From the NTID President's Office AUGUST

Welcome back to campus and a new academic year. I look forward to great things from our talented incoming and returning students, and know you, our dedicated faculty and staff, will work to guide them through an outstanding collegiate experience.

Gerry

Archives

Submitted by Rick Postl

NTID Admissions, with support of the Pre-college Outreach team and numerous other departments such as the Summer Transition Program and Project Fast Forward, is about to hand off incoming students to the RIT/NTID community to bring the students to degree completion and a life of fulfillment.  

We are above goal for the bachelor’s degree group, MSSE, and students who are returning after more than a year’s absence. We are even with targets for the health care interpretation and ASLIE populations. We also are pleased to welcome nearly 130 associate degree students.  

Many of the students have known RIT/NTID since as early as their middle school years and are ready to take a swim in the best academic pool. These students have also experienced tidal waves over the past two years. We leave the students in your capable hands – knowing that careful attention and support will be offered for the successful transition of the young adults.

Submitted by Bryan Hensel

Two of Rochester’s most popular attractions are scheduled to celebrate Deaf Culture Sept. 16 and 17!

• Deaf Culture Night with the Rochester Red Wings -- Tickets are on sale for Deaf Culture Night with the Rochester Red Wings on Friday, Sept. 16, at Frontier Field. Game time is 6:05 p.m. The Red Wings will take on the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, and will wear special uniforms that use fingerspelling for “Rochester.” There will be interpreters in the stands and throughout the stadium, a special “Silent Inning,” and Sunshine 2.0 will perform the national anthem and “God Bless America.”
• Deaf Awareness Day at the Seneca Park Zoo – I am pleased to announce that our friends at the Seneca Park Zoo are hosting their first Deaf Awareness Day Saturday, Sept. 17. Our wonderful ASLIE students will provide interpreting support at the gate, with the docents, and at special “Keeper Chats” throughout the day. Watch for information and links to purchase tickets in a future email.

Three new exhibits are on display in the Dyer Arts Center:

• “Shaped by the American Dream: Deaf History through Deaf Art” is on exhibition through April 21, 2023, in the main gallery. Celebrating the Deaf American experience through identity, citizenship, sociality, education and movements for equality. The exhibition is presented in both spoken English and American Sign Language. This exhibition has been made possible by a $50,000 grant from the Terra Foundation of American Art and features artworks by 30 U.S.-born and immigrant deaf and hard-of-hearing artists practicing in a variety of media. With over 140 artworks, the exhibition predominately features works from the Dyer’s permanent collection and selected loans from the late 19th century. The artwork juxtaposed in a variety of subject matter highlight the Deaf American experience from 1889 through 1989.
• Harry Williams: A Retrospective on exhibition in the Ohringer Gallery on the second floor through March 17, 2023.
• Justin LeBlanc’s “Signwaves: Reimagined” is on exhibition in the Glass Room through April 21, 2023. The “SignWaves” collection was originally presented during New York Fashion Week in August 2013. LeBlanc’s striking architectonic designs and willingness to take risks earned him a spot in the season 12 finale of Project Runway. Sign language is LeBlanc’s first language. This translates into his collection exploring capturing energy and vibrations in sound through 3-D printing, traditional embellishments, laser cutting, and engineered print design. Through these technological designs, the 3D printed accessories capture the motion of sign language by scanning the energy and motions of words like “courage,” “joy,” and “beauty.”

