Marketing Students Attend NJ Advertising Club Career Day

Caldwell College Marketing students and Marketing Professor Dr. Tom Keen attended the New Jersey Advertising Club’s Career Day on April 6 at Montclair State University. The students heard from a number of communications professionals including talk show host Steve Adudato. They attended breakout sessions on Marketing, Advertising, Creative Services, Public Relations and Media. The students had the opportunity to network with professionals and learn about the different Communications and Marketing career options.

COMMUNICATION ARTS & MEDIA RELATIONS TAKE HONORS IN GARDEN STATE ASSOCIATION JOURNALISTS AWARDS

The Communication Arts Department and the Media Relations Office took prizes once again in the Garden State Journalists Memorial Awards.

“Training the New Autism Specialists” long form web video took 1st place and “Sara” featuring music student Sara Goodman took 2nd place—both in the ENG Feature Division.

Colette M. Liddy, Professor John T. Yurko, Professor Bob Mann, Nick Amabile and graduating senior Jonathan Cabral will receive their honors at an awards ceremony on May 20.

Caldwell College Professor Speaks at Leadership Conference

Education Professor John R. McIntyre, Ed.D. presented a workshop at the 2010 Annual Leadership Conference at Montclair State University on Friday, April 16. He spoke on “Using Collective Teacher Efficacy to Evaluate School Organization and Student Achievement.” This year’s conference focused on the ways in which leadership practices in various organizations are affected by the contemporary definition of diversity.

Professor Susman Gives Several Poetry Readings

Maxine Susman, Ph.D., English Department chaired a panel and read her poems on "History and Poetry" at the New Jersey College English Association Annual Conference at Seton Hall University on March 27. She also gave a poetry workshop, "Writing the Body," at the Highland Park Public Library on March 4, a poetry reading at Nighthawk Books in Highland Park on March 26, and a reading at the US 1 Worksheets book launch at Princeton Public Library on March 28.

Campus Connect Training Sessions: A Message from the Counseling Office and Health Services

Robin Davenport of the Counseling Center and Cindy Striano of Health Services are announcing additional sessions of Campus Connect Training. Campus Connect is a two-hour gatekeeper training course for suicide prevention. It trains college staff members to be gatekeepers and to recognize the signs of suicide while offering practical information on interacting with a student who is at risk for suicide. Three previous sessions were conducted in the fall and were well received. There has been continued interest and requests for additional training sessions.

Acknowledging that all college staff members play a crucial role in the identification of students who are in crisis, this training is open to all college staff. The training sessions are two hours in length and will be offered in May and June. Any interested staff member should notify Paulette Banko at PBanko@caldwell.edu . Due to the nature of the training session, seating is limited to 20 people per session.

The trainings will be held on:

• Tuesday May 18th from 10am-12pm
• Tuesday June 8th from 1pm-3pm
• Wednesday June 9th from 10am-12pm

For any questions regarding the training, please contact Cindy Striano at cstriano@caldwell.edu or ext. 3319 or Robin Davenport at rdavenpo@caldwell.edu or ext. 3905.

Music Major Honored With Lions Club Award

Music major Sarah Osterkorn was honored with the Harrison Lions Club award for the Young Adult Citizen of the Year. A resident of Harrison, New Jersey, Sarah has contributed a great deal to the community and to most of the organizations that the Lions support. She has been involved with Holy Cross Church, the Harrison Drama Club and the Girl Scouts. She was honored on Friday, April 16 at the Harrison East Newark Elks Pride of the Pride dinner.

Graduate Student from Netherlands Learns about American Music Education at Caldwell College

Marion Goes, a graduate student from the Netherlands, visited Caldwell College from February 27 to March 5 to observe classes in music conducting and wind ensemble. She also presented to the MENC club on the differences between American music education and the system in the Netherlands, where there are no ensembles in public schools. Goes was hosted by the College and its ensemble-in-residence, Gramercy Brass Orchestra. She also visited fifteen high schools and middle schools in New Jersey and New York to watch band rehearsals and group lessons.

