Berkeley College is pleased to announce the appointment of Marlene Doty as Vice President, Library Services. In this role, she leads the continued development of library resources and services that provide a contemporary means of information delivery and integration of information literacy throughout the College experience.

“Ms. Doty is aprogressive thinker who has led the Berkeley College library system to the forefront of technology,” said Glen Zeitzer, PhD, Berkeley College Provost. “She is dedicated to acquiring the resources and services our students need to excel.”

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A member of the Association of Proprietary Colleges was the subject of a Jayson Blair-type assault from a now-former Village Voice reporter who made up sources and quotes in a recently published article about the proprietary sector of higher education. 

Rob Sgobbo, who also freelanced for the Daily News, was fired from both publications after the Village Voice determined he quoted a fictitious Berkeley College student and concocted quotes and a source from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

APC President Stephen Jerome, president of Monroe College, sent a memo to APC members, informing them that the Village Voice acknowledged Sgobbo crafted a story about a former Berkeley College student who the report claimed left school in debt and without a degree. The subject of student debt load is sensitive as the federal government has singled out proprietary colleges for the ability of their students to repay debt.

The article, “For-Profit Blues,” was an unjustified attack on Berkeley College and the entire proprietary sector, Jerome said.

“The story didn’t sit right with our colleagues at Berkeley because their representative never said the things the reporter attributed to her,” he said. “So Berkeley did some digging and was able to confirm the student didn’t exist, and that quotes in the story, including those from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, were invented. Berkeley demanded a retraction, and the newspaper quickly and rightly issued one, along with a public apology.”

Several news outlets picked up the story, recalling a similar case in 2003, when New York Times reporter Jayson Blair received international notoriety for widespread plagiarism and for manufacturing quotes and sources on several high-profile stories.

Dear Colleagues,

We know the old saying, “don’t believe everything you read.”  It’s one that’s become increasingly relevant as stories about some of New York’s colleges are published.  Even though New York has the strongest proprietary sector in the country because of the high standards to which we all hold ourselves, as well as state regulatory standards, the story that’s been playing out in the public is much different than the one we know to be true.

But in the rush to make “for-profit” a four-letter word, and burden us with new regulations aimed at a few unscrupulous operators, the facts are being pushed aside.  The latest example came last week when the Village Voice admitted that reporter Rob Sgobbo fabricated a story about a former Berkeley College student who the report claimed left school in debt and without a degree.

The story didn’t sit right with our colleagues at Berkeley because their representative never said the things the reporter attributed to her.  So Berkeley did some digging and was able to confirm the student didn’t exist, and that quotes in the story, including those from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and Berkeley representatives, were invented. Berkeley demanded a retraction, and the newspaper quickly and rightly issued one, along with a public apology.                             

This is a win, yes, but hardly a complete victory.  How much other bad information is out there and, as of now, uncorrected?  We’re well aware of how the GAO quietly revised down its inflammatory report on the proprietary college sector, the very report that informed new federal Education Department’s regulations that unfairly target the proprietary sector.  Shame on us if we don’t take Berkeley’s lead and fight back even more vigorously – we can’t allow ourselves to become scapegoats for someone else’s political agenda and outrageous disregard for journalistic principle.

As we meet in Albany this week to discuss priorities for the upcoming year, an item that will now dominate our agenda is to redouble our efforts to set the record straight about the quality of our programs and the imbedded unfairness of proposed federal regulations targeting our colleges.  There are countless alumni and students whose futures are brighter as a result of the education they received – and are receiving – from proprietary colleges. That’s a fact we need to get on the record.

Sincerely,

Stephen Jerome

MFA Social Documentary Film Department student Mark Kendall has been awarded the student prize for La Camioneta, his documentary about American school buses that are given new life in the highlands of Guatemala, in the 2010 International Movie Trailer Festival Competition. The IMTF honors movie trailers, both for movies that have already been completed and trailers for movies still in various stages of conception and production.

Two MFA Interaction Design Department faculty members were named winners in the recent .net Magazine Awards. Jason Santa Maria won Web Personality of the Year and Jeffrey Zeldman won Standard Champion for the third year in a row. Happy Cog, the design agency Zeldman founded, took home Design Agency of the Year, and The Big Web Show, which he hosts with Dan Benjamin, won Video Podcast of the Year.

