I had my first class of the new year yesterday - Practicum is a yearlong experience for senior psychology majors - each student (16) will be located at a local service agency and will spend 8 - 10 hours each week on site under the supervision of a master's level professional. They spend 2.5 hours back in class processing their experiences. I am always nervous the first day of classes yesterday was also the beginning of my complete use of our new technology on campus called Tegrity - this captures the video from class as well as anything that we use from the class computer. I will be using this in all classes and students seemed excited (albeit a bit nervous) about it - they can go back and review class anytime they want. A couple of Practicum students were in Sports Psychology and I used it there so they were very comfortable. I did an interesting exercise where I sent the students out of class for half an hour in pairs - each student was to "interview" the other for 15 minutes and then when they returned to class they had to introduce their partner to the rest of class - since interviewing, listening and responding are such an important part of this class, it turned out to be a great exercise. The most common comment: "I have known him/her for a couple of years now but never knew all of this about them" - good job everyone.

Sports Psychology and Theories of Counseling this afternoon and yup, still nervous........

take care and be well and, as always please keep the members of our military in your thoughts and prayers AND additionally, please keep all those here in the beautiful State of Vermont in your thoughts and prayers as well as SO many areas have been devastated by the flooding from Hurricane Irene - the pictures from all over the State are incredible. I am a huge lover of covered bridges and watching one just be swept away by the raging waters was heart-wrenching.

Dave

First day -

Here are our wonderful Orientation Leaders and their "leader" - Grace Kelly A great group.

Classes begin in a few minutes for our new academic year. Yesterday's Hurricane Irene did devastating damage in many areas around Vermont but SMC was lucky not to sustain damage other than a few branches blown down and a LOT of rain. We finished up the formal Orientation Program in the morning and then the new student-athletes had their Orientation in the afternoon. The Orientation Leaders were amazing with so much genuine enthusiasm and since they had worked since January to prepare for our new students, they did a GREAT job. Congratulations once again to Grace Kelly, Director of Student Activities and all of the Orientation Board for your hard work - it clearly paid off.

Our new curriculum begins today too and we have all been challenged by Dr. Karen Talentino, our VP for Academics to make sure that students realize that taking fewer classes also means that they are getting a more intense educational experience in EACH class. As I told our student-athletes yesterday, OUR expectation is that students will put in 10 hours per week for each class - that includes in and out of class experience. I know that for my classes, there is a great deal of work to be done and this should be a very exciting semester. I will be using one of our new technologies again this year BUT will now be using it for every class. Tegrity is a software package which allows me to "tape" each class period which is then available to my students at anytime to review. Some worried that this would mean that students wouldn't come to class IF they could just view class on their computers but that is definitely NOT the case at SMC - this technology is just another resource which faculty get to use in order to assist our students in their learning.

Take care, be well and, as always, please keep all of the members of our military and all of our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers. It should be a great semester and I am heading to campus to begin again.................

Three more weeks.....

As amazing as it seems, in just three weeks we will be completely immersed in welcoming the Class of 2015 to SMC and also welcoming all of our returning students back to campus. It is a busy time with my continuing to get requests for recommendations for my students who have recently graduated and saying "later" to some who have been around Burlington all summer but who now head off to graduate school. This is also the time for THAT discussion between parents and students - talking about realistic expectations, hopes, fears, etc. CAN take place anytime now as too soon you will no longer be just down the hall from your "kids" or from your parents.

Some of our recent graduates - not to mention any names Matt Falcone and Meaghan Cormier - seem to have forgotten that you may NOT return to live in the Townhouses this year as you DID graduate this past May. It is not unusual at this time of year, as the stores and the internet advertise "back to school" specials, for recent graduates to suddenly (although we DO try to warn them) realize that for the first time since they were 4 or 5, they will NOT be returning to school - this is just different, it doesn't have to be bad, just different. :)

I fully intend to make the most of these remaining weeks with a lot of kayaking, some hiking, lots of "fun" reading and time with friends before the new year begins. I hope that you will also make the most of this time and spend quality time with family and friends.

Take care and be well, and given the incredibly sad news out of Afghanistan today (30 of our soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash) PLEASE keep all of the members of our military - active and veterans, AND their families, in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave

Student-athletes SHINE and dinner with recent graduates.

