The SUNY Adirondack monthly newsletter
IN THE NEWS
Ceremony marks full opening of Adirondack Hall
SUNY Adirondack held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 7 celebrating the full opening of Adirondack Hall on the Queensbury campus.
Adirondack Hall is home to the college’s state-of-the-art nursing and science facilities, Business Central, the Northwest Bay Conference Center and Continuing Education. The renovated and expanded building will help drive the Upstate New York economy through education and training, with a focus on science, health-care-related fields and the latest demands of local businesses.
Representatives from SUNY Adirondack and the regional business community came out for the event.
"This extraordinary building, this state-of-the-art facility, is an integration of the old and the new," Eunice Lewin of the SUNY Board of Trustees said in a presentation during the event. "This is where the future workforce will be educated for the entire state of New York.”
Welcome Back
The college held a "Get Schooled at the Reef" party as part of the Fall Welcome Back for faculty and staff on Sept. 14 in the Northwest Bay Conference Center in Adirondack Hall.
THINGS TO DO
- Novelists Sarah Kornfeld and September Williams will read and speak at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Visual Arts Gallery in Dearlove Hall as part of the Writers Project. The writers share the same publisher and the willingness to bend genres to pursue their vision. Williams’ “Chasing Mercury” has been described as a “romantic suspense memoir,” while one reviewer says of Kornfeld’s “What Stella Sees,”“Placing Sarah’s writing in the fantasy/magical realism genre seems too narrow a division for her unique talent.” Performing and working toward social justice together, these first-time novelists are building community and exploring how art creates our future reality. The event is free and open to the public.
- The Saratoga Seminar Series kicks off with Project Management Basics from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Sept. 20 at the Wilton Center. Presented by Mary Beth Imbarrato of MBI Consulting, the seminar will provide an overview of how to identify and manage project goals, objectives and risks; the purpose of a communication plan in managing projects; and factors to consider when developing project schedules. Registration is $15 per person, and registration fees for SUNY Adirondack students, faculty and staff are sponsored by Business Central. ( A SUNY Adirondack ID is required at check-in.) Advance registration is suggested online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/project-management-seminar-tickets-49647642435. The programming is presented by Business Central of SUNY Adirondack, Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, Small Business Development Center and Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
- In response to the nationwide opioid crisis, the SUNY Adirondack Counseling Department and the Council for Prevention have partnered to provide Narcan training and a community forum on addiction. The Council for Prevention will offer a training program on how to recognize and prevent a heroin overdose at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in Room 135 of Adirondack Hall on the Queensbury campus. The session will include instruction on administering Narcan, a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in overdose. Warren County District Attorney Jason Carusone will moderate a Hometowns vs. Heroin and Addiction Community Forum at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Northwest Bay Conference Center in Adirondack Hall. The event will include a discussion of the challenges of local drug use. All programming is free an open to the public, and no advance registration is required.
- Thomas Mowatt, associate professor of science, will present “Building Sustainable Communities” at 12:40 p.m. Sept. 26 in Miller Auditorium in Dearlove Hall as part of the College Lecture Series. The lecture series, sponsored by SUNY Adirondack’s Professional Development Committee, is free and open to the public. Each talk lasts about an hour and includes a question-and-answer session.
- The campus community is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Culinary Arts Center at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at 14 Hudson Ave. in downtown Glens Falls. The event will include a sneak peek of the school’s bake shop, kitchens, classrooms and Seasoned, the new student-run restaurant.
- A Student Poetry Slam is planned as part of 100 Thousand Poets for Change at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 in the Student Center. The event is open to any SUNY Adirondack student who would like to perform, and the public is invited to the free event.
- A 100 Thousand Poets for Change performance will be held 2:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in the Visual Arts Gallery in Dearlove Hall. The gathering will feature presentations by college faculty, area writers and local musicians. The event is free and open to the public.
RECENT OFFICE MOVES
- The Culinary program has moved from Bay Road to 14 Hudson in downtown Glens Falls.
- The Science Division faculty have moved from their temporary space in Adirondack Hall into their new, permanent location in Adirondack Hall.
- The Nursing Department has moved from Washington Hall into their new, permanent location in Adirondack Hall.
- The Counseling office has moved into their new, permanent location in Washington Hall (former Nursing Department Suite, north).
