Athletics
The small gym has become the indoor home for baseball, softball, lacrosse, and soccer on any given evening during the past few weeks. If you walk through the hallways you might even catch the track team practicing as well. The teams are also preparing for summer camps and providing community services for area coaches and their players. Golf and men’s tennis will kick off their season this month and will be focused on defending their national championships.

Business, Information Sciences, and Hospitality Management
On March 7, the Marriott Hospitality Center co-sponsored Diabetes University with the Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation. This program, held at the college for its eighth consecutive year, is free to the community and offers advice and cutting edge research for those with diabetes, their families, caregivers and educators. This year’s topics included lessons from traditional diets, benefits of resistance training, and the importance of early detection of breast cancer in diabetics. Approximately 150 people attended the program.

MC/MCPS Partnership
Dr. Deborah Stearns continues to work with the Psychology Internship Programs at Wootton High School and Walter Johnson High Schools. She currently has one intern from each high school working with her for the 2008-9 AY. This effort is sponsored by the Office of Academic Initiatives. Professors Susan Cooperman and Bill Talbot along with Dean Patti Bartlett and Staff Member Cathy Galasso-Schwartz participated in the Internship Mock Interview Day event sponsored by Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery County Business Roundtable. These interviews help high school seniors sharpen their interview skills.

Office of Student Life
Involvement Fest is a program held each semester where clubs and organizations can recruit students, promote activities, and share information with the campus and community. There were over forty-five clubs who participated in this semester’s event and over 300 students, staff and faculty in attendance. Advocacy Day, an annual event where students from Maryland’s 16 community colleges visit the State capitol to meet with legislators and advocate for the interests of community colleges, involved 16 Rockville Campus students this year. The students were divided into groups and each met with three senators or delegates. The Office of Student Life offered two training sessions to all participants. Co-facilitators were Student Life Specialists Justin Bernstine, Val Melgosa, and John Silas, Vice President and Provost of the Rockville Campus Dr. Judy Ackerman, Deputy Director of Government Relations Ms. Merle Steiner, and Director of Communication Mr. Brett Eaton. In addition, there was a debriefing and evaluation session conducted to assess the outcomes of this event to better serve future generations of Advocacy Day participants. To better serve the needs of the club program advisors, there was a club advisor orientation program conducted where advisors received training from the Office of Student Life staff and had the opportunity to brainstorm and problem solve issues, as well as share information in a round table atmosphere. There were over 15 advisors in attendance. There is a great interest in clubs this year. The Office of Student Life has 55 recognized clubs. There were four new orientation sessions conducted and over 25 students were in attendance to prepare club leadership for success, review the club program policies and procedures, and better serve the club members.

Paul Peck Humanities Institute
The Paul Peck Humanities Institute welcomes 14 fellows from eight disciplines, including English, World Languages, Biology, Economics, The School of Education, the American English Language Program, Psychology and History to the 2009 Smithsonian Faculty Fellowship cohort. The Smithsonian Opening, a welcome to the 2009 cohort and a celebration of the relationship between Montgomery College and the Smithsonian, was held on February 26 at the Smithsonian Castle. The 2009 fellows are: Joe Anderson (R English); Diane Chapin (G English); Alexandra Fairfield (TP/SS Biology); Leigh Fought (TP/SS History); Renee Galbavy ( R Psychology); Arthur Grinath (G Economics); Glenda Hernandez (TP/SS School of Education); Shelley Jones (TP/SS World Languages); Jill Kronstadt (G English); Melissa Lizmi (R Computer Applications); Mimi Mann (R English); Carla Naranjo (G World Languages); Carina Rock (R American English Language Program); and Stepahnie Sabourin (TP/SS English). The 2009 Fellows will explore the theme, A Lens on Social Justice: Creating Exhibits That Matter.

On February 11, the Paul Peck Humanities Institute presented the Smithsonian Faculty Fellows Showcase. The 2008 fellows presented their innovative approaches to teaching in two sessions, beginning at 11:00am and 5:00pm in the Theatre Arts Arena on the Rockville Campus. The Showcase was kicked off by Dr. Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Mr. Bunch's talk, Retelling the African American Story: The Importance of Black History Month, was attended by 170 people. The event was covered in the Gazette as well as in Inside MCOnline and aired on February 20 on MCTV10 in honor of Black History Month. Bunch also conducted a standing-room only seminar for about 40 Montgomery College students interested in back history.