Psychology – Applied Behavior Analysis

It has been a busy semester for the ABA faculty! Patrick Progar was co-author of two recently published papers. One was in the journal Behavior Analyst, entitled, “The persistence-strengthening effects of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior: An illustration of bi-directional translational research” and the second was “Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior increases resistance to extinction: Clinical demonstration, animal modeling, and clinical test of one solution” in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Pat also recently served as a judge for a research poster competition at the annual Autism NJ conference in Atlantic City.

Tina Sidener was recently appointed as an editorial board member of the prestigious journal Behavior Analysis in Practice. Tina was also first author on a study recently accepted for publication entitled “Effects of single versus multiple verbal operant arrangements on the acquisition of mands and tacts in preschool children” in the journal The Analysis of Verbal Behavior.

Sharon Reeve was an invited speaker at the Virginia Association for Behavior Analysis's annual conference where she presented her research on teaching social skills to children with autism. She also presented a workshop with her graduate students for Autism New Jersey concerning the use of technology to teach individuals with autism.

Tina, Pat, Sharon, and Ken Reeve also had seven combined research studies, co-authored with their ABA graduate students, accepted for publication in the journals Education and Treatment of Children, Behavioral Interventions, and Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Ruth DeBar recently appointed as an editorial board member of The Journal of Behavior Assessment and Intervention in Children. She also co-authored two recently published research articles: one concerning augmentative communication devices and the other concerning the Picture Exchange Communication System. In May, Ruth will Chair a symposium entitled “The Effectiveness of Choice in Assessment and Intervention of Children With Autism and Related Disorders” at the annual conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) in San Antonio Texas. Ruth and the other ABA faculty will also be presenting over a dozen talks and research posters with their ABA graduate students at the ABAI conference.

Student Development Center receives Grant to Prevent Alcohol Use

The New Jersey Higher Education Consortium (NJHEC) has awarded Caldwell College a $24,000.00 grant for a project to prevent and reduce alcohol abuse. Entitled, “P.A.T.H.S.: Task Force for the Promotion of an Alcohol-free Campus Environment and the Healthy Choices of Students, grant funds will be used to establish an AOD (alcohol and other drug use) Task Force. This Task Force will consist of various staff, faculty, and student leaders who will be responsible for evaluating the College’s drug/alcohol policy and identifying and assessing activities available to students during unstructured time periods. Student leaders will play a key role in assisting the Task Force in establishing an alcohol-free gathering space for students that encourages healthy socializing and community building. Beginning in the fall, the Student Development Center hopes to kick off the “Paths to a Natural High Campaign,” which will enable the College to offer students some engaging, alcohol-free events that provide an attractive alternative to drinking activities. A website will be created that promotes this Campaign by advertising alcohol-free opportunities on and off campus. Funding will also be used to procure “Alcohol -Wise,” an online course that was created to change campus culture, educate college students about the harmful effects of alcohol, and act as a preventative tool for future alcohol-related violations. This initiative will be led by Sister Deborah Lynch, Sandy Rock, and Robin Davenport.

“Colleges across the nation have struggled over how to address the significant problem of alcohol abuse among college students,” said Robin Davenport, Director of the Student Development Center. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to create a campus culture that reinforces a student’s decision to choose alcohol-free activities that will enhance his or her personal development.”

Funding for this project is provided by the United States Department of Education.

Davenport Invited to Speak to the NJ Assembly Higher Education Committee

Robin Davenport, Director of Counseling and the Student Development Center, appeared before the New Jersey Assembly’s Higher Education Committee in Trenton, NJ on March 4. She was invited to speak on the increased need for mental health services at institutions of higher education. Her presentation also included recommendations for the improvement of existing mental health services.

Professor Manchester Presents at Philosophical Conference

Philosophy Department Assistant Professor Eric Manchester presented a paper at the Wesleyan Philosophical Society (WPS) conference on March 4. This year’s conference, which was held at Azusa Pacific University near Los Angeles, CA, dealt with issues of social justice and economics. Dr. Manchester’s paper was entitled “Modernity, Personhood, and the Displacement of the Divine with the Economy.” The WPS consists mainly of scholars from Methodist and related traditions who are interested in the thought of John Wesley and its applications to contemporary philosophical concerns.