(from Bits & Bytes)
September 12
This July, Dr. Art McGovern presented a paper entitled "Personality, Daily Activities and College Adjustment: Predictors of Student Success" at the Third International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences held in Prato, Italy. A good time was had by all, especially Art.
Lady Jane Wilde's letters to a Swedish feminist, Lotten von Kraemer, which Dr. Karen Tipper edited during her sabbatical at the University of Cambridge, have been accepted for publication by the Edwin Mellen Press. Furthermore, Dr. Tipper has won a prize, awarded only twice before, called the Adele Mellen Prize: for every volume of letters the press publishes, she will be awarded $1,000. The letters are in various libraries-the Clark Library at the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Reading Library, the National Library of Sweden, New York Public Library and so forth--so she will be busy editing and travelling for a number of years.
August 15
Fr. Conrad Pecevich, Humanities Adjunct, participated in a week-long program in June on "Muslim-Christian Dialogue" sponsored by Georgetown University's Interreligious Office. The study program was led by Islamic scholars from around the United States, and the objective was to foster dialogue and understanding between Christians and Muslims.
Last week, Fr. Conrad was in Turkey attending an educational seminar, which was an expansion of the above program.
Professor of Accounting and Finance, Jack Armstrong, was appointed vice chairman of the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, Inc. for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
Heather Maietta, Director of Career Services, and Dawn Sherman, Assistant Dean for Special Academic Programs, coordinated a National Exchange at Nichols titled "Four Critical Years: Proactive Solutions for Today's Students and Tomorrow's Leaders" on August 3-5, 2008. The 46 conference participants came from thirteen states, including Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, and five New England states. President Debra M. Townsley welcomed the group on the first morning.
Monday, August 4, was a "PDS Institute Day," with multiple presentations about the PDS program including several panels. Thanks is extended to the following PDS panelists who shared their experience of teaching in the PDS program: Larry Downs, moderator; Heather Barbour, Andrea Becker, Paul Brower, Len Harmon, Rick Hilliard, Tim Liptrap, and Larry Muller. Appreciation goes out to the following corporate recruiters and hiring managers who discussed how prepared Nichols students are for the "real world": Steve Hesselton, Senior Recruiter, Sovereign Bank; Liz Diggin, Campus Recruiter, Target; and Tony Poti, Executive Director, Boys and Girls Club.
The third panel included alumni who spoke about the value of the PDS Program in their careers. The panelists were: Perry Bonnet, Class of 2007; Denisse Brea, Class of 2008; Christin Evangelista, Class of 2008; and Kassia White, Class of 2008.
Professor Rick Hilliard served as moderator for the alumni panel. Cari Velez, Edward Kolek, KC Poplawski, and Larry Downs presented information about the four PDS courses, along with PDS and OCS staff.
The second full day of the event was a "Career Conference," with concurrent session presenters from Marist College, Temple University, UCONN, Pine Manor College, and Post University. Larry Muller presented a concurrent session, while four concurrent sessions were presented by the PDS and OCS Staff. The keynote presentation was by Peter Vogt and Terese Corey Blanck, both nationally known career counselors and authors of several books in career development.
Several participants had positive feedback on the conference and its offerings.
July 18
On May 15th, Joel Cormier, Assistant Professor of Sport Management, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on "Multiframe Leadership, Goal Orientation, and Organizational Effectiveness in Intercollegiate Athletics." On July 30th, he officially earned his Ph.D. in Health, Exercise and Sport Science with a specialization in Sport Administration from the University of New Mexico.
Mark Naigles, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, is running a summer Mathematical Problem Solving program at the University of Connecticut in conjunction with KAST - Kids are Scientists Too. The program was specially designed by Professor Naigles for two different age groups-for students entering grades 5-7 and grades 8-10. The course focuses on hands-on learning by playing games and solving puzzles. Just for fun, a bit of enrichment was added to the curriculum as well. Given the level of interest in the program in its first year, this Problem Solving program is likely to become a regular offering for the KAST program.
Assistant Professor of Management, Marcus Goncalves, had a new book published by ASME Press last week titled "Global Management Strategies: Sales, Design, Manufacturing & Operations." The book has been endorsed by IBM Hannover Infrastructure team and the Telemedia Group in Istanbul, Turkey. The book was co-authored by Brian Porter. More information on this book can be found at:
http://catalog.asme.org/books/PrintBook/Global_Management_Strategies.cfm
Dr. Edward Kolek, Assistant Dean for Learning Services, and Dawn Sherman, Assistant Dean for Special Academic Programs, attended the 2008 National Career Development Association (NCDA) Global Conference from July 9-11 in Washington, DC. The theme of the conference was "Public Policy & Advocacy: Finding Our Voice and Making It Heard." They presented a program on Thursday, July 10th titled, "The Middle Years: Providing a Solid Career Foundation for Sophomores and Juniors." The program was well-received and attended by over twenty-five university and college career professionals.