The 2008 Smithsonian faculty fellows are the subject of a film created by MCTV's John Watson. The film includes brief interviews with all twelve 2008 fellows and provides insight into how the fellowship program influences teaching at Montgomery College. The film was shown at the Smithsonian Faculty Fellows Showcase on February 11 and will be shown at the Smithsonian Opening on February 26. Copies of the film are available by request. Contact Dr. Esther Schwartz-McKinzie at esther.schwartz-mckinzie@montgomerycollege.edu

The 2008 Smithsonian faculty fellows are creating a new Web site to showcase their work, and to archive the work of previous fellows. The Web site will be an open resource to Montgomery College faculty and will include teaching ideas and materials that can be implemented in the classroom. The Web site will be unveiled in March, 2009.

The Paul Peck Humanities Institute has produced a 58 page report on the 2008 Internship program, detailing the activities and accomplishments of 27 interns at the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Copies of the report are available by request. Contact Dr. Esther Schwartz-McKinzie at esther.schwartz-mckinzie@montgomerycollege.edu

The Portraits of Life: Holocaust Survivors of Montgomery County initiative has continued to supplement the Montgomery County Public School curriculum on the Holocaust. Portraits is currently being exhibited at Westland Middle School in Bethesda. On February 3, in conjunction with the exhibition, Halina Peabody and Henry Greenbaum, two Holocaust survivors, spoke to several classes of 7th grade students and their teachers. The survivors spoke of their experiences and the students asked questions. There was a lively and wide-ranging discussion. The school has asked for the Portraits of Life exhibit to return to Westland next year. With the help of MC’s Grants and Foundations Office, the Paul Peck Humanities Institute has applied for funding from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County to continue bringing Portraits to county secondary schools.

Sociology, Anthropology, & Criminal Justice
The fourth annual Poster Session, a collaborative event with the Communication, Arts, and Technologies Department, will take place from April 14 - 17. A panel of faculty members will select the best student papers from this year’s sociology, anthropology, and criminal justice classes. Art students will subsequently create interpretative artistic renderings of the themes and ideas of selected papers. The collaboration results in pleasant surprises for everyone! On April 7 at 11:00 AM in the Theatre Arts Building, the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice will host guest speaker Dr. Katherine Ramsland who holds graduate degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, and philosophy. Currently, Dr. Ramsland teaches forensic psychology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania and has published 30 books relating to her areas of expertise. Her topic will be on Psychological Sleuthing. She also will be available to sign her books.

Science, Engineering and Math
The first groups of S-STEM scholars in ACCESS Engineering, along with MC’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) scholars, were honored at a reception held in the Faculty/Staff Dining Room in the Campus Center Building on the Rockville Campus. The scholars, made up of students from all three campuses, were joined by department chairs, faculty, academic support staff and faculty mentors. The S-STEM scholarship program is being funded by a four-year, $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support high achieving engineering students who intend to transfer to a four-year engineering program. The Clark Construction crew started preparations on February 28 on the construction for the new Science Center. If all goes according to plans, in about two years the Rockville Campus will open the doors to a state-of-the-art science facility. The Science Center will be the first new building for the campus since the South Campus Instruction Building was competed in 1996 and the Gudelsky Institute for Technical Education opened in 1992. The construction site will include areas near Science East, Science West, the brick courtyard between the Counseling and Advising and the greenhouse, and the duck pond.

Women’s Studies
Dr. Deborah Stearns will be moderating a panel discussion at the Mid-Atlantic Women's Studies Association Conference, Susquehanna University, March 26 - 28. The topic, Sex in the Classroom: Sex Education as Transformative Practice, will include presentations by Dr. Deborah Stearns (Psychology) and Dr. Susan Milstein (Health Enhancement, Exercise Science, and Physical Education), as well as three current and former Montgomery College students: Jessica Cabrejas, Luana DaSilva, and Amie Krautwurst.