Becker College Celebrates Non-traditional Students, Nov. 5-9

Published on Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

Becker College is celebrating National Non-traditional Students Week, November 6-9. The college’s Center for Accelerated & Professional Studies has planned a number of events that are aimed at its more than 400 adult students and also open to the public. A full list of events, times, and locations is included in a Non-traditional Students Week brochure.

“We are proud to serve and celebrate a growing population of non-traditional students,” says Colleen Bielitz, dean of the Center for Accelerated & Professional Studies. “Every step we take in this new and ever-shifting educational landscape is done with the intention of keeping us focused on being relevant, connected, and engaged in meeting the needs of today’s professionals.”

Two seminars, “Staying Safe,” and “Laughing Yoga,” scheduled for Wednesday, November 7, will give attendees skills they need to face today’s chaotic society with pragmatism, and humor.

Staying Safe: A Basic Guide to Navigating the World – Steven Moysey, Ph.D.,
6:00 – 7:00 p.m., Weller Academic Center, Room 311

In this innovative and slightly irreverent session, Steve Moysey, Ph.D., will review some simple and common sense strategies for keeping you and your family safe in an increasingly chaotic world.  Whether you are out jogging, out for a drive, at the grocery store, or just relaxing at home, Dr. Moysey will outline some practical and applicable methods to avoid being the victim of crimes against person and property.

Dr. Moysey has worked with law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States on issues surrounding counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and hostage/barricade situations.  He has worked with several law enforcement groups on the development of their hostage negotiation programs and has been published internationally in several major journals. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology. In addition, Dr. Moysey has more than 30 years of experience as a martial artist in several different systems and as a tactical firearms trainer. Dr. Moysey is the director of continuing education in the Center for Accelerated & Professional Studies.

Laughing Yoga—Terri Gerhardt
7:00 – 7:30 p.m., Weller Academic Center, Room 316

How would you like to laugh like a child again?  Laughter Yoga is a new, revolutionary mind-body “medicine” that combines simple laughter exercises with gentle Yoga breathing and stretching to enhance overall health and happiness. Benefits from this unique and scientifically proven concept include improved stamina, lowered blood pressure, increased endorphins, and a sense of joy, peace and well-being.

You do not need to tell jokes or even have a good sense of humor to get the benefits from Laughter Yoga. Just come with an open mind and let your inner child enjoy some play and fun. Laughter is contagious and before long your “fake” laughter will turn into the real deal.

Terri Gerhardt is an adjunct professor in The Center for Accelerated & Professional Studies as well as a teacher at Grafton Middle School.

The week’s events culminate on Friday, November 9, with the annual Alpha Sigma Lambda ceremony, in which more than 30 non-traditional students currently enrolled in accelerated programs at Becker College will be inducted in the national honors society for non-traditional students.

The Becker College Center for Accelerated & Professional Studies offers programs designed to provide adult learners with flexible degree and certificate program options. Courses are 5, 7, or 15 weeks in length and are held one evening per week on campus or online.

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Becker College Launches 225th Commencement Anniversary Celebration

Becker College has officially launched an anniversary celebration honoring its 225th Commencement, which will culminate at its Commencement ceremony on May 11, 2013.

“The theme of this significant milestone in the College’s history, Celebrating a History of Changing Lives, focuses on all that has made Becker College a significant institution for more than two centuries,” said Becker College President Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. “We will celebrate our 225th Commencement Anniversary in numerous ways in the weeks and months ahead.”

A number of projects that are now underway to honor the 225th Commencement Anniversary include:

Launch of the website: www.becker.edu/225-commencement .A display of artifacts from Becker’s past, in a display case in the newly opened George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Campus Center. The first exhibit is “Student Life,” and some items of interest include yearbooks, photos, a 19th-century course catalog, dance cards, beanies, a letter sweater, a cheerleader skirt, and pages from the Leicester Academy 1894 Entrance Examination. Other historically themed displays will follow throughout the academic year, including one focused on veterans, November 5-16, in honor of Veterans Day.Creating a College Archive, along with a “Preserve Our Pride” campaign and call for artifacts and memorabilia from all eras, to help expand the Archive and increase knowledge about the college’s institutional heritage.A recently published 2012-13 wall calendar with images and facts from the present and the past.A call for nominations for the most influential people in the College’s history.A special Annual Fund appeal.

