Summer 2013 - SUNY Empire State College

ALL ABOUTMENTORINGissue 43summer 2013Alan MandellCollege Professor of Adult Learningand MentoringEditor“May your hands always be busyMay your feet always be swiftMay you have a strong foundationWhen the winds of changes shiftMay your heart always be joyfulAnd may your song always be sungMay you stay forever young.”– Bob Dylan“Forever Young”from Planet Waves (1974)Karen LaBargeSenior Staff Assistant forFaculty DevelopmentAssociate EditorLorraine KlembczykGraphic Designerp h o t o g r a p h yPhotos courtesy of Stock Studios,and faculty and staff ofSUNY Empire State College,unless otherwise noted.Cover imageAntonia Perez, “Red Doily,” 2011,63” diameter, crocheted plastic bags.Photo: Cibele Veierap r o d u c t i o nKirk StarczewskiDirector of PublicationsRon KosibaPrint Shop SupervisorJanet JonesKeyboard SpecialistCollege Print ShopSend comments, articles or news to:All About Mentoringc/o Alan MandellSUNY Empire State College325 Hudson St., 5th FloorNew York, NY 10013-1005646-230-1255Alan.Mandell@esc.eduSpecial thanks to:Mallory Burch, for kindness andgood help in getting us photosfor our publications.Bob Congemi, for contributions to andsupport of AAM over the years, on this,his 40th anniversary at the college.

1Table of ContentsEditorial – Transform!!?. ............................... 2Alan MandellWar Stories: An Incredible Journey ....................... 4Claudia Hough, Cindy Bates and Elaine Handley,Northeast CenterAgility............................................. 11Robert Clougherty, Office of Research, Innovationand Open EducationHow They Named the Baby ........................... 14Robert Congemi, Northeast CenterReflection on Teaching and Learning:Culturally Responsive and Feminist Approaches ............ 18Alice Lai, Center for Distance LearningThe Servant Mentor:Where (and When) Might This be Leading? ............... 22David Starr-Glass, Center for International ProgramsThe Pearl of the Antilles, Take 2: Teaching Film in Cuba ..... 28Ruth Goldberg, Metropolitan CenterEmerging Computing Models andTheir Impact on Organizations ......................... 32Ivan I. Ivanov, Long Island CenterCoping in the Aftermath of Hurricane “Sandy”:Considering an Immigrant Perspective .................... 38Lear Matthews, Metropolitan CenterFinding the Gem Through Trial, Error and Dialogue: AdjunctFaculty Teaching in Adult-Centered Academic Programs ..... 40Daniella Olibrice, The Murphy Institute forWorker Education and Labor Studies (CUNY)Using an Area of Study Grid (Proposed) in DegreeProgram Planning: A Very Brief Practice Discussion ......... 45David A. Fullard, Metropolitan CenterFinite-Planet Water ................................... 47Eric Zencey, Center for International ProgramsDeclaring Adulthood:A Conversation with Joseph B. Moore, Part I .............. 50Ed Warzala, School for Graduate StudiesWhat’s in a Noun? The Strange Career of the Word “Religion” . 56Robert Carey, Metropolitan CenterReflecting on Service-Learning in Community Health Nursing . 59Mary Guadrón, School of Nursing;and students Christine Porter, Janine Mower, Kimberly Smith,Kim Wallace, Penelope Jordan, Elizabeth Hillier, Jewel Brandt,Kathleen Brown and Nechama KellerOne Last Narrative Evaluation(with some musical and literary accompaniment) ........... 67Steve Lewis, Hudson Valley CenterMaterial Shift ....................................... 69Antonia Perez, Metropolitan CenterMentoring as a Means to De-Centering the Academy ........ 73Juanita Johnson-Bailey, The University of GeorgiaThe Monastery at Skriða .............................. 77Deborah Smith, Center for International ProgramsMentoring Women ................................... 80Roz Dow, Central New York CenterCan Science Education Evolve? Considerations on the PedagogicRelevance of Novel Research Discoveries in Animal Behavior . 82Guillaume Rieucau, Institute of Marine Research, Bergen,Norway and Kevin L. Woo, Metropolitan CenterHow to Write a Poem. ................................ 90Menoukha Case, Center for Distance LearningConfessions of a Closet Materialist:Lessons Learned About Money, Possessions and Happiness ... 92Miriam Tatzel, Hudson Valley CenterExpect the Unexpected: What Would You Do?A Crisis/Ethics Simulation in the MBA Program ............ 96Kymn Rutigliano, School for Graduate StudiesSecond Chances: Our Empire State College ExperienceNew Mentor Reflections ............................. 100Dov Fischer, Debra Kram-Fernandez and Troy Jones,Metropolitan CenterBridging the Digital Divide. ........................... 104Silvia Chelala, Long Island Center andCenter for International ProgramsA Tale of Cloud Collaboration. ........................ 108Kjrsten Keane and Miriam Russell, Center for Distance Learning“Making the Best in a Bad Situation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Catana TullyMentor, Guide, Personal LearningEnvironment Engineer … or All of the Above? ............ 115Mara Kaufmann, School of NursingInstitute on Mentoring, Teaching and LearningCompleting its First Year ............................. 117Katherine Jelly, Center for Mentoring and LearningFound Things ...................................... 119Diagram of Range of Programs (1971)The Body in Question ............................... 120A Review of“Bodies of Knowledge: Embodied Learning in Adult Education”New Directions for Adult and Continuing EducationEdited by Randee Lipson LawrenceElana Michelson, School for Graduate StudiesRemembering Robert Hassenger ....................... 124Tom Dehner, Center for Distance LearningRemembering KD Eaglefeathers. ....................... 126Ivan I. Ivanov, Long Island CenterCore Values of Empire State College .................... 128suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

2e d i t o r i a lTransform!!?“Myself, I’ve always held the number ofsacred words down.”– Saul BellowHumboldt’s Gift (1975)“Our deep need, then, is to embody inour … work our good reasons for doingas we do.”– Alan Blum and Peter McHughSelf-Reflection in the Arts and Sciences(1984)There are a number of moments here.I hope the implied connections willmake some sense.1) Over the winter, Xenia Coulter andI wrote a review of a new book, TheHandbook of Transformative Learning,published by Jossey-Bass (2012). Theword “handbook” suggests the hope ofa distillation, a handy compendium. Itassumes that a set of ideas has both gainedlegitimacy and can be offered in somenugget form. Well, this is a 575-page bookwith 34 essays! And while the goal of“transformation” is one that has animatedso much imaginative thinking and so manyprograms focused on adult learners – likeour own – after wading through all of thewords, there was something disconcertingabout not ever precisely understanding whatthe term means.2) Throughout our history, there have beenmany efforts to think about our studentsand their learning; certainly, for example,over the last decade, the institutionalresearch output has gained a head ofsteam. Without doubt, we have moreinformation at our fingertips. Still, I thinkthat our understanding of our students’learning remains thin and anecdotal. Whatis learned? How? Does it stick? Does it“transform”? We have a good deal of veryimportant thick description, but (as also wasvery evident in the Handbook) a paucityof systematic empirical research and ofconceptual analysis and explication. Whatdo we mean, anyhow, by using the word“transform” instead of humbler words like“change” or just “learning” by itself?3) Along with other colleagues, LeeHerman and I have been trying to describethe mentoring process for a long while. Ithought Lee once nailed it when I heard himdescribe the work as our ongoing effort todo a “PLA on mentoring” – to excavate thework we do with our students and to makeexplicit the values upon which it is based.It’s in this sense that we’ve tried to articulatea set of mentoring principles that can guideour distinctive mode of “teaching andlearning.” In this spirit, about 15 monthsago, we offered a workshop at the annualCAEL conference that brings togetherfaculty, professionals and administrators ofadult-friendly institutions in which we askedparticipants a simple question: Can youdescribe a significant learning experience inyour own life? The spontaneous responseswere wide-ranging and fascinating. Theword “transform” came up a lot. Ourfavorite came from a faculty member whotold us how, as a little girl in rural Texas,she watched her grandmother decapitateand dismembered chickens for dinner whilepatiently and carefully describing her everymove. Now five decades later, she wantedus to know how that experience of learning(and all of its profound influences) hadnever left her.4) I had my own learning moment. Whilea first-year undergraduate, I was taking ahistory course focused on the close readingof primary materials. One morning, theprofessor walked in, placed her book onthe table and in one little swoop, openedher blouse and began to breast-feed her tinyson. No explanation; no excuse. The classwent on without comment, as we all did ourbest to concentrate on the textual exegeseswe were invited to practice together. I’venever forgotten that history teacher’s perfectdouble attention. In a single moment, sheshowed me that thinking about the FrenchRevolution and attending to the basic lifeneeds of her child could be one. In my18-year-old head (and I’ve thought of theimage thousands of times since), this is whatlearning was about: the personal and thepolitical; the scholarly and the immediacy ofdaily life: all were brilliantly intertwined. Ifelt transformed.5) We all think about our students. Weoften wonder what they are really thinking,what they are taking in, how they aremaking sense of a reading or an activity:whether and how they are grappling withthe myriad questions that inevitably arisefrom the studying they are doing. And, too,we think about what they will remember ina week, in two months, in a year. Will it besome idea, a new concept, that helped themintegrate what they already knew? Will it betheir acknowledgement of a capability theynever recognized they had? Might it be thepride of grit upon which they depended tocomplete their degree? Has their learning“transformed” them? We look for clues inwhat our students say and what they don’t.We imagine new ways to recognize theirdistinctive voices and trace their feelingsand thoughts. We guess and hope, but whatdo we really know? What can we find out?How elusive and illusive is all of this stuff?suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

4War Stories: An Incredible JourneyClaudia Hough, Cindy Bates and Elaine Handley, Northeast Center“So you asked me to tell you a war story.To be honest, I can’t be general aboutsomething like war. I also don’t want tobe too specific. The story is always in thedetails: how something looked or smelled,or how it truly felt. That’s also where thepain is.”– Sean Markham“Dredging up those ghosts is not somethingany of us like doing. We lost friends. Wesaw things nobody should see. We did thingswe don’t really want to remember all thatmuch. We survived and that should be theend of it. Yet, perhaps others should knowwhat it was like. Maybe if they did see someof the things we still see in our sleep therewould be fewer wars. They sure won’t getthe truth from television or movies.”– Bob GerulatThis is a report about an experiment.In November 2010, we three putout a call to the college community– students, staff and faculty – requestingstories about war. Seventy-five differentstories, in the form of poems, memoirs,letters, short stories and songs came in. Ourgoal was to create from the submissions aperformance piece about war that would bepresented to the community.Our teaching experiences launched usinto this project, which deepened ourunderstanding of the power of story tomake meaning and allow for healing.Claudia Hough and Elaine Handley hadco-created and co-taught the humanitiescourse, War Stories: Reading and WritingAbout the Impact of War. We made writingan important component of the course.The stories that students shared in thatclass, both verbally and in writing, werepotent and moving. Students went beyondanswering the assignment somehow – theywrote honestly and humanly about theirquestions, their guilt, their horror, theirAt the Proctors performance. (Seated l-r): Jack Fallon, Deborah Smith, Sarah Wasserbach, NadineWedderburn, Cynthia Bates. (Standing, l-r): Elaine Handley, Claudia Hough, Isaac Newberry, RyanSmithson, Patrick Rooney.fascination with war, their patriotic feelingsabout war – all of which helped us tounderstand how incredibly complex war is.Simultaneously, we found ourselvesinfluenced by the work of psychologists Dr.James Pennebaker and Dr. Edward Tick.Pennebaker, a psychologist at Universityof Texas at Austin, has been exploring theconnection between trauma, expressivewriting, natural language use and theeffect on mental and physical health. Tick,a psychotherapist and founding directorof Soldier’s Heart: Veterans’ Safe ReturnPrograms, focuses on community-basedhealing of veterans and post-traumaticstress disorder (PTSD). We were particularlyinfluenced by his chapter, “The HealingPower of Storytelling” in his book, War andthe Soul (2005, Quest Books).We were aware of how much our students’stories affected us, and we took note of thestudent who had fought in the Iraq warannouncing to the class that when he cameto the War Stories study group, he told hisfamily he was going off to therapy. Studentshaving the opportunity to tell about theirwar experiences and perceptions aboutwar – and listen to others’ stories – seemedmeaningful and important. We came tounderstand that veterans needed to tellabout their war experience, so long as theyfelt safe doing so, and other people whohad not been to war, including those whoopposed war, needed to tell and have theirstories heard, too. Tick (2005) wrote:Like a hologram, one person’s storyextends into others to reveal the largerstory of what happened to us all andwhat meaning we might discover in it.A personal war story is always abouteveryone who participated in the war,as well as their family members, theirfriends, and their community. (p. 218)suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

6time we read it. After this reading, however,we wondered if the story would be clearer ifit were translated into dialogue, where thecharacters in the story would be portrayedby different actors. We would need to getthe author’s permission and assistance tomake such a radical change, but we wantedto try out some ideas before going to theauthor. We labored over how to adapt thisstory into a dialogue and gave it a try. In theend, we discovered that the story was justfine the way it was originally. And althoughwe learned some valuable lessons aboutnarration, storytelling and performance inthis endeavor, this particular story is mostpowerful when we followed the lead of theauthor and kept things simple.“Buzzing Flies”He sat with me on the front porch ofmy home in New Egypt, New Jersey ona warm summer evening in 1970. Wecould hear the Army practicing just a fewmiles away on the artillery range. I askedif the sound and vibrations of the shellsblowing up scared him. No, he said thesounds of bombs did not scare him.I was young and preparing to go towar just like most of my friends. I hadalready lost cousins and friends in thewar, so I participated in Civil Air Patrolsearches, took ROTC classes and triedto harden myself to the horrors of war.I was asking him about his experiencesand “What was war like? What wasthe worst part of being in combat,”I asked, “was it the bombs? Was itwatching people around you get shotor blown up? Was it the fear of beingkilled?” He sat for a long while beforehe spoke. “No,” he said. It was notthe fear of dying nor the scenes aroundhim that was the worst thing aboutbattle. It was not the smell of bodiesbeing blown apart or bloating in theheat. It was the silence after the battlesthat bothered him most, he said. “Howcould the quiet after battle be so bad?”I asked. He started to cry as he told methat it was the buzzing of flies on thecorpses that bothered him. It was thesound that he heard in his sleep and inhis nightmares. He said that was whyhe slept with the radio or TV on, so hewouldn’t hear the flies.– Robert LambAfter a month of working on the piece asa whole, we were ready to hear the pieceperformed in front of an audience again.A few professional actors that Cindyworks with agreed to read the script forour Northeast Center colleagues. Withoutany rehearsal and by simply sitting arounda table, we listened to these incrediblestories and poems in their new order andsometimes new shapes, once again. We wereprofoundly grateful to our colleagues forgiving us not only their time and attentionbut also their honest reactions to variouspieces. The actors also talked with us aboutwhich stories they felt a strong narrativeconnection with and which stories seemedto need more editing. We discovered thatour current draft was getting closer and thatthe narrative arc of the piece was beginningto become clearer. A lingering problemremained, however. It was still too long.How would we ever be able to cut more ofthese powerful stories, poems and songs?Yet, everyone agreed that it needed to bedone. So, we continued to refine the script.Throughout our process, we worked tocreate a balanced script in terms of the kindsof different voices, the tone, written styleand the emotional impact of the pieces.We edited lightly, trying very hard not totamper with the writer’s voice or intent.We were disappointed that we did notget a submission about actively protestingwar, and we wished we had more piecesfrom a female perspective; we especiallywished we’d received a submission from awoman soldier. Nonetheless, we felt veryfortunate to be working with so muchexcellent material. We continued to movepieces around, further editing some andeliminating others to see if we could achievea cohesive, moving collage of voices andexperiences that would help us all thinkmore profoundly about war.November 2011:Our First “Performance”In early November 2011, the NortheastCenter held an Arts Residency at theSchenectady Unit and at a nearby historictheater complex called Proctors. “WarStories” was a scheduled part of it. Theresidency, co-created by Anastasia Pratt,Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein and Cindy, wasinterdisciplinary, designed so that variousdisciplines could have a chance to considerhow they interact with the arts. The leaderof each study group was asked to “require”their students to attend the “War Stories”performance and to create one assignmentthat connected in some way to the project.This performance, held in a small room atProctors, was a “staged reading,” meaningthat the actors did not memorize theirparts but rather they had rehearsed theirparts but they referred to the script whennecessary. They used music stands for theirscripts and they stood when it was theirturn to perform. Cindy asked six actors withwhom she had worked to participate in thisreading: Sara Fittizi, Aaron Holbritter, IanLaChance, Isaac Newberry, Philip C. Riceand Sara Wasserbach. Hearing professionalsverbally interpret the stories created moreinsights and made it clear where we stillhad changes to make. One of the songssubmitted was especially poignant, and wehad initially envisioned including music andeven dance in the piece. But in this reading,we realized that having one original songwithout any other music didn’t work. Weeither needed to incorporate more musicand some dance, or we needed to stick witha purely spoken-word performance. Giventhat the piece was still too long, we decidedto simplify and cut the song.The audience at this residency performancegave us more useful feedback. We started offthe post-show discussion with the question:“What pieces were most memorable toyou and why?” The general response was“All of them!” Eventually, though, peoplebegan to talk about specific pieces andwhat stood out to them. They also agreedthat the intensity of the material meantthat the whole piece should be no longerthan 75 minutes and that it should not beWe started off the postshowdiscussion with thequestion: “What pieceswere most memorableto you and why?”The general response was“All of them!”suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

8another challenge, and we became eternallygrateful to our colleagues who helped usevery step of the way.When the performance finally arrived,we were elated. Around 300 peoplecame and about 120 people viewed theperformance through the live feed on theInternet. As the house lights went down andthe audience hushed, the actors came outon stage and got into their first montagepositions. When the stage lights came up, wecould feel 15 months of work – our “laborof love,” as we called it – coming to fruition.The audience’s eyes were glued to the stagethroughout the now 70-minute show. Weheard laughter, tears and gasps when wethought we would. But we also heard thesound of silence – that special silence whenpeople’s hearts are being moved and whenyou know that this story, this character, hastouched their lives forever. Cindy was toonervous to sit for the show and she wantedto help seat latecomers, so she stood on oneside of the theater. As it turned out, she wasstanding next to one of our authors whohad chosen to remain anonymous. As hispiece was performed, he and his family allfought back tears as they held hands andtried to comfort one another. The piece tellsthe story of the author’s experience in Iraqand the sequence of events that led up tohim killing another person. The story itselfwas gripping, but to watch the author listenThe story itself wasgripping, but to watchthe author listen to hisown words – to havehis personal experiencebecome a sharedexperience, to havehis nightmare beunderstood rather thancondemned – was oneof the most powerfulmoments Cindy had everwitnessed in a theater.to his own words – to have his personalexperience become a shared experience, tohave his nightmare be understood ratherthan condemned – was one of the mostpowerful moments Cindy had ever witnessedin a theater. In talking with the authorafterward, he told us that it actually feltgood to hear his words aloud and that thisperformance definitely helped him recover insome way from what he had experienced.“Purple Heart Boulevard”I remember sitting there scanningevery inch around me. The last thingyou want to do is stop a convoy inthe middle of downtown Baghdad;you’re just asking for trouble as youare sitting ducks.I was 19 years old in the 3rd InfantryDivision, 92nd Engineer Company,Combat Heavy. We were on our way toa small camp located about 30 minutesfrom where we were stationed. I was inthe back of the convoy in the last guntruck. I had an MK19 [“mark 19”],which is an automatic grenade launcher,but I held an M-16, as you cannot usethe MK 19 [“mark 19”] on people,only equipment such as trucks.I was very scared praying to God asuicide bomber did not come barrelingat us. A car bomb would take outhalf of our convoy. I had a headset onbecause I am a gunner; I needed to hearorders to shoot or cease fire. I couldhear all transmissions over the radioas the convoy commander radioed thesituation. I could hear the nervousnessin his voice, as well. We had just foundout the convoy that left 5 minutes afterus ran over a 10,000 pound bomb justoutside the gate. Everything you shouldnot be doing, we were doing.It was no longer a question of if, butwhen we were going to get hit. That isa very scary feeling to have. You thinkin a situation like that you would reflecton your life, but as a soldier, and beinga gunner, I could not. I had to stayfocused on my environment as I wasthe first line of contact with any enemy.Then it was there, Sofea Street, or whatwe called Purple Heart Boulevard dueto the number of soldiers who earnedthat medal after going down that street.I had my M-16 raised in the readyposition and my finger on the safetyready to flip it to fire. We were drivingabout 50 mph down this road thatresembled a street in Albany. At theend of the road, there was a protestgoing on and the street was filled withcivilians. We were forced to stop; aswe did, people started approachingour vehicles. A lot of them were justlooking for MRE’s [Meals Ready toEat] and water. Unfortunately, we didnot know who the enemy was.As the people started to surroundour convoy, I yelled for them to backup. They did not listen and started toclimb on the vehicles. I had to thinkfast. I put down my M-16 and ran thecharging handle back on the MK-19[“mark 19”]. When I did, you couldhear a loud clank as the round cameback. It was loud enough for them tohear it and they quickly stepped backsaying, “No, no, no.” Fortunately, tolock and load the MK-19 [“mark 19”],you have to charge it twice. They didnot know this. So, the weapon wasnever hot; there was just the illusionthat it was. I felt relieved because Ido not know what I would have doneif someone tried to climb up to me.They finally made a hole for us to passthrough, out of danger.Just then, to my right, I could see acouple of gentlemen with AK-47’s. TheIraqis are allowed to carry weapons,and we cannot act unless they pointthem at us and imply they are going tofire. There are so many things you haveto be aware of before firing becauseyou do not want to shoot someonewho is not a threat, yet any hesitationcan mean you’re dead. As we weregoing by, three of the men broughttheir weapons up – one, pointing rightat me. Two other gunners in frontof me saw this, as well, and withouthesitation, I heard the lead gunner givethe command I never wanted to receive:“Open fire!” Without a thought, myfinger switched the safety off as I slowlysqueezed my trigger, and just as myshoulder felt the reflex from the coil, Iwatched the man drop, then the othertwo. Then we heard nothing, it wassuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

9silent. I felt the world stop spinning, mybrain not able to comprehend what justactually happened. We kept driving;we could not sit still, in case therewere more.I used to tell myself it was not my shotthat hit him; it was probably one of theother gunners. I told myself this for ayear, and then one day out of nowhere,I was driving and a tire blew out on atruck behind me. It sounded like a loudgunshot and I freaked out. I pulledover, shaking convulsively. I was havinga panic attack. I dealt with severe panicattacks and PTSD for a year before Iwent and got help. Since then, I havebeen forced to face this situation, acceptit and move on. But I have not fullymoved on.I wonder, every day, if God can forgiveme. I have dreams about this facelessman. I wonder if he had a family and ifhis family was waiting for him to comehome, but he never did. I wonder ifhe had a picture of them in his pocketwhen he died. Were his last thoughts ofthem? I wondered if he survived. I havenever told this to anyone, not even mywife. I live with this burden. I respectmy enemy, that’s what makes a goodwarrior. I pray for this man every nightand pray that I someday find closure.I do, however, try to lead a better life.I realize that if I had hesitated, thisman could be having these thoughtsabout me.It feels good to share this with you,although I am slightly ashamed. I am25 now. It has been 6 years. Eventhough we are portrayed as fearlesswarriors, we are scared. Even thoughwe are portrayed as savage killers, wehave morals, and it probably hurts usmore to pull the trigger than it wouldto get shot.– AnonymousConclusionThis past October, we had anotheropportunity for a slightly shortened versionof the performance, which was mountedat the New York State Military Museumin Saratoga Springs, where a meeting ofmilitary educators was being held. Anaudience of approximately 50 peoplegathered in a cozy performance space inthe back of the museum. Despite the lackof space on stage and not having lightsor a sound system like at Proctors, theperformance was just as powerful and wasappreciated just as much by this audienceas prior audiences. And we appreciatedthe opportunity to share the piece witheducators who focus on working withthe military.Thanks to the work of John Hughes andSusan Eve LeClair, an edited version of theProctors “War Stories” production willsoon be available on the college website.The college also is looking at options tobroadcast the production to local accessnews channels across the state. When theDVD of the production is ready, we also willbe sharing it with the contributors and withothers who might be interested.When you are involved in a creative project,you hope that what you create will have avital impact on your audience. We invitedpeople from the Empire State Collgecommunity into this project because wewanted them to have a way to give voice totheir experiences and feelings about war. Bycreating a performance that was open to thelarger community, we hoped that the storieswe presented would be heard on manylevels and that they would provoke morestories and conversations, and maybe thatthis could be the root of understanding andhealing. We do know from the feedback thataudience members and the actors sharedwith us that this piece succeeded in this way.Some of the writers told us that to hear theirwords read/performed was an extraordinaryexperience. Audience members reported tous what pieces made them weep, and whichones they especially related to. The actorsreported how much it meant to them to bepart of this kind of endeavor – and that theywould be available to perform again becausethey believed in what the performance wastrying to engender. Inevitably, every readingor performance of this piece caused thepeople who witnessed it to want to sharetheir stories with us, and we know that thisis a sign of hope for a humanity that valuesempathy and discourse.And what did we learn? Well, that’s wherewe can only speak as individuals.Claudia: In most of the writing studiesI teach, I witness students writing aboutdifficult life experiences and the effects ofthose emotional upheavals. When they telltheir stories, they are able to shift theirperspective on events, surface insightsand deepen the connection to otherswho hear them.During the process of creating the “WarStories” project, I felt firsthand the healingpower of these stories for the writers and allof us who heard them. I saw how importantit was for the community to hear the wordsof those who had been at war and the oneswho waited at home. My views of war havebeen forever changed.Cindy: This project was incredibly powerfulfor me, personally. I have family memberswho have served in various wars and familymembers who talk passionately about howrelieved they were to not have been drafted.With the exception of a period when mycousin was serving in Afghanistan a fewyears ago, I tend to live my life withoutreally knowing what soldiers and peopleon the homefront go through during war.Working on this project changed all ofthat. I am profoundly grateful to everyonewho contributed their work to this project,even if we weren’t able to use it in the finalperformances. I have been forever touchedby the images and emotions in these stories.As a theater person, I believe strongly inthe value of telling stories and sharing thosestories in settings where we have a sharedexperience. I believe that when an audiencesits through a production, they go through ajourney together that is unique to that timeand place. It can never be recreated. It cannever be taken away from them. This is themiracle of performance, and I saw it happentime and time again while working on thisproject. Audiences became communities,joined together by having witnessed theseincredible stories. I know that the actorswho worked on this project also were deeplymoved by the stories and poems. IsaacNewberry will forever be the quintessentialreader of the poem “Sole Surviving Son”by Daniel Reinhold. I can still hear himusing the alliteration of the poem’s title toshare much more than information with theaudience. I will forever think of the story“Denny” by Carla D’Ambra when I see orsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

11AgilityRobert Clougherty, Office of Research, Innovation and Open EducationAgile development, scrum, 3.0practice – all of these terms areusually thought of as having theirorigins in software development, but theirpractices are rapidly being deployed inother sectors. These contemporary usages,however, are too narrow, both in scope andparadigm. Agility represents the currentmodel of economic production. Just as someparts of the agrarian economy persisted intothe industrial age, practices of the industrialage are lagging over into the agile age. 1Agility, however, not only refers tomethodologies and means of production, butit also (like agrarianism and industrialism)represents an ideology and ethos – it isdirectly connected to Openness (in thisusage, with a capital “O” – the largerphilosophy). At the core of agility is astructure of networked relationships whereinall participants have value and a voice,as opposed to the managed, commandand control mind-set of the industrialage. Agility embraces complexity and itspossibilities, not the linear assembly lines ofindustrial thinking.From a macroscopic perspective, agilemodalities apply to the entire semiosphere,including higher education. Additionally,agile is not new; there have beenapplications of agile methodologies (andtheir underlying philosophy) throughoutthe industrial age. A clear example can befound in Empire State College. The collegewas founded in 1971, at the beginning ofa decade that saw command and controlsystems raise their shrill voices to theirloudest volume with countless manualsof Japanese management practice. Thiscacophony carried through countlessiterations of command and control fadsuntil it hit practices like Six Sigma at theend of the century. Despite this, EmpireState College began and existed as anagile organization.The agile practices of Empire State Collegecan be seen specifically in the core/rootdocument of agility as it is practicedin software development: “The AgileManifesto” (http://www.agilemanifesto.org).This document was developed in 2001 by17 members of the software developmentcommunity. Since that time, it has beentranslated into 48 languages, and hasreceived so many individual signatories thatthey must be broken down into two-weekincrements. At the macro level, agile shiftsthe focus from products to processes, andfrom things to peoples – as Empire StateCollege does with learning.The Agile Manifesto (2001) itself includesfour simple points and a statement:Individuals and interactions overprocesses and toolsWorking software over comprehensivedocumentationCustomer collaboration over contractnegotiationResponding to change over followinga planThat is, while there is value in the itemson the right, we value the items on theleft [in bold] more. (Manifesto for AgileSoftware Development section, para. 2)While agility was originally based insoftware and application development, itis beginning to find its way out in manydifferent directions including highereducation. 2 One of the challenges fortraditional universities is that the agile ethos,as the name implies, also places a greatvalue on speed – an ideal to which highereducation seems averse. (There is a generalbelief that slow equals quality. 3 )In a similar vein to “The Agile Manifesto,”Anderson et al. (2005) published adocument called “The Declaration ofInterdependence” in which they, as projectleaders, claim that agility provided manybenefits that also could benefit highereducation. (Their applications reach toRobert Cloughertypostsecondary education, as well.) Theyclaim that agility leads to a constantstream of value – that is, for example,when too much emphasis is placed on theplanning stage, value is lost at that frontend. Second, agility delivers reliable resultsbecause the customers (in higher education’scase, students and other stakeholders)are engaged in frequent interactions. Ifa new degree program spends two yearsbeing planned and approved, delaying theoffering, students have no opportunity tooffer feedback, nor do faculty membershave the opportunity to better their coursesor continue in their own lifelong learningthrough interaction with their students.Third, those who subscribe to agilityexpect uncertainty and are prepared tomake the necessary changes. As the halflifeof knowledge continues to acceleratedownward and the world in which ourstudents live continues to change, allprograms and courses of study need to beable to evolve. The practices of EmpireState College allow the learning processto follow these agile practices. Fourth,Anderson et al. (2005) note: “We unleashcreativity and innovation by recognizing thatindividuals are the ultimate source of value,and creating an environment where theysuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

12can make a difference.” An agile collegesupports its faculty in their endeavors andallows them the flexibility to better meet theneeds of their students and to develop theirown academic careers. Fifth, performanceis boosted through group accountability;an agile organization quickly establishesteams (and preferably, self-organizing teams;see Appelo [2011] and Denning [2010])and think tanks to complete tasks and toconceive new ones. It shuns committees, ascommittees are designed to maintain a statusquo. In a rapidly changing world, status quoand change are no longer binary antitheses.Finally, the authors argue that agilityimproves effectiveness and reliability.In an open and agile work environment,all individuals have not only the right toparticipate, but the responsibility, too. JulieGreenwald, chairwoman and chief operatingofficer of the Atlantic Records Group notedin an interview with The New York Times:“I constantly talk about how we have to bevulnerable, and that it’s not fair for somepeople in meetings to just sit or stand alongthe wall and not participate. If you’re notgoing to participate, then that means you’rejust sponging off the rest of us” (Bryant,2011). Ernest Boyer (1971) made a similarstatement in the “Prospectus for a NewUniversity College,” wherein he wrote: “Inusing the available educational resourceswithin the State and elsewhere in variouscombinations, depending on student needand motivation, to achieve an open processof learning, this new educational processwill exact responsibility from students inreturn for freedom” (p. 3). The very essenceof agility is here in Empire State College’sfounding document. An agile college mustbe structured into what John Kao (2007)calls a “decentralized cyber-nervous system”(node theory); it depends on each nodebeing active and participatory. Like thesynapses of the brain, the strength of thebrain/network comes not from the potentialconnections, but from their use. Thus, activeparticipation of all is required.As Empire State College follows theprinciples of agility, let us then consider a“restatement of the Agile Manifesto” inlearning terms. As with the manifesto, thereis value in both sides of each statement;however, we value those items on the leftside (in bold) more.Individuals and InteractionsOver Processes and ToolsWhile Empire State College has policies andprocesses and frames itself as an institutionthat values those processes (for example,we have tools for course delivery and wehave policies covering degree completion),we value the individual and interactions(mentoring) over those processes. Theindividual learner is the basis for establishingprocesses and determining which tools touse. The tool selection is driven by the needas opposed to the tool driving the availablemeans. Faculty should have available tothem a range of tools to support a rangeof teaching methodologies to meet learnerneeds. The choice of individualized studies,online courses, PLA, cross registration, etc.are all determined by the mentor to meet theneeds of the individual student, and thoseare determined by interactions with andinput from the student.Active and Intuitive LearningOver Comprehensive ContentIn the Agile Manifesto, this principleis framed as: “Working software overcomprehensive documentation.” We haveseen the results of this in the software wepurchase. The first version of Microsoft(WORD) was, I believe, on seven floppydisks, which had a huge manual toaccompany them. If I needed to findout how to do something, it was myresponsibility to look it up and determinehow to do it. Consider new variations ofthe software wherein the system is intuitivein knowing what I want to do, and noticehow the evolution of the product has beenincreasingly designed to meet user needs asopposed to force the user to do the work touse the software. Now, switch to learning.Once upon a time, as a student, my coursesconsisted of a person giving a lectureand my being responsible for “écoutez etrépetéz” on a test. That was consideredthe dynamic framework no matter whatelse existed in that universe. It was my jobto adjust to the class. In agile and openlearning, the class adjusts to the learner.Today, the “manuals” are no longernecessary and there are quick help areasthat allow me to find out what I need atthe moment I need it. The interface, theprocess, and the structure have all beenredesigned. But, it is not just the samematerial in a different room. Therefore,beyond simply moving learning to differentmodes of delivery, we also need to changethe very shape of learning, particularly aswe move away from the Carnegie unit.Competency based learning, adaptivelearning, and the like, are all gainingincreasing national attention. All of thesepractices were referenced by Boyer (1971)in the “Prospectus for a New UniversityCollege.” As institutions across the UnitedStates begin to explore ways of measuringlearning beyond the credit hour, they alsoare beginning to realize that there arecolleges like Empire State College that haveknown how to do this for years.Learner CollaborationOver Syllabus PresentationEmpire State College allows learners theopportunity to collaborate in determiningtheir particular learning and entire degreeprogram, whereas in many institutions,the syllabus is the binding document.In most instances, the learner is notprovided an opportunity to collaborate inits development. In an agile context, thecurriculum must wrap itself around studentsrather than requiring students to contort tothe curriculum. Overall, there is a dangerin saying that an institution should be ableto change at every moment, but it must beprepared to evolve; likewise, it will not beable to meet the needs over every learner toa T, but a focus on learning as opposed tocontent helps.Responding To ChangeOver Following a PlanEmpire State College’s individualized degreeprograms and learning contracts allowmembers to respond to changes in learnerneeds, professional development, etc. muchmore quickly than many other institutions.This is a unique ability and a strength thatmany outside the institution don’t alwaysunderstand. Too often it is believed thatslow and careful is the best approach, but ifwe return to parallel software development,Eric Ries stated: “People believe that if yougo slower, you will get a better outcome –you can fix the bugs. But that’s not true.The slower you go, the bigger the batchsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

13size and the more things go wrong”(Adler, 2011, para. 11). An institutionwhere an individualized mentor can developor revise a student’s degree program basedon the student’s immediate need canquickly respond to changes in a waythat a traditional institution layered incommittees cannot.Agility is now considered the model of the21st century, and while a large portion ofhigher education has yet to latch on, it isnot only at the core of Empire State Collegetoday, but has been present since ErnestBoyer first designed this institution. As thehigher education community continues todefine the institution of a new millenniumand the use of agility, they will discover thatBoyer had the foresight to create such aninstitution over 40 years ago.Notes1There are many terms used whichcan be considered interchangeablehere. I do, however, reject the term“information age” and, therefore,specifically avoid it.2For a fuller discussion of agile as anadministrative process, see my blogpost at http://openinnovativeandagile.blogspot.com/2012_10_01_archive.html.3Of course, Sun Tzu (2005), in The Artof War (II.5) notes that “clevernesshas never been associated withlong delays.”4“Keimenography” is a list of texts,as opposed to “Bibliography,” which,literally translated, means “a listof books.”Keimenography 4Adler, C. (2011, August 30). Ideas areoverrated: Startup guru Eric Ries’radical new theory. Wired, 34.Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/08/st_qareis/Agile Manifesto. (2001). Manifesto for agilesoftware development. Retrieved fromhttp://www.agilemanifesto.org/iso/en/Anderson, D., Augustine, S., Avery, C.,Cockburn, A., Cohn, M., DeCarlo, D.,Fitzgerald, D., Highsmith, J., Jepsen,O., Lindstrom, L., Little, T., McDonald,K., Pixton, P., Smith, P., & Wysocki, R.(2005). Declaration of interdependence.Retrieved from http://alistair.cockburn.us/The+declaration+of+interdependence+for+modern+management+or+DOIAppelo, J. (2011). Management 3.0:Leading agile developers, developingagile leaders. Boston, MA: PearsonEducation, Inc. EAN: 9780321718970.Boyer, E. (1971). Prospectus for a newuniversity college. Retrieved fromhttp://suny-empire.esc.edu/media/ocgr/anniversary/esc40th/a-prospectus-for-anew-university-college.pdfBryant, A. (2011, February 5). Corneroffice: Meeting space? In her eyes,less is more. The New York Times.Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/business/06corner.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=corner%20office&st=cse&scp=2&adxnnlx=1297195201-LJxu6VQORSlHAEM3aamEuA&Collins, R. (2010). Leadership in a wikiworld: Leveraging collective knowledgeto make the leap to extraordinaryperformance. Indianapolis, IN: Dog EarPublishing. EAN: 2940012521187.Denning, S. (2010). The leader’s guide toradical management: Reinventing theworkplace for the 21st century. SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. EAN:9780470651360.Kao, J. (2007). Innovation nation: HowAmerica is losing its innovation edge,why it matters, and what we can do toget it back. New York, NY: Free Press.Tzu, S. (2005). The art of war (T. Cleary,Trans.). Boston, MA: Shambhala.(Original work published 1988)suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

14How They Named the BabyRobert Congemi, Northeast CenterWe had gone to the CatskillMountains for the weekend,George and I, to visit our goodfriend, Robert. The early May weatherwas gloriously sunny on the tree-lined,mountain road, and when we reached thetop of the mountain where Robert hadhis summer home, he was waiting for uson the path that led from the house to thelarge area he had cleared for cars at theedge of his property. We exchanged hellosand greetings, and then Robert led us backto his house where he had prepared, alongwith his daughter who was visiting from theMidwest with her own daughter, a lunchof sandwiches and cold drinks. For somereason, George went on about serendipity,calling his chance meeting with Robert at aconference last month an excellent exampleof such.“But how do you mean the word,George?” I asked him. We were outsidenow, behind the house, on Robert’s deck,which overlooked a broad garden, wherethe sunlight played on beds of pansiesand petunias.“I simply mean causing a happy accident.Causing something good to come to usthat really is outside our control, whichby the way proves an old point of mine,that the world contains a powerful positivein it somewhere. A gift from the gods,so to speak.”“Oh, George,” I protested. “You are sucha romantic.”George shook his head. “No, Peter, I’mnot. I am a scientist, an empiricist, simplyreporting on a phenomenon.”While we were talking, Robert’s attentionseemed to withdraw from us, until he hadbeen silent long enough for George to sayto him, “Robert, our good host, what’s thematter? Where have you gone to?”Robert turned in hischair slightly away andlooked in the directionof his daughter, who wasbelow us in the gardenweeding one of the pansybeds, dressed in a light,flowery summer dress.She was a beautiful youngwoman, perhaps 30, withlong brown hair flowingbehind her. “George’stalk of serendipity got methinking. It reminded meof a long time ago whenRobert Congemimy wife and I were firstmarried and expectingour daughter. God, it was long ago.”“Does it involve serendipity?” Georgeasked him.“Well,” Robert began, “It was in thespringtime, just like now. Though we wereso young then, and it was in a small city andvery far from here.”I leaned back in my chair and wiggled theice cubes in my glass and prepared to hear aquick explanation from Robert regarding hisremembrance. But, luckily, it turned out hisstory was longer than I expected, and madethe time of our visit even more pleasant.When George and I returned to the city andbid each other goodbye, I found myself inmy apartment recounting what Robert hadsaid, which I present here.Robert’s StoryLife was not easy for Doris and me in thosedays. We had met, and married soon after– two young grad students, without money,far from home, with few real prospects. Wewere drama students – and drama studentsat that time! And, as if that weren’t enough,one noontime, when I had returned to ourlittle apartment between classes, Dorisannounced to me that we were to have achild. To our surprise, once we discussed thesituation, we decided that we loved it. Wedid not have a keen sense of what it tookto have a child, and we were so much inlove that having a baby just seemed to adda third person to our happiness, anotherone of us, as Doris observed. Indeed, themore we thought about having a child, thehappier we became, and it wasn’t long afterthat we were telephoning our parents longdistance and telling them the good news.In the next few days, Doris and I found adoctor in the neighborhood we liked, andbegan learning from him and from readingabout having a baby and bringing one up. Itook a job for extra money as a bellboy inone of the hotels downtown in the businessdistrict, and we began carefully saving forour child to come. We saved money onclothes (I was happy in my jeans, jacketand loafers). Our little apartment suited usfine. When we entertained, we were glad ofthe student tradition where guests broughtsomething to the party.One thing, however – nothing severe, really– bothered us, and that was that we couldnot decide what to name the child. It wasnot that we had to deal with all the namesfor boys as well as names for girls. Dorissaid she just knew she was having a girl, andeven if she didn’t, the boy would be namedafter me, Robert. We had only to deal withsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

15girls’ names. But try as we may, we couldn’tcome up with a name that satisfied us – thatwe loved.“But, Doris, why can’t we name the childDoris?” I asked again and again.“Absolutely not. I will not name a child ofmine Doris, if I have three girls, five girls, 10girls. I hate the named Doris.”“But, Doris, if it’s a boy, you’ll name himafter me, Robert.”“Of course, because I love the name Robert.Your name is Robert.”One night, at a rehearsal for a play I wasin, where I played a minor part (one ofthe drunkards in Eugene O’Neill’s tragedy,The Iceman Cometh), I was a little boredwatching my cast mates do a scene I hadwatched many times before, so I went to theback of the college playhouse, and led Dorisfrom her seat where she had been sitting,keeping me company, outside onto the frontsteps of the theater.“Look, Doris, I’ve got nearly 20 minutesbefore I go on again. What do you say wegive this naming the girl thing a try?”“OK,” Doris said, sitting carefully on one ofthe steps.I thought for a moment, and then said,“How about Debbie or Bonnie? Thoseare real popular names these days. Lots ofpeople are naming their little girls Debbieor Bonnie.”Doris looked up at me with her large,brown eyes. “You want your child to haveeverybody else’s name?”“Well, no ... but they are nice names.” Ithought some more. “What about Dawnor Amy? They’re popular, too, but noteverybody’s naming their daughter Dawnor Amy.”“Uh-uh.”“Same reason?”“Same reason.”I sighed. “Well, look, what are we going todo then?”Doris thought for a moment. “I thinkwe ought to do this less informally,” shesaid. “And especially not when you’re atrehearsal. This is your professional training,you know, my darling.”So that weekend, we went out to the tinybackyard of our apartment house, to wherethere was a little garden and a bench,alongside the fire escape that rose up theback of the house. Doris had Saturdays andSundays off from her part-time waitressingjob at the diner that was just before theentrance to the thruway. I had no Saturdayclasses and my studying had been goingfairly well, and I wanted a break beforebeginning a paper for my Shakespeare class.“What I think we should do is to thinkof people we know and like, family andfriends, and see if that gets us anywhere,Doris.”“All right.”“Well, what about your mother, Beatrice?”Doris shook her head. “You’ve got tobe kidding.”“Well, I thought I should start there. Yoursister, Dolores?”“Dolores and Doris. Like two peas ina pod.”“Your aunt?”“Agatha?”“No, I guess not. What about your otherone, Teresa?”“Nice name, and nice lady. But uh-uh.”“Why?“I don’t know. Too formal maybe.”“How about my aunt, Constance?Constance is nice.”“Connie. She’d be nicknamed Connie, and Ihate the nickname Connie.”“Not my mother, Helen?”“Not your mother Helen.”“Well, what about friends? Whatabout Lynne?”“People will think it’s short for Linda, andLinda’s drab, Robert.”“What about Penny, your best friend?What about Penelope, Doris? You likethe name Penny. I know; I can hear itwhen you say it.”“Penny’s all right, but it’s my feeling aboutthat particular person you’re feeling.Anyway, Penelope is too old fashioned.”“What about Gabriella? You like Gabriellaa lot, and, I think, the name, too.I like Gabriella.”“Oh, Robert, please, Gabriella is tooforeign sounding.”“Rose?”“A flower.”“Then you won’t like Jewel.”“I won’t like Jewel.”“Nor Faith ... nor Hope ... nor Joy.”“Nor Faith, or Hope or Joy.”“I won’t say, Olive.”“Don’t say, Olive.”“This is getting to be funny.”Doris did not laugh.“I would have said pathetic.”“Look, then, darling, let’s get a book.”“It’s OK by me.”Later in the week, we went to a usedbookstore in the neighborhood and lookedaround for books devoted to collectingnames of children. In those days, thenumbers of books we have today on thissubject were not available, a fact that wequickly learned after talking to the bookseller. But someone who happened to bein the store suggested that dictionariessometimes had collections of names, andwith that clue we found a Webster’s at theback of the old bookstore and then one thatindeed had names. Buying the dictionaryfor a mere dollar, Doris and I went to thecity’s public park, Doris starting to wobblenoticeably now from her pregnancy.The city’s park had always been one of myfavorite places, and we wandered about itto find the most congenial spot for our task.Pathways crisscrossed the park, and it wasfilled with hills. But the best spot of all, andour favorite, was upon the crest of the hillsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

16overlooking the park lake. There we settleddown, and opened the dictionary to wherethere were the names of girls.“OK, this has got to be it,” I said. “Allthe girls’ names in the world seem to bein this book.”“Fine then,” Doris said, sitting down withher belly sticking out in front of her.“Now, let’s see,” I said, to an open page.“What do we have here? Maybe we cando this the way they named Dada, by justputting a finger down on something.”“Maybe,” Doris said.I put my finger on Cleopatra.“Try another method,” Doris said.“Maybe different parts of the alphabet.” Ijumped around the list. “Anita … Eunice …Magdalene … Shirley … ”“Next, darling.”“Etymology. I know, etymology will do it.”I read an entry. “Henrietta … diminutive ofHenry. Hildegard … battle maiden.”“Keep going.”“Entries next to each other? Ramona?Reba?”“And I thought I loved you.”“How about far out? Like Theodosia.”Doris just looked off into space – at the bluelake in front of us, the grassy rise beyond,the trees beyond that.“We could combine two names. MandyMae? Rhoda Mae?”“Dear God, he’s the father of my child.”“Something American? Sadie? Somethingwe’ve never heard? Eulalie?”I closed the dictionary.“Something we make up? Moonglow?”At Doris’s work, the other waitresses advisedher. A big, tired-looking woman, namedBelle, told her, “Doris, you gotta have aname. Everybody’s gotta get a name.”A tiny girl, nicknamed “Bitsy,” sat on astool one late afternoon when the dinerwasn’t particularly busy and said, “Dor,they don’t let you have a baby unless yougot a name.”At school, in the section of the cafeteriawhere the graduate drama students sat,they kidded me. I was taking a literaturecourse that semester and stopped in forcoffee before the class every morning. Itwas an 18th century novels course, and theprofessor, a Dr. Jarman, was wonderful. Wedid all the great novels, and pretty soon Icame to love the period. We did HumphreyClinker, Tom Jones, Joseph Andrews, TheCastle of Otranto, The Man of Feeling,Pamela, The History of Rasselas, TristramShandy. In his classes, Dr. Jarman evokeda times of sunlit English countrysides,traveling companions, good conversation.“I think you’re romanticizing the period,Robert,” Doris said to me one night whileI studied.“No, no, Doris. It really was a much simplerworld then,” I told her. “No world wars yet,no Great Depression yet, no atomic bombs,no hydrogen bombs. Just great estates andfabulous gardens, love affairs. I wish Ilived then.”Doris groaned.After an 18th century class, a chainsmoking,leading man type, who calledhimself Julian, but was named Ted, toldme, “Hey, guy, tell your wife to wrap thebusiness up. You got a graduate program toget through.” A couple of classes afterward,Malcolm Ames, an older student, whoalways played the father, or the grandfather,or the butler, said, “Robert, we’re all so ...exhausted ... by your ... situation ... pleasetell your pretty wife she can have my namefor the child. Either one of them.”And then one night, a few weeks later,when I was in a stagecraft class – on stage,actually, helping to paint flats that weregoing to represent the living room of theLoman family in Death of a Salesman –Doris showed up, her belly huge, hardlyable to walk down the theater aisle,looking scared.“Robert, I think I’m going to have the baby.I’ve been having pains for about two hoursnow. They’re starting to get bad and comemore often.”Panicky, I came down off the stage.“You’re sure, huh? This is it?”“Yes, I think I’m sure.”“We gotta get to the hospital.”“That’s right.”I turned back to the other crew people.They were painting, or nailing, or tyingflats together.“We gotta go. We gotta go to the hospital.I’ll see you later.”We walked, fast. In those days, they hardlyhad taxi service in our little city, or Dorisand I were too poor to think in terms oftaxis, or maybe the hospital wasn’t thatfar away. Anyway, we walked, me holdingDoris by the elbow, moving her along,talking about I don’t know what. On theway, a bus passed us, but we were in themiddle of a block, and it was too dark forthe driver to see us. A couple of times,Doris stopped.“I have to rest,” she said, pulling away fromme a little, annoyed.“I don’t think you should,” I told her.“Well, I do.”“You want to have the baby right here? Idon’t know how to have a baby right here.”“We’re not going to have the babyright here.”“Did you rest enough yet?”But we got to the hospital in time. Dorisdidn’t have the baby until many hours later.After she was checked in and wheeled away,groaning, I stayed in the hospital lobby. Awhile later, a nurse came up to me and saidI could speak with Doris by phone. She wasstill having labor pains, but, apparently,they weren’t that bad, and a doctor said shecould talk to me if she wanted to.“Hey, Doris,” I said into the phone to her.“You want to play a game?”“A game?”“Yeah, it’s called naming the baby,” I said.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

17“Ooooowwwwww,” Doris said.I have never been certain, but I have alwaysthought that this remark of mine broughton the baby. Doris continued in labor foranother 18 hours, all through that night,into the late afternoon of the next day,howling mostly, but after this she delivered a5 pound, bouncing baby girl, 21 inches long.With my first look at the child, I fell madlyin love. She was a blond, rosy-cheeked girlwith very dark eyes. Doris, for her part,looked drained.“She’s so beautiful, Doris,” I said.“You like her?” Doris asked weakly, staringup at me from her hospital bed.“Yes, you could say that. She’s … she’s … ”I wanted to use a name instead of “she’s.”Doris smiled, beatifically, I thought.“Hey, Doris, do you have a name yet?” Iasked her. “You really ought to have a namepretty soon.”Our doctor and other people at the hospital,especially a few of the nurses, said the same.“She’s such a lovely thing,” a bossy nursenamed Gretchen said.“She deserves a name,” our doctor, Dr.Goldberger, said.“They won’t let you leave the hospitalwithout giving her a name,” Gretchen said.“That’s the rule.”Doris held the baby in her arms, andsuddenly I thought to myself that no otherfemales on God’s earth could be morestunningly beautiful than the two of themlying there in that bed.With the baby’s birth over, I turned most ofmy attention back to my graduate studies.I just didn’t know what to do about thenaming-the-baby business. To my horror, Irealized that my final exams were upon me,that my exam on all of Shakespeare’s majorplays was only a week away, for instance.One afternoon, three days after the baby’sbirth, I went to the park to study. Therecouldn’t have been a better setting, Idecided. The sunshine was glorious again: itbounced off the lake, like blue jewels, andmade the greens of the trees shimmer, too. Isat on the crest of the hill where Doris andI had sat with the dictionary, and openedmy copy of Hamlet. On this afternoon,sitting there in the park, the play struckme as dreary – all that political intrigueand pain. Alas, poor Hamlet; I didn’t wantto know him or Yorick well. Instead, mythoughts, looking down on the park lakeand the full, rich trees surrounding it, keptgoing back to my 18th century novels courseand the simple, country world the novelsinhabited. Again, in my mind’s eye, I sawmen and women on horseback wendingtheir way toward an English village. I sawan old squire sitting in a chair in the middleof a spacious lawn with his grandchildrenplaying all around him. I could see a younggirl, from an upper window of a greatestate, looking off to the distant mountains,watching for the return of her lover.“Edward, my darling, you have come back,”I heard inside my head, making up dialoguefor my 18th century people.“Yes, Claire, mother will be so happy now.”“And your father. He has moped and sulkedby the fireplace since you’ve been gone.”“And grandfather?”“He lived only to see your return.”“Don’t think it was hard to come back,Claire, to come back here to these fields,these trees, those mountains. I saw themfrom the Holy Land.”Oh, to be there, I yearned, back 200 years,not to be retreated, hidden away, even in apretty little park in the middle of a city, inthe middle of a city of scores of hurryingcars and people.Closing my book, I visited Doris. Thehospital was nearby.“Doris, we’ve got to finish this thing,”I said. She was beside her bed now, sittingin a chair, rocking the baby. She lookedpretty good.I also thought Doris looked abashed.“I have an idea. I have a name. I have …a … name.”“What?” she asked, seeming hopeful.I took a deep breath. “What about … whatabout … what about … Pamela?”“Pamela?”“Yeah. Pamela.”“Where’d that come from?” The babyturned her eyes to me, I thought, andwatched me.“From a book. From a novel I just readin school. In my 18th century novelsclass. Some people think it’s the firstEnglish novel.”“Pamela.”“Pamela.”“From a book in a college course?”“Uh-huh.”“I like it,” Doris said.And so it was.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

18Reflection on Teaching and Learning:Culturally Responsive and Feminist ApproachesAlice Lai, Center for Distance LearningIntroductionMy year-long sabbatical leave, from 2011to 2012, offered me much needed timeand concentrated energy to embark on afew research and writing projects. Whilemy specialized areas of multicultural arteducation and online learning continuedto be the focus of my scholarship, I alsodelved deeper into my latest academicinterest in feminist studies. Internally, selfdiscoveryand self-improvement motivatedmy multicultural and women-centeredinquires. Externally, recognizing that mycourses often consist of students of diverseethnic groups and women – who not onlyare the major student population in EmpireState College (SUNY Empire State College,2013) but also higher education and onlinelearning (Aud et al., 2011) – further inspiredme to look deeper into ways of enhancinglearning experiences for these groups ofstudents. In this essay, I discuss threeprojects accomplished during the sabbaticalthat examined teaching and learning frommulticultural and gender perspectives.Culturally Responsive Art EducationIstarted a new project responding to acall for papers on culturally responsiveteaching announced by the journal, ArtEducation. This project prompted me tocarefully examine my teaching philosophyand methods in relationship to studentlearning and outcomes in my online course,Artistic Expression in a MulticulturalAmerica. As educators (Gay, 2010; Taylor& Sobel, 2011) assert, culturally responsiveteaching improves academic success throughembracing and integrating students’ homeand community cultures, socio-culturalschemas, artistic expression, and lifeexperiences into the curriculum and learningenvironment. Using an Artist Interviewassignment as an example, I analyzed how“micro-ethnographic” (Powell, 2010)inquiries can be strategically implementedfor enhancing culturally responsive arteducation. In this assignment, students tooksuch micro-ethnographic approaches toexplore artistic expression of a self-selectedethnic or local cultural group. Students alsowere expected to explore multicultural issuessurrounding the artists, their groups and/orartworks. Following my recommendation,most students took the chance to explorethe art and craft of their respective groupsor art and craft made locally. Activelyconnecting to artists, students learn to use“insider” language to describe a particularartistic expression and its creative process.Most students became more aware ofmulticultural issues, while many expressedstrong pride in their ethnic or local culture.Reflecting on the students’ work, I furthersuggested that culturally responsiveteaching in the 21st century needs to instillin students a local-global consciousnessso that appreciation of art and culture isnot conducted in a vacuum free of globalinfluences and power structures. While itwas exciting to see my article, “CulturallyResponsive Art Education in a Global Era”(Lai, 2012a) published in the journal, agreater sense of achievement came from thefact that I was able to undertake rigorousreflection of my teaching and students’learning, and meanwhile, engage with apedagogical theory of culturally responsiveart education to support my teachingphilosophy and methods.Feminist TeachingI finished a co-authored manuscript,“Resistance and Tension in FeministTeaching” (Buffington & Lai, 2011), whichwas published in Visual Arts Research. Inthis article, Buffington and I each examinedour own challenges in developing a feministclassroom, reviewed the feminist movementswith a focus on today’s young women’ssocio-cultural reality and preferences,and made pedagogical suggestions for arteducators to exercise feminist teaching. InBuffington’s classroom, pre-service teachersAlice Lairesisted not only association with feminismbut also feminist research methods. Inmy on-line study, while students werenot hesitant to discuss feminist topics oridentify themselves as feminists, tensionbetween the supporters of the so-called“second” and “third wave” feminists wasevident. Different feminist values have led toheated debates and judgmental comments.Buffington and I examined the “chillypolitical climate” (Copp & Kleinman, 2008,p. 101) including negative stereotypes thatprevented students from associating withfeminism. We reviewed and compareddifferent agendas and socio-cultural realitiesamong different feminist movements/waves.To better understand our students, we paidmuch attention to postfeminists’ and thirdwavers’ call for a new feminist movementthat reflects their reality, time and psyche.We then looked into efforts and approachesthat our fellow art educators took tosupport feminist teaching. We suggested thatart educators incorporate into their teachinga visual culture art education paradigm,“girl power” strategies (Smith-Shank,2000), and learning technologies, all aimingat enhancing critical thinking, culturallyresponsive art, assertive expression,connectivity, interaction, collaborationand visual presentation. We consideredtechnologies such as the Internet, Web 2.0,social media, and 3-D immersive learningsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

