Press Releases, November 2006
Nov 3, 2006
HCC offers free personal skills assessments to employers
HOLYOKE – From now until December 15, area employers are invited to take part in a free employee assessment program, sponsored by Holyoke Community College and ACT, Inc.
The free assessments will help companies evaluate employee performance, talent, and job fit. To sign up or to receive more information, please call Elaine at Holyoke Community College (413) 552-2112.
These assessments take employees approximately 90 minutes to complete; supervisors will need another 15 minutes for each employee tested. Testing can be done at the High Stakes Testing Center–located in HCC’s Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development–or they can be completed in the workplace via the Internet.
The three assessments will help companies acquire the best human resources for the job, to develop their talents, and to avoid negative consequences. The performance assessment can be used by employers to screen out less-than-desirable candidates – people who are more likely to engage in counterproductive activities such as theft, absenteeism, violation of work rules, and other behavioral traits. The talent assessment measures a set of 13 personality characteristics that are related to key work outcomes. The job fit assessment measures work-relevant interests and values to match applicants to specific jobs within the organization.
Employers participating in the assessment validation will receive free cumulative reports on the employees who have participated.
A longtime partner with Holyoke Community College, ACT, Inc. hopes to launch these three assessments to the public in 2007. The company has asked HCC to assist in validating the assessments by offering them to companies in the Pioneer Valley.
*******************************************************************************************
Nov 9, 2006
La ayuda financiera consiste en dar becas, prestamos educacionales y trabajos parciales a los estudiantes, con el fin de ayudarlos con los costos de la educacion.
***Estas….
(1)Para buscar otras ayudas finencieras en la red, usted puede usar las computadoras localizadas frente a la Oficina de Ayuda Financiera de HCC.
(2)Oficina del Departamento de Educación, con programas de ayudas financieras para estudiantes.
(2a)
Cómo investiga acerca de ayuda financiera.
Cómo solicita ayuda federal estudiantil
Cómo paga su préstamo estudiantil.
(3)« Smart Student TM » Guia de Ayuda Financiera para Estudiantes.
(4) La ayuda financiera para estudiantes que esten tomando menos de seis créditos por semestre está limitada a becas Pell, y son para estudiantes con necesidad extrema
(5) Las ayudas financieras para las sesiones de verano del 2007, normalmente provienen de la beca Federal Pell. Estas ayudas son para estudiantes elegibles que no utilizaron todos sus fondos (fondos para dos semestres, tiempo completo) durante el año 2006-2007.
(6) Si va a recibir un préstamo estudiantil, complete los cuestionarios requeridos y el formulario de promesa de pago.
********************************************************************************
Nov 15, 2006
Public invited to poetry reading at HCC
HOLYOKE - The public is invited to hear two renowned poets read their works on Wednesday, December 6, at 11 a.m. in the Taber Gallery of Holyoke Community College, 303 Homestead Avenue, Holyoke, MA 01040.
Fulbright scholar Graciela Maglia will join Maria Luisa Arroyo in an hour-long reading, sponsored by the Authors @ HCC series. Light refreshments will be served. Admission is free.
Originally from Argentina, Maglia has accepted a year-long appointment at HCC sponsored by the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence program. She is a tenured professor at the Instituto Caro y Cuervo in Columbia, where she specializes in literary analysis. Maglia is also the founder and director of the Center of Managerial Communication at the College of Advanced Studies in Administration in Bogotá, Colombia. Last summer, she defended her doctoral dissertation, which focuses on cultural identity versus national identity in post-colonial Caribbean poetry, at the Sorbonne in Paris.
Born in Manati, Puerto Rico, Maria Luisa Arroyo was raised in the North End of Springfield. She is an adjunct faculty member at HCC, a poet, translator, a single mother and a transition counselor for the CARE Center in Holyoke. She is also a doctoral student in Germanic languages at Harvard University. Her poems have been published in a number of journals including CALYX, The Women’s Review of Books, and The Bilingual Review.
********************************************************************************
Nov 15, 2006
Suzanne Gordon and Bernice Buresh to speak at HCC on December 11
HOLYOKE - Renowned journalists Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon will come to Holyoke Community College on December 11 to discuss their book “From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public.”
The public is invited to this free lecture, which will be held in the Frost Building, room 309, from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m. The event is sponsored by the National Student Nurses Association and Holyoke Community College.
Gordon and Buresh will focus on an ironic twist that they have noted in their work as journalists: despite the rich body of knowledge that nurses bring to their profession, the media tends to quote only the physicians when covering medical issues. Their talk on December 11 will focus on how nurses can develop communication skills that will enhance their careers. While the lecture is geared toward nursing students and nurses, the skills are applicable to professionals in other fields as well.
As a journalist, Gordon is widely known for her work in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The Nation and Atlantic Monthly. She is also the author of six other books, including “Life Support: Three Nurses on the Front Lines” and “Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost-cutting, Media Stereotypes and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care.”
A former reporter and bureau chief for Newsweek, Buresh is an international lecturer on public communication and nursing. She has been on the faculty of Boston University, Brandeis University, and the University of Massachusetts Graduate School of Nursing. She is founder and past president of the Writer’s Room of Boston, Inc., and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Center for Nursing Advocacy.
********************************************************************************
Nov 17, 2006
Hotline available for adult learners
Massachusetts has a free statewide Adult Literacy Hotline, funded by the Department of Education, that provides information and referrals to adult learners looking for programs. Available seven days a week, the free hotline is (800) 447-8844; TTY: (800) 956-8401
The Massachusetts Adult Literacy Hotline has information on close to 300 free Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs across Massachusetts. Callers will get the names and phone numbers of all local programs, including those available through Holyoke Community College. They may also visit the searchable online database at www.sabes.org/hotline.
To find out more about the ABE and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs at HCC, you may also call the SABES program at (413) 552-2586.
********************************************************************************
Nov 22, 2006
La Guagua P’al College to be unveiled Nov. 28
HOLYOKE – A specially-designed bus has been commissioned by Holyoke Community College to transport students to and from the campus beginning with the spring 2007 semester.
The bus, (dubbed the HCC Express – La Guagua P’al College) will begin making its rounds on January 22, 2007, but it will be officially unveiled to the public during a special ceremony on Tuesday, November 28 at 9:10 a.m. at Holyoke’s Veterans Park.
Invited guests for this event include Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan, Holyoke School Superintendent Dr. Eduardo B. Carballo, and HCC Board of Trustees: Ned Barowsky, Douglas Bowen, James F. Carey, Helen Caulton-Harris, John J. Driscoll, James Lavelle, Pamela Murray, Heriberto Flores, Kevin Jourdain, and David Simm.
Beginning with the spring 2007 semester, the 20-seat La Guagua bus will transport students from the Elmwood, Cherry Street, Oakdale, Churchill, Springdale, and downtown sections of the city. The free transportation service will run on the half-hour from 5 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It will be wheelchair accessible.
The brightly colored bus has been specially designed to reflect the college’s successful billboard campaign, which features the slogan “Encuentra lo mejor de ti!” (“Find the best in you”). A photo of the bus and a draft bus schedule is attached to this release.
HCC officials hope that the new bus will encourage residents to take advantage of the college’s many nighttime offerings. For more information, the public is invited to visit www.espanol.hcc.edu or call (413) 552-2000.
********************************************************************************
November 22, 2006
HOLYOKE - The history-making success of the Holyoke Community Colleges’ Gift of Opportunity Campaign was the subject of a feature article in the October 27 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Officially launched in 2004, the campaign secured an unprecedented $5.2 million, including a $500,00 commitment from the college’s alumni.
The article, entitled “Coming to a Community College Near You” highlights the efforts of Alumni Director Joanna Brown in securing the largest-ever commitment from a Massachusetts community college alumni group. Chronicle reporter Ben Gose points out that Brown’s triumph disproves the conventional wisdom that says successful community college graduates will tend to make their philanthropic donations to the four-year and graduate-level institutions that awarded them terminal degrees.
