Dear Paul Smith’s College community,
There was just so much going on this summer, we decided we didn’t want to wait until September to send you a Day 1 update! To our incoming students and employees, on the first day of the month, I send our community an email highlighting some of the recent activities that happened at PSC. As you can see, even over the summer this is a very busy place!
For those not on campus, you are missing a spectacular (albeit late-arriving) summer. I hope you are all enjoying your summer and look forward to seeing returning and new students, faculty and staff in a few short weeks.
Cathy
- PSC has earned a STARS Bronze rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in recognition of its sustainability achievements. STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education.
- The Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute continues to make great contributions to the environmental health of the region. Some of their activities include:
- Receiving a number of significant grants and gifts, including $1 million from the Spaulding-Paolozzi Foundation towards expanding the Institute’s facilities, $140,000 from NYS DEC to support two studies related to aquatic invasive species, $60,000 from NYS DEC to support development of a management plan for Upper Saranac Lake, $80,000 from NSF to support research on recreational trail use in the ADK high peaks, $50,000 from NOAA to develop a watershed education curriculum for high school science classes, $16,000 from regional foundations to support terrestrial ecology research, $10,000 from the Cloudsplitter Foundation to support research on heavy metals in drinking water.
- Presented invited talks at 8 meetings and published three papers in peer-reviewed journals
- Helped to organize, and played a leadership role at the Common Ground Alliance forum.
- The Paul Smith’s Adventure Guides have been busy! They:
- Partnered with the Town of Keene, the NYS DEC, and the ADK 46ers to pilot a new front country steward program to help address the issues of overuse in the Adirondacks.
- Spent a week with Canoe and Kayak Magazine paddling the Adirondack waterways for a feature on the Adirondack Canoe Route.
- Worked with 6 local schools providing opportunities to canoe, rock climb, or use the PSC ropes course.
- Conducted 30 days of guided trips for groups and individuals (to-date).
- We closed the books on the fundraising year with over $3 million raised and 2,000 gifts from 1,500+ donors. We raised slightly more than 8% more this year than 2017/18. A huge shout out to all who gave – especially our amazing, anonymous $1 Million Coming Home Challenge donor!
- Jorie Favreau attended the 100th anniversary meeting the American Society of Mammalogists in Washington DC. Jorie also taught “Animal Defenses” to Tupper Lake 5th graders for Adirondack Day.
- Celia Evans co-authored the paper “Northern forest winters have lost cold, snowy conditions that are important for ecosystems and human communities” published in the journal Ecological Applications.
- Jodi Rossi and Celia Evans partnered on the development of the Paul Smith’s College Global Education Council to ensure that our international students have a great experience at PSC. The council will focus on comprehensive internationalization as well as diversity and inclusion, through campus-wide programming and curriculum.
- The VIC summer season is in full swing with dozens of programs, a staff of 4 naturalists (3 of whom are Smitties), a new Butterfly House Coordinator, and a cadre of community-based volunteers. Midway through the season, program participation has increased 41% over last year and program revenue is up 29%. Some highlights:
- Two art receptions were held to mark the gallery exhibits “Taking Care of the Birds” and “Celebrating 30 Years of the VIC”. The latter show remains hanging through October 14. Please stop by and vote for your favorite piece of art.
- 400+ people have attended more than a dozen evening programs, including 100+ runners taking part in a Summer Fun Run series. The Jenkins half marathon and 10k is on tap for August 10th – get your game on and join the fun.
- Approximately 100 participants took part in the 17th annual Great Adirondack Birding Celebration, a 3-day festival featuring notable speakers and expert-led forays.
- 44 participants joined a hands-on workshop to construct bluebird nesting boxes.
- Brett McLeod presented an informative walk and talk on “Visual perceptions of logging: why we love some forests more than others”.
- Multiple community groups and enthusiast clubs have utilized the VIC as a gathering space.
- Check out the calendar or subscribe to the newsletter to stay informed.
- The Admissions viewbook has shifted from print to digital format. In addition to saving on the costs of production and mailing, we are now able to connect our information with prospective students and their families instantly. To view the digital viewbook you can click here or navigate to paulsmiths.edu > Admissions > Viewbook. Please consider updating your email signature to include the direct link.
- Even though we are about to welcome new students in a few weeks, our admissions counselors are already focused on the incoming class of Fall 2020. Some of their summer activities visits included :
- Connecticut FFA College and Career Showcase
- Cornell University Summertime College Fair
- Catskill Forest Festival
- NYS DEC overnight summer camp Pack Forest in Warrensburg, NY at Pack Forest College Night.
- Study in New York, a one-day consortium workshop to promote international student study in the state.