19or gaming environments particularlyresponsive to our students’ everyday lifeexperiences and preferences as they aresurrounded by multimedia, social learning,networking and dynamic communicationmodes. Our collaboration later led toa panel presentation, “Girl Power! ACultural Conversation” (Smith-Shank,Delacruz, Staikidis, & Savage, 2012), withother art educators at the annual NationalArt Education Association convention.Collaborating with other art educatorsprovided me with an opportunity to seehow they work to create an empoweringlearning environment, challenges they haveencountered, and steps they have taken toresolve teaching and learning problems.Online Learning:A Gender PerspectiveWhile working on the culturally responsiveart education project, I came across learningsurveys I implemented in my courses.Re-reading those learning surveys, I decidedto take on a “data analysis” project tosort out and analyze the surveys. Thisseemingly small exercise turned into a morecomplex case study of gender, technologyand online learning. While still fresh fromwriting about feminist teaching, I inevitablyreviewed the survey outcomes and all thetexts in my online courses from a genderand feminist perspective. The courses weredelivered via ANGEL and utilized a range oflearning and communication tools such asthe assignment drop box, discussion forum,Course Mail, Course Announcements,Bulletin Board News, Student Loungeand so forth. Seeing struggles that somestudents had with these tools, I even beganspeculating about the gender implicationsof online learning technology. Moreover, apreliminary literature review affirmed thattechnology significantly affects students’success or satisfaction of online learning.Thus, I branched out to consider the subjectof technology in the case study. In the end, Iwrote up the case study and its findings andpresented them at the 2012 InternationalConference on Applied and TheoreticalInformation Systems Research in Taiwan(Lai, 2012b). My paper was included inthe conference proceedings (Lai, 2012c).As these proceedings may not be easilyretrievable, I provide a detailed report of thiscase study below.To examine online learning and technologyfrom a gender perspective, I reviewedrelevant literature and conducted a casestudy. In the literature review, I surveyednational reports regarding enrollmenttrends in higher education in the UnitedStates, which indicated that women weremajor participants in online learning inpostsecondary education. I looked intovarious research regarding women’sperceptions and experiences of onlinelearning and sought to explore the followingquestions: Why do so many women chooseonline learning? What challenges do womenface in online learning? What are thegender issues in online learning? Regardingtechnology, I focused on feminist research oftechnology and encountered such recurringtopics as: gender inequality and imbalancein the technology-related academic fieldsand industries; gender stereotypes andmetaphors associated with the usage ofand attitudes toward technology; genderdifferences in the design of technology;and third wave feminists’ reflections onpopular online learning technologies (e.g.,Web 2.0, social media). While much of theresearch was based on empirical studies,I came across more than a dozen feministtheorizations of gender inequality anddisparities in technology. From essentialistfeminism and psychoanalytical feminism topostmodern feminism, it was astonishingto see what feminist scholars have to sayabout the development of gender identityand stereotypes. It was intriguing to readabout how design of technology mightchange if more women join the technologyindustry as designers. For example, Colleyand Maltby (2008) speculated that caring,social and low-hierarchy tendencies broughtin by women may increase or improvetechnology’s capacity for expressingemotion, networking and dynamicinteractive communication. Women maycontribute a greater attention to users’preferences and abilities than designers’or technology’s preferences and capacity,which in turn could strengthen user-friendlytechnology and interface design.Through comparison and analysis of thefirst survey, the Learning Experience surveydistributed in the beginning of the term, andall the texts produced by the students in thetwo courses I taught in the September 2010and January 2011 terms, I was particularlyintrigued by gender differences in onlinelearning. In what follows, I highlight thedifferent online learning experiences, onlinediscussion experiences and technologyrelatedproblem-solving approaches between23 female and nine male students.Prior Online Learning ExperiencesIn the Learning Experience survey, studentswere asked to indicate the amount ofcollege-level online course(s) completed(see Table 1, next page). The results showedthat six out of nine (66.7 percent) malestudents completed at least seven onlinecourses. The rest of three male studentscompleted one or two online course(s).Eleven out of 23 (47.8 percent) femalestudents completed at least seven onlinecourses. The rest of 12 female studentscompleted from none to six online courses.Among these female students, one had notcompleted any online course and two hadno experience in asynchronous online classdiscussions. I gathered that, proportionallyspeaking, more male than female studentshad prior online learning experiences.Online Discussion ExperiencesIn another question asking studentstheir levels of experience in the use ofasynchronous online class discussion(see Table 1), five students claimed thatthey usually take a leadership role to getthe class discussion started. Among thesefive students, two were male and threewere female; that is, two out of the totalof nine (22.2 percent) male students claimedto regularly assume a leadership role,while three out of the total of 23 (13percent) female students agreed with thesame statement.Although both female and male studentswere willing to initiate online discussion,further examination of these five students’online learning experiences indicated thatfemale students had more extensive onlineor technology experiences than malestudents. Of the three female students, onesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

20College-level online course(s) completed. (N=32)# %None 1 3.11-2 7 21.93-6 7 21.97-10 9 28.111 or over 8 25.0Describe your level of experience in the use of asynchronous online class discussion. (N=32)I usually take a leadership role to get the class discussion started. 5 15.6I usually post to the class after others have begun the class discussion. 23 71.9I usually sit back and observe to see class discussion progress. 2 6.3I am uncomfortable with asynchronous online class discussion. 0 0.0I don’t have such experience. 2 6.3Describe your participation in asynchronous online class discussion. (N=32)I read and post to the class at least 7 times a week. 1 3.1I read and post to the class 4-6 times a week. 18 56.2I read and post to the class 1-3 times a week 10 31.2I would avoid it if at all possible. 3 9.4Table 1. Excerpt of three items from the Learning Experience Survey.completed more than 11 online courses, one had a master’s degree in educational technology,and one solely claimed to participate in asynchronous online discussion at least seven timesa week (the highest number of frequency on the survey). On the other hand, the two malestudents had completed less than two online courses. From this, I speculated that femalestudents might need more online learning or technology experiences in order to routinelyinitiate online class discussion, while male students took on a leading role in online classdiscussion regularly in spite of limited online learning experiences.Problem-solving approachesAnother area where I observed gender differences was linked to technology-related problemsolvingapproaches. I noticed that significantly more female than male students requestedhelp with the technology. While female students tended to contact the instructor with a briefdescription of the problem as the first step, male students tended to figure out solutionsfor the problem on their own. Of the only two male students who contacted me about thetechnology problems, one described the problem (related to the assignment drop box) andsteps he took to solve the problem. He also suggested an alternative way to submit theassignment, if he failed to solve the problem. Another male student described the problem(related to a certain ANGEL function) and possible solutions including contacting thehelpdesk. Noticing the different approaches, I observed that more male than female studentswere willing or able to take an active role to resolve problems with technology.Final ReflectionAs a final reflection, I would highlight a few ideas I have learned from my research ofculturally responsive art education and women’s (online) teaching and learning experiences.I have learned that in both culturally responsive and feminist learning environments,students will most likely be exposed to different or conflicting beliefs and interests. Whiledeveloping positive intercultural understanding is strongly advocated by multicultural andfeminist educators (Keifer-Boyd, Amburgy,& Knight, 2007; Shin, 2011), this doesnot mean that educators need to avoid orsoften students’ engagement with difficultissues and conflicting ideas; nor need theydownplay the importance of “conflict” inany learning setting. In fact, Smith-Shank(2000) argued that a provocative, visualorientedteaching style as displayed byGuerrilla Girls – a well-known artist groupdevoted to pursuing social justice andfighting against sexism and racism in theart world – can effectively raise awarenessand incite further dialogue. bell hooks(1989) also advocated a confrontationalclassroom style where students were guidedto exercise an active and assertive way ofdialogue. In doing so, students learned totalk beyond their comfort zones. However,it should be noted that in supportingpurposeful confrontation in the classroom,these educators proactively practice criticalpedagogy and feminist teaching in thatthey establish a tone in the beginning ofthe class that encourages critical analysis,consciousness raising, debates and multiplepersonal narratives. Seymour (2007)maintains that a safe and empoweringclassroom does not manifest by itself.Educators need to be aware of students’readiness and awareness of feminist teachingstyles. She suggested that educators includeexplanations, activities or learning materialsin the beginning of the class to cultivatestudents’ willingness and ability to engagewith critical issues and conflicting ideas. Itis particularly inspiring for me to learn howother educators handle conflicts or heateddebates in classroom. Thus, for example,in my course, Images of Women in WesternCivilization, I have found it useful to includematerials that have explicit feminist voicesto help students become familiar with thecritical tone embedded in feminist critique.In one of the earlier on-line discussions, Iprompt students to discuss their thoughtsabout the critical tone and feministapproaches and values of such approaches.By doing so, students seem to be moreprepared to engage with difficult issues andopposing ideas. As I continue facilitatingstudent discussions, I also highlight differentideas and raise questions to get the studentsto explore different ideas further.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

21While my case study of online learningfrom a gender perspective had limitedparticipants, what I learned from thestudy closely reflects my online teachingexperiences and can be supported by otherlong-term research. Kramarae (2007)asserted that while women in her study wereenthusiastic about online learning, whentaking online courses, more women thanmen requested technological help, were lessconfident in initiating online activities, spentmore time to complete online activities,and showed noticeable stress in learningto use new technology. Furthermore, shefound that more men than women owneda personal or better computer for onlinelearning. On the other hand, women wereoften asked or willing to share a computer.I have seen many women struggle withonline learning and technologies in myclasses. As technology is an essential part ofour online courses, I feel a need to cultivatewomen’s ability and confidence in learningto use technology. Yet, I do not believe thatthere is a need to incorporate ungainly ora large amount of technology in onlinecourses. The learning surveys created for myclass appeared to be quite helpful; thus, Iwill continue to use them. From the survey,I am able to know each student’s onlinelearning experience. Earlier in the course, Ican pay more attention to the students whohave little online learning experiences andoffer timely help. When a new technology(e.g., a scanner, image attachment tool) isrequired for an activity, I would make sureto remind the students earlier. As I continueseeing students having trouble usingANGEL discussion forums, I realize that thediscussion forum is not necessarily intuitiveto all students. Thus, I would encouragestudents to “experiment” with the discussiontools and tolerate mistakes that others make.However, if a student persistently showedtrouble using the required technology, Iwould contact the student to offer help ordirect the student to the helpdesk.My sabbatical turned out to be quitefruitful. I truly appreciate the opportunity.Reflecting on the projects accomplished,I gather that my scholarship is centeredaround teaching and learning. There is stilla lot to learn and it will continue to be thefocus of my research.ReferencesAud, S., Hussar, W., Kena, G., Bianco,K., Frohlich, L., Kemp, J., Tahan, K.(2011). The condition of education2011 (NCES 2011-033). U.S.Department of Education, NationalCenter for Education Statistics.Washington, DC: U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/76005922/The-Conditions-of-Education-2011Buffington, M. L., & Lai, A. (2011).Resistance and tension in feministteaching. Visual Arts Research, 37(2),1-13.Colley, A., & Maltby, J. (2008). Impact ofthe Internet on our lives: Male andfemale personal perspectives. Computerin Human Behavior, 24(5), 2005-2013.Copp, M., & Kleinman, S. (2008).Practicing what we teach: Feministstrategies for teaching about sexism.Feminist Teacher, 18(2), 101-124.Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsiveteaching: Theory, research, and practice(2nd ed.). New York, NY: TeacherCollege Press.hooks, b. (1989). Talking back: Thinkingfeminist, thinking black. Boston, MA:South End Press.Keifer-Boyd, K., Amburgy, P. M., & Knight,W. B. (2007). Unpacking privilege:Memory, culture, gender, race, andpower in visual culture. Art Education,60(3), 19-24.Kramarae, C. (2007). Gender matters inonline learning. In M. G. Moore (Ed.),Handbook of distance education(2nd ed.) (pp. 169-180). Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum AssociatesPublishers.Lai, A. (2012a). Culturally responsiveart education in a global era. ArtEducation, 65(5), 18-23.Lai, A. (2012b, February 12). A feministstudy of gender and e-learning.Presentation at InternationalConference on Applied and TheoreticalInformation Systems Research,Taipei, Taiwan.Lai, A. (2012c). A feminist study ofgender and e-learning. Proceedings ofInternational Conference on Appliedand Theoretical Information SystemsResearch (CD-ROM), Taipei, Taiwan.Powell, K. (2010). Viewing places: Studentsas visual ethnographers. Art Education,63(6), 44-53.Seymour, N. (2007). The interests of fulldisclosure: Agenda-setting and thepractical initiation of the feministclassroom. Feminist Teacher, 17(3),187-203.Shin, R. (2011). Social justice and informallearning: Breaking the social comfortzone and facilitating positive ethnicinteraction. Studies in Art Education,53(1), 71-87.Smith-Shank, D. (2000). You don’t need apenis to be a genius. In D. Fehr, K. Fehr,& K. Keifer-Boyd (Eds.), Real-worldreadings in art education: Things yourprofessors never told you (pp. 65-74).New York, NY: Falmer Press.Smith-Shank, D., Delacruz, E., Staikidis,K., & Savage S. (2012, March 3).Girl power! A cultural conversation.Presentation at National Art EducationAssociation Annual Convention, NewYork, NY.SUNY Empire State College. (2013,January). SUNY Empire State Collegefact book eleventh edition 2011-12.Retrieved from https://www8.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/instresearch.nsf/db1a77fb2f6bcf2085256bfa005466b0/b87f664415a891c185257aef007182e3/$FILE/Fact%20Book%202011-12%20FINAL.pdfTaylor, S. V., & Sobel, D. M. (2011).Culturally responsive pedagogy:Teaching like our students’ lives matter.London, England: Emerald Group.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

22The Servant Mentor:Where (and When) Might This be Leading?David Starr-Glass, Center for International ProgramsWhile the process of mentoringis understood differently– depending on tradition,context and organization – there is generalagreement that it is a managed process:involving human behavior and relationships;incorporating elements of planning,organizing, directing and leading. It is thelast element, that of leading, that is the focusof this article.Servant leadership as concept and practicewas first suggested as a viable alternative toautocratic leadership approaches by RobertK. Greenleaf in a short essay published morethan 40 years ago (Greenleaf, 1970/1991).At first sight, the term seems to be anoxymoron: aren’t the ways of servantsand of leaders diametrically opposed?Yet, focusing on the ethical and moralresponsibilities that accompany the powerdifferentials inherent in leading, Greenleafproposed a radically new role for leadersthat recognized the dignity of the person,the well-being of the organization, and anappreciation of the broader communitywithin which the organization is embedded.He was not talking about a theoreticalperspective; instead, he based the concepton his 40-year experience as a manager withAT&T. Upon retiring, he devoted his effortsto exploring and promoting the concept,and his continuing contribution to thisother-framing of leadership, and his otherresponseto it, has significantly influencedleadership scholars, management gurus andpracticing managers (Spears, 2005).In this essay, I would like to sketch someof the central tenets of Robert Greenleaf’sapproach to servant leadership. Havingestablished this frame of reference, I willreflectively consider my own mentoringpractice; hopefully, this will not be anexercise in self-indulgence, but will suggestbroader questions about the mentoringrelationship that may be of use to others,whether first-time or experienced mentors.In doing so, I am conscious of a number ofthings. First, mentoring is an individualisticand often idiosyncratic pursuit andmentoring relationships are personallyunique. Second, my own mentoring worktakes place within a specific context and thedynamics involved may be quite differentfrom campus-based mentoring. Third, myinterest is in exploring and sharing thementoring relationships that I experience,not in promoting or prescribing aparticular approach.Qualities and Enactments of theServant LeaderLeadership theory has changed a great dealover the years. Early work was firmly rootedin behavioral approaches and personalitytraits. There does appear to be a connectionbetween innate predispositions and leadingbehavior; although the relationship isnow considered more subtle, nuancedand mediated by context. A recent metaanalyticalstudy of personality traits andleading suggested that although “havingcertain traits may predispose individualsto certain behaviors, behaviors are themore important predictor of leadershipeffectiveness” (Derue, Nahrgang, Wellman,& Humphrey, 2011, p. 40). Those behaviorsare shaped and expressed differently, andleadership theory has expanded to include amore eclectic recognition of the contributionand mediation of ethnicity and culture,situation and context, process and purpose(Ayman & Korabik, 2010). After a greatdeal of leadership research, a number ofthings are clear: there is no single model ofleadership; there is no simple prescriptionfor effective leadership; and leadingqualities and behavior can be significantlyencouraged, nurtured and developed.It is contestable whether the term “servantleadership” is descriptive (referring to theleading style naturally adopted by someonepossessing these attributes), or whether itis prescriptive (recommending that theseattributes be employed). Its associatedDavid Starr-Glass in front of the NationalMuseum (Narodni muzeum), WenceslasSquare, Prague.literature is often very enthusiastic,sometimes evangelical. In this essay, myprimary interest is in a description of servantleadership. It is acknowledged that notevery innate servant leader will be able touse her personal qualities effectively in allleading positions, and that not every leadingposition is made more effective if servantleadership is assumed.To assume a role – personal, social ororganizational – the individual has to enacta set of attributes, making them evident toothers and bringing them to bear on thesituations and relationships encountered.Greenleaf (1970/1991) considered a set of10 interlocking qualities, which may bethe natural predisposition of the leader butwhich he certainly understood to be thedesired enactments in most leading rolesand relationships.• Listening actively to others. Leadinginvolves communicating, but it oftenresorts to telling. Communicationsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

23is more properly understood asa process in which conversation,dialogue, and shared meaning canlead to different perspectives andchanged understandings. The servantleader appreciates this, realizing that“communication is the generativemechanism of change that gives peoplethe reality in which they live…ratherthan serving as simply a tool forrepresenting and transmitting people’sunderstanding or knowledge” (Ford& Ford, 1995, p. 560). The leaderhas the capacity to listen, approachingcommunication openly and actively,looking for meaning and nuance, ratherthan for agreement and confirmation.She attempts “to understand thespeaker’s own understanding of anexperience without the listener’s owninterpretive structures intruding onhis or her understanding of the otherperson” (Weger, Castle, & Emmett,2010, p. 35).• Displaying genuine empathy. Inlistening and acting, the servantleader demonstrates empathy towardothers included in the process. Sheaccepts others, making a consciouseffort to identify with them andacknowledging their unique concernswithout being judgmental. Empathy isa conscious concern, which recognizesand appreciates the other. It doesnot impose solutions on perceivedproblems, or intrude on selfhood.Robert Starratt (2004) understood thatin listening and engaging, the leadermust be actively present, which “impliesa level of concentration and sensitivityto the signals the other sends out …an unspoken message, responding tothe other from your own spontaneousauthenticity” (pp. 86-87). Empathycommunicates recognition, concern andan enabling presence: a presence that“starts with this premise; I can’t do italone; you can’t do it alone; only wecan do it” (p. 99, emphasis in original).• Caring for wholeness and healing. Theservant leader is concerned with thewell-being of those who constitute herorganization. Individual wholenessand healing are not instrumental issuesrelated to performance; rather, they areexpressions of a shared humanity andan inclusive compassion. Boundariesand limits are important and should berecognized: not all personal problemscan, or should, be addressed. Butorganisations and institutions canproduce dis-ease that manifests itselfin behavior and resentment. Theseoutcomes are only a manifestationof the dis-ease in the relationship.The servant leader fosters a pervasive“organizational virtuousness,” equallyconcerned with human impact, moralgoodness and social betterment, anda foundation for healing (Cameron &Caza, 2004; Cameron, Bright, & Caza,2004; Powley & Cameron, 2006).• Being aware of self and the other.Servant leaders exhibit and activelycultivate awareness. Awareness isopenness to surrounding reality andcomplexity, and Greenleaf (1977/2002)reflected that it “is not a giver of solace– it is just the opposite. It is a disturberand an awakener. Able leaders areusually sharply awake and reasonablydisturbed” (p. 41). Awareness of thecomplexities of the organization isessential; however, many suggest thatthe critical factor is a high level of selfawareness:“the ability to recognizeone’s feelings… not only the ability tobe aware of one’s feelings and emotions,but also to differentiate between them,to know what one is feeling and why,and to know what caused the feelings”(Bar-On, 2004, p. 15).• Persuading as a preferred option.Leaders are invested with power, andpower-differentials are often utilized inbringing about change. Rapid change,which leaves no time for negotiationor education, can prompt the use ofcoercive power. The servant leader isaware of power differentials, coerciveimplementation, and the legacies ofpower manipulations. She prefers toapproach change situations throughpersuasion. She is aware that just asthere is resistance to change, there isresistance to persuasion (Ahluwalia,2000), but prefers engagementand persuasion to reach common,renegotiated goals. Robert Greenleaf(1996) understood persuasion a littledifferently: “arriving at a feeling ofrightness about a belief or actionthrough one’s own intuitive sense … butthe person being persuaded must takethat intuitive step alone, untrammeledby coercive or manipulative stratagemsof any kind” (p. 129).• Conceptualizing the vision and thefuture. Positively-orientated leadershave a vision of the future, of potentialsthat can be actualized: leading isabout sharing visions and articulatingdreams. The servant leader sees thefuture in terms of increased inclusionand stronger community, rather than inpersonal success or organizational preeminence.Kathleen Patterson (2003)suggested that the “focus is on theindividual member of the organizationand the vision component is about theorganizational member’s future state …the leader looks forward and sees theperson as a viable and worthy personand seeks to assist each one in reachingthat state” (p. 4). Leaders originatevision, but when shared by followers it“continues to take shape and clarity aseveryone engaged in the process speaksto it and owns it… the vision becomesa powerful motivator to take action”(Laub, 2004, p. 5).• Possessing foresight. Visions provide asense of what might be accomplishedand are idealized projections, notbound by the immediacy of themoment. Greenleaf recognized this,and felt vision should be complimented– not restricted or inhibited – by arealistic appreciation of the here andnow. The servant leader has to inspireby presenting realistic goals, and byassessing the degree to which they havebeen achieved. Greenleaf (1970/1991)The servant leaderis aware of powerdifferentials, coerciveimplementation, andthe legacies of powermanipulations.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

24called this reality-check “foresight”: anability to see outcomes and to developcontingency plans. He considered it “awholly rational process,” and wrotethat foresight “means regarding theevents of the instant moment andconstantly comparing them with a seriesof projections made in the past and atthe same time projecting future events –with diminishing certainty as projectedtime runs out into the indefinite future”(p. 18).• Recognizing the responsibility ofstewardship. Servant leadership isgrounded in a nuanced understandingof human relationships, organizationalpurpose and social contribution. To agreat extent, this reflects Greenleaf’sphilosophy and world view, but it alsoaccords with his deep Quaker faith andconviction. He was concerned withthe leadership practice, rather thantheory; with enriching the well-beingand resilience of the organization,rather than profit accumulation; withcontributing to a wider ecology oflocal community and civil society,rather than the isolated firm.Stewardship acknowledges transienceand replaceability, responsibility anda duty to care, conservation andextended property rights. Service,a defining attribute of stewardship,addresses a multitude of humanconcerns. Stewardship implies theleader’s recognition of temporaryconnectedness, personal responsibilityand a duty to care (Anderson, 2008).• Committing to the growth of people.Servant leaders respond to people ratherthan institutions, seeing institutions aspeopled-places rather than symbolicabstractions. When organizations talkof “human resources” the emphasisis usually on the “resources,” but theservant leader understands the humanelement. She values people, and theircontribution toward the organization,rather than short-term instrumentalitythat might result in long-term erosionof humanity or selfhood. Servantleaders tend to understand themselvesas catalyst in human growth: creatingthe conditions in which this mightoccur, enabling pro-social behavior andempowerment, and measuring theirown accomplishments in terms of theway in which others have developed.• Building community. CarolynCrippen (2005) noted that the servantleader recognizes both the internalcommunity of the organization andits connectedness to the broadercommunity within which it issituated, and “seeks to identify somemeans for building community…giving back through service to thecommunity; investing financially intothe community; and caring about one’scommunity” (p. 10).Greenleaf considered these 10 attributesto characterize the servant leader and herbehavior. Some attributes might be moreaccentuated than others, but collectively,they constitute a cluster of interconnectedqualities that differentiate servant leadershipstyle from other approaches. They are notfuzzy ideals, but expressions and enactmentsof a deeper sense of what it is to lead.Servant leaders have been increasinglyidentified with new organizationalperspectives, which recognize a changedrelationship between organizations andthe social, cultural, and ethical matrix thatcreates them and gives them legitimacy.Servant leadership is not only a perspectivewithin some universities and NGOs; italso has been adopted by major for-profitcorporations such as 7-Eleven, SouthwestAirlines and Starbucks.Mentorship Through a Prism ofLeading and ServingMentors lead in a multitude of ways:inspiring mentees and making newdirections and journeys possible; settingout on their own journeys and encouragingmentees to follow, to catch up and tocontinue their personal pathways todiscovery. The initiative is generally with thementor, and the journeys taken, postponedor missed are very much determined byher. The mentoring relationship is built ontrust, anticipated benefit and interpersonalengagement. The mentee is often seekingdirection and challenge, not just affirmation,and trusts that the mentor will lead herin constructive and fruitful ways. If it istrue that “mentors provide their expertiseto less experienced individuals in orderto help the novices advance their careers,enhance their education, and build theirnetworks” (Sherman, Muñoz, & Pankake,2008, p. 244), then leading is a necessary,perhaps defining, aspect of the mentoringrelationship.My mentoring is a little different. First,it is done in a transnational setting, withthe Empire State College InternationalProgram in Prague (Czech Republic),dealing predominately with Central andEastern European students. The significantcontextual dimension is that it operatesacross national cultures. Second, because ofprior experience – personal or vicarious –most of my mentees have a predeterminedcultural understanding of the role of facultyin higher education. Their understandingand expectation of leadership in thementoring relationship is deeply colored bystatus differentials, power distance and thelack of inclusion that is the norm in most(but certainly not all) Central and EasternEurope universities. Third, while I visitPrague several times a year to meet mentees,most of my ongoing work with them is doneat a distance from Israel, which introducesanother set of dynamics and challenges inthe mentoring relationship. Fourth, mostof my mentoring is associated with thecreation of the mentee’s Senior Project: acapstone exercise that takes the form of anextended undergraduate dissertation, whichexplores an agreed-upon topic in business,management or economics.Listening, empathy and caringThe mentoring relationship grows out oftrust, and for trust to develop, there usuallyhas to be sufficient time for both partiesto understand and to test one another. Inmy mentoring practice, face-to-face timeis limited and distanced communication(email) lacks media richness. Cross-culturalwork requires alertness to difference,other values, differing assumptions, andcultural structures of power, authority andcredibility. I recognize this, and the menteeis normally equally attuned to the culturaldivide. I engage in what might be calledthreshold work: creating a liminal space forthe relationship to develop, a space in whichold rules and assumptions (especially aboutsocial order and power differentials) aresuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

25temporarily suspended. Critically, I avoid theimposition of solutions to assumed problemsor unarticulated difficulties. I listen. Iactively listen to the mentee’s experiences,concerns and expectations. Dialogue issilenced if the other believes she is unheard.Dialogue is ritualized if questions areanswered and not questioned.As an instructor, students look to me forknowledge. I hate to disappoint them, so Itry to provide it. Sooner or later, I tell themthat knowledge transmission is a usefulshort-term expedient, but in the long-term,knowledge has to be created. They smile,but most of them begin to understand thatin the engine of learning, I am more like thecatalytic converter than the fuel tank. As amentor, mentees generally look to me forexperience. They know that I am not goingto write their Senior Project dissertations,but appreciate that I can be a catalyst inthe process: making things happen moreeffectively. In sharing experience and inguiding, I am conscious of the need tobe actively present, even when physicallydistanced. It is often a matter of askingwhat she really wants to do, rather thantelling her what I would do. Experience hasto be reflected upon, shifted and sorted,and shared appropriately. My mentoringis not centered on the knowing expert, buton the bricoleur who uses an accumulatedinventory of bits and pieces, found hereand there, to respond to the stated needsof mentees. It seems to me that this is aninvocation of empathy: responding to thedetermined needs of others. I understandwhat Starratt (2004) is saying when hetalked about an enabling presence based on“I can’t do it alone; you can’t do it alone;only we can do it” (p. 99).Each mentee is a real and authentic person,and has to be respected and valued as such.Increasingly, I explore with them theirjourneys, geographically and educationally.They are often challenged by languagedislocation and cultural strangeness, yetby and large remain resilient and focused.As the mentoring relationship becomescomfortable for them, they often share theirdreams and aspirations. Sometimes, thereis a problem present but unarticulated.The mentor is not a social worker, andboundaries are important, but sometimesthe problem is intrusive: the mentee’s workis slipping away, grades are sharply down,and there are dark circles under eyes. Ihave often been profoundly humbled whenmentees sense a dimension of compassionand healing in the mentoring relationship,and unburden themselves: a younger sisterdying of inoperable cancer; mothers andfathers with a few months to live. To shareis the first stage in healing, but usually notthe last (Starr-Glass, 2006).They smile, but most ofthem begin to understandthat in the engine oflearning, I am more likethe catalytic converterthan the fuel tank.Awareness, persuading and visionThe concept of servant mentor, as withservant leader, is problematic because itinvites a dichotomy. Does the mentee insuch a relationship become the master? Orperhaps the mentor comes to see herselfassuming a self-serving role, in whichthe decision to serve only affirms hercontrol? It is a false dichotomy, based ona premise of hierarchical power. Perhapsit is easier to consider the verb ratherthan the noun. Serving is rooted in anacknowledgement of both the self and theother. It is an acknowledged awareness ofco-presence, based on a shared humanityrather than on assumptions of difference,power or authority. Serving is a voluntaryrecognition of the other, a reciprocationof the other’s shared presence, a responseto a connectedness with the other. It is anextension of self, not its contraction. Theservant mentor responds to an awarenessof self and awareness of the other in thementoring relationship. This is oftena profound, but difficult, concept formentees who have experiences or culturalassumptions in which a power differentialis a rigid and inevitable consequence ofsocial order. The servant mentor negotiatespower difference, moving beyond dominanceand subservience.Similarly, servant mentorship avoids usingpower to coerce or demand. As has beenmentioned, coercive power is often a shorttermexpedient, but should only be resortedto when there is no time for negotiationor for the creation of a learning processthat will bring about change. The problemis that coercive power is remembered (bythe mentee) and it can be addictive (for thementor), corroding both parties. If mentorsare educators, is seems reasonable that theyshould adopt dialogue, persuasion andincreased learning rather than power play.In my mentor work, I also tend toconceptualize and articulate visions of whatcan be, and futures that might be. Thementee is sometimes doubtful, which oftenmeans that she is fearful. She is not surewhether the Senior Project dissertation canbe written: she has no prior experience. Sheadmits to being excited, but confesses tobeing concerned. Here, my experience canbe provided freely, because I have had theexperience of hundreds of mentees arrivein the same condition, only to leave a yearlater with pride and satisfaction in theircompleted dissertations. The vision has to bepresented realistically. I also have the menteegrade a couple of the published dissertationsfrom past students, allowing her to developthe critical skills required and to realisticallyassess the virtues (and flaws) of those whohave come before her. But there is a futurevision and it includes the mentee. It is theshared goal toward which we set out.Foresight, stewardship,growth and communityTo counterbalance the vision, there isforesight. If the mentoring relationship isa journey, then it has stages, obstacles anddetours. These have to be communicatedand shared with the mentee as theydevelop. The servant mentor thinks ahead,anticipates, responds, shares, supports andencourages. Foresight is anticipatory, but itshorizons are usually closer than imagined.Communication is critical and, since mymentoring practice is distanced, it is essentialto develop an effective ongoing flow ofinformation. Simple things, but meaningfulthings: prompt responses, adequatediscussion, detailed and actionable pointsraised, and thoughtful attentiveness.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

26The concept of stewardship also might needsome elaboration. As an aside, it is usefulto remember that the word “economy”is derived from the Greek ekonomus,which means someone who managed ahousehold or estate: a steward. The roleof the steward was to plan, organize andconserve the estate. The goal was to makeit more productive and effective, but theestate did not belong to the steward; it washeld in a relationship of beneficence andtrust. While there might be some questionabout the practices and attitudes of presentday economics, the word does convey aresponsibility to accrue benefit, reduce harmand recognize other-ownership.The mentoring relationship is not myprivate property with which I can do as Ithink fit; rather, I am mutually included in arelationship of responsibility and beneficenceto optimize good. In stewardship, there isa responsibility to recognize the rightfulinclusion of others in the “household,” andto exercise care and concern. That raisesthe question of the ultimate ownership ofwhat is entrusted. Different people willhave different perspectives: some mightexplain this in terms of religious or moralduty; others might see it in a duty toward aparticular discipline, institution, knowledge,communities or society. But whoever, orwhatever, is the ultimate ownership ofmentoring, its practice is within the domainand stewardship of the individual mentor.In that experiential domain of mentoring,whatever the ultimate goals, the immediateconcern is the growth of the mentee. Overthe course of the year, I see changes anddevelopment. Not all are attributable tothe mentoring engagement, but withinthe engagement. there are always signs ofnew-found confidence, growing awarenessand increased independence. Recognitionof the mentee’s academic growth certainlyprovides me with an intrinsic reward. Theservant mentor includes herself in the cycleof growth and renewal. While recognizingthe mentee’s unique ability to change andmature, the mentor appreciates that herprovision of support, guidance and energy inthe mentoring relationship has contributedto the mentee’s growth.Adding value – or better, assisting in aprocess where increased internal valueis generated – takes place within thementoring relationship itself, but it doesnot remain there. It spills over into thebroader community within which menteeand steward mentor are embedded. Arecurring theme from my Central andEastern European mentees is about returningto their homelands and contributing tofamilies, family businesses and civil society.They have all taken journeys, not randomwanderings, but temporary sojourns indistant places. The themes of journeysand strangerhood are central parts of mymentoring approach, because they recognizethe nature of the mentee’s experiencesand expectations. Journeys can change us,strangerhood can be empowering. For thesestudents, there is almost always the dreamof returning changed and empowered.The servant mentor understands theexpanded nature of her practice; it has aneffect on things beyond the boundaries ofthe mentoring relationship. There is theparticular and the generalized, the dyad andthe community. Perhaps this is somethingmore immediately obvious in highereducation than it is in the world of business.Reaching beyond the boundaries of theparticular and impacting what lies beyondseems natural to colleges, because theyare “the cradle of the professions and theprimary socializers of future professionals…making any profession more communityorientedmust, therefore, begin with makinguniversities more community-oriented”(Klay, Brower, & Williams, 2001, p. 46).Ernest Boyer (1996) stressed that allforms of scholarship are part of a unified“scholarship of engagement.” At thecollege level, this means “connecting therich resources of the university to ourmost pressing social, civic, and ethicalproblems, to our children, to our schools,to our teacher, and to our cities… campuseswould be viewed by both students andprofessors not as isolated islands, but asstaging grounds for action” (pp. 19-20).For the mentor, engagement begins with theconnection between her and her mentee;however, this initial dyadic is not an isolatedisland, but part of extended communities ofinquiry, of practice and of service. Servantmentors, like servant leaders, seem torecognize and affirm that they are boundinto a greater community, seeing theirefforts as eventually permeating into it andtransforming it (Drury, 2005).Servant Mentoring: To WhatExtent Does This Ring True?This article has tried to present a frameworkthat represents the attributes and theenactments of what have come to becalled servant leaders. Using that prism, Ihave examined and reflected on my ownmentoring practice, recognizing that it maybe contextually different or idiosyncraticallyconstructed. It has been an attempt todescribe and make connections, not toprescribe and repackage.But these are only my reflections. Orperhaps they are only reflections of me.Or perhaps they are only reflection of anidealized process. Yet, when I considerwhat I do, what I experience, and whatmy mentees tell me they experience, it doesseem that the cluster of values that RobertGreenleaf attributed to servant leadershipis congruent with the mentoring that I tryto practice. To a fair degree, leadership isnot an innate quality, but a skill that canbe learned, improved and changed. Thatalso seems true of mentoring. I certainlyrecognize that the context of my mentoringhas changed and that, to a degree, at least,my mentoring approach also has changed.In a transnational context, given the culturalassumptions and experiences of my mentees,and in a situation where the mentoringrelationship is attenuated by distance,there does seem to be a clear resonancebetween servant leadership and what Ihave called servant mentoring. Leadershipis contextually situated and needs to becontextually viable: one size does not fit all.Good leaders intuitively sense that and tryto remain authentic, while adapting to thetask environment. Perhaps mentors are nodifferent. For me, the role of servant mentorrepresents an authentic presentation of self,but it also seems to be contextually viable.But, here again, these are only my thoughtsand experiences.There is another avenue that I would liketo explore, because an additional aspect ofmy mentoring is that just as it is distancedfrom learners, so it also is distanced fromsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

27colleagues and peers. I have proposed that,in many aspects, the model of mentoringengagement that I practice is similar to thenormative one that is central to EmpireState College. Obviously, all mentoringincorporates elements of the personal;however, I would like to better understandwhether what I see as servant mentoringreflects the thoughts and practices ofmy peers.Does the description of the servant mentorcorrespond to your approach to mentoring?I would greatly appreciate it if you couldconsider sharing your thoughts with mein a collegiate endeavor to understandmore about what we mean by, and howwe practice, mentoring. If you would liketo assist me in this project, please consideremailing me. It would be wonderful if youcould tell me how long you have mentored,your academic discipline, and the points inwhich the picture that I have sketched hereof servant mentoring agree, or disagree, withyour own practice. I can be contacted byemail at David.Starr-Glass@esc.edu.ReferencesAhluwalia, R. (2000). Examination ofpsychological processes underlyingresistance to persuasion. Journal ofConsumer Research, 27(2), 217-232.Anderson, J. (2008, May). The writings ofRobert K. Greenleaf: An interpretiveanalysis and the future of servantleadership. Servant LeadershipResearch Roundtable Proceedings,School of Business & Leadership,Regent University, Virginia Beach,VA. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2008/anderson.pdfAyman, R., & Korabik, K. (2010).Leadership. American Psychologist,65(3), 157-170.Bar-On, R. (2004). Bar-On emotionalquotient inventory: Technical manual.Toronto, Canada: MHS Systems.Boyer, E. (1996). The scholarship ofengagement. Journal of Public Serviceand Outreach, 1(1), 11-20. Retrievedfrom: http://openjournals.libs.uga.edu/index.php/jheoe/article/view/253/238Cameron, K. S., & Caza, A. (2004).Contributions to the discipline ofpositive organizational scholarship.American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6),731-739.Cameron, K. S., Bright, D., & Caza, A.(2004). Exploring the relationshipsbetween organizational virtuousnessand performance. American BehavioralScientist, 47(6), 766-790.Crippen, C. (2005). The democratic school:First to serve, then to lead. CanadianJournal of Educational Administrationand Policy, 47. Retrieved from http://www.umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/pdf_files/crippen.pdfDerue, D. S., Nahrgang, J. D., Wellman,N., & Humphrey, S. E. (2011). Traitand behavioural theories of leadership:An integration and meta-analytic testof their relative validity. PersonnelPsychology, 64(1), 7-52.Drury, S. (2005, August). Teacher asservant leader: A faculty model foreffectiveness with students. ServantLeadership Research RoundtableProceedings, School of Business &Leadership, Regent University, VirginiaBeach, VA. Retrieved from http://www.drurywriting.com/sharon/drury_teacher_servant.pdfFord, J. D., & Ford, L. W. (1995). Therole of conversations in producingintentional change in organizations.Academy of Management Review,20(3), 541-570.Greenleaf, R. K. (1970/1991). The servantas leader. Indianapolis, IN: The RobertK. Greenleaf Center.Greenleaf, R. K. (1996). On becoming aservant leader. San Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass.Greenleaf, R. K. (1977/2002). Servantleadership: A journey into the natureof legitimate power and greatness.Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.Klay, W. E., Brower, R., & Williams, B.(2001). A community-oriented model ofacademic professionalism. MetropolitanUniversities, 12(3), 41-50.Laub, J. (2004, August). Defining servantleadership: A recommended typologyfor servant leadership studies. ServantLeadership Research RoundtableProceedings, School of Business &Leadership, Regent University, VirginiaBeach, VA. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2004/laub_defining_servant.pdfPatterson, K. (2003, August). Servantleadership: A theoretical model. ServantLeadership Research RoundtableProceedings, School of Business &Leadership, Regent University, VirginiaBeach, VA. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2003/patterson_servant_leadership.pdfPowley, E. H., & Cameron, K. S. (2006).Organizational healing: Livedvirtuousness amidst organizationalcrisis. Journal of Management,Spirituality & Religion, 3(1-2), 13-33.Sherman, W. H., Muñoz, A., & Pankake,A. (2008). The great divide: Women’sexperiences with mentoring. Journalof Women in Educational Leadership,6(4), 239-259.Spears, L. C. (2005, August). Theunderstanding and practice of servantleadership. Servant LeadershipResearch Roundtable Proceedings,School of Business & Leadership,Regent University, Virginia Beach,VA. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2005/spears_practice.pdfStarratt, R. J. (2004). Ethical leadership. SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Starr-Glass, D. (2006). Mentoring notes. AllAbout Mentoring, 30, 50.Weger Jr., H., Castle, G. R., Emmett, M.C. (2010). Active listening in peerinterviews: The influence of messageparaphrasing on perceptions oflistening skills. International Journal ofListening, 24(1), 34-49.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

28The Pearl of the Antilles, Take 2:Teaching Film in CubaRuth Goldberg, Metropolitan CenterIfirst went to Cuba in 1999, lured by theprospect of attending the InternationalFestival of New Latin American Cinemathat attracts filmmakers, scholars and criticsto Havana every December. For each ofthe next three years, I brought groups ofour Metropolitan Center students to thefestival as an immersive credit-bearing studyof Latin American cinema. We organizedthese trips around screenings, encounterswith filmmakers and historians, lectures andtours of the island.In 2001, my relationship with Cuba andCuban cinema deepened immeasurablywhen I was invited to teach an intensiveworkshop on the horror film at Cuba’srenowned film school: The InternationalSchool of Film and Television in SanAntonio de los Baños (Escuela Internacionalde Cine y Television, or EICTV). Since thatfirst visit, The EICTV has invited me back toteach in Cuba biannually, and these teachingtrips are among the highlights of my year.The EICTV was founded in 1986 byColombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez,Argentine filmmaker Fernando Birri (widelyknown as the “father of the new LatinAmerican cinema”) and Cuban filmmakerJulio Garcia Espinosa. In Birri’s words,the school was founded “so that a Utopia,which, by definition, exists nowhere, mightexist somewhere.” From its inception, theEICTV marked the creation of a space tomold a new kind of independent worldcinema as a creative instrument forsocial change.The school has flourished to become adestination for young filmmakers from 45countries around the world. In the wordsof the current director, Rafael Rosal, “Wehave more than 800 graduates in sevenspecialties distributed around the world. Ihave no reservations when I say that ourgraduates have changed the panorama ofLatin American cinema. There probably isno significant production in this continentRuth Goldberg (seated in left chair) and Edgar Soberon (seated in right chair) with students.in which a student who graduated from thisschool does not participate. We have createdan international network of solidarity,co-productions and relations among allthose who have been involved in theschool because, as Gabriel Garcia Marquezpredicted, our inordinate purpose was, isand will be the integration of a politicallyengagedworld cinema. In this sense, Ibelieve we are on a good path.”And, as one might expect from a schoolfounded by Gabriel Garcia Marquez andFernando Birri, the EICTV is a completelymagical place.First, there is the strange matter of itslocation. The campus is roughly an hour’sdrive from the city of Havana, hidden awayat the center of an enormous working farm,and surrounded by miles of citrus groves,banana fields and pastureland. On the drivefrom the airport, it is not unusual to pausewhile a herd of cows crosses the road. Thisis deep country – not at all the location onemight imagine for a cosmopolitan hub ofinternational film production.And yet, once inside the beautifullylandscaped, state-of-the art film schoolcampus, one enters an island within anisland: a world entirely inhabited byfilmmakers and dedicated to the worshipfulstudy of cinema. The entryway to the mainbuilding is covered with inspirational graffitileft by visiting filmmakers and actors whohave come to teach through the years:photo: nicolás ordóñezsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

29photo: nicolás ordóñezInspirational graffiti by filmmakers who have visited the school.Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola,Isabelle Huppert, Asghar Farhadi, the CoenBrothers, Carlos Sorin, and dozens of others.Next door, in the screening rooms,somewhere between 10 and 20 differentfilms are shown every day. Here, in themiddle of the Cuban countryside, withhorses grazing in a nearby field and thesound of tractors in the distance, one canwalk into the Glauber Rocha screeningroom and see the most significant newworks of world cinema before they evenhave a chance to debut in New York – thevery latest by Bela Tarr or Michael Hanekeor Lucretia Martel, presented, in manycases, by the filmmakers themselves, as anoffering to the school that has trained somany young artists from all over the world.There are three other elements that, Ibelieve, are essential to the particular magicof the EICTV. The first is the educationalmodel. Students in the three-year programare divided into seven areas of specialization:directing, screenwriting, production,documentary, sound, cinematography andediting. Throughout their foundational firstyear of basic film studies and subsequenttwo years of advanced specialization,students have a mix of hands-on training,practical exercises and classes on filmhistory and theory. The schedule is intense:nine hours of class a day, five days a week– except on location, when the commitmentincreases to 14- or 16-hour days ofshooting. But this is not what is so specialabout the model. What creates the uniqueexperience at the EICTV is that aside from acore faculty of filmmakers who oversee eachdepartment, all workshops are taught by arevolving cast of visiting filmmakers whocome to work with the students for short,intensive periods of time. As a result, thecreative energy in the school is constantlyreinvigorated by the emergence of newlearning opportunities and new mentorstudentcombinations.As an example: on a typical Mondaymorning, the second year productionstudents might be introduced to CharlesMcDougall who has come for a weekto oversee their television exercises.Meanwhile, the directing students jump intoa Meisner technique workshop with StephenBayly. A Cuban cinematographer kicksoff a highly-anticipated week of exerciseswith the Red© camera. A composer arrivesfrom Mexico City with a three-week sounddesign workshop. A French screenwritercoaches the third year students on pitchingtheir thesis films. Daniel Minahan walks agroup through the storyboarding techniquehe uses on Game of Thrones. By lunchtime,the school is buzzing with new ideas, halfa dozen languages, and the spontaneouschemistry of mentor-student encountersbetween working professionals and young,suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

30emerging artists. Many of these mentoringrelationships continue on long after thestudents graduate, and visiting professorsare aware that they are training soon-to-becolleagues in the industry.The second ingredient in the EICTVexperience is that everyone (students,visiting faculty, administration) livestogether on that campus out in the middleof the country. Everyone enjoys a pleasantfour-minute “commute” in the morning,walking from the faculty apartments andstudent dorms across a field, through a leafywalkway and into the bustle of the maincomplex. We all eat meals together in acommunal dining hall, and grab a coffee ora swim between classes. Everyone unwindsover a beer on the patio at the end of theday, and everyone attends a range of latenightscreenings, often staying to argue overurgent cinematic matters until well into thenight. For visiting professors, this chance tolive in a community of film people meansthat, however briefly, we, too, are backin film school, with all of the exuberance,intensity and fun of campus life.None of this would matter if the studentsweren’t so extraordinary. They come withdifferent levels of preparation – many havestudied for other careers before decidingto switch into film, so it is not unusual tohave doctors or other professionals amongthe students – while some have alreadycompleted extensive arts conservatorytraining in their home countries. The basicentrance requirements include a completedundergraduate degree, a solid portfolioof work and a rigorous exam. The schoolaccepts one out of every 10 applicants,admitting just 42 new students per year. Thestudents come ready to work hard, awarethat film is among the most competitivefields they could choose.The age limit to enter the three-yearprogram is 30 years old, and the studentsrange in age across their 20s. Some areaway from home for the first time, whileothers are married and well into their adultlives. They all share a wealth of creativeenergy and a distinctive sense of irreverence.Any free moment in film school is anopportunity for creative expression (read:hijinks). As one example, after a set of trulyunfortunate, life-sized sculptures of seminalScarecrowfilmmakers was donated to the school, thestudents set about repurposing the statuesaround campus, where they could be tuckedaway out of sight but still form part of thelandscape: here is a picture of one of thestatues (above), now permanently employedas a scarecrow in the vegetable fields behindthe student dorms. During one of his annualvisits, co-founder Fernando Birri, in thesame spirit, made an eloquent speech aboutthe importance of artistic irreverence andthen handed out hammers so the studentscould smash to bits the statue made in hisimage. Some students grabbed their camerasand filmed the impromptu scene, whileothers wielded the hammers. Everyonefound a way to join in.As another example of the EICTV schoolspirit, every year on Halloween, the entireschool (roughly 200 souls) gets intofull zombie costume and makeup andparticipates in the annual “zombie walk,”terrorizing the sleepy neighboring town ofSan Antonio de los Baños. This is now aneagerly awaited annual event, and many ofthe folks from the town dress as zombiesphoto: bill tolessuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

31and join in as well, starting in the graveyardat midnight, and lurching slowly, eerily,through the dark streets.For me, the EICTV has been a wonderfulplace to experiment – to try out new ideas,new teaching material, and new workshops.I generally teach two different kinds ofclasses at the EICTV. Once a year, I offeran evening workshop that is open to theentire school: either a genre study (horror,silent comedy, the American avant gardetradition) or a director study (Bresson,Cassavetes, Haynes, Haneke, Hitchcock).And once a year, the screenwritingdepartment invites me to teach a two-weekintensive seminar on dramatic structure and“the hero’s journey” for the second-yearscreenwriting students.The work of the Cuban students holdsparticular interest for me. I have arelationship with Cuba now, and withCuba’s evolving national cinema as itslowly changes and shifts into a new form.I am deeply invested in seeing how thisstory will play out. I have begun writingabout the work of some of the recentCuban graduates of the EICTV, and Iam particularly interested in tracking theexperimental documentaries of ArmandoCapo Ramos and Jorge de Leon, as well asthe experimental fiction works of CarlosQuintela Machado and Abel Arcos. Therest of the world also is starting to takenote of these young artists. Armando wasjust in New York, showing his work at theMuseum of Modern Art’s DocumentaryFortnight Festival, while Carlos and Abelbrought their film, La Piscina, to the 2013Berlin Film Festival.I am proud that this generation isdetermined to work in Cuba and change theindustry from within. Critics observe thatthe films of this new generation are “nottypical” of Cuban cinema, in terms of theircomplex formal experiments and range ofreferences and influences. Of course, thiswide range of references comes in part fromthe training at the EICTV – from those threeintensive years of exposure to films andfilmmakers from all over the globe. Withnew Cuban filmmakers graduating fromthe EICTV each year, however, it is only amatter of time, really, before these worldly,audacious films are recognized as indeedbeing “typical” of a new Cuban cinema.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

33underlying infrastructure. Service-orientedarchitecture has been the next softwaredesign approach established to dissolvebusiness applications into separate functionsor “services” that are used independent ofapplications and computing platforms onwhich they run. When individual functionswithin applications are all available asdiscrete building blocks, companies havethe ability to integrate and group themdifferently in order to create new capabilitiesand align to business processes (IBM GlobalBusiness Services, 2006). This architecturalapproach is specifically applicable whenmultiple applications and processes runningon various technologies and platformsneed to interact with each other – arecurring scenario within the utility-basedcomputing environment.Utility computing has been designed to offercomputing clusters as virtual platforms forcomputing services with a metered businessmodel (IBM Corporation, 2009). Utilitycomputing offers companies and privateusers access to hosted computing services,scalable and portable business applicationsthrough a utility-like, pay-on-demandservice over the Internet. In the ultimateutility computing models, companies areable to acquire as much IT services as theyneed, whenever and wherever they needthem (Ivanov, 2009a). Lately, software asa service (SaaS) has elevated the level ofvirtualization to software applications.The SaaS model has been developed toovercome common enterprise challenges inmeeting fluctuating demands on softwareresources. Again, the business approachultimately targets the cost-efficiency models:instead of buying, installing and supportingexpensive packaged enterprise applicationsor systems, users can access and utilizeadvanced “externalized” applications overthe network and pay a fixed subscriptionfee or an actual usage fee (Turban &Volonino, 2009).The concept of cloud computing has evolvedfrom the concepts of grid, utility and SaaS.In reference to the Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ComputerSociety definition, cloud computing “…is a paradigm in which information ispermanently stored in servers on the Internetand cached temporarily on clients thatinclude desktops, entertainment centers,table computers, notebooks, wall computers,handhelds, etc.” (Hewitt, 2008, pp. 96-99).Cloud computing is an emerging modelthrough which users can gain access to theirapplications and systems from anywhere,at any time, through their connecteddevices. These applications and servicesreside in massively scalable data centers,structured in public or private clouds, wherecomputing resources can be dynamicallyprovisioned and shared to achieve significanteconomies of scale. The strength of thecloud computing model is its infrastructuremanagement, enabled by the maturity andprogress of virtualization technology tomanage and better utilize the underlyingresources through automatic provisioning,re-imaging, workload balancing, monitoring,change request handling, dynamic andautomated security, and resiliency platforms(IBM Corporation, 2009).To design and deliver a future ITarchitecture that captures the promises andthe benefits of cloud computing, the fivecore characteristics defined by the NationalInstitute for Standards and Technology mustbe considered:On-demand self-service. A consumercan unilaterally provision computingcapabilities, such as server timeand network storage, as neededautomatically without requiring humaninteraction with each service provider.Broad network access. Capabilitiesare available over the network andaccessed through standard mechanismsthat promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g.,mobile phones, tablets, laptops,and workstations).Resource pooling. The provider’scomputing resources are pooled toserve mulitiple consumers using a multitenantmodel, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamicallyassigned and reassigned according toconsumer demand. There is a senseof location independence in that theconsumer generally has no control orknowledge over the exact location ofthe provided resources but may be ableto specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, ordatacenter). Examples of resourcesinclude storage, processing, memory,and network bandwidth.Rapid elasticity. Capabilities can beelastically provisioned and released,in some cases automatically, toscale rapidly outward and inwardcommensurate with demand. To theconsumer, the capabilities availablefor provisioning often appear to beunlimited and can be appropriated inany quantity at any time.Measured service. Cloud systemsautomatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a meteringcapability at some level of abstractionappropriate to the type of service (e.g.,storage, processing, bandwidth, andactive user accounts). Resource usagecan be monitored, controlled, andreported, providing transparency forboth the provider and consumer of theutilized service. (Mell & Grance, 2011,p. 2)Besides the five core features listed above,there are favorable advances that focus onfurther strategies for adopting cloud-basedservices (Sosinsky, 2010):• Lower cost: Consolidated cloudresources operate at higher efficienciesand with greater utilization, resultingin significant cost reduction. Thoughcloud vendors charge a premium fortheir services, the customers wouldsave money by selecting the mostneeded options. Additionally, cloudcomputing deployment lets someoneelse manage the cloud infrastructure,while the organization will focuson managing their core activities,achieving considerable reductionsin IT staffing costs.• Ease of utilization: depending uponthe type of services, there would beminimal or no hardware and softwarerequirements, upfront costs oradoption time.• Quality of Service: the higher cloudQoS compares to on-premises IT, andcan be obtained under contract or SLAfrom the cloud vendor.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

