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Friday, Oct. 6, 2006

BENEFACTORS ACROSS COUNTRY HONORED FOR $50 MILLION

IN GIFTS TO ELEVEN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

 

MWCC Trustee Jim Garrison Among the Honorees

Individuals and companies from Massachusetts to Washington state will be recognized for their financial support of community and technical colleges that is “transforming lives and communities,” according to Susan Arscott, president of the Council for Resource Development.

College Trustee and Foundation Board member Jim Garrison plays with children who attend the MOC Child Care & Head Start.

The benefactors will be honored at a gala awards banquet held at the Hyatt Regency, Capitol Hill, on Nov. 3. Over 500 community college development officers, presidents and friends are expected to be in attendance. The 10 honored donors have given gifts totaling over $50 million to community colleges in the United States. They were selected from 75 nominations across the country, representing donors to almost 1,200 community colleges nationwide.

“From the lottery winners who committed their winnings to Edmonds Community College to scholarships established at Lord Fairfax Community College by an immigrant who wished to give back to his new home, each contribution is transforming lives and communities served by the colleges,” Arscott said. “These are profound donations, not because of their amount, but because of the impact and change they make happen.”

Arscott also noted that 2006 CRD Benefactor Award recipients represent the diversity reflected in the communities served by America’s community colleges. “This year’s benefactors include individuals, small business owners, corporations, alumni, and community organizations,” she added. “Their gifts include outright donations, estate plans, and transfer of assets. They support our colleges’ scholarships, faculty and staff professional development programs, equipment acquisition, workforce development programs, and bricks and mortar.”

The CRD Benefactor Award recipients for 2006 include the following:

• James O. Garrison, a MWCC trustee, foundation board member and community activist whose $1.4 million donation improves the delivery of early childhood education through scholarships and the construction of a childcare and student training center.

• Walter and Carol McDonald, who established a $500,000 scholarship, both in outright gifts and through an estate plan, in memory of their daughter, Sherri Marie, for students in the Performing Arts program at County College of Morris, N.J.
• Alfred Kummli, an immigrant from Switzerland, and the chair of the Lord Fairfax Community College Foundation, whose gifts of more than $750,000 have supported scholarships, faculty and staff professional development grants, campus renovations, and special events.

• The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Drake Enterprises who contributed a portion of their jointly-owned telecommunications network, valued at $10 million, to Southwestern Community College, N.C.

• Patrick H. Norton whose $2 million dollar lead gift helped establish the La-Z-Boy Center for business training and performing arts at Monroe County Community College, Mich., and whose continued gifts to the scholarship he established in honor of his wife, LaVerne, has reached almost $450,000.

• Carol Meyer, and her late husband, Charles, whose gifts to Northeast Texas Community College, Texas, have ensured that every graduating student from the local high school receive a two-year scholarship to attend NTCC. Their generosity inspired friends to do the same, resulting in NTCC scholarships for every graduate of five local high schools.

• Cliff Stone, an alumnus of Butler Community College, Kansas, whose several endowed scholarships totaling more than $530,000 support students in the fine arts and agriculture. He has also established an endowed prize for winners of an annual chess tournament, an event prompted by his desire to cultivate analytical and critical thinking skills in BCC students.

• Barbara Scifers, who with her late husband, Leland, established the Scifers Dance Studio with a $1 million gift at Casper College, Wyo. Since her husband’s death, Barbara has established endowed scholarships in nursing, business, agriculture, and music.

• Paul and Natalie Orfalea, as founders of Kinko’s and leaders in family friendly work environments, nominated by both City College of San Francisco, Calif., and Santa Barbara City College, who have made multi-million dollar gifts to support disabled student programs and child care development programs and center.

• Vaughn Sherman, who contributed his 1993 lottery winnings to several community organizations, including Edmonds Community College, Wash., where his gifts have created endowments for faculty and staff awards, contributed to the library capital campaign and the Center for Families.

The keynote speaker for the evening will be Kathleen Dusing, a special education major and graduate of Sauk Valley Community College, Ill. Dusing was one of 20 students named to USA Today's 2006 All-USA Community College Academic First Team as representatives of all outstanding community college students. The subject of a feature story on the All-USA Community College Academic Team in USA Today, Dusing was also awarded the 2006 New Century Scholars Scholarship, sponsored by the Coca Cola Foundation, the Coca Cola Scholars Foundation, and the AACC.

