mymcc Community

Poultry in Motion

MCC Blog Admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:18:00 GMT

MCC's first Bring Your Turkey to Work Day was apparently a huge success, as staff, administrators and students on Monday collected 76 turkeys to be donated to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank!

Staffers were thankful there was no fowl play in action as they piled the frozen birds into the backs of their cars over four hours yesterday for delivery to the food bank. And it wasn't just college folks contributing to the cause, either! One gentleman who heard about the dropoff brought his frozen bird in on the back of his hog - his motorcycle, that is! Special props to Scott Plath, owner of Cobblestones in Lowell and Moonstones in Chelmsford and adjunct MCC faculty member in the college's hospitality management program who donated TWO DOZEN BIRDS to the cause!

Folks - thanks to your efforts, 76 families throughout Greater Lowell will have a bird on their dinner table this Thanksgiving! Great job!

Making their (Pillow)Case for Fighting Cancer

MCC Blog Admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:40:00 GMT

A group of Middlesex staffers on the Bedford campus are sewing pillowcases for young cancer patients. As part of ConKerr Cancer’s A Case for Smiles program (www.ConKerrCancer.org), the group gathered after work recently in the Bedford Campus Center’s Café East and sewed 50 colorful pillowcases for children and adolescents undergoing cancer treatment at Dana Farber, Massachusetts General, Boston Children’s and Emerson hospitals. More Middlesex volunteers will wash, iron and package each pillowcase.

The ConKerr Pillowcase Project was organized by Maureen Hudson, MCC’s Purchasing Coordinator, and all the fabric was donated by avid quilter Susan Fitzpatrick, Facilities Management Administrative Assistant. Others volunteering in the project include Ashley Patuto, Judy Murphy, Phyllis Worth, Diane Coakley, Charlotte Cardullo, Leslie Turcotte, Chris Lindsey, Ann Dawson, Diane Casey, Idania Coa Cepeda, Betty DiGangi, Scott Cahill, Millie Rosado, Jackson Chege and Judy Wong.

If all goes well, the ConKerr Pillowcase Project will be opened up to the entire college community this spring, as part of the MCC’s Seasons of Service initiative.

Veterans Day Honors for an MCC Vet

MCC Blog Admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:34:00 GMT

Veterans Day 2009 brought military honors to an MCC student this week in the form of a Purple Heart for injuries he suffered five years ago in Iraq.

Stephen Kinney, a sergeant with the New Hampshire Army National guard, on Wednesday received his Purple Heart, delivered by 5th District Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

Kinney, a resident of Chelmsford, served his country during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Five years ago tomorrow (November 14), he was conducting a combat patrol on the road between Balad and Mushadiyah when he was wounded by an IED (improvised explosive device). Because other soldiers around him were more seriously injured, Kinney did not seek immediate medical attention, instead continuing to fight in combat operations in Fallujah. Eventually, his injuries became debilitating and the Army rated him service-connected disabled.

Surrounded by his family and friends, and with MCC's Veteran Services Coordinator Richard Repucci in attendance, Kinney was awarded his Purple Heart medal from Congresswoman Tsongas at the American Legion Hall in North Chelmsford.

Kinney, who has been treated for post traumatic stress disorder in addition to his physical injuries recently retired from his job as a shop steward with the U.S. Post Office.

He's now enrolled in art and computer classes at MCC. Huge thanks to Stephen Kinney and all of the veterans who have served our country in the Armed Services!

Take Your Turkey To Work (Or School) Day!

MCC Blog Admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:02:00 GMT

For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.

- Benjamin Franklin, who felt the turkey should be the country's national bird, not the American Eagle.

MCC will have even more turkeys than normal roaming its campus environs in the coming days, though mostly of the frozen variety.

Staff and administrators at the college have organized Bring Your Turkey to Work Day to benefit the Merrimack Valley Food bank, which has seen a startling dearth of turkey donations for this year's Thanksgiving cycle. Earlier this month, the food bank had not seen any turkeys donated yet, a cause of serious concern for the organization, which seeks to feed needy families during the holiday season. The Merrimack Valley Food bank distributes an average of 2 million pounds of food annually through a network of 100 emergency feeding agencies, including shelters, soup kitchens, and food pantries in 25 communities. This translates to 1,538,461 meals!