34• Reliability: The scale of cloud resourcesand their ability to provide loadbalancing and failover makes themhighly reliable, often much moreconsistent than IT service in asingle organization.• Simplified maintenance and upgrade:For centralized systems, all patches andupgrades are easily performed and usershave access to the latest versions in atimely manner.• Low Barrier to Entry: In particular,as upfront CapEx are dramaticallyreduced despite the institutional size,because of cloud computing, anyonecan gain full access and services from itat any time.The largest cloud category to date and ananticipated leader in the next decade issoftware as a service (SaaS). Customers usesoftware applications, hosted by a cloudprovider and available over the Internet.According to the Forrester Report from2011, the SaaS revenue has reached $21.2billion from the total of $25.5 billion fromthe public cloud. As a result of a strongdemand from companies and organizations,Forrester predicts SaaS revenues to growto $92.8 billion by 2016, which would be26 percent of the total software market(O’Neill, 2011).The second largest cloud category, witha $2.9 billion market size in 2011, isinfrastructure as a service (IaaS). TheIaaS provides computing power, storage,archiving and other fundamental computingresources to an organization with a utilitypricing and delivery model. The consumerdoes not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure, but does have controlover operating systems, storage, deployedapplications and possibly selection ofnetworking components.The platform as a service (PaaS) is thethird largest cloud delivery model with amarket size of $820 million in 2011, witha predicted growth from 2012 on. PaaS isthe middleware of the cloud, and customersuse infrastructure and programming toolshosted by the service provider to developtheir own applications. The customer doesnot manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure, but has control over thedeployed applications and possibly hostingenvironment configurations.For many organizations, the primaryquestion is not related to the computingdelivery models, but is focused on thepurpose of the cloud and the nature of howthe cloud is located; in other words, thecomputing deployment model. Accordingto the NIST, the four cloud computingdeployment models are:Private cloud. The cloud infrastructureis provisioned for exclusive use by asingle organization comprising multipleconsumers (e.g., business units). It maybe owned, managed, and operated bythe organization, a third party, or somecombination of them, and it may existon or off premises.Community cloud. The cloudinfrastructure is provisioned forexclusive use by a specific communityof consumers from organizations thathave shared concerns (e.g., mission,security requirements, policy, andcompliance considerations). It maybe owned, managed, and operated byone of more of the organizations inthe community, a third party, or somecombination of them, and it may existon or off premises.Public cloud. The cloud infrastructure isprovisioned for open use by the generalpublic. It may be owned, managed,and operated by a business, academic,or government organization, or somecombination of them. It exists on thepremises of the cloud provider.Hybrid cloud. The cloud infrastructureis a composition of two or moredistinct cloud infrastructures (private,community, or public) that remainunique entities but are bound togetherby standardized or proprietarytechnology that enables data andapplication portability (e.g., cloudbursting for load balancing betweenclouds. (Mell & Grance, 2011, p. 3)Most IT and business analysts consider thatthe main stream of companies is focusedon adoption of a hybrid cloud strategythat will split selected workloads in offpremiseproviders’ clouds (hybrid, publicor community), and will keep in-house thecore IT systems. The current cloud vendors’initiatives launched by formidable cloudplayers, including Amazon, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and VM Ware demonstratetheir readiness to build and to provide openor customized cloud architecture based onalready developed OpenStack standard,VMware’s vCloud, Amazon Web Services orOracle Cloud Services.3. IT/IS in the OrganizationalContextTo explore the complexity of the problemsand avoid unrealistic expectations whenshifting to and employing emergingtechnologies and new computing models,a formal methodology of examining andevaluating IT in the organizational contextshould be applied. The contemporaryapproaches to information systems,and more specifically, IT, encompassmultidisciplinary theories and perspectiveswith no dominance of a single disciplineor model. Gabriele Piccoli’s (2012) book,Information Systems for Managers, featuresIT as a critical component of a formal,sociotechnical information system designedto collect, process, store and distributeinformation. The notion of this definitionis based on the sociotechnical theory workdeveloped by the Tavistock Institute inLondon in mid-1950s and 1960s. The ITsociotechnical approach not only picturesthe concept, but reveals the impact of newtechnologies and processes on the entirework system, and the dependencies andinteractions between all other componentsof the sociotechnical system.According to Piccoli (2012), anyorganizational information system canbe represented as a sociotechnical systemthat comprises four primary componentsthat must be balanced and work togetherto deliver the information processingfunctionalities required by the organizationto fulfill its information needs. Thesociotechnical model validates not only themost important system components, butat the same time exemplifies the primarydriving forces within organizations, such as:structure, people, process and technology.The first two – people and structure – shapethe social subsystem and represent thehuman element of the IS. The latter two –suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

35process and technology (more specificallyIT) – contour the technical subsystem ofthe IS and relate to a wide range of ITresources and services intertwined witha series of steps to complete requiredbusiness activities.The sociotechnical system approachvalidates the four critical components of theinformation system interdependency andproves that none of them works in isolation.They all interact, are mutually dependent,and consequently are subject to “systemiceffects,” defined as any change in onecomponent affecting all other componentsof the system. Bob Napier, former CIOof Hewlett Packard, was credited in 2003with the quote: “Every business decisiontriggers an IT event” (HP, 2003, para. 3).Certainly the quote was valid ten years ago;it can be argued that today it is even moreimportant. The two occurrences shouldnot be separated: when addressing businessissues like productivity, service quality,cost control, risk management and returnon investment (ROI), the decision-makershave to consider appropriate correspondingmodifications in the IT domain. The processof changes and reciprocal adjustment ofboth technical and social subsystems shouldcontinue to interplay and grow closer untilmutually satisfying results are reached(Laudon & Laudon, 2011).However, in reality, the model cannot existwithout subsystem changes. It should evolvefrom micro to macro level to reflect crucialinfluences of the external environment,including regulatory requirements, socialand business trends, competitive pressures,interoperability with partnering institutions,especially when we analyze the role of theIT domain, and ultimately Michael Porter’sfive forces of the competitive positionmodel. The model comprehensively exposesnot only a general view of the organizationwith its traditional direct competitors, butalso the ongoing connection with four otherforces within its market environment: newmarket entrants, supplier power, substituteproducts and technology development,and customer power (Brown, Dehayes,Hoffer, Martin & Perkins, 2011). Porter’scompetitive forces model is truly importantwhen strategic planning and managerialdecisions are taken; however the impactof the key internal forces associated withIT is particularly critical to organizationaloperational effectiveness. Actually, thisimpact forms the organizational businessstrategy, mounts the benefits and shapes theimplementation processes.A brilliant illustration of Porter’s competitiveforces model and how emerging technologiesand innovative ideas could transform largebusiness organizations is IBM’s “BusinessOn Demand” approach launched byCEO Sam Palmisano in the mid-2000s.Employing emerging technologies such asgrid, virtualization, utility and later, cloudcomputing while they are still in theirhype, the most innovative IT companyaggressively expanded their products,services and operations across industriesand globally, and made them available uponcustomers’ demand, market opportunityor external threat. Strictly focusing onthe power and capabilities of emergingtechnologies, IBM sold its traditionalpersonal computer business to Lenovoin 2005, and shifted sharply into highermarginbusinesses, increasing recently itsearnings per share fourfold. Continuingwith this strategic transformation, IBM isbuilding a government-funded private cloudin the Wuxi Industrial park in China, andis developing many other similar projectswith emerging computing models. TheChina Cloud Computing Center in Wuxi isbased on IBM’s “Blue Cloud” technologiescomprised of IBM CloudBurst - PaaS,IBM Tivoli Service Automation Manager –IaaS, a full range of SaaS, including CRMand eCommerce solutions, open sourcesoftware with capabilities to deliver Web2.0 applications such as mashups, opencollaboration, social networks and mobilecommerce. IBM has a significant research,development and business presence in Chinaand a potential expansion of this cloudinitiative to hundreds more Chinese citieslooks even more promising and favorable(IBM, 2009b).The success of IBM’s businesstransformation and strategic advancedcomputing model utilization harmonizedPorter’s competitive forces model in allprincipal perceptions. In addition, thiscase validates the fact that in order toexecute a successful business strategy forrapid, right-size deployment of advancedtransformations, comprehensive analysis andrepositioning IT capabilities in conjunctionwith precisely harmonizing to sociotechnicalsystem components, results in enablingIT alignment with the organization’sbusiness strategy.4. The Scale of IT Transformationsand Their Impact on Business –IT AlignmentWith escalating IT operational costs andthe inability to get adequate value from ITinvestments, firms are striving to converttheir IT from a strategic liability to strategicasset. According to many recent surveysfrom Gardner Group, Forrester Researchand MIT CISR, most of the IT budgets arespent for keeping existing applications andinfrastructure running. Many firms typicallyspend over 80 percent of their IT budgets onsupporting current systems, and the budgetfor renovation or new systems, if it exists,is below 20 percent. The widely adoptedMany firms typicallyspend over 80 percentof their IT budgetson supporting currentsystems, and the budgetfor renovation or newsystems, if it exists, isbelow 20 percent.piecemeal approach to build an ad hoc ITapplication for an emerging specific needresults in set of isolated highly vulnerablesystems that only “help” firms to createtheir messy legacy (Ivanov, 2013).The digital economy has introduced a newurgency around the need to manage ITstrategically. To succeed in this strategicapproach for the benefit of the company andits IT domain, it is most important to defineand establish the IT architecture underneaththe organization’s business strategy. A wellformulatedIT architecture typically consistsof content and processes, and for the successof business-IT alignment transformations,many IT and corporate leaders consider afederated IT model as more appropriatesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

36than a widely adopted centralized one. Thefederated IT approach naturally links ITcompetencies with the business strategy andprocesses, which motivates and demands ITprofessionals not only to be more businesssavvy,but to stay focused on the businessrequirements and organizational needs,while designing and developing novelIT systems.A different positioning of IT systems andresources in organizations reinforces astructure rationalization to transformIT from a costs center to strategic assetswith business intelligence capabilities. TheGartner research on “Future Directions ofthe IT industry” from 2011 exemplifiesseveral emerging IT-enabled initiativesincluding content-aware computing, socialand cloud computing and informationenabledpattern-based strategies, all capableof increasing the revenue if appropriatestructural changes are employed (McGee,2011). The IT Money Spending Modelcharted by the Gartner survey illustratesthat, in the last 50 years over 85 percentof IT spending is in After the Sale systemssuch as: purchasing, accounts payable andreceivable, inventory, supply chain, HR,administration, general ledger and assetmanagement, while Before the Sale and TheSale IT spending is split equally at 7 percenteach. The new structure transformationsrequire significant alternations in theenterprise requirements to support initiativesin the direction of lessening the After theSale IT spending, to a substantial increasein the investments in IT systems andapplications in Before the Sale and in TheSale sectors.In today’s digital driven economy, everyorganization is challenged by continual ITinnovations, and every business strategyshould include taking a close look intoemerging technologies and groundbreakingsystems. The IT revolution is spawningnew technologically-feasible businesses: thedevelopments in nano technologies mademobile industry (products and services)possible. If we think about Apple and itsi-products – they came as technologicaladvancements – Apple did something uniqueand far smarter, making not only a greattechnology product with a flashy design,but wrapped it in a superb business model.Apple’s true innovation was to enter andto gain a substantial market slice of theentertainment industry (customized andpersonalized entertainment) – utilizingtechnology innovations and making it easyand customer-friendly, while demandingcontrol of all i-products and i-services. ITevolution creates new businesses withinold ones. Many companies take advantageof the surplus capacity and expertise of itsadvanced IT platform, and provide productsand services to others based upon them.Great examples are all key cloud providers,but especially Amazon, which emerged fromthe dot-com bubble. The company is nowone of the prominent winners and continuesits impressive steady growth from about$4 billion in 2002, to $20 billion in2008, and $120 billion in 2012. Amazonconstantly complements and evolvesthe existing operational infrastructurewith innovative computing and businessmodels such as Amazon Web Services (adiverse range of cloud computing services),AmazonSupply, and Amazon MarketPlace – B2B services that all are based onAmazon’s highly expandable IT platformand technology expertise.There are many other considerations andchallenging implications in the business-ITalignment processes in difficult economictimes that require more effort and analysison how to integrate technology into the corebusiness strategy, and to excel on IT-enabledcapabilities. While thinkers are fascinated bythe Latin philosophy “Ex Chaos Facultas”(“From chaos comes opportunity”),converted these days by some IT expertsto “From cloud comes opportunity” toreflect the current technology trends, wemay need to take a fresh look at PeterDrucker’s (1980) pivotal statement: “Inturbulent times, an enterprise has to bemanaged both to withstand sudden blowsand to avail itself of sudden unexpectedopportunities. This means that in turbulenttimes the fundamentals must be managed,and managed well” (p. 9).ReferencesBrown, C., Dehayes, D., Hoffer, J., Martin,E., & Perkins, W. (2011). Managinginformation technology. Upper SaddleRiver, NJ: Prentice Hall.David, P., & Wright, G., (2003). Generalpurpose technologies and surges inproductivity: Historical reflectionson the future of the ICT revolution.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Pressfor the British Academy.Drucker, P. (1980). Managing in turbulenttimes. New York, NY: Harper & Row.Hewitt, C. (2008, September/October).ORGs for scalable, robust, privacyfriendlyclient cloud computing. IEEECloud Computing, 12(5), 96-99.doi:10.1109/MIC.2008.107HP. (2003). A lifetime of achievements:Robert V. Napier. Retrieved from http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/execteam/napier/napier_achievements.htmlIBM. (2009a). Seeding the cloud: Keyinfrastructure elements for cloudcomputing [White paper]. Somers, NY:IBM Systems and Technology Group.IBM. (2009b). IBM case study: Wuxi buildsengine for economic growth withcloud computing solution fromIBM. Somers, NY: IBM Systems andTechnology Group.IBM Global Business Services. (2006).Changing the way industries work: Theimpact of service-oriented architecture.Somers, NY: IBM Global Services.Ivanov, I. (2009a) Utility computing:Reality and beyond. E-Business andTelecommunications, Communicationsin Computers and Information Science,23, 16-29.Ivanov, I. (2009b). Emerging utility andcloud computing models. Proceedingsof Third International Workshop onEnterprise Systems and TechnologyI-WEST 2009. Sophia, Portugal:INSTICC PRESS.Ivanov, I. (2013). The impact of emergingcomputing models on organizationalsocio-technical system. Software andData Technologies, Communicationsin Computers and Information Science,303, 3-19.Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2011).Management information systems:Managing the digital firm. Upper SaddleRiver, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

37McGee, K. (2011, January). The 2011Gartner scenario: Current states andfuture directions of the IT industry.Stamford, CT: Gartner, Inc.Mell, P., & Grance, T. (2011) The NISTdefinition of cloud computing. NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology,U.S. Department of Commerce.Retrieved from http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdfO’Neill, S. (2011, April 26). Forrester:Public cloud growth to surge, especiallySaaS. CIO Magazine. Retrieved fromhttp://www.cio.com/article/print/680673Piccoli, G. (2012). Information systemsfor managers: Text and cases (2nded.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley andSons, Inc.Sosinsky, B. (2010). Cloud computingbible. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley andSons, Inc.The 451 Group. (2003). Grid technologyuser case study: JP Morgan Chase. NewYork, NY: The 451 Group Report.Turban, E., & Volonino, L. (2009).Information technology formanagement: Improving performancein the digital economy. Hoboken, NJ:John Wiley & Sons.“Technology may be our new Crystal Palace; it not only makes certain taskseasier in the present, but holds great promise for the future … We read thattechnology – especially mass personalization – is transforming our veryconception of school. Mass personalization is under rapid development and hasthe power to influence culture, education, and individual life. It is dangerousbecause it is not personalization at all; it is streamlining and standardizationin disguise. At the same time, disturbing as it may be, it will not go away;we have to learn about it in order to use and criticize it well.”– Diana Senechal, Republic of Noise:The Loss of Solitude in Schools and CultureLanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011, p. 139suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

38Coping in the Aftermath of Hurricane “Sandy”:Considering an Immigrant PerspectiveLear Matthews, Metropolitan CenterThe devastation caused by naturaldisasters in the Caribbean, theGulf and eastern coasts of theU.S. has exposed the vulnerability of botheconomically advanced and impoverishednations. The unprecedented havoc wroughtby Hurricane Sandy and the merciless“after strike” from a nor’easter, testedthe will and faith of tens of thousands ofpeople. The capacity of survivors to copeis not only determined by their resilience,but intimately connected to the responseof the community and mitigating effortsby government and relief organizations.For many immigrants, this monster stormhas temporarily transformed the AmericanDream into an American nightmare. It iswithin this context, informed by my researchon the adaptation of immigrants, culturalretentions and experience in working withsurvivors of natural disasters, that I presentthis perspective.There has been escalating scrutiny of thepolicies and actions of public officialsregarding appropriate disaster planningand response to the needs of survivors. Thepoignancy of lessons learned in its wakeis clear. For example, the non-existenceor collapse of water control systems, thequestionable evacuation based on a “zoningsystem,” the capability (or incapability)of utility companies, the contentiousdebate about global warming, preferentialtreatment of certain communities and thetacitly demeaning sentiment expressed bysome overwhelmed observers: “This is like aThird World country,” all mark new realitiesin assessing cause and effect of a disaster ofthis magnitude.As city and state officials grapple withexplanations and possible solutions,factors such as geopolitics, socioeconomicexigencies, the influence of the media onpublic consciousness and the intersection ofthe disaster with existing inequities, featureprominently in decisions about resourceallocation for recovery and reconstruction.Some of the hardest hit communities,including those with large immigrantpopulations, appeared not to have beengiven as much media coverage as did othermore prosperous communities. Clearly, thissignals the importance of establishing mediaoutlets in the Diaspora.Likewise, there is an urgent need to respondto the inevitable psychological impact,particularly as it relates to losses incurred.Coming to North America to establish a“better life,” many immigrants sacrificiallyrelinquished prized possessions, includinghomes, land and careers in the homecountry to start a new life devoid of whatsome may describe as dire conditions.Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy made thatroad unexpectedly treacherous for some.Human adaptation to stressful experiencesbecomes important in crisis situations.People build and sustain resources such asa home, job and other assets to enhancetheir life circumstances and for immigrants,as evidence that they have “made it” inAmerica. Particularly as a result of a lifelonginvestment in these resources, in addition toabrupt disruption of routine life activities,psychological distress occurs when thereis a threat of loss, damage or destructionof possessions.The human cost manifested in death,displacement and untold suffering, has givenrise to multifaceted risks to the affectedpopulations. Undoubtedly, this experienceshatters common beliefs about safety andsecurity, especially for immigrants fromcountries that have a history of naturaldisasters or spiraling social problems.Survivors were heard lamenting: “I neverexpected this to happen here”; “What canwe do, start over?”The assistance provided by hometownassociations (i.e., local culturalorganizations typically found in immigrantcommunities) and the diplomatic corpsfrom various foreign embassies, wasLear Matthewscreditable. Immigrants have bonded withtheir American counterparts to mourn,reciprocate help and reassure one another.Such interactions provided a good sourceof immediate comfort and an opportunityto gain from cross-cultural perspectivesof coping with stress and bereavement.However, in some instances, there is likelyto be prolonged feelings of fear, anxiety,hyper vigilance and depression, especiallyamong those who do not have a strongsupportive network of relatives in the U.S.Feelings of helplessness and vulnerabilitywill be common, particularly amongthe undocumented and those awaitingadjustment of immigration status, whotend not to readily reach out for assistancefor fear of being identified, placed indetention and possibly deported. In anarticle in City Limits (Sanchez, 2013), itwas affirmed that “without a Social Securitynumber, immigrants have been deniedfederal disaster unemployment insuranceor Federal Emergency Management Agencycash assistance for temporary housing andreplacing damaged possessions … [they]were particularly susceptible, even thosewho had children or grandchildren born insuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

39Burnt houses side-by-side with others that survived in Breezy Point, Queens, after it wasdevastated by Hurricane Sandy, on October 31, 2012.the United States and thus eligible for federalaid” (Gaps in Aid Programs section, para. 1;Introduction section, para. 4).As is common in the aftermath of disasters,people will suffer from post-traumatic stressdisorder, but the onset of critical incidentstress, i.e., the worrying produced by atraumatic event that affects emotional livesand ability to cope, is to be expected. Manyhouseholds, including those with children,the elderly and the differently abled willexperience some level of distress. Suchprojections include a sizable immigrantpopulation. However, amid sadness,frustration and anger, there was camaraderieand lasting friendships among diverseneighbors who shared the same fate.Expressions of mental distress and theperceived role of helping professionals willdetermine the extent to which survivorsbenefit from or seek counseling. Bothreceiving and giving help can be therapeuticand central to coping and recovery. Somepeople exhibit stark fatalism, while othersdemonstrate complacency or deny thepain caused by personal loss. Among someimmigrants, such reactions tend to becongruent with culturally-defined copingbehaviors. Having relatively modest premigratoryresources, immigrants developan attitude of “making do with what wehave,” which can either enhance or retardthe recovery process. Proven resilience incrisis situations makes it less likely thatmany immigrants will experience long-termadverse psychological effects. However, thisdepends on organized community support,which is needed to help them “get back ontheir feet.”An often ignored issue is the exposureto health hazards experienced by daylaborers, many of whom are undocumented,reuters/adrees latif, the atlantic, nov. 1, 2012hired as a major part of the clean-upcrew. Having neither health coveragenor adequate clean-up gear, they arelikely to be exposed to unhealthyconditions emanating from contaminateddebris and sanitizing chemicals withminimum protection.This essay highlights what this writerbelieves to be an important dimensionof coping in the aftermath of naturalor man-made disasters, particularlyin diverse communities. Regardless ofresidency or citizenship, the humancost is as significant as the economiccost. Hopefully, this brief presentationwill help to inform the way we preparefor, cope with and come to understandthe aftermath of inevitable futuredisasters. Both students and mentorscan benefit from the kinds of issues andquestions raised here. In designing degreeprograms in areas such as Community andHuman Services, Human Development,Social Theory and Cultural Studies,mutuality, efficacy and accountability inevolving relationships, especially in anincreasingly globally interconnected world,become essential to academic planning.As educators, we have a responsibility toassess emerging problems and needs, andencourage dialogue on this and other lifechanging events. Ultimately, survivors,responders, clinicians and policymakerscan benefit from our research findingsand analyses, and how we present whatwe know.ReferenceSanchez, R. (2013, February 11).Undocumented immigrants stillin post-storm limbo. City Limits.Retrieved from http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/4738/undocumentedimmigrants-still-in-post-storm-limbosuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

40Finding the Gem Through Trial, Error andDialogue: Adjunct Faculty Teaching inAdult-Centered Academic ProgramsDaniella Olibrice, The Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies (CUNY)Ihave had the privilege of mentoringpart-time adjunct instructors (fromnovice to more experienced), who teachat CUNY’s School of Professional Studies’Murphy Institute for Worker Educationand Labor Studies. The Institute offersnon-credit, pre-college preparation courses:degree programs in education, urbanstudies and labor studies; undergraduateand graduate-level workforce developmentcertificates in labor relations, healthcare policy and administration, publicadministration and public policy, andtransportation to union members and publicsector workers. Classes can be taken atour mid-Manhattan site, Queens College,College of Staten Island, New York CityCollege of Technology and Lehman College.The Institute offers all of its programs inpartnership with specific departments atdifferent CUNY colleges and with differentunions such as CWA 1180 and TWU Local100. My work has been primarily focusedon the development and management ofthe certificates offered in health care policyand administration, transportation and, toa certain extent, public administration andpublic policy. I recruit, hire and evaluatefaculty who teach in these programs, andact as a liaison between the departments atthe School of Professional Studies and ourunion partners. The latter provide tuitionassistance to their member that allows themto pursue certificate and degrees throughthe Institute.My role as “adjunct mentor” happenedaccidentally. About two or three yearsago, my involvement with faculty changedand became more substantive. I foundthat understanding how our programs arebeing delivered and how successful they arerequired having more conversations andinteractions with faculty, and to a certainextent, too, with students. Although I wouldDaniella Olibriceobserve and visit classes at least once asemester, I found that reviewing instructors’syllabi before the beginning of the semesterand having weekly or periodic check-inseither by telephone or email were veryhelpful for gauging student progress andcurricular and instructional effectiveness.My interactions with faculty are less abouttelling someone exactly what to do andmore about serving as a sounding board forideas and a guide for helping to navigatesome of the treacherous waters that occurwhen communication between student andteacher begins to break down. In part, I actas student-advocate and teacher-advocate– a silent partner, observer, coach – andmentor. I cherish this mentoring position; Ifind talking about the minutae of teachingextremely interesting because of the insightsone can glean about the teaching-learningprocess. In my conversations with adjuncts,I often get a glimpse of their ability to becreative, fast thinking and compassionate inphoto: zenzile greenehow they approach theirstudents and the coursematerials. In a sense, I seethese adjuncts not only asexperts within their disciplineor field, but as individualsengaged in their own learningand development as teachers.I have been surprised asmuch by the adjuncts whohave had very little to noteaching experience, as Ihave been by those who Iwould call veteran teachers.I have been inspired bytheir curiosity, dedicationto our adult students andwillingness to put in theextra time to support theirstudents’ success.Without exception, all of the individualswho teach in our workforce developmentprograms, which consist of certificatecourses at the graduate and undergraduatelevels, are professionals who hold advanced(sometimes multiple) degrees (master’sdegrees and doctorates) in public health,business, law, social work or education.Although they are a diverse group in termsof the number of years teaching (0 to 10+years), gender, country of origin and age,I feel that they have much in common.They are high achievers with a strongsense of mission and purpose. They are asdemanding of their students as they areof themselves. For the most part, they areprofessionals who hold full-time jobs, butwho’ve decided that teaching adults oneevening a week at our Institute is their wayof giving back or contributing to somehigher purpose.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

41DiscoveryA couple of months ago, after receivingtwo semesters in a row of “very good” peerobservation evaluations, an adjunct askedme: “What’s next? How I can continue todo better? How can the Institute supportme in looking at other possibilities?” Itwas surprising to get these questions;it was the first time I had heard them.Although I wasn’t fully prepared to answer,I recommended that “M” consider gettinga doctorate and that he reach out to otheradjuncts teaching at the Institute who aretaking (or have taken) that path.M had received his Master of PublicHealth degree a few years before. Hewanted to know how to create a trajectoryat the university that would increase hisopportunities as a teacher. He was anexample of someone who did not have anyteaching experience before I hired him. Hecame to public health as a career-changer.His previous work had been in businessand management in the movie industry inCalifornia. He had begun his journey topublic health by holding volunteer positionsin HIV-AIDS awareness programs andhelping others deal with the care of theirelderly parents at his synagogue.I hadn’t immediately contacted M afterhis first note to me. However, when Idid schedule a phone interview, I did notexpect a 90-minute conversation about hisjourney from California to New York, andthe pursuit of his master’s at Columbia’sMailman School of Public Health. Whatimpressed me was that although M had noformal teaching experience on paper, he wasable to describe his philosophy of teachingand his understanding of student learning.He also volunteered to substitute teach andprepare a workshop on a trial basis, if Iwas not convinced of his sincere interest inworking with our adult students.M was given the opportunity to serve as asubstitute for a class and to talk with theregular teacher beforehand. I also plannedfor students to complete an evaluation at theend of his session. The students gave M avery favorable review. Thus, I invited him toteach a graduate-level course in health carepolicy and administration. During his firstsemester, I had (at least) biweekly telephoneconferences with him about this class untilwe both felt that monthly conversationswere sufficient. He taught for two semesters,and would have continued to teach in ourprogram had his partner not been offered ajob out of state. M regularly expressed hisappreciation for the mentoring support hereceived from me, the Institute, and a fellowadjunct and colleague.“R” also came to me through Columbia’sMailman School of Public Health. She hadrecently completed her MPH there, but hadbeen working at another university and for anon-profit organization prior to teaching atthe Institute. Although up to this point shehad not taught her own class, she had held anumber of teacher assistantships and tutoredmath at the University of Illinois. Beforecoming to New York, she also had tutoredmath as a volunteer to immigrant youth at acommunity center. I was impressed with R’sacademic and professional credentials, buthesitated to hire her immediately because Ididn’t have a class to match her experiencein evaluation and research. Nevertheless, Ikept her resume and contacted her when theright opportunity became available.About a year ago, the Institute began apartnership with a New York public hospitalwhose training director was interestedin offering a pathway to our health carepolicy and administration certificate forhospital workers. There was a cohort ofabout 12 employees who had started inthe previous semester with one coursefrom the undergraduate certificate. Theinstructor who taught during the firstsemester, “D,” had come to the conclusionthat teaching undergraduate, returning-tocollege-adultstudents was not somethingshe wanted to do again. I reached out toR and arranged to interview her. AlthoughI have had success in hiring people I’donly interviewed over the phone, I made apoint of meeting R in person. My reasonswere that the partnership with the NewYork public hospital was still new, and ourcredibility was on the line if I didn’t hirean instructor who was mature, serious,responsible and knew her field. This wasespecially important given that the locationof the class was an hour and half away fromthe Institute’s campus. As obvious as thismay be, after interviewing a few candidatesfor other teaching positions, I’ve come torealize that in-person interviews can offermuch more information than what one cangain on the phone. Are the candidates ontime? Do they talk calmly, quickly, excitedly,slowly? Are they thoughtful, articulate,clear, confident? Do they listen? Are theyquick to answer questions posed to them?Will they care about our adult students?R came to the interview with a lot ofenergy and confidence. I felt assured thatshe would be a good choice for our workingadult students.R turned out to be a true professional. I’veobserved her teaching on two occasions andrecognize that she is both knowledgeableand approachable. She has found waysto engage, challenge and support herstudents wonderfully. Despite the fact thatshe took over teaching a cohort that hadcome together in the previous semester, thestudents have taken a great liking to her,and the training director and his assistanthave offered nothing but praise. Attendanceand retention of the students in thisundergraduate cohort has remained strong.Indeed, despite the havoc that SuperstormSandy wrought and the fact that classes hadto be cancelled for two weeks, students havebeen keeping up with the work, and, fromall reports, learning!Challenges, Disappointmentsand Lessons LearnedI have had two instances where itbecame a matter of trial and error toalign the program’s curriculum andstudent population (based on the numberof semesters enrolled, program type,undergraduate versus graduate level, etc.)with an instructor. As I mentioned earlier,R took over the undergraduate certificatecohort from D. Only three weeks beforethe semester was to begin, I invited D toteach the first course at a New York publichospital. The training director and hisassistant had been talking to the Instituteabout offering the certificate at the hospitalfor about a year. We told him that weneeded to have 20 committed students inorder to initiate the program. He and hisassistant were able to recruit exactly thatnumber. Given that the course was beingtaught at the students’ place of work, afew unanticipated issues came up. Mostsignificantly, the hospital employees/studentsneeded time to adapt themselves to the factsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

42that they were taking a college course. Sincethe health care policy and administrationcertificate course being offered on sitewas originally initiated by the hospital’straining director, the students/employeeshad some trouble distinguishing betweenthe expectations of an in-house workshopand a college-level course. In fact, it was aneducational process for all of us involved.We all held misconceptions that onlysurfaced once the program was underway.My Institute colleague, “K,” and I werewilling to be flexible about when classeswould be held and were quite open toadapting the academic calendar to thestudents’ work schedules. For instance,Election Day is typically a work holiday forthese students, but at the university, classesare in session. When the students learnedthat they had to come in on a holiday,they asked the hospital’s training staff toput pressure on the instructor and on theInstitute to cancel class. It was D whorightfully pointed out to me that regardlessof whether the class was held on a CUNYcampus or not, the class was a CUNY class.We needed to adhere to the CUNY academiccalendar. This was a prime example of howit was important for all partners to be on thesame page about policies and expectations;otherwise, as D noted, we were not helpingstudents make the complex transition fromworker to student.In my mentoring function, I held weeklyconference calls with D. It was my wayof being supportive of her, as well as myway of keeping track of how things wereprogressing with this class and, in general,with the students at the hospital. Thisturned out to be a very effective way ofevaluating the course, the instructor andour overall initiative. Thus, by the timethe course ended and it was time for D toevaluate the students, neither of us wassurprised about which students had donewell and which students had not met courseexpectations. One of the two students whodid not complete the course had clearlyplagiarized. D tried to talk to the studentabout it and, in response, the studentaccused D of wanting to fail her. Indeed,in the end, no amount of reaching out,supporting and cajoling by our staff or bythose at the hospital could move this studentto rewrite her paper. D’s response was quitesimilar to that of other adjuncts: When shereported the conversation with the studentto me, the hurt and disappointment she feltwas palpable. It was obvious that it wasincredibly challenging for D to achieve herown mentoring expectations; that is, tomeet her students where they are and tohelp them get to a place where they are fullycomfortable being students.Last semester, “J,” a lawyer for a healthagency, returned to teach a course for whichshe had previously been responsible. Shewas a self-assured, intelligent and extremelywell-spoken woman who was very keen onteaching. When I asked her in our interviewwhat she thought about the kinds ofchallenges adults returning to college mayface, she told me about her mother, whodecided in middle age to go back to schoolfor a degree in nursing. J was close to hermother, who had shared with her some ofthe insecurities she felt as an older student.These conversations had stuck with her.Still, the first time I visited J, I noticed heroverly-intense and humorless style. Whileit was clear that she knew her subject well,she was all business. I asked her about itafterward, and she chalked it up to herfeeling a little preoccupied and under theweather. During the semester, I heard therewere a few students who complained abouther favoring some students over others. Atsome point, one of the students who seemedmost bothered by J asked me if the studentswould have the opportunity to evaluate her.I assured the student that this was part ofeach semester’s process.Two semesters later, J came back to teachthe same course. When I got in touch withher to see how things were going, she toldme that she felt this new group of studentswas more motivated and academicallyprepared than those from the previoussemester. However, weeks into the semester,I heard from J about a student she wasfinding difficult. The student also washaving trouble with the instructor and feltthat she was being picked on. Other studentsstarted complaining, as well. It wasn’t untilwe were toward the end of the semesterthat I heard from a different instructorwithin the same program that students werecomplaining about J. As much as I respectedher as a professional, I began to worry that,perhaps, she was holding students to animpossibly high standard. I now was of twominds. I had visited J’s class earlier in thesemester and I felt that she expected studentsto be well-prepared, to think critically andspeak with clarity. She encouraged them toreally think through what they read andwhat they said – all good. But I also beganto think that J was imposing her own idealsof being a successful student (in effect, hersense of herself) on her students. I wanted toallow J to be the kind of instructor she wasbecause I thought that no two instructorsshould teach in the exact same way. But, atthe same time, I wanted her to rememberwhat her mother had described to her aboutthe experiences of adults returning to school.At the end of the semester, I peeked at J’sstudent evaluations. They weren’t that bad;in fact, they weren’t bad at all! Only onestudent had written a somewhat negativeevaluation. For the most part, studentsappreciated what J was trying to do forthem and the skills they were gaining withher encouragement. Still, after at leastfive conversations with J throughout thesemester, I felt that she was not a goodmatch for our program. But my questionshave lingered: Why shouldn’t working adultswho’ve been away from school for a numberof years not be expected to come to ourgraduate program with the same attitudes asShe might have gottenwhere she was in lifeby being incrediblyfocused and at the topof her game all thetime, but, as I cameto see it, she didn’t yetunderstand how tobalance her vision andaccept that her studentswere at a differentstage academically,professionally andeven personally.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

43a student in any graduate degree program? Ideeply respected J’s high standards and herstrong desire to shape students into whatshe thought successful students should be,but I felt just as deeply that her approachlacked empathy. She might have gottenwhere she was in life by being incrediblyfocused and at the top of her game all thetime, but, as I came to see it, she didn’t yetunderstand how to balance her vision andaccept that her students were at a differentstage academically, professionally andeven personally. J was both frustrated andhurt. She didn’t really understand whereher students were coming from, and, inall likelihood, they didn’t understand herperspective, either. I was relieved when, afew weeks after the semester, J emailed toinform me that she would not be returningto the Institute. I felt that her decision waswise and, had she not suggested it, I wouldhave had to suggest it to her.It was only after the fourth or fifthgo-around with a course in publicadministration that my colleague andI came to the conclusion that teachingundergraduate-level certificate classespresents real challenges with regard tocurriculum, student preparedness andteaching approach. “L,” a seasonedprofessional, who worked in the privateand non-profit health sectors for about 20years, was assigned to teach the course thispast semester. When L was recommendedto me, I was excited about having her teachin the health care policy and administrationprogram due to her vast experience as amanager and the fact that she was pursuingher doctorate in public health. She hadworked on transforming non-profits inorder to make them more effective serviceproviders, and she had been teaching oneor two classes in health management at aCUNY college. Her maturity was an asset.She would be able to inspire her studentsto look at health from other perspectivesand to think about other ways of providinghealth care outside of the public hospitalsystem. I described to her the kinds ofstudents who typically enroll in ourcertificate programs and made sure to ask,as I do of everyone, whether she would feelcomfortable teaching adult students whowould require a good deal of support andguidance. She assured me that she would,and told me that through her experienceas a manager and teacher, she had helpedpeople turn around and improve their jobperformances. A year after this interview, wewere in need of an instructor for the publicadministration course, and I thought of L.Surprisingly, things didn’t go smoothly fromthe beginning for L. For one thing, she haddifferent expectations about how muchclerical support she would get from theInstitute. Adjunct faculty do not receive anyhelp other than the aid that the academiccounselor and I provide that is directlyrelated to providing services to studentsand answering questions that facultymay have. So, faculty are on their ownwhen it comes to photocopying, lookingfor texts, requesting instructor copies ofbooks, communications with the library orother departments, etc. L did not receivepublishers’ copies of the required textbooksearly enough and was thus not able to revisethe syllabus by the deadline I set for her: amonth and half before the beginning of thesemester. She was hard to reach during thesummer and, in the end, she decided to usethe syllabus as is.A second problem arose around Blackboard,the course management system. L plannedall of her assignments around Blackboard.A week prior to the start of the semester,she panicked because her students wouldn’tbe able to view the course material beforethe semester began. It was the school’spolicy that all content on Blackboard hadto be reviewed by the school’s Blackboardadministrator before it could be madeavailable to students. This policy had tobe explained because it was different fromthat of her home institution. For the firstmonth of the class, some students alsopanicked about using Blackboard becausethey were all novices. Some met with theacademic counselor in order to receivea private tutorial. A handful of studentsdecided to drop the class. One woman wasadvised to drop because her barriers werenot only technological: She was retakingthe class because she had failed it the firsttime. Despite her desire to have completeda certificate in public administration by thetime of her retirement, the student had toomany issues that we felt would preclude herfrom progressing in the program withoutmajor accommodations and support thatwere just not available.After learning that the school would notprovide students with a tutorial session onBlackboard, L took class time to review itwith her students – a strategy that I wouldhave advised her to do from the beginninghad I been aware of all the challengesshe and her students were facing. As thesemester progressed, other issues surfaced:a drop in enrollment, poor attendanceand late assignments. In fact, about aweek before Thanksgiving, L informedme that a majority of her students werein academic peril. One of the academiccounselors and I met with her to discussher roster of students. We concluded fromour conversation that the textbooks did notprovide a strong enough foundation andwas too dense and thus incredibly hard toplough through (for both instructor andstudents!). We also recognized that some ofthe other problems L encountered were notsolely her fault. As a program, we neededto establish clearer admissions guidelines:students had to be computer literate, haveregular access to a computer, set up aBlackboard account and be more ready toassume the role of student.What About Coaching?Through our various initiatives, our goalshave been to provide greater access tohigher education for adults and provide theopportunity to consider new possibilitiesthat education can bring. I have been atmeetings where there is a tendency amongmy colleagues in administration to discountthe level of influence, impact or input thatour adjunct faculty could have or do haveon our students. Rather, it is often assumedthat only full-time, tenured faculty canmake demands on students because it issupposedly an unspoken part of their job tomentor students – to help them develop asstudents and connect the dots between theirstudies, their lives and their work. Adjunctfaculty are thus almost invisible becausethey are not always asked or expected toparticipate in the life of the university andonly appear on campus when it is time toteach their classes. Often, they are not ina position to give time to the universitybeyond their finite teaching hours. Givensuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

45Using an Area of Study Grid (Proposed)in Degree Program Planning: A Very BriefPractice DiscussionDavid A. Fullard, Metropolitan CenterDavid FullardWhile mentoring students workingon their degree program plans,I’ve noticed that some strugglewith trying to comply with the area of studyguidelines in their chosen area. Specifically,students have trouble determining whatstudies are necessary for their concentrationin order to meet the articulated competencyareas of their area of study. Further, I alsosee that in their degree rationales, studentshave trouble documenting concentrationcompliance with the area of studyguidelines.However, these same students seem tonavigate documentation of their studies forgeneral education far more seamlessly. Theysay the “general education grid” made thedifference because it was a practical toolthat clarified the process and made it clearwhen they were in compliance with generaleducation expectations.In response, I created an area of study gridfor the new area of study in Public Affairs(Figure 1) in order to assist students indocumenting links to the guidelines fortheir specific concentration. I tested it outwith several students seeking to developconcentrations in criminal justice using thefollowing process.I instruct the students to:1) Research (keeping track of what theyfind) what a concentration in criminaljustice should look like.a) Examine several college catalogs thatlist “majors” in criminal justice;b) Review job announcements incriminal justice and their educationalrequirements;c) Interview professionals in thecriminal justice field and ask themwhat undergraduate studies theynow find most applicable/useful asthey go through their work day; and2) d) Interview Empire State Collegealums who are currently employedin the field to see what isacademically necessary to workproductively in their criminal justicearea. Read (and scrutinize!) theEmpire State College area of studyguidelines in Public Affairs, payingparticular attention to the ninespecific competency areas.3) Based on the information gathered,accumulate all available documentationregarding prior transcript credit,topic areas for possible prior learningassessment and ideas for new EmpireState College studies (for example, whattopics and questions really interest you?How can you fill in some of the gapsthat you have discovered in what youknow and what you have done?).4) Return to the Public Affairs area ofstudy guidelines and compare them toall of the materials gathered.5) After carefully examining thedescription for theoretical andphilosophical concepts (the first ofthe nine competency areas), begin theprocess of “penciling in” the studiesthat fit the criteria in the area of studyguidelines. (For example, the PublicAffairs grid [Figure 1] shows howa student has documented Issues inCriminal Justice Systems, OrganizedCrime, White Collar Crime, TheEconomics of Crime, MulticulturalIssues in Criminal Justice and Issues inTheoretical Criminology.)6) Repeat this five-step process for each ofthe remaining eight competency areasdesignated for Public Affairs.The Public Affairs grid also has provenuseful for demonstrating how somestudies overlap with others (e.g., Issuesin Theoretical Criminology has strongtheoretical, historical and researchcompetencies).Once completed, the grid enables studentsto utilize the “nuts and bolts framework”to carefully craft the concentration sectionwithin their degree program rationale(thereby answering the question: “Does theconcentration meet the college’s curriculumguidelines for that area of study andconcentration?”) In fact, some studentshave used the competency area titles assubheadings (as an organizing framework)while continuing their discussion of theirconcentrations.Without doubt, the grid’s logic has provenvery helpful to students as they try to makesense of the area of study guidelines andapply them to their own degree programplans. I would welcome feedback and newideas from colleagues who are trying touse particular area of study guidelines innew ways.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

46Figure 1: Above, I have created a grid that could be useful to a student interested in a criminal justice concentration within the Public Affairs areaof study, who has had a career as a New York City police officer (possible PLA) and also has completed a course at John Jay College (JJC). The gridcould help such a student begin to think about how, through past and new studies, he or she could fulfill the relevant AOS competencies.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

47Finite-Planet WaterEric Zencey, Center for International ProgramsOne of the functions of effectiveeducation is help humans fulfilla more meaningful place in theworld. And while John Dewey objected tothinking of education as “preparation” forlife (insisting that education had to dealwith learnings and knowings that wereimportant in themselves, not as somethingendured before one could actually live), henevertheless spoke about the instrumentalvalue of education – its usefulness as ameans to a variety of ends, the ends-inviewheld by both teacher and student. So,I think it does no disservice to progressiveeducational ideals (at least as enunciatedby Dewey) to say that education ought toprepare students for a meaningful role in theworld that we can see coming – and eventhe world that we aspire to create together.And that’s why I think that education –the education we provide, the educationprovided by any school anywhere – doesa disservice to students unless it givesthem tools and concepts they’ll need tomanage our culture’s difficult transitionto a sustainable economy. We can see thatfuture coming; elements of it are here, today,now. You’ll never open your news browserand read the headline “World EconomyHits Environmental Limit; Change in theOffing.” No, instead you’ll read storiesthat tell one or another of the thousands ofways that that transition will be manifest.You’ll read about mass hunger and foodriots as petroleum-supported agriculturesees its productivity fall with the ongoingdiminishment of the planetary stock ofoil. You’ll read about the consequencesof climate change – Super Storms anddroughts, wildfires and floods. You’llread about countries grabbing territory –“lebensraum” – and about resource warsthat are sometimes disguised as exercises inliberation, as indulgence of vendettas, or asancient hatreds and genocidal rampages.By which I mean to say: we are in thetransition now.The definitive characteristic of anunsustainable system is that it doesn’t last.We will have a sustainable economy sooneror later, whether we plan for it or not.To prepare students to take a role in theeconomy and society as it exists todayis, on this count, short-sighted anddysfunctional. If we’re to prepare studentsfor participation in a sustainable society(and to empower them to help midwifethat society into being), then we need toknow what “sustainable” really means.Reaching a good, clear definition is easier ifyou understand that an economy is a kindof engine, taking in valuable raw materials,processing them into goods and servicesthat humans value, and spewing out anexhaust of degraded matter and energy. Asustainable society, then, takes no more fromnature than nature can give to us withoutdiminishing its capacity to give in thefuture, and it asks nature to absorb no moreeffluents from us than it can absorb withoutdiminishing its capacity to absorb thoseeffluents without ill effect in the future.Against those physical limits, though, theeconomy continually exerts pressure: it’sstructured for continual expansion of itsmatter-and-energy throughput, as we areencouraged to want, to seek, to produceand to own more and more and more. Untiland unless the institutional features of theeconomy that drive that perpetual-growthdynamic are altered, we stand in need ofadaptive mechanisms that can reconcilehuman economic effort to biophysical limit.What we need are policies that move usaway from infinite planet economic thinkingand toward a finite-planet economic reality.As I did the research for a history of theenvironmental movement in Vermont, Irealized that one such policy adaptation isin place but hasn’t been fully developed orconscientiously applied.Eric ZenceyThe Clean Water Act of 1972 (CWA)instituted a national clean-up of thenation’s waterways, which had too longbeen treated as an open-access sink intowhich anyone could freely dump wastesand pollutants. Under the CWA, wastewatertreatment facilities were built or upgradedand point source discharges – thosecoming from a single facility – wereregulated and controlled. Water bodiesthat were considered dead in 1972 maderemarkable recoveries.Even so, the National Water Summary 1984prepared by the U.S. Geological Surveyreported that 38 percent of all U.S. waterssuffered impairment by pollution (withpollution being a “major concern” in 19percent of those waters); a little more thana decade later, the EPA’s assessment foundthat only 16 percent of U.S. watersheds hadgood water quality, while 36 percent hadmoderate water quality problems and 21percent had serious problems (the remaining27 percent hadn’t been studied enough toclassify). If water quality was to be fullyrestored, more needed to be done.The main problem was and continues tobe “non-point” discharges – the diffusepollution that is carried into waterwayssuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

48by runoff from land. Anything that is puton land can and will find its way into ourwaterways. The most problematic pollutantsvary from basin to basin. Some of the mosttroublesome: the oil, gasoline and road saltthat find their way into our soils, streetsand parking lots as we use automobiles;untreated animal waste, including theburdens produced in some areas by farmanimals and in others by pets; and fertilizersand pesticides, used by suburbanites to feedtheir lawns and by farmers to increase theiryields in order to feed us.The CWA outlined the manner in whichnon-point pollution was to be judged andlimited: states were to identify impairedbodies of water and then set water qualitystandards for them. EPA rules written in1985 and 1992 offered further guidance:states were to identify the pollutants thatcause the impairment, and for each of thosepollutants, they were to identify the TotalMaximum Daily Load (TMDL) that thebody of water could absorb without beingimpaired. Their work would be reportedto and reviewed by the EPA. How TMDLswould be enforced – how the scarce capacityof water bodies to absorb effluents would berationed – was left to state discretion.Behind the notion of TMDL is sound,steady-state, finite-planet thinking: thecapacity of bodies of water to absorbpollutants isn’t infinite, and the limits needto be discovered and respected.Implementation and enforcement of the newrules wasn’t immediate. Some states, facedwith significant expense, declined to complywith the law. Some sued to have the EPA dothe job. The scientific work has been slowgoing. Between 1996 and 2003, a total of7,327 TMDLs were approved nationwide,representing just 17 percent of the 42,193bodies of water listed as impaired by 2003.In Vermont, the issue of TMDLs cameto a head in 1999, with an applicationfrom Lowe’s, Inc. to build a store inSouth Burlington. The company receivedthe necessary stormwater permits fromthe state in July of 2001, despite the factthat the store and its parking lot wouldforce acres of runoff into Potash Brook,an impaired waterway. The ConservationLaw Foundation immediately appealedthe permit decision. Under the CWA, theappeal said, additional pollutants couldnot be discharged into the brook unlessa mitigation and cleanup strategy werein place – a strategy that would requiredetermination of the appropriate TMDLs,which hadn’t been prepared.There were no TMDLs for Potash Brookfor a simple reason: despite its carefullyprotected (and generally well-deserved)image as an environmentally aware state,Vermont hadn’t calculated any TMDLs atall. Meanwhile, well over 1,000 state-issuedstormwater discharge permits had expiredand were up for review. In pursing legalaction, the Conservation Law Foundationhad brought to light a major problem inthe way that Vermont was managing itswater resources and had revealed that thestate was violating laws established underthe Clean Water Act. At a press conferenceheld to announce the appeal, Chris Kilian,the CLF’s natural resources project director,gave fair warning: “Vermont’s Agency ofNatural Resources can no longer turn ablind eye to our serious water pollutionproblems. Rubber-stamping permits that willadd more pollution is not acceptable.”“Rubber-stampingpermits that will addmore pollution isnot acceptable.”CLF’s appeals of the state’s decision on theLowe’s permit were pending when the twosides announced a settlement in May 2006.Lowe’s agreed to implement higher cleanupstandards than the state had required.Measures included stormwater retentionponds and filtration systems for runoff notonly for Lowe’s 12-acre site, but the entirecommercial plaza of which the new storewas a part. As part of the agreement, Lowe’sagreed to monitor stream conditions, bothupstream and downstream of its discharge,to ensure that the “zero harm” standardwould be met.If the Clean Water Act can continue toencode finite-planet assumptions through itscall for discovery of Total Maximum DailyLoads of pollutants in the country’s bodiesof water, and if those limits can be enforcedthrough state action or by citizen lawsuits,one key element of a steady-state economywill be in place.But it’s not going to be easy to reach thatpoint. TMDLs remain a controversialand difficult topic, as might be expectedof a regulatory device that operates atthe intersection of human ambition andbiophysical limit. The state-by-statefoundation of the law also may hamperits effectiveness. For instance, of the50 water bodies in Vermont that areofficially classified as impaired because ofacidification, the source of the pollutant– acid rain – is well beyond the power ofthe state to control. And much non-pointsourcewater pollution in Vermont hasits origin in agricultural practices, whichthe CWA specifically excludes from itspurview and which Vermont legislatorsand regulators are loathe to tackle. As thestrong base of the state’s economy and as aprime preserver of the working landscape,farming provides all Vermonters with manybenefits, and the environmental movementis unanimous in wanting to see a healthyagricultural economy in the state. Butfarming practices are responsible for 38percent of the phosphate pollution that leadsto regular algae blooms in Lake Champlain(making it the second largest category, afterurbanization at 46 percent). The blooms canbe toxic to wildlife, humans and domesticpets, and they prevent recreational use ofthe parts of the lake that are affected. IfVermont is to achieve its water quality goals,it will have to enforce TMDLs for all watersthat drain into its lakes, even if those limitsrequire changes in agricultural practice. By2012, Vermont had established TMDLs forroughly 60 percent of the waters that hadbeen identified as needing them.The concept of TMDLs can be extendedto other sinks and pollutants. A TMDLcould be set for diesel exhaust from trucks,limiting the amount to what a particular airshed can absorb without ill effect. Ditto forcarbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases,though implementing (and enforcing) themon a global scale presents a considerablepolitical challenge.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

49In theory, and paired with a similarunderstanding of the limits of source services– like the maximum sustainable yieldfigures that can be calculated for forestsand fisheries – TMDLs point to one way ofachieving a balance between human activityand planetary systems.It’s an expensive path. The researchnecessary to determine a TMDL is costly,and comes at a time when public budgetsare already being strained (by, amongother causes, a declining energy returnon investment [EROI] for oil that meansmore and more of our economy’s energy isdedicated to getting that energy). We canfeel nostalgic for an era in which the planetwas so much larger in proportion to humanacts and works that it seemed infinitelyabsorptive and expensive research on theeffect of pollutants on biological systemswasn’t needed. But wishing won’t changethe facts. If we don’t like the expense ofadditional government regulation, if it lookslike we can’t afford all that governmentaloverhead, then we’ve basically got threeother choices: retreat into an infinite planetstate of denial and let our economy destroyour habitat; require private enterprise tofund the necessary research as part of thecost of doing business on what is undeniablya finite-planet; or find ways (like a carbontax or other uptake and throughputtaxes) to sufficiently meter inputs to bringeconomic activity well within biophysicallimit, thereby making the regulatory burdenand research expense of TMDL enforcementless necessary.There may be other alternatives. In myteaching, I invite students to help find them– and to look for, analyze and strategizehow to use other levers of change by whichour infinite planet system could be adaptedto finite-planet reality. This, it seems to me,is the most pressing project we humans face,and it’s a project that can be pursued indisciplines as disparate as psychology andhistory, business and biology, philosophyand forensic medicine. The one thingeffective education ought not to do ispretend that all is well, that the world isn’tabout to change, and change dramatically.NoteThis essay was adapted from the book,Greening Vermont: The Search for aSustainable State (co-written with ElizabethCourtney, 2012, Vermont Natural ResourcesCouncil/Thistle Hill Publications), andthe article, “Where Infinite Growth MeetsBiophysical Limit,” published Nov. 22, 2012by the Center for the Advancement of theSteady State Economy (viewable at http://steadystate.org/where-infinite-growth-meetsbiophysical-limit/).“Hence, good speech, good harmony, good grace, and good rhythm accompanygood disposition, not the folly that we call ‘good disposition,’ but thatunderstanding truly trained to a good and fair disposition.”– Plato (A. Bloom, translator)The Republic of PlatoNew York: Basic Books, 1968, Book III, 400esuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

50Declaring Adulthood:A Conversation with Joseph B. Moore, Part IEd Warzala, School for Graduate StudiesJoseph B. Moore was the second presidentof SUNY Empire State College, serving inthat office for seven years. Immediatelybefore coming to Empire State College,he was the provost and vice president foracademic affairs at Mansfield University,part of the Pennsylvania State System. Priorto his work at Mansfield, Joe Moore wasthe director of academic affairs andplanning in the Office of the Chancellorof the Vermont State Colleges. He becamethe president of Lesley University in 2007.The following conversation took place inCambridge, Massachusetts on 07 August2012. Thanks so much to Ed Warzala andJoe Moore for the interview and for theirwork on this text. What follows is part Iof a two-part interview.Ed Warzala: First, thank you for agreeing todo this interview. I appreciate it very muchand know that your friends at Empire StateCollege will be interested to read what youhave to say and know what you’re up tothese days.I hope this is a useful way to begin: Givenyour responsibilities at Lesley University,how much do you keep up with events atEmpire State College, and what sources ofinformation about the college do you access?Do you stay in contact with any members ofthe community?Joe Moore: It’s now been slightly over fiveyears that I’ve been gone. As you’d imagine,a start up at a new place is all-consuming,and when you leave a presidency, youleave. Joyce Elliott and I have kept intouch over these years and our friendshipremains. When we worked together, andeven afterward, sometimes we’d see thingsthe same way and sometimes not. Ourfriendship has been most important to us,so we haven’t talked too much about thedetails of Empire State College. My mainsource has been All About Mentoring. It’sgreat to see what people are writing aboutand what they’re doing. That’s been awonderful connection to have since I leftthe college.E.W.: Well, that’s great; AAM is a wonderfulsource of the college’s history. Have youkept up, to any extent, with the changesgoing on in SUNY? Have you paid attentionto the work of our new chancellor,Nancy Zimpher?J.M.: Only through The Chronicle of HigherEducation. I get the daily info through TheChronicle and anything that pops up there,or in The New York Times. I no longer readthe Albany Times Union or The Saratogian,so my focus has really shifted.E.W.: Later in the interview, I’ll ask youabout some of your own dealings withSUNY System Administration, but fornow I’ll say that, as I see it, SUNY isprobably quite different than when youwere a campus president in the system.I wonder if there had been a differentadministration in SUNY at the time, howyour own presidency at Empire might havebeen different?J.M.: It’s hard to say. The SUNYrelationship is a really interesting topic initself, as Empire State College evolves andhow SUNY as a system evolves, but youdon’t get to choose the historical periodthat you act within. I was there with BobKing and then with an interim chancellorwho became a permanent chancellor, soit was a very curious entity with which tobe dealing, but I also was dealing quasiindependentlywith the legislature and thegovernor’s office. So, even the assumptionthat the relationship in Albany was withSUNY, is not completely accurate.Joe MooreE.W.: You’ve been away from EmpireState College for over five years, andbeginning your sixth at Lesley. How wouldyou look back and assess your Empire StateCollege presidency?J.M.: I don’t think the person involvedcan in any way assess his own presidencyobjectively, so just take that as a given.One brings personal biases to such anunderstanding and you have limitedinformation about how things played outafter your departure. I can say when Ilook at it, that for seven years, many of usworked very, very hard to improve EmpireState College in a variety of ways. I thinkany success that we had during that time is acombination of the talent of a lot of peoplethere, not just in Saratoga, but at the centersand the units. There were some incrediblytalented and mission-driven colleagues. Ithink the fact that we were there when theeconomy wasn’t that bad and enrollmentswere growing created opportunities forus to make significant investments, if youlook at the budgetary growth, enrollmentgrowth and the facilities investments. Wesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

