From the NTID President's Office

After two years without our traditional commencement celebrations, we are looking forward to all of the events honoring our graduates:

• The NTID Administrative Council met this month to review updates to NTID’s Antiracism and Social Justice Plan to identify areas of focus for the next academic year.
• Thomastine Sarchet and Christopher Kurz presented their World Around You (WAY) initiative at #ZeroCon22 in Vienna, Austria, after being selected as one of more than 70 recipients of the Zero Project Innovative Solution 2022 award. After presenting their project, they were chosen as one of 10 initiatives for the Zero Project Impact Transfer Program and were given training, mentoring, tailored support, networking and visibility to improve their programs and scale up WAY into Latin America. Out of 381 nominations, they were awarded for the best innovative program.
• The Office of Diversity and Inclusion featured a number of pivotal women of NTID during Women’s History Month. More features are planned in their upcoming newsletter, expected to be released before the semester’s end.
• In collaboration with the president’s office, ODI is hosting Ethnic Fest, a free end-of-the-semester celebration with a variety of cultural food 3 – 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, 2022 in CSD-1300. Registration is required as space is limited.
• Visit the Antiracism and Social Justice Plan website regularly for more updates. This work requires the ongoing commitment and support of everyone in the RIT/NTID community. Through teamwork and accountability, we will continue to deliver improvements to ensuring that our community is a safe learning and teachable environment for all.

Thank you to everyone at NTID who participated in RIT’s 2022 United Way Campaign. To date, RIT has raised $252,092 toward our goal of $314,159 – or about 80%. The donation site will remain open through the month of April, so if you want to donate, you still can: www.rit.edu/unitedway/donate.

Thank you to everyone who donated to and attended NTID’s Silent Auction and Donut Fundraiser, which raised more than $1,100 for United Way. The event would not have been possible without Sydney Long and Academic Affairs and President’s Office student workers and staff.

A final thank you to all the Key Captains for this year’s campaign: Kari Campos-Hamilton, Chanda Duncan, Heather Eaggleston, Joseph Fox, Doris Gross, Ruth Heffernan, Kathleen Holcombe, Anne Hoock, Sydney Long, Melisa Loysen, Nancy Marrer, Allyson Martel, Maggie Otis, Meredith Ray, Jillian Sinclair, Jennifer Taylor, Toni Van Aernum, Wendy Wheeler, and Katie Zuris. More than 20 NTID departments/divisions had Key Captains not from their department/division, many of which were covered by RIT staff. It is crucial that Key Captains are familiar and known to the colleagues with whom they interact about the campaign. For those areas that were not covered by someone within their division or a related division, someone will be in touch with you soon to line up a Key Captain for next year.

We asked Jess Cuculick, chairperson of the department of liberal studies, to help us get to know the department better. 

• Faculty at DLS are experts in a wider range of disciplines than probably any other department at NTID.
• DLS is a proud sponsor of four research labs directed by our faculty. 
• We have 21 faculty and staff and currently have nine open faculty positions. 
• Our longest serving department members include: Eugene Lylak, 45 years; Stephen Aldersley, 42 years; and Jeanne Yamonaco, 40 years.
• Faculty areas of expertise: criminal justice, English, college writing, psychology, Deaf studies, composition and rhetoric, Deaf health literacy, metaliteracy, communication, sociology, social media, community development, and leadership. 
• Pets: DLS loves animals! We proudly live with a collection of cats, dogs, and two birds. These birds have their own interpreters (KODAs) because their owner is deaf, and it is difficult to read their beaks!
• Interesting fact: DLS is the home of NTID’s first bachelor’s degree program—community development and inclusive leadership—for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

