Colleges of the Fenway Fall 2008 Letter

5-on-5 Basketball
Indoor Soccer
Halo 2 Tournament
Floor Hockey
Badminton
Whiffleball
Great Race Boston- COF’s Version of the Amazing Race
Softball Tournament

GEO Center Spring events

“Jobs and Careers: Using Your Travel Experience” Career Workshop March 25 3:00pm - 4:30pm Simmons - Career Resource Library, Palace Road Building, 3rd floor

Your travel or study abroad experience can help you get a job. This workshop will review a variety of occupation in the USA and internationally that could maximize your global education, use your travel savvy, or send you abroad again-and this time you’ll get paid. Hear about occupations in development, peace, travel, business, environmental issues, social change and more.

“Multicultural Perspectives Abroad”
Date and Time, TBA

Have questions about how to study abroad? Don’t know how you can afford it? Come hear the experiences and stories from students who have traveled abroad. Join the GEO Center for lunch and learn what Study Abroad opportunities are available for you.

Latin America Networking Reception
Date and Time, TBA
Meet fellow colleagues and students interested in Latin America.

International Women’s Day breakfast
March 6 7:30-9:30 at Simmons Paresky Conference Center

For a complete list of dates and times, check out the GEO Center website at www.colleges-fenway.or/global

Around COF
Weekly Newsletter

Listing of events open to students, faculty and staff.

If you would like to see your COF event or lecture posted in this bi-weekly newsletter, please e-mail your information to cofadmin@colleges-fenway.org.
Please write “AROUND COF” in the subject line of your e-mail. OR, post the event on the COF Calendar, which you can find on our homepage, and the event will be automatically added to this newsletter.

DISCLAIMER: Colleges of the Fenway is not responsible for information changes after release of the newsletter. Information will be posted as received.

Questions can be directed to Tania Green at the same e-mail address.

Visit the Colleges of the Fenway Calendar of Events
ONLINE

COF BULLETIN BOARDS

Looking for something to do on one of the COF campuses?

Don't know where to look?

Check out the COF Bulletin Board on YOUR campus!

LOCATIONS:

Emmanuel - 2nd floor.
MassArt & Design - Kennedy Building (1st floor next to elevator, 2nd floor outside and in Student Center)
MCPHS - Outside Student Activities
Simmons - Across the hall from Student Activities Office (same side as box office)
Wentworth - Beatty Hall (1st floor near elevator)
Wheelock - Student Center (closest to Alumni Patio)

Colleges of
the Fenway

Emmanuel

MassArt and Design

MCPHS

Simmons

WIT

Wheelock

COLLEGES OF THE FENWAY
Winter 2009 Newsletter

Colleges of the Fenway Receives Grant to Establish COF Collaborative for Teaching and Learning

The Colleges of the Fenway is pleased to announce that we have received a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation to establish the COF Collaborative for Teaching and Learning. The Davis Educational Foundation was established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’s retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc. The grant, of $293,189, will be received over a period of three years.

The COF Collaborative for Teaching and Learning will work with the colleges to enhance and expand programs that promote the professional growth of faculty throughout their career, become a resource for academic collaboration for faculty research and academic programs, and create a center for the study of faculty development and teaching effectiveness. The goals of the COF Collaborative are to improve faculty teaching skills through professional development programs shared among the COF institutions, share expertise across colleges to strengthen programs on individual campuses, facilitate the development of support networks for faculty across institutions, and increase collaborative academic research and programs. The COF Collaborative will offer several programs to meet these goals including:

Continuing the COF Fall Teaching and Learning Conference with follow-up sessions in the spring
Development programs across the life-cycle of faculty: new, mid-career and
senior faculty
A certificate in college teaching
Development programs for department chairs
Development programs for adjuncts
Faculty communities of practice based on interests
Research on faculty development and teaching effectiveness
A central database of faculty expertise and interests

Colleges of the Fenway is currently seeking a Director to provide leadership to establish this unique Collaborative. The job description can be found here. Review of applications will begin on February 15 and continue until the position is filled.