The Council for Resource Development (CRD), representing over 1,600 members at more than 800 two-year colleges, is an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges. CRD supports professionals and develops leaders engaged in community college resource development through education, advocacy and mentoring.

MWCC TO CELEBRATE THE OPENING OF THE GARRISON CENTER
FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

 

The college will celebrate the opening of the Garrison Center for Early Childhood Education and Molly Bish Institute for Child Health and Safety with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Oct. 12 at 3 p.m.

The Garrison Center for Early Childhood Education

The new building will double the size of the current childcare facility run by MOC Child Care & Head Start, provide an observational classroom for Early Childhood Education students and serve as a clearinghouse for information on child health and safety.

The center is the first project funded in part by MWCC’s first-ever capital campaign.

“This building is designed with children, our students and our community in mind,” said President Asquino. “What the children learn here is the foundation of their education. It will nurture their minds and shape their future.”

In addition to the ribbon-cutting, Garrison Fund scholarship recipients will lead tours of the center.

For more information, contact MWCC Foundation Executive Director Darlene Morrilly at (978) 630-9276 or dmorrilly@mwcc.mass.edu.

UNIVERSITIES LAUNCH NEW ENGLAND HIGHER EDUCATION RECRUITMENT CONSORTIUM

Harvard University, in collaboration with 35 higher education institutions and affiliated teaching hospitals, including 12 of the region’s largest employers, announces the launching of New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (New England HERC).

MWCC is part of this consortium.

New England HERC’s Web site, www.newenglandherc.org, is a free database of all job openings at member institutions, including faculty, staff and medical positions. It also includes relocation resources, making it one of the most comprehensive dual-career resources available.

Couples can link their profiles in order to receive jobs matching both sets of criteria. They can also search for local schools for their children, find childcare centers, and read about local culture. New England HERC’s search engine allows prospective employees to search for jobs by region, job type, or institution.

Dual-career couples are becoming a dominant trend in academia; studies have shown that 80 percent of faculty members have spouses or partners who are working professionals. Thirty-five percent of male faculty and 40 percent of female faculty are partnered with scholars who are faculty members.

“The New England HERC is an innovation to help address the needs of dual-career couples during the faculty recruitment process. As many deans who work on these issues at institutions throughout the country would say, we’re no longer recruiting individuals, we’re recruiting families. When university recruitment efforts fail, the spouse’s situation is the most often-cited reason. It’s important that we address this issue,” said Evelynn Hammonds, senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity at Harvard University, the host institution for New England HERC.

Hammonds hopes that “by responding to the needs of couples in which both partners are highly qualified academic professionals, HERC will help support diversity in faculty recruiting.”

SGA EXCEEDS HOUSES OF HAITI FUNDRAISING GOAL

The Student Government Association exceeded its goal of raising $1,000 for Houses of Haiti by $100.

The SGA held several fundraisers since the fall semester began on Sept. 6. Officers credit the success to the generosity of:
• Alpha Beta Gamma, which donated the proceeds from a recent bake sale;
• The MWCC bookstore, which donated several items for one of the SGA raffles;
• Hundreds of individuals who made cash donations, purchased raffle tickets or bought bake goods.

On behalf of the SGA, Student Life Director Greg Clement presented the $1,100 donation at this week’s Community College Student Leadership Association Conference.

The SGA’s amount is one-quarter of the $4,100 goal set by the conference committee. It’s the amount needed to build one durable home in Haiti. Other Massachusetts community colleges also pledged to help meet that goal. The SGA that raises the most money will win a pizza party paid for by the CCSLA.

Houses of Haiti is a program run by the international AIDS prevention and treatment organization Partners in Health.

More MWCC News:

• The cast of "Noises Off"

