This is the time of year we are focused on enrollment – making sure returning students are registering for next year and attracting new students to the college. As you all know, the recent State legislation has created a lot of uncertainty as there are real limitations and many unanswered questions. What we do know is that while the “free tuition” offer is compelling, there are significant caveats and restrictions that limit the accessibility of the program. This NYT article provides a great summary. Any PSC students who are considering a transfer because of “free tuition” are strongly encouraged to contact the financial aid office. We will work with you individually and objectively to determine how the program might work for you.
Excelsior is also creating uncertainty with prospective students. Fall 2017 enrollment is currently tracking about 5% lower than Fall 2016. But, there is great interest in PSC. We had 135 students and their families on campus for Accepted Student’s Day, many of whom placed their deposits that day. Junior Preview Day saw over 30 students and families in attendance. And more than 18,000 high school DECA students had the opportunity to discover PSC through our conference exhibit.
April is always a great and busy month for campus activities; wow! See below for a summary of what our community has been up to (all I can say is WOW)!
- The weekend of April 21-22 was absolutely amazing. In case some of you missed all/some of the activities – below is a recap:
- Admitted students day: We hosted about 135 prospective students together with almost 500 friends and family on campus on Friday and Saturday. They were impressed with great sessions that highlighted our campus and great programs. Many decided on the spot that PSC is the right place for them – we will welcome them as new students in August.
- Woodmen’s Team Spring Meet Conclave: Paul Smith’s hosted almost 400 athletes and coaches and 1,000 spectators over two days at the Spring Meet Conclave. Our college won all three divisions – the first time in history any school has done that! Jesse Cutting won the men’s Stihl Timbersports Northeast Qualifier, which will launch his professional lumberjack career in Milwaukee, WI this summer. Emily DeYoung won the women’s Stihl Timbersports Northeast Qualifier and will be heading to Cherry Valley, NY in June for the Women’s Stihl Timbersports Series.
- March for Science and SAMfest: Almost 160 people (and 6 dogs) participated in the march from our main gate to the VIC, where they joined approximately 300 people at a great daylong series highlighting science, art and music. The regional art community had over 40 pieces on display at the gallery, and lunch was prepared and served by our culinary students.
- Pancake Breakfast at the Sugarbush: And, speaking of food, our culinary students and faculty served approximately 1,500 pancakes, 2,000 slices of bacon 1,200 sausage links, and more than 1,600 pastries. Many people from the local community, as well as alumni, faculty, staff and current and prospective students enjoyed the great food and horse-drawn wagon rides.
- Holy Shitake workshop: The ADK Mycology Club surpassed the 1,000 mushroom log mark by inoculating almost 200 new logs. Special thanks to the more than 25 volunteers and mushroom farmer wannabes who participated from the local community.
- Veterans’ Resource Center: More than 50 guests attended a dedication of the center. A representative from Assemblyman Jones office attended, and Congresswoman Stefanik shared a resolution she introduced on the House floor highlighting our support for our veterans. A plaque was unveiled in remembrance of Chris Tuttle, Air Force veteran, Paul Smith’s College alumnus class of 1997, and 2000 (first four year graduating class), and late husband of Heather Tuttle.
- Four Paul Smith’s College students participated in the North Country Regional Business Plan Competition Friday, April 5, all taking home top-3 finishes in the entrepreneurship event.
- 115 students, faculty and staff attended the first annual Student Leadership Awards Banquet. 50 students and two employees were recognized for campus leadership, student involvement and academic excellence. John D’Adamo, class of 1981, was the featured speaker.
- The PSC Chapter of The Wildlife Society beat Penn State in the first round of the quizbowl at the northeast TWS conclave in PA. Ross Conover along with students enjoyed a weekend of workshops, networking, and camaraderie.
- The Craft Beverage event presented by DECA provided over 70 students, faculty and staff the opportunity to sample product and learn about the industry from six different producers of beer, spirits, soft drinks, tea, cider and coffee.
- 36 people attended a Veteran’s Resource Workshop hosted at PSC.
- Randall Swanson and students conducted their outdoor arbor practicum at St. John’s in the Wilderness Church, accomplishing weeks’ worth of grounds improvement in two hours. Faculty, students and staff who are here during the summer are welcome to attend the church’s summer services.
- Jorie Favreau and her S-STEM students were invited to present their research at a meeting on mitigating bird-window strikes that was hosted by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in PA. Sean Regalado brought a different group of S-STEM students to the Northeast Natural History Conference in CT where they presented their S-STEM research. Both S-STEM trips were funded by the S-STEM grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
- Dan Kelting submitted a $1 million grant to the NSF to continue our SSTEM program and to conduct research on student success intervention.
- Mel Johnson and Rob Craig attended the US-IALE (Landscape Ecology) conference in Baltimore, where Mel was a student presentation judge and Rob presented his poster “Assessing community and leaf level traits in subalpine meadows using hyperspectral analysis and a partial least squares regression model.”
- Dan Kelting gave an invited presentation at Union College as part of their Adirondack Waterways Speaker Series, and another invited presentation to the St Lawrence County Environmental Management Commission on Ecology & Management of Aquatic Invasive Species.
- Sean Regalado presented AWI research on invasive species prediction at the Northeastern Natural History Conference in Connecticut.
- The journal, “Quaternary Research”, has accepted a paper by Curt Stager and student, Ken Alton, on their study of a sediment core from a lake in Cameroon. They found that the lake’s unique fish species evolved rapidly, and that the lake itself might have formed by an asteroid impact.
- David Press and Curt Stager completed a graphic novel about the research that Curt and his students have been doing on Walden Pond, blending their story with those of Thoreau and Emerson.
- The TRiO-SSS Program concluded the first full year of the Thriving Project. Approximately 50% of the enrolled participants (83/165) completed the Thriving Certificate Course, the Character Strengths Assessment, the Financial Thriving Survey, and/or engaging in thriving practices during the spring semester. April highlights include:
- A financial incentive raffle drawing was conducted on 4/20 for $420 (getting high on celebrating a thriving approach to life).
- Tom Huber presented a workshop titled “Shining a Light on a Thriving Approach for Student Success” at the spring conference of the New England Opportunity Association in Portland, ME. Kristina Castine and Lydia Wright were also in attendance.
- Curt Stager published a New York Times op-ed that describes a national misinformation campaign aimed at science educators. He also had an article published in the May-June issue of Adirondack Life, “Hidden Heritage” that looks at Native Americans in the ADKs.
- Kelly Cerialo was featured in a Lake Placid News article featuring EAT ADK restaurant week and the valuable work our college community performs. The EAT ADK Restaurant Week is happening now through Thursday – don’t miss it!
- The Emmy-award-winning sports reporter Jeané Coakley was announced as the keynote speaker for this month’s commencement ceremonies.
- The Counseling Center partnered with the Adirondack Center for Writing, Planned Parenthood of North Country and North Country Community College to host a series of events in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month:
- Listen Festival with Spoken Word Poetry Performances
- Stress Free Zone activities to help eliminate stress.
- Denim Day in support of Rape Victims
- Take Back the Night and Candle Light Vigil event
- Reiko Rexilius and Abigail Bailey participated in a HIPAA compliance seminar.
- The basketball program hosted a successful Community Fun Day with over 20 families and 40 children.
- The bowling team won its fourth consecutive Conference championship, and the fifth title in six seasons. Taylor West won the men’s individual title for the second year in a row, while senior Chris Beckwith earned the runner up spot. Jessica Korkemaz won for the women, while Kalei Fenn (last year’s winner) placed second.
- The women’s rugby team placed third in the NSCRO National Qualifier held in Plattsburgh, while the men’s team placed fifth.
- Our annual spring capstones ran over two days, Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29. More than 110 students presented their research in Culinary, Ecological Restoration, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality, Recreation, Sustainability and Wildlife Management in seven venues all across campus: From lectures in the VIC auditorium to a series of poster session in the Library and Freer Hall. Capstones provide students an opportunity to summarize their learning from four year at PSC, and the college an opportunity to assess whether students have met our learning goals. As one student presenter shouted out at the end of a poster session on Saturday afternoon “Seniors, now we get to graduate!”
- Spring cleanup is underway across campus. Big shout out to the facilities team for their work!
To our graduating students, congratulations! We look forward to seeing you and your friends/families at commencement. To everyone else, have a great summer and we will see you in the fall.
Cathy
UPCOMING EVENTS OF NOTE
May 5-6: Board of Trustees meeting
May 6: Commencement!
May 25-28: Certified Interpretive Guide training course
June-August: Summer courses include Exploring the Culinary World, ADK Woodsmen’s School, ADK Field Ecology, Environmental Leadership Academy, School of Logging, and upper-division sciences. More details