Left to right: David Jalkut (Emmanuel), Matt Moyen (WIT), Ryan Shannon (Emmanuel), Hunter Evers (Emmanuel), Dan Pessa (Emmanuel), Brenden Rock (MCPHS), Derek Barton (Emmanuel), Keegan Ballantyne (Emmanuel), Matt Chymbor (WIT), Pete Olgeri (WIT), Matt Jordan(WIT)

Bobkatts Undefeated for Four Years Straight

In sports, there are plenty of dynasties. Whether it is the Yankees of the 1990s, the Patriots of the 2000s, or Celtics of the 1950s and 1960s, they all leave an indelible mark on the psyche of true sports fans.

You can add the Blue Ribbon Bobkatts to this list of great dynasties. The Bobkatts finished off a perfect flag football season with a championship title in December, their fourth straight title.

And what makes those four titles even more special, the Bobkatts didn’t lose a game during those four years and often won by mercy rule.
Led by Emmanuel Senior Quarterback Derek Barton, the Bobkatts outlasted 24 other teams, the largest field in the history of Colleges of the Fenway Flag Football, to claim their fourth crown.

“I don’t think I could name a single best moment over the four years because there were so many,” Barton said. “I feel that winning the championship for the fourth time this year was definitely up there.”

Like most dynasties, the Bobkatts had a nemesis each year that played them tough and pushed them to the limits as they looked to knock them off the top spot. During the Bobkatts first year in the league in 2005, they had to knock of the Bud Bears from Wentworth, who were the defending champions from 2004.

“Beating the Bud Bears, who had won the championship the year before we became freshman was probably our best game we played over the years,” Barton said. “In winning 41-13 in that game, we proved to ourselves that we were the best intramural flag football team to play in the Colleges of the Fenway, hands down.”

During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, He Hate Me from MCPHS became a friendly rival for the Bobkatts.

“Our most challenging games over the four years almost always came from He Hate Me,” Barton said. “They were a very good team who had really good athletes on both sides of the ball.”

However, unlike some of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry games over the past few years, the Bobkatts and He Hate Me games were always played with good sportsmanship on both sides.

“I feel our teams respected each other and therefore it built a very healthy competition that never got out of hand which is hard to do sometimes in what becomes a very intense sport,” Barton said.

While the rivalry teams may have changed over the four years, the one thing that remained the same for the Bobkatts was their roster. The Bobkatts in 2008 consisted of Emmanuel, MCPHS and Wentworth students which included Keegan Balantine, Brenden Rock, Ryan Shannon, Andres Bustamante, Matt Chymbor, Nate Jackson, Matt Jordan, Matt Moyen, and Chris Puzacke.

“Ninety-five percent of the team that started playing with us freshman year played in the championship game,” Barton said. “The friendships we have built on and off the field will also be remembered for a long time to come as well as staying close, even after the college experience is over.”

That camaraderie and friendship is the main reason the Bobkatts were able to dominate on the football field.

“We are all great friends and have been throughout college and our time on the field has helped us to create true bonds with one another,” Barton said. “It is easy to play with people that you trust, and having that trust off the field makes it so much easier to trust each other on. Being together for four years now has helped us to build superb team chemistry.”

During the four year run, the Bobkatts biggest challenge, perhaps, was themselves. Often time, the Bobkatts had to play short handed as classes, labs, field trips, or other family obligations prevented them from fielding a full squad.

“Being a college student demands a lot of time, and sometimes our teammates made sure that the more important things in life came first,” Barton said. “We played with five people a few times and six a bunch of times over the years. We made sure that when people were out though, that we stepped up for one another and took on different positions and roles.”

The Bobkatts have set a bar that will be very hard to top. There appears to be more parity in the league now then four years ago when the Bobkatts began their amazing run. Each year, different teams have made a showing the in the semifinals and finals of the flag football championship. The only constant has been the Bobkatts. As the majority of the team graduates in the fall, which most of the league will be glad to see, it is time for another one of the teams to claim their stake at the top of the Colleges of the Fenway echelon.

