Message From Director Lisa Sax Mahoney | | |
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Spring has sprung. It has finally stopped snowing, grass is becoming greener, trees are blossoming, and everything seems to have new life. At NCCRS, we are also experiencing a sense of rebirth and renewal. Since the start of 2022, many new and exciting things have been taking shape. In January, we welcomed a top-notch new evaluation associate, Richelle LaPolt, while saying goodbye to Carol Creevy after 17 wonderful years. In February, we rolled out a revamped comprehensive orientation program for new evaluators, and continued our rebranding efforts with the creation of a new marketing packet, tri-fold brochure, and palm cards. And just last month, we added five faculty members to our vast network of evaluators, included three more universities on the list of institutions of higher education that recognize NCCRS credit recommendations, and led two presentations on credit for prior learning. As the days become longer and warmer, our hope is that spring will prove to be reenergizing for us all.
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NCCRS Welcomes Richelle LaPolt
NCCRS welcomed a new evaluation associate, Richelle LaPolt, in January. She succeeds the retired Carol Creevy who served in the role for 17 years.
Richelle, who has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, will be responsible for addressing student, college, and client needs; answering prospective business inquiries; handling financial records and accounting tasks; organizing office operations and procedures; and performing administrative and clerical duties to help the organization fulfill its mission. Welcome aboard and best wishes, Shelly!
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Seven Institute of Culinary Education Alumni
Among James Beard Award Semifinalists
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After a two-year hiatus, the James Beard Foundation is again handing out its prestigious awards within the restaurant industry this June. Recently, the Foundation announced the semifinalists for their Restaurant and Chef Awards, and among them are seven alumni from The Institute of Culinary Education, an NCCRS member organization since 2012. | |
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FDNY Kicks Off First Ever Supervisors Academy
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Bureau of Fire Prevention's Training Unit last month kicked off its first ever Supervisors Academy. Twenty-one attendees, with a combined 416 years of FDNY experience, comprised the inaugural class. “The purpose and scope of this program is to deliver leadership concepts and qualities, motivational tools, management protocols and processes, administrative responsibilities, and effective methods to foster a positive office culture built on trust,” said FDNY Chief Inspector Jesus Martinez. FDNY, the largest fire department in the country, is a 30-year NCCRS member organization.
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Excelsior College Named a Top 10
Online College by Newsweek
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Newsweek recently announced longtime NCCRS collaborator Excelsior College placed ninth on its 2022 list of America’s Top Online Colleges. The list ranks colleges based on an online survey of more than 9,000 institutions that offer online college degree programs and/or general online learning courses in the United States. “Excelsior is thrilled to be ranked a Top 10 Online College by Newsweek,” says David Schejbal, president of Excelsior College. “We take great pride in being the largest, fully online higher education institution in New York state and to be recognized nationally by Newsweek as an online leader reinforces Excelsior’s strong reputation.”
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Utica College Becomes
Utica University
Utica College is now Utica University. President Laura Casamento in February announced the New York State Board of Regents approved and endorsed the college’s petition to elevate to university status. “This day is not just about a name change. It represents the culmination of a decades-long commitment to strategic growth, academic excellence through innovative programs and curricula, and an unwavering belief in providing incredible, life-changing opportunities to all students through higher education,” said Casamento.
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David Seelow - Educator, Author, Consultant,
Speaker, Blogger, and Comic Book Enthusiast
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NCCRS evaluator David Seelow, Ph.D., learned to read through comics and that eventuated in an M.A. in English from Columbia, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Stony Brook. David, currently affiliated with the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y., is the author of numerous publications, including Lessons Drawn: Essays on the Pedagogy of Comics and Graphic Novels, a collection of 17 essays that uses comics and graphic novels to provide both a learning framework and hands-on strategies that transform students' learning experiences through literary forms to which they respond. He is also the editor of Teaching in the Game-Based Classroom: Practical Strategies for Grades 6-12. David, who lists The Thing from The Fantastic Four comics as his favorite superhero, has 30 years of experience teaching virtually every literature course imaginable. An eclectic and very busy person, to be sure, David founded the Center for Game and Simulation Based Learning, an award-winning online writing lab, writes the Revolutionary Learning blog, and presented a TEDx Albany talk in 2019. "Conducting evaluations for NCCRS over the past seven years has been a pleasure," says David. "I highly value this service which often gives adults and non-traditional students an alternative educational opportunity to earn well-deserved college credit they might not have otherwise been awarded."
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Congratulations to NCCRS Member
Organizations for Recent Successful Evaluations
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Promote Your Organization on the NCCRS Website
If you are an NCCRS member organization and it doesn't already appear, we can prominently display your logo on our website with a link to your website. If you are a cooperating college or university, we can create for you a feature page on our website with information about your institution, including your course offerings, degree programs, and contact information. Contact us at nccrsnews@nysed.gov to discuss how we can promote your organization for a nominal fee.
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"Microcredentials" Gain New Momentum
An article in The Hechinger Report posits the urgency for getting people back to work has given new momentum to "microcredentials." Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX states, "People are looking for shorter forms of learning during this time. They don’t know whether they have two months, three months. They’ve lost their jobs. For them, the ability to earn a microcredential within a few months and improve their potential to get hired as we come out of COVID becomes much more important."
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Employers Are Changing
How They View Training
Many of the largest employers in the country are changing how they approach offering training and education benefits to their employees. An article in EdSurge states in some cases it’s to respond to how fast technology is advancing, and a sense that workers need retraining more often than in the past. But it’s also because there’s a bit of an arms race among large employers to offer education perks and a post-pandemic rethink by many employees about what they want from their jobs.
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Credentials Must Be Stackable, Not "Sleestak-able"
With a nod to the ridiculously unconvincing reptilian creatures from the 1970's television series, Land of the Lost, an article in Forbes suggests that when colleges and universities make up short-term credentials, they're not stackable, they're "Sleestak-able."
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