Tag Archives: Education

Student Leadership Development and Career Fair at the NYIT

The Empire State Virtual NY Branch AAUW & The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
invite you to join us at Student Leadership Development and Career Fair at the NYIT
NYIT, 16 W 61^st St, New York, NY, 10023, 11^th floor Auditorium
April 22, 2016, 9:00am – 4:00pm

Free for all students!

Come join us to learn how to negotiate your first job and learn about what employers are looking for in potential employers.

Register at http://goo.gl/forms/eBWMRZXrYO

For more information, email Michelle Messenger at mmesseng@nyit.edu
Or Maria Ellis at mellis@fsacap.com

Celebrating Mentorship at the College of Mount Saint Vincent!

Maria Ellis’ Mentee, Katherine Moreira and Maria Ellis
Joan Monk and her Mentee, Kimberly Gomez

Mentoring Day at The Button Show
The Rushphilonthropic Art Foundation
Saturday, Feb 12, 2016

Dr. Rani and her mentee Jhanielle Daley

Lady in the Button Bath Tub!

2016 AAUW NYS Emerging Leader Award

Michelle Messenger is a member of the Empire State Virtual NY Branch who was approved by the AAUW NYS Board during our 2016 Fall board meeting to be the 1^st member of the AAUW NYS Student Advisory Board. Michelle will be participating in our AAUW NYS Convention in Saratoga Springs, NY and will also be working with the Empire State Virtual Branch and the New York Institute of Technology on a one day joint conference on Friday, April 22, 2016 featuring the Start Smart workshop and a Career Fair.

Michelle is a senior at the New York Institute of Technology and will be graduating as an Engineer in May 2016. She loves Math and Science and she founded the Society of Women Engineers at the NYIT. She was drawn to engineering because both her mom and grandmother were computer programmers. Michelle’s career aspiration is to create better things for people who need them. Michelle interested in bionics and would like to work on creating a device to help people walk or hear again!

More Complaints Than Findings!

by Donna Seymour
AAUW NYS Public Policy VP

Education Department has received more than 1,000 filings on racial harassment in higher ed in last seven years. But only a fraction result in any findings.

In an op-ed this month on rising racial tensions on campus, Education Secretary Arne Duncan noted that in his seven years in office, the department’s Office for Civil Rights has received more than 1,000 complaints about racial harassment in higher education. He said this statistic was an indication that the current concerns about race on campus are “no small issue.”

Duncan didn’t note how small a proportion of those complaints have resulted in findings of discrimination. Most of the complaints, in fact, never result in a complete investigation by OCR, let alone a finding. That isn’t necessarily a sign of weak complaints or of poor enforcement by OCR. A review of more information provided by the Education Department, however, may illustrate why students are turning to campus protests and not to Washington with their grievances.

During the Obama administration, the Education Department has received 1,073 complaints about racial harassment in higher education. Generally, the number of complaints a year is up, compared to prior years. Since 2010, the smallest number of complaints in a fiscal year is 137 (in 2010). In the five years prior to the Obama administration, the number of complaints never exceeded 95 and was generally smaller than that (in the 50s). An increase in complaints does not necessarily mean that the situation on campus is worse, since a variety of factors (such as outreach to encourage complaints, or the government signaling interest in enforcement) can be a factor in the number of complaints.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/30/education-department-receives-many-complaints-about-racial-harassment-higher

AAUW-NYS Convention

Do you have concerns about handling your finances and college loans after college?

SAVE THE DATE:
STUDENT TRACK ANNOUNCEMENT
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN
NEW YORK STATE CONVENTION
HOLIDAY INN, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY
APRIL 16, 2016 10:30 AM – 5:30 PM

The American Association of University Women New York State Board is pleased to announce and welcomes ALL College and University students to join us for a day of learning and inspiration!

Come and hear great speakers including our keynote speaker, Dean Nada Marie Anid, Professor and Dean of the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences. Her expertise includes Industry-academic partnerships; Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Emerging Technologies; Sustainability; Global Engineering Education and STEM K-12 Outreach.

Dean Nada Marie Anid, Ph.D., is the first female dean of NYIT’s School of Engineering and Computing Sciences (SoECS). In this role, she oversees 77 engineering and computing sciences faculty members and approximately 1,700 graduate and undergraduate students at campuses located in Manhattan and Old Westbury, N.Y., the Middle East, and China.

To pre-register for this educational and fun event, email Maria Ellis, AAUW NYS College & University Director at mellis@fsacap.com or for more information call 973-216-4181.

Do you have concerns about handling your finances and college loans after college?
This student conference includes a workshop with financial counselors.

The Wild Women are Coming!