However, a couple of the Bobkatts will be back in ’09, and only time will tell if they can carry on the tradition and make it five straight championships.

We Have A Voice

By Kaitlin Chakoian

In late October and early November of this year there were a number of incidences of hate on the Simmons Residence Campus. There was a great student response to this in many forms including an organized sit-in, a Speak-Out for Peace, and a Wall of Protest. As someone who has been dancing for 18 years, I found it natural to express my frustration, hurt, and other emotions through dance. A good friend and previous employee of Simmons College had played the song "One Voice" by "The Wailin' Jennys" for me over the summer when I was looking for a song to choreograph to for a different project. One night, a few weeks after the first hate incident, I was watching the COF professional dance performance, and everything clicked together:
the song, the need to create a dance through which the dancers and I could express our feelings, and the opportunity to create this piece within the Colleges of the Fenway Dance Project.

The following weekend I and three dancers from the COF Dance Project, Jess Ham, Carla Otero, and AnnaMarie Sintetos, put together a piece called "One Voice". It’s about the pain of one person standing alone in the face of hate and the strength of people standing together, embracing differences, and helping each other to overcome hate. This piece gave each of the dancers and me an outlet for our feelings on the incidences on Simmons campus, and it has reminded everyone who has been able to see it performed that when we come together and unite across differences; we can heal and overcome the racism, heterosexism, classism, prejudice, and hate that exist in today's society.

Global Education Opportunities Center

Study Abroad Spotlight

Vinnie Rodriguez, a Management major at Wentworth and the president of the Multicultural Student Association, is packing his bags and saying "hasta luego." With two scholarships in hand and encouragement from his department head to do a full semester of transferable credits, he is going to study globalization and migration in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Most students from Wentworth who study abroad go on the long-standing Berlin program through the architecture department or on the management travel course to Ireland that has been offered the last two years. But Vinnie is breaking new ground in Latin America, going to the land of the sun. Look for an update from Vinnie in the next COF e-newsletter!

From Fenway to the World

COF students are traveling around the globe. During this fall semester and winter break, over 250 COF students left Boston to participate in study abroad programs in over 30 countries. Some students are studying for a semester or academic year while others are completing short-term volunteer and service learning projects. In fall 2008, MCPHS sent their first student on a semester academic study program to Denmark.

If you’re interested in participating in a COF travel course or semester abroad, please contact your International Programs Office on your home campus. Visit the GEO Center website at www.colleges-fenway.org/global for a list of their contact information. We anticipate an additional 300 students will participate on faculty-led travel course programs over spring break and in summer 2009 to countries such as Spain, Italy, Egypt, S. Africa, Thailand, and Uganda.

The COF welcomes 30 new incoming international students in spring 2009 for a total of 432 at the COF from 85 different countries. Many international students come from China, India, Canada, and Saudi Arabia; in addition, look for students from Albania, Peru, Tanzania, Jamaica, and Bangladesh in your classes and campus student organizations. The GEO Center offers events and services for international students such as English conversation groups, a career workshop, and help with tax preparation.

Growth in Short Term Study Abroad Programs

COF professors will lead students on 36 courses offered this academic year-- more than has been offered at the Colleges of the Fenway ever before. Students have the option of traveling with their professors to destinations in five continents and subjects including: fashion design, education, nutrition, management and religious studies. Please contact your study abroad office for information on these great study abroad programs. Students can cross register for most travel courses. Visit www.colleges-fenway.org/global for more information.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Fifty-three staff members took advantage of the latest program sponsored by the COF HR Committee. This session held in December drew on principles from The Law of Attraction.

