Student Affairs meeting today and everyone is busy

Following the "African American Male Webinar" today in Stockade 102, Student Affairs held their regularly scheduled meeting. I must say, it was relatively fast (they only had a little over an hour before the offices closed for the day) and yet, very productive.

When we think of meetings, no matter where we work, we often imagine sitting in a chair for a long period of time and the discussions going on, and on, and on, and on, and never seeming to get anything accomplished.

I sure have seen enough of these kinds of meetings in my day.

But, today we were effective and shared a lot of information. I credit this successful meeting to all of the employees in attendance. Each person shared their thoughts, ideas, and current plans for their slice of the whole Student Affairs pie-- and boy were their ideas tasty.

I say tasty, because we could all grasp each development as it was presented. We understood the ideas each person shared and could see the thoughts becoming actions.

Things are moving along quickly. Everyone has their missions and are working hard to follow through!

Problems were identified and solutions were already in place before each person could get back to their office.

SATURDAY is Financial Aid Day! All SUNY schools will be hosting this day for all new students wanting to apply to SCCC.

On the Agenda for upcoming events in March on campus:

1. March 2nd 11:30 - 1:00 in Stockade 101

President Bullock will be presenting on College issues including, the budget, reorganizational structure, the Strategic Plan and of his experience at Obama's State of the Union Address

2. March 3rd 4:00- 5:00 in the Lally Mohawk Room

Erika Dietz presents "VENTURE ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVLED" a presentation sure to get you ready for the future, no matter what it holds.

3. March 4th Career Fair in the Student Center

4. March 9th SUNY Lobby Day 7:00-3:00 Mandatory meeting for all representatives March 2nd

Still seeking 4 students who would be interested in participating in this unique learning experience.

5. March 9th Transfer Fair 11-1 pm

6. March 9th 3:45-4:45 in the Activity Forum

Smarty Beans Coffee House presents "Blogging Basics" presented by Kristine Moore (that's me). Learn more about the blogosphere.

7. March 25th Stockade 101 4:00-5:00

SAB PRESENTS Robert Channing Mentalist. He claims to be able to predict what one of the staff will be wearing the day of the show or the show is Free!

March is Women's History Month

Looking for Students to Mentor other students. Are you interested, or know someone who is? Call 381-1478 and I'll give you more details.

Scholarships are available in March- pick up your scholarship packet from Financial Aid

College from the other side.

Since reading K. Moore's post entitled: Open Letter To the Four Year Private College Students who owe more than $40,000 in loans, I have been thinking a lot about the implications behind my experience as a four year private college student.  As a psychology major, and a generally curious person, I like to illuminate the reasoning behind one's path and decisions in life, and I realized I hadn't thought very much about mine.  So, one of the first things I did was check out this list about the pros and cons of community colleges.  My determination?  After reading this, I can't help but wonder about what I would have done differently with my college career.

I must say that I wasn't ready for college by the time I graduated high school.  However, being seventeen at the time I had very little say in my future.  I had excelled in high school and my family had pressured me high expectations for me to go right away to a college where I could get a Bachelor's Degree.  I just let myself be pushed because I did want an education and because I listened when people said that I wouldn't go back if I took a gap year (many of you are proof, however, that that is a myth!). 

Because I was pushed I ended up having a much longer, and more difficult college career.  Although I did have academic scholarships, more money was wasted on classes I withdrew from or failed to attend, because I was unprepared to be a college student.  Ideally, I would have taken a year off to discover myself and recoup from a traumatic senior year.  Then, I would have taken my time to determine the right college for me.  It is obvious that non- traditional and returning students are always the most motivated.  I have grown to love Saint Rose, but in all likelihood I would have attended a SUNY school, because K. Moore is right, the extreme cost is hardly justifiable.  I also would have been able to graduate with less debt hanging over my head.

Still, my college experience has had its benefits, many of which come from being a resident student.  Firstly, the ability to live away from home, surrounded by other college students, helped foster independence from my overbearing extremely loving parents.  Secondly, the dormitory experience does lend itself to the development of the community.  I know many wonderful commuter students at Saint Rose, but the students who are most immersed in student activities are the residents; reading this blog has only reinforced that idea for me.  From the blog, I can only get a taste of the hard work that K. Moore does to increase student involvement, and I doubt I would have been as involved on campus had I not lived there. I am excited to see that SCCC is creating a dorm because I think that the students who get to live there will be greatly enriched by student activities. 

At this point, I will just have to say that it is less about the particular educational path that's better and more about finding the right one for your circumstances.  So if you are a non-traditional student, or fresh out of high school, the key is to choose carefully so that you can make the most out of your education, while minimizing the pain!

Dana

Columbus celebration or not so much?

It's Monday, week 6, here at SCCC, and I know what you're probably thinking, "We're the only school that's open on Columbus Day."

Well, you're probably right. Most schools in the area are off from school today. If you have children, they're definitely home. I never understood why a community college, which has many nontraditional students, ages twenty-four and up, many of whom have children, didn't give its students holiday's like Columbus Day off.

When I was a student at SCCC, I dreaded the College's "non-holidays". The Schenectady City School District gets, on average, about four days off from school a month. That means that almost 4 days out of the month I had to struggle to find childcare and dip into my savings to pay for it. Many of their days off are due to staff meetings and conferences- things inapplicable to a universal calendar.

On the other hand, all of our calendars designate Columbus Day as a holiday, and I think that SCCC should recognize this. St. Rose does. HVCC does.  SUNY Albany students don't have to go to classes on Yom Kippur- yet another holiday that is recognized by the Schenectady City School District.

If we could organize our school's schedule to include some of these days off and still meet the minimum number of hours required to be an accredited school, SCCC could make the lives of many of its students much easier.

Perhaps our attendance today means much more than we realize.

There are conflicting beliefs and interpretations about our national hero, Mr. Christopher Columbus. Some believe that Columbus discovered America in 1492. And, that's why today we celebrate his designated holiday.

However, there is another school of thought that is often omitted from our elementary school books. Some believe that Columbus's actions were cruel including: his use of slavery and violence against the American Indians, forceful projection of Christianity, and the transmission of diseases that would have lasting effects on the native population.

Are SCCC and other institutions that do not honor Columbus Day as a holiday suggesting that we believe that we should not honor Christopher Columbus as a American hero?

The Rated G version of Christopher Columbus
This morning, I asked my five year old if he knew why he had the day off from school on a Monday.

 "No," he said.

"It's Columbus Day. Do you know who Columbus was?"

He was anxious to answer, "Yes, he came to our island on a boat."

Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did.

I informed my five-year-old, little boy that, "When he came here he wanted to build houses for people to live in, and so, all of the Indians who used to live in the forests had to leave."

"Did they die?" he asked me. Big Brother often worries about death.

"No. Wait, yes, some of them died from diseases. Those men on the boats didn't bring their toothbrushes and use the soap when they took their showers, and so, they were full of germs when they landed in America. The Indians weren't used to all these germs and some of them got sick and died. The others, they moved to little communities away from the European men who were busy building house and taking over the forests."

The moral of this story: Brush your teeth and wash up with soap!

For those of you who do have today off, Say Schenectady has a list of things to do and celebrate the holiday.