A team of MCC folks, led by Business Dean Judy Hogan, has taken the cause to heart as part of the college's Seasons of Service, which looks to engage students, faculty and staff in worthwhile causes in their communities. Throughout this semester students and staffers have already donated hundreds of hours of their time to help in numerous food drives.

Anyone who in interested in helping a needy family during this season is being urged to bring a frozen turkey to one of two drop-off spots being created to collect the birds.

The dropoffs will take place on Monday, November 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. that same day in the front parking lot of MCC's city campus, or in the Visitor's parking lot, near the Enrollment Center on the college's Bedford campus.

Since the word was circulated around campus last week, more than two dozen turkeys have already been committed to the cause, so keep them birds rolling! The turkeys can be of any size, since the food bank serves families of all size as well. On behalf of MCC, thanks for helping those in need!

IT Brings the Brains to Defend Its Trivia Title

MCC Blog Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:50:00 GMT

As if it wasn't bad enough that folks 'round these parts had to watch the New York Yankees win the World Series, along comes another win that's hard to swallow - the folks in Information Technologies, the Tech-Know Geeks, this weekend claimed victory for the second time at MCC's version of the fall classic, Trivia Night.

Despite a personnel shake-up, after hiding in the shadows for seven rounds, the Tech-Know Geeks - adorned literally, with bullseyes on their backs - surged ahead in the eighth round to take first, and held the berth to claim their second victory in a row. There'll be no working with them now.

Oh yeah, the night came complete with great food, sports memorabilia, music, and the occasional dance from the Village People as well.

Once again, the night was a rousing success, thanks in great part to the super team spirit exhibited by this semester's participants. All of the funds raised from the night go directly to MCC's Annual Fund, which is used to support initiatives across the college spectrum. Special shoutouts to the teams comprised of students from student government and a passel of MCC Alumni! Congrats to the folks in the Advancement office who brought our alum back into the fold for the event!

And if the folks on the Help Desk don't process your request right away, it's probably because they're having a ticker tape parade or something down in IT.....

We'll see everyone in the spring for another round! In the meantime, enjoy some of these pics from the night.

Charter Toppers!

MCC Blog Admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:39:00 GMT

Students and faculty from the Middlesex Lowell Academy Charter School came to MCC's Lowell campus to attend a concert presented by the MCC Music Department Outreach Program. The Music Outreach Program, now in its fifth year, has presented concerts and workshops in collaboration with Lowell High School’s music department, and has now expanded these valuable musical experiences to include the students from the Charter School.

The concert program, which took place in the Federal Building Assembly Room, featured Elizabeth Ostling, flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Carmen Rodriguez-Peralta, MCC faculty member, on piano.

Ostling and Peralta performed works by 20^th century composers, including French composer Phillipe Gaubert, Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera and American composer Jennifer Higdon. Higdon’s piece, “Autumn Reflections” painted a musical picture of the varied moods of autumn. Students were invited to describe how the composer created moods of melancholy and brilliance and also learned about poly-rhythms and poly-tonality used by the composer.

Students were also invited to ask questions about the music and about the careers of the two accomplished professional musicians. Special props to Johannah Segarich, coordinator of MCC's music outreach program!

Holaday In!

MCC Blog Admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:50:00 GMT

Congrats go out to Donna Holaday, one of our own at MCC, who was successful last night in her bid to be the Mayor of Newburyport!

Holaday, a councilor-at-large in Newburyport, was elected the city's newest mayor with a 2,704-2,257 victory (a 55% to 45% margin) over City Council President James Shanley. She'll assume the office in January.

Holaday, who has been with MCC since 1998, is the director of grant development and management here at MCC and has been one of our go-to grant gurus for years. Apparently she did not take her hometown campaign for granted.

A Window Into Art at the Rialto

MCC Blog Admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:33:00 GMT

Five Middlesex Community College art students are displaying artwork in the windows of Lowell’s historic Rialto Building. Created as part of the annual Lowell Arts Festival, the paintings, collages and elaborate cut-paper pieces will be on view throughout the month.