Last night I got together with 6 former students - all from the Class of 2011 - at American Flatbread in Burlington and then, of course, we ended up at Ben & Jerry's for dessert. We ran into Evan Dewey and Brian Ahern on Church Street as they were on their way to dinner too. Kimmy Thevenet had contacted me earlier this week asking if we could all get together for dinner soon and I was only too happy to agree. Next to Kimmy (far left) is Jess Sanborn and then Ryan Stanley and on my left is Meaghan Cormier, Will Towne and Sarah Regan. Except for Will, all of them are living and working in the Burlington area and along with a large number of their classmates, they are enjoying Burlington, Vermont in the summer. We laughed (a lot) and talked about how they are all doing (working at a variety of places - some just for the summer and some already with full-time employment). It was great to catch up with all of them and we decided we need to do this again so the next time, it is a barbecue at my house. Chris Kenny is our Associate Athletic Director and Chris compiles data on how well our student-athletes are doing academically. He just released the latest information and it is GOOD. Overall, our student-athlete grade point average is the HIGHEST ever recorded = 3.127. These student-athletes carry a full academic load AND compete in our varsity athletic program which is also very time-consuming. For the first time, the student-athlete overall GPA of 3.127 is HIGHER than the general student body. Also, for the first time, the male student-athlete overall GPA (3.000) is HIGHER than the general male student population. The male student-athlete GPA is the HIGHEST ever. We have been attempting to convince our student-athletes, and especially our male student-athletes that they are expected to do well academically, they CAN do well, and that it is acceptable for student-athletes at SMC to do well in the classroom. Our women student-athletes GPA of 3.242 is their second HIGHEST ever. Also, we have 21 varsity teams and for the first time, 16 of those teams had a 3.0 or higher. Congratulations to the student-athletes, their faculty who work so closely with them, their coaches who support their academic achievement and to the Athletic Department for their continuing support of our initiatives to improve the academic achievement of our athletes.......

Take care, be well, and please keep all of the members of our military and our veterans in your thoughts and prayers. When President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor the other day to Army Sgt. First Class Leroy Petry it was a very moving and important occasion. HIS story is repeated over and over again by members of OUR military - his words (I did it for my brothers - to protect them) get repeated time and time again by the men and women in our Armed Forces - it is so important that we make sure that they know that they have our support - our thoughts and yes, our prayers.

Dave

New students arrive on campus for Summer Orientation

Kayaking at Indian Brook, about 5 miles from campus provides me with great shots like these two. The Great Blue Heron picture was not taken with a telephoto lens but I was that close.....New students for the fall semester arrived on campus yesterday for Summer Registration/Orientation and many of them are also now participating in one of the 4 Wilderness Program Trips or POW (pre-orientation weekend). I attended the advising session held by Associate Dean Joan Wry (a fantastic resource for students and faculty alike) and Prof. Ray Patterson, Religious Studies professor extraordinaire. They advised the new students on HOW to register for classes for the fall and then the students were off to meet with temporary advisors to select their classes. I love having students back on campus as their energy fills the place.

Seth Cole has been the College's Sports Information Director for many years - he also is an alumni of the College and was also our men's baseball coach for several years. Seth has decided to leave SMC and move with his wife to New Hampshire where they will be closer to family. Seth has done an amazing job over his many years here and he will be sorely missed - the Best of Luck to you Seth.

Lots and lots of contacts with former students as Jenny Pietroski was back in town from Maine this past week and I had the chance to have lunch with her and catch up on how she is doing. She graduated in 2010 and started graduate school in psychology in Colorado - great to catch up with her. Mary LeClair is back for a few days and her Dad, music professor Paul LeClair has just retired after a lifetime (Paul began here in 1970) of great service to the College and to all of our students - Paul is featured in the Spring/Summer 2011 Saint Michael's College Magazine. Mary and I will get together tomorrow. Barb Puls ('84), Meaghan Cormier('11), Eda LaPlaca ('11), Jason Fuchs ('10), Brett Peryer ('09), Seth Brown ('09), Craig Farnum ('99) have all been in touch lately - just one of the many, many things I love about being at SMC is the relationships that will last a lifetime.