51were able to accomplish things that weregood in and of themselves, practically andeven more important, symbolically. We werethere historically at a time when the headof Governor Pataki’s budget office was anEmpire alumnus, and State Senator Brunowas one of the three men in a room. Pataki’sbudget director gave us a second person inthe room. With the Democratically-alignedassembly, we had enough strong connectionswith them that we were able to convincethem not to use us as a trading piece,when it came down to that. So, we triedto neutralize the Democratic assembly, usethe influence of the Republican Senate andthen the governor’s office, to then get ourprojects funded. I contrast that with AlanDavis’ tenure, and I don’t know any of thedetails, but I know for any of us who werepresidents, it has been a challenging time.When the economy collapsed in the fall of2008, it’s something I never experienced inmy life and was the most unsettling periodin my career. In contrast, prior to 2008,we had the opportunity to do things as acollege, with or without SUNY.E.W.: How did you know that the rightapproach to take was the political approach,through those powerful individuals in NewYork state government? It doesn’t sound likeyou avoided consultation with SUNY, buthow did you come to the conclusion thatEmpire State College’s approach should be apolitical strategy?J.M.: When it came to capital investments,my experience in the chancellor’s office inVermont was an education. In New York,the legislature is larger and the dollarshave more zeros in them, but the dynamicsremain the same. Who are the staff people?Who are the people with influence, howstrong is your story and how relentless areyou in showing up? People at the collegehad no idea how often I drove down toAlbany to spend two hours to get 10minutes with a staff person who wasn’teven a legislator. Sometimes it was the staffmember who controlled the project list. Ilearned this in Vermont; I learned that therewas no guarantee of any great success, butthat’s the only way to do it. And as for thepeople in SUNY, I always made sure theyknew what I was doing, but I wouldn’t asktheir permission. I also made sure I wasn’tthere without them knowing it. We had sucha relationship that we were actually able tohelp SUNY with some of their priorities,because of the influence we at EmpireState College had with key players inthe legislature.But perhaps most important was the agendaat the college itself. That was more complexthan trying to figure out the legislature,because you knew what the decisions wereat the legislative level and you could getto the staff. You knew what outcome youwanted; you wanted an appropriation,but within the college, for seven years, thechallenge was trying to figure out what arethe greatest risks for this institution rightnow? Where are the greatest opportunitiesfor it to get stronger, consistent with itsmission? That, to me, was a wonderfulset of questions to ask myself, numeroustimes, and to ask colleagues about: “Are wefocused on the right things?”E.W.: I’m characterizing the SUNY systemduring your presidency, and probably forseveral years before that, as a relativelyineffectual institution. Maybe you don’tshare that characterization. You mentionthere were interim chancellors and shorttermchancellors – that suggests to me theweakening of an institution, or at least avacuum of leadership. Was that possiblybeneficial to your efforts in some ways?J.M.: Yes, I think so, but I think peopleconsistently overrate systems. The centerof the action is where the student and thefaculty meet, and those are at colleges anduniversities. Systems are constantly seekingaffirmation of their presence and seekingmeaning, whereas at the institutions, themeaning is right in front of you, if you cansee it. That is where students and facultymeet and engage in intellectual work. So,systems have to figure out what their roleis, whether that is SUNY Central or theCoordinating Center in Saratoga Springs. Iwould say SUNY was trying to figure outwhat its role was; certain roles were prettyclear, and certain roles were not clear atall. I would bet that is still the case andthat systems are always trying to find theiridentity. In contrast, colleges and universitiestoo often behave as if they know everyaspect of their identity, and that resultingconflict is always fascinating.E.W.: To move back away from system a bitand return to the college, if you had stayedat Empire State College for three more years,what would you have done? What initiativeswould have been taken? What issues wouldhave been on your list to be tackled?J.M.: I think a number of things would havecome up. I think when I started there in theyear 2000, there was a pretty serious dividebetween mentored learning and the kind ofwork being done at the Center for DistanceLearning (CDL). In fact, I think that oneof the reasons I got the job offer was that Iwas asked that question by the SUNY office.They asked: “How would you deal withthe apparent divide at Empire State College,between online learning and individualizedmentored learning?” Then, through theinterview process and reading, not havingstarted there yet, not having been offeredthe job yet, I said that the issue was nottechnology at all; it had nothing to do withonline learning versus face-to-face. From mypoint of view, the divide, and this was anearly read on it, was about what came first,curriculum or the student? In the ideal ofan individualized degree plan and mentoredlearning, the student came first and thestudent was asked two questions: “Whathave you learned and what would you liketo learn?” That inquiry led to a degree planthat was consistent with all we know aboutadult learning theory, and the perceptionevolved that online learning began withcurriculum. You designed courses thatcould be delivered online. Therefore, whatcame first was the course, and that wasmore traditional, where the student hadbasically a drop-down menu, instead ofbeing asked, “What would you like to learnand how would you like to learn it?” CDLoffered greater choice than many traditionalcolleges, but still, it was curriculum first. Myargument to SUNY was that Empire StateCollege could become the place where bothmodels moved toward a convergence, andthat we would see more and more of this, ifwe were successful in the individualizationof online learning. In the digital age, wecan customize learning and increase access,possibly more than we’d been able to do inany prior models of teaching and learning.At the same time, given the content andcommunication potential in the digitalworld, individually mentored studentssuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

52would have access to new sources ofinformation that would need to become partof every student’s learning. If there were aplace that could take it on, it was EmpireState College. But I knew that it wouldn’t bewithout its tensions.E.W.: I think that question is still beingraised. People at the SUNY system oftensay, “Well, why do you need 35 locations?”But some really don’t seem to understand orappreciate what I sometimes call the “greattradition,” and they think of the collegeincreasingly as SUNY’s online institution. Ithink outsiders see it that way, too, whetherit is because of marketing, or other factors.J.M.: If I’d been at Empire State College forthree more years, I would have fought thatperception. I wouldn’t have accepted thatfrom SUNY or from others. It is simplisticand it just opposes classroom face-to-facelearning with online learning in a way thatis not going to reflect reality in a few moreyears. What did we learn through eArmyUand Navy Online? We were one of fourinstitutions across the country used byboth the Navy and the Army as a selectedprovider of online learning and many ofthe institutions thought they were going toyield high enrollments. We assumed, oncepeople in the Navy got used to us, we’d betheir online provider no matter what portthey were in. But, what did we find out?What happened was the primacy of placeintervened: If you were on an Army camp orfort in Texas and a neighboring communitycollege had an office on your base, onceyou got sent someplace else and they hadonline learning, you were with them becauseyou knew them. This happened time andtime again. There were no net big winners,it was all marginal. So, the students fromFort Drum stayed with Empire and when“In the digital age, wecan customize learningand increase access,possibly more than we’dbeen able to do in anyprior models of teachingand learning.”they went to Afghanistan they stayed withus online. They didn’t go to somebodynew. Adults want the same thing that otherstudents want, which is a sense of security,a sense of relationship with an institution.So, we needed to sustain and support allof our in-place centers and units, which iswhy I went to the state to get funding forpermanent buildings. That is a statementthat we are here, and three-quarters of thework force without a college degree arehere, and that’s not changing. Empire needsto be a physical presence and what couldhappen here is richer than what anybodywould have thought, in part because ofthe integration of place, real people anddigital resources.E.W.: Did you think that buildings wouldhelp to preserve the traditional mentoringmodel, one-to-one guided independentstudy? Did you think that creating morepermanent Empire State College physicalstructures would preserve this pedagogy andthis philosophy of teaching and learning?J.M.: I thought it would preserve theindividual relationship with the student. Ihoped it would preserve the individualizeddegree plan and assessment of priorlearning. I hoped it would lead to a newkind of mentor-student relationship thatwould account for the digital age, as well.These assets were available for study and forresearch and for communicating. I hopedthat a student might have a home base,say in Rochester, but could study with afaculty member anywhere, who’d mentorhim. I didn’t want it to be historically thesame, but I would argue that the principleof individuality would be enhanced by thecommunication and information age. Idid not like the notion of an Empire StateCollege with a headquarters in Saratoga and30,000 students online with no geographiclocations. I thought that would be a lossfor the state. I thought it would be a lossfor Empire’s future. That’s why I don’t likethe notion of other people defining Empireas the distance learning option for SUNY. Iwould work against that characterization.E.W.: A while back, I sent you a copy ofthe Davis administration’s Open SUNYproposal. I’m wondering what yourthoughts are on the ideas found inthat document.J.M.: I had a different perception aboutthe relationship between Empire StateCollege and SUNY than other people do. Ithink to some degree, Empire has almost,at certain points, been in a parent-childrelationship with SUNY, of trying to pleasethe parent. It needed approval to feel asense of growing maturity and legitimacy,and I think Empire should have skippedthat stage and declared adulthood. I thinkit should be very cautious about playing alead role in system-wide degree planningand program planning, because mostsystem-wide academic initiatives – not all,but most – have been failures across thecountry. That’s the system trying to figureout by itself what it should be doing, asopposed to the system defining itself throughits institutions, and saying, “Our job is tosupport these institutions to be as effectiveas possible.” One of the chancellors askedme at one point, “Shouldn’t Empire be theonline college institution for SUNY?” I saidno, and the reason is, that you can’t allowthe other institutions off the hook. Theyhave to integrate digital technologies, eveninto their three-times-a-week classes. Theyhave to decide that if they have a distinctivedegree, what are the incentives for them tomake that available to people across thestate? There should be pressure on them todo that. When you start, there’s a wholeseries of systems for curriculum approval:the teaching, the listing of the courses, andso on. Once you start doing that in anartificial way, through the system, you’llget uneven participation. The incentives arenot there for the institutions to play well,and to throw Empire into that role woulddistract it from its mission. I always felt,that can’t happen. It’s the same thing thathappened when one of the deans came tome and said, “We’re getting a few moretraditional students coming to us and we’dlike to go to high school fairs to recruit forour enrollment.” At first, I said absolutelynot; a lot of people are dealing with the18- to 20-year-olds. Nobody is focusing onadults; we’re losing our attention, we’re herefor adults. Then, I had a little chuckle asI had a thought. I said, “Actually yes, youcan go to fairs, but you need a sign behindthe table that says: no, no, not you – yourparents.” He got the point. I think there isthis tendency to want to satisfy SUNY andto play a system role that can feed Empiresuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

53State College’s need to be recognized. Iwould urge some serious caution to that.The primary audience to satisfy is adultlearners, not SUNY.E.W.: Your point about a parent-childrelationship is an interesting one. I thinkyou’d be surprised to hear that Empire StateCollege is now the most prominent name,at least in the short run, within the SUNYsystem in the hallways and in the discussionsat the University Faculty Senate. In somemeasure, I think it is because of the OpenSUNY proposal. I would argue that we’reentering a different time and not only doesthe parent-child relationship no longer hold,but in a certain way, it’s about being in theright place at the right time, with the righthistory and the right background. I thinkmany other campuses in the universitynow have a very close eye on what EmpireState College is doing. In fact, there is someconcern on the part of some campuses,“Are we missing something?” It’s a verydifferent dynamic perhaps, than during yourpresidency. I’m not sure what the outcomewill be, but change is in the wind.J.M.: Time will tell.E.W.: Should we move on? The college isbeginning the search for its fourth president.Were you surprised at the departure ofPresident Davis, after what might be termeda relatively short tenure – four years – whenhe departs at the end of this month? Whatdo you think the impact and implicationsare for the institution?J.M.: I really don’t know; I mean, did itsurprise me? Yes, but I assume it surprisedeveryone. That happens for a variety ofreasons. I had no inside knowledge ofanything. Alan has always been gracious.We’d communicate every once and awhile, so I just figured it’s one of thosethings where this other opportunity cameup and he made a choice. The role of thepresident is both underrated and overrated.There’s a strength to Empire State College,in terms of its decentralization and theregular operations that go on with facultymeeting with students, and student servicesprofessionals working with students. Thework of the support staff is ongoing, witheverything that continues, from the phonesystems to the technology, to the facilities.It is such an important institution that’sgoing to continue and you hope it’s going toattract an interesting and diverse cohort ofpeople who are interested in the leadershipof it, who will be worthy of it, because it’ssuch an important institution in many ways.I would hope that my colleagues at EmpireState College are looking forward to thesearch, saying “OK, other opportunitiescome up, and our job is to make the mostof it, and to convince some interestedcandidates that this is a good time to cometo Empire State College.”E.W.: I appreciate what you said about thisinstitution and its strength and history andtradition, but on the level of organizationsand leadership, can it really be good forthe leadership of an institution to begincertain initiatives and then make significantpersonnel changes?J.M.: There’s no question obviously, givenmy career, that I have to believe leadershipmatters, so yes, I believe the leadership doesmatter. The challenge is recognizing thedifferent levels of leadership in a place suchas Empire, and a lot of that remains. So,yes, is an institution under a little bit morerisk? Can it float a little bit longer than itshould? Are decisions that should be madegetting deferred? All of that is probably trueto one degree or another, but taking the timeto find the best candidate is worth it. It’sreally important to have a sense of optimismduring a search. It’s possible to live withboth of those feelings, one of optimism andone of concern about getting a permanent,appropriately-searched new president.E.W.: What kind of a president and whatkind of leadership does an institution likeEmpire State College need, given what’shappening in higher education, given what’shappening in SUNY, given a number ofconsecutive years of budget cuts and giventhe expenditure of reserves that were left inplace upon your departure?J.M.: I don’t know about what theenrollments have been or what cutshave been made, so I have none of thatinformation. What I would say is thefollowing: that the core of any highereducation enterprise now is enrollment. Itdoesn’t mean you’re selling your soul to hitall the targets, but you have to be strategicin your enrollment management. You haveto look at marketing; you have to look atyour programs; you have to look at theuse of your alumni in order to recruit newstudents, as well as your connections locallywith the business sector, the nonprofitsector, organized labor, even though it’sdiminished. All have to be there, all have tobe in place. The key to this is going to betuition revenue. You need somebody whocan engage in the work of philanthropyand raise money; you need somebodywho’s going to work the SUNY systemand Albany, along with capital investmentsthat are going to continue. The key to anyinstitution, and especially a public one suchas Empire State College, that has such alow proportion of its revenue that comesfrom state appropriation, is you can’t hiresomebody as president who believes it istheir job to go down to SUNY and getmore of that state appropriation, and whothinks “that’s the key to our success.” Thatcan be a part-time activity, but the key isenrollment growth. You need to figure outwhat percentage of enrollment growth withcertain tuitions gives you stability on anannual basis so that can cover basic costs,salaries, the rentals, the leases and theinvestments in technology and people thatyou want to make. You know you’ve got abasic requirement where you need five toseven percent growth a year in revenue tosustain your operation. You need to look atthe enrollments and try to figure out whatprograms, what patterns, what practicesyield that, and you need to be on top of thatevery week. You can’t presume that whatyou know is right, and that’s what affordsyou the opportunity to meet your objectives.My close colleagues know that I’ve alwaysbelieved that you don’t get to talk grandlyabout mission unless you manage budgets.If I have somebody who is responsible fora certain part of a college or university andthey can’t manage the budget, I’m reallynot interested in them coming in and tellingme how important our mission is, becausewithout a budget, we don’t get to fulfillour mission.E.W.: At Empire State College, you followeda 27-year presidency; that’s a pretty unusualexperience, I would think. I don’t knowif it’s often been replicated. How did thishistory influence the course of what wasyour first presidency?suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

54J.M.: Jim Hall was phenomenally graciousto me and very thoughtful and I thinkvery respectful about some of the changeswe began during my tenure, whether heagreed with them or not. We’ve alwaysgotten along well and still keep in touch.That has been a significant gift to me, bothprofessionally and personally. I repeatedsome of that here at Lesley University. Ifollowed a president who was here 22 years,but again, I saw the institution differently.In both cases, you must believe that is oneof the reasons you were hired. When I firstcame to Empire, I went to every locationand I saw every place where someone wasworking to see what it looked like. Thefacilities depressed me, not all of them, butmany of them. The conditions under whichpeople were working were sometimes poor;there were historical reasons for that, andthey were no one’s fault whatsoever. So, Ithought “Hmm … what do we do aboutthat and how do we frame that, how do welive with that, what should we do?” ThenI looked at other things such as studentenrollment patterns and the tension, if youwill, between the online and face-to-face.All of the practices were brand new to meand phenomenally intriguing, and so insome ways, it’s not so much about Jim Hallor my predecessor here at Lesley, but aboutanybody starting new in a position. Whatdo you see and how do you start definingan agenda, and how do you check thosepriorities with developing relationships withcolleagues at the institution? To me, thatwas just a wonderfully intense first couple ofyears, figuring all that out. And I know thatmy successor at Empire, Alan Davis, and mysuccessor here at Lesley will need to do thesame thing: see the institution freshly fromtheir perspectives.E.W.: Was there some kind of progressionfrom a period of watching, listening andlearning to one of action, initiatives andstrategies for moving the institution?J.M.: It actually was, and it was veryspecific: it was 365 days; it was literallyJuly 7, 2007 to June 30, 2008. I traveledto every college location and I understoodit was going to take a year to go to all ofthem. It was through that experience thatI realized we needed to make significantchanges to the labor sector. Throughthis period of observation, I realized thecontinuing education operation that wasgoing on needed to change and become partof the college, and we needed to get outof the non-credit business. We’re a highereducation institution and the skill sets thateverybody had could be transferrable, sothat they could work within the college,many of them within CDL, so theycould stay in Saratoga. It was looking atInternational Programs and trying to figureout what their relationship was to the rest ofthe college. It was looking at the graduatelevelprograms and seeing what we neededto do, and it was looking at the facilitiesand developing a capital plan. The strategicplan we developed came from meetingsthroughout the state that first year. Mostof the places that I went to, I requestedto meet with students. If I met during theday with faculty and staff in Buffalo at 5or 6 p.m., I asked to speak with five to 10current or previously enrolled students, tohear their stories about each place. At eachlocation, I asked the same questions ofthe students: “Why are you here? What’sworking for you? What’s not?” I heard themost specific and remarkable adult learningstories that you could read about in theoryin the books, but I heard it personally atevery place. Then another thing happenedat the end of the year, one that thrust meinto New York politics in a way I’d neverexperienced before. There was a center thatwas associated with Empire, but locateddown in Albany and associated with thedifferent people in government. The personwho ran it was eventually indicted, and thathappened on the last day of my first year.I was involved with the press, the chancellor,and a number of political offices and Imade certain decisions about what neededto happen.E.W.: Was this at a location other than theCoordinating Center?J.M.: It wasn’t at the Coordinating Center; itwasn’t at our Albany center. It was a quasiindependentoperation that administrativelyfell under Empire State College and it endedthat year. All of this brought SUNY to mydoorstep because of the political exposure ofthis case. Part of academic administration isnot only trying to move a place forward, butkeeping bad situations out or forestallingbad ideas and inappropriate intrusions –and this was one of those cases. This was“Empire is contextdriven;you’ve got tosee what it looks like.”absolutely an intense learning year. I jokedwith everyone as I went around the state,saying, “The reason I can do this type ofwork is because you have your job; none ofyou can do this because you have real workto do every day with students.” Empire iscontext-driven; you’ve got to see what itlooks like. So, when I went to Rochester,the faculty set up in the early afternoonbefore one of my meetings to demonstratesome of the technology problems theywere experiencing that were specific to theGenesee Valley Center. They showed mewhat they were facing – it was classic –terrific! And so, at Empire State College, itwas always honest and that was the thingthat you could trust. It might make me feela little uncomfortable: you might feel likemaybe they could have done it a differentway. But you could never question that itwas honest, always upfront, and that’s whatI came to love about the place.E.W.: After this learning stage, were thechallenges more in the policies and practicesof the college or more in the culture, valuesand traditions?J.M.: I think the core values and policiesand procedures are inextricably linked. Forinstance, if people disagreed with policiesand procedures we were promoting, theymight use the core values as a counterpoint, as if I didn’t share those values.That did happen, and that happens, I thinkat any institution. Some people are morecomfortable defending core values, as theysee them, than debating the pros and consof certain policies and procedures. They’llclaim that you don’t share those values andtherefore these values aren’t important toyou, as a way of critiquing your proposal.That’s a fair thing to do, I might add; it’ssort of testing one’s ability to articulate howthose values play out through a particularapproach. But after the first year or two,I started learning more about certainrisks that I thought Empire was facing.For instance, one of the most threateningwas the financial aid eligibility audit thatsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

55many will recall. We found that in theabsence of set terms and clear cut records,we had huge, huge financial exposuresfor us institutionally and for our students.We discovered that we potentially werenot meeting a variety of criteria that eachstudent needed to meet, to continue to beeligible for financial aid. If we didn’t cleanthat up, I thought Empire would have beenin serious jeopardy. It is an administrativetactic to create a demon that you’reresponsible for slaying, in order to save theinstitution. It’s important to know it canbe perceived that way, but anybody whoknows financial aid and knows those detailsknows this is true. The exposure for EmpireState College, with students not completingstudies on set dates, placed the college insignificant jeopardy. Often this meant thatthey did not make “satisfactory academicprogress” and consequently they werenot legally eligible for aid, yet they werereceiving aid.We also felt the “ghost load” was relatedto this issue and needed clarity for theinstitution itself to understand what the loadof faculty was. Faculty wanted to talk aboutwork load, but nobody wanted to talk aboutwhat the work load was, because it wasdifficult to try to measure. So, I took thaton, trying to figure out with colleagues howwe could do this. That was an intellectuallyfascinating piece to look at: the relationshipof terms, individualization, flexibility andfinancial aid eligibility. That’s the tensionthat a place like Empire lives with whenthe federal government is getting more andmore regulatory, more and more traditional,and Empire wants to meet the needs of adultlearners and confirm their access to financialaid. That, in itself, is a huge intellectual andorganizational challenge. I’m not convincedwe got it exactly right, but we sure tried toaddress that. I learned a lot about federalfinancial aid, and I learned a lot about howEmpire worked internally by taking thedata and looking at it. Did it always speakto the genuine values of every facultymember there? No, and I think I didn’t doas good a job as I would have if I’d stayedthere and tried to articulate that moreclearly, and pay more attention to some ofthe faculty’s concerns over that. We certainlydid try to pay attention, but I think morediscussion on that may have convinced morepeople about what we were trying to do.There were many fine-tuning adjustmentsthat could have been made by listeningmore closely.E.W.: In recently reading The PromiseContinues: Empire State College, The FirstTwenty-Five Years by Bonnabeau (1996),I was wondering if there is a culture atEmpire State College that rejects certainforms of organization in the name offlexibility, but sometimes manifests itselfas disorganization. This must be a challengefor the leadership, which also must engagewith the external environment. This musthave been difficult for Jim Hall, for you, forAlan Davis, and, no doubt, will be for thenext president.J.M.: I think for anybody it is, certainly, andI think you’re right. I think The PromiseContinues captured it really brilliantlyin many ways; I think that’s one of thegreat tensions within Empire as highereducation, from my point of view, becomesmore conservative. Through accreditation,through the federal government, throughfinancial aid eligibility and more standardoptions, how does a place like EmpireState College remain eligible for federalfinancial aid, which is crucial to many of thestudents, even though it may be in the formof government loans? How does it do thatand maintain the individuality of the degreeplan for an adult student? How will it beable to deliver on that? That is genuinely aworthy challenge to try to figure out, andwhat I worried about was my inability todo a better job at convincing those who,for example, were opposed to the termapproach. I think there were conceptsabout which most of us agreed: PLA,individualized degree plans, multiple modesof earning credit and customization. But,there were some basics we needed to havesystemically in place to make it less risky asto avoid losing a lot.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

56What’s in a Noun? The Strange Careerof the Word “Religion”Robert Carey, Metropolitan CenterLet me begin with an Empire StateCollege commonplace: a studentseeks credit for Religious Studies.One student grew up in the Church of theNazarene in his home state of Wyoming,but is now a practicing Russian OrthodoxChurch member. Another was raised as aCatholic, but is now a practicing Buddhistand aspires to be a Buddhist monk. Athird is finishing a degree in informationmanagement, has studied for years in aBrooklyn Yeshiva and is seeking credit forhis studies in “religion.”What does the word actually mean in thiscontext? How are we using it? To what doesit refer? In what follows, I want to discusswhat the term encompasses when used todescribe a field of study, and then explorewhat the term embraces when we thinkof religion as a matter of belief, of seeingthe world “doctrinally.” What is it that webelieve? What do we affirm to be true andwhat can that tell us about ourselves?Religion, as a discipline, is a particular formof inquiry that embraces a range of criticalissues, even as it shies away from others. Inthe first place, religion as a discipline tooksome time to establish its boundaries andfoundational questions. For more than a fewcenturies, the discussion of “religion” wasdriven (certainly in the West) by issues of“ultimacy”: Was a particular “religion” true,or false, or some kind of apostasy? Wasit the work of priests and other schemerswho sought merely to control people andenrich themselves and the institution theyrepresented? This, in very short form, makesup a good deal of the history of the termas described by William Paden (1994) inReligious Worlds.In his helpful, abbreviated review of thehistory of the term, Paden points to threestrategies for accounting for religiousbehaviors. At the head of the list is Christiantheology, which has offered, accordingto Paden (1994), at least five “takes” onother traditions. They were: 1. “creationsof evil forces”; 2. forms arising from thediffusion of an original monotheism; 3.an approximation of Christianity, i.e., thetradition in question seemed to contain“symbolic Christian truths”; 4. simplydemonstrably “inferior in their practicesand beliefs”; and 5. (somewhat morecondescendingly optimistic), an expressionof an “innate, independent spiritualcapacity of all humans to come to someunderstanding of the divine” (p. 17).The critics of Christianity, in turn, wouldargue that reason should shape ourunderstanding of our own experience,not leave that bit of work to theologiansand peddlers of types of divinity. That is,the answer to the claims of religion wasrationalism. In 17th and 18th centuryEurope, wrote Paden (1994), rationalistshad arrived at the point where “religioushistory could … be written free of Christianauthority” (p. 17). Solving problemsreplaced rehearsing and restating mysteries.A close cousin to the rationalist approach,“Universalism,” with roots in Stoicism andNeo-Platonism, argued that behind all of thelocal usages and particularities of traditionswas a single “supreme – usually divine –reality” (p. 29).Religion as a discipline has only recentlyarrived at the place where its scholarsdo not seek to prove that one traditionis normative while others fall short, orthat one tradition is a more mature andrealized “religious” tradition than otherearlier but persisting forms of belief. Rather,the tradition proceeds on the assumptionthat we have much to learn about humanhistory and culture from the study of themany traditions and forms of religiousactivities that humans have practiced.To cite Paden (1994) once more: “To seethat there is nothing religious apart fromreligious people, and to see therefore thatwhat religious things ‘are’ is precisely whatthey mean to those people, is to follow aRobert Careydescriptive way that is at once scientific,because it is accurate and truly objective,and humanistic, because it requires engagedunderstanding of the positions of others”(p. 47). This is an attractive description ofa style of inquiry that wants to understand.We will want to ask, a bit further on, if itgoes far enough.Having shed its theological agenda, thestudy of religion seeks to understand andaccount for the variety of traditions, storiesand rituals that make up the family ofreligious behaviors scattered throughouthuman history in rich array. As a discipline,therefore, religious studies brackets theclaims of “truth” – revealed or otherwise– that appear again and again in religioustraditions, whether in the form of storiesabout how the world was made, why thereis pain, how death entered the world, or inthe form of creedal or doctrinal assertion,as in the Nicene Creed and other suchinstruments of remembrance and rehearsal.The outcome of this contention-riddenhistory is, according to Jonathan Smith(2004), an approach that sees “religion” as aterm created by scholars for their intellectualpurposes and therefore it is theirs to define.“It is a second order, generic conceptsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

57that plays the same role in establishing adisciplinary horizon that a concept such as‘language’ plays in linguistics or ‘culture’plays in anthropology. There can be nodiscipline study of religion without such ahorizon” (p. 194).For Tomoko Masuzawa (2005), the horizonthat Smith describes, itself, warrants someanalysis. In her book, The Invention ofWorld Religions, the subtitle points to theproblem: How European Universalism wasPreserved in the Language of Pluralism.Masuzawa argued that “religion,” evenwhen approached comparatively, is, in fact,a European construct that sorts out theworld “religions” in a way that is “largelyunhistoricized, essentialized, and tacitlypresumed immune or inherently resistant tocritical analysis” (pp. 2-3).The comparative study of religious traditionsopens the door on looking at people being“religious” as a natural phenomenon,something that happens over and over againin the course of human history.This gives us a way of looking at the claimsthat arise with religious stories, systems andcreeds. And that approach brings us backto what the three students were asking forin their individual studies of religion. Thespecificity of their study or their movingfrom tradition to tradition, or replacing oneobject of belief with another or none at allraises the question: What kind of knowing isthis? What knowledge have they mastered?One thing is immediately clear: They havebecome literate in particular ways about thetradition that matters to them and the wayin which that tradition accounts for humanexperience. At most, it is particular and its“take” on human experience is specific to itand the claims that it makes.But given human creativity, a style ofinventiveness that, by one estimate, hasspawned nearly 100,000 religions, what arewe to make of the claims attached to thosetraditions (Novak, 1994)? In which “god”are we really supposed to believe? Howwould one possibly know which one is theright one: Brahma, Isis, Mithra, Yahweh,Shiva or Thor? And there are more to bedescribed and accounted for.One response is to characterize religiousbehavior as a neurosis (Freud) or to claimthat religious stories are simply not true;that they prevent us from seeing what isright in front of our faces. Writers like thelate Christopher Hitchens (2007), or thestill living Richard Dawkins (2006), comedirectly at the idea that religious storiesand claims have substantial and importanttruths to impart to us with a “thanks, butno thanks” kind of approach. The argumentthat someone is delusional because theybelieve in God or that the third personof the Trinity is a kind of eternal etherenergizing souls is not likely to persuade.If the fallback position of those who havedifficulty with the idea of believing thatGod is great and worthy to be praised isthat such statements are a sign of a mentaldisorder, it misses taking the full weight ofthe approach developed by other scholarsthat religious behavior is a natural,historical phenomenon.The specificity of theirstudy or their movingfrom tradition totradition, or replacingone object of belief withanother or none at allraises the question: Whatkind of knowing is this?What knowledge havethey mastered?If it is a natural phenomenon, then itspersistence is what requires attention. So, astudy like Robert Hinde’s (1999) Why GodsPersist: A Scientific Approach to Religionhelps us to locate religious language andclaims in a more richly detailed social andhistorical context. And, as Dennett (2006)showed in his study, Breaking the Spell:Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, wecan trace the development of traditions,as human cultures settle into permanentsettlements, as the cultivation of grains andthe domestication of protein, the inventionof reading and writing mark the beginningof the world in which we live today. Withthose changes, “folk religion becametransformed into organized religion”(p. 152).But what is persisting amidst all thesechanges? What is the hand that rewrites andreconfigures traditions and usages? The finalproblem in understanding religious claimsabout reality is the human brain itself.What is it about the way we experiencereality that finds religious stories aboutthat reality comforting and believable?For Michael Shermer (2011), or scholarslike Scott Atran (2002) and Pascal Boyer(2001), the task is to understand whatShermer calls the “believing brain.” Theproblem is how what is “in here” shapeswhat is “out there.” As Atran (2002) putthe matter: “Religious beliefs and practicesinvolve the very same cognitive and affectivestructures as nonreligious beliefs andpractices – and no others – but in (more orless) systematically distinctive ways. ... [H]uman cognition (re)creates the gods whosustain hope beyond sufficient reason andcommitment beyond self-interest. Humansideally represent themselves to one anotherin gods they trust. Through their gods,people see what is good in others and whatis evil” (p. ix).So, when someone asserts that God existsand that they have experienced grace, theirassertion should not be privileged in anyparticular way, any more than the counterassertion – “You are quite mad” – shouldbe deemed an appropriate reading of whathas happened. The real task is, as PascalBoyer (2001) said, to understand our owncognitive processes in order to “highlightand better understand many fascinatingfeatures of our mental architecture bystudying the human propensity towardreligious thoughts. One does learn a lotabout these complex biological machines byfiguring out how they manage to give airynothing a local habitation and a name” (p.330). What kind of “knowing” is involvedin claiming that one’s knowledge of “airynothing” is real knowledge? That brings usback to our three students.What do we make of what they havepresented for review and evaluation?I would argue that what they havesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

58presented can be evaluated; it is a specific“denominational” take that has claimedtime, energy and study, and in presentingwhat they have learned, they are subjectto shared rubrics of evaluation, such asmastery of subject matter and the overallquality of their presentation. For example,is it well crafted, reflective and grounded inthe textual life of the tradition in question?From the perspective of an undergraduatedegree and its concerns with developingstyles of literacy and understanding, thekind of knowledge arising from theintensive, devotional reading associatedwith a community of believers canfind a place in the overall design of anundergraduate degree.Is it more than a kind of “local” knowledge,particular to the tradition being discussed?However “universal” the claims of itsmaster narratives, is there any suggestionthat it lends itself to comparison with othertraditions and their claims to universality?These are questions that should be addressedin the course of exploring what studentshave read, experienced and understandabout the devotional and cognitive claimsof the tradition they find important totheir self-understanding. From the point ofview of a degree, what they have learnedand seek credit for is singular, particular totheir individual history and reading – onepossible take on the many ways in whichone can be religious. It is most likely thecase that religious studies that are shapedby devotional concerns might very wellbe “deep,” but rarely, I think, will theknowledge arising from such a style bebroadly inclusive. That awaits a differentapproach altogether.ReferencesAtran, S. (2002). In gods we trust: Theevolutionary landscape of religion. NewYork, NY: Oxford University Press.Boyer, P. (2001). Religion explained: Theevolutionary origins of religiousthought. New York, NY: Basic Books.Dawkins, R. (2006). The God delusion.New York, NY: Houghton-Mifflin.Dennett, D. (2006). Breaking the spell:Religion as a natural phenomenon.New York, NY: Viking.Hinde, R. (1999). Why gods persist:A scientific approach to religions.London, UK: Routledge.Hitchens, C. (2007). Religion is not great:How religion poisons everything. NewYork, NY: Grand Central Publishing.Masuzawa, T. (2005). The invention ofworld religions: Or, how Europeanuniversalism was preserved in thelanguage of pluralism. Chicago, IL: TheUniversity of Chicago Press.Novak, P. (1994). The world’s wisdom. SanFrancisco. CA: Harper Collins.Paden, W. E. (1994). Religious worlds: Thecomparative study of religion. Boston.MA: Beacon.Shermer, M. (2011). The believing brain:From ghosts and gods to politics andconspiracies: How we construct beliefsand reinforce them as truths. NewYork, NY: Henry Holt.Smith, J. (2004). Relating religion: Essays inthe study of religion. Chicago. IL: TheUniversity of Chicago Press.“5. The objectives of youth and adult education, viewed as a lifelong process,are to develop the autonomy and the sense of responsibility of people andcommunities, to reinforce the capacity to deal with the transformations takingplace in the economy, in culture and in society as a whole, and to promotecoexistence, tolerance and the informed and creative participation of citizensin their communities, in short to enable people and communities to takecontrol of their destiny and society in order to face the challenges ahead.It is essential that approaches to adult learning be based on people’s ownheritage, culture, values and prior experiences and that the diverse waysin which these approaches are implemented enable and encourage everycitizen to be actively involved and to have a voice.”– From “The Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning”The International Conference on Adult EducationCONFINTEA V, 1997suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

59Reflecting on Service-Learningin Community Health NursingMary Guadrón, School of Nursing; and students Christine Porter, Janine Mower, Kimberly Smith,Kim Wallace, Penelope Jordan, Elizabeth Hillier, Jewel Brandt, Kathleen Brown and Nechama KellerThe Context of Service-LearningThe National Service-LearningClearinghouse (2013) defines servicelearningas “a teaching and learning strategythat integrates meaningful communityservice with instruction and reflection toenrich the learning experience, teach civicresponsibility, and strengthen communities”(para. 1). Service-learning is congruent withthe mission and vision of SUNY EmpireState College (2013) to support learners asactive partners in their education and totransform people and communities.Traditional campus-based educationalinstitutions with service-learning programsare typically geographically focused onthe surrounding area of the institution’slocation and serve the local community.SUNY Empire State College is a distributedinstitution with an online nursing studentpopulation. “Service-eLearning” is utilizedin the Community Health Nursing courseand is defined as “an integrative pedagogythat engages learners through technologyin civic inquiry, service, reflection, andaction” (Daily-Hebert, Donnelli-Sallee, &DiPadova-Stocks, 2008, p. 1).Students located throughout the state ofNew York taking the Community HealthNursing course work with communitypartners, including governmental healthdepartments, not-for-profit healthorganizations, home care agencies,community hospices, and school districts todevelop health education and communityorientedhealth interventions. Theintegration of service-learning projects tomeet identified community needs enhancestudent learning and civic engagement.The following entries showcase severalstudents’ service-eLearning efforts. Theirdescriptions and reflections on their projectsdemonstrate how both students and theircommunities are involved in transformativelearning experiences.Christine Porter (center)Empowering You– Mary GuadrónChristine PorterEstablished in 1978, Safe Horizon hasprovided support and advocacy for victimsof crime and abuse. Today, Safe Horizonis the largest victims’ service agency in theUnited States. Also recognized as a leaderin responding to the changing needs of theclients and communities served, it is soughtout for its expertise on issues of violenceand victimization across the country andaround the world. Its mission is to “providesupport, prevent violence, and promotejustice for victims of crime and abuse, theirfamilies and communities” (Safe Horizon,n.d., Our Mission section, para. 1).At Safe Horizon, it was my intent to gaina greater understanding and appreciationof the value of utilizing a communityadvocacy and prevention approach in adomestic violence human service program.Additionally, it was my intent to create abrochure that provides valuable information,resources and links to resources. The desiredoutcome is the continued education ofvictims of domestic violence:• to produce a greater awareness ofresources available.• to contribute to self-empowerment ofthe victim so as to ensure a reductionof recidivism by the perpetrator ofthe violence, thus resulting in a saferexistence for the victim.• to support an educated victim,which results in an aware victim,which prohibits the repetition of thevictimization.It also was my intent to simply offer myservices as a volunteer nurse to thosein need.Grief and loss affect victims of domesticviolence. Post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) is additionally an issue related tothe victimization and experience of thecrime. Victims of violence suffer a traumaticexperience, both physical and psychological,and as nurses, we must be prepared toidentify this, as well as provide treatmentand assistance.Victims of domestic violence and traumaticsituations also must be assessed for suiciderisk. It is imperative that we, as nurses,adequately assess those we serve, for suicidecan often be a result of the victimizationrelated to shame or ineffective coping. In thesetting of Safe Horizon, there are therapistsand psychologists who can assist with thisprocess, as well. It is our duty to ensure ahealthy individual throughout the process ofcare deliverance.This service-learning project has been oneof great personal impact. My project wascompleted with great care and diligence,and offers a resource of information tobe disseminated among those I servein the capacity of nurse, forensic nursesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

60and community health nurse. I suppliedstatistical information as well as tips forsafety and telephone numbers for resources.This was all completed with the anticipationthat it will serve as a gentle but resourcefulcenter of information dissemination. I wasable to “see” things from the recipient’sperspective and the services provided. WhenI registered for this class, I truly did notknow what to expect, and had no way ofanticipating the personal impact and journeyI would embark upon. For me, this was notsimply a learning journey but a journey to agreater self-understanding and healing of myown in a way that I never thought possible.Janine MowerNutrition and Physical Activity -Habits for Healthy LivingJanine MowerThe organization that I worked with duringthis semester, The Rose Women’s CareService Community Resource Center (n.d.),has as its mission “To provide information,conduct educational events, and makereferrals in order for women and theirfamilies to make empowered choices fortheir health and well-being” (Our Missionsection, para. 1). The organization focuseson the health needs of migrant workers whocome to the Hudson Valley area for seasonalfarm work. Most of the migrant workers areSpanish speakers.I worked with a small group of women whoare from a Central American country. Theyoung women are residents of the county inwhich I live and they are between 25 and 35years old. They are young working motherswith husbands, siblings, parents and in-lawswho are part of their busy lives. And, theyare gaining weight. Some have increased inweight 15 to 20 pounds over the past fouror five years. According to the Office ofMinority Health (2012), “Hispanic healthis often shaped by factors such as language/cultural barriers, lack of access to preventivecare, and the lack of health insurance”(Health section, para. 1). I believe they areat risk of not being able to meet the HealthyPeople 2020 goals set out for nutritionand physical activity as a result of theirhealth literacy and language barriers(U.S. Department of Health and HumanServices, 2012).The potential risk for developing diabetes,coronary artery disease, stroke, breast andcolon cancer are known to be higher inindividuals who are overweight. Many ofthe grants that the women’s center workson are focused on nutritional guidelinesfor children and their mothers. Much ofthe teaching at the center requires bilingualhandouts. Over time, the nurses of The RoseWomen’s Care Service have developed anexcellent working knowledge of nutritionand physical activity and its link to obesity.They are advocates for healthy choices inmeal planning and healthy lifestyles for all.While preparing to create my project for thecourse, I developed the idea for a teachingaid. The end result was a bilingual brochureshowing the importance of physical activityand nutrition. It was my hope that thiswould be useful for the population we wereseeking to serve.I have become aware that a number oflocal residents who use English as theirsecond language struggle with literacy intheir native language. Therefore, I designedthe brochure at the level of a sixth-gradereader, in English and in Spanish. Also, thebrochure is colorful, attractive, and getsthe basic message across that our bodiesneed physical activity and nutritious mealsto work properly. The two women whowere helping me with translation were quitehappy to be part of the project, and alsointerested in the content and concept ofnutrition and the role it can play in helpingwith weight maintenance.During my journey at SUNY Empire StateCollege, I’ve become more aware of howlearning and access to information allowsindividuals to grow educationally as wellas on a personal level. The concept of abilingual brochure is not something new.What is new for me is the knowledge thatteaching health literacy has to take intoconsideration the person’s reading level.Prior to the Community Health class, I wasoperating under a certain set of assumptionsabout how my Spanish-speaking friendsand neighbors learn. While working withmy friends on the assignment, I realizedthat because of circumstances beyond theircontrol, there was a point in their liveswhere formal education stopped. Now,10 or 15 years later, their children areprogressing beyond the math and readinglevels of their mothers. The CommunityHealth class has given me a glimpse into thefuture. I now have had the opportunity tosee firsthand the potential health problemsthat programs like Healthy People 2020 aretrying to address. It is my hope that I canuse my knowledge obtained while takingthis course to be part of – even if it’s a smallpart – the campaign to raise health literacyof all residents of the United States.Kimberly SmithAdult Immunization Screening/Education ToolKimberly SmithCommunity health nurses are advocates forpreventative services such as immunizationsas well as restorative services for existingdiseases. From infants to senior citizens,timely immunization is one of the mostimportant protections against seriousdiseases. Providing education andsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

61bringing awareness to the benefits of adultvaccinations has been my primary focusthroughout my clinical experience and formy service-learning project in upstateNew York.I gained knowledge of immunizations andtheir importance throughout the community.I engaged in evidence-based immunizationrecommendations for the adult population;in addition, I developed knowledge aboutthe preventable diseases, symptoms andhow the diseases are spread. I clarifiedmisconceptions about immunizations foradults and assumed a proactive, instead ofreactive, approach to communicable disease.I was able to publicly speak with confidencebased on immunization knowledge thatI gained. I developed an easy to read andunderstand education sheet for adultimmunizations and a self-assessment toolregarding the vaccines each individualshould receive. I enjoyed providingpreventative health care education tothe community.I reflect back on the beginning of theCommunity Health Nursing course whenI didn’t have much interest in communityhealth nursing, nor did I ever expect tohave such a rewarding experience. I havetruly enjoyed sharing with peers on ourcommunity health nursing practice. Myfocus on adult immunizations came at aprime time when the fast moving seasonalflu was hitting New York state. I also havebecome an advocate for ensuring adultsare educated and well informed regardingimmunizations and the importance of gettingthem, especially their annual flu vaccine. Iwas able to take this knowledge back to myhospital setting and run a satellite flu clinicfrom my office. I have given over 100 staffmembers their flu shots; this is an additional100 people who may not have taken thetime to go to employee health to get it. If Ihad not been taking this class, I probablywould never have volunteered to do such athing. I also was proud to be able to answermany questions from the staff regardingimmunizations when they came to get theirflu shot. Prior to this class, I would have justreferred them to employee health to explainand educate them.Kim WallaceIdentifying and Managing Endof Life Grief and DepressionKim WallaceI was fortunate to have spent my clinicaltime this semester with a well-established,local hospice agency. I had someapprehension about this experience, as Ihave never worked in a hospice or homecare setting before. With this said, I amhappy to report that this experience was avery positive one. This clinical experiencehas allowed me to put things into adifferent perspective.There is a difference between normalgrief, also known as preparatory grief,and abnormal grief, which is known asdepression. The main goal of hospice isto provide comfort care to those whoare nearing death, as well as to serve asa support for the family members whoare impacted by the process. The mannerin which the patient and family grieveimminent loss can have a great impact onthe end of life experience, as well as thepost-death mourning of those left behind.There are many mixed emotions that areexperienced in the dying process, but thereare identifying behaviors that indicate whenan individual is experiencing abnormalgrief. It is important for caregivers to beable to identify these behaviors, along withany red flags that may indicate the needfor intervention.In an effort to raise awareness in patients,families and caretakers, I created a brochurethat is presented as a three-fold pamphletfor easy reading. In this brochure, I includedthe definitions of both normal/preparatorygrief and abnormal grief/depression, andthe importance of identifying both. I alsoincluded some identifying behaviors, whichmay indicate the need for intervention, alongwith some simple interventions that can betaken and some resources/referrals that canbe made.The beauty of this brochure is that itis not just patient-specific, but can beutilized in cases where family members areexperiencing abnormal grief, as the stressof losing a loved one does not just affectthe patient, but the family as a whole. TheNational Alliance for Caregiving (2012)reports the substantial impact on caregivers,not just emotionally, but physically andmentally, as well.This brochure can be a helpful tool, not onlyfor hospice nurses, but social workers andpastoral care members alike. Education canbe reinforced when this brochure is utilizedthose in different disciplines within thehospice setting.Penelope JordanDisaster PreparationPenelope JordanUnderstanding your community is thefirst step in disaster preparation. Certainenvironmental hazards can be expected ifthe potential exists in the community. Forexample, those citizens who live near heavilywooded areas should be prepared forhazards such as forest fires. Those citizenswho live near water or in low lying areassuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

62should expect some flooding and structuraldamage caused during a hurricane orhigh tide.For my service-learning project, I created apresentation about disaster preparation formy community. Developing a disaster planthat will prepare family members for whatto do, how to find each other, and how tocommunicate during the disaster – a keypart of the plan. Building a kit is the nextstep in the disaster readiness and preparationplan. Every household and family isdifferent. The kit should be adapted tothe unique needs of their family. Climateand environmental factors also should betaken into consideration. Pets also shouldbe part of the plan and materials should bedeveloped responding to their needs. Manyvictims of hurricane Sandy and Katrinawould not leave their homes due to a lackof shelters available for pets. It is important,as part of the preparation, to identify nearbyshelters that are pet friendly if ordered toevacuate. My presentation included creatinga family plan, as well as what items shouldbe included in emergency kits. Disasters canhappen at any time. Preparing for disastersis a shared responsibility for all members ofsociety and will ensure community survival.Communities must embrace, understand andimplement disaster strategies not only toprepare, but to recover from disasters.In the past, I never wanted to be acommunity health nurse. Going into homesand speaking to people was not my ideaof what I wanted to do, and I didn’t reallyunderstand why I needed to do it in thiscourse. What made me continue were thenurses I had the pleasure of working with.They were engaging, offered suggestionsand shared their experiences. I learned somuch working with them. I learned how toassess the community. Every aspect of theenvironment – home, home health assistantsand family – plays such an interconnectedrole that if any of these parts are missing,problems arise for the patient. With thehospice nurses, I learned how to prepare,and know when to step back and appreciatethat death is as natural as life. Knowing apatient was in the process of transitioningbrought a measure of peace to me becauseI knew those patients who were sufferingwould soon be at peace. I also learned thatI am already a community health nurse.My community is the school where I amemployed. So, the very thing I have beentrying to escape, I have been a part of forthe past seven years.Elizabeth HillierPerinatal Mood DisorderElizabeth HillierAs a nurse for more than 30 years, I havealways felt a little bit of regret at neverworking with maternal health patients. As anursing student, this is a field that I wantedto pursue, but my career had thus far takenme on a different path. When I met withmy preceptor, I verbalized my feelings aboutworking with this population. My preceptorsuggested that I speak with the maternalchild health nurse at the clinic. I met withthe maternal child health nurse, and weidentified a need for community educationon the topic of Perinatal Mood Disorder. Iwas excited about the topic and the chanceto research and create a teaching tool forher to use in her monthly classes. TheFamily Medicine clinic services mostly theunderserved and uninsured patients on thesouth shore of Long Island. Some high-riskpregnant patients are seen here, as well as alarge number of non-high risk pregnancies.The maternal health nurse offers a classonce a month for these patients andprovides information on various topics ofcaring for yourself and your baby. Sometopics include breastfeeding information andbaby care, as well as nutrition and Diabetes.Although pregnancy is not an illness, itdoes pose many problems for women andtheir families. Perinatal Mood Disorder isa condition that affects 15 to 20 percentof all new mothers. It can occur duringpregnancy or after the birth. Symptomsinclude “crying, sleep problems … fatigue,appetite disturbance, loss of enjoyment ofactivities, anxiety and poor maternal-fetalattachment” (New York State Departmentof Health, 2006, para. 2). This is a moreserious condition than “baby blues,” whichaffects 80 percent of all new mothers andis usually resolved within two weeks afterdelivery (New York State Department ofHealth, 2006). In Nassau County, perinatalmood disorder is a major health concernaffecting 10 to 15 percent of all women andup to 40 percent of women living in poverty.It is estimated that in Nassau County, thereare 3,500 families affected by this disordereach year (Nassau County, 2012). Educationis critical in order to have patients and theirfamilies recognize the signs and symptomsand not be ashamed to verbalize that theyare having a problem. Educational materialscan be used in the clinic with the goal oflessening some of the stigma associated withthis disorder.My service-learning project incorporated asimple PowerPoint presentation describingthe condition, signs, symptoms and placesto go for help and support. This projectwas very beneficial to me and to the clinic.As community health nurses, our roleis to provide outreach, educational andpreventative health services to our patients.I have gained more knowledge on thetopic of Perinatal Mood Disorder andI was able to present the nurses at theclinic with materials that enhance theireducation programs.The end of the semester always brings a timefor reflection on the learning that has takenplace over the past 15 weeks. I have beenworking as a home care nurse for almost30 years, so I guess you can say that I havesome experience in this field. I wasn’t surehow much more I could learn, but as withso many of the courses I have taken here,there is always more knowledge that canbe gained.The Community Health Nursing course hasbeen valuable and meaningful to me becauseI enjoyed the patient population I workedwith and I was able to provide a tool thatwill be used by the staff. I fulfilled a dreamof mine, which was to work with thesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

63maternity patients. The patients at the clinicwere very receptive to the topic of PerinatalMood Disorder.Sometimes we go through our nursing roleswithout a thought as to why we are doingwhat we are doing. In this course, I wasable to think about the nursing process andapply it to my day-to-day practice. I thinkthe “KASH” activity allowed be to reflectand think about the Knowledge, Attitudes,Skills and Habits that were experienced ineach module.I will be able to apply my learning as Icontinue to work in the field of homecare. According to Clark (2008), “effectivenursing practice is facilitated when nursesuse a systemic approach to clients, theirhealth status, and the nursing interventionsneeded to promote, maintain, or restorehealth” (p. 62). I have gained knowledgeabout the nursing process and applying thenursing theories to my daily practice.Jewel Brandt (right)Hygiene PacksJewel BrandtHomelessness is everywhere, affecting manycommunities on a daily basis. Homelessnesscan be defined as “the conditions thatcontribute to the absence of customaryaccess to conventional residence ordwelling” (Babatsikou, 2011, p. 66). Men,women and children of all ages have beenvictims of homelessness. The problem islarger than not having a roof over yourhead; it includes the risk for increase inphysical and psychological illness due to theconditions one must live in day to day.While working with my preceptor, a schoolnurse for elementary schoolchildren, Ilearned that there are a few students whoreside in a shelter for homeless families.When I asked about them in more detail,I learned that they were often absent dueto illness and were often behind on somecritical immunizations due to lack of healthinsurance or inability to get to the clinic.This triggered me to focus more on thispopulation for my service-learning project.The problem facing these children andtheir families who reside in shelters is theovercrowding and lack of hygiene productsto care for themselves. Without properhygiene, illness can spread much faster,and without proper health care, this canbecome a dangerous thing for anyone,especially children who are more susceptibleto disease and illness. There also is the lackof clothing or access to laundry, which canintroduce other health problems such asringworm, lice and mites. Many of thesefamilies will enter the community on a dailybasis, especially the school-aged children,and this is where the challenge begins – thetransmission of illness and disease becomesan increasing concern.My service-learning project focused on aneffort to provide hygiene packs to a localshelter for families. This project matchedthe problem that this community faced,and was chosen with the intent to decreasethe number of illnesses related to poorhygiene in the public schools of the familiesand children living in shelter conditions. Iinvolved all of the children in the school inthis service-learning project. Informationwas gathered in regard to the number ofpeople in the shelter, gender and ages,and then a list of necessary items was puttogether in order to help plan the next step:the journey for donations. Then, collectedfrom local vendors were items such astoothbrushes, toothpaste, Band-Aids, floss,deodorant, soap, wipes, nail clippers, lotion,and much more that would help assist thesefamilies who are currently forced to live inovercrowded shelters. Once the items werecollected, the schoolchildren helped makehygiene packs, which were delivered to theshelter residents. Information packets onproper hygiene with emphasis on handwashingalso were placed in each pack forthe families in an effort to help teach anduse prevention methods.Knowledge was gained by all involvedthrough the making and distribution of thehealth information packets. There weremany skills used to manage this project:communication, social, cultural, mathand reading. The schoolchildren learnedabout health teaching as they preparedhygiene kits, and about different culturesand alternative ways of living. Teachingthe participants in this project to reach outto the community was a great feeling andshowed that this indeed was a successfulplan. Compassion and caring are greatqualities to have and enforce; these wereboth addressed throughout this project.The participants were taught about hygiene,given needed supplies to help decrease theirchances of becoming ill, and were given asense of hope that there are, indeed, peoplein their community who care about theirhardships and are willing to help.Although I was not there long enough tosee the changes in these children who wereresiding in the shelter, I was able to discusswith my preceptor ways that we would beable to measure these goals. One was bytracking their absences, trips to the nurse’soffice and doctors’ appointments. Thiswould be a way to see if their better hygieneskills helped to decrease the presence ofillness in their surroundings. Another wasto see just how much the children learnedthrough their information packet and assesswhether the packets were appealing enoughto interest the recipients in learning aboutthe topic.Overall, I feel this service-learning projectwas a successful one that both provided aservice to those in need, and taught lifelongskills such as compassion and caring tothose involved. This community was willingto open up their hearts to those in need andthe collection of supplies was rather easy.This shows that this is a strong communitywith the best interest of each other inmind: to partner with community storesand residents to collect hygiene productsfor all ages in order to make packs for thesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