Ruth Hegarty, the presenter from Leap of Confidence, talked about how individuals unintentionally can attract bad events by constantly thinking about what can go wrong. More importantly, she shared techniques and tools to re-train one’s mind to attract good and desirable things. For example, Ruth talked about orienting your life around your values. If you are clear about your priorities and focus on those above all (distinguishing what is important rather than urgent), you will spend your days doing what fulfills you. This makes you feel good, makes you attractive to others, and decisions come easier and more naturally. One way to do this is to make lists of your priorities and goals. Then compare them with how you actually spend your time. Consider how you can align what you do with what your priorities are. The more you are aligned, the more you attract the good things you want.

Held at Simmons College, the event received very positive evaluations. Some comments were: “This reinforced the fact that the only person I can change is me;” “I learned to pay attention to negative and positive triggers and work on changing things for the better;” “The idea of focusing on what I want and acting as if I already have it was very powerful.”

You too can attend powerful workshops. Check with your Human Resources office for a complete list.

Starting in March, the HR Committee will host “Speaking to the Public: Effective Practices for the Higher Education Office” In this workshop, participants will learn the fundamental elements of public speaking, and will work on the use of the voice and the body as tools for effective communication.

The workshop will focus on strategies for overcoming one of mankind’s most pervasive worries, the fear of public speaking. Participants will learn to be a more skillful, and therefore, a more confident speaker. If you’ve ever felt nervous about speaking, now is the time to take this workshop!

This workshop is particularly recommended for Admission Staff members.

Participation is limited to 10 attendees.

Dates: March 3, 10, 18, and 24 from 9:30-noon in the Alden Trust Room, Simmons Library 223

Three New Buildings Open Across COF

MCPHS Opens Richard E. Griffin
Academic Center

Just after the New Year, faculty and staff from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences moved into a brand new facility at 670 Huntington Ave. in Mission Hill. The striking, six-story, triangular building contains nearly 50,000 square feet of classrooms, faculty and staff offices, teaching laboratories, a technology center, a 230-seat auditorium and a top floor multi-function room with views of Downtown Boston. The new structure houses the College’s School of Nursing, School of Physician Assistant Studies, School of Radiologic Sciences, as well as offices for Alumni and Professional Affairs, College Advancement and College Relations and Communications. All staff and faculty are moved into the new building, which was designed by Perkins+Will of Boston and built by Bond Brothers of Everett.

The building is named for Richard Griffin of Bedford, New Hampshire. Mr. Griffin, founder of Critical Care Systems, Inc. in Nashua, New Hampshire, is a 1971 graduate of the College and a member of the Board of Trustees. “During this process, the Mission Hill community taught us some very important lessons – that Boston is a city of neighborhoods, places where people live and raise their families, and that institutions must develop projects that respect the scale and character of the surrounding community,” said MCPHS President Charles F. Monahan Jr. at the facility August 2007 ground breaking. “By housing state-of-the-art facilities for our nursing and physician assistant programs, the facility will pay dividends for many generations to come.”

Simmons School of Management
and Academic Building

The new School of Management and Academic Building - soon to be Simmons's first LEED certified building - is now open for business. The School of Management and Academic Building is Simmons’s first structure built in accordance with the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards, a set of stringent sustainability specifications that represent a national standard for high-performance, sustainable, and energy-efficient buildings. Simmons has applied for a LEED Silver certification rating.

Simmons will join only three other higher education institutions in Greater Boston – Harvard, Suffolk and Tufts universities – that have buildings certified at the Silver level or higher.
In addition to substantially reducing negative environmental impacts, green building practices reduce energy use and operating costs, improve occupant productivity, and help create sustainable communities. From the use of sustainable and recyclable building materials to highly efficient heating, cooling, and ventilation systems and water fixtures, the School of Management and Academic Building is as environmentally responsible as it is eye-catching.

Much more information on the new building’s green building practices and green design can be found at http://green.simmons.edu/building.

