Dear Paul Smith’s College community,
As you might have noticed, today is not the first day of November. Due to a major regional power outage on Friday, we are sending this on the “first Monday” instead of on the “first day”. Thanks to everyone for their patience during the extended power outage. A special thanks to campus safety, facilities and residence life for their tireless work to ensure everyone stayed safe and informed. P.S. For many reasons, it is great to have one of the best forestry departments in the country! We discovered a new one on Friday. Thanks to facilities, the student Micro-enterprise crew (led by Jim Brandis) as well as the Forestry Club, downed campus trees were cleared quickly and professionally. And a special thank-you to Lewis Tree Service who donated the skidder. Although its primary purpose is for use in the academic program, it facilitated clearing our main road so quickly.
While the storm started November with a bang, October also was an eventful month. Below are highlights, including the official launch of our first master’s program, to exciting new developments as well as outstanding team results in athletics, to noteworthy achievements by faculty students and staff.
Cathy
- The college launched its first master’s program in Natural Resources Conservation in October with a widely distributed press release on October 1 and an on-campus launch event on October 23. The program’s web presence and application link are now live. We will welcome the first cohort of master’s students in June 2020. Graduate Program Director Eric Holmlund is managing over 50 active inquiries as of October 30.
- PSC has been selected as the East Coast Training Center for USA Nordic, the national governing body for ski jumping and Nordic combined in this country. Five-time Olympian Billy Demong, CEO of USA Nordic, participated in a press conference highlighting this important partnership designed to attract winter student-athletes to PSC. Trail expansion at the VIC in support of this initiative has begun.
- Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family has awarded Paul Smith’s College a $100,000 gift to fund the creation of an on-campus training and competition space for eSports, featuring state-of-the-art gaming equipment and spectator seating. Not only will the Stewart’s Shops Esports Lab be great for training and hosting competitions, but it will house high-end equipment that can be used by our courses that require powerful computers.
- A new culinary certificate program has been approved by the New York State Education Department, which allows us to offer culinary education to those who might not be quite ready for a full degree program.
- Congratulations to our forestry students who took second nationally at the highly competitive National Forestry Quiz Bowl in Louisville, KY! While Michigan Tech ended up taking the championship by one question, our team handily topped ESF in the quarter finals, and then beat Penn State in the semifinals. Thanks to the forestry faculty and especially to coaches Drs. McLeod and Waskiewicz.
- The PSC Global Center for Rural Communities (GCRC) is quite active. On October 11, GCRC Director Kelly Cerialo (who also co-chairs the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve – CABR — steering committee) cohosted a daylong UNESCO Biosphere meeting at the University of Vermont. A number of PSC faculty and students participated in session on global biosphere reserves, and highlighted PSC’s commitment to actively supporting the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, GCRC and CABR hosted Cliff McCreedy, the Director of the US UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Program from the National Park Service on a two-day tour in New York and Vermont. McCreedy to meet with key stakeholders across the region including ROOST, ADK Mountain Club, Lake Champlain Basin Program, Shelburne Farms, and the ECHO Center to learn about their work pertaining to rural resilience in protected areas and the 17 SDGs.
- Dr. Ross Conover took 10 students to Reno, NV for the annual conference of both the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society. Students attended scores of informative presentations and made it to the semifinals in the Quiz Bowl.
- Dr. Joseph Henderson presented on the topic “Researching Eco-Fascist Responses to Environmental Crisis” at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference in Lexington, KY, and to the Camp Fowler church community in Speculator, NY on “Climate Change, Partisan Politics, and the Future of the Adirondacks”.
- Glenn McClure presented on the topic “Rural Resiliency and the Arts” as part of the Smitty Lecture Series. McClure’s talk focused on how artists contribute to the vitality of rural communities around the world.
- Dr. Ross Conover had an article published in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, “The depredation of Mountain White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha) nests by the golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) and long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata)”. This draws on Conover’s ongoing research based at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado.
- Dr. Andrew Andermatt’s paper “Preying on Water: Hunting Spiritual and Environmental Rebirth on the Kentucky River in Selected Essays from Wendell Berry’s The Long-Legged House” was published in Make Waves: Water in Contemporary Literature and Film, an edited collection published by the University of Nevada Press.
- The Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies featured several articles authored by the PSC community including one from Corey Laxson, Craig Milewski, Curt Stager, and retired faculty member Mike Rechlin – “An environmental history of Lower St. Regis Lake: degradation and the path to ecological redemption.”
- The PSC-housed Adirondack Research Consortium held its inaugural Social Science Research Workshop organized by Joseph Henderson and Kelly Cerialo from PSC, Dan Fitts of ARC, and Heidi Kretser of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
- 70+ companies participated in the Fall Career Fair.
- Vanessa Case received statewide and national recognition by the USDA for her stellar efforts conducting fieldwork for the European Cherry Fruit Fly Wildlands Survey Program.
- Thanks to everyone who did service work for the community this month. 60 students participated in the Smitty Day of service at 10 different Saranac Lake project sites. In addition, students in the Arboriculture & Landscape Management program continue to give back to Saranac Lake by putting their skills to work at various Village parks. Lindy Ellis (county legislator) and Rich Shapiro (SL village board) recently stopped by campus to thank the students for their service to our community.
- Our student athletes and their coaches are making us proud!
- Volleyball was tied for first place at the end of the regular season, facing only one loss in conference all season. They fell short in the championship game against GBCC. Ohrisha Ranger was named YSCC player of the week – the 3rd PSC team member this season to earn this recognition, and Paige Farrington was honored as a member of the all-conference first team.
