Dario A. Cortes, PhD, President of Berkeley College, today testified in Washington, DC, at the Joint Hearing on “The Gainful Employment Regulation: Limiting Job Growth and Student Choice.” The Joint Hearing comprised the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending, and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
“Berkeley College is proud of its standards, regional accreditation, and 80-year history of preparing students for career success,” said Dr. Cortes following the hearing. “I urge those whom are in positions to do so, to lessen the regulatory burden being imposed on private sector institutions, so that our attention and resources may be placed where they duly deserve to be – on the preparation, teaching, and learning of our students.”
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Solstice Sunglass Boutique and LIM College are proud to announce the winner and runners-up of the first Summer Solstice Visual Merchandising Competition, a design competition to create a seasonal promotional concept for the retail chain’s annual “Summer Solstice” sales promotion. The winning design is now appearing in a total of 160 Solstice Sunglass Boutique stores and Solstice Sunglass Outlet store windows, as is also being used for other marketing initiatives.
The winner of the competition was Kristina Visceglia, a recent graduate of LIM College’s Visual Merchandising Certificate Program. Her concept was titled “Discovering Summer Solstice” and included a visual of a pair of Carrera sunglasses encapsulated in a clear bottle nestled in the sand before the waves of a sunlit beach. This visual will appear in all Solstice store windows from June 20 – July 14. The three LIM College students who were runners-up in the competition were Connor de Guehery, Tara Mangiero and Jordan McGovern.
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A team of students from Monroe College took part in the annual Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) competition – an international organization that provides a forum for students to apply classroom knowledge in solving actual challenges in the community. Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro (first row, far right) sponsored a resolution honoring the students and the college, and Bronx Senator Gustavo Rivera welcomed the delegation to the Senate and co-hosted their visit.
The team won the regional competition and finished 20th out of more than 300 teams nationally. Their project, “Their Need … Our Movement,” focused on improving the quality of life for underserved youth; supporting businesses with “green” initiatives; addressing the need for worldwide hunger relief; assisting entrepreneurs; providing eyeglasses to economically-disadvantaged people all over the world, and more.
The SIFE team was led by Monroe College President Stephen J. Jerome, his wife, Alumni Director Leslie Jerome and Vice President of Student Affairs Roberta Greenberg.
SVA Acting Chairman Milton Glaser has been honored with the 2011 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, which recognizes the distinguished careers of Fulbright alumni. Glaser received his award at a gala dinner event on Wednesday, April 13, at the New York Public Library, alongside fellow honorees opera signer Renée Fleming and actor John Lithgow.
Glaser also made a recent appearance as part of the National Endowment for the Arts podcast series. Describing art as, “a device that aids human survival..and helps you understand what is real,” Glaser discussed a variety of art and design topics, as well as the trajectory of his own career. The podcast features leading arts experts and National Medal of Arts winners, an award Glaser received in 2010. Elucidating how teaching has helped him, “develop the capacity to express ideas more cogently,” Glaser describes how artists move towards failure in order to develop their work and use failure as a means of understanding what they’re doing. “My whole professional life has been to move towards things that I knew that I didn’t know.”
Berkeley College recently was named one of the Best Companies to Work for in New York for 2011.
“Berkeley College is honored to be recognized as a dynamic workplace during our 80th anniversary year,” said Dario A. Cortes, PhD, Berkeley College President. “Our anniversary theme is ‘Changing Lives for 80 Years.’ This award acknowledges that the College not only changes the lives of its students, but also the lives of the associates and faculty members who find fulfillment in their work.”
The awards program, created in 2007, is produced by the New York State Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group, an independent company that manages Best Places to Work programs. The program is sponsored by Jackson Lewis, LLP.
The Best Companies to Work for in New York program recognizes 50 companies in two groups, depending on number of employees. The award was designed around the idea that happy employees make for good business and drive the state’s economy.
