu

Join the Office of Academic Services and Testing

each semester for Book Club!

Coming this Spring 2015, we will be reading

The Art of Racing in the Rain

by Garth Stein

on Main Campus

and

The House on Mango Street

by Sandra Cisneros

at DCC South

For more information, contact our office at

431-8090 or send an email to

DCCLearningCenter@sunydutchess.edu

Congratulations to our

Real People Real World Raffle Winners

Lizajayne Powers - $25 Poughkeepsie Galleria Gift Card

and

Steven Deede - $50 Gas Card!

Thank you for your participation!