64families of a nearby shelter; to provide thenecessary items to maintain proper hygieneto those in need; to teach the families properhygiene practices; and to show and teachcompassion for those who are less fortunate.Kathleen BrownAsk the ExpertKathleen BrownThe population I am focusing on in myclinical experience is comprised mainly ofindividuals diagnosed (or being ruled outfor) multiple sclerosis and their supportnetwork. The overall population iscomprised of adults between ages 20-50,of both sexes but with a higher percentageof women. The setting is an official urbanagency located in the middle of NewYork City.Although the Internet and television(media) can be valuable resources forhealth information, many members of thispopulation, and society as a whole, areunaware of how to separate legitimate factand meaningful research from opinion andhearsay. Patients tend to be eager to learnabout their disease, as well as preventativehealth measures; however, they may relyupon poor sources for their information.Online discussion boards and basicGoogle searches may lead to false healthinformation and possibly dangerous advice.Health care provider visits may occur twoto three times a year. These encountersare an integral time for patients to receiveevidence-based health care information.Unfortunately, there are months in betweenwhere patients seek answers to their healthquestions. There is a need for supplemental,educational opportunities where patientscan learn about their disease, which healthprofessionals to contact when questionsarise, and other important matters that canbenefit their overall well-being.The purpose of my service-learning projectwas to provide monthly educationalsessions for patients where they would beintroduced to professionals who can addresstheir needs throughout their spectrum ofcare. They also would serve as meaningfulresources that address patient needs, as wellas facilitate meaningful discussions amongthe patient population. In facilitation ofthese educational sessions, patients wouldgain a better understanding and ownershipof how to have their needs met. Theybegan to recognize the roles of specificpractitioners and distinguish who to contactfor which concerns. They also gainedgreater understanding of the etiology andphysiology behind specific issues, ways tominimize symptoms and maximize qualityof life.In an effort to evaluate the effectiveness ofthe service-learning project, I created twomain tools to be used with patients.I created a trivia game (Jeopardy!) to beused at the conclusion of some of thesessions, which was used to evaluate theknowledge gained throughout the session.I also created a basic survey, which wasused to evaluate the patients’ baseline levelof comfort and knowledge. This survey wastypically given and then discussed beforeand after the session.All in all, I believe that application of theservice-learning project was successful.There was a significant difference betweenbaseline knowledge and the quality of postsessiondiscussions. Patients were able tofully engage and participate in the triviagame, illustrating mastery of the newlygained understanding of the material. Asthe months passed, patients looked forwardto each new topic and showed excitementin educating themselves about importantmatters and having their concerns met.Through the use of service-learning, wewere given the opportunity to impact,and hopefully benefit, the lives of otherswhile we applied the skills we had beenlearning throughout the course. As I learnedabout assessing and meeting the needs ofcommunity members, I was able to practicethese skills and work directly with patients.Knowing that the effort I put into my coursework also was benefitting the patientsmade my contributions more genuine andmeaningful. I appreciate having had thisexperience.Nechama KellerImmunization Awareness:Why Immunizations AreImportant for Your ChildrenNechama KellerThe Chasidic Orthodox Jewish communityis the population I have chosen for myclinical. This population is at high riskbecause of the large number of familiesthat have chosen to either refuse or delayvaccinating their young children. Many ofthese parents will postpone coming to thepediatrician for a wellness checkup dueto the fact that they do not want to givetheir child vaccines. The possible spread ofvaccine-preventable disease has become amore frightening reality. There have beenrecent pertussis and measles outbreaksthat are a real cause for concern. Thiscommunity relies on the immunity othershave, or “herd immunity,” to continue tosuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

65protect them. Over time, this immunitywill decrease and more children will besusceptible to contracting serious and evenfatal diseases.The most challenging part of trying toreach this community is a combinationof the language barrier together with thecommunity’s lack of trust in health careproviders. This community does not havemuch access to the outside world andmost information is transmitted by wordof mouth. There is no use of the Internetallowed in the community and only certainnewspapers circulate within the village. Thislimits the population’s access to importantfactual information. Instead, many peopleare advised by elderly family memberswarning their children and grandchildrento beware of health care providers andtheir practices. Many people believe thatthe health center pushes vaccines to makemoney off of them.Additionally, incorrect information aboutvaccines and their side effects are passedalong as fact from family to family. This,along with the many fears of the outsideworld connecting vaccine administrationto diseases like autism and mentalretardation, make the challenge even greater.As our health center tries to educate parentsabout vaccine safety and importance, wefind that we are not always able to getthrough. This is due, in part, to the fact thatthe primary language spoken here is Yiddish.There are those who are willing to acceptinformation about vaccines, but will onlybring it into their homes if it is presented ina culturally appropriate way and is in theirprimary language.The most appropriate education thatcan be taught to this community is onewhere the educator is accepted by thecommunity. Additionally, written educationmaterial that is presented in a culturallyappropriate manner in the community’sfirst language is likely to have the greatestimpact. We designated Dec., 2, 2012 as“Immunization Awareness Day.” On thisday, we scheduled over 30 wellness visitswhere the focus was around the importanceof vaccines. We have two providers asidefrom me who speak Yiddish and were ableto communicate with the patients and theirfamilies in a trusting and caring manner.Cultural preconceptions and myths alsowere addressed. I created a PowerPointpresentation and then printed pamphletsexplaining why vaccines are important forchildren. Many of the important points weretranslated into Yiddish, elevating the level ofunderstanding of the reader. A creative andcolorful background was used to make theinformation seem fun and enjoyable. Thesepamphlets were handed out and continue tobe handed out.The best way to evaluate the outcomeof this project is by seeing an increasednumber of parents agreeing to vaccinatetheir children in a more timely fashion.This can only be evaluated over time, butan increased interest has already been seen.The organization that I work for has takenvery seriously its role in being responsiblefor increasing community outreach projectsand public health education. They havealready begun by meeting with marketingconsultants from the community that willbe able to work with the nurses and doctorsof our department. These consultants arecontracted to create educational materialsand present them in a culturally sensitiveway. The materials will be strictly in Yiddishand will be done in a most professional way.Our health center’s recognition of the powerof appropriate educational materials for thiscommunity indicates much success for thisservice-learning project, as the entire concepthas been adopted and accepted.This course has really been a landmark onefor me. I have been involved in workingwith the people from the ChassidicOrthodox community for many years,but never viewed the opportunity as I donow. Never did I see the population asa community to which I can personallyaffect change. Through the CommunityHealth Nursing course, I have been ableto look at situations very differently andsee the community’s needs from a differentperspective. There are many issues that thecommunity faces as a group and these issuesneed to be addressed at the community level,not just on a one-to-one basis. While eachindividual patient and family member hashis or her own views and opinions, there arestill many traditional and cultural ways oflife affecting the way health care is regarded.Using the community health nursing modelshas helped me better direct my goals forimprovements on a community level.The course’s reflective summaries really gaveme insight into thinking about a specificpatient situation and realizing that it maybe applicable to the entire population. Thediscussion boards are always a great place toget feedback from other students about myactions, reactions and perceptions of uniquesituations within this community. I openedmyself up to understanding more about thepeople I care for because this course hasgiven me the tools to do so.Conducting key informant interviewsand doing a windshield survey gave meinformation about the community, helpingme develop a much deeper sense of thetraditions and values of these people.Creating a project that is well received bythe community is very rewarding, especiallywhen it is a significant part of maintainingtheir wellness.Most of all, I enjoyed reading about myfellow students’ experiences and learning somuch from them. I also acquired so muchfrom viewing projects and papers that havebeen posted. I feel that the course sectionon self-nurturance was a very personalexploration of our inner self and needs,realizing that I, myself, need to make moretime to nurture my inner core.Final ThoughtsAs viewed in the essays and reflectionsabove, service-learning helps CommunityHealth Nursing students take an active partin their learning; it also further engages themin the health of their communities. Thisauthentic learning experience involves theapplication of knowledge in the real worldto build community assets, assess and meetcommunity gaps, challenges and needs, andfulfills the mandate to improve the health ofour nation. This approach exposes learnersto multiple perspectives, inter-professionalcollaborations and partnerships, and assiststhem in finding meaning in what they arelearning. Reflection and discourse in theonline environment connect course contentwith service and enhance metacognitiveskills. With a strong grounding inscholarship, service-learning is an innovativeand effective way to provide challenging,suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

66transformative learning experiences forstudents that positively impact both thestudent and the community.Note– Mary GuadrónA special thank you to Raechel Hunt,BSN, RN, clinical coordinator at SUNYEmpire State College for securing clinicalsites and coordinating clinical placementsfor nursing students.ReferencesBabatsikou, F. (2010). Homeless: A highrisk group for the public health. HealthService Journal, 4(2), 66-67. Retrievedfrom http://www.hsj.gr/volume4/issue2/421.pdfClark, M. J. (2008). Community healthnursing. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson Education.Daily-Hebert, A., Donnelli-Sallee, E., &DiPadova-Stocks, L. N. (2008). ServiceeLearning:Educating for citizenship.Charlotte, NC: Information AgePublishing Inc.Nassau County. (2012). Countyexecutive Mangano proclaimsMay as perinatal mood disordersawareness month. Retrievedfrom http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/CountyExecutive/NewsRelease/2012/5-11-2012.htmlNational Alliance for Caregiving.(2012). National Alliance forCaregiving. Retrieved fromhttp://www.caregiving.org/National Service-Learning Clearinghouse[NSLC]. (2012). What is servicelearning? Retrieved fromhttp://www.servicelearning.org/what-service-learningNew York State Department of Health.(2006). Perinatal depression. Retrievedfrom http://www.health.ny.gov/community/pregnancy/health_care/perinatal/perinatal_depression.htmOffice of Minority Health. (2012). Hispanicand Latino profile. Retrieved fromhttp://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=54Rose Women’s Care Service, The.(n.d.). The Rose Women’s CareService: Community ResourceCenter. Retrieved from http://www.therosewomenscareservice.org/Safe Horizon. (n.d.). Our mission. Retrievedfrom http://www.safehorizon.org/index/about-us-1.htmlSUNY Empire State College. (2013). Collegemission. Retrieved from http://www.esc.edu/about-esc/college-mission/U.S. Department of Health and HumanServices. (2012). Nutrition andweight status. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=29suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

67One Last Narrative Evaluation(with some musical and literary accompaniment)Steve Lewis, Hudson Valley CenterA. TOPICAfter more than three decades at thisremarkable college without walls,I will soon be breaking throughthe invisible gates and driving off to whatI assume will be the next brick-andmortarlessrealm of my life (which Ifervently hope is not yet the ultimatebrick-and-mortarless realm).So it seems fitting, given my age and theage that helped shape my ideas andcharacter, that I begin this final narrativeevaluation with some lines from Bob Dylan(don’t laugh):Your old road isRapidly agin’Please get out of the new oneIf you can’t lend your handFor the times they are a-changin’.Aging: check.Changing: check.But why get out now?First, of course, is the indisputablearithmetic of life. I turned 66 last spring,and there is no veering away from the coldcalculations of actuaries who say I likelyhave in the neighborhood of 15-20 yearsleft in this four stroke engine. As Son Voltcroons, “Both feet on the floor, two handson the wheel. …” It is indeed time to hitthe road.That said, as I’ve learned over the decades,numbers never tell the whole story. Pleasepunch in Dylan again, yowling through thespeakers and imploring me to get out ofthe way if I “… can’t lend a hand.” Andso there’s reason number two: It seemsthat I have come to a stark philosophicalcrossroads with my cherished college andmust now acknowledge that I’ve grown abit weary of driving into the pedagogicalwinds blowing down from Saratoga.In the spirit of full disclosure, with theofficial abandonment of the narrativeevaluation followed in tailgating fashionby the jaw dropping Blue Ribbon Panelrecommendations, I was already signalingfor the exit.In the post-post-James Hall era, as thisgrowing and evolving institution hasmoved in ever tightening circles towardgreater structure and accountability, I havefound myself – intellectually, creativelyand spiritually – moving toward a kind ofacademic libertarianism, where meaningand truth are not found, as Conrad wrote inHeart of Darkness, “… within the shell ofa cracked nut,” but “… outside, envelopingthe tale which brought it out only as a glowbrings out a haze. ….” And in movinginexorably toward that misty halo and thetransformative magic that I believe emergesfrom it, it’s become quite clear that I, as themixing metaphors Dylan says, “better startswimming or I’ll sink like a stone.”The View From Exit 66In glancing back over my shoulder at thelong strange trip behind me, and thenpeering through myopic eyes toward theunmarked highway ahead, it’s not actuallyclear how my life will change after EmpireState College, only that it will change. Rightat the molten core of my experiential halflifeof learning at this college has been thesimple and profound notion that changeitself is the antidote to intellectual andspiritual death on a grand personal scale.In tracing the roadmap of my own evolutionthrough this evolving institution from alowly (and low paid) adjunct to some vaguehonorary (and unpaid) position calledassociate faculty and finally ascending tothe coveted role as mentor, it is clear thatthere has been nothing but change all alongthe way. Frankly, I can’t imagine a morenourishing and safe environment to haveevolved and grown as a thinker, as a mentor,as a writer … or, I might add, as a fatherand grandfather. (While I’m not cedingSteve Lewisany cyber-paternity or maternity rightsto Saratoga, this has been a very fertileplace for my tribe. To wit, when I startedas an adjunct, my wife and I had threechildren; there are now seven children, fivespouses, two “significant others,” and 16grandchildren … 32 of us in all.)So, while I am hoping to be a little bitwarmer during the mid-winter months(walking around barefoot and nearly nakedin the Keys) and spending as much timeas possible on my beloved and batteredHatteras Island, I am confident that I willcontinue to change and grow as a husband,as a father, as a grandfather, as a writer, asa mentor, intimately engaged in the ways inwhich the dear people in my midst attemptto navigate this incomprehensible universe.B. EVALUATIONHaving long ago dispensed with the notionof myself as a conventional instructor(see All About Mentoring, 2000), I havealternately perceived my role at this collegeeither as a poorly-dressed doorman or asa well-dressed wilderness guide. Indeed,that peculiar self-assessment has neverbeen more true, it seems, than over thepast three years. As an aging doorman inthe modern brick and glass enclosure inwhich I have found myself since 2009, Ihave found deeper meaning and renewedsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

68inspiration daily by simply inviting studentsinto various discussions of great books andgrander ideas; as a wilderness guide (righthere in the mean streets of Newburgh, NY),I have learned a kind of sustaining humilitythat comes with showing one human beingat a time how to navigate and survive thesometimes perilous interior street life.I have served in a multitude of capacitiesat Empire State College, academic (mentor,tutor, advisor, evaluator, advocate,committee-er) and otherwise (fatherconfessor, shoulder-to-cry-on, kick-in-thebutt,intellectual wingman). Also, while atthe now defunct Highland unit, I providedoccasional service as plumber, carpenter,recycler and Walmart-type greeter. As such,I also have come to understand more fully –and more robustly – that whatever successI found at the heart of those multi-purposeroles has its roots in the more transcendentskills I learned over 43 years as a parent –too often, I admit, after the fact.While it seems that far too many collegesin my experience pit students and facultyagainst each other in traditional controllingparent-child or, worse, warden-prisonerrelationships and other deplorablydisrespectful forms of in loco parentis,at Empire State College I have observedand admired – and learned – and takento heart – and tried to utilize – the workof some truly remarkable colleagues whohave, along the long and winding trail,taught me the art of leading without whip,chain, coercion, intimidation, bribery, guilt,bullying, humiliation, gold stars, cupcakes –or grades.For reasons big and small, old and new,abstract and concrete, I have grownincreasingly inspired over several decadesby that pristine model of open-endedcollaboration to which I was first introducedby a remarkable mentor at the Universityof Wisconsin, the poet Jim Hazard – whowrote “It is an ordinary thing to be holy/ We do such extraordinary things not tobe” – and then actually learned to putthis into practice a few years later by myfirst teachers in the Hudson Valley duringthe earlier ‘80s: Dave Porter, Carole Ford,Alan Mandell, Jim Case. Their uniqueguidance enabled me to understand that theimperative of adult education is far morecomplex than the transmission of knowledgeor the acquisition of critical thinking skills,but is a soulful – and occasionally sorrowful– enterprise that, at its most enduring,brings mentor and student into a knowledgeof Old Testament vanity and vexation, thesum of which leads to humility … and thenrevelation ... and only then, wisdom.That said, while I have grown increasinglyconfident in my skills as a mentor along theway, in this self-assigned gut-checking hybridCE/PLA, I must admit that I have come tothe humbling conclusion that I have notbeen a very good traditional teacher. In fact,I think I’m rather mediocre when it comesto explaining certain types of material tomy students – e.g., transitive verbs and whyit matters that anyone should know howto identify them; amino acids and … well,pretty much everything beyond textbookdefinitions of their origin and function; thedifferences among MLA, APA and Chicagodocumentation and why there needs to bemore than one obsessive-compulsive wayto provide access to sources. I stumble, Imumble, I grumble deep in my constrictingthroat and eventually come up with emptyvariations of the same explanations I firstheard – and memorized without ever trulyunderstanding – from my ninth grade daysat Wheatley High. Thus, for my teachingefforts over three decades, I’m sorry to saythat I think I have only earned a B- or C+.And yet, when I reflect on the unquantifiableindicators of academic success, the gainsmeasured by the immeasurable depth andquality and consequent satisfactions broughtabout by the discussions I have sharedwith my many students (in group studies,in-person, online, on the phone, in themargins), I feel much better about the workI have done here.For reasons I still don’t understand, I havea good and reliable inner compass, one thathas enabled me to be a helpful navigatorfor pilgrims of all kinds searching formeaning, truth and, of course, a collegedegree. I have taken to heart the silentwail of so many students who havearrived here seeking the clarification ofHemingway’s Jake Barnes who says, “Ino longer wanted to know what it wasall about. All I wanted to do was knowhow to live in it.” And so, I have beenan unwavering advocate for my students,many of whom have been so battered bytheir previous educational experiences thatthey have lost the language and the skillsnecessary to advocate for themselves.I have learned over the years how to helpstudents find their own suis generis pathsto degrees that will sustain them spiritually,emotionally, professionally; I learned howto make each student feel as if I am solelyfocused on him or her when we talk; Iknow how to direct a reader into the heartof a narrative, into a deeper and truerunderstanding of the subtext that carriesthe real story; I know how to introducephilosophy into a discussion of healthscience and how to utilize science in acomplex and nuanced exploration of healthphilosophy; and I know in my bones howto introduce a writer to her or his intimatevoice, the one – and maybe only – enduringaspect of the sum of any writer’s life.Thus, at the end of the day(s), I can take adeep cleansing breath, give myself a gentlepat on the back, and acknowledge withsome confidence that I have been a prettygood mentor. And so with a wink and anod toward all the extraordinary colleaguesand friends who have mentored me over thedecades, I’m not giving myself a grade onthis one, just an old time Full Credit.As Cannonball Adderly occasionallymurmurs in my ear, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.”suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

Material ShiftAntonia Perez, Metropolitan CenterIam a mixed-media artist who makes sculpture, assemblage,paintings, collage and drawings. Much of my recent workevolved from my practice of collecting discarded objects suchas used plastic bags and empty tissue boxes with the potentialfor conversion to something unexpected. Their usefulness hasnot ended and they await a transformation that reveals their hiddenbeauty.I challenge myself to find the beauty in a discarded grocerybag, though paradoxically, I regard that plastic bag as a threatand symbol of ecological destruction. By crocheting the bags,I redirect their journey as trash on the way to the landfill, andinstead, send them to a second life, one of elevated status andprivilege. The colors of the plastic bags are seductive and justas they entice the consumer, they draw me into the process ofmaking. Gathering reusable bags is the first step in a practicethat is ultimately meditative in nature. The plastic bags thathad accumulated in my own kitchen have been augmented withthose collected by others (who also are not willing to toss theminto the landfill). Sorting and cutting the bags into strips andthen crocheting them is a slow, repetitive process grounded inmy lifelong engagement with needlework. I crochet some bagsinto oversized representations of household or quotidian objectssuch as dishcloths, potholders, lace, curtains and doilies thatin much of the world were traditionally handmade by womenin the home. They become heirlooms – a legacy to those whoremain after one has gone on. Plastic bags are perhaps one of theunintended heirlooms that will endure on Earth for generationsto come.This practice also encompasses an abiding interest in textilerelateddesign and the pursuit of the means to conflate it withabstract sculpture. Through the repetitive labor of crochetingthe bags, a visual language emerges with each piece. As I work,I meditate on work – handwork, housework and artists’ work.I make work that wavers between abstraction and representationand between object and image, never wanting it to remain in onerealm or the other.antoniaaperezstudio.blogspot.comAntonia’s Folly – 2010114”h x 40” diameter, crocheted plastic bags, hula hoopphoto by Timothy K. Lee

White Fence (Installed in apple tree grove at Rosenthal Library, Queens College, N.Y.) – 2011360” x 32”, crocheted plastic bags, woodphoto by Nancy BareisDonald Judd’s Grandmother – 201036” x 36” x 36”, crocheted plastic bags, steelphoto by Antonia PerezDishcloth – 200883” x 72”, crocheted plastic bagsphoto by Antonia Perez

Rope – 20123 pieces, 1 ½“ x 108”, 1 ½“ x 120”, 1 ½“ x 124”,crocheted plastic bagsphoto by Cibele VeieraDrape – 2009Dimensions variable, 50” h, crocheted plastic bagsphoto by Antonia Perez

Curtains (installed at Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning) – 2011Diptych, 40” x 77” each piece, crocheted plastic bags, aluminumphoto by Sang Min KwakBlack Lace – 2011Dimensions variable, 17’ w, crocheted plastic bagsphoto by Antonia Perez

73Mentoring as a Means toDe-Centering the AcademyJuanita Johnson-Bailey, The University of GeorgiaOne of the highlights of my 20-yearacademic career as a professorwas giving the 41st annual Boyerlecture at Empire State College in May2012. In particular, it was a privilege todeliver the talk because it celebrated ErnestL. Boyer, the former chancellor of the SUNYsystem, a national education hero, who wasso significant in the founding of EmpireState College. And secondly, this event wassatisfying as a personal watershed momentbecause it required me to critically reflecton my career in the professoriate. In writingmy speech, “Re-Centering and De-Centeringthe Ivory Tower: The Insights and Musingsof An Interloper,” and attempting to take aphilosophical perspective, I came to realizethat that I’ve been about de-centering,making an effort to democratize my highereducation setting, for my entire career, evenbefore I knew that there was a name forit. In preparing for this speech, I came tounderstand that my multilayered teachingapproach is the personification and theexpression of my activism.Moreover, I recognized that my teachingas activism includes mentoring and thatmentoring is inseparable from my teaching,a fusion that is de-centerative performativity(Butler, 1997). Yet, I am not unique in theperformance of student-centered teaching/mentoring because it is the mainstay ofmost adult educators. De-centering is anundertaking that adult educators applyin response to their discipline-basedphilosophical approach. As Derrida (1978)makes clear in his chapter, “Structure, Sign,and Play in the Discourse of the HumanSciences,” the center is “not a fixed locusbut a function.” And therefore, de-centeringis the performance of our theoretical stance.As an atypical professor at my SouthernResearch University, a black woman whowas born and educated in the region,I embody de-centering in my academiccommunity. From my perspective, asthe other, I move through this physical,intellectual and psychological spacecalled “academia,” troubling the terrainby my presence. In addition to being thepersonification of the other, I hold theexpressed intent to make a difference and tomake space (Sheared, 1994) in my academicenvironment. To my amazement, it tookthis speech preparation for me to becomeconscious that my teaching, my labor inthe academy, was different because I amdifferent. Then again, I also would assigndifference to my adult education colleaguesin general, because of our place in andrelation to higher education. Remember thatwe carved out this niche of adult educationin response to a pedagogy that did notadequately address adults as learners (Cross,1981; Cunningham, 1988; Knowles, 1980).As an avowed feminist adult educator, Iembrace the Second Wave (Humm, 1992)feminist belief that, “The personal ispolitical” (Hanisch, 1969). But as a blackwoman, I know that my racial standingmore often than not translates into anunderstanding that the, “The political isoften personal.” And so, it is these stancesand their accompanying perspectives thatinform my educational practice. The ensuingaxioms are twofold. First, in order to makespace for more learners, I must disrupt thenorms of academia that use positionality toassign place.Secondly, in order to make more space,more people must become a part of thewhole. This act of “troubling” doesnot involve pushing others out, but isa “function,” as explained by Derrida.Therefore, in this instance, the exerciseinvolves attempting to make more space byinviting in others who are disenfranchised.Our adult learners are frequently theothers, the nontraditional student: learnersreturning to the school after an interruption,adult students over 21 years old; part-timestudents who are full-time employees. Theseothers, our adult learners, bring a wealthof knowledge and experience. Therefore,Juanita Johnson-Baileyour approach must respect their skills andabilities, and we must endeavor to establisha relationship imbued with reciprocity. Sucha relationship can only be built on trust,the necessary grounding of the teaching/mentoring dynamic.Mentoring as a Site of ActivismThe core of my teaching/mentoring is aphilosophy that is based on self-revelationthat is grounded in my childhood in thesegregated South of the 1950s United States.It all began with my grandmother, whocould neither read nor write. As I learned,I endeavored to teach my 85-year-oldgrandmother, Sarah, a nontraditional learner.My first day of kindergarten also was myfirst day as a teacher. Every day, I ran thetwo blocks home to teach my grandmotherwhat I had learned. I was determined toteach her how to sign her name “Sarah”and not “X.” Although she was my firstpupil, she also was my original mentor,showing me that teaching and learningcould be acts of shared empowerment. Herwillingness to be self-revelatory, even thoughit exposed the painful truth of her lack ofability to read and write, engendered in mean understanding of the power that cansuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

74be inherent in a give-and-take relationshipbetween teacher and student, a joyfullydynamic, joint process. What I know nowis that while I was endeavoring to teach her,she was schooling and mentoring me. In ourdays on the front porch in Columbus, Ga.,I discovered that she never learned to readand write because of the Jim Crow Systemthat engulfed our lives and determined ourpossibilities, but that if we resisted andworked in community, we could advancean agenda for change. We could make ourspace and make a place for others.As you might expect, because the earlycircumstances of my childhood learning, myhigher education methodology is rooted insocial justice and incorporates critiques ofWestern rationality, androcentric theoriesand structured inequalities. I teach withina political framework that attends to andencourages the following: 1) a caringand safe environment; 2) consciousnessraising;and 3) activism. My approach wasfurther influenced by the loving and radicalmissionary nuns at my Catholic gradeschool and high school, and the integratedrefuge to which I could retreat as a militarybrat. Each of these circumstances continuesto shape what I bring to the classroom andto my students. But it all comes back tothe first day that a five-year old ran home,excited, eager, thrilled to show her maternalgrandmother what she had learned. MamaSarah never learned to write her name,but she did become skilled at recognizingit in my kindergartener’s scrawl. However,I believe that her example of modeling atype of teaching/learning that encompassedmentoring was adult education in practice.An Operational Definitionof MentoringMost definitions frame the relationshipbetween mentor and protégé as one of“intense caring,” where a person withmore experience works with a personwith less experience to promote bothpersonal and professional development(Boice, 1992; Hansman, 2001; Johnson-Bailey, 2012; Mullen, 2000; Murrell &Tangri, 1999). However, this framing ofthe relationship in purely psychologicalterms, while partly true, ignores the centraldynamic of any mentoring relationship,which is hierarchical in nature (Bowman,Kite, Branscombe, & Williams, 1999).Virtually all of the literature aboutmentoring assumes a “teacher centeredview of learning” (Margolis & Romero,2001, p. 85). In fact, the very definitions ofmentoring speak about the “coaching andcounseling” functions, which effectivelydefine the learning as going in one direction(Hansman, 2001; Murrell & Tangri, 1999).One problem with this understanding isthat it is highly paternalistic in that thementor is seen as above the fray, bestowinggifts on the protégé in a highly altruisticway. However, to be real and truly human,we need to understand that relationshipsaffect both people. Some literature isnow beginning to talk about the benefitsthat mentors gain from the relationship,including career enhancement, informationexchange, recognition and personalsatisfaction (Smith, Smith, & Markham,2000). Since studies have indicated thatmentoring relationships can positivelyaffect development and advancement ofstudents (Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lentz, & Lima,2004; Constantine, Smith, Redington, &Owens, 2008; Crutcher, 2007; Moore &Toliver, 2010), mentoring and teaching, inmy mind, seem inextricably linked. Goodmentoring helps the protégé to reach his orher full potential, with benefits of effectivementoring including increased competence,increased feelings of confidence in one’sabilities and higher esteem (Constantine,Smith, Redington, & Owens, 2008;Crutcher, 2007). Mentors routinely helpprotégés by providing inside informationand access to informal information aboutone’s organization, as well as tips onnavigating the process, securing resourcesand understanding the institutionalclimate – unwritten rules for which insidershave insight.If mentoring is to be successful, establishingmutual confidence is crucial. On thesurface, the concept of trust as it applies tomentoring appears simplistic: faith in theother needs to be present and reciprocal innature between the mentor and protégé.While working through trust on theindividual level is routinely discussedin the mentoring literature, it must berecognized that the mentoring relationshipis much broader than an associationbetween two persons. Mentoring occurson two dimensions: the internal aspectthat transpires between the mentor and theprotégé, and a second external aspect thattakes place between the mentoring pairand their institution (Knight & Trowler,1999; O’Neill, Horton, & Crosby, 1999).The connection to the institution and itsmembers is a weighty part of the mentoringdynamic, especially for nontraditionalstudents, who often don’t feel respectedby the rules and procedures of traditionalcolleges. For example, the often constrainingoperating hours and class schedules of thetypical university prove problematic forworking adults and nontraditional students,especially those with school-age children.So, how do I mentor in this place, when Ifeel an obligation to address not only thepersonal, but the institutional, as well?So, how do I mentor inthis place, when I feel anobligation to address notonly the personal, but theinstitutional, as well?And how do I mentor in this place when,according to my mentor, Ron Cervero, “inorder for any (mentoring) relationship tobe successful, both parties must benefit”(Johnson-Bailey & Cervero, 2004, p.9)? The answer to the first question is tobe mindful of the context (the student,the program and my narrative). And theresponse to the latter issue of what thementor acquires from mentoring is oneof which I am cognizant. What I gainby placing mentoring as the nucleus ofmy teaching, advising and working withstudents is the ability to de-center ormake space by attempting to create a sitethat reflects our society, a place that iswelcoming, nurturing and fosters successfullearners. This is, a setting that I longed forwhen coming of age in the midst of the CivilRights struggle. It’s a milieu that Sarah couldnot have imagined, but would have desiredhad she thought it possible.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

75My Personal Journey ofRisk and StruggleAfter decades of deferring dreams, I finishedmy doctorate months before my 40thbirthday and I began work as an assistantprofessor at the University of Georgia, theoldest assistant professor in my cohortof 113 incoming faculty. On a campus ofover 1,000 faculty and 35,000 students,there are only 97 African-American facultyand 2,400 African-American students, 10percent and 6 percent, respectively. Withsuch demographics in a state that is 30percent black, it is reasonable to say thatI considered this new academic home astrange land, and myself an outsider inthis non-representative and unique setting.Quite truthfully, I am often uncomfortablein this setting: being a numerical minority,facing the legacy of Dixie that intermittentlyimpacts the campus climate, and working inthe intimidating environment of a researchintensiveuniversity. Inevitably, my practice,which is based on the early lessons learnedon the front porch, presents teaching as ashared, risk-filled, continuous process thatfuses mentoring as its steady companion.Whether I am teaching or advising or eventraveling with students, I am attempting toengage in mentoring.Foremost as a teacher, I mentor by beingself-revelatory and taking the risk ofadmitting my failings. For instance, in mygraduate course, Writing for Publication, theoptimal teaching tools are my publicationfolders – actual boxes that contain thecomplete record of an in-print journal orbook chapter. The students in the class areprivy to the initial proposal, correspondencewith editors, the multiple manuscript drafts,rejections, reviews and revisions. Each groupof students chooses one of my publicationsto track from conception to publication.While I find this act of revealing the arduousand often anxiety-ridden publicationactivity precarious, I persist in the processfrom year to year. And according to thestudents, witnessing their teacher’s struggleto get into print by writing draft after draftand enduring often harsh critiques fromreviewers, helps to lessen their fears andlets them know that persistence is directlycorrelated to publication. Furthermore,this disclosure or attempt to demystify thewriting and publication process by offeringpersonal experiences encourages the classto ask the most personal questions andconsequently puts me in the position whereI must respond, regardless of my level ofdiscomfort, for to do otherwise breaks thegrowing trust.Now in my role of advisor, my mentoringrole is more explicit. Notwithstanding themode of advisement, face-to-face, online, orover the phone, I seize opportunities to askquestions when I perceive doubt, distressor tension from the advisee. Counselingis rarely advice, but more often a “whenit happened to me” narrative. Few areasare off-limits, as a mentor is indebted tooffer what will help. My students knowthe underbelly of the professor that standsbefore them: I was rejected when I appliedto my first Ph.D. program; I have failed tomake the benchmark for several nominatedhonors; not only have I been disillusioned byfellow students and colleagues (who remainanonymous), but there have been timesI have let my fears and doubts stymie myown advancement.Finally, whether I’m working with studentson upcoming conferences, planning aprogram or traveling with students on aStudy Abroad Tour, mentoring is embedded.If it’s a conference presentation, the studentand I will plan together and rehearse ourpresentation in front of a cohort of peers,and I’ll share tales from the field aboutprevious presentations (what can go wrong,what usually happens and what to do whenno one comes to hear you). On the occasionwhen I just can’t get the message or theconcept across, I hold the belief that theprocess of mentoring/teaching/advising is nota singular in nature, but is continual.Concluding ThoughtsAs I offer final thoughts on mentoring, I’dbe remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that Icontinue to benefit from being mentoredby my senior colleagues, my peers andmy students. In my experience, there hasnever been a situation bereft of a lesson, asmentoring moments abound. But as my firstdepartment head reminded me, if a personis not open to being mentored, they can’tbe mentored. And to those wise words,I’ll add that in order to be mentored andto mentor, you have to take the chance ofdisclosing your fears, weaknesses, needsand limitations. Accepting a seeminglysubjugated posture of being the one toreceive mentoring requires the protégéto flout the culture of the academy thatpromotes the notion of the brilliant solitaryscholar, and intimates that members(students and faculty) should either haveall the solutions or at least know how toacquire the answers. The ultimate solutionis to understand mentoring as an essentialelement of higher education; a social justicecomponent of our teaching, advising and allthe work that we undertake.ReferencesAllen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz,E., & Lima, L. (2004). Career benefitsassociated with mentoring for protégés:A meta-analysis. Journal of AppliedPsychology, 89, 127-136.Boice, R. (1992). The new faculty member.San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass.Bowman, S. R., Kite, M. E., Branscombe,N. R., & Williams, S. (1999).Developmental relationships of blackAmericans in the academy. In A. J.Murrell, F. J. Crosby, & R. J. Ely (Eds.),Mentoring dilemmas: Developmentalrelationships within multiculturalorganizations (pp. 21-46). Mahwah,NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Butler, J. (1997). Excitable speech:A politics of the performative.New York, NY: Routledge.Constantine, M. G., Smith, L., Redington,R. M., & Owens, D. (2008).Racial microaggressions againstblack counseling and counselingpsychology faculty: A central challengein the multicultural counselingmovement. Journal of Counseling andDevelopment, 86, 348-355.Crutcher, B. N. (2007). Mentoring acrosscultures. Education Digest, 73(4),21-25.Cross, P. (1981). Adults as learners:Increasing participation andfacilitating learning. San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

76Cunningham, P. M. (1988). The adulteducator and social responsibility. In R.G. Brockett (Ed.), Ethical issues in adulteducation (pp. 133-145). New York,NY: Teachers College Press.Derrida, J. (1978). Writing and difference.Chicago, IL: University of ChicagoPress.Hanisch, C. (1969, 2006). The personalis political. Retrieved from http://www.carolhanisch.org/CHwritings/PersonalisPol.pdfHansman, C. C. (2001). Who plans? Whoparticipates? Critically examiningmentoring programs. Proceedings of the42nd Annual Adult Education ResearchConference (pp. 161-166). EastLansing, MI: Michigan State University.Humm, M. (Ed.). (1992). Modernfeminisms. New York, NY: ColumbiaUniversity Press.Johnson-Bailey, J., & Cervero, R. M. (2004).Mentoring in black and white: Theintricacies of cross-cultural mentoring.Journal of Mentoring and Tutoring,12(1), 7-21.Johnson-Bailey, J. (2012). Race and racialdynamics in mentoring. In S. Fletcher,& C. Mullen (Eds.), Handbook ofmentoring and coaching for education(pp. 155-168). San Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass.Knight, P. T., & Trowler, P. R. (1999).It takes a village to raise a child:Mentoring and the socialisation of newentrants to the academic professions.Mentoring & Tutoring, 7(1), 23-34.Knowles, M. (1980). The modern practiceof adult education: From pedagogy toandragogy (Revised ed.). New York,NY: Association Press.Margolis, E., & Romero, M. (2001). In theimage and likeness: How mentoringfunctions in the hidden curriculum.In E. Margolis (Ed.), The hiddencurriculum in higher education (pp.79-96). New York, NY: Routledge.Moore, P. J., & Toliver, S. D. (2010).Intraracial dynamics of blackprofessors’ and black students’communication in traditionally whitecolleges and universities. Journal ofBlack Studies, 40(5), 932-945.Mullen, C. A. (2000). Untenured faculty:Issues of transition, adjustment andmentorship, Mentoring & Tutoring,8(1), 31-46.Murrell, J. J., & Tangri, S. S. (1999).Mentoring at the margin. In A. J.Murrell, F. J. Crosby, & R. J. Ely (Eds.),Mentoring dilemmas: Developmentalrelationships within multiculturalorganizations (pp. 211-224). Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.O’Neill, R. N., Horton, S., & Crosby, F. J.(1999). Gender issues in developmentalrelationships. In A. J. Murrell, F. J.Crosby, & R. J. Ely (Eds.), Mentoringdilemmas: Developmental relationshipswithin multicultural organizations(pp. 63-80). Mahwah, NJ: LawrenceErlbaum Associates.Sheared, V. (1994). Giving voice: Aninclusive model of instruction: Awomanist perspective. In E. Hayes, &S.A. J. Colin, III (Eds.), Confrontingracism and sexism (pp. 27-38). SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Smith, J. W., Smith, W. J., & Markham, S.E. (2000). Diversity issues in mentoringacademic faculty. Journal of CareerDevelopment, 26(4), 251-262.“Adult learners are typically defined as learners over the age of 25, and areoften referred to as nontraditional students. Yet for almost two decades, adultlearners have comprised close to 40 percent of the college-going population,spanning a range of backgrounds and experiences, from Iraq and Afghanistanwar veterans and GED credential holders to 55-year-old professionals andskilled workers in career transition.”– ACE (American Council on Education)Higher Education Topics: Adult Learners, 2013http://www.acenet.edusuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

77The Monastery at SkriðaDeborah Smith, Center for International ProgramsOn my last reassignment duringthe fall of 2011, I volunteered torestore the monastery at Skriða,in the Fljótsdalur Valley of East Iceland. Adecade-long archeological dig discoverednot only the remains of the monastery butalso its function as a hospital for Iceland’sEastern Fjords. In 1493, the sick, the dyingand those needing medical assistance (likepregnant women) came to Skriða and theAugustinian monks for care.As a contributing writer for Iceland Review/Atlantica, the English-language visitor’smagazine distributed throughout Iceland, Iwas interested in seeing a new part of thecountry and doing it during a time withconsiderable daylight. I had already visitedthe capitol and one December, visited thenorth, where at that time of year, there wereexactly four hours of daylight.Iceland is a very expensive country in thesummer and fall, so I contacted See BeyondBorders (SEEDS: www.seeds.is) to sign upfor a two-week assignment in a part ofIceland where I had never been before. Asthe oldest woman and the only American inthe group, I headed off through the southof Iceland with 13 other SEEDS volunteersto the post-excavation site. We would livein the archeologist’s quarters, work duringthe week and see the Eastern Fjords areaon the weekends courtesy of our hostsat Skriðuklastur.Our group’s two-week task was toreassemble the site to its original state afterthe completion of the excavation. From twotowering mounds of earth at the edges of thesite, we were filling the cloister rooms withendless barrows of soil, packing it down andlater covering it in handmade turf. Areaswithin the rest of the monastery wouldget the same treatment, while the interiorrooms would be packed down and coveredwith deep layers of wood chips. Icelandicstone-and-earth walls would separate theseinterior rooms, once we actually constructedDigging the internal rooms at Skriduklaustur. Deborah driving the excavator.the walls. In the days to come, I would driveheavy machinery, comb hay, lever stoneslarger than my head into a wall, and dig andshovel more soil than I’d ever want to seein my life again. The things I’ll do to see aplace I’ve never been before. …As I began shoveling barrows of earth intothe churchyard, I realized the irregular pitsbefore me were actually someone’s grave.Nearly 200 skeletons were exhumed duringthe recent archeological dig. Whetherindigent or benefactor, it was the last restingplace of East Icelanders for quite sometime – at least before our group started itswork. Packing earth into another grave, Iwondered about the people buried there.What I knew of the site came from thenearby museum: these were men, womenand children of all ages who died in themonastery’s care. They succumbed to dentalinfections, congenital diseases, syphilis,injuries, death in childbirth, influenza andtuberculosis. Many were young childrenor not yet born; some of the mothers weregravely ill. Other folks lived into their 50sand 60s before their shadows crossed themonk’s door. Someone 50 or older hadreached a “ripe old age” attributed to a diethigh in fish, at a time when Iceland waswithout running water or electricity.As a Catholic hospital, Skriðuklaustur’smonks buried those who died in their care.Religious duty compelled the monks to treatthe sick, help the needy and bury the dead– without running water, indoor plumbing,central heating, knowledge of dentistry oreven how infection is transmitted. It was aformidable task – one they did in the lightof faith.What was the day-to-day reality of 16thcentury life? Life then was hard, really hard,especially in the Arctic winter with littlesun and mostly darkness. Infections werecommon in the centuries before antibiotics.photo: skotta valgardsdottirsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

78The SEEDS volunteers at Skriduklaustur included men and women from England, Italy, France,Russia, Germany, Japan, the United States and Spain. Here, the group poses for a photo aftercompleting restoration work.photo: claire hamerphoto: claire bigotThe monastery garden grew only about 10medicinal plants; the monks used mercuryto treat wounds. Think of the size of yourlocal pharmacy and then consider using 10little plants like garlic, burdock, buttercup,juniper berries and white birch for nearlyany ailment. No wonder so many diedof conditions that today hardly qualifyas fatal – like ear and dental infections,gingivitis and arthritis.Each churchyard grave had a locationmarker and a number that defines themstill: Grave 33, Grave 65, Grave 192. Smallplastic numbered bags and used cups werelittered across the onsite toolshed: a visiblereminder that the archeologists and theirsharp spoons had come and gone.On the weekends, our group explored theHighlands and the East Fjords region ofIceland – some of the prettiest and mostspectacular scenery in the country. Werode Icelandic horses, swam at the publicpool in nearby Egilsstaðir, hiked to highwaterfalls, fished in the Highlands andfeasted at the Klausturkaffí Cake Buffet onFridays after work.At the Hafrahvammar Canyon oneSaturday, while the others left on a hike,I sat alone in this stunningly beautifulwilderness with wide skies and silence.But thoughts of the people buried atSkriðuklaustur – whether monks who livedin this place or the lives of those who diedthere – haunted me still.Who were these people? As a Catholic,I could take an educated guess at howGod and religion informed their liveswhen Iceland was Catholic, before theReformation in Europe made EvangelicalLutheranism the national religion. Butbeyond a 50-something woman in Grave10, what did we really know? What weretheir names? What was their idea of God?Where had they been in their lives? Whodid they love? If they had the chance, whatwould they tell us – here in the far future– about the past and what they hopedtomorrow would bring?Small mountains of earth also were shoveled by hand and wheeled into the excavation area torestore the monastery rooms. Lower left, the beginnings of interior Icelandic rock-and-earth wallsconstructed by the volunteers. In background, view of the Fljótsdalur Valley of East Iceland.I’ll never know the answers to thesequestions, but every day, thinking aboutthem shortened the distance between thepeople who’d been in the graves and mywork at Skriðuklaustur. For two weeks,suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

79we moved among remnants of these formerlives – ones that could not have imaginedthis day when our group finally finishedrestoring a piece of Icelandic history for thefuture. And we did it: built stone walls thatsequestered space into defined rooms, turfedthe churchyard, laid the wooden chips onthe interiors and literally moved mountainsto reflect the past as best we know it.Even though I don’t want to be a forgottenskeleton in a numbered grave, centuriesinto the future I could be exactly that, whenphotos fade and those who knew me aregone, too. I can only hope that my life willprompt someone, if an excavation is done,to respectfully fill in my grave and wonderabout what I did, who I loved and what Ihoped for in much the same way. Then allthese lives will be a blessing. Even mine.To Learn MoreSkriðuklaustur website: http://www.skriduklaustur.is/index.php/enThis is the official website of the GunnarGunnarsson Institute where the monasteryremains lie. Parts of the site are in Englishand explain the various aspects of theexcavation in the context of Icelandichistory, including:• Icelandic Monasteries:http://www.skriduklaustur.is/index.php/en/archsite/history• The Archeological Excavation:http://www.skriduklaustur.is/index.php/en/archsite/research/97-fornleifarannsoknDeborah photographs near the waterfall Litlanesfoss in the East Fjords regionof Iceland.photo: estefania calparsoro• Excavation Methodology:http://www.skriduklaustur.is/~skridukl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=139%3Aaefereafraeei&catid=51%3Arannsoknin&Itemid=74&lang=enProject Plans: A brief overview of theexcavation plans.http://grampus.150m.com/icelandectea.htmAnthropological Analysis of SelectedGravesites: A scholarly technical report,downloadable in PDF format.http://www.academia.edu/708720/An_anthropological_analysis_of_graves_174_181_and_195_from_Skriduklaustur_IcelandArcheoentomological Analysis: Scholarlyanalysis of insect remains inside themonastery, in PDF format.https://notendur.hi.is/sjk/SKO_2009.pdfAdditional Scholarly articles are availableonline via Google Scholar. They include:Kristjánsdóttir, S. (2010). The tip of theiceberg: The material of SkriðuklausturMonastery and Hospital. NorwegianArcheological Review, 43(1), 44-62.Kristjánsdóttir, S. (2008). SkriðuklausturMonastery. Acta Archaeologica, 79,208-215.Larsson, I., & Lundquist, K. (2010).Icelandic medieval monastic sites.Alnarp: Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet.LTJ-fakultetens.Volunteer Opportunities in Iceland:See Beyond Borders (SEEDS)http://www.seeds.is/suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

80Mentoring WomenRoz Dow, Central New York CenterIam a mentoring woman. I’m proudof my mentoring skills. I have hadample opportunity to mentor studentsand newer faculty at the college and haveenjoyed great success in my mentoring.Sadly, I never had the help and guidanceof a female mentor myself. I would betthat many other women, especially babyboomers, never had women mentors either.Why was that? There are some easyanswers to that question and most ofthem center on the scarcity of womenin powerful management or professionalroles “back then.” Happily, that isn’t thecase, now. Younger women know thatthey can find women mentors to help guidethem toward achieving success personallyand professionally.While completing dissertation researchabout the socialization of organizationalnewcomers, I learned that members ofGeneration Y (those born between 1988and 1995; dates vary, but this is the generalspan), both men and women, seek mentorsfrom among the most powerful andexperienced people in their organizations.The most successful mentor relationshipoccurs when the mentor and protégé sharesimilar traits or personalities (Benishek.Bieschke, Park, & Slatery, 2004; Blass,Brouer, Perrewé, & Ferris, 2007). They alsowanted more autonomy in selecting theirmentors instead of having one assignedto them.After conducting another research projectwhile on a reassignment, I interviewed newmentors at Empire State College abouttheir socialization experience and theirinteractions with other mentors. I foundthat they held similar attitudes as those ofthe newcomers I previously interviewed atlaw firms.I decided to take advantage of my researchresults and expertise in mentoring to offersome practical training to women in thelarger community of Central New York. Iintended the audience to be Empire StateCollege students, as well as women workingin service non-profits, young professionalwomen and women who sought tore-enter the workplace. I wanted to plana conference that focused on mentoringfor young women, as an underservedpopulation, and that also could providenetworking opportunities for them.My dean, Nikki Shrimpton, was verysupportive of the idea but immediatelyasked me how I would fund the conference.How naïve was I to believe that goodideas immediately attract bundles of cash?!Ultimately, a grant proposal was submittedto the SUNY Office of Diversity, Equityand Inclusion for “Explorations in Diversityand Academic Excellence.” Sadly, only onegrant is given to a campus and Empire StateCollege had submitted several proposalswith one from the Metropolitan Centerreceiving the grant for a very worthyongoing project. With encouragement fromour provost and Office of Academic Affairs,who were very interested in seeing thisconference develop, I rewrote the proposaland submitted it to the Empire State CollegeFoundation’s Community Outreach Fund.Other funding was provided by a localcorporate co-sponsor and from registrationfees for conference attendance. In the spiritof the “Power of SUNY,” we partneredwith the SUNY Leadership Institute whosedirector, Lee Riddell, was convinced that thisconference would be a strong addition to theLeadership Institute’s “Tools for Leadership”program. Riddell’s office provided expertisein event planning, a network of speakers,an online registration system and marketingto other SUNY institutions across the state.We at the Central New York Center did ourown marketing across central New York tolocal community groups and corporations.The result of our hard work was a onedayconference called, “Leadership Toolsfor Women: Creating the Right MentoringEnvironment for You,” which took placeRoz Dowon August 24, 2012 in the Central NewYork Center. It attracted women from 14other SUNY colleges, community not-forprofits,corporate managers and new hires,and several of our own CNY students whowanted to learn how to mentor as part ofthe first class of the Women MentoringWomen project headed by CNY mentorsYvonne Murphy and Marie Pennucci.On a beautiful summer morning,everyone converged at the CNY Centerin East Syracuse for a day of learningand networking. Starting with a warmwelcome at the reception desk from Uticasecretary Rose Stevens and the CNY staff(Michael Mancini, Patti Pierce, PhyllisWright, Andrews Kurian, Cindi Gamage,Deb McEligot and Heather Howard),attendees were made aware that this wouldbe a special event. Their own energy wasvery evident and networking began as soonas they registered and were introduced toNikki Shrimpton, Lee Riddell and otherkey players of the day. Many women hadalready mentioned to me that they werevery happy that this day was about womenand women’s concerns about professionaldevelopment.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

81The program began with an exciting keynoteaddress by Nicole Williams, connectiondirector for LinkedIn, titled, “Get Lucky!How Preparation Can Change the Courseof Your Career.” Attendees listened to herhumorous and inspirational description ofher own mentors, how she had “found”them and what they had added to her life.The audience appreciated her energy andadvice. They seemed to respond to her storyof how she recognized potential mentorsfrom among the people she met at eachstage of her career. Sometimes she did noteven realize they were really mentors untillater on when their influence and advicehelped her achieve her next goal.This was followed by a more scholarlyaddress, “Understanding Mentoring,”led by Kathy Jelly, director of the Centerfor Mentoring and Learning and DesalynDe-Souza, CNY mentor, about the meaningand scope of mentoring in a broadersense. They discussed mentoring students,mentoring new faculty and expanded tohow mentoring occurs in the professional,non-academic world, as well. After thesetwo joint sessions, everyone moved on toselect from concurrent sessions throughoutthe morning.CNY mentor Julie Gedro and I offered asession on “How to Be a Great Mentor,”which focused on best practices mixedwith some advice on being proactive andplanning for individual professional growth.A very well-known local CEO, MaryannRoefaro, offered, “What to Expect fromYour Mentor,” which addressed the issues ofidentifying and securing a potential mentor,handling positive and negative feedback, andwhat to do when the mentor relationshipisn’t working as desired.Since the planning group believed thatcommunication competencies were crucialfor any successful relationship, we welcomedthe inclusion of “Communication forMentoring Success” by Empire State Collegecolleagues Yvonne Murphy and MariePennucci, who designed an interactiveworkshop on assertiveness, listening andcommunicating anger or frustration. Wealso were very fortunate to include SallyKlingel, director of the Labor ManagementProgram at the Scheinman Institute onConflict Resolution at Cornell University,who talked about her specialty, “Conflictand Negotiation,” and Ruth Hopkins fromthe SUNY Leadership Institute who shared,“Working with Mentoring Tools.”The concurrent sessions were certainlyinformative, and due to their participativenature, a lot of fun. You could hearanimated conversations, laughter andapplause everywhere in the center. TheCNY staff, mentors and students sharedin the excitement of the day by directingour conference attendees around the centerand, of course, setting up classrooms andpreparing materials for the day. It was atruly joint effort that made us all proud.The comfort level of the attendees wasevident when, at the luncheon, we found theconference room jammed with about 100people who were sharing their observationsof the day and talking as though they hadknown each for years. They were confident,they were excited, and they were mentoring!We ended the day with a low-key receptionand a final opportunity to exchange businesscards, emails and plans for future meetings.At that time, we also informally askedfor feedback about the sessions. Peoplewere very forthcoming with comments,and we had a good idea about what hadpleased them and which aspects weren’tas successful.In an online survey taken about a weekafter the conference, we asked people tovolunteer responses about each session theyattended and provide suggestions for futureworkshops. Their responses told us that theyappreciated the “energy” of the day, thesense of empowerment they felt, concretesuggestions given, and being with peoplewho shared similar goals and expectations.Many wanted to attend future workshopsand check back with us on their individualdevelopment plans that they had begun toidentify at the conference.One of the most amazing and gratifyingresults of the conference was thecollaborations that occurred: first, thecollaboration with SUNY LeadershipInstitute and brainstorming among theplanners, then meeting with the speakersand sharing our perspectives, and finallythe whole CNY group’s investment in thesuccess of the conference. When focusedon the same goal, all of that energy resultedin a smooth operation that was recognizedand enjoyed by attendees, and, above all,one that advanced the development ofmentoring women.NoteIf any other center is interested insponsoring a similar event in conjunctionwith CNY, please contact Dean NikkiShrimpton or Roz Dow.ReferencesBenishek, L. A., Bieschke, K. J., Park, J., &Slatery, S. M. (2004). A multiculturalfeminist model of mentoring. Journalof Multicultural Counseling andDevelopment, 32, 428-442.Blass, F. R., Brouer, R. L., Perrewé, P. L.,Ferris, G. R. (2007, November). Politicsunderstanding and networking abilityas a function of mentoring: The roles ofgender and race. Journal of Leadership& Organizational Studies, 14(2),93-105.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

82Can Science Education Evolve? Considerationson the Pedagogic Relevance of Novel ResearchDiscoveries in Animal BehaviorGuillaume Rieucau, Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway andKevin L. Woo, Metropolitan Center“It’s poetry in motion. She turned her tendereyes to me. As deep as any ocean. As sweetas any harmony. But, she blinded mewith science.”– Thomas Dolby, “She Blinded Mewith Science” (1982)When we were both twoundergraduate studentsfollowing our first AnimalBehavior course in packed auditoria atSouthampton College of Long IslandUniversity or at Paul Sabatier Universityof Toulouse, we were fascinated bylectures on sexual selection, anti-predatorbehaviors, optimal foraging, competitionor cooperation in animals. However, timesare changing, we are changing and scienceis changing. While instructors of thediscipline still present the proximate (i.e.,likely eliciting stimuli) and ultimate (i.e.,evolutionary forces) causes of behaviors, itis easy to notice that recent animal behaviortextbooks integrate novel topics. Forexample, within what we consider the latesteditions to texts in our field, the authorspresent new considerations in the fieldwith new ideas that derive from researchprogress. Today, textbooks incorporatethe gene-environment interaction, animalpersonality and behavioral syndromes, socialnetwork theory, social learning and culturaltransmission (e.g., the second edition ofPrinciples of Animal Behavior by Lee AlanDugatkin, 2008). Obviously, scholarlyachievements over the short history ofbehavioral research were the building blocksfor the evolution of the educational materialthat were offered to undergraduate andgraduate animal behavior students.In this essay, we want to present ourreflection on the need for teachers andmentors who practice animal behaviorscience at the tertiary levelto continuously refine theireducational material basedon the advancements ofthe scientific research. Inaddition, we propose aseries of considerations forinstructors to assess thepedagogic relevance of novelresearch discoveries and toinclude them appropriatelyinto the teaching material. Tostart, we feel it is importantto clearly define what wemean by animal behaviorscience. Throughout, wewill employ the term animalbehavior science in its broadand inclusive sense followingBateson’s (2012) presentationof Behavioral Biology:the scientific domain thatincorporates several subdisciplineswith their owndistinct perspectives, such asbehavioral ecology, evolutionary biology,ethology, sociobiology, psychologyor neuroscience.We advocate that proper application ofresearch studies to regular work with ourstudents can be of significant educationalvalue. Previously, Prince, Felder and Brent(2007) examined the deeply rooted beliefthat faculty research enriches undergraduateteaching. The authors argued that thisclaim is seldom, if ever, supported byfirm evidence and suggested that the linkbetween research and teaching, especiallyat the university level, may be weaker thancommonly thought. If so, what are theprincipal reasons of this? Mainly, the twoactivities have different primary goals andrequire different skills and basic knowledgeGuillaume Rieucau (left) and Kevin L. Woo(Rugarcia, 1991; Felder, 1994). If researchtends to focus on increasing knowledgearound a scientific question through noveldiscoveries, then teaching implies a transferof knowledge from teachers to studentsusing diverse learning strategies. Moreover,the academic vision of institutions canfavor, or sometimes disfavor, what Prince etal. (2007) termed the “Research-Teachingnexus,” the observed connection betweenthe two kinds of academic activities.Thus, for example, based on a negativecorrelation found between research-orienteduniversities in the United States andseveral educational indices, Astin (1994)concluded that pursuing curricula in highlyresearch-driven faculties negatively impactstudents’ development; nevertheless, theopposite trend was observed for student-suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

