February 17, 2010

Dear Faculty and Staff,

It seems like the semester just began, yet winter break is already upon us. Safe travels to those of you who are venturing off to distant lands, however “distant” those may be. Please join me in extending a special bon voyage to students, faculty and staff who are participating on one of our phenomenal BreakAway trips – to New Orleans to help with post-Katrina rebuilding or to Washington DC to work on hunger and homelessness issues. We know they will have a rewarding and memorable experience.

CHANCELLOR'S VISIT TODAY
VSC Chancellor Tim Donovan is on campus today connecting with JSC faculty and staff, and later attending the evening performance of “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” in Dibden. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to speak with Chancellor Donovan; his schedule for the day is outlined below. I hope you will be able to make it to the open session at 1:30 in the Stearns Performance Space.

9:30 to 10:30 a.m. (Performance Space): Coffee Break with VSEA
11:00 to 11:45 a.m. (Performance Space): Coffee Meet with VSC - UP members
12:00 to 1:15 p.m. (Stearns Dining Hall): Lunch with Faculty
1:30 to 2:15 p.m. (Performance Space): Open Session
-- Break for Chancellor --
4:00 to 4:45 p.m. (Performance Space): Meeting with students - refreshments
5:00 p.m. (President's House): Dinner with President's Council

SAVE THE DATE: MARCH 17: Annual Employee Recognition
Please plan to join your JSC friends and colleagues at the 5th Annual Employee Recognition reception, to be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17, in the Stearns Performance Space.

STUDENT FUNDRAISERS FOR HAITI
Congratulations to the JSC student body for their spectacular efforts to support relief efforts in Haiti following that country’s devastating earthquake. Shortly after the quake hit, students coordinated three impromptu yet very successful events on Jan. 26: a 50/50 raffle and concession sales at a home hoops game, plus a pass-the-hat at a Pojazz concert that brought in a total of $260. In addition, last week’s “Swipe a Meal” fundraiser (which allowed students to swipe their card for an extra meal and contribute that amount to the campaign) netted $500! Upcoming is the T-shirt sale from Printmaking students, with proceeds going to Haiti relief as well.

THEATER CONGRATS
Congratulations to director Russ Longtin and students involved in the fall production of “The Trojan Women” for making it through the first round of cuts in the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival regional competition. The play was one of 18 semi-finalists chosen from 98 productions evaluated by Kennedy Center judges. In addition to making the first cut for regional honors, the play catapulted six JSC student actors — Claire Demarias, Lynne Dumais, Eric Hill, A.J. Gagliardi, Alannah Halliday and Zoe Yioulos — as well as stage manager Taryn Glasser and special effects/lighting designer Henry Meola to another regional competition: the renowned Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions, which were held Jan. 26-30 at the University of New Hampshire. Not only did the eight students participate in workshops led by professional actors (among them Teri Hatcher of TV’s “Desperate Housewives”), but several of them returned to JSC with awards. Taryn Glasser earned the 2nd place stage manager award, while chorus honors went to Amanda Bryan, Kayla Jorobsky, ZoeYioulos, Nancy Gallante, Madeline Gibbons, Rhiannon Fleckenstein, Bridget Conway, Amanda Webster, Bridget Conway. Congratulations all!

‘PICASSO’ WRAPS UP TOMORROW
A reminder that tonight and tomorrow (Feb. 17 and 18th) are the final performances of the JSC Theater Department’s production of “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” a comedy written by Steve Martin. Curtain time is 7 p.m. Come out and show your support for our student actors and tech crew, and enjoy a great night out. Opening night was a huge success!

BADGER CONGRATS
Kudos to the JSC men’s and women’s basketball teams for some great games this past week. Last Tuesday (Feb. 9), the men and women both came out ahead against Lyndon State (by just one and two points, respectively – real nail-biters). This Friday and Saturday, the men bested Maine Maritime Academy and Husson University at our last home games of the season, all of which were very well-attended. Thanks to Barb Lougee, Mike Osborne, and of course the men and women Badgers for making our debut season in the new SHAPE gym so memorable.

