News Briefs

The Personal Safety Advisory Committee has completed its annual report for the academic year. The report can be found on the PSAC website:
http://www2.binghamton.edu/personal-safety/. Contact Chair William Ziegler at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with any questions or concerns.

The STAR program (Service Tradition Awards Recognition) honors employees who exhibit outstanding quality service within the University community. Those recognized receive a STAR pin, a check for $50 and a letter from the President. Anyone can nominate an individual for a STAR award, and self-nomination is encouraged. Any employee of the University including faculty, staff, graduate/teaching assistants, Research Foundation, Binghamton Foundation, Sodexo Campus Services, Barnes & Noble, Campus Pre-School & Early Childhood Center, FineHost and M&T Bank personnel is eligible. Visit http://www2.binghamton.edu/human-resources/star-award.html for nomination forms. For more information, contact Sue Crane at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Binghamton innovations will make computing safer. Learn how in the latest issue of the research magazine, which also features a look at the Arab Spring and a crossword by blogger Michael Sharp, aka Rex Parker. The magazine, which will soon be delivered in print, is now available online at http://go.binghamton.edu/spring12.

Stephen Beehag has been appointed general manager of Sodexo Campus Services at Binghamton University. With more than 34 years of hospitality,
management and leadership experience, he was most recently the general manager for Templeton Landing, a specialty restaurant and special events destination in Buffalo. 

Prior to that, Beehag was in management with Qwest Center Omaha for Levy Restaurants as well as director of operations for the Eastern region for the Delaware North Companies and director of culinary operations for Ralph Wilson Stadium. He has worked for the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, and Renaissance Hotels in Phoenix, Miami and Vancouver, including as vice president for operations.

Beehag’s culinary training began in Paris, at the Hotel Plaza Athenee, followed by an apprenticeship under the direction of famous French chef Louis Outhier.

The Personal Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) has launched its website at http://binghamton.edu/personal-safety/.

The PSAC is a mandate from the SUNY Board of Trustees and its primary goal is to assure that everyone at Binghamton University, including students, faculty, staff and visitors are not only safe, but also feel safe. The PSAC is an information portal for everything related to safety at Binghamton University. The website includes information on the dozens of initiatives and organizations at Binghamton University concerned with your safety. The PSAC logs and acts on every concern reported, and the log is available on this website.

If you have any questions about the PSAC or would like to report a safety concern, contact Bill Ziegler, PSAC chair, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Binghamton University recently promoted Terrence Kane to the post of assistant vice president for government relations.

Kane, who represented Binghamton University as the associate director of economic development and community outreach from 2005 to 2007, has been the director of state and community relations since 2007. He served for seven years as the Broome County deputy county executive and for three years as the deputy regional director of economic development for the State of New York in the Southern Tier.

Kane represents the interests of Binghamton University by serving as the University’s lead advocate to the governor’s office, the New York State Legislature, state agencies, and county and municipal governments. He also channels pertinent information to the University concerning legislation, budgets and opportunities for advancement.

Kane, a resident of Chenango Bridge and member of the Chenango Valley Central School District Board of Education, graduated from Saddleback Community College with an associate’s degree in business and the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He and his wife, Barbara, have three children.

President Harvey Stenger has formed a search committee to lead the search for the University’s next provost and vice president for academic affairs. Distinguished Service Professor of English Susan Strehle and Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose will co-chair the committee, which includes the following faculty, students and staff:

    • Randy McGuire, distinguished professor of anthropology
    • Anne Bailey, associate professor of history and chair of Africana Studies
    • Susannah Gal, associate professor of biological sciences
    • Sara Reiter, professor of management
    • James Pitarresi, distinguished teaching professor and chair of mechanical engineering
    • Scott Geiger, senior systems administrator and chair of the Professional Employees Council
    • David Ostermann, undergraduate student
    • Latoya Lee, graduate student
    • Marcia Steinbrecher, Alumni Association
    • Linda Zanrucha, keyboard specialist, Sociology Department
    • Mark Reed, associate vice president for Information Technology Services
    • Terry Deak, President’s Office (non-voting)

The bid process for selecting a search firm closes this week, and the Search Committee will hold its first meeting the week of Jan. 30 to begin its work.

