Chris Duncan, associate professor of visual arts, has installed a
sculpture, “Lost World,” on the SUNY Ulster campus in Stone Ridge. The work is
part of the exhibit “Stepping Out(doors)” and is at
the main entrance to the campus. His eight-foot-high steel and wood structure
employs abstract gesture and representational elements to reflect on the nature
of the observed world. The show was organized by sculptor Iain Maichell in celebration of the college's 40th
anniversary. It also includes works by Mary Frank, Gillian Jagger,
Anthony Krauss, Grace Wapner and Maichell.
Jennifer Blessing honored by United Way
Jennifer Blessing, assistant director of human resources, received the 2004 Anthony
Salerno Volunteerism Award at “Community Celebration,” the annual
awards event sponsored by United Way.
Blessing was cited for her work since 1996 as a community investment volunteer.
Since 1998, she has been a member of the investment steering committee, where
she was the first volunteer to lead a committee in review of collaborative
projects.
Students on Washington term connecting with power
From the Term in Washington
comes a great photo of three Union students with some media heavyweights.
Pictured with Tim Russert, host of
Meet the Press, and Jim Handly, left,
anchor of NBC 4 Washington News are, from left, juniors Aaron Lazar, Travis
Albano and John Connair.
Lazar is working for Senator Joseph
Lieberman; Albano is working for the Securities and
Exchange Commission; and Connair is working for the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, a labor union.
“All of us have done really
unbelievable things here in Washington,”
writes Ross Feinstein '05, who missed the photo but sent it along to the Communications
Office. Feinstein is working for Congresswoman Nita Lowey (Westchester/Rockland).
“It's been a great experience and unbelievable networking that has taken place,”
he writes about the term. “It's hard work, though.”
Finance moving to North Colonnade
Due to an air problem in basement
offices in Feigenbaum Hall, 11 staff members from the Office of Finance will be moved indefinitely to North Colonnade. The offices moving on Thursday, June 3, include accounts payable, payroll, purchasing, and student loans.
The air quality at the lowest
level of Feigenbaum has been adversely affected by moisture and limited air
flow, according to Director of Facilities Loren Rucinski. This was determined
by air monitoring tests.
The cashier and student accounts
offices will remain in Feigenbaum Hall through Commencement. The week of June
14, student accounts staff will move to North Colonnade.
All relocated offices in North
Colonnade will be open Tuesdays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
for the summer. The cashier's office will be open Tuesdays through Fridays from
7:30 a.m. to noon until it is moved to North Colonnade, when full-day
operation will resume.
Phone numbers for all offices will
remain the same.
Work this summer at Feigenbaum
Hall will include waterproofing the foundation, rebuilding wall cavities, and
adding an air ventilation system. It is uncertain if the offices will move back
to Feigenbaum when the work is completed.
Emeritus Center fosters collaboration
George Williams
and Carl George are doing something they never
got to do before retirement. They're working together.
The collaboration between the
biologist (George) and the computer scientist was nurtured by the new Emeritus
Center, a sort of incubator in
which retired faculty share office space and ideas.
“We're here to serve,” said George
of his colleagues' desire to stay engaged with the College, noting that a
number of retirees collaborate with current faculty, teach classes and advise
students.
“Nothing is to be gained from
having our faculty suddenly retire,” said President
Roger Hull at a reception on Thursday at the center. “The institution has a
need and an obligation to keep the faculty who have contributed so much for so
many years.” Hull said he liked the
idea of retirees “getting together to share experiences” for the benefit of the
College.
The center, with offices for a
dozen retirees and room for more, is on the third floor of Old Chapel. Desks
are set in close proximity in two large rooms, an arrangement that George says
fosters camaraderie.
The quarters are also convenient
for a number of retired faculty who continue to teach, said James Underwood,
who meets students and advisees at the center. Faculty have kept their phone
numbers. Most are using the computers and some of the equipment they had before
retiring.
“We're probably the only college
our size that has given space to retired faculty,” said Dwight Wolf, associate
dean for academic services and planning, who coordinated the center along with
Dean of Faculty Christie Sorum and the retirees.
In the center are Bill Fairchild,
Carl George, Jim Underwood, Dick Shanebrook, George Williams, Twitty Styles,
Bob Sharlet, Margaret Schadler, Sigrid Kellenter, Ted Bick and Ken Schick.
“I was struck by [President Roger
Hull's] concern about helping faculty transition into retirement,” said
Underwood, busy with writing on Abraham Lincoln and William H. Seward and
speaking to alumni in Washington.
“It's been my life here on
campus,” said Sigrid Kellenter, who retired last year from teaching German.
Like some of her colleagues, she has audited a number of classes (including
beginning Spanish and world religion and music) and has plans to take others in
music theory, English literature and the social sciences.
Twitty Styles, who retired from
biology several years ago, has taken more than a dozen classes in “disciplines
I never had a chance to look at before.” He has been taking classes in visual
arts, art history and music, because he enjoys the “mental gymnastics.”
George, kept busy with his
research and with his work on behalf of the Association for the Protection of
the Adirondacks, calls his transition, “when I got my
new wheels.”
“Get it?” he asked the crowd at
the reception. “It's re-tire-ment.”