Since John Hancock and Samuel Adams signed the charter for Leicester Academy and E.C.A. Becker opened Becker’s Business College, Becker College has attained a national reputation. Over the centuries, academic programming has kept pace with the evolving needs of society:

Leicester Academy was the third preparatory school in Massachusetts, the first in Central Massachusetts, and the first in the Commonwealth to accept female students, which the Academy did from the very beginning.Becker’s Business College taught students bookkeeping, penmanship, and arithmetic, and also offered the first class in shorthand and typing in Worcester.The College served as the launch pad of several program “firsts”—the first major in journalism offered in the East (1937), the first retail merchandising program in Massachusetts (1950), and the first accredited associate degree in science, in veterinary technology, in Massachusetts (1978).Early human health care programs at the college included a medical secretarial course, which was introduced in 1938 and became a national model that attracted a large number of students.

Present- day Becker College continues to garner recognition. Becker is one of nine institutions selected for the 2012-2013 American Council on Education Internationalization Laboratory cohort to craft strategies to increase global engagement on campus and in communities at large. In 2012, Becker was recognized as “one of the nation’s best undergraduate colleges” by The Princeton Review.

“Academic and campus transformations over the years have created a superior learning and living environment on two distinctive campuses,” says President Johnson. “Our recent achievements and growth are further evidence of our commitment to our students and to ensuring that Becker College provides a first-class collegiate experience.”

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Becker College Welcomes 30-Year Industry Veteran To Head Alumni Relations And The Becker Fund

Published on Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

Becker College announced today that Charles E. Roddy recently joined the Office of Institutional Advancement as director of alumni relations and The Becker Fund. As director, Roddy will engage the college’s growing alumnae/i population and develop fundraising initiatives focused on advancing the mission of the college.

“We are pleased to have Charlie join Becker College for the purpose of focusing on and serving our ever-growing alumni population,” said Dean Hickey, vice president of institutional advancement. “Charlie brings a wealth of experience to this position and an enthusiasm to actively engage with our alumnae/i.”

A native of Worcester, Mass., Roddy brings with him more than 30 years of experience in non-profit management. For more than 25 years, he managed start-up, expansion, and enhancement efforts of alumnae/i programs ranging in size from 10,000 to 200,000. These have included the UCLA School of Medicine, the University of San Francisco (USF), and Old Dominion University (ODU). The hallmark of his approach has been an avid commitment to research methodology in program design while employing a collaborative approach to all his efforts.

In addition, Roddy has served in development roles at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, as a director of individual giving; interim director of development at The Worcester Historical Museum, and most recently director of development at the Peter Michael Foundation of Sausalito, Calif.

Throughout his career, Roddy and his teams have been recognized extensively for their work, garnering nine awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), including a Heavy Hitter Award and the CASE Award of Excellence for their work with the ODU alumnae/i relations program, several Student Alumni Program Awards at both USF and ODU while also earning recognition for survey work by both the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC )and the Jesuit Advancement Administrators( JAA).

Roddy earned a bachelor of arts in psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a master’s degree in education administration and policy studies from UCLA.

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Becker Community Veterans Speak at Veterans Day Ceremony

Published on Monday, November 12th, 2012

Veterans Day is a time in which we acknowledge those men and women who serve and have served our country as members of the military. They uphold the American way of life and have risked much so that we can enjoy the safety and security that much of the world still struggles to achieve.

To honor the veterans among the Becker College community as well as the approximately 23.2 million veterans who have also served our country, the College commemorated Veterans Day with a ceremony on Monday, November 12, at 11:00 a.m., on the Worcester Campus quad.

The program included words from members of our community who have served their country–Chris Lizotte ’15, Dean Hickey ’83, and Professor John Deitrick–a reading of the names of our faculty, staff, and students who have served, and attendees were led by .

Banners, in addition to 100 American flags, were placed on each campus, and red, white, and blue ribbon pins were distributed at College dining halls.

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Becker College Students Support Causes Near and Far

Published on Monday, November 26th, 2012

Final exams begin in two short weeks, but Becker College students are making plenty of time to support socially responsible causes in their communities, near and far.

Students and faculty have organized what has become an annual event to support a service trip to the Be Like Brit Orphanage in Grand Goave, Haiti. The fundraiser will be held on Thursday, November 29, at 5:00 p.m., at 80 William Street on the Worcester Campus and includes an appearance by Be Like Brit founders Len and Cherylann Gengel, a slideshow and remarks from volunteers from the May 2012 trip, a live auction, and music from the band Main South.

On November 30, members of the Becker College Student Government Association will join 10 Becker Ice Hawks when the hockey players make a return appearance at the City of Worcester Festival of Lights and ice rink opening.