83centered institutions. According to Astin,the two points are strongly interconnected.Generally, research-oriented institutionsattempt to recruit scientists with strongresearch profiles to strengthen their facultyresearch program instead of scholars whoare primarily devoted to teaching. Hence,meeting the expectations of faculty researchmissions becomes the prime motivation forscholars to place teaching as a secondarytask. Even though we share some of theconcerns raised by Astin (1994) and Princeet al. (2007), we believe that a successfulcombination of both aspects of academia isindeed possible and beneficial for students;this, regardless of their educational level orthe type of academic institution where theyare pursuing their degrees.Students’ interest, personal developmentand academic success should be the essenceof any faculty mission. Institutions shouldoffer the opportunity to students to graspthe reality of the scientific research, duringstudent research projects or by bringingresearch into the classroom. This shouldbe considered as a significant pedagogicachievement. But, can we ensure a positiveinterplay between teaching and research?We argue here that this requires a proactiveattitude from teachers and mentors by: 1)keeping track of novel advancements ofthe research in their teaching discipline, 2)determining and extracting the pedagogicalsubstance of new published results, and 3)combining them to the educational platform.To this aim, college environment and culturemay encourage teachers’ motivation to useresearch novelties in their teaching materials.In this writing, we want to propose aseries of considerations for instructors inanimal behavior science to strengthen this“Research-Teaching nexus.”A (Brief) History of Nearly NothingWe are two junior scientists in the field ofanimal behavior who had followed classicscientific training, defended both master’sand Ph.D. theses in research-orientedacademic institutions in different countries(United States, New Zealand, Australia,France and Canada) and have post-doctorateexperiences in different parts of the worldthat have contributed to the personalbuilding of our scientific niche. One of us(Woo) now an assistant professor at EmpireState College in New York City and theother (Rieucau) is currently a post-doctoralfellow at the Institute of Marine Researchin Bergen, Norway. On a regular basis, wecommunicate the results of our works tothe scientific community through scientificpublications in peer-reviewed journals orduring seminars, congresses or symposia.Since 2006, we have collaborated on studiesaround the broad question of animalcommunication and the evolution of signalsemployed during animal interactions. Mostof our experimental research involvesthe use of innovative techniques, likevideo playback and computer-generatedanimations, to mimic animal partnersduring social interactions. Lately, theiruse in testing for visual signal designcharacteristics has become increasinglypopular. We have devoted time and effortto present this experimental approach asan efficient and accurate means to simulatecompanions and precisely control whatfocal animals get to observe or experiencein term of social stimuli. However, wenoticed that some studies developedthe animations without any properstandardization; thus, we decided to bridgeour interest in signal design and visualanimation, and apply a motion algorithm(Analysis of Image Motion) to calibratedesign accuracy in computer-animations.Using an experimental approach, we areexploring visual signals employed by theJacky dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus).For our first collaboration, we publishedour study in Behavioural Processes (Woo& Rieucau, 2008).We have since continuedto use the Jacky dragon as a model forsignal design and have published threemanuscripts in diverse scientific reviews:Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology(2011), Ethology (2012), and EthologyEcology & Evolution (2013). Mostrecently, we extended our collaboration toanother system investigating, this time, themicroevolution of alarm calling in helmetedguinea fowl (Numida meleagris) in theurban environment. This research project issupported by Empire State College. We willconduct our first experiments in spring 2013at the Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn, N.Y.In 2008, our collaborative scientificjourney slightly deviated from its researchfocusedpath when we co-supervised anundergraduate student during her studentresearch project at Southwestern University,Georgetown, Texas. At this time, Woowas a visiting assistant professor at theDepartment of Psychology at SouthwesternUniversity, while Rieucau was finishinghis Ph.D. thesis at Université du Québec àMontréal, Québec, Canada. Our menteewas working on a project to develop acomputer-generated mummichog (Fundulusheteroclitus), and to use the animation insocial learning and facilitation experimentsin fish. Collectively, we helped her create theanimation and design-staged experiments(Figure 1). We developed a study to employthe animation in a social context, wheremost animation experiments typicallyuse a single live individual with a singleanimation. We used this technique to testfor the interaction between the numbersof social foragers versus the presence-orabsenceof a predatory fish. Ultimately,she presented this work at the 2008Southwestern Psychological AssociationConference in a talk entitled, “BuildingNemo: The Development of a 3D AnimatedFigure 1. Screen capture of animatedmummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)during the first co-supervision of anundergraduate student.photo: mingle-woo-rieucausuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

84Mummichog to Study Schooling Behavior,”which was co-authored by us, and Dr. JessePurdy (Southwestern University).At that time, we believed that we wouldmostly gain from the research outcome,per se, of this project. Retrospectively, asmuch success as we encountered with thisexperiment, we gained a lot more valuableexperience from interacting and supervisingour mentee. We now believe that the reasonwas that for the first time in our careers,we had to re-evaluate the way we thinkabout and do scientific research to meetour mentoring duties. The biggest challengefaced was to develop and include an“educational” component into the researchprocess itself, something that we were not soused to at that time.The first step of the process was to definethe scope of the student project. We refinedthe research question that we wantedto address in such a way that it becamepedagogically meaningful. Therefore, wedetermined the theoretical concepts thatwere important for our mentee to grasp bytaking into account her knowledge in thefield. To do so, we felt very important tohave open discussions (using the Internetplatform) to clearly distinguish our mentee’sinterests and expectations. It was, for her, agood experience to be engaged in scientificdiscussion around a research question. Oncethe scientific question and the pedagogicgoal were determined, we engaged ourmentee in the readings of selected scientificarticles and textbooks chapters. We offeredsome “supervised” freedom to our mentee,an active learning strategy that encouragesinnovation as opposed to adopting roteprotocols. We helped her to formulate theworking hypotheses and predictions forthe project and we were very careful toguide her in this process in such a way thatthe general hypothesis that was developedmet the pedagogic achievements fixed forher student-project. While we providedcontinuous external advisement during thedevelopment of the experimental designand the building of the 3-D fish animations,this followed a “trial-and-error” process forher – an everyday face-off to all scientists.Thus, in our mentorship, we created astep-wise approach for her to employ thescientific method, and to merge theory andapplication, as she designed her project.Through our own academic training, weclearly navigated academia through atraditional path. However, as we reflectupon our actual practices when we teachin the classroom, and directly mentor aresearch student, we noticed significantvariations that differ from how we learnedto how we impart knowledge. Moreover, aswe reviewed our own pedagogical evolution,we recognized an apparent disconnect inthe system. Below, we highlight three mainconsiderations that aim to reduce the gapbetween scientific research progress andscience education.I. Keeping Track ofResearch NoveltiesIndubitably, the pool of scientific knowledgeis growing day-after-day. Researchers inbiological sciences rely on the advancementsof the ongoing scientific research to addressmeaningful questions that allow othersto develop new hypotheses to test, refineor sometimes challenge classical ideas ortheories. Recently, the rapid improvementin science communication, especially withthe exceptional explosion of the WorldWide Web, ensures an incessant flowof research information to the scientificcommunity. The research field of animalbehavior does not stand outside of thisreality. New studies based on empirical ortheoretical work are published every day inmany peer-reviewed scientific journals thatrange from broad perspective and audiencejournals (e.g., Nature, Science, CurrentBiology, PNAS, Ecology Letters, PloS ONE,Journal of Animal Ecology), core animalbehavior journals (e.g., Animal Behaviour,Behavioral Ecology, Behavioral Ecologyand Sociobiology, Ethology, BehaviouralProcesses, Behaviour) to topic-specializedjournals (e.g., Ibis, Copea, Journal of FishBiology). Web search engines, open accessjournals, digital libraries and content alertshave revolutionized how scientists accessscientific information.However, with this permanent and somehowoverwhelming flow of information, theability to keep track of the latest publishedresearch results in an accurate manner isa laborious task that requires rigor andsignificant time investment to collate up-todatescientific information. Recent researchinformation must be accessible to thescientific community through conventionalpublications or other communicationpathways (symposiums, workshops, mediaRSS feeds), but it also needs to be assessedby critical readers who will evaluate thevalue of its contribution to their field ofspecialization. The peer-review system, oftencriticized due to its lack of transparency,is a necessary process to ensure that novelresearch information will reach the scientificstandard of scientific robustness requiredfor publication. Then, every new piece ofresearch information will help scientistsbetter understand why (referring to thefunction and evolution of behaviors) andhow (referring to the development andmechanisms that underlie the behaviors)animals behave the way they do. However,it is important to keep in mind thatassessing the scientific value of a scientificcontribution and assessing its pedagogicalcontent are two different exercises.Current interests in animal behaviorscience are changing with the rise ofnew areas or questions of interest, suchas the next “hot topic.” Thakur, Mane,Borner, Martins and Ord (2004) mappedthe evolving interests in animal behavior.The authors analyzed the research areasof over 2,000 articles published in 1994,1997 and 2000 in a core set of journalsin the animal behavior domain (e.g.,Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Processes,Behavioral Ecology, Behavioral Ecologyand Sociobiology, Journal of Ethology,Journal of Insect Behavior, Applied AnimalBehavior Science). Their results revealedchanges in the general interests of publishedarticles over the years with a reported focuson parental behavior, feeding behaviorand animal learning in 1994, an observedswitch toward sexual and social behaviorsin 1997, and toward mating, nesting andforaging behavior-related questions in 2000.Classical topics taught in animal behaviorat the undergraduate and graduate levelsaddress sexual selection, optimal foraging,communication, parental care, competition,parasitism, aggregation, cooperation,learning and present classical approachessuch as field observation, experimentationin situ or in a semi- or fully-controlledenvironment, theoretical modeling asgame theory (producer-scrounger model,hawk/dove game, prisoner’s dilemma) orsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

85the optimality theory (optimal foraging,central-place foraging). Even though newquestions of interest in the field are regularlyintroduced to the teaching material, theygenerally lag behind research advancements.Over the last decade, animal behaviorscience has undergone a major shift.Indeed, the study of between-individualdifferences and variations in behavior overtime and across ecological contexts hasreceived growing attention. Commonly,it is admitted that animals adjust theirbehavioral responses when in specificsituations in a way that minimizes theircosts/benefits ratio (Krebs & Davies,1993). Selective pressures were thoughtto act as an erosive force on genetic (andphenotypic) variations of traits expressedin a population and due to long-termeffects, the mean value of a (behavioral)trait should reach an optimum. Thus, theadaptive expression of a (behavioral) traitin a particular situation should only beoptimal if it allows individuals to maximizetheir fitness. Behavioral flexibility (orbehavioral “plasticity”) is expected tobe unlimited, immediate and reversible(Sih, Bell, & Johnson, 2004). Generally,behavioral plasticity is presented as theprincipal adaptive cause of behavioralvariations observed at the population orspecie levels (Dall, Houston, & McNamara,2004). Interestingly, animals often expressa very limited behavioral plasticity andvary in consistent ways in their reactionstoward similar external conditions (Clark& Ehlinger, 1987). Recent attention in theinvestigation of variations around the meanbehavior of the population has promotedthe study of “animal personalities” (Gosling,2001; Réale, Reader, Sol, McDougall,& Dingemanse, 2007), also presented asbehavioral syndromes (Sih et al., 2004)or temperament (Boissy, 1995), and theirecological and evolutionary consequences(Wolf & Weissing, 2012). Differences,consistent over time and situations, betweenindividuals in the expression of theirbehaviors are referred to as “personality”and have been reported across a large rangeof species and reach various ecologicalsettings (as foraging, antipredator,exploratory or aggressive behaviors). This isnow considered a widespread phenomenonin the animal kingdom.Traditionally, individual differences inbehavior were only considered as “noise”around the mean value of a populationwith no real evolutionary importance.However, to date, the study of animalpersonality is of prime importance withmany remaining unanswered questions.As a consequence of intensive research inpersonality and behavioral syndromes, agrowing number of researchers have beeninterested, and actually quite intrigued,by questions around the proximate andultimate causations of personality differencesin animal populations. If previous researchin the field of animal personalities hasmostly focused on the relationshipbetween personality traits and fitness ofindividuals using theoretical or empiricalapproaches, we noticed a subtle shift towarda broader and integrative examinationof the phenomenon with the currentconsideration of the important consequencesof animal personalities for ecologicallyand evolutionary processes (Wolf &Weissing, 2012). Animal personality was acontroversial topic in the early 2000s, and atthe time, it met resistance from a part of thescientific community. Animal personalitiesfinally entered students’ textbooks, a goodexample of which is the recent addition ofa chapter entirely devoted to this topic inthe popular Principles of Animal Behavior(Dugatkin, 2008).The field of animal personality is not anisolated example, and new growing areasof research are starting to find their place inthe pedagogical material used by teachers inanimal behavior science as social learningand cultural transmission. Numerous studieshave explored the mechanisms and functionsof social learning and the use of socialinformation that is thought to afford the firstbuilding block for the evolution of culturein animal society (Galef & Giraldeau, 2001;Danchin, Giraldeau, Valone, & Wagner,2004; Laland, Atton, & Webster, 2011; vanSchaik & Burkart, 2011).Recently, both empirical and theoreticalefforts have focused on unraveling thecircumstances under which animalsuse incorrect social information andconsequently decide wrongly to adoptmaladaptive behavior. For instance, evidenceshows that social animals can disregardeven reliable personal information andcopy the erroneous behavior of others(Rieucau & Giraldeau, 2011). Such herdlikephenomena, called informationalcascades, have been studied by economistssuch as Bikhchandani, Hirshleifer andWelch (1998) and have been reported tobe widespread in human societies in whichdecisions are made with total disregard tothe individuals’ personal knowledge. Then,it results in individuals ‘‘blindly’’ copyingthe observed decision of predecessors(Bikhchandani et al., 1998). Theseinformational cascades have been proposedas a coherent explanation for a numberof large-scale explosive copying eventsobserved in humans, such as market crashesin economics, new fashion styles or panicrushes in crowds but also in animal societiesas the accumulation of thousands of colonialbirds in night roosts, mate choice copyingand collective escape behaviors in birdflocks or fish schools (Giraldeau, Valone, &Templeton, 2002).The transmission of information fromparents to young or between nonrelatedindividuals about the quality ofthe environment, sexual partners, foodresources, presence or absence of any kindof danger are some of the evidence thananimals can learn from others – sometimeswrongly. This social information is nongeneticallycoded, compared to the geneticinformation that is coded by DNA, and isconveyed both vertically (across generations)and horizontally (within generation) andprovides the essential “vector” for culturaltransmission (Danchin et al., 2004) inboth animals and, of course, humans. Theincreasing interest in the emerging topic ofcultural transmission and its evolutionaryconsequences (i.e., cultural evolution) showsin its recent presence in several textbooksfrequently used in animal behavior classessuch as Behavioural Ecology by Danchin,Giraldeau and Cézilly (2008, Chapter 20,693-726). Hence, students following animalbehavior courses can be introduced to thestudy of animal culture and the role ofcultural inheritance in evolution, a role thatwas underestimated for long time.New technological opportunities to observeand quantify behaviors in situ (e.g., videoplayback techniques, computer generated3-D animations, sonar imaging andacoustics for aquatic animal species, high-suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

86definition video recording, satellite tags formigratory species), in advanced computingand large data processing, evolutionary (e.g.,genetic algorithms) and collective behaviorsimulations (e.g., collective responsestracking), as well as in the development ofmolecular (e.g., database of gene sequencesand expression) and physiological (e.g.,respiratory, stress hormones) tools allowresearchers to test new hypotheses in animalbehavior. Undoubtedly, these new methodsare useful tools that researchers can useregularly to better understand animalbehavior. They also illustrate the need toinclude them in current educational material.II. Evaluating the Pedagogic Valueof Novel Research InformationResearch information should be seen asa primary component in the developmentof effective pedagogic activities. But it isa fact: not all new scientific results haveeducational relevance. Thus, when facingthe desire to add a newly published resultin their teaching material, instructors andmentors must keep in mind that pragmatismis a virtue. We emphasize again thatevaluating the scientific content of a researchstudy is not the same as evaluating itseducational content. Here, we formulate aseries of questions that would guide teacherstoward determining and extracting thepedagogical substance of research noveltiesand finally how to incorporate them in aneffective way into the education platform(Table 1).credit: guillaume rieucauTable 1. Our questions on the evaluation of research questions for instruction as conceived from three points of view: the research, the studentand the pedagogic value.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

87III. A Broad Perspective:The Natural Selection Processof Science EducationEstimates from the U.S. Department ofEducation, National Center for EducationalStatistics (2012) suggest that in 2010, therewere approximately 21 million studentsenrolled in undergraduate institutions.From this cohort, approximately 1.7 millionstudents had enrolled in post-baccalaureatedegrees across all disciplines, which includemaster’s and Ph.D. programs (NCES,2010). Furthermore, in some programs,there is a 50 percent attrition rate for Ph.D.candidates (McAlpine & Norton, 2006).Reflective of the sciences, these statisticsalso indicate a shift in gender and ethnicmatriculation, which is increasing amongwomen (Sax, 2000) and other minoritygroups (Oakes, 1990). This shift alsogarners a greater perspective and acceptanceof gender-balanced and minority-balancedprograms (Lopatto, 2004). Hence, thenumber of undergraduate students whoearn their bachelor’s degree, compared tothose who likely advance and completetheir Ph.D.’s, indicates a huge disparity ineducation. Moreover, this difference alsosuggests educational strategies that likelycater to certain strengths of students, andlikely segregate them from a weaker poolof candidates. This is currently the reigningstrategy for recruiting top intellectual talentfor post-graduate programs. However, wequestion this approach and ask whether thereal premise of this strategy is to supporta relatively small number of studentsin advanced science work and deny theeducation of science-related skills to themajority of undergraduate students whobecome discouraged. We acknowledgethat many other factors, such as a decisionnot to attend graduate school, personalconflicts or medical issues, just to highlightsome common reasons, may prevent anundergraduate student from pursuing agraduate degree.The quest for a degree in the sciences reflectsthe process of natural selection. Though,even if we consider a Darwinian approach,undergraduate science programs tend tofavor students who are able to achieve highmarks on fairly standardized assessmenttools, such as exams (e.g., multiple-choice)and laboratory reports. Few conventionalcourses deviate from this prescription,especially in institutions with a largeundergraduate enrollment, as it allowsinstructors and their teaching assistants tograde the material systematically and swiftly,and hence, from their perspective, to assessstudents more efficiently. Here, efficiency isnot a function of student learning, but ofgrade-processing. Moreover, this approachidentifies specific benchmarks for excellence,adequacy and failure across a traditional“A-F” grading system. It segregates strongfrom weak students, and ignores the likelycauses for the disparity in performance.Stronger students may have likely developedstrategies for success, while those who faredworse may never change. Exemplificationsof “winner and loser effects” (Dugatkin,1997) continue to reinforce strategies toa wider bimodal distribution. However,that still leaves a significant portion of thepopulation who fair adequately, one inwhich reflects a bell curve (Herrnstein &Murray, 1996). The small percentage ofstudents who excel might likely progressto a graduate degree, the middle likelyreceiving (but not maintaining) a base-levelof knowledge, and the rest facing sciencelearningextinction!What about this “middle-class”? Typically, agap in knowledge occurs between traditionalfreshman-to-senior level instructionand learning. For example, students inintroductory Biology are often taught thescientific method, how to find and citeresearch from primary research journals,and format laboratory reports in a scholarlymanner. However, many mid-level biologycourses cease to reinforce these skills, andsimply expect students to master them.Somewhat ironically, not all students do,and this is evident by the success rate ofbiology graduates with high grade pointaverages (GPAs) and the selection criteriathat makes them competitive applicants asThe quest for a degreein the sciences reflectsthe process ofnatural selection.candidates for graduate programs. Thus,success demands knowledge from studentsthat they do not necessarily have.The goal for every laboratory is to advancescientific knowledge. However, to discoverphenomena about the natural world is tocompete. Both Schoener (1983) and Connell(1983) conducted independent meta-analysesof all papers published in ecological journalsat the time, and found an overwhelmingbias across the articles that were sampleddemonstrating competition, either inter- orintraspecific. Publications are the “currency”of science, and there is an interactionbetween quality and publication of research.Potential post-graduate degree supervisorsacquire students who are likely capable toimprove the currency of the laboratory.The employment of the scientific process isto acquire new knowledge; yet, Rosenthal(1979) noted that nearly 95 percent of allresearch studies end in non-significant results.Failing to reject the tested hypothesis (then,accepting the null hypothesis) is inherently aresult, but there is a bias to believe that allscience produces significant results, and thatonly significant results are published.Perhaps, in pairing with a Darwinianapproach, we could argue that the graduateatmosphere is Machiavellian. There is apressure to publish or perish, especially forinstitutions whose currency is dependenton output. Retention rates in the UnitedStates for graduate programs vary widely(Nerad & Miller, 2006). Graduate studentsare expected to employ basic experimentaltechniques and design innovative techniquesto solve problems. The failure to “produce”may result in retribution by their supervisor,ostracizing by the scientific communityand inability to maintain support fromthe institution to continue the degree. Atthis academic level, there is an obviousconundrum: How do we expect graduatestudents to employ innovation if they havenot mastered experimental techniques inbasic biology and/or ecology? Aside fromtheir own theses, graduate students mayonly gain additional training throughteaching assistantships. However, manyresearch-driven institutions invest heavily inindividuals who are employed to conductresearch, and do not invest sufficiently inthe education of undergraduate students(Putnam & Borko, 2000).suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

88How do we ensure that learners are gainingfoundational knowledge in the sciences,while, at the same time, incorporatingnew discoveries? This is the gap. Peerreviewedjournals highlight modificationsof methodological approaches for newexperimental designs to answer questions.Yet, few of these methods are evertransferred to college-level laboratoriesor courses.ConclusionIt is often assumed that one should not aska scientist for answers, as you will only yieldmore questions. “Why should we care?”In this essay, we discussed several issueswith the current pedagogical approach forengaging students in science, and morespecifically, the discipline of animal behavior.“How do we make students care?” We canradically change the relationship betweenlearner, mentor and content, but that doesnot guarantee success. Consequently, weacknowledge that we need to include onecritical component to our discussion: Aposteriori evaluation of the effectivenessand application of alternative approachesto science education. “How do we measuresuccess?” We need a reliable measure forensuring the success of new pedagogicalparadigms. Here, we merely introduce someinitial thoughts on the current trajectory ofscience education, and indeed, aim to furtherunderstand and perhaps even improve uponthis imperfect relationship.AcknowledgementsRieucau and Woo would like to thankthe Junior Team C.T.F.D. We also thankAlbert Castelo for his useful commentson our article. Rieucau was supported bythe Norwegian Research Council (grant204229/F20).ReferencesAstin, A. W. (1994). What matters incollege? Four critical years revisited.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc.Bateson, P. (2012). Behavioural biology: Thepast and a future. Ethology, 118, 216-221.Bikhchandani, S., Hirshleifer, D., &Welch, I. (1998). Learning from thebehavior of others: Conformity fadsand informational cascades. Journal ofEconomic Perspectives, 12, 151-170.Boissy, A. (1995). Fear and fearfulness inanimals. Quarterly Review of Biology,70, 165-191.Clark, A. B., & Ehlinger, T. J. (1987).Pattern and adaptation in individualbehavioral differences. In P. P. G.Bateson, & P. H. Klopfer (Eds.),Perspectives in ethology (pp. 1-47).New York, NY: Plenum Press.Connell, J. H. (1983). On the prevalenceand relative importance of interspecificcompetition: Evidence from fieldexperiments. The American Naturalist,122, 661-696.Dall, S. R. X., Houston, A. I., &McNamara, J. M. (2004). Thebehavioural ecology of personality:Consistent individual differences froman adaptive perspective. EcologyLetters, 7, 734-739.Danchin, E., Giraldeau, L.-A, & Cézilly,F. (2008). Behavioural ecology. NewYork, NY: Oxford University Press.Danchin, E., Giraldeau, L.-A., Valone, T.J., & Wagner, R. H. (2004). Publicinformation: From nosy neighborsto cultural evolution. Science, 305,487-491.Dugatkin, L. A. (1997). Winner and losereffects and the structure of dominancehierarchies. Behavioral Ecology, 8,583-587.Dugatkin, L. A. (2008). Principles of animalbehavior (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.Felder, R. M. (1994). The myth of thesuperhuman professor. Journal ofEngineering Education, 83, 105-110.Galef Jr., B. G., & Giraldeau, L. -A.(2001). Social influences on foragingin vertebrates: Causal mechanisms andadaptive functions. Animal Behaviour,61, 3-15.Giraldeau, L. -A., Valone, T. J., &Templeton, J. J. (2002). Potentialdisadvantages of using socially acquiredinformation. Philosophical Transactionsof the Royal Society B: BiologicalSciences, 357, 1559-1566.Gosling, S. D. (2001). From mice to men:What can we learn about personalityfrom animal research? PsychologicalBulletin, 127, 45-86.Herrnstein, R. J., & Murray, C. A. (1996).The bell curve: Intelligence and classstructure in American life. New York,NY: Free Press Paperbacks.Krebs, J. R., & Davies, N. B. (1993). Anintroduction to behavioural ecology(3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: BlackwellScientific Publications.Laland, K. N., Atton, N., & Webster,M. M. (2011). From fish to fashion:Experimental and theoreticalinsights into the evolution of culture.Philosophical Transactions of the RoyalSociety B: Biological Sciences, 366,958-968.Lopatto, D. (2004). Survey of undergraduateresearch experiences (SURE): Firstfindings. Cell Biology Education, 3,270-277.McAlpine, L., & Norton, J. (2006).Reframing our approach to doctoralprograms: An integrative framework foraction and research. Higher EducationResearch & Development, 25, 3-17.Nerad, M., & Miller, D. S. (2006).Increasing student retention in graduateand professional programs. NewDirections for Institutional Research,92, 61-76.Oakes, J. (1990). Opportunities,achievement, and choice: Womenand minority students in science andmathematics. Review of Research inEducation, 16, 153-222.Prince, M. J., Felder, R. M., & Brent, R.(2007). Does faculty research improveundergraduate teaching? An analysis ofexisting and potential synergies. Journalof Engineering Education, 96, 283-294.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

89Putnam, R. T., & Borko, H. (2000). Whatdo new views of knowledge andthinking have to say about researchon teacher learning? EducationalResearcher, 29, 4-15.Réale, D., Reader, S. M., Sol, D.,McDougall, P. T., & Dingemanse, N. J.(2007). Integrating animal temperamentwithin ecology and evolution.Biological Reviews, 82, 291-318.Rieucau, G., & Giraldeau, L. A. (2011).Exploring the costs and benefits ofsocial information use: An appraisalof current experimental evidence.Philosophical Transactions of the RoyalSociety B: Biological Sciences, 366,949-957.Rosenthal, R. (1979). The file drawerproblem and tolerance for null results.Psychological Bulletin, 86, 638-641.Rugarcia, A. (1991). The link betweenteaching and research: Myth orpossibility? Engineering Education, 81,20-22.Sax, L. J. (2000). Undergraduate sciencemajors: Gender differences in who goesto graduate school. The Review ofHigher Education, 24, 153-172.Sih, A., Bell, A., & Johnson, J. C. (2004).Behavioral syndromes: An ecologicaland evolutionary overview. Trends inEcology & Evolution, 19, 372-378.Schoener, T. W. (1983). Field experiments oninterspecific competition. The AmericanNaturalist, 122, 240-285.Thakur, S., Mane, K. K., Börner, K.,Martins, E., & Ord, T. (2004). Contentcoverage of animal behavior data.Visualization and Data Analysis, 5295,305-311.U.S. Department of Education, NationalCenter for Education Statistics.(2012). Digest of education statistics,2011. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012001van Schaik, C. P., & Burkart, J. M. (2011).Social learning and evolution: Thecultural intelligence hypothesis.Philosophical Transactions of the RoyalSociety B: Biological Sciences, 366,1008-1016.Wolf, M., & Weissing, F. J. (2012). Animalpersonalities: Consequences for ecologyand evolution. Trends in Ecology andEvolution, 27, 452-461.Woo, K. L., & Rieucau, G. (2008).Considerations in video playbackdesign: Using optic flow analysis toexamine motion characteristics of liveand computer-generated animationsequences. Behavioural Processes, 78,455-463.Woo, K. L., & Rieucau, G. (2011). Fromdummies to computer-animated stimuli:A synthesis of techniques employed tostage animal interactions. BehavioralEcology and Sociobiology, 65, 1671-1685.Woo, K. L., & Rieucau, G. (2012).Aggressive signal design in the Jackydragon (Amphibolurus muricatus):Display duration and frequency affectefficacy. Ethology, 118, 157-168.Woo, K. L., & Rieucau, G. (2013).Efficiency of aggressive and submissivevisual displays against environmentalmotion noise in Jacky dragon(Amphibolurus muricatus). EthologyEcology & Evolution, 25, 82-94.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

90How to Write a PoemMenoukha Case, Center for Distance LearningEverything you’re about to hear ishappening just the way I tell it.It’s night. I’m asleep in my bed but I’mnot in my bed. I’m dreaming there’s anenormous, bloated, satiated bear, slumberingbelly up in my mother’s place, taking overa whole room with his snores swelling andsinking and rough fur roughing up thefurniture. I’m afraid – I know that when hegets hungry again, there will be trouble.Like all bears, he has very long, strong,sharp, claws, but unlike any other bear,his back is the color of an Irish setter buthis belly is the color of clotted cream. I’venever heard of a bicolor red bear, and, thisbear has a long tail to boot, bristling furenergetically like the fur on the tail ofa husky.When I wake up, I’m supposed to thinkabout what the whole thing means tome, how to describe it, all the things thateventually turn up between the lines ofpoems. But I spend more time wonderingabout the bear’s strange appearance thananything else, because anything else allseems a vain pursuit. The symbolism,I’m sure, will elude me, and the imagesare too utterly concrete to be anythingbut themselves.It’s afternoon, the same day, one of thosedays that day battles night from dawn todusk in a dark gray sky that’s a presence,not an absence, the threat of a storm mixedwith light so yellow it turns green leavesgold and gold leaves orange. I’m walkingin the park and see a tree that has seedpodsshaped like miniature rounded pine cones,yet no needles. I wonder if it is a deadevergreen, clinging to posterity. I wonderif there’s a kind of evergreen that shedsits needles.There’s a voice behind me, “See somethingyou recognize?”Without turning around, I answer. “Thistree has these things like pine cones, but noneedles. So, I wonder if it’s a dead evergreen,or a kind of evergreen that sheds its needlesor what.”“Look close,” a hand reaches over myshoulder and pulls a branch near my face,“these are buds. I’m seein this for thefourteenth year now.”Yes, they’re buds.I turn to look at the speaker. He’s large,bearish actually, and I see he’s holding aleash. At the end of the leash stands a huskythe color of an Irish setter with a bellythe color of clotted cream and a long tailbristling fur.“Do you like bears?” I ask.“I don’t know much about them; just theyhave very long, strong, sharp claws. Why’dyou ask?”“Last night I dreamt about a bear who wasthe color of your dog, red with a belly thecolor of cream, and a long tail, just likeyour dog’s.”“Must’ve been a sign,” he says. “Sometimessomething doesn’t feel right, maybe it’sanger, maybe it’s sexual. Everything else isfine, you’re doin fine, but because of thissomething you open to someone, someonewho when they get into it, get into what’sbotherin you, they don’t stop there but startdiggin around and eatin you up, messinwith what was fine. You can’t open likethat. What you gotta do is use your ownemotions, you gotta work em yourself.”He’s saying more, but I’m still digesting this.He stops.Starts again: “My father, he was as light asyou. My mother, she was the dark one, aPuerto Rican Indian.”“Taino?”“Yeah, Taino.”Menoukha CaseI look at him carefully, he looks at me. Ican’t tell you what he saw, and I can’t tellyou what I saw, but many would describehim as a middle-aged man with a belly,missing quite a few teeth. Dark skin, blackeyes, wavy black hair, rough tired clothes.“What you told me – you learned it the hardway,” I say.“Yeah.”“Dreams,” I say. “Everyone thinks they’reabout something inside of you, butsometimes they’re about something outsideof you. Like, in this case, when someonebearish with a red and cream husky comesalong, pay attention to what he says.”We walk and talk a little longer and he sayshe has to go and he takes a left and walksaway. I take a right and go to the flowershop and buy three white carnations andoffer them to the God of Chance. I work fora few hours, then I get dressed to go to abona fide literary event; my poetry teacher’sin town to sign books. As I walk out thedoor and turn the corner, he turns thecorner, too, and we’re face to face again.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

91“I was just thinking about what you said tome,” we say together.“I’m still trying to wrap my mind aroundit.” I say, “It was too much to understandat once.”“Yeah. I live around the corner.”He gives me his address. I go to thebook signing.Afterward we go to a bar, the author’s treat.The first wine bottle’s half empty when shetells me about an extraordinary experienceshe had with Audre Lorde, and when I finishtelling her about the dream of the bear, thesecond bottle’s empty.“I don’t know how to write that as apoem,” I say.She raises her arms, holding both bottlesupside down and speaking in cadence withthe syncopated sound of drops that slowlydescend to and from their necks and then hitthe glass of the table.“Line breaks, line … breaks, linebreaks,”she says.I lied at the start: everything didn’t happenjust the way I’ve told it here. Truth is, weonly drank one bottle.“Lasting personality changes may not occur in a blinding flash. As DylanThomas … said, ‘Light breaks where no sun shines … Dawn breaks behindthe eyes … Light breaks on secret lots … On tips of thought …’ While someepiphanies are dramatic and sudden, most occur gradually and incrementally.We may not know for years that a single lecture or conversation or experiencestarted a chain reaction that transformed some aspect of ourselves. We cannoteasily discern what subtle mix of people, books, settings, or events promotesgrowth. Nor can we easily name changes in ways of thinking, feeling, orinterpreting the world. But we can observe behavior and record words, bothof which can reveal shifts from hunch to analysis, from simple to complexperceptions, from divisive bias to compassionate understanding.”– Arthur W. Chickering and Linda Reisser“The Seven Vectors: An Overview”Education and Identity (2nd ed.)San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993, p. 43suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

92Confessions of a Closet Materialist:Lessons Learned About Money,Possessions and HappinessMiriam Tatzel, Hudson Valley Center“What we seek, at the deepest level, isinwardly to resemble, rather than physicallyto possess, the objects and places that touchus through their beauty.”– Alain de BottonThe Architecture of Happiness (2006)My mentoring and scholarship have fed eachother in my career at Empire State College.When I get a new intellectual interest,I often turn the interest into learningcontracts and study groups. My interest inthe material world and consumption ledto studies on the social history of dress.From there, I became interested in thepsychological aspects of money, and thatled to positive psychology. Over the years,I have honed and updated studies variouslycalled The Consumer in Society andPsychology of Consumption.Both personally and pedagogically, I like tomatch the literature with experience. Forme (and I hope for my students), learningabout ways of dealing with money andpossessions so as to enhance well-being alsois a process of self-discovery. So, I thought itwould be neat to write a piece for All AboutMentoring on “Confessions of a ClosetMaterialist,” delighting in the pun. But theessay grew and grew and became a chapterfor a book, of which I also am the editor.This edited excerpt on Money covers mostof the second part of the chapter, after theIntroduction and before the next part onPossessions. The chapter will appear in thevolume, Well-Being in the Material World,in press with Springer Science and BusinessMedia, 2013.2. Money 1Ihad always consideredmyself above venalambitions for moneyand status. I didn’t make lifechoices that would maximizemoney either in my career orpersonal life (the usual route towealth for women is to marryinto it [Nickerson, Schwarz, &Diener, 2007]), and I regardedthose who chased money ascrass and shallow (a lot ofmoralizing comes up when wejudge money behaviors). But inanother sense, you could say Miriam TatzelI was obsessed with money. Imade life choices with financialsecurity, though not with wealth, in mind: aPh.D. at an early age, a job with tenure. Myimmigrant parents were so frugal as to keeptrack of the smallest expenditures, and someof that attention to small change rubbedoff on me. I have suffered much anxietyover money; big expenditures, mistakes inspending and the scary sense of not beingable to stem the outflow are all fodder forinsomnia and self-denial.2.1 Money and HappinessAs it happens, financial security has snuckup on me. This is largely a result of aging:the house is long paid off, my retirementfund has grown and Social Security kickedin. But money management and debtaversion had something to do with it, too.(I was fortunate to come of age in the1960s when education at Queens College,City University of New York, was tuitionfreeand a National Science Foundationfellowship supported me through graduateschool at Columbia University.) Am I happyabout having financial security? Does itfeel good not to worry about money andthe future? You bet. I would even say it’schanged the complexion of my life. You cancall it security, but it feels like freedom.According to the literature, an increase inmoney, once basic needs are met, shoulddo little for one’s happiness. People adaptto both increases and decreases in fortuneand we wind up feeling pretty much as westarted. Should we get more money, we arethen likely to want even more, with ouraspirations ever eluding our grasp. For me,as a result of feeling financially secure, I ameasier about parting with money. I am lessremorseful over misspending, and I enjoythe novel sensation that if I want something,it’s OK – I can go ahead and buy it. Ofcourse, price still matters. After all, I am avalue seeker, but one can bargain hunt atall points all along the quality continuum(Bei & Heslin, 1997), for cookware andclothing, for example.2.2 It Pays to be ThriftyI regard frugality as a positive trait, andhere, the literature is with me (Chancellor& Lyubomirsky 2011, 2013; Guvenphoto: ed robinsonsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

932012). Saving money and recycling areobvious benefits. Avoidance of debt is a bigpositive when compared to the negativesof paying interest, having to keep payinglong after the thrill of the purchase is gone,and living in a psychological “debtor’sprison” of constraint, guilt and low selfesteem(Bernthal, Crockett, & Randall,2005). I am deeply debt averse. I like beingfrugal, especially when I am successfulat it. Frugality means more than beingconservative with money; it’s also aboutnot being wasteful, as in recycling. As animpecunious graduate student, I honed mybargain hunting and DIY skills. To this day,I delight in making things out of scrap woodor scrap fabric and I’ll paint anything. Whenclothes shopping, I’ll patiently bottom fishthe clearance racks.Although I am almost reflexively priceconscious, I am lately becoming sensitizedto ethical implications of unqualified priceconsciousness. By going for low prices, amI supporting the cruelty of factory farmingof animals, factory farming in general,the outsourcing of domestic jobs to theworldwide market for the exploitation ofcheap labor, the cheapening and degradingof manufactured goods and craftsmanship,and so on (de Villiers, 2012)? An earlyawareness of the moral implications of massmarketing traces back to the 1950s whenchain stores began to put small merchantsout of business. Stone (1954) distinguishedamong different types of shoppers, one ofwhich he called “ethical” because of theirloyalty to local merchants and willingness tosupport them by paying more than the chainstores charged. For myself, I am willing topay more for eggs, for example, if I believethe hens are better treated, I’ll pay more fororganic food if it’s not too much more, andI avoid a certain big box store, among othersmall concessions by which virtue moderatesprice consciousness.In spite of the undeniable draw of lowprices, being tight with money (frugal,thrifty) has the negative connotation ofbeing cheap and stingy. Materialism, Iobserve, is a negative trait in the abstract,and frugal values are paid lip service. Inreal time, however, there seems to be moreof a stigma to looking cheap than lookingextravagant. We look down on couponclippers (Argo & Main, 2008; Ashworth,Drake, & Schaller, 2005). Lavish spending,on the other hand, is impressive; it makes abig social bang, as Veblen (1899) informedus. We admire the rare and costly. Butwhat’s better for happiness: thrift orspendthrift? Maybe spending to impress isnot about happiness but is meant to avoidbeing seen, and treated, as low status.The desire for riches and to be rich mayhave less to do with personal happinessthan with raising one’s status and socialinfluence (Ahuvia, 2007). Yet, as importantas status may be for our social relationsand life circumstances in general, the questfor prestige, along with materialism andextrinsic values generally, leads us downthe path of dissatisfaction. Again and againwe see a conflict between what’s goodfor the “I,” the subjective, personal self(intrinsic motivation) vs. what’s good forthe “me,” the objective, social self (extrinsicmotivation). And so, we may spend morethan we really want to enhance oursocial image.So far, we have seen that money does notmatter much for happiness, and frugality isgood for well-being. How should we thinkabout money and how should we spend it?The research literature provides suggestions,and what I learned from my studieschallenges some of my ways of spending,as well as how I was brought up.2.3 For the Experience of ItOne such message is that it is better forone’s happiness to spend on experiencesthan possessions. When asked, peoplereport greater satisfaction from the moneyspent on experiences. This is very welldocumented (e.g., Carter & Gilovich, 2010;Van Boven, 2005) with a small nod to badexperiences (Nicolao, Irwin, & Goodman,2009). There are several reasons why. Oneis that experiences have a longer “shelflife.” They give us memories. We tire of ourpossessions and we treasure our memories(of the vacation, the concert, the workshop,etc.). Even inconveniences on a vacation canburnish into fondly remembered adventuresand amusing stories. Another reason isthat experiences are not as susceptibleto invidious side-by-side comparisons asobjects are – they are more singular. It’seasier, say, to compare cameras and findthat one is superior, and the next generationsmartphone may outdo the one we have,but experiences are unique, and in thatway, matchless and untrumpable. Thirdly,many experiences are social, which in mostcases enhances the good time with thewarmth of good fellowship. And, ultimately,experiences are more central to the self,more personal (Carter & Gilovich, 2012).Indeed, experiences make up who we are,our biography, more than do possessions.Here is an area where I fall short. I spendmore readily on things over experiences. Iwas raised with the opposite point of viewregarding the lasting power of purchases.I learned that it’s objects that have stayingpower; experiences are fleeting, ephemeral,but objects are for keeps. Moreover,experiences are not typically “necessary.”While growing up, such events as familyvacations, eating out and movies were rare.As a teen, activities like going to concerts oron ski trips with friends were things I didn’t“need.” But one does need furniture, andI had a good quality bedroom set. I haveadopted that perspective even as I questionit. Travel overseas to a wedding? Well, no, anew car comes first.2.4 The Joy of GivingAnother research-based principle forhedonic spending is that it is better togive than to receive. Contrary to people’sexpectations, they report feeling morepleasure from spending on others thanspending on themselves (Dunn, Aknin, &Norton, 2008). This is an area where Ihave some ambivalence, harking back tomy upbringing. My mother was generousin some ways. If she went visiting, sheinvariably baked one of her much desiredcakes. She was concerned to know if Ineeded money and was willing to help out.But she resented being asked for money forcharity, she resented expectations to buygifts and she pretty much did neither. Theformer was schnorrerei (cadging) and thelatter was perhaps a mild form of extortion(being invited to an affair means you haveto give a gift). Following in her footsteps, Iget squirmy when charities call asking formoney. I started donating to causes in recentyears, thinking it’s the “right” thing to do.But it’s led to more and more solicitations,suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

94and it pains me to get gifts of stickers andcards and whatever – those resources shouldbe going to the cause.2.5 Wait for It: The Pleasureof Anticipating PleasureAnother bit of advice on how to spend isto delay gratification and thereby reap thepleasures of anticipation (Dunn, Gilbert, &Wilson, 2011). Prepaying theater tickets,planning out a vacation, dreaming of thatnew car or imagining what you will orderin the restaurant gives its own boost ofenjoyment and savoring. It’s fun to thinkabout something good that’s coming up.Anticipation also has the not unpleasanttension of impatience, as in “I can’t wait.”Making arrangements (transportation,lodging, tickets) can be a chore, but oneleavened by pleasant imaginings.The pleasure of anticipation is a strongadmonition against impulse buying, apleasure that the impulse buyer, in hasteof the buying moment, forecloses upon.Impulse buying is part of the “dark side”of consumption, denigrated as a moralweakness of sorts (immaturity, lack ofself-control) and as poor decision makingand hazardous money management, butI don’t denigrate the impulse itself; it isthrough our attractions that we learn aboutour preferences and desires. So I say, holdon to that impulse, plan the acquisition(do research and budget, as appropriate),and savor the anticipation. (One can’t saythat all impulsive buying is a bad idea;spontaneous decisions and unexpectedbuying opportunities can work out well[Rook & Fisher, 1995]).2.6 Think SmallBuy small pleasures rather than big luxuries(Dunn et al., 2011). Parceling out treatsgives more total happiness than one BigBang purchase. With the former, you havedaily pleasures spread over time; with thelatter, you get a spike of pleasure followedby the diminishing returns of adaptation,much like the child whose once ferventlydesired toy becomes a source of clutterand boredom.I was raised with the contrary point ofview. It’s precisely by scrimping on thesmall things that you accumulate enoughmoney to buy something special. “Lookafter the pennies” and all that. My mother,abstemious in so many ways, bought quitea bit of fine jewelry, which I derided at thetime, and which I now possess. I, too, amvery good at foregoing small pleasures.The allowance I didn’t spend as a teen gotsaved and plunked into my first home downpayment (savings do add up). These days,as I become looser with money, the advicefrom the literature gives me permission toindulge in small treats and conveniences.For example, when driving into Manhattan,I am willing to put the car in a garage andpay way too much money for parking,something I once would not have considereddoing, preferring instead to drive aroundfor who knows how long and finding streetparking far afield. I experience this new wayof being as a disinhibition, a giving intoimpulse and convenience. Am I in danger oflosing my grip on money management or amI more rational for overcoming “hyperopia”(an over-aversion to indulgence) (Haws &Poynor, 2008)?2.7 Follow Your Bliss:Spend for Intrinsic ReasonsKasser (2002) has presented much evidencein support of intrinsic life aspirationsbeing key to well-being (self-development,interpersonal relationships, making theworld a better place), while extrinsic goals(wanting to be rich, famous and attractive)go along with dissatisfaction with life, ifnot outright mental illness. The lesson forconsumption is that it is better to acquirepossessions for one’s own enjoyment,meaning, and growth and in support of thebasic psychological needs for competence,relationship and autonomy, à la selfdeterminationtheory (Ryan & Deci, 2000)rather than for public display. In otherwords, beware of purchasing for status andprestige reasons. If you do buy to impress,you may wind up with something thatdoesn’t work for you, you may spend morethan you need to or should, and you mayfail to wow those you intend to impressanyway. Here’s a small example of how theimagined judgments of others can inhibitintrinsic choices. Did you know that there’sa social norm that says variety is better thansameness? When people can choose candybars in private, they tend to choose multiplesof their favorite, but if they believe otherpeople will see their choices, they will go forvariety instead (Ratner & Kahn, 2002).Note1A little family context re: money.When I was 13, my father had hisfirst cancer surgery, and his workingcareer was over (he survived, though).My mother then went to work at afactory for minimum wage, but sheliked the job and we were not destitute.In my adult family, my husband was astay-at-home dad who looked after ourtwo daughters.ReferencesAhuvia, A. (2007). If money doesn’t makeus happy, why do we act as if it does?Journal of Economic Psychology, 29,491-507.Argo, J. J., & Main, K. J. (2008). Stigmaby association in coupon redemption:Looking cheap because of others.Journal of Consumer Research, 35(4),559-572.Ashworth, L., Drake, P. R., & Schaller, M.(2005). No one wants to look cheap:Trade-offs between social disincentivesand the economic and psychologicalincentives to redeem coupons. Journalof Consumer Psychology, 15(4),295-306.Bei, L. -T., & Heslin, R. (1997). TheConsumer Reports mindset: Whoseeks value - the involved or theknowledgeable? Advances in ConsumerResearch, 24, 151-158.Bernthal, M. J., Crockett, D., & Randall, L.R. (2005, June). Credit cards as lifestylefacilitators. Journal of ConsumerResearch, 32, 130-145.Carter, T. J., & Gilovich, T. (2010). Therelative relativity of material andexperiential purchases. Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology,98(1), 146-159.Carter, T. J., & Gilovich, T. (2012, June).I am what I do, not what I have: Thedifferential centrality of experiential andsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

95material purchases to the self. Journalof Personality and Social Psychology,102(6), 1304-1317.Chancellor, J., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2011).Happiness and thrift: When (spending)less is more. Journal of ConsumerPsychology, 21(2), 131-138.Chancellor, J., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2013).Money for happiness: The hedonicbenefits of thrift. In M. Tatzel (Ed.),Well-being in the material world. NewYork, NY: Springer.de Botton, A. (2006). The architecture ofhappiness. New York, NY: Vintage.de Villiers, M. (2012, June 4). Why bargainsare bad. The Daly News. Center forthe Advancement of the Steady StateEconomy. Retrieved from http://steadystate.org/why-bargains-are-bad/Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M.I. (2008). Spending money on otherspromotes happiness. Science, 319,1687-1688.Dunn, E. W., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson,T. D. (2011). If money doesn’t makeyou happy, then you probably aren’tspending it right. Journal of ConsumerPsychology, 21(2), 115-125.Guven, C. (2012). Reversing the question:Does happiness affect consumptionand spending behavior? Journal ofEconomic Psychology, 33, 701-717.Haws, K. L., & Poyner, C. (2008, June).Seize the day! Encouraging indulgencefor the hypoeropic consumer. Journal ofConsumer Research, 35, 680-692.Kasser, T. (2002). The high price ofmaterialism. Cambridge, MA:MIT Press.Nickerson, C., Schwarz, N., & Diener, E.(2007). Financial aspirations, financialsuccess, and overall life satisfaction:Who? and how? Journal of HappinessStudies, 8, 467-515.Nicolao, L., Irwin, J. R., & Goodman, J. K.(2009, August). Happiness for sale: Doexperiential purchases make consumershappier than material purchases?Journal of Consumer Research, 36,188-198.Ratner, R. K., & Kahn, B. E. (2002).The impact of private versus publicconsumption on variety seekingbehavior. Journal of ConsumerResearch, 29(2), 246-257.Rook, D. W., & Fisher, R. J. (1995,December). Normative influences onimpulsive buying behavior. Journal ofConsumer Research, 22, 305-313.Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000).Self-determination theory and thefacilitation of intrinsic motivation,social development, and well-being.American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.Stone, G. P. (1954). City shoppers and urbanidentification: Observations on thesocial psychology of city life. AmericanJournal of Sociology, 60, 36-45.Van Boven, L. (2005). Experientialism,materialism, and the pursuit ofhappiness. Review of GeneralPsychology, 9, 132-142.Veblen, T. B. (1899). The theory of theleisure class: An economic studyof institutions. New York, NY:MacMillan.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

97our talents to produce a series of “BreakingNews” videos with “anchormen” playedby Empire State College Vice PresidentMitch Nesler and then School for GraduateStudies Dean Bob Clougherty. We scriptedinformation that would be given to eachstudent for her or his assigned role. Forexample, the deputy mayor was attemptingto unseat the mayor, one of the peoplestricken with the unknown illness. Afundraising dinner for President Obama hadbeen scheduled at the one hotel that did notreport any illnesses. To further complicatematters, turf battles between local andcounty emergency management staff hadexisted for years. Nepotism and bid riggingwould be discovered with hotel suppliers.The simulation kicked off one evening in thelast week of the course via an Elluminatesession. Roles were announced, the scenariowas presented in sketchy terms (just enoughto generate curiosity and edge-of-one’s-seatengagement) and then the first BreakingNews video was played:Fifty people – including 10 children –all guests at Momentous Hospitalityhotels in Saratoga Springs, have beentaken to the emergency room atSaratoga Hospital, according to policereports. Their condition at this time isunknown, as is the cause of their illness.Ages range from 5 to 82.Among them is the mayor of Saratogawho collapsed while speaking at aluncheon honoring servicemen andwomen returning from Afghanistan.According to the mayor’s deputy, 24people from Hotel Omega, wherethe luncheon was being held, weretransported by ambulance and policevehicles to the hospital. The remaining26 were from Hotel Infinity andHotel Atlas.Momentous Hospitality Inc. ownsfive hotels in Saratoga Springs –Hotel Omega, Hotel Infinity, HotelAtlas, Hotel Tomorrow and HotelZeus. We have unconfirmed reportsvia Twitter that guests were strickenduring lunch at each of the hotels andthat people were complaining abouta “funny smell” coming from theair conditioning vents. We have notindependently verified those reports. Wehave been unable to reach MomentousHospitality’s CEO or a spokesperson.WPQR is dispatching crews to thehospital and hotels. We will updateyou as soon as we have additionalinformation. Stay tuned to WPQR,your up-to-the-minute news source.The simulation began immediately afterthe video concluded. Students from thetwo courses had to work together, eventhough (as happens in a real crisis) theymostly did not know each other. They begantaking action based on the roles they hadbeen assigned. For example, in additionto Momentous Hospitality’s CEO, rolesincluded the chief of police, the deputymayor, five hotel general managers, ahospital spokesperson, distraught familymembers, persistent reporters, marginallyinformed bloggers, the Secret Service,federal agents, vendor executives and hotelemployees, among others. Over the courseof several days, members of both coursecommunicated with each other via text,email, voicemail, phone, Elluminate, socialand other media. At various times, Twitterand Facebook intentionally became sourcesof inaccurate information, demonstratingthe importance of fact-checking. Reporterspressed for answers. Improprieties werediscovered between hotel managers andseveral vendors. Additional Breaking Newssegments provided new information onunfolding events.Students took action, posted their decisionsfor all to see in each day’s discussion forumin ANGEL, and contemplated what todo next. In addition, each student kept adaily private “learning journal” to capturethoughts, feelings and experiences.On the evening of the last day, everyone metagain on Elluminate for the final BreakingNews segment that focused on what hadcaused the crisis. Each student was thengiven the opportunity to share his or herthoughts about the simulation experience.Later in the week, a more thoroughdebriefing was held, followed by an onlinesurvey and in-depth interviews to capturekey lessons learned and suggestionsfor improvements.Here is what some of the students had tosay (shared by permission):Paul Shea, Role of HotelGeneral ManagerThe crisis simulation was almost like a gameof Clue except communication betweenteammates and opponents was virtual. Ifound myself checking email and cell phonehourly, as I did not want to miss a “hint”or change in role/status. The virtual updatesfelt like I was watching the news, and amajor crisis situation was unfolding beforemy eyes. The exciting part was I could makea difference and my actions affected a largegroup of people.After completing the simulation, I realizedthat I had learned much about myselfwhile working with others. Through thissimulation, I was able to see how I andother people reacted to a crisis situation,which helped me face the need to controlmy emotions and forecast the emotions ofthose around me. This entire course not onlyhelped me become a better communicator,but also helped me think outside the box,which I am now able to apply in mydaily routine.Daniel McKenna, Role of ObserverAfter the “Breaking News” kickoff ofthe simulation, everyone was stunned.However, we quickly learned we had toface the situation and get moving! Thingswere unraveling fast! However, other thanthe most obvious facts, we weren’t sure ofall the information contained in the newsreport. Each of us recalled different bits ofinformation. We immediately understoodthat we needed each other and to trust eachother. We also quickly learned that verifyinginformation would help avoid greatertroubles. The qualities and skills developedthroughout the simulation can be appliedduring almost any situation in the world ofbusiness. I began applying them the verynext day at my job.Billie Taft, Role of White HouseEvents ManagerI was pleasantly surprised by how realisticthe simulation was depicted. It was sorealistic that it was difficult for me to stepaway from my computer and cell phone.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

98My biggest “takeaway” from this wasthat it is acceptable to ask for help. Iplayed a leadership role in the simulation.Oftentimes, I did not know what to do nextor how to handle conflicting personalities.Instead of haphazardly making decisions,I asked my “leadership team” for advice.Their input helped me make more informedand confident decisions. In a time of crisis(or any time for that matter) it is betterto reach out to those who have experiencewith a situation, rather than risk anuninformed guess.I am confident my career has benefittedfrom my experience in the simulation. I aman even stronger team member and leader!Greg D’Imperio, Role of AssistantCEO/General Manager ofMomentous Hospitality HotelsThis simulation really helped me realizethat when a crisis happens, most people willbe looking for a leader, and that I couldbe a person people will follow. I did notfully appreciate that until I went throughthis simulation. As a matter of fact, justmoments after the simulation was over, thepresident of our company called me. He saida huge storm damaged our Atlantic Cityoffice and that we would have to handletheir payroll in other branches. I was sointo the simulation, I had no idea therewas this storm coming. I thought perhapsDr. Rutigliano had set me up with him,calling me with this problem! Wrong. AfterI realized this was real, I got right to workwith not only the payroll issue but the otherthings needed to keep the company runningand helping the people at that office getback on their feet. I was practicing what Ihad just learned!This simulation was fun and exhausting,and a huge confidence booster for me. Itwas a life changer: Do not dwell on theproblem, find the solution.Lisa Green, Roles of Co-CEO ofMomentous Hospitality Hotels andHospital SpokespersonI have the unique perspective and privilegeof having experienced the simulation twice.Having different roles in each simulationwas an incredibly eye-opening experience.As co-CEO of the hotel chain, I had tolearn some very hard lessons about lettinggo, trusting team members to do their jobs,juggling competing priorities, and breakingdown traditional barriers to achieve acommon goal. I also learned that anyonecan be a leader at any time, and a crisissituation is no different! In my hospitalspokesperson role during the summer2012 simulation, I was faced with thevery real frustration that comes with beingunable to isolate and “cure” a problemquickly enough for the public and, moreimportantly, for the families of lovedones impacted.Through the simulation experience,we all learned about the importance ofplanning and open communication. Wealso were reminded that sometimes helpand resolution can come from the mostunlikely places – like the media or frombystanders who may hold key information.In other words, we learned that to be agreat crisis leader we need to suspend ourown judgments, check our egos at the door,listen and analyze information carefully,and inspire our team to work toward apositive outcome.Sheila Suro, Role of White House LiaisonThe simulation taught me much. Duringa crisis, leaders emerge. Do not worryabout stepping on others’ toes; do what isnecessary to solve the problems. If thereis no action plan, think about the factsand create an action plan, assign rolesand request updates. Keep in mind theimportance of stepping back at severalpoints and rethinking the strategy. Elements,facts and situations change constantly,and maybe the strategy that originallywas designed is not effective anymore.Foster communication between the people,teams and agencies involved. Be aware ofhow peoples’ weaknesses and strengthscan jeopardize the outcome of a crisis. Becommitted, dedicated, trustworthy andhonest. When you are not sure on howto proceed, look for guidance. Recognizewhen it is time to step down and let otherslead. Take risks and be prepared to facethe consequences. Do not let what othersmay think about you stop you from makingdecisions, taking risks, digging deeper,thinking differently or doing what is right.Jim Fiorino, Role of FBI Agent andSimulation HistorianThe simulation was certainly an atypicallearning experience. Students in twoseparate courses were called upon to interactand work together to solve the crisis. That,alone, made this a one-of-a-kind experience!Throughout the semester, we utilized BillGeorge’s (2009) 7 Lessons for Leading inCrisis. It taught us the skills necessary tolead through a crisis. What the simulationthen provided was an opportunity to applythose lessons in a “real life” test, somethingthat is another rarity in online learning.Participation in “Expect the Unexpected”added dimensions of immediacy and urgencynot felt through books or lecture, butessential preparation for leading in the faceof intense, unwanted and unexpected events.Gail Schneider, Role of SimulationFacilitatorThe Crisis course was perhaps the bestuse of innovative, creative and criticalthinking that could possibly be combinedwith conventional academic instruction.The opportunity to find common groundbetween “left field” and analytical thinkersdefines education principles both forstudents and educators.I learned about effective management andleadership by having to open my mind,think on my feet, consider all points ofview, make concessions, uncomfortablycompromise, put aside ego, know when tospeak up, when to keep quiet, and how toactively listen. Nothing brought more realworldinsight into the Competing ValuesFramework than this simulation. Eachstudent could recognize the strengths andweaknesses within themselves and eachother, between and within teams, and seethe value of each role in the event’sresolution. The opportunity to apply thisknowledge to situations at home and atwork is invaluable.Jose Grullon, Role of Hotel GeneralManagerFrom this, I took with me one importantpoint that will serve me for the rest of mypersonal and business life: self-confidence.Prior to this experience, my confidencesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