“Embracing Eleanor in the 21^st Century”

The NY/NJ AAUW “WILD” Women Project
(Women In Leadership Development)

Members from the NY/NJ WILD Project (Women in Leadership Development) are attending the AAUW National Convention in San Diego come June. They will be promoting Phase 3 of the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Read. State board members connected at our last national convention in New Orleans and strong bonds of friendship developed, as they often do in AAUW. Robin Gerber, keynote speaker there inspired these women to focus on leadership through her book “Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way.” There are monthly conference calls, convention workshops and program planning. You too can become “WILD” and join in Phase 3 that starts this July. Members connect on the third Tuesday of each month to review and discuss the current chapter with a focus on the leadership virtues Eleanor exemplified.

Eleanor was named as the most influential first lady of all times by a Siena Poll in 2014. Ken Burns made her an integral part of his new series, “The Roosevelts” last fall. The UN has designated her birthday as the date to celebrate International Day of the Girl. The time is right for you to establish a relationship with Eleanor or renew an old friendship. Robin’s book connects you to Eleanor in a very personal way.

National will be hosting round table discussions at the convention. We think this New York/New Jersey collaboration is something to talk about. There will also be opportunities in both New York and New Jersey to learn more about this project at their spring gatherings. If you have a personal or family story related to Eleanor be sure to share it with us.

Eleanor believes that we were all ‘born to be WILD.’ To join the fun, contact

Joan Monk – ftmaven@gmail.com.

A New Mentoring Program for Middle and H.S. Girls!

We are pleased to announce a new Empire State Virtual Branch Leadership program for middle and high school girls as part of the New York State Project, Leadership: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Leadership, character development, feminism, advocacy and philanthropy are all essential parts of this project. We are calling this piece of the project, “Standing Tall with Eleanor and Michelle.” This project is being funded by the Empire State Virtual Branch and a $500 grant for AAUW NYS.

Three on site visits of 90 minutes are planned with our coalition partners – Kechie’s Project Outreach Schools Bronx NY, YWCA of Yonkers and Mary J Blige Center in Yonkers. Varied formats are being developed to accommodate school and vacation schedules as well ages of our participants. This project come out of Phase 3 of the NY/NJ AAUW WILD Project this summer.

Here are the topics we are planning to develop through this program:

Discover your favorite Eleanor quote?
Find a favorite quote from Michelle Obama that speaks to you.
What leadership characteristics (virtues) do they share?
Explore their pet projects
Discuss First Lady “Firsts”
Compare/Contrast these first ladies
Just the Facts – biographical information
Focus on feminism – was ER a feminist? Michelle?
How did each first lady support women and girls?
Eleanor’s crowning achievement was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Why was this so important for her?
What do you think Michelle Obama’s greatest achievement is so far? What might she do in the future?
Investigate “Let Girls Learn” Why is this initiative so important?
In 2012, the United Nations created two new celebrations – International Day of the Girl (October 11^th) and International Day of Happiness (March 20^th). How do these new celebrations connect to these two first ladies?
How did each first lady advocate for? What is an advocate? How does one advocate?
Where they philanthropists? What is the classic definition of a philanthropist? What is the new meaning of this word?
What has/had heart and meaning for these two extraordinary women? What has heart and meaning for you?
Do you consider Eleanor and/or Michelle a role model?
Reflect on all the individuals you do consider role models. List them.
What has surprised you in this study? What has inspired you?
What has challenged you? What has touched your heart?

Rationale:
“Girls on the Go” is a great way to introduce young women and girls to AAUW as well as for the Empire State Virtual Branch to work with new coalition partners. Public transportation plus entry fees will be covered for girls and their teachers for events held in the NY metropolitan area. Here are the events we will encourage these girls to attend:

AAUW NYS District V Conference in NYC on October 3^rd, 2015 at New York Institute of Technology, “Focus on Feminism: Near & Far, Past & Present”
CTAUN Conference at the United Nations on January 22^nd, 2016. This year’s theme is : Stewardship for a Sustainable World: Education in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
United Nations Annual Report on Happiness in celebration of International Day of Happiness on March 20^th
Attendance at parallel events for Committee on the Status of Women during the first two weeks in March
Explore Your Opportunities Conference hosted by Westchester American Association of University Women and Empire State Virtual Branch at College of Mt. St. Vincent on April 16^th, 2016

Participants would be asked to share their learning with their classmates or write an article for the our newsletter, The ESVB Times. A suggested format for both the discussion and article could be: What surprised you at this event? What inspired you? What challenged you? What touched your heart?

If you would like to join the Girls on the Go Committee, please email Joan Monk at ftmaven@gmail.com.