Students with artwork on display are Eastman Garcia of Lawrence, Kosta Gregory and Danny Phoun of Lowell, Patrick Munroe of Littleton, and Pai-Fang Lin of Lexington. Lin’s young daughter, Yi Yi, also filled one window with origami paper birds and flowers.

The Rialto Building, located at 240 Central St. in downtown Lowell, is slated to be renovated by the college and will house a performance and community space, as well as dance and theater classrooms.

Built in 1876 as the Boston & Maine Railroad Depot, the two-story brick High Victorian gothic structure housed a number of businesses over the years, including serving as the Rialto Theatre lobby from 1921 until the 1960s. Considered a Lowell landmark, it was saved from demolition by the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission in 1989. The exterior of the building was renovated by Lowell National Historical Park, which transferred ownership to Middlesex in 2008. The college is in the process of acquiring funding for interior renovations.

MCC Art Professor Margaret Rack had the idea to display student work in the Rialto Building’s windows after Arts Festival organizers suggested local schools and colleges create artwork for storefronts in downtown Lowell. "It occurred to me that the Rialto Building would be a nice fit for Middlesex, since the windows are grand and could be filled entirely for a bold statement showcasing our students' work,” said Rack. “It’s also fitting because that is MCC’s future arts building."

Over the summer, Rack and Margaret Swan, Chair of MCC’s Art Department, invited Middlesex students to participate in the site-specific project. “We recommended they consider the past and future use of the building as a possible theme for their designs,” said Swan. “As it turned out, their artwork is a mixture of site-specific work, as well as recent work completed during the spring 2009 semester.”

For more information about the Rialto Windows Project, contact Margaret Swan, Chair of MCC’s Art Department, as swanm@middlesex.mass.edu or 781-280-3803.

A closeup of Pai-Fang Lin's work.

MS Word vs Blackboard

curlln — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:16:00 GMT

Quite often when people are working on materials for their Blackboard course sites the documents that they want use already exist as Micrsoft Word documents so the tendency is to copy and paste from that document into the Blackboard text editor. When you do that Word makes its own HTML and the result when the document goes into Blackboard does not always look the way that it did when you created it. You may find things misaligned, unformated, no margins and in general looking very disorganized. This does not happen 100% of the time but it occurs quite frequently.

Now I would never suggest walking away from using Word to do the documents for your course, I would however suggest that once you have finished and saved it as a Word document (.doc or docx) that you also save the document in a format that will be more digestible for Blackboard. When you select Save As in the File Menu (2003) or from the Office Button (2007) you will get a pop up window that will ask you what location you want to save to and the bottom most drop down will allow you to save the document in a different file format. I would reommend plain text (.txt) this will allow for a smooth transition into Blackboard and you can then make any formatting changes with the aid of the tools provided in the text editor.

When Uploaded Files are Corrupt

curlln — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:04:00 GMT

I have previously written about the issue of files being zipped when they make the transiton into Blackboard. I have now become aware of other reason that things may become zipped when they are attached. This comes from the "Behind the Blackboard" knowledge base and I thought it was something that you shoud be aware of. They have also provided some alternative suggestions.

When files uploaded by students are corrupted
Issue
There are instances where Instructors are downloading student assignment submissions which are corrupted. In some instances this corruption has occurred unintentionally through a glitch in the process, however in other instances students have deliberately uploaded corrupted files in order to gain extensions on their submissions.

Symptoms
Problems that the instructor may encounter are:

Downloading a zip file that cannot be opened
Downloading a Word document or PDF submission that is unreadable
SafeAssign cannot process the corrupted document

Cause
The nature of a corrupted file is that it cannot be opened or read by the intended program. Hence there is no straightforward way to determine whether the corruption occurred unintentionally through some glitch in the normal course of business (for example the students computer could have inadvertently corrupted the file while saving, or there may have been internet connection issues when uploading the file) or whether the student has uploaded a file which is deliberately corrupted.

There are companies that are now selling to students pre-corrupted files. One such website that has been brought to our attention is http://www.corrupted-files.com/Home.html . This website offers students corrupted Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other files that they can send to their Instructors in order to buy more time to finish the assignment. By the time that the Instructor has noticed that they cannot open the file, the student can then send "another copy" of the assignment - now completed with the extra time that they have had to complete it.