- Jodi Rossi presented on managing a one-person international office at the International Association of College Admissions Counselors at Western University in Ontario, where she also attended meetings and workshops with dozens of international high school counselors from around the world.
- In addition to traveling, our admissions team hosted 172 students at a series of events including the Hannaford Career Center, Chateauguay CSD, Liberty-Cobleskill Adventures in the Adirondacks Overnight Visit, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, as well as overnight campus visits, transfer visit days, Saturday visit days, and numerous campus tours.
- Social Media is such an important tool to expose people to PSC and to let our existing community know what is happening. We encourage everyone to follow us on platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and snapchat, and to post your favorite PSC pictures and information. Trivia posts and interactive Q&A’s have been strong relationship builders for students and counselors and also incoming peers.
- Through funding provided by the Office of Violence Against Women, Deirdre Loftus, Shakirra Jones, Ricky Williams, Holly Parker, and Andrew Relyea attended a four-day conference in Pittsburgh. Its purpose was to empower universities in their pursuit to more effectively prevent and respond to incidences of sexual misconduct.
- The college has been improving the security and quality of the wireless internet in many of our residence halls by creating a secure wireless network option and adding more wireless access points.
- Currier is being renovated! Improvements include a new kitchen, new paint to hallways and refinished entryway flooring.
- Returning students will be pleased to know that we are improving the Residence Life and Housing website. Our returning student section will have an abundance of resources for returning students by the beginning of August. In addition, the residence life office has been working on streamlining of services including a more simplified work order system, a Residence Life and Housing main office phone number (518-327-6493), and a Residence Life and Housing email address.
- In the fall we will be unveiling a new Community Engagement model, highlighting the core values of our department, which are: Diversity & Inclusion, Collegiality, Dynamic Leadership, Identity, Community Engagement, and Well-Being.
- This Fall, the Center for Academic and Career Success will be shifting Tutor Scheduling into Starfish. This will allow students to schedule tutoring themselves in just a few clicks
- 30+ Smitties joined the “Bonfire and S’mores” event for summer students and employees, and 15+ students took part in the “Breakfast Bar Extravaganza”, in which students learned to make easy breakfasts to balance nutrition with their busy summer schedules. Both programs were hosted by the Office of Residence Life and Housing.
- Approximately 30 people attended Campground Cleanup Day for CUSS’ing (cut up/split/stack) firewood with help from the tree removal team led by Tom Bartiss. The dangerous trees were dropped in advance and repairs were made to the section of road leading to the lean-tos.
- Paul Smith’s participated in the Bassmaster Collegiate three day tournament held on the St. Lawrence River in Waddington, NY. Justin Rozema and Bob Visicaro led the Paul Smith’s College crew with a two day total of 40 lbs 11 ozs to place 52nd. Dylan Harter and Izayah McGill placed 77th with 37 lbs 15 ounces, followed by Brandon Johnson and Jon Hermann (90th place) with 36 lbs 4 ounces. Ben Coolidge and Tyler Keim placed 133rd with 27 pounds 11 ounces.
- The Alumni Board completed work on new proposed by-laws; these were approved at the Annual Alumni Association Meeting.
- Over 400 alumni and guests attended reunion this year. Congratulations to the Alumni Association award recipients:
- Friend of the College Award – Board of Trustees Chair Patty Dowden
- Alumnus of the Year Award – J. Peter Borbas ‘77
- Ambassador Award – Dennis Flynn ‘88
- Employee Award – Judy Lester, Dining Services
- Faculty Award – Celia Evans, Ph.D.
- Honorary Award – Kathleen Miller Gowan ‘86
- Also at reunion, the silent auction and raffle generated approximately $7,000 of donations to the Endowed Alumni Scholarship. Thanks to all!
- Over two dozen people attended the 4th Annual PA Smitties Picnic, raising $700 in funds for PSC.
- Delegations from Ontario, Quebec, Vermont, and New York met on campus for a work session to advance the International Cuisine Trail project. The day-long agenda featured a presentation of faculty-led research by Kelly Cerialo and a farm-to-table buffet prepared by chef Kevin McCarthy and students.
Upcoming Events of Note
- August 2: SOAR
- August 8: Summer Student Employees Appreciation Barbecue
- August 28: Faculty and staff kickoff and retreats
- August 30-Sept 2: Welcome week (orientation)
- September 2: Residence Halls open for returning students
- September 2: Convocation
- September 3: First day of classes
- September 9: Club Fair
- September 11: Health Fair, Student Center Lobby
- September 16: Campus Lecture, Using Her Voice To Help Other Find Theirs
- September 27-29: Family Homecoming Weekend
