SPRING 2009
What's new along Appian Way
Robert P. Hubbard's Extraordinary Gift
Hubbard, who came to know Keene State while visiting two grandnieces who attended the College, has been collecting art for more than 40 years. The Hubbard collection includes paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture by a variety of artists, including Elaine De Kooning, Albert Hirschfeld, William Hogarth, Francisco de Goya, N. C. Wyeth, and Aronson.
"The Singer is a welcoming symbol for all who visit the Redfern Arts Center," said KSC President Helen Giles-Gee. "Robert Hubbard's generous gift will enhance the cultural experience of the campus and Keene communities and provide educational opportunities in the visual arts for our staff and students."
According to Maureen Ahern, director of the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery, the Hubbard collection offers a variety of styles and artists, and many images can be placed in historical context. "There is a wonderful colored lithograph by Alfred Howland, an American artist born in 1838, of a Fourth of July parade in Walpole, New Hampshire," she said.
"There is also an etching by Leroy Neiman, an American artist born in 1921, of P. J. Clarke's saloon in New York City, where many famous celebrities hung out in the 1960s. It was the setting for the movie The Lost Weekend." Thanks to Mr. Hubbard's lifelong love of art and his generosity, Keene State's students will be able to study those world-class works, up close and personal.
Introducing Maryann Lindberg
Keene State welcomes Maryann LaCroix Lindberg, who was named Vice President for Advancement after a national search. Her first day at Keene State was January 5. She has more than 25 years of experience in development and served most recently as the executive director of the Bloomsburg University Foundation and as vice president for First Side Partners, a development and campaign-planning consulting firm serving higher education and other organizations.
"Ms. Lindberg brings with her a strong portfolio of experience and proven leadership as chief development officer," said KSC President Helen Giles Gee. "Her commitment and vision in this important work will benefit Keene State College greatly, from this Centennial year well into the future."
Lindberg will head the Advancement division, which includes the offices of Alumni and Parent Relations, College and Media Relations, Development, and Online Communications. She holds a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University and an MBA from Penn State University. She is a certified fund-raising executive and has served as both president and member of the Planned Giving Council of Central Pennsylvania and various chapters of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Her husband, Bob, will be joining her in Keene later in the year. Their son, Erik, is a freshman in high school. Daughter Signe is a college freshman in Pennsylvania. Together, they have three dogs, love the outdoors, and look forward to meeting the Keene State community.
New Major in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Keene State College is pleased to announce a new baccalaureate degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The interdisciplinary undergraduate Holocaust and Genocide Studies major is currently accepting students for the 2009-10 academic year.
The Holocaust and Genocide Studies curriculum combines historical study with an interdisciplinary exploration of the Holocaust and other genocidal events, incorporating film, literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, religious studies, women's studies, and other offerings. With an understanding of such issues as prejudice, discrimination, and racism, students master the skills needed to analyze contemporary political situations, think critically about ethical responsibility, and respond to injustice.
"These skills are at the heart of a liberal arts education," said Cohen Center Director Dr. Henry Knight. "In a world still tormented by mass murder, studying the Holocaust offers an analytical framework that can help us understand ongoing global genocide."
Program graduates will be prepared to pursue careers in social and governmental service and for graduate studies in history and other postgraduate work, such as law. The Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies, recognized as a "center of excellence" by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, has an extensive collection of print and media resources. It fulfills founder Dr. Charles Hildebrandt's charge, "to remember … and to teach," through annual community programming and educational outreach activities.
Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame Inducts Six
In a special Centennial-year Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January, six Keene State athletes and coaches joined 79 other hall-of-famers. The new honorees, from three decades, are Bob Lund '75, "voice of the Owls" radio broadcaster and writer; Sean Kenny '86, two-time All-America soccer player; Lindsey Blood Prichard '00, a top softball pitcher for the Owls; David Stantial '03, men's basketball star; Mark Miller '03, 10-time All-America runner and four-time national champion; and Mary Proulx '03, 15-time All-America runner and five-time national champion.
The Matchmaker Scores a Hit
Faculty and students from the Theatre and Dance Department at Keene State College received multiple honors in the 41st New England Region I Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival held at Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, in January. The festival brings students and faculty together to see some of the area's strongest productions, participate in workshops, and compete in a variety of areas in theatrical performance, design, and production.
This year's student production of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, directed by PeggyRae Johnson, was invited to attend the festival, where it was received with great enthusiasm. Keene State was one of five New England colleges selected from the 116 adjudicated for inclusion in the festival. Professional and student critics of the productions gave The Matchmaker a unanimous thumbs-up. As one remarked, "From the moment one arrives at the theatre to the moment the play ended, the production dedicated itself tirelessly to the constant entertainment of its audience and … flourished magnificently."