Wheelock's Campus Center
and Student Residence

Wheelock College opened its spectacular new Campus Center and Student Residence. The curved glass façade overlooks The Riverway and provides a beautiful and welcoming entrance to the Wheelock campus. Students returned for the spring semester to find many new amenities in the building, including a multi-station dining facility; traditional and suite-style housing for 108 students; and many gathering spaces for student groups and events. Thanks to special features such as a “green” roof and light-absorbing windows, the building is slated to receive Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design (LEED) certification.

COF Performing Arts Leaps (and Sings and Plays) Forward!

The varied COF Performing Arts ensembles, were seen by over 1000 audience members this fall: the COF Dance Project, the COF Orchestra, the COF Theater Project, the COF Chorus and the new COF Jazz Band. These ensembles gave exciting performances at the end of last semester, including a rousing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony by the orchestra, Sam Shepard’s whimsical plays and readings by the Theater Project, and the inaugural performance by the COF Jazz Band!

The COF Orchestra began the concert season on November 20, to an audience of over 200, in newly renovated Alumnae Hall at Simmons College. In its tenth season, the orchestra, conducted by Kathleen Berger, has grown to 66 members from all six colleges. The varied program included Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which showed off the full string section, as well as colorful works by Bizet and Mozart. Two arrangements by Grainger of English folk tunes, performed by the flute choir, rounded out the evening.

On November 21, 2008 the COF Dance Project was featured in Dances This Side O’ Town, a dance festival held at Roxbury Community College. The 89 dancers, from all six colleges, performed nine different dances to an audience of over 300, demonstrating work in hip-hop (new this year), jazz and ballet. The dances were choreographed by instructors Kristen Duffy Young and Sandra Shih Parks, and by a number of students. Noteworthy was Kaitlin Chakoian’s dance entitled We Have a Voice, a poignant response to hate incidents at Simmons College.

The COF Theater Project, now in its second year, presented a weekend of performances at Tower Auditorium at MassArt and Design on December 5, 6 and 7. Directed by Tom Davison, the troupe wove together plays and readings by Sam Shepard and Patrick Shanley, in search of the American dream. By turns wacky, surreal, absurdist and tragic-comic, the group gave top-notch, committed performances of their well-chosen plays.

The COF Jazz Band gave its inaugural performance as part of a joint concert with the COF Chorus on December 6, 2008 at the Emmanuel College Auditorium. The big band, currently with 13 members, opened with Tito Puente’s Latin favorite Oye Como Va. Next, the Theme from Shaft, a tribute to the recently deceased Isaac Hayes, featured Emmanuel math professor Tim Lewandowski on jazz trombone, with Eric Alper, MCPHS, and Michael Henein, WIT, laying down the distinctive rhythm. Guitarist Shaun Bush soloed eloquently on Here’s That Rainy Day, and the set closed with the swing standard Stompin’ at the Savoy.

The COF Chorus, accompanied by full orchestra, performed seasonal favorites, opening with Sleigh Ride. This was followed by Benjamin Britten’s evocative A Ceremony of Carols, for harp and chorus. The centerpiece of the program was a colorful medley of spirituals by Robert De Cormier, Shout for Joy. Soloists included Lillian Sticco, WIT, and Simon Fleger, MCPHS. The grand finale was an audience sing-along of White Christmas.

Keep an eye and an ear open for COF performances at the end of this semester. Contact Ray Fahrner at rfahrner@colleges-fenway.org, or visit the web site, and join up to share great art, great friendships and great fun! Want to get involved? See rehearsal schedule below.