Analysis
There is no easy way to determine whether a file was deliberately corrupted. A teacher will need to base their decision on the student's own integrity. There are measures that can reduce the chance of innocent users submitting corrupted files and other methods that can help reduce the risk of such cheating. If you have methods that you or your institution employ please feel free to leave a comment below and we will add these to the list.

Workaround
One way to reduce the risk of inadvertent corruption is to have the student submit their assignments in two formats. For example in both Word and as a plain text file or HTML file. Plain text and HTML files are far less likely to be corrupted and can always be opened, even if parts of the file are missing. More importantly, the odds of both files being simultaneously corrupted without the student noticing are very low.

Even a deliberately corrupted file can still be viewed in a hex-editor (such as UltraEdit), and any actual text can be extracted from it with a number of data recovery tools. Therefore it IS typically possible (although very technical and not for the faint of heart) to prove that a given file was NOT actually an attempt at homework X but rather some generic document. Advising students of this early on and threatening them with disciplinary action if they are found cheating are the most successful prevention methods.

Nancy

Video in Your Course Website, NOT IMPOSSIBLE

curlln — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:33:00 GMT

Video in your course website no longer needs to be time consuming and difficult to manage. There are many sites out there these days that have materials that will work in your course and they are easy to include in your site. Let's start with some of the sources for online video:

YouTube is probably the prime source. I know what you are thinking, "dancing hamsters and Susan Boyle" but YouTube has come a long way. There is an Education Chanel on YouTube that includes material from Stanford and Dartmouth to Cambridge University.
Ted - Ideas Worth Spreading has materials on topics from technology and science to arts and culture. The speakers include; Isabel Allende, Robert Ballard, Jeff Bezos, Bono, Richard Branson, Gordon Brown, Bill Clinton, and Peter Gabriel just to mentions a few.
HULU has a great deal of commercial broadcast video but if you make a concerted effort you may find useful materials.
Odeo sharing both video and audio content
Academic Earth video courses from a wide variety of colleges and universities.
There is also a wide variety of current materials available from places like CNN

OK so now you have found just the right video clip that makes just the point you want and you are wondering how to get it into your course site. What you need to look for is the something that says, "Embed" or "Embed This". What you will see there is a long string of code that you should select and copy.

In Blackboard all you need do is create an item. You will not paste the code into the editor as you see it when you start an item you will want to have it in HTML mode and you get this by clicking the icon with the facing angle brackets <> (in your editing window you will see this phrase, "You are in HTML Source mode. Use the [<>] button to switch back to normal mode.")paste the code there and then as always click submit.

Two things you need to be aware of one is the video itself may slow down the page as it loads into Blackboard and you need to make sure that the video itself is still posted on the site where you accessed it.

Nancy

The New Blog in Town

curlln — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:12:00 GMT

You may be used to coming here for suggestions regarding the use of Blackboard in your courses online or other wise. However there's a new blog on the block that may help to support your teaching in different way. Peter Shea Pedogogical Instructional Designer for the Title III project has started "Middlelearn" with the purpose is to advertise learning tools, articles, and research that instructors & staff can use. Go and see what he has to offer:

http://middlelearn.blogspot.com/

Brazilian Delegates Meet at MCC

MCC Blog Admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:59:00 GMT

This week, more than three dozens members of a delegation from Brazil visited MCC's Bedford campus to meet with MCC administrators to hear more about the college's international, business, and leadership programs.

The visit was facilitated by the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, and was part of a two-day whirlwind tour through many of Massachusetts' institutions of higher education. The MCC stopover spent a lot of time focusing on MCC's business training programs and partnerships. MCC President Carole Cowan brought about a dozen members of her administrative team to answers questions from the delegation, which consisted of professors, program directors, and administrators from universities and colleges in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The group makes annual trips to places of higher education. Besides MCC, the group visited Boston College and was then off to the University of Southern California.

Middlesex Community College President Carole A. Cowan addressing visiting Brazilian delegates.

Revenge of the Trivia Night!

