Medaille College News

Please be advised that starting tomorrow, Thursday, July 24, paving repairs will begin on the front lots and roadways of the Main Campus. Pending weather, repairs may last all day Thursday and into Friday. During this time, parking and car access to the campus will be effected.

Until the repairs are completed, no vehicles will be allowed to park in the front lots, including the lot in front of the Campus Center, the lots in front of the Humboldt houses / campus side, and the lot in front of the North Residence Hall. Parking is also prohibited on the roadway behind the Campus Center. All parking will be in the back lot behind the Main Building.

In addition, all access to the back parking lot will be directed to the right behind the Campus Center. This roadway will temporarily be two-way traffic. Please be careful and drive slowly.

Cones and traffic markers will be in place in the morning to help assist during the repairs. Public Safety Officers will also aid during morning hours to direct the traffic flow. Please contact the Campus Public Safety office with any questions at (716) 880-2911.

Rand Hurrle has joined the Residence Life Office as Graduate Residence Coordinator for the North Residence Hall and the houses on Humboldt. Originally from Eldred, Penn., Hurrle earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Edinboro University and is pursuing a master’s in student personnel administration at Buffalo State College.

Medaille College has received approval from the New York State Department of Education to offer a graduate program in adolescent education at its Amherst Campus. The program leads to certification in grades 7-12 in the areas of Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, French, and English. The program will complement Medaille’s other graduate education degree offerings in Literacy, Special Education, and Elementary Education.

In designing the program, faculty and administrators included unique features such as integrated six-credit methodology courses, one-week mini courses, a weekend program option, and a course devoted to pre-student teaching fieldwork experiences. The Adolescent Education program also has been developed to assist both the State of New York and the Province of Ontario in providing teachers in the shortage areas of French, mathematics, biology, chemistry and also to assist in providing additional English teachers.

The weekday program can be completed in two semesters, while the full-time weekend program will be offered on Saturdays and Sundays, every other weekend, and can be completed in three semesters.

Dr. Robert A. Di Sibio, Associate Dean for Enrollment, School of Adult and Graduate Education, says, “It is the College’s mission to foster the development of transformational intellectuals and agents for positive change for our community. The newly approved Adolescent Education program seeks to provide our community with highly-qualified high school teachers in the areas of French, English, mathematics, biology and chemistry.”

Dr. Francis Murphy, Founding Dean of the School of Education, adds “The new Adolescent Education master’s programs build on our history of preparing teachers for middle schools and high schools. These new programs will be of particular help to students who come late to the idea of becoming teachers, including career changers.”

Mustafa Faramawi, assistant professor in the Computer Information Systems Department, has passed away. Faramawi has been a member of the Medaille community for the past nine years, teaching courses in business, management, econometrics and computer information systems.

At this time there are no services scheduled.

Please keep the Faramawi family in your thoughts, and share your memories about him in the comments of this entry.

Medaille College is pleased to announce the following undergraduate students who have earned Dean’s List status for the spring 2008 semester.

Students who take a minimum of 12 credit hours and who earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for all credit hours carried during that semester are placed on the Dean’s List.
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Medaille College’s Reading Clinic has received a $2,300 grant from the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western New York, Inc.

The funding will be applied towards books and hands-on materials that enhance reading acquisition and spelling skills. The Reading Clinic serves over 100 elementary school students each year, and is staffed by over 100 graduate students in the Literacy program.

The monies used to support this award were raised through the efforts of the local McDonald’s Restaurants in the Western New York community, and in part by national McDonald’s promotional programs.

Ronald McDonald House Charities provides lodging, comfort and emotional support to families of children receiving medical treatment at area hospitals, and reaches out to families in the community by supporting programs that benefit children.

Medaille College will offer a certificate program in Computer Crimes Investigation at its Amherst Campus beginning in fall 2008.

The Computer Crimes Investigation certificate will provide training in the collection, handling and preservation of digital and electronic evidence. Forensic examination techniques in criminal and administrative settings will also be covered.

The program is designed for law enforcement officers who have not yet completed a bachelor’s degree, and information technology professionals in business, education or government who are responsible for investigating computer misuse, terms of service violations, theft, or unauthorized computer and network access. This six-month program consists of five courses lasting approximately five weeks each.

Steven MacMartin, Director of the Computer Crimes Investigation Certificate Program, offers, “There is a rapidly growing civilian sector of computer investigative and forensic specialists as well as a constant need for trained professionals in the investigation of computer crime in law enforcement. Completing this program can give a leg up to anyone interested in either of these fields.” MacMartin is a senior special agent with the Department of Homeland Security, and has investigated computer crimes for over 20 years.

An information session for the program will be held on July 15, 2008 at 6 p.m. at the Amherst Campus at 30 Wilson Road, Williamsville.

The New York State Education Department has approved Medaille College’s proposed Master of Science in Education in Adolescent Education degree program. This program, offered at Medaille’s Amherst Campus, will lead students to certification in English, French, Math, Biology, and Chemistry for the secondary level (grades 7-12). The program is expected to accept students for the spring 2009 semester.

With the introduction of this degree, Medaille continues its tradition of educating the region’s educators in a wide array of disciplines, including elementary education, literacy, and special education.

The following students have been named to the Merit List for the spring 2008 semester.

Students who take a minimum of 6 but no more than 11 credit hours, and who earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for all credit hours carried during that semester, are placed on the Merit List.

Jill Denmeade, Education
Maria Eisler, Veterinary Technology
Christine Hoskinson, Veterinary Technology
Eleanor Hudson, Liberal Studies
Christen Laird, Liberal Studies
Toni Long, Communication

Dr. Matt Bowker, an adjunct member of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation: “Albert Camus and the Political Philosophy of the Absurd” at The University of Maryland in May 2008. In 2008 he has presented papers on the linkages between political philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, and absurd literature at the annual conference of the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society at Rutgers University and the Midwest Political Science Association’s annual conference in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Bowker will be a Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the Singapore Institute of Management this summer, where he also hopes to travel and to conduct some cross-cultural research before returning to the United States.