  Tickets are on sale now for Theatre of the Mount’s next musical, “Noises Off,” for $18 for evening performances and $15 for matinees. Called “the funniest farce ever written” by New York critics, “Noises Off” will be performed by on Friday, Oct. 6, Saturday, Oct. 7, Friday, Oct. 13 and Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. To reserve tickets, call the Theatre at the Mount box office at (978) 632-2403 or purchase tickets online at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.
• MWCC Campus Police will hold a R.A.D. Basic Self-Defense course for women Tuesday, Oct. 10 through Friday, Oct. 13 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gardner campus. The cost is only $25. Instructors are certified through Rape Aggression and Defense Systems. To register, please contact Officer Melissa Garneau at (978) 630-9150.
• Gateway to College, one of MWCC’s College Access and Preparation Programs, offers high-school dropouts and students on the verge of dropping out of high school an opportunity to earn a diploma in a college-like setting and earn college credits. Massachusetts residents who meet the program’s eligibility requirements may apply. Information sessions for the session that begins in January 2007 will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 11; Monday, Oct. 23; Monday, Nov. 6; and Monday, Dec. 4. To register for an information session or to request materials, call (978) 630-9481 or (978) 630-9450, or visit http://www.mwcc.edu/services/CAPP/default.html.
• The Student Life Office will sponsor the exhibit “Above and Beyond: Our Community Response to HIV/AIDS” in the Leo & Theresa LaChance Library between Wednesday, Oct. 11 and Wednesday, Oct. 18. “Above and Beyond” was organized by The History Project with assistance from Casa de la Cultura/Center for Latino Arts. The exhibition documents the heroic response to the HIV/AIDS crisis by a variety of people and groups in Boston and across Massachusetts. The exhibition includes a timeline of the 25-year history of AIDS and documents the response by various communities, from helping and healing to activism and protest to campaigns for needle exchange and safer sex programs. For more information, contact Student Life Director Greg Clement at (978) 630-9252 or gclement@mwcc.mass.edu.
• The First Connections Mothers Group’s weekly meetings are held every Friday. At the gatherings, which take place in the Children’s Room at Levi Heywood Memorial Library from 10:30 a.m. to noon, attendees discuss topics such as feeding, sibling rivalry, temper tantrums, appropriate toys, traveling with children and how to choose a daycare provider. All mothers and their babies are invited. For more information, contact MWCC Professor Nancy Duphily, the meeting facilitator, at duphi@yahoo.com or (978) 630-9233. Duphily will be assisted by MWCC nursing students as part of their service-learning project.
• Register now for fall youth swimming lessons at the MWCC Fitness & Wellness Center. Saturday lessons begin on Oct. 14 through Dec. 2. The cost is only $30 for members and $42 for non-members. To register, visit the center’s main kiosk. For more information, call (978) 630-9212.

• Dr. Diane Beers

  Dr. Diane Beers, the author of "For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United States," will speak in the Leo & Theresa LaChance Library and sign copies of her book Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 125. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Library at (978) 630-9125.
• MWCC has launched the new Clinical Laboratory Science program. Students enrolled in this program will learn how to use sophisticated biomedical instrumentation and computers to analyze blood and other body specimens. Information sessions will take place Wednesdays Oct. 18, Nov. 15 and Dec. 13 at 3 p.m. in the OBS Conference Room on the second floor of Heywood Hospital. Prospective students interested in attending the information session are asked to call the Admissions Office at (978) 630-9110 (TTY (978) 632-4916), or send an email to admissions@mwcc.mass.edu. Information about the new CLS program also is posted on the college Blackboard website called CLS Information Center. To access more information, go to https://bb.mwcc.edu and then enter “cls” as both the username and password.
• Tickets are on sale for a murder mystery dinner benefiting the MWCC Alumni Association Friday, Oct. 27 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Colonial Hotel. The Hat Trick Mystery Theatre will present “The Ghost of Mad Table Manor.” The event will feature a cocktail hour with cash bar from 6 to 7 p.m. followed by dinner and the show from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $35 per person. For tickets or more information, please contact Alumni Association President Missi Sargent at (978) 630-9273 or msargent@mwcc.mass.edu.
• Associate Professor Raeann LeBlanc will give a presentation on her personal service-learning experience volunteering in New Orleans for the Animal Rescue League of New Orleans this past summer Monday, Oct. 23 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the commons. From her second trip after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, learn about the animal rescue efforts and challenges, the current issues facing homeless animals in New Orleans and the consciousness around legislation to protect animals as part of an evacuation plan for future disasters. To register, contact the information desk at informationcenter@mwcc.mass.edu.
• In observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Battered Women’s Resources Inc. of Leominster will present the exhibit “Body of Evidence” by Wisconsin artist Judy Zeolzer Levine in MWCC’s Leo & Theresa LaChance Library between Monday, Oct. 23 and Friday, Oct. 27. The display is a series of 20 quilts created to explore the way women are viewed and used in our society. For more information, contact Student Life Director Greg Clement at (978) 630-9252 or gclement@mwcc.mass.edu.