MCC Blog Admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:32:00 GMT

Back by popular demand, it's MCC's Trivia Night!

The event was a huge hit when it was held in the spring, and it looks as though many of the same teams will be returning this time around. Everyone is looking to topple last spring's winners, the Tech-Know Geeks out of our Information Technology Department, seen here basking in their victorious, but fleeting glory:

MCC Fall Trivia Night is going to be held on Friday, November 6, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Bedford Campus Cafeteria. The entry fee is $40 per team, payable ot the door prior to the start of the event. Proceeds from the event will support the MCC Foundation's Annual Fund. Gather a team of 4 to 8 players, or register as a solo free agent. The event is open all all MCC faculty, staff, students and alumni as well as the local community.

Teams are encouraged to dress creatively to distract their opponents and to bring cleverly themed tables decorations, soft drinks, and culinary treats. Take a look at last spring's winner for most festive table and costumes:

The winning team gets bragging rights and a trophy that goes on display in MCC's trophy case. There will also be a sports memorabilia silent auction just in time for holiday shopping, and a 50/50 raffle.

To register, visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/trivianightregistration or contact Jonathan Crockett at 781-280-3785.

And to help folks get in the spirit of things and get revved up for the event, here's a smattering of questions for you to take a run at. First person who posts the most right answers wins. And remember - NO USING THE INTERNET OR RESOURCES OTHER THAN YOUR OWN BRAIN TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS!

1) What Stanley Kubrick movie was hyped "In Vietnam the wind doesn't blow, it sucks"?

2) What is the name of Doc Brown's very clever dog in Back to the Future?

3) What other man, besides Paul Revere, was originally sent out to warn patriots that the British were coming on April 18, 1775?

4) Who was known as "Moses" of the Underground Railroad?

5) What is a male cat if a female cat is a queen?

6) What animal has been dubbed nature's skyscraper?

7) Which country owns the Canary Islands?

8) What nationality is the Muppet Show's chef?

9) What was Cinderella's real name?

10) Who had the ring immediately before Bilbo took it in the Hobbit?

11) Who beat Bobby Riggs in tennis' famous Battle of the Sexes?

12) What winter Olympic event combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting?

Good luck and we'll see you on the 6th!

Happy Trails!

MCC Blog Admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:07:00 GMT

Under a bright blue sky and with a wind roaring into the open meadow, more than 75 MCC administrators, faculty and students gathered with their community partners on Thursday to officially open the MCC Fitness Trail!

Located behind the Trustees Building on the Bedford campus, the trail has been waiting for decades to be unearthed, something that occurred over the past year, with some help from the MCC Day of Service.

The trail consists of two loops - one of them is a 3/4 mile loop that encircles a small frog pond, located behind the North Academic Building. The other is a 1.25 mile loop that winds out to Orchard Road, runs across the meadow, behind the Farmhouse, and comes out across from the Cataldo Administration Building.

The trail was supported by an MCC Foundation grant through the Annual Fund, and is another terrific project out of the Student Activities Division. It's really been Athletic Guru Jonathan Crockett's baby since its inception, but a number of other MCC personnel have stepped in to help make the trail a reality, in particular the Facilities staff who helped clear the trail and also install the 10 fitness stations throughout the trail.

For a structured workout, the 10 station Fit Trail combines a series of scientifically designed exercises which when combined with walking or jogging can provide a well-balanced physical fitness routine for the entire body.

As most folks know, the 200+ acre MCC Bedford campus was once home to a Marist Seminary, which opened in the fall of 1926, offering educational programs and training for the Catholic priesthood. One priest had a particular interest in the woods and the nearby pond and took it upon himself to cultivate those areas. The priest, a teacher of Greek and Latin, dredged the pond and landscaped the woods.

“When the roots of academia first found footing on this piece of land, a nature-loving priest discovered a remarkable woods. It was a woods that offered spiritual retreat, recreation, and tranquility for the boys and Fathers of the Marist Seminary,” Crockett said during the open ceremony. “The Marist Community has long since disappeared, replaced by the MCC that we know today. And for years, these trails have been all but lost and forgotten quietly and secretly enjoying the passing of seasons. Until today.”