Throughout the semester, freshman and sophomore psychology students and their professors have been participating in a cooperative project to benefit children served by Birthday Wishes, a local nonprofit that delivers birthday parties to children living in homeless shelters. The groups organized fundraisers and collected and assembled materials for craft projects, party supplies, and other items included in the “Birthday in a Box” Program (see photo, left).

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Becker Women’s Tennis Players, Coach Win Major NECC Awards

October 22, 2012

LEICESTER, MASS.- Becker College sophomore Nicole Connolly (Scarborough, Maine) and Regis' Abigail Wehr shared NECC Women's Tennis Player of the Year honors. Both women play the number one singles and doubles spot for their respective teams.

Connolly, who was the NECC Rookie of the Year a season ago, went 9-1 in top singles action and 8-2 in top doubles action during her sophomore campaign. Wehr, a freshman, went 8-2 at the No. 1 singles position and teamed with Jazz Hicks to go a perfect 9-0 at No. 1 doubles in NECC play in 2012. Wehr and Connolly split their two head-to-head singles matches this season. Connolly also earned First Team All-Conference in both singles and doubles

Becker freshman Kathleen Razzaboni (Hooksett, N.H.) earned conference Rookie of the Year honors. Razzaboni went 8-1 in number two singles action and 8-2 in number one doubles this year during conference play. Razzaboni also earned First Team All-Conference in both singles and doubles.

Becker's David Bostick was named NECC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and third time in his career after leading the Hawks to an 8-2 regular season record.

NECC all-conference selections are determined by a vote of the conference coaches.

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At Becker College Game Jam, Students Produce 15 New Games in 24 Hours

Published on Monday, October 29th, 2012

The Becker College Department of Design announced the winning teams in the seventh bi-annual 24-Hour Game Jam, held from 5:00 p.m. on October 19 to 5:00 p.m. on October 20. The submissions were judged by a panel of Becker College faculty, advisors, and student representation, basing their ratings on each team’s ability to represent the theme/object they received, the creativity of the game design, the quality of gameplay, overall appearance, and the fun factor.

The top three submissions are:

Most Intensely Strategic: Anthony Botelho ’13 for “Elemental Horror” (theme/object: horror/the elements)Most Amazing Good Time: Daniel Wells ’14, Chris Clegg ’14, Nate Casimiro ’14, Nicole Oliver ’14, Jess Lucas ’14, Joe Keen ’14, Bill Sontag ’14for “Sixteenth Sacrilege of Saturn” (theme/object: juxtaposition/aliens)Most Chaotic Conundrum: Brandon Cimino ’15, Dan Flanagan ’15, Conner Eades ’15, Dillon Skiffington ’15, Jacob Harder ’15, Oliver Awat ’15, Dan Covey ’15 for “Six Barreled Justice” (theme/object: retro/cowboys)

“The record turnout was fantastic and, as usual, the submissions were impressive,” said Professor of Game Development Terrasa Ulm. “Participating in the Game Jam gives students a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience developing games in groups, discover new skills, add new work to their portfolios, tap into their creative expression, and have fun doing it.”

The remaining 24-Hour Game Jam teams and games are:

“Beat ‘Em Up” by Jeff Garuti, Lorion Oshin, Paul Buccos, Scott Tongue, and Brian Bowman  (Most Mighty Mayhem)“Cold” by Dean O’Coin, Gage Conklin, Jen Murphy, and Derrek Marcus (Most Engaging Ending)“For Keeps” by  Joshua Fitzsimmons, Andrew Kerrigan, Mathew Black, and Michael Garcia (Most Daunting Duels)“Hobo Project” by Marc Brown, Ryan McCurdy, and Robert Schultz (Most Righteous Read)“Jubilation Spies” by Matt DiDomenico, Jose, Dustin Thayer, Mayim Gillis, and Jason Larrivey (Most Amusing Adventure)“Never Wonder” by Stephen Wood, Karen Layman, Rebecca Ernest, and Andrew Corner (Most Fantastical Fair)“Nimbus” Adam Roy, Mike Flood, Nick Mudry, and Lauren Fiscus (Most Musical Moments)“Oakwood” by Nathan Berry (Most Spooky Specter)“Petty Crime” by Alex St. Martin, Joshua Corvinus, Liliana Craig, and Matthew McDonald (Most Twisted Two-Player)“Square Wolf” by David Denton, Cian Rice, Dan Cherkassky, Chris Gengler, and Paddy Sutton (Most Suspenseful Situations)“The TurKey” by Alexander Jersey, Curtis Geter, Colin Egan, Andrew Pariseau, and Jason Tripp (Most Rocketing Ride)

All of the games are available to play for free, via http://tinyurl.com/9n5qwsq.

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