Early Sprouts – the Book!
You've heard about Early Sprouts, the award-winning curriculum developed by Keene State educators to encourage preschoolers to eat their vegetables. The program, which won a Community Champion award from the U.S. Surgeon General last year, has expanded from its pilot gardens in the Child Development Center (CDC) to preschools and Head Start programs across New Hampshire. We've reported several times on the success of the curriculum, the cuteness of the little children who get excited about veggies, the tastiness of the recipes.
Now the creators of the program, Keene State faculty members Karrie Kalich (associate professor of health science), Dottie Bauer (professor of early childhood education), and Deirdre McPartlin (academic program coordinator for the CDC), have pulled all the elements together into a large-format paperback book, Early Sprouts: Cultivating Healthy Food Choices in Young Children, published by Redleaf Press.
The book provides an inspiring and instructive 24-week curriculum filled with sensory activities and cooking experiences geared toward preschoolers. The recipes focus on six easy-to-grow vegetables – tomatoes, green beans, bell peppers, Swiss chard, carrots, and butternut squash – and will appeal to everyone in the family. Many businesses and charitable organizations in New Hampshire and beyond have supported this good work, and congratulations go out to everyone involved.
CDC Earns Recognition
Keene State College's Child Development Center has earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation's leading organization of early childhood professionals. The CDC's program is among the first in the nation to complete NAEYC's more rigorous accreditation process.
"We're proud to have earned the mark of quality from NAEYC, and to be recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards," said Ellen Ellsberg Edge, CDC director. "NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and best early learning experiences possible."
To earn NAEYC accreditation in the new system, the CDC went through an extensive self-study process, measuring the program and its services against the 10 new NAEYC Early Childhood Program standards and more than 400 related accreditation criteria. The program received NAEYC accreditation after an on-site visit by NAEYC assessors.
Chemistry Student Honored
Chemistry Student Honored KSC chemistry major Molly Croteau '10 was one of 15 students chosen to receive an American Chemical Society 2009 Student Affiliates Leadership Award at the ACS 2009 Leadership Institute in Fort Worth, Texas, in January. The award helps top students prepare for leadership opportunities in volunteer organizations and in their professional life. The award recognizes Molly's outstanding leadership potential based upon her involvement in the Chemistry Lyceum and in volunteer organizations in her home community of Ware, New Hampshire.
Fiscal Fitness and Frugality
Keene State, like everyone else, is feeling the pinch of this economy. The good news, according to James Draper, director of campus purchasing and contract services, is "we're already a lean operation." Frugality, that great New England virtue, is ingrained in the College culture. And, he says, "the nickel and dime stuff adds up."
And add up it does, often with more sustainable outcomes. For example:
- The new tray-free dining program in the Dining Commons means not only that the College isn't paying for trays, but also far less food is wasted (and, therefore, purchased), and less energy and chemicals are expended on washing those trays.
- The College is saving postage and printing by moving some publications and communications online. In a recent campus budget discussion, Jay Kahn, vice president for finance and planning, said the College had decreased its postal expenditures by 21 percent, even with postal rate increases.
- Using a molasses-based ice-melt instead of sand or salt means the College doesn't have the cleanup and maintenance costs associated with sand.
- The College has replaced many incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or LED bulbs that use less energy. Exit signs, for example, which remain on all the time, have gone from 40 watts to four, and there are hundreds of them on campus – 70 in the Redfern Arts Center alone. They need changing less often, and they attract less dust, so maintenance costs are lower. And, since they're cooler, they reduce the load on the cooling systems.
- Centralizing recycling in building hallways reduces the number of recycling containers that need to be purchased and maintained, reduces the time spent emptying those bins, and actually increases recycling substantially.
- The College is looking for other ways that costs can be trimmed, too, with a copier/fax/printer audit coming this summer to see what equipment is redundant, and a bottled water audit to see where filters might reasonably replace water coolers. Reducing deliveries of office supplies to campus from five days a week to three has trimmed a bit off those costs.
- Two new boilers (right) for the central heat plant are replacing three old ones (one dating to 1982 and two from 1965), according to Bill Sudsbury, clerk of the works for USNH. The new boilers have high-efficiency burners, which will increase steam output, which will turn a turbine to provide some of the campus's electricity. The new boilers will use less water than the old ones, with almost no waste steam.
- Two years ago, the College established a campus-wide Budget and Resource Council, co-chaired by Paul Striffolino, director of campus life, and Provost Mel Netzhammer. Recently, the Council has actively solicited campus suggestions on ways to save money. Anyone can contribute ideas online at www.keene.edu/admin/budgetchallenges (see the link for budget suggestion box). This website also features President Giles-Gee's letters and addresses to the campus updating all employees on the state of our fiscal fitness.
