From the NTID President's Office - April 2024

Submitted by Rick Postl

We now are even with last year in the number of schools visited for the year, but still are visiting fewer schools that we did, on average, prior to the pandemic. This is a shifting landscape that does not come as a surprise nor is it a welcome trend. However, it is reassuring that RIT/NTID continues to have strong appeal, and as of April 1, we have admitted more deaf/hard-of-hearing/ASLIE undergraduates and NTID-supported graduate students/MSSE/Health Care Interpretation students than last year. Our work is far from done, as we focus on student enrollment by the May 1 deadline. The FAFSA situation continues to leave RIT/NTID, and all colleges in the nation, in an unwelcome limbo. Unlike a growing number of schools that could not or did not implement an in-house FAFSA application process, RIT does not want to extend the May 1 enrollment deadline, but that possibility is not off the table. Continue to offer your best to prospective students and families who visit campus during the last stretch of the admissions cycle.

NTID Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Gary Behm and I are pleased to announce the following appointment within the NTID Academic Affairs division, effective July 1, 2024.

Dr. Jason Listman, associate professor, has accepted the position of chairperson of the NTID ASL and Interpreting Education Department (ASLIE). This is a three-year appointment with possible extension. 

Please join us in congratulating Jason as he begins his new career path leading ASLIE and NTID into the future.

We look forward to working closely with Jason for the enhancement of our faculty, staff, and student success. 

Many thanks to the faculty and staff who participated in the interview and review processes.

Submitted by Bryan Hensel

• In celebration of Deaf Awareness Month, NTID partnered again with the National Museum of Play at Strong for Deaf Day of Play on Saturday, April 13. Students from our ASLIE program provided ASL assistance at the museum’s admissions desk, Skyline Climb high adventure course, ASL Story Time, and the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden throughout the day. Members of the Deaf community enjoyed free ASL tours of the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden.
• RIT/NTID alum and 1977 distinguished alum awardee, Kevin Nolan, ’71 will present “From Obstacles to Political Victory” on Thursday, April 19, 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the Dyer Arts Center, LBJ Hall. Join us as we learn more about Kevin's journey as a politician, teacher, and member of NTID's very first "Pioneer Class" of students in 1968. Kevin will cover his story of personal growth, and how he became the nation’s first born-deaf city councilor and one of the nation’s first deaf people to serve on a jury. This event is free and open to the public, but if you plan to attend, please register here. You’ll enjoy Kevin's narrative and humor as he shares his experience. Book signing will follow the presentation.
• Please join us on Thursday, April 25, at 4:30 p.m. in the CSD Student Development Center, Ellie’s Place, as we recognize and celebrate this year’s NTID Distinguished Alum, Rosa Lee Timm ’00, Social Work. Heavy hors d’oeuvres provided. This event is free and open to the public.
• NTID Safe Space Ribbon Cutting. Immediately following the April 25 reception honoring Rosa Lee Timm, we invite you to join us at the CSD Student Development Center, second floor, where we will enjoy a dessert reception and ribbon cutting ceremony for NTID’s newly created Safe Space, supporting RIT/NTID students, faculty and staff of color. This event is free and open to the public. 
• Please join me in thanking the NTID Foundation Board of Directors and the NTID Alumni Association Board of Directors for their service to our students and the NTID community on Thursday, April 25. You can meet and visit with board members who will be present to recognize NTID Distinguished Alum, Rosa Lee Timm, and for the Safe Space ribbon cutting ceremony event.

Submitted by Erin Auble

• Welcome new hire
  • Matthew Parsley - Technical Theatre Assistant
• Kudos
  • Erin Auble presented at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology conference, March 19-24
    • "A Neurodivergent Community"
    • Paint Lab: Skills Lab Workshop - Woodgrain
    • "When Light Meets Paint"
    • "Community Conversations"
  • Marc Holland's choreography was recognized at the American College Dance Association conference
  • Thomas Warfield directed excerpts from "AstroDance II: Across the Universe" during the Rochester Museum and Science Center's "ROC the Eclipse Festival" on Saturday, April 6.
  • NTID Performing Arts presents "Deaf Creators Play Festival" April 19-21, Robert F. Panara Theatre. Featuring one-act plays by diverse deaf and hard-of-hearing playwrights, the festival is directed by JW Guido and Gail Gonzalez. Ticket website: www.rittickets.com

Submitted by Heather Eaggleston

For FY 24, NTID received level funding, or the same amount received in FY 23: $92.5M, which includes up to $9.5M for the NTID Regional STEM Center. In the Department of Education’s total appropriation, only a handful of programs received an increase in funding, some programs received cuts, and most programs, like NTID, were funded at the same amount as in FY 23. NTID is very lucky to have the support of New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as U.S. Representative for New York’s 25th District, Joe Morelle, who fight for NTID’s funding every year.

