Transfer Pact Earns CQIA Silver Honor Eastern’s Transfer Compact Agreement with four Connecticut community colleges recently won a silver Connecticut Quality Improvement Award for Innovation. Kimberly Crone, director of admissions, submitted the agreement to the Stamford-based organization, which is broadly based on the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award process.
The Transfer Compact Agreement offers students a smooth transition from their community college to Eastern. The agreement allows prospective students to simultaneously apply to their community college of choice and Eastern. Once students are admitted, they meet with academic advisers from both institutions to ensure that the most appropriate courses are taken to satisfy both associate’s and bachelor’s degree general education and departmental requirements. Upon completion of the associate’s degree, students come to Eastern knowing they can complete their bachelor’s degree in two years.
The agreement, which began in 2001, is already showing success in increased transfer student satisfaction and plus higher grade point averages for students who participate, according to Crone. The initiative has been so successful that it has inspired other four-year universities to establish similar agreements with community colleges, she added.
Dimitrios Pachis, vice president for academic affairs, Kim Crone, director of admissions, and Michael Pernal, executive vice president, present the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award to President David G. Carter.
Eastern’s Health and Physical Education Department showed itself in fine form at the Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (CAHPERD) State Conference held Nov. 18-19 at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Cromwell. Sixty Eastern alumni working in Connecticut schools, 90 current students and several faculty members comprised nearly one-quarter of the total attendees.
Physical education major Elizabeth Littlefield was selected as one of two state finalists who will attend the conference of the Eastern District Association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) in Springfield, MA, in March.
Littlefield also is one of 20 individuals selected from thousands of eligible students to be part of a national program for outstanding future professionals from across the country. Criteria for selection included leadership qualities, individual accomplishments, a minimum 3.0 grade point average, involvement in university organizations and contributions to the community.
Linda Soderberg, a sports and leisure major, and Kristen Colasanto, a physical education major, were selected from more than 500 eligible college juniors and seniors across the state for the two Gibson-Laemel Scholarships given each year by CAHPERD. This is the second consecutive year that Eastern students have won both scholarships. Colasanto, a senior, also was selected as one of two state student representatives for the annual AAHPERD National Leadership Conference.
Freshman Tiffany Jablonski won one of the two Benevento Scholarships, awarded to first-year students pursuing careers in health, physical education, recreation and dance in Connecticut institutions.
Several health and physical education and sports and leisure management students made presentations at CAHPERD. Jeff Capizzi, Kristen Colasanto and Jamie Dubois each presented a service-based learning middle school health education portfolio; Stacie Parn presented a peer mentoring project portfolio; Sara Stockton shared her poster on “Infusing Complementary and Alternative Health Topics in the Classroom”; and Megan Williamson offered a portfolio for middle school health education. Faculty member Frank Hendrick and student Linda Soderberg presented a poster, “Recreating with Mickey,” on her internship at the Disney Beach Resort.
Faculty member Kerri Tunnicliffe and students Chris Farrell, Kelly Maynard, Kevin Maurutis and Melodie Kipp presented “Bring on the Adventure,” a session that included quick, easy and effective ways for physical educators to introduce or rejuvenate their adventure education “bag of tricks.”
Health and physical education professor Nanette Tummers presented “Indoor Recess – Yoga” at the conference. Health and physical education professor Charlie Chatterton made several presentations at CAHPERD, including “Action for Healthy Kids: Developing Partnerships for the Future; “Innovative Physical Activity Programs and Initiatives: Will It Work in Your Community”; and “Advocacy 101: More Important Than Ever: But Are We Up to the Challenge.”
Two of the 13 students from the Eastern Chapter of Habitat for Humanity bundled up to endure snow, ice, and rain recently and spent the night in boxes to call attention to the plight of the homeless. Participating students were Kimberly Glownia, Allison Mangles, Katie Delahunty, Heather Camanelli, Bevin Titcomb, Marcelle Thurm, Candy Gates, Crissy Savage, Amy Pjura, Amanda Smith, Jamie Collins, Tim Perkins, and Tom Thibodeau. Advisor Peter Bachiochi said while the weather didn’t stop the event, it did deter many of the people who pass by from stopping to provide kind words to the students.
There were two “lucky winners” in the Kiss-A-Pig Contest sponsored by the Student Ambassadors Club last month.Co-winners David G. Carter, university president, and Laura Tordenti, vice president of student affairs, will be participating in the official pig-smooching event during the spring semester.
Besides Carter and Tordenti, faculty and staff members who participated in the contest were Branko Cavarkapa, Carlos Escoto, Wendi Everton, David Frye, Madeleine Fugere, Margaret Letterman, and Daniel Switchenko.
More than $300 was raised in the event. The money will be used by the Student Ambassadors Club to support a visit to Montreal during winter break. While there, club members will visit with students from McGill and Concordia universities. They also will recruit students during a high school visit and will volunteer at a community social agency.
The Student Ambassadors Club exists to provide members opportunities to travel to foreign countries and expand their world view by interacting with university and high school students as well as engaging in local community service.
Baby Boy Born to Carollos
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Congratulations to Development Officer Chris Carollo, and his wife Karen, who are the new parents of a baby boy, Dean Christopher Carollo, born at 12:02 p.m. on Nov. 29. He weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 21 inches long.