Off to Indian Brook for some kayaking again - I continue with my writing and preparing for fall classes and enjoying life in the beautiful State of Vermont. Take care, and, as always, please keep the members of our military and all of our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave

Summer and way too busy :)

Good morning - as I look out over campus from my office on second floor St. Ed's I am amazed as how busy I have been since Commencement. This morning I am working on my book - yes, I am attempting to finally put down in writing the many, many thoughts/comments/essays from my students in response to a paper I assign in Men & Masculinities - How My Father Influenced My View of What A Man Is - is the assignment and for almost 8 years I have been accumulating their responses with the idea of eventually putting all of this down into a book. That eventually is NOW and it has been interesting to say the least to go back and re-read their essays. I just emailed one of my students who wrote an amazing paper describing her father and his influence on her view of what a man is. I am so appreciative of my students that they have always given me "permission" to use their work "someday." For now I am just inputting their responses - at some point I will try to organize this into some coherent format :)

The other day I received an email from one of my former students, a recent graduate. He asked for some assistance on research he is doing in his graduate program. As we corresponded back and forth, he said the following, which I copy here with his permission:

"On a side note, I would like to let you know that I fully appreciate the quality of education and even more-so the outstanding quality of the professors and level of guidance that I received from them at St. Mike's. The quality of teaching, academic guidance, and of the professors themselves at my current University is questionable, even at the best of times; making me realize what I took for granted while in Vermont. Hope you're enjoying your summer break and take care. Thanks again." It is this type of response from students that keeps me going - he was a good student who went on to work on an advanced degree and his response was something that we don't often hear - not because it isn't true, but because in many cases students never tell us what we mean to them and/or they don't realize this until they are many, many years away from SMC - so thanks for this.......

I had lunch with a former student yesterday, ran into another recent grad and an "older" grad (she would not appreciate being referred to as "older" :) down on Church Street [her place of employment had just hired their 4th SMC graduate],dinner last night with another one and last week I had dinner with another recent grad. There are many of our more recent grads who have chosen to stay in the area this summer and it is great to run into them all over the area. I was at the Burlington Farmer's Market a couple of Saturdays ago and ran into Ryan Stanley and Logan Pinka - it is always so funny when they see US outside of the college environment and are reminded that we are PEOPLE too, with our own lives.

I also met this past week with two prospective students and their parents - one is the daughter of another former student and Mom and the other two daughters were here while the oldest daughter was interviewing in Admissions. The other is a dear friend of many years who graduated from SMC before I came here - she brought her son here for his interview and I not only met them in Admissions but then had the pleasure of having dinner with them downtown. We went to RiRa's as I wanted Jack to "see a college town" from that perspective. It is also nice when parents ask ME questions about the value of a liberal arts education - that question is a no-brainer as to my answer...... Hopefully both of these students will be accepted and will come here.

Back to work - take care, be well, and as July 4th looms in the near future, please remember that OUR freedoms have been earned with the lives of so many others and keep all of the members of our military and our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave

NE-10 Sportsmanship Award goes to SMC ice hockey player Alex Higgins

Shown at the Awards Dinner for the NE-10 annual meeting, held this year, in Providence Rhode Island is men's ice hockey coach Chris Davidson, recent graduate and male Sportsmanship Award winner Alex Higgins and Julie Ruppert, Commissioner of the NE-10. Alex was honored with a plaque and a great picture which will hang over in the Ross Sport Center. Alex was nominated by his coach and not only is an outstanding student (psychology major) but a great role model for all of our student-athletes - well done and very much deserved Alex - congratulations. Our meetings in Providence were good and it was gratifying to see that the NCAA has broadened their definition of diversity as I attended, along with AD Geri Knortz, the Diversity Workshop on Tuesday. This four hour workshop addressed issues of diversity from a broad perspective and included the issues of race, gender, sexual orientation and privilege. The rest of our meetings were a combination of athletic directors, faculty athletics representatives(FAR), senior women administrators and a variety of assistant and associate athletic directors from all 16 schools currently in the NE - 10. It was nice to re-connect with many of my FAR friends for these meetings and to find that our concerns are being addressed as we work with the NCAA's Life In Balance programs to ensure that our student-athletes do, in fact, have that balance that is so necessary between their academics, their athletics AND a social life.

As I am working in my office this morning, many of my colleagues are next door attending the annual TWTW - Teaching With Technology Workshop. I would have been in there but it is a week long event and I had to be in Providence Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This workshop helps faculty members better understand how technology and all of the changes that it makes in our lives, really DOES fit into the classroom.

Take care, be well, and please keep all of the members of our military and their families, and all of our veterans in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave