Embedded Files
January 2024
January 2024
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Colleagues
Welcome back! I hope you all had a restful winter break. The spring semester seemed to hit the ground running! The atmosphere on campus, while busy, feels upbeat and students are engaged both in the classroom and with activities. I’m looking forward to a semester jampacked with community events!
As mentioned before, the first weeks of this semester have already been quite filled with activities. Through this newsletter and other communications, we try to ensure that everyone remains updated on campus activities. A united and engaged campus is an informed campus. Thank you to all the departments who contribute information to this newsletter. Many thanks to Bevin Peters who leads the effort to coordinate it. Here are a few highlights from the past month:
As previously shared, the search committee for the VP of Academic Affairs, co-chaired by Professor Nina Theis, chair of the faculty governance committee, and VP of Student Affairs Dr. Andrew Coston, have begun their work to vet candidates and identify finalists, welcome the finalists and coordinate their on-campus visits, obtain feedback from the on-campus interviews and provide me with that feedback for all finalists unranked. Please join me in thanking the search committee for their help with this important endeavor.
Bryant Morgan has been appointed Interim VP of Finance and Administration to fill Katie Longley’s post while Katie is on leave. Bryant Morgan will come to the College with a vast knowledge of higher education finance, administration, planning, and institutional leadership. Some of Bryant’s past roles include Chief Financial Officer for the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, Dean of Finance and Administration for Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and Chief Planning and Budget Office for Marlboro College (VT). Bryant is local to western Massachusetts and is very familiar with the Elms and our mission. I look forward to welcoming Bryant on campus, the week of February 5.
The Board of Trustees' meeting will convene on February 16. Among key agenda items, the Board will be introduced to the revised liberal arts and sciences core curriculum and will be updated on the work of the Strategic Planning steering committees.
The planning committee for the Black Experience Summit has been working on organizing the 7th Elms College Black Experience Summit, which will take place, in-person, on Friday, February 23. I hope that many of you will attend this year's Summit. Please see below for more information. Thank you to Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Jennifer Shoaff, who is leading the planning team.
Thank you for all that you do for our students and for each other. I wish you all a wonderful and successful spring semester!
Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA
President
Dr. Dumay featured on BusinessWest's BusinessTalk Podcast!
Dr. Dumay wwas a featured guest on BusinessTalk, a podcast produced by BusinessWest, the business journal of western Massachusetts. You can listen to the podcast by clicking the link below. You can also search for the BusinessTalk podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
https://businesswest.com/blog/businesstalk-with-elms-college-president-harry-dumay//
Colleges and universities have had to deal with a host of challenges in recent years, from demographic pressures on enrollment numbers to recovery from a pandemic that challenged the main role of colleges: delivering access to quality education. Elms College has emerged from those years on a mission: to reshape its strategic plan, launch a capital campaign to help implement it, and better prepare students for a changing work world. On this episode of BusinessTalk, BusinessWest Editor Joe Bednar talks to Elms College President Harry Dumay about these developments, as well as an intriguing regional higher-ed partnership with Springfield Public Schools to improve literacy in area kids. LISTEN HERE!
FUTURE ELMSNEWS
Submission pieces can be shared with the following department contacts:
Academic Affairs - Deb Methe
Admissions - Jenna Stolarik
Athletics - Sean Milbier
Finance - Katie Longley
HR - Cheryl Smith
Marketing - Megan Eischen
Student Affairs - Anna Stabile
Institutional Advancement - Lynn Korza
The deadline for submissions is the third Friday of each month.
UPCOMING CAMPUS EVENTS
February 9 Coffee Q & A hosted by the School of Nursing
February 14 Art Opening Reception-
Zay Mays Printmaking
February 23 Black Experience Summit
February 29 WOCA Pageant
Check the Master Calendar for exact locations of each event.
SCENES FROM ADJUNCT APPRECIATION NIGHT
ATHLETICS
You can find all athletic team schedules at ecblazers.com and stay informed by following our athletic department Instagram @elmsblazers
COUNSELING CENTER
To wrap up the fall semester the Counseling Center, Wellness Educator James Proctor III, and student peer wellness educators researched and developed two programs on burnout and boundaries.
For the program on burnout, students were asked to participate in an activity using sticky notes to respond to questions on a large poster for everyone to see. The activity was intended to both invoke self-reflection about burnout in their lives, provide a sense of solidarity to students showing this is something everyone experiences by seeing the responses of others, as well as give ideas to other students who may currently be struggling with burnout, and want to overcome it. Miss. Harper Hanratty the therapy dog made a guest appearance, too!
For the program on boundaries, the three main takeaways of the event were for students to know how to identify the boundaries needed to protect their mental health, to know how to initiate and enforce setting boundaries with others, and to learn about consent. Students were offered to design a door hanger sign at the event booth. The purpose of this was to offer students a fun, creative, and expressive way to practice setting boundaries, and could be utilized both in college dorms or when they return home.
We look forward to a spring semester full of psychoeducational interactive programming! For more information about the Wellness Educator or Peer Wellness Educators, please contact Dr. Nicole Sacco, Counseling Center Director, at 413-265-2275.
INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT
Breakfast with Santa:
On December 2nd we held our annual Breakfast with Santa event. This year we were lucky enough to have Mrs. Claus in attendance as well. Families enjoyed crafts, cookie decorating, writing letters to Santa, and a special reading from Dr. Dumay. Thank you so much to all of our alumni and friends who made this event possible.
CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE THANK YOU
The Student Affairs Team, along with SGA, MSC, and SNA, would like to thank everyone who donated to the Christmas Toy Drive. Half of the donations were brought to The Gray House today and will be distributed to more than 1,000 children locally. The other half of the donations will be brought to Homework House next Wednesday, December 13th in the afternoon.
We are incredibly appreciative of the kindness shown through your donations, and hope that this Holiday Season can be made warmer knowing the joy you have helped bring to so many local families this Christmas. Thank you for, once again, helping to live out the values of our founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph, by responding to the needs of our community. Wishing you Happy Holidays!
With Gratitude,
Student Affairs, SGA, MSC, and SNA
Pictured: Kristen McClintock, Executive Director of The Gray House, holding donated toys from Elms College with members of the Student Affairs Team (Anna Stabile, Laurie Fontaine, and Eileen Kirk).
7th ANNUAL BLACK EXPERIENCE SUMMIT
Forging Democracy: Black Womanhood and the Long March for Civil Rights
Friday, February 23, 2024; 12 p.m.-4 p.m.
Veritas Auditorium
As we honor the 60th anniversary of key moments in the Civil Rights Movement—including the Voting Rights Act—we also look toward an election year in which many scholars argue that democracy itself is on the ballot. The 7th annual Black Experience Summit seeks to make visible the pivotal role that Black women have played in forging, defining, defending and preserving the very fabric of U.S. democratic ideals and practices, modeled the world over. Black womanhood—uniquely situated at the intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality—offers a particular sensibility that reflects the everyday, radical acts of love, survival, community-building, and resistance aimed at dismantling structures of oppression and refashioning a more just nation overtime. This multigenerational knowledge and wisdom provide each of us, especially our young voters, with an indispensable blueprint for civic engagement in the long march toward liberation.
MERCANTILE DONATIONS NEEDED
As most of you may know, the Elms Mercantile is a spot for students to stop in and pick up school supplies and/or personal/household products at no charge to them. The space is located in the hallway directly outside the Dean of Students Office (CC110). If you have not had a chance to see it, please stop in and take a look! It is open 11am - 1pm, Monday through Friday during the semester.
The students were incredibly grateful and many took advantage of visiting the Mercantile in the fall. Because of the great success, we are now in need of replenishing some items. If you have anything that you would like to donate, please drop it off in the Dean of Students Office.
Here is a link to our Amazon Wishlist. I have also included a list below of our most needed items at the moment:
Spiral Notebooks
Legal Notepads
Pens
Mechanical Pencils
Sharpies
Deodorant (Men's and Women's)
Shampoo and Conditioner
Feminine Products
Laundry Pods
Shaving Cream
Body Wash
Toothpaste
snacks
detergent pods
Q-TipS
Thank you all for your continued support of our students
CAREER SERVICES
I hope the start of the semester is going well. I wanted to make sure to share our Spring Semester Calendar of Events in Career Services. It is attached, too!
I really want to highlight our biggest event of the semester, the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce After 5 on Thursday, April 11, 5:05 PM on the 2nd floor of the Alumnae Library. It is a great opportunity for our students to make connections with employers and possible internship sites and even win prizes (and food will be served!). I want to invite you, too!
We are really excited to bring this event back to Elms College. Please, please encourage your students to attend. I would be grateful for any inducements you might be able to leverage (extra credit, coercion, required attendance, whatever).
Thank you for your consideration!
Wishing you a great semester!
J. Marshall
Director of Career Services
SPRING SEMESTER EXHIBITIONS & OPENINGS
In the Well Gallery:
Talea: A transformative mikrokosmos: Debbie Gomes Photography
Well Gallery in Alumnae Library
Exhibition Opening: January 22, Monday. 12:15-1:15
Exhibition Dates: January 22 - April 19
“Student Exhibition”
Well Gallery, Alumnae Library
Opening Reception: Thursday April 25, 12:15-1:15
Exhibition Dates: April 26- May 31
In the Borgia Gallery:
Current Impressions: Zea Mays Printmaking
Opening Reception: Wed Feb 14 from 12:15-1:15.
Exhibition Dates: February 12- April 5
Special Artist Talk with Liz Chalfin, the owner of Zea Mays
Date: February 27, Tuesday 11:00
Location: Borgia Gallery
All are welcome!
“Diverse Cultural Heritage of Chicopee”
Location: Borgia Gallery
Exhibition Dates: April 18- September 27
Exhibition Opening Reception: April 18, Thursday, 12:15-1:15
CAMPUS MINISTRY
Kindle a Light Prayer Service
On December 15, as we were closing out the semester, the Office of Campus Ministry hosted a Kindle a Light Prayer Service in St. Joseph Chapel for Faculty/Staff, which took place immediately before our annual Christmas Party/Awards Celebration.
Visit to Asnuntuck Community College
On Saturday, December 16, members of the Social Work Department and Campus Ministry gathered with Wanda Banks from the Kirley School of Continuing Education to celebrate with the students enrolled in the Asnuntuck offsite campus. Students were gifted with prayer beads, car blessings and medals, and a goodie bag of treats from Campus Ministry and the Kirley School of Education.
Wreaths Across America
Campus Ministry and Student Engagement, along with Annette Ziomek and her husband, also collaborated on Wreaths Across America on Saturday, December 16 where we laid wreaths for deceased veterans at Calvary Cemetery in Chicopee.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Elms College Employment Opportunities as of November 17, 2023
Applications are now being accepted for the positions listed below. Anyone interested in making a formal application should go to the Employment page on the Elms College website for a detailed job description and how to apply: www.elms.edu/employment
Open Positions
Administrative Assistant to the Social Sciences Division
Director of Financial Aid
Accounts Payable Coordinator
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Student Account Representative
Assistant or Associate of Annual Giving
Administrative Coordinator in CEUE
Director of Marketing
Admissions Administrative Assistant
Administrative Assistant - Health Center - PT
Assistant Professor of Finance
Senior IT Operations Manager
Administrative Assistant for the Office of the Registrar
Among the procedures which may be used to select personnel to fill vacant positions are a review of work experiences, qualifications, degrees/licensures/certifications, and employment interviews. This listing pertains to all current staff and faculty job vacancies at the College.
Elms College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, military status, or genetic information in employment. It is the policy of Elms College to comply with applicable federal and state statutes, rules, and regulations concerning equal opportunity.
Welcome to new employees:
Jonathan Pignataro - Asst Athletics Trainer
Christopher Mattoon - Admissions Counselor
Dylan Faraci - Sports Information Officer
Best wishes to departing employees:
Evelyn De Vaux - Sports Information Officer
Jenna Stolarik - Assistant Vice President of Undergraduate Enrollment
Jeanne Tippett - Administrative Assistant - Office of the Registrar
Megan Pont - Nursing Lab Assistant
Kevin Topor - Public Safety Officer
Alesandr Karapetyan - Public Safety Officer
ELMS IN THE NEWS:
November 24, 2023: Chicopee Register published an announcement that Elms and the St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion, and Culture are hosting the Distinguished Lecture in Culture on Dec. 7. The guest lecturer is Carolyn Jacobs, member of the Elms College Board of Trustees and Dean Emerita of Smith College's School of Social Work. Story is on page 6.
November 27, 2023: BusinessWest published a feature article on the Continuing Education programs at Elms. Walter Breau and Kimberly Quinonez ’23, a graduate from the social work program, were quoted throughout the article.
December 1, 2023: iObserve.org published the press release announcing that Elms and the St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion, and Culture are hosting the Distinguished Lecture in Culture on Dec. 7. The guest lecturer is Carolyn Jacobs, member of the Elms College Board of Trustees and Dean Emerita of Smith College's School of Social Work.
December 1, 2023: Chicopee Register published a feature article on the front page that highlighted our annual tree lighting and Stories with Santa and included several photos of the festivities.
December 1, 2023: Chicopee Register published another announcement that Elms and the St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion, and Culture are hosting the Distinguished Lecture in Culture on Dec. 7. Story is on page 6.
December 3, 2023: Masslive.com published an article that announced Elms was ranked the fourth safest college and university in MA according to Niche.com. Pablo Madera, Director of Public Safety, is quoted in the article.
December 8, 2023: Chicopee Register published a story that Chicopee High School held a "College Application Celebration" event on Dec. 4-5 and Elms was one of the participating colleges. The story is on page 12.
December 14, 2023: iObserve.org published the press release announcing the MSN program at Elms being nationally ranked by Forbes Advisor, part of the Forbes organization rankings. The MSN program was recognized as one of the nine most affordable, high-quality programs in the country.
December 15, 2023: BusinessWest Daily Blog published the press release announcing the MSN program at Elms being nationally ranked by Forbes Advisor, part of the Forbes organization rankings. The MSN program was recognized as one of the nine most affordable, high-quality programs in the country.
December 15, 2023: HealthcareNews News and Notes Blog published the press release announcing the MSN program at Elms being nationally ranked by Forbes Advisor, part of the Forbes organization rankings. The MSN program was recognized as one of the nine most affordable, high-quality programs in the country.
December 29, 2023: Chicopee Register published the press release announcing the MSN program at Elms being nationally ranked by Forbes Advisor, part of the Forbes organization rankings. The MSN program was recognized as one of the nine most affordable, high-quality programs in the country. Story appears on page 10.
January 8, 2024: BusinessWest published a brief article in the print and digital editions announcing the MSN program at Elms being nationally ranked by Forbes Advisor, part of the Forbes organization rankings. The MSN program was recognized as one of the nine most affordable, high-quality programs in the country.
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