Faculty-Staff Achievements, Nov. 12, 2012
President recognized for commitment to diversity, multiculturalism
President Philip A. Glotzbach
The Albany-area Leadership Council on Inclusion has recognized Skidmore President Philip A. Glotzbach for his commitment to diversity and multiculturalism.
Glotzbach received an award from the council at its Oct. 26 annual awards ceremony. He was cited for the broad strategic goals he has articulated for the college and for specific initiatives that he has supported with his time, energy, and institutional funding.
The council specifically recognized Goal II of Skidmore's Strategic Plan, which promotes intercultural understanding and global awareness. Notable steps to incorporate this goal across the Skidmore campus are the expansion of Skidmore's Opportunity Program, which supports the enrollment of educationally and financially disadvantaged students; a more than doubling of the college's financial aid budget; and significant increases in enrollment of domestic students of color (from approximately 12 percent in 2004 to 24 percent in 2012).
Glotzbach also was recognized for encouraging diversity and inclusion training for all faculty and staff, and for his leadership on a community-wide steering committee created to promote discussion of issues of diversity and inclusion in the Saratoga Springs community. The group includes local business and school leaders, as well as elected officials.
Other Skidmore initiatives noted by the Leadership Council on Inclusion include providing college funding for student-led diversity programming, an Intergroup Relations Dialogue Program (which has become part of Skidmore's new Intergroup Relations minor), and the Black Faculty and Staff Group.
Based at Excelsior College, the Leadership Council on Inclusion works to enhance and promote diversity and multicultural programs at educational institutions and agencies in New York's Capital Region. The council serves as a resource, advocate, and catalyst for institutional change related to local and national issues of inclusion in education. Council members represent Capital District colleges and universities, the state Department of Education, and the NYS Higher Education Services Corp.
The council recognizes representatives of its member schools though its annual awards, which celebrate those working to create an inclusive and welcoming environment in the area's higher education community. Awards are designated for a college president, faculty member, staff member, and student whose efforts are deemed noteworthy.
Activities
Paul Arciero, professor of health and exercise sciences, and students in his "Principles of Nutrition" course provided a program on healthy eating Nov. 7 to students at Division Street Elementary School and Saratoga Springs High School. The program was part of a National Healthy Eating Day observance sponsored by the American Heart Association (AHA). The college students served homemade granola and freshly made smoothies to about 400 elementary school pupils and about 800 high school students. Stories about the event appeared in The Daily Gazette, The Saratogian, and Saratoga Wire. Arciero is an advisory board member of the Capital Region chapter of the AHA.
Gordon Thompson, professor of music, read his paper "'A Day in the Life': The Beatles, the BBC, and the Construction of Meaning" Nov. 3 on the panel "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Historical Context, Cultural Interpretations, and Musical Legacy," which he organized for the joint meetings of the Society for Ethnomusicology, the American Musicological Society, and the Society for Music Theory in New Orleans.
Publications, Exhibitions
Jill D. Sweet, emerita professor of anthropology, is the author of Whiskers and Tales: Service Dogs, Family Pets, and Animal Shelters (The Troy Book Makers, 2012). The book is a collection of short essays that first appeared as columns on the Pet Page of Saratoga Today, the weekly newspaper available in the Saratoga Springs area. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit several area animal shelters.
Daniel Swift, assistant professor of English, is the author of "Remember, remember the fifth of November," posted Nov. 5 on the Oxford University Press blog.
Gordon Thompson, professor of music, has written a review for the Asian Educational Media Service of Dancing with the Goddess: Ras-Garba Traditions of Gujarat.
Sang Wook Lee, associate professor of art, has created a large, site-specific installation of ramen noodles at the Courthouse Gallery of the Lake George Arts Project. The instant noodles, a favorite of college students everywhere as well as the artist, are a symbol of Lee's cultural background and Korean popular culture. Read more about the exhibition here.
In the News
Ron Seyb, Joseph C. Palamountain Professor of Government, provided in-studio assessment of the election returns Nov. 6 on WNYT-TV, the Albany NBC affiliate. In addition, he was a source for the story "Political studies," about first-time voters, published Nov. 4 in The Sunday Gazette.
Bob Turner, associate professor of government, was a source for "Support for president survives dip in turnout,” published Nov. 8 in The Daily Gazette.