COF Chorus	Mondays at 7:00 PM White Hall, MCPHS Open Rehearsals – Pop, Broadway & Jazz
COF Theater Project	Tuesdays at 7:00 PM Location: COF Performing Arts Website Open Rehearsals
COF Dance Project	Tuesdays 6:00 PM Modern Jazz 7:00 PM Modern Jazz 8:00 PM Hip-hop 9:00 PM Hip-hop Emmanuel Dance Studio Open Rehearsals
COF Dance Project	Wednesdays 7:00 PM Ballet 8:15 PM Modern Jazz Simmons Dance Studio Open Rehearsals
COF Jazz Band	Thursdays at 2:00 PM Emmanuel Modular Bldg Open Rehearsal – Funk & Jazz Classics
COF Orchestra	Thursdays at 6:30 PM Alumnae Hall, Simmons Residential Campus Rehearsal: Concerto and Conducting Winners, World Premiere
Chamber Ensembles –	Contact Ray Fahrner at rfahrner@colleges-fenway.org

7th Teaching and Learning Conference

The 7th Annual Colleges of the Fenway Teaching and Learning Conference, Human-Centered Curriculum Design: Teaching Better by Teaching Everyone, was held on October 30 and 31. This year saw record participation with over 100 individuals attending some or all of the conference.

The keynote address on Thursday evening by David Rose, Meeting the Challenge of Diversity: Universal Design for Learning in College Education, generated a great deal of energy and discussion. Dr. Rose presented the background and principles of Universal Design for Learning along with practical examples of implementing them in post-secondary environments. David Rose is a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Founder and Chief Education Officer, CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology).

Friday morning featured a panel of Learners who discussed their learning styles, the techniques they use to facilitate their learning and their classroom experiences. The panel included students, alumni and faculty from Massachusetts Colleges of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Wheelock College. The comments of the panel were well received and several in attendance commented how important it is to include learners in the conference and that the students displayed courage in sharing their stories.

Much of Friday, Joan McGuire and Manju Banerjee of the University of Connecticut conducted a workshop on implementing the principle of Universal Design for Instruction. Their presentation focused on the essential principals of Universal Design of Instruction. This idea proposes the development of instructional environments in postsecondary settings that are inclusive of student diversity from the onset thus reducing the need to address learner differences as a "retrofitted" effort. They shared examples and challenges of implanting these principles in course planning, delivery, instruction and assessment. The conference participants then broke into five groups by learning setting (seminar, lecture, experiential/internship/practicum, studio and technical/science/math) to brainstorm applying the principles discussed. Faculty enjoyed the opportunity of meet with their colleagues in small groups and share ideas and experiences. Most expressed interest in a follow-up session on this topic. All of the materials from the conference are posted on the COF website.
http://www.colleges-fenway.org/talc.htm

Each year the COF Teaching and Learning conference is planned by a committee of faculty and staff from the colleges. Thank you to Karen Hokanson, Emmanuel College, Laurie Schmitt, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Catherine Fabio, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Todd K. McEwing-Herriott, Simmons College, Robert Cowherd, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Paul Hastings, Wheelock College and Jennifer Willingham, Colleges of the Fenway and Massachusetts College of Art and Design for making this year’s conference a successful and stimulating event.

Innovative Professional Development Program: Foundations of Management

Imagine a professional development program that develops and strengthens vital management skills, including team-building, effective communication, and coaching. You don’t need to imagine it! It exists for 24 individuals from the six colleges in the Colleges of the Fenway consortium plus Suffolk University and MASCO. Foundations of Management, a six session course, was created to recognize excellence in and to cultivate high-performance managers.

Current participants are: Linda Chhouy, Jeremy Greenhouse, and Joanne Nelson of Emmanuel College; Andrew Dore and Geoffrey Garrone of Massachusetts College of Art and Design; Tara Hennessy, Deborah Orozco and Natalie Skvarla of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; Adam Chamberlain and Matthew Lillis of MASCO Services; Paula Bent, Meg Ragland, Donna Russell and Christine Van Doren of Simmons; Josh Cheney, Jacinda Félix Haro, Carolina Garcia, Rita Mooney and Beth Rosenbleet of Suffolk University; Elizabeth Enos, Sergeant Matthew Kulesza and Lisa Manness of Wentworth Institute of Technology; Carolyn Koelsch and Lauren Wholley of Wheelock College.

Colleges of the Fenway
375 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02215

P: 617-632-2729
cofadmin@colleges-fenway.org
www.colleges-fenway.org