99levels were very unstable. At the beginningof the simulation, I relied on othersinstead of being a leader myself. I wasvery quiet and almost passive. Then I wasencouraged to step out and speak up. Thishelped me tremendously. During and afterthe simulation, I realized that I could bemyself even more. I could develop myown ideas and believe that I am capableof making decisions, even if the byproductis not popular or causes me to be disliked.I realized that one thing I have alwaysbeen afraid of is making mistakes. Losing,making mistakes, and not being wellaccepted by my peers were my blatant fearsduring the simulation. However, I learnednot to be scared; take action instead.***Simply put, “Expect the Unexpected”was the richest, most exhilarating andmost exhausting experience of my facultycareer! It caused me to “dig deep” (as I tellmy students) within myself for creativity,confidence and energy. It caused me to risk,to step outside my own comfort zone and tobe vulnerable. It demanded my best.This experience affirmed the value of“outside the box” learning experiences. Iexperienced what I often teach: a groupof strangers can quickly become a highperformingteam when the mission is clear,when everyone is valued for who theyare and what they bring to the team, andwhen synergy is fueled with passion. Thesimulation design team literally took amustard-seed of an idea and grew it into afull-blown production in less than a month.Given I was in my first year at the collegeand largely unknown, I am especiallygrateful to those who worked with me tobring this vision into reality.As the simulation unfolded, I came faceto-facewith many of the same issues thesimulation was designed to prompt for thestudents. First, was my own reluctance to“let go.” I had ideas about what and howthe students would learn, and when thingsseemed amiss, I wanted to intervene. Ialso had to face the displeasure of severalstudents at various times when theirfrustration levels skyrocketed and theywanted to quit. Fortunately, they workedthrough those feelings and all ended upbeing major contributors to the learningexperience. When the simulation concluded,I experienced the natural “let down” thatoften follows an intense experience. Wewere all exhausted – myself included. Thishampered my ability to guide the studentsin an immediate debrief, something thatmany of the students later recommended beincorporated in future simulations.I also fell into a common trap of comparingone experience with another. The firstsimulation experience in the summer of2011 unconsciously became the “silverbox” – the standard. When the simulationin 2012 unfolded very differently andseemed to generate less engagement initially,I immediately jumped to the conclusionthat something was “wrong.” My emotionsswirled. I spent the first half-dozen hourswanting to remake the simulation as it wasgoing along, change people out of roles inwhich they were ineffective and basically domy best to control the outcome. Fortunately,as I was frantically scribbling notes aboutwhat to do next, I caught myself beforefalling into other common traps: makingassumptions, letting emotions rule andacting without sufficient information. In aparadoxical way, I was experiencing whatthe students were experiencing! I realizedthen that nothing was “wrong” and that the“silver box” I had conjured up in my mindwas the problem.The students’ feedback following thesimulation was meaningful and inspiring.Ways to improve the learning experienceincluded shortening the length, providingmore information in the set-up withclear expectations for participation, andconducting the simulation on a weekend.There also were ideas of conducting thesimulation in a residency format, with somestudents volunteering to help. I am applyingmany of these ideas to a redesign of thesimulation for upcoming courses.The richness of the simulation as a learningtool has prompted me to consider in whatother courses and with what other topicssimulations could be valuable at EmpireState College. There are many off-theshelfsimulations that can be purchasedor obtained via open learning. They canbe broadly categorized in the businessarena based on the learning emphasis:communication, finance, sustainability,leadership and teamwork, marketing,strategy, supply chain, change management,venture capital, entrepreneurship, economicsand pricing, and statistics.Harvard has “The Tip of the Iceberg”simulation that focuses on how internationalteam members work together in a project.Harvard also utilizes “Everest,” a wellknownsimulation that focuses on leadershipand teamwork in a life-threateningmountain climb. Wharton Learning Lab’s“Tragedy of the Tuna” is a simulation thatputs students in a situation where they haveto learn to balance short-term profitabilitywith long-term sustainability. In Stanford’s“Venture Capital Game,” students act aseither entrepreneurs or venture capitalistsand work to acquire maximum equity inexchange for cash.While not every course can or shouldhave a simulation, what I learned is this:students want more from online learningthan discussion forums, individual andteam assignments and grades. They want tohear from experts. They want to be takenout of their comfort zones, they want tobe challenged in atypical ways, and theywant faculty who create unique learningexperiences for and with them. They wantus to do what we ask of them: take risks, trynew things and “mine the gold.” Simply put,they want our best.Whether we create our own or utilizesomeone else’s simulations, I believethese can be another powerful tool toaccomplishing the most important aspectof our mission: being student-centered andproviding innovative, alternative and flexibleapproaches to higher education.If anyone is interested in developing asimulation for work they are doing withstudents, I would be most happy to consult.Please contact me.ReferencesGeorge, B. (2009). 7 lessons for leading incrisis. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Wunderlin Company. (n.d.). Usingsimulations as a learning tool [Weblog post]. Retrieved from http://www.wunderlin.com/blog/2007/10/16/usingsimulations-as-a-learning-tool/suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

100Second Chances:Our Empire State College ExperienceNew Mentor ReflectionsDov Fischer, Debra Kram-Fernandez and Troy Jones, Metropolitan CenterAlan Mandell suggested that we share someof our reflections on our first months asEmpire State College mentors. In meetingto consider this request, we reminiscedabout our experiences in the first term. Thetheme that seemed to thread our individualexperiences together was that of EmpireState College being a place of secondchances. We identified second chances forstudents, as well as for mentors who areembarking on a new career in academiaor a continued career in academia but ina refreshing and new environment. Werecognized that Empire State Collegesupports students in their second, third andsometimes, more attempts to complete adegree, and supports them as they confrontobstacles during their time with us. Whatemerged through our conversation were thefollowing three perspectives.Dov FischerDov FischerI first became interested in Empire StateCollege several years ago during a walkin midtown Manhattan. At the time, thecollege was located in midtown, and mycuriosity was piqued when I saw the “SUNYEmpire State College” banner. “Whatwas SUNY doing in CUNY territory?”I wondered. Over a number of years, Ilearned more about the college’s missionand periodically browsed its job site. I alsochanced upon its charming Saratoga Springsoffices during a vacation trip in upstateNew York.Shortly after the vacation in SaratogaSprings, I noticed that the college waslooking to fill a Business, Management& Economics faculty position in StatenIsland. The college apparently self-selectsfaculty who think outside of their narrowdisciplines. In the case of my academic area(accounting), faculty tend to look at jobsites and advertisements that specificallyseek our narrow concentration andeven sub-concentration. It took some“nontraditional” thinking on my part toeven consider an ad for the broader area ofBusiness, Management and Economics.The college’s core values became evidenteven before the beginning of my phoneinterview. I mistakenly thought that thephone interview was scheduled for noonrather than the agreed-upon time of 11 a.m.As I prepared to dial into the conferencecall at noon, I noticed that the interviewwas actually scheduled for an hour earlier. Icalled in, fully expecting that a ruined firstimpression would eliminate my prospects.To my surprise and gratification, theinterview went forward as planned. Notonly that, but the associate dean specificallyasked me not to let the incident cloud mypoise and performance during the phoneinterview. As a believer in second and thirdchances, I was impressed by the sensitivityand consideration shown by her and otherson the phone interview.During the subsequent in-person interview,I gave a one-hour presentation about howto understand The Ford Motors Company’sfinancial statements. I had customized thepresentation for a hypothetical group ofnontraditional students by highlighting keyconcepts while allowing students (proxiedby the interviewing faculty) to share theirown knowledge and observations on thecompany and its finances. The unit’s facultycoordinator later told me that my effortsto tailor the presentation to our targetstudents made a favorable impression on thecommittee. On the receiving end, in additionto learning more about the college’s mission,I began to imbibe a new vocabulary withterms such as mentor, study group, center,unit, etc.The pleasures of teaching and mentoringat the college are similar to those atother colleges but are more frequent andintense. I admit to relishing the immediategratification of calling a new mentee toanswer questions and help design an initialcourse of study. Having spent a few monthsas a financial-products salesperson in themid-’90s, I find that calling new menteeshas some of the thrill of cold-calling aprospective insurance or mutual-fund client;only here, I stand behind a much moresolid product!As can be expected, there is a learningcurve in adapting to a new and uniqueenvironment. In reflecting on what wentright and what went wrong in my first term,one lesson is the importance of structurewithin study groups. I learned that studentsat the college desire more, rather than less,structure within studies compared withstudents at other colleges at which I’vetaught. In my opinion, the relative lack ofstructure within the degree planning processcreates students’ thirst for such structure insuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

101their Empire State College studies. I learnedthis the hard way when, in a study group,students rose in protest after I providedcritical feedback on the style and originalityof their presentations. They claimed that thelearning contract specified only the requiredcontent of presentations with no specificrequirement of style and originality. Besidesbeing more specific in future learningcontracts, I also have learned to providefeedback in a more discreet manner. Atany rate, I was impressed that students feltconfident enough to voice their complaintsopenly rather than to grumble behindmy back.As a markedly positive experience, I tookadvantage of the flexibility in designing mystudies and in choosing texts to successfullyengage students. Typically, college texts inbusiness and economics take areas aboutwhich students are naturally curious, onlyto disappoint by addressing topics in overly“academic” and abstract ways. To someextent, this is the nature of the curriculumin those areas and cannot be helped. Myapproach to one of my studies, BusinessLaw, has been to assign two relativelyinexpensive texts. The first is an abridgedversion of the traditional text and thesecond is a more popular book on the topic.Thus, we supplemented the “academic”Business Law by Emerson (Barrons, 2009,5th ed.) with Everybody’s Guide to the Lawby Wilkinson and Belli (Collins, 2003, 2nded.). While students were lukewarm to thetraditional Business Law topics and style,they raved about the Everybody book,which covered topics such as law relatingto pets. Based on this positive experience,I plan to use the same approach in myupcoming Macroeconomics study.Halfway into the term, Hurricane Sandytook a devastating toll on the unit’s homeand on the surrounding communities. TheStaten Island Unit occupies a two-storyoffice building situated a half-mile fromthe beach. As a New Yorker who lives inBrooklyn and often visits Manhattan, StatenIsland is a rustic experience and distinctlyseparate from the rest of the city. One ofthe more notable memories of a visit to ourunit before Sandy was the sight of turkeyhens crossing Seaview Avenue with theirchicks in tow. Although the unit was onlya 20-minute drive from my home in BoroPark, Brooklyn, the geographic distanceunderlies the distance in the tempo of life.Unfortunately, this resort-like way of lifealong Seaview Avenue and the boardwalkalong Father Capodanno Boulevard hasended for now. Three weeks after the storm,we visited the unit to retrieve materials fromour offices and found Father CapodannoBoulevard filled with vehicles from FEMA,the police and even the Marine Corps. Itseemed like the residents of Staten Island,many of whom serve as or are connected tofirst responders, were experiencing a repeatof 9/11 on a smaller scale. It is ironic thatone of the notable offerings of our unit isemergency management.In the remaining six weeks of the fall 2012term, we held our group meetings in NewDorp High School, approximately twomiles from our unit’s location. In additionto the limited face-to-face meetings at thehigh school, the online ANGEL teachingportal made it possible for students tocommunicate and submit the work necessaryto complete the term.Many of our students’ lives were severelydisrupted, and some even lost their homes.The silver lining behind the disaster is thatthe response to this crisis demonstratedthe college’s flexibility in coping withunexpected challenges. The MetropolitanCenter office on Hudson Street inManhattan has provided temporary officespace to the displaced Staten Island faculty.The shared experiences of dislocationby the faculty and staff from the unithave prompted me to connect in a moremeaningful way with colleagues from boththe Staten Island Unit and the other units ofthe Metropolitan Center. These experiences,not forgotten, have been very important tobecoming a mentor.Postscript: Our Staten Island buildingreopened on February 25, 2013. Althoughthe building is still undergoing repairs,faculty and students are excited to be back.We even held a well-attended orientationsession on the day we reopened.Debra Kram-FernandezAgain and again and again, I think that I’llbreak but I mend.– UnknownDebra Kram-FernandezIn what felt like my first week of mentoring(I might have been here a couple of weeksbut I felt just-born), I sat with the firstof many new students I would have theopportunity to mentor in Community andHuman Services. This was a woman, amother, a person with a long work historyand a person with very few transcriptcredits. She was bubbly, excited, reported tobe a bit nervous and somewhat vague aboutwhat she hoped to accomplish throughher studies at Empire State College. Weexplored a bit further and out came thedream: “I always wanted to. …” Withoutgiving it a lot of thought, I respondedpractically and wondered if she had plannedto complete her bachelor’s degree and go onfor a master’s in social work. Suddenly, andwithout warning, she burst into tears, butthe smile never left her face. She disclosedthat she had always fantasized aboutcompleting her degree and continuing on fora MSW, but never dared to say it out loud.She stated that she was so glad that I had,and that she loved the way that sounded –her name and MSW in the same sentence.It became apparent to me that while muchhad been said about the fact that many ofour students come with a great deal of lifeexperience, it was important to recognizethat much of that “life experience” was noteasy; in fact, many of our older studentshave experienced numerous life challenges,and showing up and coming through ourdoors is not merely a decision to pursuea degree, but a testament to their strongresilience, buoyancy and hope for the future.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

102My background, in a nutshell, is in mentalhealth (working with adults with seriousmental illness), trauma, and child andfamily welfare. Most recently, I had theopportunity to lead the family foster caredepartment of a large social service agencyto “Sanctuary Certification.” What thatmeans is that a governing body found ourpractice to be trauma-informed and meetingthe standards of excellence in practicingthe Sanctuary model (Bloom, 1997). Thiswas important because one can presumethat anyone approaching a social serviceagency for help has encountered an adverseor traumatic experience. People come forhelp when the methods they were able toemploy for coping are not holding up sowell. People, who have experienced trauma,need to be able to utilize the services that areoffered to them. In the same way that theAmericans with Disabilities Act ensures thatall public buildings are accessible to peoplewho have a disability (Harris & Fallot,2001), a trauma-informed agency makesits program accessible to individuals whohave experienced trauma. Many schools forchildren and adolescents are working withinor toward Sanctuary Certification andother trauma-informed practices. In reality,everyone has experienced some adverseexperience in life before they come throughour Empire State College doors, and whatI like and respect about this institution isthe effort that is made to make educationaccessible to a wide range of people. This isin line with the social work code of ethicsand with being trauma-informed, and itis quite simply the right thing to do. Anyeffective learning environment, whetherformally or informally, will strive to betrauma-informed, in order to create a safe,socially responsible environment conduciveto learning and growing.Patricia Deegan (2007), who is a survivorof the mental health system and workstirelessly to affect positive changes in thatsystem, has a YouTube video in which shetalks about her own struggles with mentalillness and how they might have interferedwith her school experiences. She states thatshe would never have disclosed having amental illness to anyone associated withher doctoral program for fear this wouldjeopardize her standing. Kay RedfieldJamison (1995), a renowned scholar onbipolar disorder and herself a survivor ofthe disorder, echoes this sentiment, statingthat she had to make sure her status as adoctor and a professional were securedbefore going public. Even in a few shortmonths at Empire State College, studentshave disclosed many adverse experiences tome from trauma, psychiatric hospitalizationsand substance abuse, to name a few. Manyof our students are parenting children withsevere special needs. This is probably notmuch different than any population ofpeople, but what seems to be unique aboutthe mentor-mentee relationship is that thereis a mutual understanding that rather thanbeing an obstacle, these life experiences candrive academic success: they can fuel secondchances. Students quickly learn that this is aspecial place where they will not be judgedby faculty, staff or peers; where others haveexperienced challenges that were obstaclesto obtaining an education; and that withplanning, dedication and support, anacademic degree is, for most, a very real andattainable possibility.ReferencesBloom, S. L. (1997). Creating sanctuary:Toward the evolution of sane societies.New York, NY: Routledge.Deegan, P. A. (2007). Interview with PatDeegan on mental illness and education.Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVlhfuKDjYEHarris, M., & Fallot, R. D. (Eds.). (2001).Using trauma theory to design servicesystems: New directions for mentalhealth services, no. 89. San Francisco,CA: Jossey Bass.Redfield Jamison, K. (1995). An unquietmind. New York, NY: Random House.Troy JonesThis position at Empire State College is mysecond position in higher education andprovides me with a contrasting perspectiveof life in the academy. I now have a newoutlook on my role in higher educationand a reference point to which to comparemy experiences in teaching, scholarlypursuit and academic service. Since EmpireState College is vastly different from myprevious institution, I now have a differentperspective on my work with students.Empire State College has afforded mea second chance to evaluate my role inthe academy.I’ll start with the disclaimer stating thatI’m not ranking the two experiences as towhich one was better or worse; I’m merelyTroy Jonescontrasting how vastly different eachexperience was and how this has broadenedmy perspective of higher education. My veryfirst taste of the different flavor that EmpireState College provides occurred just shortlyafter I accepted the position. I was contactedby the Staten Island unit coordinator toinquire about which study groups I wantedto teach and on which days I’d like to offerthem. I had been accustomed to receivingcomparable emails from my departmentchair, but these were not inquiries; insteadthey detailed which courses I would teachand on which days I would teach them. Thisexperience was simply a sneak peek into theworld of autonomy (with accountability)that is offered by Empire State College toboth students and faculty.As I discovered more about the innerworkings of the college, I was awed by itsindividualized nature and by the way inwhich students respond to and are servedby the college. I was aware that the collegeprimarily served nontraditional students,which excited me since, before the fall of2012, I had primarily worked with thetraditional 18-to-24-year-old students.My previous institution had an onlineprogram with comparable students to thoseenrolled at Empire State College; however,suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

103I never met or had any kind of significantinteraction with them. Empire State Collegewas my opportunity to finally meet thetype of students whom I had been teachingonline. It was at this point that I discoveredthat this college opened new doors forour student population, as well as forthe faculty.Once I began to interact with the newstudents, I realized that mentoring is verydifferent from advising. My experiencehad been meeting with students, reviewingtranscripts, reviewing courses that needed tobe completed, providing them with forms toapply for graduation and sending them ontheir way. Having the opportunity to sit andtalk with students about their career plansand goals was an experience that made merealize the true purpose of higher education.I found it invigorating to empower studentsto take control of their own educationand learning. The students come with verydifferent backgrounds and have distincteducational and career goals. It is powerfulto discover students’ professional goalsand help them map out a pathway toreach them.The ownership of their learning that thestudents have is mirrored in the ownership Iam now able to experience in the context ofmy own career. As a former schoolteacher,I’ve always prided myself as a studentcenterededucator. I really misunderstoodthis concept to be a lot of fun and cuteactivities as a vehicle for learning. EmpireState College has helped me to realize thatstudent-centered education means that thestudent is at the center of the educationalprocess. Our students have the power todetermine their degree plan and informthe faculty of their needs instead of thefaculty informing them of what they needto graduate. I’m always most excited whenstudents register for independent studies andask me what they have to do to completethe study. I enjoy their expressions when Iask them what they’d like to do. Designingthe study together goes to the foundationof Empire State College and our philosophyof learning.I’ve also learned that Empire State Collegeserves as a second chance for many of ourstudents. I’m always amazed at orientationwhen the students introduce themselves.Nearly all of them are coming back tocollege after being unsuccessful at ordisillusioned by another institution. EmpireState College provides them with a secondopportunity to pursue higher education, takeownership of their learning and experiencesuccess. Having just completed educationalplanning with my first mentee, I feel thenervous excitement whenever we speak.Empire State College also is serving as thesecond university of this student, and I amsometimes struck by our similar experiences.She was able to design and complete herown degree plan, and I am now able todesign study groups and individual learningcontracts that reflect my interests and theneeds of my students. This college has trulyoffered second chances on a variety of levels.I look forward to all of the wonders thatare ahead as I continue my journey throughEmpire State College.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

104Bridging the Digital DivideSilvia Chelala, Long Island Center and Center for International ProgramsWhat follows is an edited version of SilviaChelala’s keynote address given at theConference on Information-CommunicationTechnologies in Linguistics, ForeignLanguage Teaching and Cross-culturalCommunication in Moscow on 07 June2012. This conference was sponsored byThe Ministry of Education and Scienceof the Russian Federation, The Scientific-Methodological Council on ForeignLanguages, The National Association ofApplied Linguistics (NAAL), the Facultyof Foreign Languages and Area Studies ofMoscow State University, The Center forDistance Education and the Department ofLinguistics and Information Technologies.Good morning, colleagues:I bring you warm regards from yourAmerican colleagues at SUNY EmpireState College. As you know, we havebeen participating in these great meetingssince the first conference. My colleague inour School for Graduate Studies, EileenO’Connor, has been doing research on“Second Life” within the context of teachingscience. She has made presentations atprevious meetings. I have been working onblended courses in introductory Spanish,also sharing with you my experiences alongthe way. Now it is my goal to tell youwhat my institution as a whole is doingto enhance teaching and learning throughthe use of technology. I also would like toinvite you to consider the “open” educationmovement, which is now percolating indifferent parts of the world.Empire State College has been considereda nontraditional and experimentinginstitution since its inception in 1972. It hasbeen learner-focused and thus an “open”institution to innovation. Its mission ascurrently stated is as follows:SUNY Empire State College’s dedicatedfaculty and staff use innovative,alternative, and flexible approaches tohigher education that transform peopleand communities by providing rigorousprograms that connect individuals’unique and diverse lives to theirpersonal learning goals. (SUNY EmpireState College, n.d., para.1)According to our current administration,the college’s current work is now redefiningand repositioning Empire State College asan “open university.” This shift is beingaccomplished through the following steps:• improving the mentor/learnerexperiences through emergingtechnologies,• making full use of students’ previouslearning experiences,• increasing student access to all kinds ofavailable resources,• developing the best strategies thatmatch learner’s needs and goals,• participating in the wider discussionsof open education’s possibilities (Benke,Davis, & Travers, 2012).I will discuss these “steps” in this address.(I also am happy to discuss these issuesin greater depth with anyone aftermy presentation.)Empire State College is a distributiveorganization; that is, it provides instructionthrough 35 locations in New York State andabroad, as well as online, reaching studentsfrom the USA, Europe, North and CentralAmerica, the Middle East and China.Empire State College has over 18,600undergraduate students (average age of 36)and one thousand two hundred (1,200)graduate students (average age of 40). Aboutone-third of our students are male andalmost two thirds are female (SUNY EmpireState College, 2013).Silvia ChelalaWith such a geographically widespreadinstitution like ours, there are manychallenges to supporting faculty andstudents in the use of technology. Therefore,I will first talk about the work with and forstudents that are directly tied to the firstfour steps delineated by our administrationand noted earlier as a way to achieve theideal of “open university,” and then I willdevote myself to the institutional supportfor faculty.Courses and programs at the college aredelivered in several ways: face-to-face ina traditional classroom, individually witha mentor in a tutorial situation, in smallgroups or seminars, and on the Web. (Asyou will recognize, in all forms, technologyis used.) In some programs, there areresidencies, which means that studentsmeet intensively with faculty for a few daysand then work via the Web for the restof the term – a form of blended learning.Electronic mail is the most common formof communication when at a distance.In addition to email, most courses useresources on the Web such as YouTube(e.g. TED Talks), as well as textbooks andmaterials available through our onlinelibrary. There are language tutorials andmath supports on our college website.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

105Students use programs that help themarticulate their choices in their curricula(what we refer to as “degree programs”),upload information to be evaluated and findout about offerings around the college, aswell as at their home center. Students in anypart of the college can work with facultyat a distance if there is no expert faculty attheir site.Technology is of the utmost importance atour college because we are so dispersed.However, this move to a reliance on “new”technologies is not easy for all students.They need quite a bit of training themselves,as well as opportunities to ask for help. Thecollege has a “Help Desk” staffed by ourown professionals who answer questionsfrom faculty and students every day, even onweekends. Although we have students of allages, a recent study from the InternationalJournal of Mobile and Blended Learning(Kukulska-Hulme et al., 2011) found thatan increasing number of so-called “mature”students are using mobile devices for formaland informal learning and communication.In addition, student interactions with onlinelearning are being improved every day. Forexample, our foreign language courses havebeen experimenting with voice streaming;that is, students can record their speech sofaculty can evaluate their pronunciation.These recordings are kept and the studentscan listen to their own progress. This featureis particularly valuable for foreign languagecourses at a distance, even though there areopportunities for synchronous sessions.Two other challenges for institutions likeours are science labs and library facilities.Faculty use simulations for science coursesand tests, as well as other technicalinnovations to deliver such courses withoutphysical laboratories. However, the libraryis one of the most popular resources. As thelibrary is online, all students have access toit no matter where they are and at what timethey need to find information. This featureis of great importance in our overseasprograms, as time differences are an obstacleto some exchanges with mainland USA.The online library has databases of differentkinds that students can access. There aree-books, self-paced tutorials on identifyingresearch topics and how to organize materialfor papers and monographs. Librariansare available to answer student questionswithin 24-48 hours, as well as live throughthe “Ask a Librarian” chat feature (duringbusiness hours). There are titles of newpublications, as well as lists of books thatcan be researched by keywords or concepts.Learners can consult databases, journalabstracts, and even download full textarticles. The e-book section is particularlyuseful for our students in overseas programs,as books are so expensive to buy and shipfrom the United States to other countries.My colleagues in Prague routinely steerstudents to the online library.Another way of enhancing student learningis through the platform Moodle and anapplication called Mahara. Moodle willsoon be the learning management system forall Empire State College online studies. Itis a platform designed with a constructivistapproach, which means that faculty andstudents can collaborate on a series oftasks integral to the course offerings. Asidefrom having the regular features (smallclass discussions, peer evaluation of work,lectures, quizzes, exams), this platformalso gives faculty the option of assigningdifferent leadership roles to students. Theseroles can change from class to class. Moodlealso works well with a companion programcalled Mahara, which the college is using tohelp students construct electronic portfolios(e-portfolios). In these e-portfolios, studentswill be able to store their resumes andsamples of work, as well as art that canthen be shared with other classmates,faculty, graduate programs; it also acts as arepository of information for employmentsituations. Right now, the Master of Artsin Teaching program uses the e-portfolioto assess overall student competencyin all aspects during the program andbefore graduation.The college also has been working onexpanding communication with current andprospective students through smartphoneapplications and connecting prospectivestudents with pre-enrollment advisors.We also are involved in encouraging theuse of our website, social media, videoand mobile technology to promote facultyand professional accomplishments andstudent success.I now want to discuss aspects of ourcollege’s plan to achieve the goals ofbeing an “open university.” In addition toproviding help in the use of technology (theHelp Desk that I mentioned earlier), thereare others resources: faculty instructionaltechnologists (FITs), the Center forMentoring and Learning, and publicationsshared through the college’s website.FITs are usually graduates from doctoralprograms in education who have specialtraining in the use of technology. They havebeen deployed to the regional centers andprovide useful information to everyonethrough a blog on a college site called “TheCommons” (open source systems, use oftablets and other mobile devices and newdevelopments). Faculty and FITs collaboratein the development of courses incorporatingthe new technology tools available to us.They provide ongoing advice and problemsolvingassistance. They are invaluable to allof us who are learning new ways to interactwith each other and with our students.Empire State College, through its Centerfor Mentoring and Learning, also providesongoing training and opportunities fordiscussion. These exchanges usually hadbeen provided when, once or twice a year,there were face-to-face meetings of the entirecollege. Now, the Center for Mentoring andLearning has its own website, which offersmuch information for new mentors andabout different groups that wish to connectwith each other.Aside from postings at the site, the collegenow conducts a series of webinars toprovide for new knowledge. For example,last year, Dr. Bakary Diallo gave a lecturefrom Nairobi, Kenya, on how usingresources from the African continent andaround the world, the African VirtualUniversity has created an institution usingthree main languages (French, Englishand Portuguese) that can provide Africancountries with learning opportunitiesrelevant to the creation of a well-educatedlabor force. We then heard Dr. StephenBrookfield of the University of St. Thomasin Minneapolis, Minnesota talk aboutwhat it means to educate our students tobe “critical thinkers” and its relevancetoday. Another webinar series that has beenrunning for the whole academic year issuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

106on formative evaluation (in essence, howcan we provide constructive and ongoingfeedback to our students). Overall, facultyfrom around the college have shared theirwork and thus continue a productiveconversation across the centers and differentlocations, and that, too, have connectedus with students and educators aroundthe world.Librarians and faculty have invested timeand resources in teaching colleagues abouttime-saving programs. For example, thereis a program called RefWorks, which helpswith citations. With this tool, you can entercitations manually or import informationfrom library databases and e-book catalogs,as well as text files. RefWorks allows youto bookmark and share a folder, and tieit to a course or Web page. Faculty teacheach other to use such resources as GoogleDocs. These are opportunities for studentsand their teachers to share documentssynchronously and asynchronously. Studentscan literally “see” the changes that theirinstructor or peer tutor make to the text,indicating where better wording or bettergrammar is appropriate.I want to speak briefly on another aspectof Empire State College that, as the titleof this talk mentions, “bridges” one of the“divides.” Along with the fact that thereare more and more institutions developingin the United States and around the world,we recognize that learning accomplishedin nontraditional ways (outside of theclassroom in workshops, work-relatedtraining, private reading, professionalactivities) is worth college credit if a facultycan assess it and equate it to college-levellearning. The college has been engagedin prior learning assessment since theinstitution’s start, as many of our studentshave been returning adults continuing onto graduate school or aiming for the workpromotion they so eagerly desired. One ofour promises is that students should nothave to re-take courses relevant to theircurrent academic plans that they completedat other institutions. Many students takeadvantage of prior learning assessment andof the college’s flexible transfer policy..As an innovative institution, Empire StateCollege has tried to provide access to awide range of open educational resourcesand to support faculty and students in theiruse. In important ways, this connects usto a larger “open educational resources”movement that is bringing great changesto our world and to higher education. But,in addition to the incredible opportunitiessuch an “open” system offers, it also throwsinto question some practices that we haveconsidered “unchangeable.” If students canjoin Stanford University graduate studentsin a course in Artificial Intelligence withouthaving to pay Stanford tuition, then whatinstitution benefits? The MassachusettsInstitute of Technology has been postingits syllabi on the Web for some years. Ihave made use of them to gather ideasand new bibliographies. Imagine: in justtwo weeks, the enrollment in the Stanfordcourse was 68,000 students! Even Nonenrolledstudents can participate in courseslike this. Empire State College and all thoseinstitutions that identify, recognize andaccredit informal and alternative collegelevellearning can, perhaps, serve thesestudents by finding ways to evaluate andthus accredit what they have learned.The excitement is in the air. For example,Alt-Ed, an online publication devoted todocumenting significant initiatives relatedto massive open online courses (MOOCs),published an article on March 20, 2012titled, “The Stanford Education ExperimentCould Change Higher Education Forever”(Leckart, 2012). However, the revolutionis still evolving. Not all institutions offerthe same services for the same course. In2012, The Chronicle of Higher Educationcompared six institutions teachingIntroduction to Economics, Principlesof Microeconomics, Microeconomics:An Introduction and Principles ofMicroeconomics and found that some offerrecorded lectures, some have interactionwith other students, some provide options totake quizzes and tests, all give readings andassignments, but most do not offer contactwith professors (Mangan, 2012).Empire State College, which is part of alarger State University of New York system,has joined a consortium of institutions inCanada, Britain, Australia and the UnitedStates. A similar consortium in Europe,backed by the Commonwealth of Learning(COL) and UNESCO, sent representatives toa meeting in Cambridge, England to discussthe basis for coordination and cooperation.One hundred and twenty-seven institutionsparticipated in this gathering.According to the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization, “Open Educational Resourcesare teaching, learning or research materialsthat are in the public domain or releasedwith an intellectual property licensethat allows for free use, adaptation, anddistribution” (UNESCO, 2012, para. 2).Usually these new trends tend to favor rich,developed countries, but this movement canenrich institutions in the developing worldwhere the need for highly trained workersmay not be able to be achieved throughtraditional universities; the institutionscould follow the path that I earlier describedof the African Open University in whicheducation is provided through differentinstitutions with a common content butin different languages. I think it is in thissame spirit of innovation and responsivenessthat at Empire State College, a committeeThe excitement isin the air.is looking at Moodle and Mahara astools that can give us new “open”educational opportunities.Critical thinking is of prime importance inthese environments, as students and otherparticipants have to make decisions aboutthe authenticity and validity of materialthat is free and online (Mackey, 2011).Cross-cultural experiences are very muchpart of our work. Faculty teach in differentprograms and in different countries. Usingnew technologies, we can increase ourstudents’ learning in a globalized worldthat is shrinking (B. Chandra, personalcommunication, 15 May 2012). This offersus another kind of “bridging” that is anecessity today.I invite you to think about these issues andto take time in these few days together totalk about them. It has been a pleasure tospeak with you today. Thank you so muchfor listening.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

107ReferencesBenke, M., Davis, A., & Travers, N. L.(2012). SUNY Empire State College:A game changer in open learning. InD. G. Oblinger (Ed.), Game changers:Education and information technologies(pp. 145-157). Retrieved fromhttp://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/pub7203.pdfKukulska-Hulme, A., Pettit, J., Bradley,L., Carvalho, A. A., Herrington, A.,Kennedy, D. M., & Walker, A. (2011).Mature students using mobile devices inlife and learning. International Journalof Mobile and Blended Learning, 3(1),pp. 18-52.Leckart, S. (2012, May 3). The Stanfordeducation experiment could changehigher learning forever. Retrieved fromhttp://alternative-educate.blogspot.com/2012/05/stanford-educationexperiment-could.htmlMackey, T. (2011). Transparency asa catalyst for interaction andparticipation in open learningenvironments. Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3333/3070Mangan, K. (2012, April 29). Open-accesscourses: How they compare. Retrievedfrom http://chronicle.com/article/Open-Access-Course-How-They/131677/SUNY Empire State College. (n.d.). Collegemission. Retrieved from http://www.esc.edu/about-esc/college-mission/SUNY Empire State College. (2013). Factbook 2011-12 (11th ed.). SaratogaSprings, NY: SUNY Empire StateCollege Print Shop.UNESCO. (2012). Open educationalresources. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/ communicationand-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/“This suggests something else about an educational institution that valuesstudent-centered learning: that educators continually seek to learn more aboutteaching and learning itself by reflecting on their experiences working withstudents. This entails, once again, maintaining open-mindedness about theways that teaching-learning might occur. But, since teaching-learning is anintegral aspect and a core assumption of education, this also suggests that acollege’s open-mindedness translates into another quality I would call reflexivity:Educators simultaneously treat their deepest assumptions about education –for example, what “teaching-learning” means or how it occurs – as openquestions in and of themselves, not as immutable givens. And, they adoptthis reflexive stance not only when they are safely isolated from students(e.g., as a purely research question), but also when – especially when –they are working with students.”– Eric Ball, “Some Qualities of aLearner-Centered Educational Institution”All About Mentoring, 30, winter 2006, p. 40suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

108A Tale of Cloud CollaborationKjrsten Keane and Miriam Russell, Center for Distance LearningA Center for Distance Learning studentpicks up his cell phone and begins to dictatean assignment. Recording content verballyis a standard practice, as he is disabledwith spastic cerebral palsy. The studentunderstands most of the requirements ofthe assignment, which he has previouslydiscussed with his mentor over the phone.This is his rationale essay, an essential partof CDL’s online Planning and Finalizing theDegree course, and the cornerstone of hisassociate degree. Using his Samsung GalaxyAndroid phone, he creates the recordingand uploads the content to his GoogleDrive application where he will be able toedit within the program. Though he alsocan upload his audio file to his netbookcomputer’s word processor directly, theGoogle app is key for this assignment, as heplans to share it with his mentor and writingcoach via the Cloud. 1Miriam Russell: A spiral of events ledus to Cloud Computing after the studentrequested extra help writing his essay. Ashis writing coach, it was my role to assisthim in the creation of his rationale essay inconsultation with his mentor. The studentand I began with a landline call. It soonbecame evident that communicating vialandline and cell phone due to his speechimpairment was time-consuming. We soughtan improved mode of communication,working to identify the best technology thatwould enable him to create and revise histext. First, he suggested using the Facebookchat mode; however, that solution was quiteinefficient due to his slowness in typing.Kjrsten Keane: As his mentor, I was awareof the student’s need to connect frequentlyto seek clarification and support for hiscoursework and participation. Despite theinefficiency of our landline and cell phoneconversations, the student continued torequest close contact.Miriam Russell (left) and Kjrsten KeaneM.R.: The student’s ongoing desire totalk with us personally prompted him tosuggest trying the Google Voice feature ofthe Google suite, in accompaniment withGoogle Docs (recently renamed GoogleDrive). I was only somewhat familiar withGoogle applications, but I did have a Gmailaccount that allowed me to explore thefeatures he discussed. Soon I was wearingearphones with a mic plugged into mycomputer. While on my inbox page, thestudent would call me to talk. I was struckby how much more intelligible his speechseemed when transmitted via our computers.As a result, I no longer had to ask him toslow down so I could better understand him,and thus we were able to make significantprogress in planning our strategy with hisessay. Since the Kjrsten closely supervisedthis essay, we all began to communicatevia Cloud calls in order to effectively movetoward the conclusion of the essay.K.K.: Navigating the hurdle to connect witheach other in a more seamless way, Miriamand I discovered that the writing challengein our scenario was actually “transactionaldistance.” Moore (2007) definedtransactional distance as the psychologicaland communication space between learnersand instructors. Transactional distanceis relative and different for each person,meaning that some learners are morecomfortable with distance than others, andthat distance can take many forms (largelecture vs. small seminar, online vs. face-tofacevs. hybrid).M.R.: Since the beginning of distanceeducation, there has been a great deal ofconcern on the part of theorists about thepsychological and communication spacebetween learners and instructors. Somehow,the near presence of a student in theinstructor’s office was thought to provideunequivocal tangible support.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

109K.K.: The physical distance between ourcollaborative team was apparent from thebeginning: we were substantially separatedby location (Manhattan and Troy, N.Y. andLexington, Va.). The transactional distancewas less obvious. The writing skills thatthe student brought to the table were fairlystrong, but they were not revealed until wewere connected on both a visual and verballevel in the Google apps space.M.R.: Right! His seemingly basic errorspreviously masked his true capabilities.During our voice/text conferences, as wereviewed my comments and highlights, itwas easy for him to identify the correctspellings or to revise his sentence structurein the case of fragments or run-on sentences.Because his typing was labor-intensive, Ifelt justified in allowing him to dictate hisrevisions to me. Taking his dictation, itwas evident that he was an able creator ofadvanced-level writing. The transactionaldistance had been breached to the extentthat he would transfer his words to the pagequickly through my fingers. For those of uswho are most comfortable with traditionalkeyboard functioning, it is rather off-puttingto imagine our students composing theirwork orally; there may always be a needfor print editing. However, for studentswith neurological impairments, thisstudent’s approach works best for him untilsomething better becomes available.K.K.: According to Moore (2007), theextent of transactional distance is a functionof structure (course design) and dialoguethat can produce autonomous learners. Ourdesign challenge was met through GoogleDocs. The application allowed us all tofunction to meet the learning objectivessynchronously and asynchronously in asupportive online environment.M.R.: Still, there were technical challenges.Connecting online in this new way wasa steep learning curve for me as a “nontechie.”Google accounts are an obviousnecessity; including team participants inone another’s Google contact lists also wasrequired. While it was easy to downloadGoogle Voice, at times I was frustratedbecause I couldn’t answer the ring window.Sometimes the solution was as simple asplugging in my earphones or turning themto the “on” indicator. I soon learned tolocate and check the settings frequently todetermine if my mic was properly selected.Nevertheless, it seemed Google technologyitself wasn’t always reliably cooperative,so we occasionally resorted to threewayphone conversations using cell andlandlines as back-up. In addition, I learnedthe importance of officially ending a callin the call window on the Gmail inboxscreen. Forgetting to disconnect meansthat students can still hear after you havemoved on to other conversations! In spiteof these challenges, we are enthusiasticallyadvocating use of the Cloud to close thetransactional distance gap.In the process of learning how to use thetechnologies of Cloud collaboration viaGoogle Docs with a disabled student, itbecame clear that the same process is highlyeffective as a conferencing and teaching toolfor all others who need help with writingassignments. Presently, we aren’t advocatingthat students compose the majority of theirwritten assignments via mobile technology,as was necessary for this disabled student.In fact, documents created on a mobiledevice are apt to be replete with spellingerrors and faulty punctuation. They arequite useful, however, to create a draft thatcan be checked later in a Word documentor in Google Drive prior to submitting afinal copy.K.K.: In our case, the technology wasthe window we needed into the student’swriting process and capability. Without themobile application and the Google Drivecollaboration options, we may never havefully understood the skill set of the studentor assisted in refining the essay to the degreethat we did.M.R.: We are supporting the use of Cloudcomputing with applications such as GoogleDrive as “savers” of documents, not onlybecause it automatically saves and trackseach change every few seconds, but forthe accessibility it offers to individuals andgroups of people anytime and anywhere theInternet is available.K.K.: In addition, we find ourselvesincreasingly using Cloud collaborationto communicate synchronously as wellas asynchronously with colleagues at adistance. It compares most favorably withface-to-face conferencing because the timespent joining the conference is reducedto seconds, which is especially useful ifparticipants live in another state or country.Furthermore, the choice of applicationsin the Google suite includes visual andauditory communication.To increase the strength of the writtenrationale in this case, Miriam and I focusedon dialogue – facilitative dialogue, in theMoore (2007) spirit – to meet our goals.Working with dialogue builds studentautonomy and establishes more learnercontrol. The role of the instructor canthus truly evolve into one of guide vs. sage(Mezirow, 1991).Our ability to couple the auditory withthe visual is vital in encouraging studentautonomy because the tone used by theinstructor is key. Ghosh (2011) noted: “Therapid distribution of instructor feedbackthrough rubrics and Google Voice providesstudents with specific and timely commentsand helps decrease student anxiety andfrustration” (Evidence of Effectivenesssection, para. 4). Small talk, combinedwith Socratic questions, works wonders inbuilding a student’s confidence in editingskills. As the student and coach/mentorfocused on specific words or phrasessynchronously or when commentingasynchronously, questions like, “Is therea word that would work better here?” or“Can you expand upon this idea?” arebetter than “This is wrong!” or “Changethis.” Autonomy is strengthened by avoidingthose didactic phrases, rather resorting toquestions such as: “What would happenif we turned this sentence around? Do youlike that better?” Or, “Is there any more wecan do to improve this paper, or is it readyto submit?”M.R.: In contrast to didactic methods,dialogic methods used in our collaborationenabled the student to find his voice andgain ownership of the words he selectedto create the document, thereby achievinga positive outcome that is essential to hisultimate success in attaining his degreeat Empire State College. In a short sixmonths, we learned a great deal throughthis collaborative effort with a disabledstudent. Consequently, most of my coachingto help students overcome writing problemsnow takes place on the Cloud. After thesuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

110student reviews my comments on his or herdocument and we connect synchronouslyusing Google Voice, the experience isexhilarating and the outcomes appearmuch better than they would have beenotherwise. Preliminary results consistentlysupport this result. As we continue tocollaborate on the Cloud, we expect to findmore positive results for teaching, mentoringand coaching students along with expandedapplications for collaboration with otherfaculty and mentors.Lastly, working in the Cloud saves time;all documents saved within seconds on theCloud can be accessed from any locationwithout resorting to hard copies, emailattachments or saving to a flash drive. It’s aconsolation to busy instructors who may bemoving from home to work and back again,to have the most up-to-date text ready toread and, if needed, to share instantly withothers on a mobile phone or any computerwith Internet access. Learning about theresearch tool was an amazing revelation.Just highlighting material and clicking“research” instantly gives original sourcesas well as additional Web articles on anygiven topic!K.K.: Ultimately, our case study is a story ofhow a disabled student struggled to find thebest way to communicate at a distance withhis mentor and writing coach. EmergingCloud technology provided a vehicle for thisdisabled student to gain writing skills andto achieve more confidence and autonomywhile developing a strong relationship withhis mentors.M.R.: Our CDL colleague, NatalyTcherepashenets, and Florence Lojacono(forthcoming 2013), in the introduction totheir forthcoming book, Globalizing Online:Telecollaborations, Internationalization andSocial Justice, quoted Heidegger, who seestechnology as enabling a kind of liberation,observing, “When we once open ourselvesexpressly to the essence of technology, wefind ourselves unexpectedly taken intoa freeing claim” (pp. 330-331). This israpidly becoming a reality for learningthat challenges us to keep up with ourstudents’ usage of technological advances incommunication and text sharing.Interestingly, to date, Datatel shows thatmost CDL students report a Gmail addressas their primary form of contact. Still moremay have a Gmail address as a secondarymethod of communication, as determinedthrough mentor-student or instructorstudentconversations. Furthermore, theabundance of active Gmail participationallows ease of access to Google applications.According to Campus Technology, “50%of higher education institutions use GoogleDocs as an app in the Cloud” (O’Hanlon& Schaffhauser, 2011, p. 28). It’s safe toassume that by 2013, the percentage willincrease. As the number of students whoare using Cloud applications rises, weare fortunate to have discovered its manyadvantages by working with one of ourstudents who happens to be disabled.Note1For those who are not familiar withCloud Computing, it is best definedas: “the use of computing resources(hardware and software) that aredelivered as a service over a network(typically the Internet). The namecomes from the use of a cloud-shapedsymbol as an abstraction for thecomplex infrastructure it contains insystem diagrams. Cloud computingentrusts remote services with a user’sdata, software and computation”(Wikipedia, 2013, para. 1). The GoogleDrive suite is comprised of productivityapplications, such as file creation andstorage, housed in the Cloud ratherthan on an individual computer.ReferencesGhosh, U. (2011). Teaching with emotionalintelligence in online courses.Sloan Consortium.Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/effective_practices/teaching-emotionalintelligence-science-online-coursesMezirow, J. (1991). Transformativedimensions of adult learning. SanFrancisco, CA: Sage.Moore, M. G. (2007). The handbook ofdistance education (2nd ed.). Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.O’Hanlon, C., & Schaffhauser, D. (2011,November). Diving into the cloud.Campus Technology, 25(3), 25-31.Tcherepashenets, N., & Lojacono, F. (Eds.).(forthcoming 2013). Globalizing online:Telecollaborations, Internationalizationand social justice. New York, NY andLondon, UK: Peter Lang.Wikipedia. (2013). Cloud computing.Retrieved 1/11/13 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computingsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

111“Making the Best in a Bad Situation”Catana TullyOur colleague, Catana Tully, who for manyyears served as a mentor at the NortheastCenter and then in International Programs,has recently published a deeply movingmemoir that traces her incredible path in atrilingual German-Guatemalan family andher search for identity as a woman of color.In Split at the Root: A Memoir of Loveand Lost Identity (Completion Enterprises,2012), Tully’s descriptions of her adoptedGerman mother, “Mutti,” her efforts tolearn about her biological parents, and theportrait of her life in Europe as an actressand fashion model, offer us a glimpse ofher complex and rich journey. As CarolynBroadaway, longtime Northeast Centermentor, wrote: “The questions [this book]explores strike at the heart of all of ourlives. How do we frame the persona wepresent to the world? How do we reconcilethe self-image we create and defend over alifetime with the image we see in the mirror?How do we come to love and honor all ofour mothers, and all of our heritage?”The excerpt from Split at the Root providedhere, a section entitled “Making the Best ina Bad Situation,” is taken from Part One ofthe memoir. In it, the author (referred to byher mother as “Mohrle” or “little Moor”)then 15, describes her wrenching leave forJamaica and difficult days in a boardingschool there – “a place of learning whereorder and honor ruled supreme.”Thanks to Catana for her willingness toshare her work with us.Early in the morning on the day of mydeparture, I found an oval box in myshoe. In it was a silver and navy blueParker fountain pen. It was a gift that wouldmark my passage from mischief-maker toserious student. Mutti and I boarded a busytwo-propeller Viscount and lifted into acool Guatemala sky, heading northeastward.Two hours later, hopping and skipping likean albatross trying to avoid scorching itsfeet, the plane landed on the sizzling stripin Belize. The door flung open and hot airflooded the cabin. Outside, I could barelybreathe in the stinging mid-morning heat.Belize smelled of salt, bananas, and tar.I was told the place had Black people; Ijust didn’t reckon they’d be everywhere.I became painfully self-conscious. Wassomething wrong with my beige suit?My hair? My speaking German? I stayedclose to Mutti, clutching her arm, evensqueezing it when someone came too closefor my liking. “Stell’ Dich nicht so an!”(Pull yourself together) she’d hiss at mewhile smiling sweetly and shaking me off.I noticed how she asked for information,arranged for the luggage to follow us, andwhen and how she handed out tips. I shouldhave noticed, but didn’t, that she was notscared of anyone and no one meant usany harm.Of the two days in Belize I only rememberwriting to Putzi that it was a frighteningplace. “Everyone is Black, from the streetsweeper to the hotel manager. You’d bescared too.”In Kingston we stayed the first three daysin a hotel that exemplified gracious Britishcolonial living. At first I thought we weredriving through a park, but the road led usto a white building that was more impressivethan the presidential palace in Guatemala.Flamingos and peacocks paraded freelyon the manicured lawns in a landscape ofpalms, giant ferns and waterfalls. There wasa swimming pool and several in and outdoorrestaurants. The breakfast room was an airybuttercup-yellow environment where goldencanaries chirped in white rattan cages, whilewe scooped balls of chilled buttery papayafrom Wedgewood bowls. I was quite awareof being the only dark guest in the hotelwhere the management was White, andthe help came in assorted shades of brownto ebony.The day prior to our departure forHampton, we moved to a more modestlodging run by two Scottish sisters whowere just about the sweetest old womenI’d ever encountered. They and their staffchaperoned the girls while in Kingston.Mutti made sure to befriend the sisters, thusreassuring herself that I was in good handswhile away from the school. She’s fabulous,I often thought of Mutti; the way she talkedto people, the way she got everything shewanted, the way people who had neverset eyes on her instantly liked her. “Howyou shout into the forest,” was one of herfavorite sayings, “the forest responds to youin kind.” She treated everyone with courtesyand humility, and the response was warm,friendly, and respectful.In the afternoon, while sipping tea andnibbling cucumber sandwiches on the porch,we watched as the overseas girls began toarrive. By dinner the place was alive withlaughter and gaggles of French, Dutch,and Spanish. We introduced ourselves tosuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

112some and I right away liked Sandra fromMaracaibo in Venezuela, who also wasnew that term. The next morning, withboxed lunches in hand, we set off for theSt. Elizabeth Mountains on a relic fromthe early days of railroad travel. Thelocomotive, emitting billowing clouds ofgrey smoke and chugging laboriously, pulledthe train along the countryside. Boringlandscape, I thought, no colorful trees orbushes like we have in Guatemala. Here andthere a beleaguered donkey needed a pokein the ribs from its ganja-smoking owner.Women with large baskets on their headsquaffed on corn pipes as they lumberedalong. Cloudy afternoon skies greeted us atour destination.Established in 1858 and perched on a widehilly expanse, the school was a dominatingU-shaped two-story construction. I don’tknow what I was expecting, but the minuteI saw it, I hated it. Several smaller housesdotted the grounds. I later learned they werescience labs, and music houses for lessonsand practice. On a small hill facing the mainbuilding stood a limestone chapel next to asolitary poplar.A blond, blue eyed, freckle-faced girlcame bounding up to us. “Hi, my nameis Sally,” she said with exuberant energy.She handed Mutti a note that invited us tothe headmistress’s office once I was settledin the dorm. “I’m your prefect. Welcometo Hampton,” and she handed me a greenenameled pin explaining it was for myuniform. It was the color of the houseto which I was assigned: Saint Hilda’s.Henceforth, I’d eat and sleep among SaintHilda’s girls; for all competitive events, thosein the other three houses (red, blue andyellow) would be my rivals.Sally helped me carry my suitcases tothe dorm, a long room with six beds.Curtains separating the cubicles were onlyto be drawn for privacy when washingor dressing. On one side of the bed stooda night table with a lamp and a decanterwith drinking water, on the other, a standwith a large white pitcher in a basin. I hada dresser and a closet. On the bed reservedfor me lay the ordered eight cobalt bluepinafores and bloomers, and white blouses.Sally’s cubicle, with walls and a door, wasat the end. Prefects were seniors, and aperk for that was being allowed to studyinto the night. Sally, who was Scottish andlived in Kingston, introduced me to theother girls. Peggy Chin was Chinese andlived in Mandeville, which was in Jamaica.Shirley Johns was English and flew in fromTrinidad; Janette LeFoire was French fromMartinique, Hatti Haaring, Dutch, camefrom Curacao; Antoinette Marsoobian, ofArmenian origin, was Jamaican and lived inMontego Bay. I was the only new one and,I noticed, the darkest. (Years later I learnedMutti had made such a request.) I unpacked,and Mutti put my clothes away to makesure everything was neatly stacked. Then thedinner bell rang.Mutti was escorted to the headmistress’private quarters; I joined the Saint Hilda’sline in front of the dining room. My placewas in the middle of a long table, at thehead of which throned Sally. At the otherend sat Denise, a sub-prefect - she was fromHaiti. There were two tables per house,which meant that each house had twoprefects and two sub-prefects.A procession of slender, ebony-coloredwomen balancing wooden trays on theirheads entered the hall. They fanned out andplaced steaming platters of food on stands.Someone said grace, and boiled beef waspassed around. Then followed a bowl ofvegetables and one of rice and peas. I helpedmyself sparingly to the funny-smelling wiltedthings. I knew I wouldn’t bring myself toswallow them. Sally admonished me, asJoyce removed my untouched plate, that infuture I would eat all the food I’d servedmyself. She had been friendly before; nowher words carried the iciness of authority.I was not accustomed to someone so closeto me in age telling me, in such uncertainterms, what I could and couldn’t do.After dinner, all I could think of was findingMutti. The minute I saw her, I ran over andbegan my bombardment: “I hate this place!For heaven’s sake, don’t leave me here!”Mutti looked sad, preoccupied, but Ididn’t care.“Dinner was ugly grey meat! The carrotsand string beans were cooked so longthey were mushy,” I gagged with disgust,“and the rice had peas in it and tastedlike coconut! Muuuutti, the food here isrepugnant! Uagh,” I gagged again forgood measure.I knew she empathized with me but sheonly looked sad and, touching my cheek,said: “Food in boarding schools is not highcuisine, Mohrle. And the English are notknown for their kitchen.” She hooked herhand into my arm as we walked to a bench.“I understand it’s going to be difficult,” shesaid sitting down, “because you have to getaccustomed to the ways of another country.Dear, dear child,” she sighed, and sighingagain, kissed me on the cheek.The bell rang. “Bells, bells, bells. This isnerve-wracking,” I moaned. This time wehad to get in line and march to chapel forevening prayers. Mutti had no sentimentfor church rituals. This was not a wedding,baptism, or funeral, so she climbed into thewaiting car that would drive her to wherevershe was spending the night.When she returned the following morning,I was waiting and ready. I ran to her, awashin tears: “This place is hell!” I cried. “Thatpitcher with water in the cubicle? It’s totake care of the morning shower. Thesepeople are filthy! They told me we showerevery other day, and when there’s a drought,which means there’s no rain, we can easilygo for a whole week without bathing. Thebathroom should be called ‘Egypt’, Mutti;it’s so far away. And Mutti,” I sobbed,breathless and distressed, “they servedsardines in oil for breakfast… I haven’teaten since the boxed lunch on the train,”I wimpered.Silently she took me in her arms. I was sureshe was going to tell me to go pack my stuffat once and we were going home. But sheonly said, “Be brave, Mohrle. It’s for thebest that you learn to adjust to all sortsof conditions.”“There’s no way I can adjust to this! I wantto go home with you. You can’t leave mehere,” I said clutching her arm. I began tocry, right there in the open. I didn’t care whosaw me. I wasn’t staying anyway.The bell rang. What did that mean now?Chapel? Again? Was I expected to troop tochapel twice a day? “Oh no!” I screamed,“This whole thing is getting out of hand!”Sally was suddenly next to me, and takingsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