Submitted by John Macko

• Dawn Lucas, Regina Kiperman-Kiselgof, and John Macko exhibited and participated in the Disability:IN conference in Dallas, Texas, July 18 to 21.
  • Dallin Smuin, current student in Saunder’s management major, and Ikemefuna Chukwunyerenwa, who just graduated with a bachelor’s degree in web and mobile computing, both participated in the NextGen Leaders Initiative, designed to increase opportunities for individuals who represent all segments of diversity.
  • Nathanael Thomas, graduate student in professional studies, and alumnus Ryan Gibson, an engineering manager at Boeing, were part of the NextGen Innovation Labs, where students are matched with a mentor for six months and develop accessibility solutions that are later judged. Thomas and his partner finished in second place, and Gibson was one of the Innovation Lab judges.
• Amy Stornello exhibited and attended the NAD conference in Orlando, Florida, June 30 to July 4. Amy met and interacted with people to explain about Training Resources and Career Coaching for the Deaf (TRACCD).
• Regina Kiperman-Kiselgof and Amy Stornello attended the Deaf Rochester Festival on June 18 to inform people about TRACCD.
• Miranda Harms, Amy Stornello, and John Macko attended the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conference in Portland, Oregon. They attended various career services sessions, networked with professionals from career centers and recruiters from employers.
• Erica Roethel and Regina Kiperman-Kiselgof participated in the Management Leadership Institute hosted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the week of July 11.
• Working Together: Deaf and Hearing People Program:
  • Beth Karbowki and Erica Roethel presented a virtual workshop to 62 participants from Lifespan.
  • Ten participants from Tobyhanna Army Depot attended a virtual presentation by Pam Christopher and Miranda Harms.
• Miranda Harms, Sophie Powell, and Pam Christopher will be attending and exhibiting at the SHRM Diversity & Inclusion conference in San Diego, California, October 2022.

Submitted by Denise Kavin

• Project Fast Forward (PFF) secured a $15,000 grant from Microsoft to establish a diverse national advisory board of seven people to provide recommendations on the strategic expansion of the dual-credit program.
• PFF held 26 teacher trainings this summer.
• As of July 22, 54 Project Fast Forward students are enrolled at RIT/NTID this fall, up from 19 students in fall 2019.

A warm welcome to the newest members of our community:

• Kashif Bin Arif, Multimedia Content Producer
• Landing Badjie, Senior Staff Assistant
• Joshua Baker, Captionist I
• Sylvia Bermudez, Senior Staff Assistant
• Michelle Cline, Research Assistant
• Chelsea Clutter, Captionist I
• Charles Coleman, Online Program Support Specialist
• Thomas Debraggio, Senior Staff Assistant
• Maggie Donaldson, Research Scientist
• Joanne Galvez, Coordinator Student Life Programming
• Madeleine Grandon, Captionist I
• Michelle Klein, Captionist I
• Samara Maldonado, Staff Assistant
• Vanessa Murphy, Audiology Extern
• Kristijan Petrovic, Systems Administrator
• Timothy Royce, Captionist I
• Ismael Peralta Silva, Computer Technician
• Jennifer Stewardson, Research Program Coordinator
• Rika Stoller, Captionist I
• Annika Temp, Captionist I
• Jessika Whitehouse, Coordinator Student Life Programming
• Jonah Winninghoff, Statistician

What is the best part of your work?

I really appreciate being able to work with the diverse population of students, faculty and staff, and other members of the RIT community. My colleagues within CSS are some of the best women in the world and I could not have asked for a better, more supportive, productive team.

What would surprise people to learn about you?

On a professional level, many people would be surprised to learn that I used to teach high school at Rochester School for the Deaf. On a personal level, I love to design and decorate cakes!

What do you enjoy doing during your free time?

What free time? I have three young children who keep me quite busy outside of work. When I do have free time, I enjoy working out, traveling, decorating, and being crafty.

What is the best part of your major?

The best part of my major is that it has enabled me to improve my skills as a research scientist. The research methods courses I took were fundamental to my success working as a research assistant for NTID’s Research Center on Culture and Language. By taking these courses, I was able to develop skills such as developing papers, networking, and collaborating with peers and associates who share the same research interests as I do. I also learned about designing and distributing surveys, screening participants, research strategies for developing literacy reviews on various research topics, as well as developing professional mannerisms that are critical when attending and presenting at conferences.

What would surprise people to learn about you?

It surprises people that I am able to use spoken English as a form of communication when necessary. People also would be surprised to learn that I have travelled both nationally and internationally, most recently to Israel to learn more of my ethnicity. Most people are surprised by my ethnicity as well. Not a lot of people are aware that I do not identify myself as a typical colonist white American, but instead I identify as a Middle Eastern Jew. Lastly, not a lot of people are aware of my management skills, and that I have trained more than 100 people who are hearing, deaf, or hard-of-hearing in workplaces including Home Depot, UPS, and Fed Ex.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I enjoy hiking, disc golfing, bouldering, snowboarding, dancing, and flow art as well as watching films and TV in my free time. Naturally, the priority of my free time is rest and reflecting on what I can do to continue the betterment of my well-being and life overall.