While the trails have been there for decades, most MCC folks, not to mention the college's neighbors in Bedford and Billerica had rarely ventured out onto the trails. As of yesterday, even MCC President Carole Cowan, who has been at the college for more than 30 years, hadn't explored the trails.

Everything changed when the ribbon was cut to officially open the trails and dozens of people started their woodland exploration treks.

Crockett said he hopes the trails will also serve as a recreational resource for hikers, runners, skiiers, snowshoers, and anyone interest in bird or wildlife watching.

Crockett said the network of trails is “not simply a path through the woods, it’s a rich and complex part of the history of this land. It’s a connection, literally and symbolically, to Bedford, Billerica, and many towns and cities beyond.”

Just as significantly, the MCC series of trails is now expected to link with the Bay Circuit Trail, a series of over 200 miles of trails that stretches across the state of Massachusetts, from Duxbury to Plum Island.

Art Smith, chair of the Bedford Trails Committee joined the MCC team at the event.

“This place on this planet is filled with memories for me,” said Smith, who grew up in Bedford. He recalled the genesis of the tract of wooded land. “Out in these woods was a strange and somewhat forbidding place called the Marist Seminary. That it became MCC has lifted the veil and produced one of the more outstanding assets

of our community.”

The MCC Foundation has created a program to help maintain and sustain the trails. Anyone interested in helping to support the Fitness Trail Preservation Fund can call the MCC Foundation at 781-280-3522.

Quick! Get Rid of Your Drugs!

MCC Blog Admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:17:00 GMT

Now that we've caught your attention, folks need to know about an important upcoming community event in the city of Lowell.

Thursday, October 15th is Unwanted Medication Disposal Day at the Lowell Health Department, an important community health initiative that MCC is helping to partner. It's time to clean out your medicine cabinets and drawers of all of your old, unused prescription drugs. The end goal here is to help keep potentially dangerous medicines from getting into the hands of curious youngsters.

The drop-off is available to anyone who lives, works, or goes to school in Lowell, and that includes our MCC population.

The disposal is free and safe, with no questions asked. Additionally, the Health Department's method of disposal avoids flushing old medicines, which could prove harmful to our rivers. The event will be held at the Lowell Health Department at 341 Pine St., Lowell on Thursday, October 15th from 8 a.m. to noon. For more info, contact Maria Ruggiero at the Lowell Health Department, 978-970-4010.

Raining Praise on MCC Walkers

MCC Blog Admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:26:00 GMT

There was a bunch of rain-related songs that almost made it into the headlines, the Beatles Rain, the Ronettes' Walking in the Rain (any others you can think of?) but in the end, we decided to just heap some praise on a stalwart band of MCC students and staffers who ventured out on Saturday in less-than-perfect conditions to take part in the Merrimack Valley Start Heartwalk!

More than 1,000 people did the trek around the Merrimack River on Saturday, during sometimes heavy downpours which clearly did not dampen the spirits of Team MCC!

The walk, organized in conjunction with the American Heart Association, was intended to help raise more than $300,000 to help fund research to prevent heart disease and strokes. Included among the walkers were dozens of survivors of heart attacks or strokes.

Team MCC included several members of this year's crop of Fellows from the Paul H. Sullivan Leadership Institute, other students from the Student Affairs office, and a handful of MCC administrators as well. Congrats to all for this great community service!

Prepare for an Emergency

curlln — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:09:00 GMT

Would you be prepared if something happened and you could not teach your class? It doesn’t matter if it’s the H1N1 flu or a broken limb there is always that chance of an extended emergency. These emergencies apply to your students as well as you. Blackboard is a college wide tool that offers instructors the option to interact with their students outside of the face-to-face classroom. Using Blackboard in such a case would require some advance preparation. If this option of emergency preparation is something that interests you Middlesex Interactive will be offering 3 upcoming workshops:

• Wednesday Evening 10/07/09, in the Kerouac room of the Lowell Campus Library 4:00pm – 6:00pm.
• Saturday Morning 10/24/09, in the Alcott room of the Bedford Campus Library 8:00am – 10:00am.
• Wednesday Afternoon 10/14/09, in the Kerouac room of the Lowell Campus Library 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Please let us know if you would like to attend by sending an email to distance_ed@middlesex.mass.edu please include the date and time you would like to attend. Please note there is an underscore between distance and ed.