The recipients of the 2011-2012 Academic Program and Faculty Development Fund awards:

- Lina Begdache, Stress-induced eating patterns and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) risk in college students
- Geraldine Britton, Advancing collaboration, pedagogy, adaptive infrastructure and the science through the Interdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Program (ITURP): Phase II
- Yu Chen, Toward Development of a Comprehensive Master’s Program in Cyber Security Engineering
- Mark Fowler, Using Tablet Computers for Interactive In-Class Exploration in Engineering
- Paul Gould, Pathways Project: Building Connections in Families Living with Dementia
- Neil Christian Pages, Third Annual Binghamton University German Studies Colloquium
- Leo Wilton and Lubna Chaudhry, Gender Based Violence and HIV-Related Stigma among Black South African Women
- Ting Zhu, A Ubiquitous Sensing-Based Study on the Social Networks in Academic Environment

Daniel Jardine will be the acting director of the Office of Institutional Research & Assessment (OIRA), effective Jan. 12. Jardine has served as the associate director of OIRA since November, 2008. Current Director and Assistant Provost Sean McKitrick is leaving Binghamton University to serve as a vice president for the Middle State Commission on Higher Education.

The following Binghamton University employees won $50 gift certificates donated by the president’s office in the drawing for those who donated a minimum of $75 to the State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) Campaign: Vanessa Young, JoAnn Navarro, Dora Polachek, Tammara Behonick, Dennis Chavez, Patricia Wrobel, Stephen Zahorian, Sara Bowlin, Alberta Lee Nesslage and David Jenkins.

This year’s campaign theme was “Since 1964 you haven’t skipped a beat!”, with the campus surpassing its $60,000 goal to support local, regional and national health and human services agencies. The annual campaign provides an opportunity for the University community to make a difference in the lives of its friends and neighbors in Broome County.

Binghamton University Chief of Police Timothy Faughnan has announced that Matthew Rossie has been appointed assistant chief of police, effective today, Thursday, Dec. 22. Rossie has been serving as interim assistant chief for several months.

In his role, Rossie will assist in planning, coordinating, assigning and reviewing departmental operations. As second in command, he will also assume the duties of the chief in his absence, represent him at meetings as appropriate and serve on the University’s Incident Management Team.

Rossie, who holds an associate degree from Broome Community College and a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College, joined the University’s Police Department as an officer in 1996. He served next as a lieutenant and then as an investigator before assuming his interim assistant chief duties earlier this year.

The Institute for Student Centered Learning has some brief video teaching tips available online. These are short examples of ideas, techniques or other approaches that have worked for colleagues at Binghamton University, and might also work for you. Go to
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=462811812. Click on View in iTunes, then click on the video clip you’d like to watch. Number 1 provides a short introduction. Additional tips will be posted every few weeks. They are less than two minutes long, except #3 which features Wilhelm F. Nicolaisen, distinguished professor emeritus of English, sharing insights from more than 60 years of teaching.

Matt Ritter ’01 does, because he’s a former lawyer who makes a living telling jokes. He’s one of eight Binghamton alumni pursuing careers in comedy who are profiled in the fall issue of Binghamton University Magazine. Also in the latest issue:
  • Federal prosecutor Nick Lewin ’96 helps put al-Qaida operative behind bars.
  • Members of the Class of 1984 lose a time capsule but find each other.
  • Students who study emerging markets go where the lessons are: India.

Have you been meaning to purchase a membership before the pre-opening discount expires?  It just got easier!  Students, faculty and staff can now purchase fitness memberships at their convenience online with their PODS login.

Opening Jan. 28, the Recreation Center at the East Gym will offer a better workout experience in the fully air-conditioned, comprehensive recreation facility. The new and expanded FitSpace will feature all-new equipment including 65 cardio machines with cardio theater, 32 circuit stations and over 40 free-weight stations. About 100 group fitness classes will be offered each week in the three new multipurpose rooms. Pre-opening fitness memberships are available at a 25 percent discount for students, faculty and staff until Nov. 30.

For more information about the project or to buy a membership, go to http://campusrecreation.binghamton.edu and click on the Rec Center information links on the left.

The new bMobi upgrade is live. What’s new?
• Updated map graphic to include newest campus buildings.
• Updated building data so you can find those new buildings.
• New “Places” feature within maps that includes details on dining, residential communities, and ATM and banking locations.
• New athletics feeds for latest scores, schedule and results.
For information on how to download the Binghamton University mobile app, visit http://binghamton.edu/mobi/ .