- The women’s soccer team made it to the Final Four in the YSCC Conference Championships for the first time since 2013. Despite being seeded 6th overall, they upset the 3rd ranked team in the league and came from behind in the first round of playoffs with a 2-1 victory, advancing to the semifinals. Captains Katey Snyder and Annie DeHaven were both awarded with 1st team all-conference honors; Snyder finished 7th in the entire conference with 19 total points, while DeHaven finished 12th with 12 total points.
- Golf took home the YSCC title for fourth time in five years, with Justin Engler earning player of the year and coach Rod Bushey earning Coach of the Year, his second in the YSCC.
- Hockey season has begun! We were so pleased to see the first ever PSC women’s hockey team in action! And they kicked it off in spectacular fashion with a 17-0 blowout over Mount Holyoke. 200+ people in the stands plus another 200 viewers tuning in to the livestream saw four players score hat tricks (Sam Marson, Molly Graham, Charlotte Kline, Allie Chamberlain). Molly Graham from Sydney, Australia led the team with 9 points (5G, 4A).
- Not to be outdone, our men’s team also did well, maintaining a 2:2 record. Forward Cody Liguori has been a standout on the ice with hat tricks in two consecutive games.
- The Woodsmen’s Team concluded the fall season on home turf with a 2nd place finish for the Men’s 1 team, and 3rd place for Women’s 1. The team will continue practicing through the winter in pursuit of Spring Meet, the Super Bowl of lumberjack sports.
- A personal note: apparently some people didn’t know that I was that strange looking lumberjack, together with my little lumberdog, handing out candy on Halloween. I have a new-found respect for all the men out there with beards! And thanks to the Woodmen’s Team for lending me what felt like a 100-pound axe to legitimize my costume.
- Basketball is off to a solid start! Our men’s team hosted the season opener with a 96-65 win over Davis College, and the JV players finished opening weekend with a 1-1 record.
- Rugby concluded the season with a close 31-25 battle at Hamilton College. The PSC team dominated by younger players showed immense growth over the season.
- Men’s XC freshman Ray Durman finished 6th at the championship meet, earning the honor of joining the all-conference team.
- 31 people participated in the 26th Annual Pumpkin McMuffin 5K Run.
- The Alumni Bowling Tournament drew a dozen participants, one from the class of ’63.
- The registrar’s office launched a user-friendly course catalog that includes a feature to guide users through the requirements for each degree program.
- The Rock Wall has been hosting Kids Climbing Nights every Sunday free to kids and families looking to learn and try out rock climbing.
- 40+ community members have participated so far in the Learn-To-Swim program.
- Our new Trap Shooting team started off with a “Bang” with Seth Miller shooting 25 of 25.
- The Student Affairs team offered a number of great activities, often in partnership with others. While we can’t list all of them, this month includes:
- “In Their Shoes” with Stop! Domestic Violence, Inc. and “Sex Trivia” with Planned Parenthood of Northern New York.
- A Milkshake Bar in the St. Regis in collaboration with DECA.
- The Hispanic Heritage Month Theme Dinner co-sponsored with Sodexo Dining Services.
- Fright Fest at the Six Flags Great Escape.
- Open Mic night in St. Regis Student Lounge (a continuing thanks to Curt Stager for leading this – it’s a great tradition).
- Paul Smith’s College Center for Sustainability received a $56,000 grant from National Grid for the instillation of 5 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (10 ports total) on campus. The instillation of electric vehicle charging Stations support the colleges goal of Carbon Neutrality, as well as achieving strategic planning goals for supporting sustainable transpiration on campus.
- Improvements have been made to better integrate our Admissions and Student Information databases, making it easier for the institution to manage and use data.
- Our Admissions Counselors made almost 300 visits in October, traveling around New York State, across the country and abroad to promote PSC and recruit new students. The counselors are giving classroom presentations, visiting high school guidance offices, attending college fairs, conventions, and holding coffee hours. In addition, Elyse Relyea conducted a full day FAFSA student workshop and parent presentation at Massena High School.
- Unibuddy is now live on our website! This platform is an interactive space for prospective students to connect with current students, find student bios and blogs, and reach us via a 24/7 chat feature.
- The Financial Aid section of our website has been updated with the 2020/2021 Cost Schedule and a new Net Price Calculator designed to provide prospective students with estimated net costs.
- Sonya Stein was selected to serve on the National Association of Student Financial Aid Association’s (NASFAA) Rapid Response Network to provide timely feedback on proposed legislation, media requests, and other time-sensitive issues.
- Eleven Alumni Board Members participated in Alumni Board Meetings, along with association members representing the Greek Alumni Chapter, the newly forming Veterans Chapter, and FFA Club Advisors.
- Our student Phonathon team raised nearly $11,000 in week one of this annual fundraising campaign.
Upcoming Events of Note
- November 4: 22 Too F#*%in’ Many ~ Mission 22 veteran’s fundraiser
- November 6: Middle Eastern Dinner
- November 6: CommUnity Dialogue
- November 7: Smitty Lecture Series: American Gunpower: Race, Space, And Extraction
- November 8: Transfer Visit Day / Overnight Visit
- November 9: Admissions Open House
- November 15-16: Women in Leadership Weekend (Admissions event)
- November 21: Thanksgiving Lunch
- November 27-29: Thanksgiving Holiday Break