June 9, 2008
Sport Management faculty members Colleen Colles and Timothy Liptrap presented research at the North American Society for Sport Management Conference held in Toronto, Ontario, May 28- 31, 2008. Dr. Colles co-presented with Joanne Williams from the University of Southern Maine. Their research presentation was titled “Assessment of Student Accomplishments and Program Evaluation: The Role of the Internship Portfolio in Sport Management.” Professor Liptrap's presentation was titled “Web 2.0 Meets Faculty: Engaging Students in Their Space.” Both presentations received enthusiastic responses from the attendees. The conference also provided detailed information about future accreditation of sport management programs. Nichols College hopes to be among the first schools to seek and attain this formal designation.
On May 29th, Professor Mauri Pelto chaired a session and presented a paper, "Survivability of Glaciers in the Pacific Northwest," at the Eastern Snow Conference in Vermont.
Dr. Pelto was one of the contributing authors to the Glacier Mass Balance Bulletin #9, published in May by the World Glacier Monitoring Service, under the auspices of the UN.
On May 6th, Dr. Jim Conrad presented to the Nichols Academy Trustees on "The Academies of Nichols Academy." Dr. Conrad discussed the nature of the goals and programs which were part of the Academy offering between 1819 and 1931 as examples of the roles played by a regionally-recognized, rural Massachusetts academy.
May 9, 2008
Marcus Goncalves, Assistant Professor of Management, recently returned from Brazil again, after speaking at another campus of Estacio de Sa College, in Vila Velha. The topic this time was on "The Role of Business Administrators in Today's Global Context." This event attracted 450 attendees, including students, faculty, and local business executives.
In April, Bridges, the online newsletter for the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers (EACE) featured an article about student portfolios written by Dawn Sherman, Assistant Dean for Special Academic Programs. The article titled "Career Portfolios: A Valuable Tool in the Job Market," discussed the process our students go through to develop their portfolios and the benefits of having a career portfolio to use in the interview process.
History Professors Paul Lambert and Thomas Smith accompanied the History Club and their students in The American Presidency class and the Age of Roosevelt class to Hyde Park, NY where they visited the Vanderbilt Mansion and the FDR Home and Museum.
Professor Mauri Pelto had a paper published recently in The Cryosphere, titled "The equilibrium flow and mass balance of the Taku Glacier, Alaska 1950-2006."
April 25, 2008
Marcus Goncalves, Assistant Professor of Management, recently had his new book published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) titled Conflict Resolution: Concepts and Practices. The book received the endorsement of Harvard School of Public Health, Boston University, and the Government Accounting Office of Brazil. For a quick review, go to the link: http://catalog.asme.org/books/PrintBook/Conflict_Resolution_Concepts.cfm
Professors Colleen Colles, Joel Cormier and Tim Liptrap accompanied Sport Management students to New York City on Friday April 11, 2008. In an effort to find internships, the group visited the offices of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), Major League Soccer (MLS), and Madison Square Garden, which also included visits with both the New York Knicks (NBA) and the New York Rangers (NHL).
At WNBA, the group met with Kristin Bernert, Vice President of Team Business Development, Hilary Shaev, Vice President of Marketing, Keia McFadden, Senior Coordinator Team Business Development, and an impromptu visit from Donna Orender, President of the WNBA. At the Major League Soccer meeting, they met with Soccer United Marketing staff members including Courtney Carter, Manager of Business Development and Camilo Durana, Director of Partnership Marketing. At Madison Square Garden, the group met with Leigh Anne Berte, Coordinator of Marketing, Kristian Petesic, Coordinator of Basketball Operations and Ricky Henne, Associate Producer of MSG Interactive.
Professor Mauri Pelto presented a paper on "The Equilibrium and Disequilibrium of Pacific Northwest Glaciers" at the American Association of Geographers meeting in Boston, MA. Dr. Pelto had an article published at RealClimate, the premier climate science website, titled "Moulins, Calving Fronts and Greenland Outlet Glacier Acceleration." The first four Fridays in May, a group of Bartlett High School students will be on campus participating in the Pipeline Program with Professor Pelto.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Nicholas Gorgievski, co-authored a book titled "Measuring K-8 Teachers' Perceptions of Discourse Use in their Mathematics Classes," which was published in the February 2008 edition of the Journal School Science and Mathematics.
On Friday, April 18th, Assistant Professor of Business Communication, Luanne Proko, took a group of students to Boston to see the longest running show in Boston, Shear Madness. As part of the new partnership Nichols has entered into with Quinsigamond Community College, a group of students led by Professor John Brand joined Nichols. Shear Madness is an improv "whodunit," and the students enjoyed taking part in the show. A special thanks to the Athletic Department for donating a Nichols Athletics t-shirt. Our shirt was worn by one of the actors during the show and our students demonstrated their Bison pride!