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Following the devastation of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, efforts to raise money and send aid have been coming from all corners of the globe. Two alumni of the BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department are doing their part to help the survivors. Dice Tsutsumi (BFA 1998 Illustration), an art director at Pixar Animation Studios, has created Artists Help Japan (AHJ), an open call to artists who want to help raise funds to help Japan. “As a Japanese native working in the creative industry, I created this movement calling for artist communities to come together to help victims in Japan,” says Tsutsumi. “We have raised over $54,000 through cash donations and are planning to have 10 – 12 fundraising art events in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, Toronto and more.” Artists and/or donors who want to help can visit artistshelpjapan.blogspot.com for updates on AHJ fundraising events and information on how to become a part of the organization’s activities.
Fellow alumnus Daisuke Takeya (BFA 1993 Illustration) is a Toronto-based artist and one of the organizers of ASHITA: Artists for Japan, which is hosting an event on Tuesday, March 29, 7pm, at Toronto’s The Great Hall. The event’s host is Japanese fashion model Nana Akimoto and features music by Ashley Ingram, “Super Hero” dancing by AKA Dance, poetry by Ewan Whyte and a silent auction of works by Toronto artists. For more information about the event or making donations to ASHITA, visit ashita11.tumblr.com.
Berkeley College is proud to announce that it has established a Center for Global Studies. Through a variety of initiatives, the Center will seek to disseminate knowledge of other cultures and societies; promote understanding of global, regional and national markets and business activities; and bring an international educational experience to Berkeley College students.
“The foundation of a Berkeley College education has always been the relationship between the curriculum and the realities of the working world,” said Marianne Vakalis, EdD, Berkeley College Associate Provost, Faculty Affairs. “Today’s businesses operate in a global context. The Center for Global Studies will prepare graduates to participate in the here and now of commerce and industry.”
The Center is a product of the Berkeley College Strategic Plan, 2010 – 2015, which among other initiatives seeks to infuse the spirit of globalization into all existing academic programs.
Berkeley College has appointed Vinita Ittoop, PhD, as Director, Center for Global Studies. Dr. Ittoop most recently served as an Instructor and Assistant Chair, Management, in the School of Business.
“Globalization through higher education is the new frontier,” said Dr. Ittoop. “The Center for Global Studies will explore ways to integrate a global perspective into the academic lives of our students and give them experiences that will help them understand the value of this integrated environment.”
On Monday, February 28, acclaimed television and film actor James Gandolfini came to SVA to teach a one-day directing workshop in the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department. The star of The Sopranos and Where the Wild Things Are worked with students Joe Quartararo, Elizabeth Friedman and Victoria Rivera in the College’s amphitheater while fellow students and faculty members looked on. “It was so helpful to hear direct feedback on what we were doing right and wrong when directing actors in a scene,” says Rivera. “It was also really interesting to see Gandolfini throw curve balls at the actors that made them react in genuinely surprising ways.”
Student Nick Stango attended the master class with his camera and sent along the photos below, plus a larger gallery of images on the SVA Facebook page.
The Visual Arts Press, the in-house design studio at SVA, received awards in this year’s HOW Magazine: International 2011 Design Awards. Proof, the undergraduate catalog, was awarded a Brochures Merit for 2011 – 2012 as well as 2010-2011, while issues 6 and 7 of Dear Dave, along with The Wilde Years exhibition catalog were recognized for Editorial Merit.
The prizes for all five print publications are included in a special section in the March 2011 issue of HOW Magazine.
Famed fashion designer Carmen Marc Valvo visited LIM College on February 24 to sign copies of his new book, Dressed to Perfection: The Art of Dressing for Your Red Carpet Moments (Rizzoli, February 2011).
The event, which was sponsored by LIM College’s Adrian G. Marcuse Library and attended by students, faculty, staff and alumni, also featured an installation of gowns from the designer’s collection and a question-and-answer session led by Fashion Merchandising faculty member Michael Palladino.
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