That theory was thrown out the window early on, Gose points out, when HCC alumnus and Yankee Candle Company founder Michael Kittredge made a $1 million contribution to his alma mater. That donation helped HCC to build the business center that now bears Kittredge’s name. After graduating from HCC, Kittredge briefly attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, an institution which awarded him an honorary doctorate, but, the article points out “the gift to Holyoke is by far his biggest to any college.”
Other hallmarks of the Gift of Opportunity Campaign, not mentioned in the article, include:
********************************************************************************
November 28, 2006
HOLYOKE –Wilbraham Town Administrator William Fogarty has been selected as the new Vice President of Administration and Finance for Holyoke Community College.
Announcement of the appointment came at the November 28 HCC Board of Trustees meeting, where Fogarty’s nomination was officially approved by a unanimous vote. Fogarty will begin working at the college on January 16, 2007.
The HCC appointment brings to an end Fogarty’s 15-year tenure as the Wilbraham town administrator. Previously, the Ohio native held positions as the budget director for the city of Malden, the budget analyst for Fairfax County, Virginia, the lobbyist for the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the legislative aide for three different congressmen.
“Bill is well-versed in finance, budgeting, and the other varied areas for which the vice president has responsibility,” said HCC President William F. Messner. “I look forward to welcoming him to the college community.”
Fogarty takes the position vacated last summer by Michael Giampietro, who assumed a position at Bay Path College. HCC Comptroller Ted Leth-Steensen had taken over as HCC’s interim vice president while the Search Committee screened applicants. Leth-Steensen will now return to his usual duties.
Fogarty, his wife Gayle, and two children Kevin, 17, and Patricia, 13 live in Wilbraham.
“I’m looking forward to learning about HCC and to playing an active role at the college,” said Fogarty. “This will be an exciting career move.”
********************************************************************************
November 29, 2006
HCC theatre troupe attracts attention of Kennedy Center theatre festival
HOLYOKE - Reviewers from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) have informed the Holyoke Community College Players that the troupe’s recent production of Necessary Targets is under consideration as an entry in the 2007 New England festival which will be held at Fitchburg State College January 30 – February 4.
The announcement puts the HCC theatre troupe in elite company, according to KCACTF Region I Chair Kelly Morgan.
“It’s rare to have a community college production held for consideration. You are up against theatre companies from schools like Boston University and Emerson,” he said. “We are only considering two community college productions from New England.” The other two-year school in contention is Dean College, a private institution in Franklin, Mass.
A decision on Necessary Target ’s status as an entrant in the 2007 competition will be made by the New England selection team on December 15. Meanwhile the HCC thespians are reveling in the well-deserved limelight. This the first time the theatre group has been under consideration by the Kennedy Center festival.
The KCACTF reviewers also nominated three Necessary Targets actors for the National Irene Ryan Scholarship auditions: Carolyn Nemier (from West Springfield) Trina Doode-Petersen (from Palmer), and L. K. O’Day (from Holyoke). Those students have already been invited to the New England festival in Fitchburg.
Morgan said that another selection team will attend the Fitchburg festival to decide which productions should be forwarded to the national festival, which will be held in Washington, DC in April.
Written by playwright Eve Ensler, Necessary Targets tells the story of two American women, a Park Avenue psychiatrist and a human rights worker, who are profoundly changed after they go to Bosnia to help women confront their memories of war.The play was originally performed at HCC on November 9, 10, 11, and 12. It was also staged at Elms College on November 17, 18, and 19.
********************************************************************************
November 29, 2006
The 40th anniversary season of the symphony’s annual winter holiday concert
President Messner and the Holyoke Community College chorale will join the Holyoke Civic Symphony in celebrating the 40th anniversary season of the symphony’s annual winter holiday concert. The concert will be held on Sunday, December 10 at 3 p.m. in the Leslie Phillips Forum and is free to the public.
Conductor David Kidwell will lead performers in pieces such as Wolfgang, Frochliche Geburtstag, a tribute to Anna Maria Mozart; Overture to Don Giovanni, K. 527, Concertino for Clarinet. Messner will narrate the popular holiday tale “Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Ellen Cogen, music instructor, will direct the HCC Chorale in several holiday selections.
********************************************************************************