Even though most students have returned to their homes or summer jobs and new alums are preparing to enter the work force or graduate school, the campus is being used for summer programs and conference events. The recap below is a little shorter than normal reflecting the wind-down of our academic semester. After today, the next Day One will be published on September 1. I wish each and every one of you a memorable and happy summer!
- PSC held its 70th Commencement on Saturday, May 6, under the big tent with 176 students participating, including our first graduating class in the Ecological Restoration Program. The Commencement address was given by Ms. Jeané Coakley, SportsNet New York reporter and on air personality. Friend of the College Mr. Jean-Claude Marchand was awarded an honorary degree.
- Seasonal activities at the Adirondack Watershed Institute are in full swing, thanks to the hard work of Eric Holmlund and team for expanding their important partnership with DEC. Fifty-three stewards at 28 sites will be busy all summer checking for aquatic invasives, educating boaters, and doing a fine job representing PSC.
- Ongoing research by Lee Ann Sporn, students, and Adirondack Watershed Institute stewards has recently documented the first-ever instance of ticks carrying the agent that causes human babesiosis in the North Country. Don’t be alarmed! Just be aware, and take basic measures to protect yourself from tick bites.
- This is the time of year we tackle significant construction projects. This summer’s activity includes renovating the Freer science labs, Currier Hall bathrooms, many of our walkways, and a major dining hall upgrade!
- Curt Stager and students Matt “Spud” Spadoni and David Prosser collected sediment cores at “Thoreau’s Forgotten Pond” (White Pond, near Walden Pond, MA) to investigate the cause of recent water quality problems and the history of climate change in New England. This meaningful work has been translated to graphic-novel format in collaboration with David Press and Emilyann Cummings.
- A scholarly article by Mary Lou D’Allegro, A Case Study to Examine Three Peer Grouping Methodologies, will appear shortly in AIR Professional File. The article introduces novel statistical methods which can be used to identify peer institutions for benchmarking.
- Kate Glenn led the successful Northern Adirondack Regional Envirothon, bringing dozens (approximately 260) of environmentally-minded high school students to our campus from Clinton, Essex, Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties.
- John Wagenblatt PLS, a PSC alum and principal of the LRC Group, provided a laser scanning demonstration to the Surveying students and the Forestry students on campus. John and his employee, Ryker scanned the library, both inside and out, and then partially processed the data to create a 3D model and show the students the level of detail possible with laser scanning.
- Kudos to the Middle States Association (MSA) working groups on submitting their 2nd and final reports to the Standing Committee. The reports will be the basis of the College’s self-study. A first draft of the self-study will be available to the campus community for review this fall.
- The Capital District Picnic was a great success welcoming 30+ alumni and friends.
- The Admissions team is working hard to optimize the Fall 2017 class while combating the impact of the state’s new “free tuition” program.
- Our collaboration with North Country Community College to create an affordable transfer pathway is designed to help local students who could not otherwise attend to come to our college.
- The admissions office had roughly 8,500 individual interactions with prospective students in May.
- The Admissions team has started sending out congratulation video clips to every new accepted student.
- The student aid office has sent out 648 award letters – more than 33% higher than our volume at this time last year.
- Chris Griffin created some tasty hand rolls (big hit!) and joined Amy Tuthill to discuss the value of PSC to veterans at Fort Drum.
- Hannah Ackerman attended the New York State Transfer and Articulation Association – Annual Conference in Lake Placid.
- Ben Wood and Nick Papa awarded scholarships to the winners of the Northern Adirondack Regional Envirothon.
- PSC sponsored the YMCA Earth Service Awards. Matt Abrams represented the college at the awards ceremony at Camp Chingachgook in Lake George.
Upcoming Events of Note:
- June 2-4: Great Adirondack Birding Celebration
- June 3: Birds! art exhibit opens @ the VIC
- June 7: Atlanta area alumni & friends reception at Taco Mac in Sandy Springs, Georgia
- June 10: PA Smitties Chapter Picnic at Shikellamy State Park.
- June 17: Interpretive Paddling Tours and Naturalist Walks at the VIC begin
- June 26, July 10, July 17, August 6: SOAR Orientation dates
- July 11 – Aug 26: St. Regis Café and Palm Restaurant open
- July 28-30: Reunion 2017 (just 57 days away!)
Best,
Cathy