• Danny Maffia, Jason Listman, Keith Cagle and all of the faculty and students involved in making Deaf Day of Play at The Strong Museum such a success.
• Eric Kunsman and his students and all others involved in The Big Shot of “Wallace on Ice.”  
• NTID’s Jess Cuculick, Tiffany Panko, and Jessica Contreras are recipients of a 2021 Academic Year AdvanceRIT Connect Grant for their project “Deaf Hub: Empowering Deaf Women and BIPOC in Health Care and Biomedical Science.” Connect Grants are designed to broaden faculty opportunities and enhance plans of work associated with tenure, promotion preparation, and overall career advancement.  
• Kudos to the following NTID student researchers for their recent conference presentations:
  • MSSE students Matthew Anderson and Maya Penn presented at the Association of College Educators - Deaf and Hard of Hearing Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Matthew and Maya presented on Cultural Diversity in Deaf Education: Teacher Training Stories of Graduate Students. 
  • MSSE student Michael Foust also presented at the Association of College Educators - Deaf and Hard of Hearing Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Michael presented Deaf Edtech: The Now and How. 
  • MSSE student Truc Nguyen presented World Around You: Crowdsourcing Multilingual Storybooks - Latest Findings at the Alaska Society for Technology in Education Conference in Anchorage, Alaska.
  • Antonia Gomes, a biochemistry major, presented research on the Composition of Volatile Compounds from Rare and Endangered Illicium ekmanii, a species endemic to Hispaniola at the American Chemical Society Conference in San Diego, California.
• All those involved in the NTID performing arts’ production of “In The Heights” April 15-17. Led by director Luane Davis Haggerty, this production’s work with the Rochester Latino Theatre Company and Boriquen Dance Theatre represents an exciting collaboration with Rochester community organizations to deepen cultural understanding through music, theater and dance. 
• ASLIE’s Jeni Rodrigues has successfully defended her dissertation and now holds a Ph.D. from Gallaudet University's department of interpretation and translation.
• Joan Naturale's work on Deaf women in history has been adapted by publishers McGraw-Hill for middle- and high school-level lesson plans.
• NTID’s Research Center on Culture and Language earned a Bronze certification from RIT’s Institute for Sustainability.
• Congratulations to RIT/NTID’s Randleman Program personnel Emilio Hernandez, Denise Herrera, Amberlee Jones, and Kristi Love, who received RIT’s Staff Council Presidential Award for Outstanding Staff Excellence.
• Other NTID-associated personnel nominated for Staff Council awards include:
  • The COVID-19 Translation team: Tim Albert, Joshua Bloodworth, Cynthia Collward, Bill DeGroote, Donald Feigel, Sean Flanagan, Rachel Green, Brian Haak, Catherine Kiwit, Carolyn Kropp, Vicki Liggera, Gayle Macias, Mary Karol Matchett, Susan Murad, Keven Poore, Sarah Schneckenburger, and Jenna Stein.
  • Firoza Kavanagh, senior staff specialist in Academic Affairs.
  • Vicki Liggera, director NTID Counseling and Academic Advising Services.
  • Content Production Team: Aaron Gorelick, Nancy Kikendall, Julie Lindsay, Jonathan Roman, Jennifer Riccardi, Jenneca Saeva, Carol Sirkovic, Christy Smith, and Melissa Van Hall.
• ASLIE’s Sandra Bradley was nominated for the 2021-2022 Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty.
• Toni Van Aernum, notetaker coordinator, Access Services earned the Cultural Humility Certificate from RIT’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion. 
• Thomas Warfield received the 'Shoulders to Stand On Award' for his 40 years as an activist and advocate for people living with HIV and AIDS in Rochester, New York City and beyond. 
• RIT/NTID student Christina Whetsel has been accepted into Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She is the fourth deaf student to attend MSUs program.  

RIT/NTID alumna Ashley Mussallem’s research was cited in a joint letter to the U.S. Assistant Attorney General from 181 disability organizations requesting digital accessibility regulations to enforce standards. Ashley led the study, under Tiffany Panko’s supervision, while working in the Center for Culture and Language's Deaf Health Laboratory. Other authors include Tiffany Panko, Jessica Contreras, Wendy Dannels, and Peter Hauser, along with Gretchen Roman from URMC and Mike McKee from the University of Michigan. 

• RIT/NTID’s Wendy Dannels and cross-registered graduate student Roshan Mathews are quoted in this New York Times story on access technology. 
• Hundreds turn out to capture Wallace on Ice for Big Shot No. 34.
• Study: Cultural competence key in mentoring deaf and hard of hearing undergrads.
• RIT/NTID offering in-person summer programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing middle school and high school students.
• RIT/NTID student makes history with Coca-Cola ad.
• Diversabilities in the lab, features Pepsi Holmquist.
• NCCC’s Miranda Harms is quoted in this story on employment access.
• This article by Rick Postl, interim director of admissions, dives into the college search process for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
• RIT/NTID Performing Arts presents ‘In The Heights’ April 15-17.
• RIT celebrates outstanding staff with Presidential Awards.
• Northbrook Student Wins National Math Competition.
• RIT and NTID receive federal funding appropriation from 2022 Omnibus budget.
• Additional coverage of federal appropriation includes:
  • WXXI
  • WXXI News
  • Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
  • Majority Leader Schumer's office
• RIT/NTID, The Strong present Deaf Day of Play March 20.
• Additional coverage of Deaf Day of Play includes:
  • WROC-TV
  • Rochester Business Journal (subscriber access)
  • WHAM-TV
  • WHEC-TV
  • Spectrum TV
• “CODA” wins Academy Award coverage includes:
  • WHAM-TV
  • RIT News
  •  WXXI News
  • Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
  • WHEC-TV
  • WHAM-TV/FOX Rochester
  • Deaf West Theatre to Adapt Best Picture Oscar Nominee CODA Into a Stage Musical.