113my arm, led me to the line. This can’t behappening to me, I thought, despairing.Mutti smiled and in German suggested Ipray not to be given sardines for breakfastagain. More seriously, she added: “I’ll seeyou later,” and waved to me as I followedthe line of girls.I didn’t see Mutti later. Not after lunch,nor after the afternoon rest period. Then Ireceived a message from the headmistressinviting me to her office for tea.Miss Wesleygammon, the headmistress,was a stern-looking woman with black,well-groomed short hair, expressive, thickblack eyebrows, and a rather wide, thinlippedmouth that covered a set of crookedalabaster teeth. She was dressed in a limegreen linen dress with hand-embroidereddahlias on the collar. Her very black eyeswere friendly, and her voice was rathersweet. I remember thinking it odd that sucha sweet voice could come from so sterna face.“Thank you for having tea with me,Catana,” she said smiling, and gestured forme to sit in one of her caned Chippendalechairs. The mahogany-paneled office wasdark. Etchings of flowers and tropical birds– the sort one finds in better art dealerships– graced the walls. Behind her large, solidebony desk hung her diplomas.“I hope you’ll feel comfortable in this schooland find that everything is to your likingonce you’ve been with us for a few days,”she said, smiling.What was she talking about? Just wait ‘tillI get to my mother, I thought. I’ve spentone night here, but she’ll let you know thatshe’s blasting me out today. Not wanting toseem ungracious, I said in a polite soft voice:“I’ve never been away from home, andeverything here is different from the wayI’m accustomed.”“Care for tea?” Miss Wesleygammonoffered.“No, thank you.” I was not in the mood;I was waiting for Mutti. I wanted the greenlight to pack my stuff.“Catana,” her voice was soft, her lookpiercingly direct and her smile had a slightedge of triumph… “Your mother left forGuatemala this morning.”“That’s impossible,” I choked, aghast.“I suggested to her,” Miss Wesleygammoncontinued, disregarding my shock, “that thebest thing would be for you to stay here.You need the learning this environment andthis school will give you.” She sat upright,her back straight as if someone had shoveda walking cane up her butt. Gesturing,so as to make me understand thateverything, but absolutely everything theschool provided, including only one pitcherof water for the daily toilet, the sardines forbreakfast, the rice that tasted of coconut,and boiled green bananas, was somethingI needed to learn about.“She can’t have left,” I said breathless.My heart beat so loudly I hardly heard myvoice. “She didn’t say good-bye to me; shetold me she’d see me later. Now is later.She’s staying three days. Where is she?”My voice was meek, my mouth dry andsomewhere in a dark, deep place I knewthe devastating truth.“Your mother left at nine, on themorning train to Kingston. I droveher to the station.”The weight of my body filled my brownleather shoes as the cool air of the fan,circling overhead touched my skin. I wasn’tgoing to cry in front of this woman. But Icouldn’t fathom how Mutti would simplyleave me, just like that go away withoutme. I hadn’t finished… Heck, I hadn’t evenstarted complaining and she was already outof earshot in Kingston. How could she havedone that to me?Miss Wesleygammon stood up, and sodid I. She took two steps toward me andgently placed her perfumed arm around myshoulder. Walking me to the door she said,“Your mother left because if she had notdone so then, she would have taken youwith her. She was very conflicted but knowshow important it is for you, in the long run,to be here. She also knows that you are veryunhappy staying now.” She placed bothhands on my shoulders and turned me toface her. “Your mother loves you very, verymuch, Catana. Things will be better in a fewdays,” kindness coated her words. “Pleaseknow that my door is always open to you;you can call upon me about anything,anytime. I am here for you.”Catana TullyWith that, I was out of her office and onthe way to my dorm. My dorm… thatunfamiliar place I shared with other girls,where even what had my name on it wasalien to me. I took my doll and hugged herto me as I fell onto my bed, heartbroken.Indescribable grief slowly seeped into themarrow of my bones. “What have I donethat this should be happening to me,” Ithought as I cried every tear out of mybody. In my fifteen years I had never felt soabandoned. I thought I had tough nerves;not so … now my heart felt like a fragilerosebud. When evening came, Sally satdown on the edge on my bed and gentlyinformed me the dinner bell had rung. I saidnothing as I picked up the pitcher, pouredwater in the basin, splashed my face andwalked down the stairs across to the diningroom on the other side, and got in line,swollen face, red eyes and all. I ate a little ofthe rice and tried salted, oily cod. I took apea-sized portion of something yellow calledackee and swallowed it without chewing.No more special baby. Desert was tapiocapudding with coconut. I passed. I would eatwhat I had served myself, like it or not, justlike everyone else.A letter Mutti composed in Kingston arrivedthree days later. She had to leave suddenly,she wrote, and had no time to write me amessage. “I love you, my darling child,”she said at the end, and signed, “Be brave.Your Mother.”photo: patrick a. tullysuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

114By the time I read the words she was alreadyin Guatemala. There were no telephoniccommunications between Jamaica andhome, and it took six to ten days for lettersto arrive at their destination. News wasalways old by the time it reached me. Inthe remote Jamaican hills of St. Elizabeth,nothing could be rushed and I learned whypatience is a virtue.There were a hundred girls attending theschool, ranging in age from ten to nineteen.More than a third came from overseas.There were Dutch from the ABC islands,Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao; French fromGuadeloupe and Martinique; Italians wholived in Venezuela; Spanish from Colombia;Lebanese Trinidadians; Chinese Jamaicans;British Belizeans. Add to that the localisland mélange, and Hampton was theultimate international microcosm withBritish faculty, chaperones of mixedancestry, and Black servants.First and foremost, Hampton was a placeof learning where order and honor ruledsupreme. There was no monkeying aroundas there had been in the American School.Fifteen minutes into the first study hour, thesupervising prefect stood at the desk anddeclared, “All right girls, you are on yourhonor.” Then she headed out the door.I, of course, thought it time to chat andlet loose a little and looked around forsomeone with similar intentions. Everyone’snose was in their books except NievesSotelo’s in the back row. She also had anexpectant roving eye. We gawked at eachother and grasped immediately what “onyour honor” had meant. Believe me, it wasa major cultural shock.With little else to do, I had to adjust, buckledown and begin to study.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

115Mentor, Guide, Personal LearningEnvironment Engineer … or All of the Above?Mara Kaufmann, Center for Distance Learning - Nursing ProgramWith the advent of newtechnologies, changes andadditions to learning theoriesand methods have been swift. In Lombardi’s(2007) essay, “Authentic Learning for the21st Century: An Overview,” she wroteof these changes: “With the help of theInternet and a variety of communication,visualization, and simulation technologies,large numbers of undergraduates can beginto reconstruct the past, observe phenomenausing remote instruments, and makevaluable connections with mentors aroundthe world” (Lombardi, 2007, p. 2).Given this context, the in-person, one-ononementoring of adult learners needs somereflection and a fresh eye in order to move itinto the 21st century. For some of us, such amentoring model is a sacred cow; for others,it is one part of a paradigm of personalizingand individualizing college-level learning.Either view point reminds us that there isrichness and depth of learning that can anddoes exist between mentor and mentee,especially when both teacher and learnerare in sync.However, the faculty mentor is not the solesource of learning and support in a student’slife. Other individuals and experiencescan play an equal and sometimes moreimportant part in the learning, growth anddevelopment sought for and achieved amonglifelong learners. We see evidence of this allof the time. For example, in their reflectivelearning journals, students often report thattheir most impactful learning came frompeers in online courses where experiencesand new knowledge were reflected upon,integrated and then shared with classmates.We, thus, have to ask ourselves: In thesedays of Web 2.0 and 3.0 tools, what are the“changing roles” of mentor/mentee, learner/teacher, peer/peer, scholarship/life experienceand community/civic engagement? Especiallywith the challenges of our “problemcentered”worlds needing immediate“application of knowledge,” what learningenvironments most effectively serve thestudent of today?You will hear mentors identify themselvesas the “guide on the side” rather than the“sage on the stage.” But the picture is morecomplex. The image of the guide can be ofsomeone who is too close, with too tightof a hold and too short of a leash. On theother hand, a guide can be one who is toofar away and not near enough to keep thepath safe or to give timely direction. Thedefinition of the verb “guide” starts out witha partnership approach “to assist (a person)to travel through, or reach a destination… to accompany …,” but then moves onto the more directive approach, “to force(a person, object or animal) to move in acertain path ... to supply (a person) withadvice or counsel … to supervise (someone’sactions or affairs) in an advisory capacity”(Dictionary.com, n.d.).Is “guide” the right image of a 21st centurymentor? It seems it is time for those of uswho wish to move with the changes afootand provide the best practices in mentoringin our worlds, to let go of what needs lettinggo: to engage in the present and move intothe future.We speak of lifelong learning and growthas a journey, and so the definition “toassist (a person) to travel through, or reacha destination …” (Dictionary.com, n.d.)works with the concept of guiding theone journeying. The “journey” theme isused in many educational planning studiesacross the college, and it was used in thedevelopment of the Educational Planning:Transition to Baccalaureate Nursing course.Still, over time, within course or learningcontract development, the role of a mentorshifts from a one-to-one guiding perspectiveto a model of creating learning environmentsand experientially-engaging activities. Theseactivities can be creative opportunitieswhere new learning can arise from multipleMara Kaufmannsources, using multiple intelligences andproducing learning outcomes that hadnever been thought of by those of us whooriginally designed the activity. Is it possiblethat we limit learning by guiding on tootight of a schedule, with too many directionsor questions, or acknowledging only thelearning that matches our objectives and ourown expected outcomes?When charting a travel plan and gettingdirections, some prefer to use a globalpositioning system (GPS) instead of papermaps or electronic maps like MapQuest orGoogle Maps. Prior to relying on the newtechnologies now so present in our lives,paper maps provided the information weneeded, but also the options of alternateroutes and interesting places to visit or stopfor necessities. Once programmed, the GPSis much more rigid, specific, even dictatorial,and the experience of it as a tool for guidingone’s journey fits the definition of “guide”as “to force and move into a certain path”(Dictionary.com, n.d.). Many learningcontracts and courses developed in theparadigm of “sage on the stage” are like theGPS in setting out a course of content andoutcomes expected for any success to occur.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

116While traveling, using an electronic tablet/pad with Internet service can provide accessto maps and email, and any informationneeded on lodging, restaurants or roadservice. Using an electronic pad in guidingone’s journey most closely fits the definitionsof “guide” as “to assist,” “to accompany”and “to supply (a person) with adviceor counsel” (Dictionary.com, n.d.). Thedevice is flexible and can accommodatetraveling needs whatever they may be andwhenever they occur. Such tools also offerthe option of expanding the journey throughexploring new destinations or deepeningthe experience by giving the history andbackground of a landmark or place. Coursesand learning contracts with these optionsare more like the “guide on the side.” Theremay be objectives listed from the courseand learning contract that are used in theformation of learning activities, but thelearning outcomes that the student realizescan go much further and deeper, dependingon the student’s choices and actions.As mentors, our role as “guide on the side”is continuously undergoing development– it’s a never-ending construction zone– where many extra tools and resourcesare needed. Simultaneously, we are eachmentoring and being mentored by thepeople, events, experiences and knowledgethat we share. We each have a “personallearning environment” (PLE) that is alwayswith us, and the tools of this century helpfacilitate our learning as we identify ourpreferences for receiving, sending and ingeneral, communicating with our worldsand those within them. Though we mayhave a preference for face-to-face meetingsand use the phone whenever possible, somestudents want contact only online throughemails. This is their choice and meets theirPLE needs. Indeed, their understanding oftheir needs may be the main reason they arechoosing to pursue their education online.Regardless of the student’s PLE and learningstyle, a learning contract and course canbe designed that will allow the learningjourney to go deeper, wider, and higher thanthe faculty’s or even the student’s initialobjectives and expectations. As we are opento new learning theories and technology,we become skilled “learning environmentengineers” who are designing learningenvironments that will give rise to theknowledge, competencies and skills neededby 21st century learners.**This essay is intended as the beginning ofa series of writings I hope to do that posesome questions for further explorationsabout the faculty mentoring role. In thinkingand writing about this over the last year anda half, the drifting toward checking out thistree, going down this slope or adjusting thecamera’s focus on this wildflower becameoverwhelming as the flora and fauna ofthe landscape opened up. Like some of theunchartered territory of our 21st centuryworld, mentoring requires the preparedness,presence, reflection and care of a successfulexplorer. The next essay in the serieswill focus on the “Merging, Converging,and E-Merging Learning Theories andConcepts” to include andragogy, heutagogy,connectivism, authentic and experientiallearning, and others.During his 2006 keynote at the LearningWithout Frontiers Conference in London,“Leading the Learning Revolution,” Sir KenRobinson (2012) pointed to many “shiftsneeded” in education: in curriculum (fromsubjects to disciplines); in knowledge (fromstatic to dynamic); in teaching and learning(from solitary to collaborative, passive toactive); and in assessment (from judgment todescription, disenfranchising to empowering)(see minutes 22:52 to 28:50). It’s exactly thisspirit that we need to consider as we moveforward.If there is sufficient interest, anaccompanying blog may be set up forongoing dialogue and discussion onthis or the next article in the series.Please email Mara.Kaufmann@esc.edufor more information.ReferencesGuide [Defs. 1-5]. (n.d.). Dictionary.comunabridged. Retrieved August 1, 2011,from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/guide?s=tLombardi, M. M. (2007, May). Authenticlearning for the 21st century: Anoverview [White paper] (D. G.Oblinger, Ed.). EDUCAUSE LearningInitiative (ELI) Paper 1. Retrieved fromhttp://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli3009.pdfRobinson, K. (2012). Leading the learningrevolution [Video file]. Closing keynoteaddress at the Learning WithoutFrontiers Conference 2006, London,UK. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XTCSTW24Sssuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

117Institute on Mentoring, Teaching and LearningCompleting its First YearKatherine Jelly, Center for Mentoring and LearningThis past year, the Center forMentoring and Learning (CML)held its first annual Instituteon Mentoring, Teaching and Learning(IMTL). Fifteen faculty and academicadministrators and two librarians, threefaculty instructional technologists and aninstructional designer attended the openingresidency in June. Institute participants thencontinued their projects and connectionthrough the 2012-2013 year. We wereexcited to launch the IMTL and genuinelypleased to support the interesting, valuable,innovative work that faculty are doing. Theinaugural residency was developed by theInstitute Planning Group: Deborah Amory,Desalyn De-Souza, Sabrina Fuchs Abrams,Suzanne Hayes, Katherine Jelly (convener)and Alan Mandell. Desalyn, Suzanne,Kathy and Alan continued by planning andfacilitating conference calls through the year.To apply to the Institute, participantssubmitted a proposal for a project theywanted to carry out over the comingyear related to mentoring, teaching and/or learning. Projects – including research,innovations in practice and writing forpublication – varied widely, both in focusand mode of inquiry.Within the broad goal of supportingparticipants’ learning and development oftheir practice in mentoring and teaching, thepurposes of this first IMTL were to:• help participants leave the openingresidency with a clear plan andidentification of support people forcarrying out their project;• support institute participants inaccomplishing their learning goals;• support institute participants indesigning and carrying forward anindividual project related to theirmentoring and teaching;• provide for collegial exchange –including getting input on the focusand execution – regarding participants’projects; and• provide new learning opportunitiesregarding innovation in mentoring,teaching and learning for allinstitute participants.The summer residency, which openedthe year-long institute, allocated time to:individual project planning, small groupsharing and consultation on projects,individual consultation with a facultyinstructional technologist, librarian orcurriculum instructional designer and four“shared learning” sessions.We then continued our connection throughconference calls to share progress and getinput, and through participants’ individualconsultation with FITs and librarians. Andat the All College Conference, seven facultyshared their work in presentations that bothconveyed the creative work they are doingand gave attendees a sense of what wouldbe possible to do through the IMTL. Thepresenters were: Cynthia Bates, FrancesBoyce and Cathy Leaker (working on acollaborative project), Sue Epstein (sharinga project on which she’d collaboratedwith Michele Forte), Rhianna Rogers andAmanda Sisselman. In addition, several2012-2013 Institute participants will jointhe opening residency of the 2013-2014Institute to talk about their work and waysto make good use of the Institute.The 2012-2013 IMTL participants and theirprojects are:• Cindy Bates – Northeast Center:college-level, reading, writing, criticalthinking and research skills, andindependent learning strategies.• Suzanne Benno – Center for DistanceLearning: incorporating service learninginto Educational Planning.• Rebecca Bonanno – Center forDistance Learning: website for bothstudents and mentors on post-bachelor’sdegree options available in field ofCommunity and Human Services;creating repository of resources.• Elizabeth Bradley – School forGraduate Studies: incorporating andassessing content on identification andreferral of at-risk students into Masterof Arts in Teaching courses.• Nan DiBello – Niagara FrontierCenter: developing ANGEL site fornew graduate course, WorkforceDevelopment Policy, includingembedding video and incorporatingvideo material from open sources.• Sue Epstein and Michele Forte – Centerfor Distance Learning: developingblended Planning and Finalizing theDegree course; students “meeting” invirtual classroom and using discussionboards throughout term.• Himanee Gupta-Carlson – Center forDistance Learning: developing course,Creative Writing as Critical Inquiry.• Lorraine Lander – Genesee ValleyCenter: developing college Commonssite to provide resources for threepsychology studies, including links toopen education resources, websites,TED talks, YouTube videos, etc.• Cathy Leaker – Metropolitan Centerand Frances Boyce – Long IslandCenter: designing workshop seriesfor minority women seeking PLA;disseminating the project’s goalsand findings.• Thalia MacMillan – Center forDistance Learning: developingstreamlined Planning and Finalizingthe Degree workshop and Web pagefor mentees.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

118• Joyce McKnight – Center for DistanceLearning: developing communityorganizing incubator open toundergraduate and graduate students.• Lynette Nickleberry – MetropolitanCenter: investigating variation inindependent study practices and theeffectiveness of current practices.• Rhianna Rogers – Niagara FrontierCenter: collaborative student-drivenresearch project, “Fostering an ‘Open’Culture at Empire State College: AnEthnographic Study of the NiagaraFrontier Center.”• Kymn Rutigliano – School forGraduate Studies: designing aconference presentation to showcasedesign and delivery of live, onlinecrisis simulation. Integrating varioustechnologies in learning experience forstudents to practice what they havelearned in the course.• Amanda Sisselman – MetropolitanCenter: the potential for collaborativelearning between human servicesworkers and/or social workersand clergy, and building into theeducational program.In addition, the following facultyinstructional technologists, librariansand curriculum instructional designerparticipated in residency sessions andprovided individual consultation through theyear to faculty regarding technology tools,library support and instructional designneeded for their projects:• Sheryl Coleman, assistant directorfor faculty instructional technologies,Central New York Center• Sara Hull, librarian, Office ofIntegrated Technologies• Mark Lewis, faculty instructionaltechnologist, Newburgh Unit• Dana Longley, assistant directorfor library instruction andinformation literacy, Office ofIntegrated Technologies• Chi-Hua Tseng, instructionaldesigner, Office of AcademicAffairs (residency only)• Nathan Whitley-Grassi, facultyinstructional technologist, NiagaraFrontier CenterWith this year’s Institute not yet concluded,we have not yet done evaluations of thefull year, but in their evaluations of theresidency, IMTL participants stated that theywere very satisfied to have:• furthered their thinking abouttheir project;• developed their plan for carrying it out;• learned about the many resourcesavailable;• connected with and gained input fromcolleagues; and• identified who will support themthrough the coming year.And regarding what they found mostvaluable, participants mentioned,for example:• “the time to reflect on what I wasdoing, why I was doing it and howI would best achieve my goals (orrevised goals)”;• the “session on scholarship [that] reallyopened my project planning”;• “the individual consultation time [withtech specialists, that] resulted in severalconcrete plans”;• “connection, ability to take timeto focus”;• “seeing that it is organizationallypossible to support faculty in theirown work”; and• the “session on blended learning [that]was very relevant to my teaching.”Regarding advancing their projects,participants were well satisfied with having“expanded … thinking about possibilities,”“strategized a timeline … and identified apossible funding source.” As one participantwrote: “I have a doable plan of action and asupport network to see me through.”The Center for Mentoring and Learning isvery glad to have had the opportunity tosupport faculty’s work and development inthis way. And CML, Institute participantsand the Institute Planning Group havedeeply appreciated the administration’ssupport of this institute. Already, for thecoming year, we have grown to our cap of20 projects, with 25 faculty, administratorsand professional employees signed up for2013-2014. CML is very much lookingforward to building on and expandingthe Institute on Mentoring, Teaching andLearning in the coming years.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

119Found ThingsDiagram of Range of Programs (1971)In 1970, Ernest L. Boyer became thechancellor of the State University ofNew York. Soon after his appointment,Boyer established a task force of his topadministrators to plan a nontraditionalcollege. By January of the following year, hesecured a resolution from the SUNY Boardof Trustees to establish a nontraditionaluniversity college. As Empire State Collegehistorian, Richard Bonnabeau reportsin his volume, The Promise Continues(1996), the minutes of the SUNY Boardof Trustees of 27 January 1971 wereclear. Empire State College would “drawupon the resources of the entire universityto devise new patterns of independentstudy and flexible approaches to learningthereby providing accessibility for youngpeople and adults for whom an off-campusindividualized instructional pattern will bemost effective” (p. 18). With the generousfinancial backing from both the Ford andCarnegie Foundations, a new experimentinginstitution was launched with the“Prospectus for a New University College”(8 February 1971) serving as its statement ofguiding principles.The “Prospectus” includes a section on thegoals of this new institution and includesdetails about its organization, its “operatingrelationships” and “the academic program.”It is from the latter that the “Diagram ofRange of Programs” reproduced here hasbeen taken. Perhaps what is most striking isthe “range” that was envisioned and, too,the concept of “most open” so relevant tomany discussions today, 42 years later.(Thanks to colleagues Richard Bonnabeauand Bob Clougherty for their help on this“found thing.”)suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

120The Body in QuestionElana Michelson, School for Graduate StudiesA Review of:“Bodies of Knowledge:Embodied Learning inAdult Education”New Directions for Adultand Continuing EducationEdited by Randee LipsonLawrenceThe body, with its sensate,emotionally-saturated life, has beena focus of inquiry through severalgenerations of contemporary theory. FromWittgenstein and Dewey, though Merleau-Ponty, Foucault, Butler, Bordo and manyothers, the body has been explored as asite of experience and knowledge, as anartifact of culture, and as the matrix aroundmultiple debates concerning gender, “race,”social location, performativity and a longerlist than I can rehearse here. Recently, it hasbegun to get the attention of theorists ofadult learning (see, for example, Fenwick,2006). That attention, it seems to me, islong past due.A recent issue of New Directions for Adultand Continuing Education (Lawrence, 2012)offers an example of both the strengths andweaknesses of current treatments of thebody within the field of adult learning asa whole. The authors who contributed tothis volume are solid practitioners in theirdisparate fields, which range from danceeducation and theater, to nurse education,to management training; taken as a whole,they provide us with an interesting andcreative array of learning and teachingstrategies. I, thus, offer what follows in thespirit of a collective self-critique of what Isee as a collective challenge, both to takemore political and intellectual responsibilityfor the practices we promote and to engagemore consistently with important newschools of thought that have much tocontribute to the field of adult learning.The title of Lawrence’s edited volume,“Bodies of Knowledge: Embodied Learningin Adult Education,” plays on a well-seenand clever dual meaning: our physical,sensate bodies as bearers of knowledgeand, in the more traditional sense, themetaphorical bodies of accumulatedknowledges that reside within professions,academic disciplines, and other formalknowledge systems. This dual meaning,itself, raises the question of the relationshipbetween the two meanings of the term.Are “bodies” in these two senses inopposition to each other? Or do thetwo meanings exist in a more complextension, feeding into each other so thatthe opposition is never complete?More broadly, what do we, as practitionersof experiential learning, mean when wetalk about the “body”? Whose body are wetalking about? Do we have a universalizedbody in mind that in all important waysshares the same organic nature as other(human) bodies? My use of the term“organic nature” begs other questions, ofcourse, and I use the term advisedly to askwhether we see the body as part of natureor of culture and, still further, whether ourconceptualizations of the body confirmor trouble the culture/nature dualism thatparallels that of mind/body.Similarly, what assumptions are weinscribing about the relationship of bodyto mind? Do we code this relationship asone of separation and distance, with theperceiving, sensate body as the raw materialsfor learning? Or do we see the body as,itself, the bearer of knowledge and the mindas part of our embodiment? Finally, how dowe understand the relationship of our bodiesto other bodies? Are our bodies atomizedunits in a world of other such units, ordo we understand ourselves as existingin and through interaction with others,and accountable to and for the powerladensocial structures within which thatinteraction occurs?Whose Body? The Body andHistorical SpecificityThe need to take those questions seriouslycan be seen as early as the first paragraphin Chapter 1, in which Lawrence laid outa variety of approaches to the role of thebody in knowledge: intuition understoodas “spontaneous, heart-centered, free,adventurous, imaginative, playful,nonsequential, and nonlinear” (p. 5);kinesthetic or somatic learning; holisticforms of knowledge that involve heart,mind, body, and spirit; bodily awareness asa key component of consciousness; and thefeminist reclamation of the body as a siteof learning and resistance. While the statedgoal of the volume, certainly an importantone, is to encourage a greater awarenessof embodied knowledge and help adulteducators think about “how we can reclaimthe body as a source of knowing” (p. 12),that goal is compromised from the start.Imagine you are walking down adimly lit street in an unfamiliarneighborhood. It is just before sunsetand the streets are fairly deserted.Suddenly you hear a loud noise thatmight be a car backfiring, or it mighteven be gunshots. Your heart startsracing, your breathing becomes shallow,and you feel as if you may start tosuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

121hyperventilate. Some instinct tells youto run and leave the area as quicklyas possible. You don’t stop to think orreason or figure out what is happening,you just follow your body’s cues andmove toward safety. You rely on yourintuition. (p. 5)On one level, this imagined scene issimple enough. There is a general anduncontroversial consensus that humanbeings share with other species an inbornresponse to loud noise to which the word“instinct” can accurately be applied. Onthe other hand, however, it is not clear whothe universalized, unmarked “you” in thatparagraph is, whose instincts induce the urgeto flee. The situation is presented in sucha way that the particularities of the “you”don’t matter – “you” will have the samereactions anyone would in that situationbecause your body holds the same naturalimpulses that everybody’s does.The problem is that, by the time any of us isold enough to walk the streets by ourselves,the natural “instincts” of the body havebeen overwritten in innumerable, complexways by the hard lessons of a life lived ina quite particular body. What if the bodyin question can’t run because she has beentaught that her legs look better in highheels? What if the body in question hashad it drummed into his head by lovingparents that he should never run while in awhite neighborhood because someone willassume he’s done something wrong andshoot him? Further, what does “unfamiliarneighborhood” imply? What color arethe bodies of the people living in thatneighborhood, what assumption is beingmade about that on the part of the readerand what responsibility does the author havefor fostering those implicit assumptions?Thus, Lawrence’s opening anecdote re-erasesthe body at the very moment it tries torender it visible. If the point about bodies isthat they carry our knowing histories in bothsenses of the word, then an ungendered,nonracial, nonspecified body, as Susan Bordo(1990) has said in a somewhat differentcontext, is “no body at all” (p. 145).Lawrence seemingly knows better. In herintroduction, she draws on work by feministeducators who use embodied performanceto help connect students with the pain oftheir own histories so that “the unsay-able”can be said (Horsfall & Titchen, as citedin Lawrence, 2012, p. 9). But the authorsshe cites understand learning through thebody, not as the “primal” and “preverbal”awareness that babies have naturally andspontaneously, but as the holding of specifichistorical, cultural and personal memory.Indeed, two of the chapters in “Bodies ofKnowledge,” those by Yolanda Nieves andby Shauna Butterwick and Jan Selman,are exemplary in their understandingof the historically-embedded body inwhich the unspoken effects of oppression,marginalization and violence are stored.Thus, Nieves tells the story of a theatergroup in which a group of Latina womenused movement, embodied performance,and, in the end, voice to reveal what shesignificantly calls “undocumented” events(p. 36). Nieves, herself, is one of the bodieswhose history carries meaning; like the“you” walking down an unfamiliar street,her body reacts, but instead of presentingher twitching facial muscles and tremblinglips in terms of universalized instinct,she understands her fear as the productof a personal history that makesvisibility dangerous.Nieves tells us that one’s history (and,importantly, one’s stories about one’shistory) is not without danger. It opensone to judgment, caries the risk of furthermarginalization or cooptation and raisesthe specter of exposure and rejection. Thatthe body expresses fear is a function ofthe ways in which it carries quite specificphysical and psychic scars. Nieves notes,further, that the safety to speak what thebody knows requires the presences ofequally particularized other bodies. Thewomen whose bodies speak their storiestrust her because she is one of them. Theoutcome of the women’s work togetheris a performance, for which locationand audience also matter because placeand performance constitute a series ofrelationships between differently positionedbodies in a space that codes safety for someand not others.In a second, closely related chapter,Butterwick and Selman introduce thenotion of the colonized body to stress theways in which our bodies become subjectto history, sometimes in the form of suchbrute oppressions as rape or torture, butalso through the ways in which we enacton a daily basis the ideological frameworksand power relationships of specificallylocatedmembers of a society. Butterwickand Selman work with teachers andteachers-in-training and point out thatteachers, as typically female genderedbodies and as members of a multiply-visibleprofession, are required on a daily basisto perform the particular constructionsof gender and professionalism that theyhave internalized. In effect, what canbe understood as decolonizing the bodythrough dramatizing its story is an act ofindividual and collective self-revelation thatcarries the risk of unexpected meanings,surprise and even re-traumatization. It isa mark of their respect for the power ofembodied knowledge that the authors stressthe importance of allowing individuals notto participate.The chapters by Nieves and by Butterwickand Selman are powerful because theyrecognize both the deeply emotional andsensate quality of human consciousness andthe power-laden historicity of the content ofembodied memory.However, other chapters in this volumepull back from that understanding in oneof two directions, both of which, I believe,re-inscribe the mind/body dualism and denythe body’s historicity. On the one hand,claims are made for the body as innocentlyauthentic, as speaking essentialized truths.On the other hand, experiential learning ischanneled back into the conventional mind/body dualism, with embodied experienceseen as the raw material for learning thattranscends the body and takes place inthe mind.Essentializing the Body: The Bodyas “Nature” Versus “Culture”Snowber’s chapter on “dance as a way ofknowing” is evocative and elegantly written.Drawing on Martha Graham’s assertion that“movement never lies,” the author speaksmovingly of our gradual alienation fromthe body as we move through an educationsystem that forces children to sit still. Sheargued that, through dance, we can returnto kinesthetic forms of learning and recoversuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

122a “visceral language” that will allow us tounderstand more deeply “what it means tobe human in the world” (Lawrence, 2012,p. 54-55).Snowber is aware of the body as culturallymediated. Indeed, she argues that Westernculture inevitably distances us from ourbodies, teaching us to see them from theoutside and to shape them in the image ofthe culturally valued. At the same time,however, she treats the “natural” bodyas something that somehow survives themarkings of culture; we can return tothe body in order to access our feelingsand, with them, a profound connectionto the earth that will lead us to a greaterunderstanding of self and to a sustainingecological politics. As rhetoric, this is bothhopeful and appealing, but casting the bodyas an unchanging source to which we canreturn takes the body out of history andrelocates it in the realm of the “natural”in the same way that essentializing notionssuch as “maternal thinking” do. If we havebeen taught by Western culture to despiseour bodies, so that they have stood apartfrom our conscious understanding until wereturn to them, where have these bodiesbeen and what have they been doing in themeantime? How has the body stayed soinnocent of the all-too-acculturated mind?I am suspicious of claims for the naturalwisdom of the body. We are at an historicalmoment in which other people’s “gutfeelings” – a term both Lawrence andSnowber invoke positively – come in trulyterrifying versions. It is a time in whichknowledge claims based on embodiedand affective knowledge are not alwaysmade in the cause of progressive socialpossibilities. We are living through a timein which a frightening right-wing politic isfed by powerful “gut feelings” concerningthe threat posed by a gay man in a bar, aPakistani on a plane, or, that embodiedoxymoron, a black president in the WhiteHouse. We grapple as a society with peoplewho know in their bones that God hatesfags and whose “guts” tell them that theworld is no longer the fine place it used tobe because white men are being displacedby the undeserving and the uppity. In otherwords, some “truths” mediated by thebody – hate, fear, irrational fundamentalistreligious ecstasy – can be pathological, andsorting out the implications of what our“guts” tell us is the important other side oftrusting them.The Body as Raw Materialfor the MindOther chapters in “Bodies of Knowledge”reveal a different tendency that still typicallyframes treatments of adult learning; namely,that of using an embodied pedagogy butcontinuing to treat the body as a convenientresource for educating a self securelylocated in the mind. For example, Meyer’sdiscussion of embodied learning at workis less about embodied knowledge thanit is about using play and playfulness todevelop a more committed work force anda more productive company. She discussesa bank work force whose “motivationalmoment(s)” each morning range fromdodging marshmallows to dancing to theRolling Stones, and a digital media firmwhose employees cook together, make beerand ride bikes (Lawrence, 2012, p. 25).The techniques are such, Meyer tells us,that they reveal the whole person beyondthe “employee,” ease a good bit of thepsychic stress of work and help to developmutual loyalty between people based onshared experience.Thus, while the bodies in the workplacesdiscussed by Meyer are indeed active, thephysical activities in which they participateare not intended to engage the body as asource of knowing. Rather, the intent isto use physical activity to develop specificmental and emotional qualities, not toground knowledge in the body or listento what the body knows, but to nurturecollaborative relations and motivateemployees by encouraging the sense that, asone employee of the digital company put it,“this is not just a job” (p. 27).This tendency to treat embodied activity asa convenient resource for developing themind is even clearer in Howdon’s chapter onoutdoor experiential education. Howdon’sshort history of this form of experientialeducation begins with Kurt Hahn’s mid-20th century concern with the decline ofsuch qualities as fitness, initiative and selfdisciplineamong the youth. Hahn useddifficult, physically challenging expeditionsto inculcate self-confidence, leadership andinitiative. In effect, in keeping with thisspirit, Howdon argues that participantsgrow in leadership skills, group cohesionand self-knowledge through undergoing theexperience and reflecting on it afterward.He quoted Hahn as explaining that suchactivities “revealed the inner worth of theman, the edge of his temper, the fiber of hisstuff, the quality of resistance, the secrettruth of his pretenses, not only to himselfbut to others” and noted that Hahn wasfocused less on the physical challengethan on the “emotional, social, andpsychological” growth obtained (Lawrence,2012, p. 46). Thus, like Meyer’s discussionof embodied activity at work, Howdon’schapter is not about the body as the bearerof knowledge per se. Rather, it re-inscribesthe conventional Western understandingof embodied experience as providing theraw materials for the development ofmental qualities.I want to focus on a final issue raised forme by “Bodies of Knowledge,” specifically,what I believe is a failure to take full noteof the ideological embeddedness of anyand all framing conceptual paradigms. Thistakes two forms in the volume: insufficientattention to the theoretical paradigmsthemselves and insufficient attention to thepolitical implications of our practices.Positivist and Post-PositivistUnderstandings of the BodyDrawing in her chapter on her work as anurse educator, Swartz explores the use ofembodied pedagogy to instill greater bodilyawareness and healthy life practices amongstudent nurses and, by extension, patients.She defined her intention as providing “aclear and practical introduction to use of ascientific perspective on embodied learning”(2012, p. 16). Importantly, the chapterpoints to the relationships between theeducation nurses receive and the educationthey provide for their patients and betweena particular way of knowing – in this case,science – and social institutions – in this casethose of medical care.Swartz’s treatments of science, however,waver between positivist and postpositivistparadigms. At times, she assertsa positivist view of value and ideologicallyneutral neurology which, “because it issuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

123empirically derived and not philosophicalor theoretical, can avoid Western andEastern dichotomizing by encompassingboth” body and mind (Lawrence, 2012, p.17). That is, she treats the body as naturalin some of the same ways that Showberdoes. At other times, however, Swartzmakes a strong case for the historical andideological embeddedness of both thebody and the knowledge practices we useto explain it. She understands that “eachperson’s embodied mind is a unique productof life experience” (p. 18), sees health anddisease as “points of intersection betweenthe person and environment” (p. 19), andunderstands “clinical worlds” such as thoseof medicine as fraught with power andideology (p. 19). Specifically, she cites thecontending paradigms of body-as-machineversus body-as-organism and challengesboth her students and the reader to explore“the complex relationships among ourbodies, our lives, our ecological contexts,and power” (p. 20).It is unfortunate that Swartz does not appearto realize that her statements draw on twocontending paradigms: one that sees scienceas neutral and the body as pre-historical,and the other that sees them as nodes ofideology and contestation. The relationshipof brain to mind, the organics of perceptionas active or passive, and the ways in whichthe body “holds” memory are only some ofthe terms of reference that can best be seen,not as eliding the mind/body dichotomy butas negotiating it.I favor the post-positivist aspects ofSwartz’s discussion over the positivist ones,but that is not really my point here. Mypoint is that Swartz has not parsed herargument sufficiently to notice its internalcontradictions; specifically, she has drawnon two contending paradigms, both forthe body and for theories of science. Onecan make the case, of course, that the bodyin different ways is both pre-verbal andstructured via discourse, or that science canfunction in some ways that are relativelyfree of ideology but not in others. But todo so, one has to make that case carefullyand deliberately with full attention to thetensions within one’s argument – somethingI think is absent in her discussion.The Political and Ideological Non-Neutrality of Embodied KnowledgeLack of attention to the ideologicalnon-neutrality of one’s argument is, Iwould argue, even more apparent in thechapters by Meyer and Howdon. Meyer’streatment of embodied learning as buildingemployee commitment and morale speaksto an important debate that she does notacknowledge, namely, the extensive critiqueof new management strategies that attemptto foster employee loyalty in the face ofthe loss of secure employment and to makenew demands on employees in the guiseof whole-person learning and creativity.Similarly, Howdon’s repetition of Hahn’spedagogical goals – to foster the abilityto find “the inner worth of the man” and“confront the “fiber” of one’s “stuff” –furthers a view of personal and civic virtuethat is ideologically laden in ways Howdondoes not seem to notice; its masculinistethos, the implicit militarism, the codingof courage as physical, and the individualismof this form of “character” all need tobe problematized.Of course, I am willing to grant that, aseducators and entrepreneurs, Meyer andHowdon are not required to ground theirtreatments of embodied learning in socialcritique. I am more troubled by the ways inwhich a volume that attempts the importantwork of understanding more deeply “whatit means to be human in this world” (asSnober describes it, Lawrence, 2012,p. 71) pays insufficient attention to thequite different intellectual and ideologicallocatedness of its constituent parts. To beclear, the lack of consistency among thechapters is not itself a problem – indeed, therange of practices and theoretical/politicalapproaches is one of the virtues of thevolume – but the failure to acknowledge andcontend with those differences is a problem.Thus, Lawrence’s focus in her concludingchapter on the “common threads” (p. 78)among the chapters draws the reader’sattention away from important debatesand serious disagreements and toward asuperficial reading of these common themes.Making the connections requires not onlyan affirmation of the embodied natureof knowledge, but deeper thinking, morecareful reading and analysis than what isoffered here.Still, in many ways, “Bodies of Knowledge:Embodied Learning in Adult Education”is a step in the right direction. It movesthe field of adult learning, howeverincompletely, in the direction of a paradigmshift that has been long in coming, andit exemplifies one of the things that isadmirable in adult learning: namely, atenacious insistence on locating the creationof knowledge in grounded human life.I have paid this amount of attention tothe unevenness of the volume, however,because it is only through this kind of closereading that we can see the implicationsof failing to take our own theoretical andideological frameworks sufficiently seriously.Understanding the body as the bearer ofknowledge requires, ironically perhaps,our best and most rigorous intellectualengagement. This means engaging themultiple theoretical perspectives that framedisparate understandings of embodimentand requiring of ourselves a more careful,challenging critique. Whose bodies are wetalking about when we talk about embodiedknowledge? How do we understand bodiesas natural organisms and/or culturalartifacts? Whose theories of knowledge arewe drawing upon, and what makes us thinkthey are valid? Not to challenge ourselvesseriously, intellectually and academicallyreinforces our professional marginalizationand does nobody – least of all our students –any good.ReferencesBordo, S. (1990). Feminism, postmodernism,and gender-scepticism. In L. J.Nicholson (Ed.), Feminisim/postmodernism (pp. 133-156). NewYork, NY: Routledge.Fenwick, T. (2006). Inside out ofexperiential learning: Fluid bodies,co-emergent minds. In R. Edwards,J. Gallacher, & S. Whittaker (Eds.),Learning outside the academy:International research perspectives onlifelong learning (pp. 42-55). London,UK: Routledge.Lawrence, R. L. (Ed.). (2012, Summer).Bodies of knowledge: Embodiedlearning in adult education. NewDirections for Adult and ContinuingEducation, 2012(134), 1-78.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

124Remembering Robert HassengerTom Dehner, Center for Distance LearningRobert Hassenger, who died on 30November 2012, was a pioneering memberof the Empire State College communityand an important figure for more thanfour decades, serving the college in manycapacities at the Genesee Valley Center, atthe Niagara Frontier Center, in InternationalPrograms, in the Office of Academic Affairsand, since 1979, at the Center for DistanceLearning where he helped shape the futureof distance education at Empire StateCollege. Bob earned a B.A. in philosophyfrom Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from theCommittee on Human Development at theUniversity of Chicago. Author of hundredsof reviews and articles, Bob also editedand contributed to The Shape of CatholicHigher Education (U of C Press, 1967), apublication that cemented his reputation asan expert in church-related higher educationin America. In acknowledgment of hisabiding commitment to ideas and scholarlywork, Bob received the Foundation Awardfor Excellence in Scholarship in 1994. Manyof us will remember Bob’s questioningspirit, the distinctive timbre of his voice andhis omnipresent pipe and soda can; otherswere aware of his many years of devotionto youth sports and of his national rankingamong “masters” in the 200-meter dash.A memorial service in Bob Hassenger’shonor took place in Saratoga Springs on 08December, during which our colleague, TomDehner, offered the following reflections.Even though we are all saddened by thesudden loss of a dear friend, parent andcolleague, it seems most appropriate thatwe come together to celebrate his life andaccomplishments and to share memories ofhow he touched our lives. Knowing Bob, hewould surely want that.I will always remember Bob as an engaging,interesting and helpful colleague, mentorand friend for nearly 40 years – someonewhose wide-ranging intellectual breadth anddepth and wry sense of humor enriched mylife, and the lives of many of his colleaguesand his many students.Our first encounter was at the first facultymeeting of the newly formed NiagaraFrontier Learning Center in Buffalo.Although I think none of us had actuallymet before, the dean had shared brief bioson all of us. As I recall, Bob’s first words tome were something like:“Well Tom, how do you think our team willdo this fall?”It took me a moment to realize he wasreferring to the Notre Dame footballteam. We all know what an avid fanBob was and how he loved to play“Monday morning quarterback” whenreflecting and commenting on the previousSaturday’s game.Bob and I overlapped for only one year atNotre Dame. I was in graduate school, andhe was fresh from the University of Chicagowith a newly minted Ph.D., returning to aschool he loved, as an assistant professor.On many occasions over the years, weexchanged and shared memories of thatcampus, not just of football. It makes mehappy that this past fall he got to see“his team” climb to the top again aftermany years.Bob as MentorBob was truly a mentor to me, especiallyin those early years when we all workedtogether to launch a new learning center andto help develop some of the key policy andprocedure documents that were to guide ourwork with students. We were all “newbies”then, and he was our “experienced leader”;after all, Bob had a full year or more ofexperience with this mentoring stuff!!“Coach” is perhaps a good descriptor ofBob’s style as a leader, as a colleague and asa mentor.We looked to him for answers. But thosewho knew Bob and worked with him knowthat a response from him to a question wasnot likely to be a simple answer; it was morelikely to elicit a series of follow-up questionsfrom him, often with running commentary(sometimes affectionately described as“ruminations”). Bob’s response wasinvariably opening a dialogue, which ledto some useful insights and ideas, possiblesolutions or answers – at the very least, tosome provocative discussion.Bob let us know that this was a newinstitution, a new experiment, that therewere lots of questions still to be answered,and that we should see ourselves as activecontributors to its further developmentand refinement.Bob as Intellectual ColleagueEmpire State College is a richinterdisciplinary environment for mentors aswell as for students.There are a few colleagues who have beenespecially important in my own intellectualdevelopment, but probably none more sothan Bob.I knew little of the formal study of highereducation, for example. Through manyconversations with Bob, especially at thebeginning, in Buffalo, when we talked aboutthe seminal ideas and issues that led to thefounding of Empire State College, and someof the key people and their contributionsin the early days, I came to a much better,deeper understanding and appreciationof this “new experiment.” And I lovedhis stories about the “rival camps” thatdeveloped in the earliest days of the college.Intellectually curious, very broadly read,with a quick wit and distinctive sense ofhumor, Bob Hassenger was passionateabout things he really cared about. He reallyenjoyed the intellectual exploration of issuesand ideas, and enjoyed sharing his thoughts.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

125Bob was an excellent writer. I lookedforward to reading his book reviews, whichhe often shared, both because I reallyenjoyed and admired his writing style, andbecause he always had interesting things tosay. His writing was sharply analytical withinteresting insights and with an enviableability to relate detail to a larger themeor perspective.Bob also was a keen observer of humanbehavior, not surprising, given his primaryacademic interest area. But his interest herewas not for any mean-spirited reason, butbecause he really enjoyed trying to figurepeople out. His observations, when heshared them, were often delivered withsome kind of pithy comments, (I’ll resist anytemptation to share a particular example …)but almost always with a smile or a chuckle,and often with further elaboration of alarger context, which, of course, he wasn’tshy about expounding upon.He loved all aspects of the study of humanbehavior and loved to engage students inits formal study, and loved the challenge ofguiding students to discover new insightsfrom formal study that they could relateto their own lives and work and familyexperiences. This was clearly evident in themany courses and learning contracts hedeveloped, and by the fact that he continuedto tutor courses even after his retirementfrom the college.I recall something that Bob said aboutJohn Jacobson (former vice president foracademic affairs at Empire State College)when he heard about John’s death, severalyears ago. He commented: “John lived thelife of the mind.” It seems to me that also isa very apt descriptor of Bob’s life as well.Jesse and Andrew and Meg: you and yoursiblings should be so proud of your dadThank you for letting us, at this sad timefor you, share some fond memories of aspecial person and friend, and to celebratean interesting and productive life.I want to end my comments with anotherquote, this one from a colleague in anEmpire State College regional center whoworked with Bob on course developmentand who couldn’t be here today. She endedher email to me with this closing comment:“I remember Bob fondly … a smileinvoluntarily breaks out on my face when Ithink of him.” And it does on mine, as well.We will miss him.Robert Hassenger, circa mid-1990ssuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

126Remembering Karyl Denison (KD) EaglefeathersIvan I. Ivanov, Long Island CenterKaryl Denison (“KD”) Eaglefeathers cameto Empire State College in 2003 from herwork as the director of Tribal Head Start forthe Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana.KD came to the college with an amazingbreadth of learning and experience. Shereceived a bachelor’s degree in elementaryeducation, a master’s degree in Americanfolk culture and a Ph.D. in folklore. Thislearning, in addition to her many years offieldwork, direct service to communities,and organizational and communitydevelopment informed KD’s lifelong andheartfelt commitment to teaching, researchand museum/archival work. Along with herhusband, Clifford Eaglefeathers, KD was therecipient of many honors, including grantsfrom the Rockefeller Foundation and theNational Science Foundation. In 2006, shewas awarded the college’s Arthur ImperatoreFellowship for Community Engagement. Inaddition to her work as a scholar, teacher,administrator and community activist, KDwas an avid knitter and passionate about thefolk music of the New York City watershed.KD’s devotion to her blood and extendedfamilies was evident throughout all of heractivities. As Long Island Center colleagueIvan Ivanov’s remarks (given at a memorialheld at the Hauppauge Unit on 19 October2012) attest, KD’s breadth and depth ofknowledge, her insights into too-oftenneglected traditions, and her abiding carefor colleagues and students will be missedby all of us.I never had such a difficult time writing ashort speech – I started many times in thelast 10 days, and after hours of glaring atthe screen with my eyes in tears, emotionallyexhausted, I postponed it to the very lastnight. Every time I started, moments of thelast nine years came back to me like from anold movie tape with such explicit details andimmense pain of the loss. Because, as it hasbeen said, “truly great friends (and lovelyprofessionals) are hard to find, difficult toleave, and impossible to forget.”I have known KD since September 2003;we joined the college at the same time. Overthe past nine years, I have worked closelywith Dr. Eaglefeathers at the HauppaugeUnit, Long Island Center sharing challenges,exciting professional and personal moments,traveling many times to Old Westbury,Albany and Saratoga Springs jointlyexploring and growing into the professionof mentor. I found her to be an amazingprofessional, exceptional scholar, extremelyhardworking person and a wonderfulcolleague and friend.Dr. Eaglefeathers exemplified a perfectprofile of an Empire State College mentor.Here is what she wrote in one of herreappointment review essays:“I am trained as a social scientist andmy academic and applied work hasgiven me a deep understanding of thevalue of traditional knowledge possessedcollectively by communities … Communityand Human Services are about socialconditions and social change, identifyingand preserving what is of value, whileimagining, advocating for, and implementingchange when human conditions are out ofbalance. … My professional background asa college teacher, public administrator, andcommunity activist has prepared me to servethe extraordinary students that Empire StateCollege attracts. …”Her service to the students was marvelousand unforgettable: the students never tookonly one course with her; most of themdid follow-up studies with KD, eitherindependently or in one of her very popularstudy groups. KD was creative, inspirationaland amazing in her academic disciplines.Her approach was strongly interdisciplinary;she crafted her contracts to meet specificneeds of her students – including in groupstudies – and she demonstrated a solidsense of the mentor role. Dr. Eaglefeathersinterests were wide-ranging and she wasable to work with students in many subjectmatters within Community and HumanServices and Cultural Studies. Her courseswere outstanding; she made good use ofall kind of resources: print, audio, films,DVDs/CD-ROMs, online research databasesand field explorations. Our students willremember her well-known study groups inCommunity and Human Services Theoriesand Practices; Celebration and SustainableCommunities; Moral Commitment andSocial Advocacy; Cheyenne Language andCulture and the joint study in Art andHealing. The atmosphere in her sessionswas creative and lovely, the contracts werechallenging and supported with a widevariety of resources and materials to helpstudents to complete meaningful academicand practical assignments.Students always commended her asknowledgeable, engaging, and open to theirideas and their academic and career needs.As one of her students wrote:“From our first meeting to the endof my degree program at the college,Dr. Eaglefeathers has exemplified theconsummate Empire educator. Her keeninsight, intuitive nature and enthusiasmhave provided encouragement and sparkedinitiative. In reality, the depth of her ownlived experience combined perfectly withher academic achievements to offer ablueprint of learning … SUNY Empire StateCollege, all of its faculty and staff, and itsstudent body benefit from Dr. Eaglefeathers’dedication and commitment to its mission ofadult learning.”Dr. Eaglefeathers demonstrated herexcellent mentoring abilities not onlywith students, but also with colleaguesand friends. She informally and naturallygave of herself when we worked together.With other colleagues from LIC, I hadmany opportunities to prepare and presentsuny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

127with her at the 2007, 2008 and 2009All College Conferences in interestingmultidisciplinary topics such as: Utopia/Dystopia: An Interdisciplinary Conversationabout Technology and Society; MentoringFarther: Technology and Studies AcrossDisciplines, Professions, and Generations;and Arts and Healing. We all remember howher initiative, involvement and stimulatingperformances were vital for the success forour sessions.Dr. Eaglefeathers’ curiosity, creativity andher dedication to the field of Communityand Human Services made her one of themost valued members in the CHS area ofstudy collegewide. In all her pursuits as aconvener for CHS at the Long Island Center,as a co-chair of CHS AOS collegewideand on multiple governance committeesincluding the Senate and APC, she helped tobring energy, creativity, professional focusand a faculty perspective to the work ofthe college. KD’s active participation andinvolvement in a large number of planning,quality, search and governance committees,as well as in all of our center’s activities werealways critical, precious and important. Asour colleague, Barbara Kantz, stated as aHauppauge unit coordinator:“ … she brought a steady and reasonablehand to her administrative duties, sheidentified needs and solved problems inorder to maintain academic excellence in aclimate of change.”As a scholar, Dr. Eaglefeathers wasoutstanding: she earned a three-yearNational Science Foundation ResearchAward, the Imperatore Fellowship, theTechnology Development Fund Award,and the award of professional developmentfunds that led to a founding of a non-profitorganization and Catskills Folk Connectionand numerous presentations, publicationsand field work. I will use KD’s words toprecisely outline her teaching, scholarlyand community activities and how sheappreciated her work with communities andat the college:“Much of my teaching, research and servicesare in the area of healthy communities,communities coping with transitions,and community development. Two of thecommunities that I learn the most fromare the Catskills region of New York Stateand the Northern Cheyenne community.My course offerings have been invigoratedby what these communities have taughtme … I have benefited greatly from theadult pedagogy I have learned and theinterdisciplinary nature of Empire StateCollege. It has liberated my approach toresearch, teaching and learning. …”There are so many more things to add, butI hope these should highlight why I thinkin losing KD, we lost a lot of light andcharm-in-action. And here the quotefrom Helen Keller describes precisely ouremotional state:“What we have once enjoyed, we cannever lose.All that we love deeply becomes a partof us.”I think all of us – students, colleagues,friends and most of all, her family – feelpersonally touched by KD in our lives.For that magic and for the wonderfulexperiences we’ve all had becauseof her, we will be forever grateful toDr. KD Eaglefeathers.KD Eaglefeathers (top left) with her Hauppauge Unit colleagues in 2012.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

128Core Values of Empire State College (2005)The core values of SUNY EmpireState College reflect thecommitments of a dynamic,participatory and experimenting institutionaccessible and dedicated to the needs ofa richly diverse adult student body. Thesevalues are woven into the decisions wemake about what we choose to do, howwe carry out our work in all parts of theinstitution, and how we judge the outcomeof our individual and collective efforts.More than a claim about what we havealready attained, the core values supportour continuing inquiry about what learningmeans and how it occurs.We value learning-mentoring goals that:• respond to the academic, professionaland personal needs of each student;• identify and build upon students’existing knowledge and skills;• sustain lifelong curiosity andcritical inquiry;• provide students with skills, insightsand competencies that supportsuccessful college study.We value learning-mentoring processes that:• emphasize dialogue and collaborativeapproaches to study;• support critical exploration ofknowledge and experience;• provide opportunities foractive, reflective and creativeacademic engagement.We value learning-mentoring modes that:• respond to a wide array ofstudent styles, levels, interestsand circumstances;• foster self-direction, independenceand reflective inquiry;• provide opportunities for ongoingquestioning and revising;• reflect innovation and research.We value a learning-mentoringcommunity that:• defines each member as a learner,encouraging and appreciating his/herdistinctive contributions;• recognizes that learning occurs inmultiple communities, environmentsand relationships as well as in formalacademic settings;• attracts, respects and is enrichedby a wide range of people, ideas,perspectives and experiences.We value a learning-mentoring organizationand culture that:• invites collaboration in the multiplecontexts of our work;• fosters innovation and experimentation;• develops structures and policiesthat encourage active participationof all constituents in decisionmakingprocesses;• advocates for the interests of adultlearners in a variety of academicand civic forums.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

129Submissions to All About MentoringIfyou have a scholarly paper-in-progress or a talk that you have presented, All About Mentoringwould welcome it. If you developed materials for your students that may be of good use toothers, or have a comment on any part of this issue, or on topics/concerns relevant to ourmentoring community, please send them along.If you have a short story, poem, drawings or photographs, or have reports on your reassignmentsand sabbaticals, All About Mentoring would like to include them in an upcoming issue.Send submissions to Alan Mandell (SUNY Empire State College, Metropolitan Center, 325 HudsonSt., New York, NY 10013-1005) or via email at Alan.Mandell@esc.edu.Submissions to All About Mentoring can be of varied length and take many forms. (Typically,materials are no longer than 7,500 words.) It is easiest if materials are sent via email to Mandellas WORD attachments. In terms of references and style, All About Mentoring uses APA rules(please see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed.[Washington, DC: APA, 2010] or http://image.mail.bfwpub.com/lib/feed1c737d6c03/m/1/BSM_APA_update_2010.pdf).All About Mentoring is published twice a year. Our next issue, #44, will be available in fall 2013.Please submit all materials by Sept. 3, 2013.suny empire state college • all about mentoring • issue 43 • summer 2013

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