Due to FY 24 funding not passing until late March, the FY 25 appropriations process is behind schedule. The White House FY 25 budget recommends $92.5M (level with FY 23 and FY 24) for NTID, but there are no House or Senate FY 25 appropriations bills yet. FY 25 appropriations bills are unlikely to pass until well after Election Day, November 5, 2024.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the 2024 United Way campaign. At the time of this writing, there were 524 donors (goal was 900) and $214,678 funds raised (goal was $285,000). If you would still like to make a donation, RIT’s United Way website will remain open through April. Thanks also to everyone who helped with and bid on items at NTID’s Silent Auction, which raised more than $1,200 for the United Way. Finally, thank you to Ellen Johnson, 2024 RIT United Way Campaign Chair, as well as many others listed in the Kudos section below.

Kudos to:

• Heather Eaggleston, Ellen Johnson, Sydney Long (retiree) and Mike Servé (retiree) for serving on the RIT United Way Steering Committee
• Sydney Long and helpers Ellen Johnson, Heather Eaggleston, Nancy Popolizio, Maria Ocasio, Tammy Palmieri, Cheri Hennessey, Academic Affairs student workers and staff, Jorge Samper, and FMS for another successful NTID Silent Auction benefiting the United Way
• 2024 United Way NTID Key Captains
  • Krystal Ayala Alvarado
  • Brian Bliss
  • Kari Campos-Hamilton
  • Heather Eaggleston
  • Ellen Johnson
  • Nancy Marrer
  • Allyson Martel
  • Maggie Otis
  • Jillian Sinclair
  • Brittany Sperry
  • Krystal Stark
  • Thanks also to RIT Office of Government and Community Relations staff, Cate Fox, Debbie Kiel, and Nicole Prahler, who covered 19 NTID areas that did not designate a Key Captain

Be sure to join us Saturday, April 27, for Imagine RIT. This annual event provides an opportunity for the greater Rochester community to learn about all of the innovation and creativity happening on campus, and is always a source of immense pride for all of us. Thank you to the many volunteers and exhibitors who will show off the best of what RIT has to offer.

Join me in welcoming our new colleagues and congratulate our colleague who has transferred to a new department:

New hires:

• Dylan Hinks, marketing communications specialist, Communications, Marketing and Multimedia Services
• Kelly Thornton, senior staff assistant, Outreach, Placement and Special Projects

Transfer:

• Gloria Farr, assistant director, Counseling and Academic Advising Services

Submitted by Jess Cuculick

Counseling services for students are available through Counseling and Psychological Services. Signed and interpreted services are available Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4: 30 p.m. (Closed Wednesdays 11 a.m. – noon). Call 585-475-2261 or use the Patient Chat or Secure Message on your Wellness Portal. After-hours mental health line is 855-436-1245.

• Congratulations to the MSSE program for earning the Provost’s Excellence in Learning Outcomes Award.
• Congratulations to Sarah E. Sarchet for earning the Provost’s Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award.
• Former National Advisory Group member Scott Wills of the Dow Chemical Company, and Professor Todd Pagano presented at the American Chemical Society awards symposium in early March. Scott has been a tireless advocate for NTID students!
• Congratulations to RIT’s newest class of PI Millionaires: Bonnie Jacob, Jason Nordhaus, and Keven Poore.
• Congratulations to Clifton Langdon, for receiving a Seed Funding Award from RIT’s Research Division.
• Congratulations to the Department of Access Services Scheduling Office: Cynthia Cappa, Lexie Ryan, on their nomination for the 2023 Outstanding Staff Awards.
• Lisa Prinzi has a research article published in the “Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education” on the interpreter’s role in deaf students’ autonomy in mainstream classrooms.

• Spectrum testing virtual ASL interpreter program in Rochester stores
• Spectrum testing virtual ASL interpreter – Rochester Business Journal (subscriber login required)
• RIT/NTID receives federal funding appropriation from 2024 Omnibus budget
• NTID alum shares her love of art and graphic design
• RIT hockey fans use sign language to cheer on team
• Dancing through the cosmos – AstroDance II
• RIT recognizes newest class of PI Millionaires
• Signed: How ASL Became A Language Of Resistance
• RIT to confer four honorary degrees at May 10 commencement ceremony
• African American English, Black ASL are stigmatized. Experts say they deserve recognition
• 'A beautiful way of saying a lot': sign language brings benefits to the organic chemistry classroom

• Mitchell “Mitch” Bacot, ’05 Science (Applied Mathematics), ’07 NTID (Secondary Education of Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing), and faculty member in NTID’s Department of Science and Mathematics, passed away March 14, 2024.

• Claire M. Weyand, SVP '17, 2021 NTID (Applied Liberal Arts), passed away on April 10, 2024.