Greetings from our AAUW NYS Summer meeting in Cazenovia, NY

Greetings from our AAUW NYS Summer meeting in Cazenovia, NY. We had lots of fun while living our AAUW mission and preparing branches to better connect activities with community needs and planning our 2016 AAUW NYS Convention which will take place in Saratoga Springs on April 15-17, 2016.

The Empire State Virtual Branch will be hosting the AAUW NYS District V Conference scheduled for Sat. October 3, 2016 from 2-5 pm at the New York Institute of Technology.
To register for the conference click on: AAUW District V Conference Registration Form
Registration Deadline: September 21, 2015.

Empire State Virtual Branch New Member

Juliet Tarantino, Empire State Virtual Branch New Member

We are delighted to welcome, Juliet Tarantino, newest primary member of the Empire State Virtual Branch! During fiscal year 2015-2016.”

Juliet Tarantino joins the AAUW with international experience in education and academic training in anthropology (MA in Anthropology for The New School for Social Research). While an undergraduate student at the University of New Hampshire (Dual BA in Anthropology in International Affairs), she organized and led a week-long social justice awareness trip of twelve students to Nicaragua, where trip participants learned about the work of local grassroots organizations and facilitated classroom art activities. Her thesis, based on original research she conducted in Ecuador, examined the entanglement of Ecuadorian Otavaleño’s rejection of tradition alongside their utilization of distinctive traditional dress to bolster their sales of artisan-made items. After graduating from college, Juliet was selected by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education for the position of North American Culture and Language Assistant and taught English in Madrid.

Back in the U.S. and determined to maintain the level of Spanish fluency she had gained in Madrid, Juliet took on the role of Bilingual Intake Coordinator at an immigrant legal services and refugee resettlement agency in Chicago. There, she compiled a series of client stories expressing how their lives had changed after gaining residency in the U.S. She also worked as an independent translator, translating personal statements in support of VAWA cases. Inspired to engage more critically with issues of social justice, Juliet gained her master’s degree in New York City, and began teaching academic research writing to college-bound seniors from underserved high schools. She also coordinates low-cost Spanish classes in her Brooklyn neighborhood as a means of building community. She is interested in immigrant and refugee issues, scholastic achievement gaps, and using research and education to teach social justice.

EYO Conference 2015

Explore Your Opportunities:
The Sky’s the Limit!^TM13th Year Conference, April 16, 2016
College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale (Bronx), New York

Congratulations to Lorrin Johnson, Wilma Gitchel and Marilee Scheuneman for another successful Explore Your Opportunities: the Sky’s the Limit Conference held on March 21, 2015 at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York. We have received great reviews from our 7th grade participants about all the 17 workshops given at this Conference. . Our key note speaker, the Australian GPS girl, Karen Jabosen received the most accolades from our students. We were all very engaged and enjoyed Karen’s “Recalculate” motivational talk!

The 7-Grade girls attended the following17 workshops for EYO 2015:

Playing Games in Alice World”: earn to create interactive games using “Alice” programming.
Brain Games: Learn about some of the mind boggling things a brain can do from making memories to controlling emotions.
Flower Hour: Observe and describe flowers and discover similarities that group them and differences that make them unique.
It’s a Sugar…It’s a Base…It’s DNA! : Discover the structure of DNA and learn how to isolate DNA from your own cells painlessly.
Acoustics & Wildlife – Sound Can Save Animals!: How do scientists track whales, recognize birds, and count tigers and frogs? They use sound!
What Color is a Rose?: Roses are red, violets are blue, ever wonder how plants get their color? See which plant pigments are hiding in your favorite plants using paper chromatography!
Datalogging-A-Bot: Learn how to program a robot to analyze sounds using a sound sensor.
Plant Superhighways: An introduction to the vascular system of plants with real-life applications in the food and florist industries.
Grrrrrrls Leading the Way in Animal Science: Learn how you can enhance animal lives and wellbeing in a hands-on enrichment workshop.
Blizzard in a Bottle!: Create a “snowflake crystal” scene in a jar using Chemistry!
Cool Web Design: Learn the basics of HTML and JavaScript by making your own “Web Page”.
Paper Engineering + Origami = (Fun)^:Use paper and geometry to build a spherical container to store jewelry and other small items.
Play Doctor: Learn the physical exam components and tools that doctors and PAs use to evaluate sick patients.
Hands-On Cosmetic Chemistry (2 sessions): Step into the laboratory and design your own cosmetic potion.
Wading Through The Web: Smarter searching on the Internet – DeeperWeb, Clusty, Carrot, website reliability checks. Oh My.
Brain on Overload?: Learn about the neuroscience of cognition while conducting tests on the effects of multitasking.
Using Leverage to get Super Powers: Learn basics about how levers can multiply force and how leverage is used in everyday items.