- Community Connections (Yasmin Lopez) has moved into its new, permanent location within the Counseling suite in Washington Hall (former Nursing Department Suite, south).
FOUNDATION
Stephen Conigliaro, known professional as Steve Harmon, was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Trailblazing alumni
SUNY Adirondack will induct five members to the Trailblazer Society, a new distinguished alumni program for the college. The Trailblazers will be honored at a networking luncheon on Sept. 28 on the SUNY Adirondack campus.
This year’s inductees are:
- Stephen Conigliaro came to Adirondack Community College from Flushing in 1974. A student of Professor LeRoy Aiken, he found great joy in the Radio and TV Broadcasting major and at the newly established WACC Radio station. After graduating, Conigliaro left ACC to work at WIPS Ticonderoga, then moved to WBZA in Albany. He later settled in Charlotte, N.C., where a position as a professional DJ came with a new professional name, Steve Harmon. Through the years, he has won numerous awards, including three Billboard Major Market Air Personality of the Year awards, CMA Awards and, most significantly, an induction in 2018 to the Country Radio Hall of Fame in Nashville.
- Sarah Ghent earned her AAS in Nursing from SUNY Adirondack in 1980 as an adult learner while raising her family, and she earned a Bachelor’s in Health and Human Services from Columbia Pacific University in San Rafael, California. Ghent continued a career in nursing that covered many diverse aspects of the profession. Her positions and roles included medical/surgical nurse at Staten Island University Hospital and Glens Falls Hospital; manager of a home care staffing agency on Staten Island; implementation of the first case management program on Staten Island for H.I.P. Plan of Greater New York; clinical review, quality improvement for Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield; and clinical reporting to physicians for Mohawk Valley Physicians. Since retirement, her volunteer endeavors include The American Red Cross, NY State Long Term Care Ombudsman (Certified) and Ombudsman of the Year 2017, NY Connects Long Term Care Council, Chairperson-SUNY Adirondack Nursing Alumni Association, SUNY Adirondack Nursing Program Advisory Board and the High Peaks Hospice.
- Dennis Harris is currently a systems engineer working at United Launch Alliance, where he is helping the company qualify their newest rocket, Vulcan, which will be used to launch manned missions to space as early as 2020. He graduated from SUNY Adirondack in 1996 with a Math/Science degree and then went on to SUNY Albany for a BS and MS in Physics. He received his MBA in 2010. Dennis has worked for several aerospace companies, and his projects include instruments for NASA, NOAA, the Air Force and South Korea.
- Rich Johns, a native of South Glens Falls, began his academic career at ACC in 1970 and transferred to the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he graduated in 1972. Johns taught elementary and middle school, and he coached tennis at Saratoga Springs High School for 38 years. Under his guidance, Saratoga won 17 League Titles, nine Sectional Team Titles and holds the Section II record for Class AA with 85 consecutive wins and a record of 107– 2 during that period. He has won numerous awards as a coach, an Excellence in Teaching Award by the SUNY Albany Chapter of The National Society of Leadership and Success in 2015 and 2016 and has been inducted into the SUNY Adirondack and SUNY Potsdam hall of fames as well as the Saratoga Springs School District and the South Glens Falls Athletic and Community Pride Hall of Fames. Following his passion of personal character development, Johns started a “pay it forward” mission called Act With Respect Always, which has grown into a national model of student and athlete character development.
- Brett Lange graduated from SUNY Adirondack in 1992 with an AAS in Radio Broadcasting. He went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in finance marketing from the University at Albany. Today, Lange owns four local businesses in Lake George: Christie’s on the Lake, S.J. Garcia’s, Pablo’s Burrito Cantina and Magic Castle Indoor Golf. His entrepreneurial career has kept him linked with SUNY Adirondack. Many of his employees are student or graduates, and he has established two scholarships, one supporting students pursuing culinary degrees and another related to the study of the humanities.
The college’s Distinguished Faculty evaluated and selected the inaugural class from a competitive pool of nominations. Criteria for consideration include demonstrated excellence in the areas of professional achievement, community service, service to ACC/SUNY Adirondack and/or outstanding spirit.
For more information on the Sept. 28 Trailblazers event, contact Jill Vogel at alumni@sunyacc.edu or 518.743.2244.