The .net Awards celebrate the best in Web design and development and are organized by .net magazine.

Deborah Adler, Target’s ClearRx prescription system. Courtesy of the artist/School of Visual Arts

As a way of honoring design’s evolving impact on business and society the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) offers Design of the Decade awards to examples of design that remedy poor user experiences, rescue tired brands and empower developing economies. At the close of this century’s first decade, one of the awards went to alumnus Deborah Adler (MFA 2002 Design) for her ClearRx project, Adler’s thesis project that redesigned the standard prescription drug bottle and was subsequently adopted by Target.

The 2010 Design of the Decade winners’ work features a combination of brave thinking and progressive action, according to the IDSA. Adler’s ClearRx bottle addresses the communication, packaging and system deficiencies encountered by users of prescription drugs, including the elderly, and provides a solution that can reduce potential risks associated with taking medications.

Photo Caption (L to R): Berkeley College Senior Vice President, Enrollment Management, Diane Recinos; Berkeley College Assistant Vice President, Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, Richard Robitaille, EdD; Berkeley College Faculty, Management, School of Business, Kwaku Ampadu-Nyarkoh, PhD; Flight Chief, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Education Center, Linda Richardson; Berkeley College President Dario A. Cortes, PhD; Berkeley College Coordinator of Military Affairs Jennifer Davis; 87th Mission SupportGroup Deputy Commander Andrew Butterfield; Berkeley College Coordinator of Veterans Support Services Rachel Hodgson; and Berkeley College Senior Director of Enrollment Robert Oddo.

Berkeley College President Dario A. Cortes, PhD, along with military representatives, faculty, staff and other guests attended a special ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, December 9, in the Education Training Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in southern New Jersey, to celebrate the first time a college degree in business is being offered there since 2003.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to offer our academic programs at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey,” said Dr. Cortes. “These military men and women and their extended families will be able to take courses at the base or online and they will benefit from Berkeley College’s ‘Changing Lives for 80 Years – 1931-2011.’ Berkeley has a strong commitment to support all the branches of the armed forces as they seek a college education.”

Dr. Cortes added that the growing Office of Military and Veterans Affairs serves 350 students. The College recently opened a Veterans Resource Center at its New York City Midtown Campus where students can meet, share their experiences, and receive additional support.

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DeVry College of New York has announced the appointment of David Smith as Dean of the Manhattan Extension Center of its New York Metro. Prior to joining DeVry College of New York, which is known nationally as DeVry University, Smith gained critical leadership and operational experience while working for Kaplan Learning Centers and, before that, as an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y. 

Smith is a resident of Brooklyn, earning his bachelor’s degree in classical civilization from Cornell University, his master’s degree from Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and an additional master’s degree in teaching from Pace University in New York.

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Image: Brittany Brothers, Mist-ified, 2010. Courtesy of the artist.

Awarded the 2010 World in Focus Photography Grand Prize for Mist-ified, her photograph taken at Brazil’s Iguazu Falls, Brittany Brothers (current student in the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department) will be featured in the January/February issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine. In addition, Brothers also recently won a 10-day expedition to the Galápagos Islands and a $250 certificate in a competition sponsored by the art-supply company Canson Infinity.

Photo taken by Eric Feigenbaum of LIM College

November 18, 2010 (New York, NY) — The Fashion Center, headquarters of the Fashion Center Business Improvement District (BID), the not-for-profit corporation that promotes New York City’s apparel industry, has unveiled its new window display, titled “Repurpose…Recycle…  Reflect.” The window was designed by Visual Merchandising students from LIM College, the nation’s only college focused exclusively on the study of business and fashion. It will be on display through January 5, 2011.
Located in Manhattan at 209 West 38th Street, the Fashion Center Space for Public Art and Design window features a female mannequin dressed in an elegant paper wedding gown. Most of the components of the window display are made of paper, much of which has been recycled, or previously used or repurposed. It was conceived, designed and installed by students in LIM College’s Visual Presentation course, which is taught by Marjorie Lee Woo, Associate Chair of the Visual Merchandising department.

“We are thrilled to be able to partner with the Fashion Center to provide this incredible opportunity for our Visual Merchandising students,” said LIM College President Elizabeth S. Marcuse. “Hands-on experience in the fashion industry has always been a hallmark of an LIM College education, and this collaboration really exemplifies that.”