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Best wishes to all for an enjoyable February break.

February 2, 2010

Dear Faculty and Staff,

We are off to a good start in the new semester. While it’s not so obvious from the outside – the frigid temps make sure of that – the campus is buzzing with activity, from guest speakers (like yesterday’s talk with business students by the founder of the Vermont Peanut Butter Co.) to non-stop student activities and special events.

177 New Students
The spring semester brought 177 new students—first time, transfer, and EDP students—to JSC. This tremendous boost to our numbers reflects the outstanding job of our faculty and the hard work of our Admissions team in the lead, but so many of you as well in the different positions you hold at JSC. We should all take great pride in the fact that JSC is the college of choice for growing numbers of students.

I will be inviting our entering spring students to my office on Tuesday, Feb. 16, for an informal “meet and greet” with light refreshments from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Please stop by if you can and help welcome the newest members of our JSC community.

Legislative Breakfast
Next week JSC will host the second annual Legislative Breakfast. State legislators will be on campus for a breakfast meeting in Stearns from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 8. The event is sponsored by the Lamoille Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Stowe Area Association in conjunction with the Lamoille Economic Development Corp. and the Lamoille County Planning Commission. We’re usually a pretty full house that day, but let me know if you would like to attend.

Gala of the Arts
Next Tuesday, Feb. 9, from 8:30 to 11 p.m., the Student Government Association will host a “Gala of the Arts” showcasing student work. The event will be held in the Stearns dining hall and will feature pieces from the art gallery, the theater and music departments, the dance club, and theater-tech students. If you can be on campus that evening, please stop by to show your support.

Chancellor Visit Feb. 17
Tim Donovan, chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges, will visit JSC and meet with us throughout the day on Wednesday, Feb. 17. I will email the schedule as soon as it is finalized and hope you will join me in making Tim feel welcome at JSC.

Athlete Overnight, Winterfest & More
The Admissions Office has a number of special events in the works, including the second annual “Student Athlete Overnight” the weekend of Feb. 12-14 and the popular “Winterfest” open house on Monday, Feb. 15 (Presidents Day). In addition, they are finalizing plans for three out-of-town receptions (in Burlington, New York and Connecticut) as well as two on-campus events for accepted students in March – the first such event at JSC.

Webcasts of JSC Varsity Sports
Starting with the spring 2010 semester, 20 JSC varsity home games are being streamed live over the Internet by NSN Sports through the end of the calendar year. The basketball games are all behind us, but you can still see them by logging onto www.nsnsports.net/members/video/archive/. The games are professionally taped and feature play-by-play and color commentary by NSN sportscasters. We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from faculty and students about the coverage and the way the games are taped. Here is the remaining schedule of webcasts through the end of the semester:

Lacrosse (men and women)..... April 3, 18, 24
Softball (men and women)....... April 10, 21, 23
Tennis (men)........................... April 13

Visit www.jsc.edu/athletics for game times, then “tune in” at www.jsc.edu/Athletics/News/AthleticsStreamingVideo.aspx to watch the game live. For more information, visit www.nsnsports.net or contact Mike Osborne, assistant athletic director, at Michael.osborne@jsc.edu or 802-635-1470.

Faculty Sabbaticals
The following faculty have been awarded sabbaticals for the 2010-2011 academic year. Please join me in congratulating John Miller (Fine Arts), Susan Calza (Fine Arts), Andrea Perham (Writing & Literature), and Todd Comen (Business & Economics).

Keeping Abreast of JSC News
A reminder that one of the best ways to stay up to date about everything happening at JSC— including the many activities and accomplishments of our faculty and staff—is to read the monthly JSC report to the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees. These are posted on meeting days at www.jsc.edu/WhoWeAre/InitiativesAndReports/BoardofTrusteesReports.aspx. The January report was posted last Thursday, the 28th.

As always, my door is open. I welcome your comments and suggestions.