Macaulay Connections

Eportfolio usage continues to grow, with 1,036 eportfolios and 1,353 users as of March 4. More importantly, the diversity of uses is increasing, with classes, individual students, student groups, advisors, faculty and ITFs making use of the system for a diverse range of purposes.  Encouragingly, many students who began eportfolios as freshmen and then left them relatively untouched are now beginning to return to those eportfolios to document their progress and achievements in their sophomore year.  One example is "Artur Dabrowski, Architect". Artur ’12 (City) began his eportfolio with the other freshmen in the fall of 2008, with little more than the aspirational title.

Artur Dabrowski's final project, "Place," posted on his eportfolio, "Artur Dabrowski, Architect."

However, as he is now a sophomore with more to document, he has added photos of his work, creating the beginning of an online "Studio Work Exhibition."  Because the system is accessible and has a degree of permanence, it provides students the opportunity for longitudinal exploration, reflection, and documentation.  Additionally, because the eportfolios are (at students' discretion) public, another student, Tyler Alterman ’12 (Hunter), has been approached by a French publisher seeking to use some of his design work (discovered by an author who was browsing Tyler's eportfolio) in a textbook.

The spring Tech Fair for freshmen, which concluded on March 3, provided an opportunity for independent hands-on training and experimentation, with the students researching and exploring the 67th Street neighborhood and using web apps to develop and post interactive presentations of various types.  They mastered tools with which they were already minimally familiar (iMovie), and in many cases learned new tools (Dipity, VoiceThread, Zillow) or new applications of familiar tools (Google Maps).  The projects are assembled (with some brief reflections and explanations by the students) at The 67th Street Project.

For the first time this semester, Macaulay is offering two fully online courses. One of the courses "To Be or Not to Be: the Study of Ethical Leadership" is a one-credit course taught by Marlene Springer, the former president of the College of Staten Island, with support from Macaulay Central ITF John Sorrentino.  The other, "Alternate Worlds: Imagining the Future of Education" (click here to view this site) is a three-credit course, counting as a full interdisciplinary elective, taught by me. Both courses are open to Macaulay students from all campuses.  In both courses, there were difficulties of cross-campus registration and transfer of credits to be overcome, but both courses are now in progress, serving as examples of how these cross-campus and cross-disciplinary initiatives can be implemented.  "Alternate Worlds," in particular, is attracting national and international attention as a model of how a fully online class can be designed and run with open source tools and a granular and intentional approach to privacy and sharing.

Joseph Ugoretz
Director of Technology and Learning

By James Airozo, Director of Student Academic Awards and Honors

The second annual CUNY-wide Honors Opportunities Conference was once again hosted by Macaulay Honors College.  This year's theme was "Fostering Collaborations, Forging Alliances" and drew more than 70 administrators, directors, students, faculty from both the senior and community colleges as well as foundation representatives to share ideas on how CUNY can better serve its most talented students.

The responses to the on-line survey of participants were overwhelmingly positive. Highlights included a session on Research and Internship Opportunities Beyond CUNY which featured C. Gita Bosch, Associate Dean of the Gertsner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Francoise Freyre and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.   Both Deans oversee 10-week summer research programs and urged the Conference participants to encourage qualified students to apply to these exceptional programs.  They stressed that they are eager to have CUNY students participate in these enriched programs but that traditionally few CUNY students apply.  Participation in these intensive and competitive programs greatly enhance the chances of success for national scholarship candidates.

The panel also featured CUNY students who have participated in special research programs or internships,  They included Yelena Leitman, Hunter College, Goldwater Scholarship recipient who participated in the Marine Biological Laboratory Summer Fellowship Program, Casey Detrow, Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College who was an intern at the Economist, Lauren Nassimi, Queens College who interned at Time Warner STARS and Forest Ray, Hunter College, who was a participant in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Summer Undergraduate Research Program.  All students reported that these special experiences empowered them, built their confidence as they competed successfully with students form elite private institutions and clarified their career and graduate school goals.

Nancy Sanchez of the Kaplan Educational Foundation leading a session, "Transfer Scholarships, Meeting Expectations."

Another session that received high praise was the one focusing on the Memorandum of Understanding between Kingsborough Community College and Hunter College to facilitate the transfer of Kingsborough Honors Students to Hunter. An important component of the agreement is that Honors students who meet certain criteria will have the benefit of also becoming part of the federally funded McNair Scholars Program.  The McNair Program prepares talented low income and minority students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and scholarly activity.   The MOU also provides for a wide range of support services including GRE preparation and students will receive a stipend. This agreement was an outgrowth of the first Honors Opportunities Conference in which representatives of these two institutions began preliminary discussions.

This collaborative trend is continuing with preliminary discussions being entered into between LaGuardia Community College and Hunter College for a program to facilitate the transfer of LaGuardia Community College Honors students to Hunter.  Both of these collaborations seek to provide an alternative for talented community colleges students who are routinely recruited successfully by area private colleges and universities.