We have also made some of our training materials available on our public webpage.

Thankfully Shorter Course Lists

curlln — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:55:00 GMT

Some of you may have noticed that your course lists are shorter this morning than they have been in the past. Well this is all thanks to our technical connection/genius Matthew Scales of the IT staff. He has created the module that handles the course list that gets created on the MyMCC portal page. Due to many requests from more than a few people with VERY long lists of courses (including Me) he has made it so that any course that is unavailable to students is pulled up under the subheading in the list titled "Unavailable Courses". When you float your cursor over that subheading you will get a drop down menu with links to those unavailable courses.

Matt, Thank You very much for your help with this situation. I am sure that it will be much appreciated.

NANC

More than 200 Expected at Overdose Prevention Forum

MCC Blog Admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:55:00 GMT

More than 200 people have signed up for Wednesday's free public health community forum, Preventing Opioid Overdoses, a partnership project between MCC's program on Homeland Security, the Lowell Health Department, and the office of State Representative Thomas A. Golden Jr.

Seats are still available for the event, being held on Wednesday at the Tewksbury Hospital Auditorium, 365 East Street. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with doors opening at 8 a.m.

The forum, which is co-sponsored by Tewksbury Hospital and the Greater Lowell Pharmaceutical Association, will focus on breaking the cycle of opium-based drug overdoses. The plague of many communities, such overdoses often impact people who become addicted to legally prescribed pain medications following accidents or work-related injuries. Most addicts have long histories of working and providing for their families. But, unable to kick the newly acquired habit, they sometimes turn to heroin and other street drugs, which can bring misery, family suffering, and premature death.

Forum speakers will include medical and public health practitioners, recovering addicts, and relatives of addicts, emergency responoders, a representative of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse and Rep. Thomas Golden, who has focused legislative attention on the issue.

The forum will be of special interest to medical, nursing, pharmacy and allied health practitioners, community and support groups working against drug overdoses, organized labor, and employer groups.

A Day of Remembrance, a Day of Service

MCC Blog Admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:20:00 GMT

More than 100 MCC students were joined today by President Carole Cowan and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas of Lowell as they performed community service as part of the college's Seasons of Service, with today's events coordinated to commemorate the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our country.

Last October, more than 800 MCC students, faculty and staff took part in a Day of Service, donating their time and efforts to projects at 55 sites in 16 local cities and towns. MCC people cleaned parks and riverways, sorted food at local food pantries, did repair work at area homeless shelters and provided support to people with physical and cognitive disabilities. On that one day, MCC personnel provided over 2,400 hours of service to the college's communities.

This year, instead of just one day, the service project has been extended by the college's Center for Community Engagement throughout the whole school year, as part of a Seasons of Service initiative, with an eye toward surpassing last year's totals.

On Friday, a series of events were rolled out in conjunction with the call for service to help memorialize the 9/11/01 attacks. In the Lowell cafeteria, as more than 100 students folded and sorted thousands of pieces of donated clothing for the Lowell Wish Project, they were joined by Tsongas, who took some time to speak to them not just about the significance of the 9/11 anniversary, but the importance of their volunteerism. Tsongas then spent about an hour sorting clothing with the students.

The projects will continue throughout the school year.

And in the meantime, don't forget to take a moment to remember those lost eight years ago today. MCC's prayers and support are extended to all of the victim's friends and families who have carried on in the wake of that unforgettable day.

MCC StairWELLs

MCC Blog Admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:35:00 GMT

Folks on MCC's city campus are taking steps in the right direction by joining a robust exercise regimen, complete with free membership and equipment!

Take the Stairs is a new health and wellness campaign the college has kicked off for occupants of its city campus, due in great part to unavoidable construction taking place on two of the main campus building's four elevators. The work by state contractors commenced weeks ago, but despite the college's fervent wishes, it couldn't be wrapped up in time for the start of the fall semester.

To try to ease the crunch in the other two elevators, MCC administrators and its fitness team are encouraging everyone - students, faculty and staff, to use the building's two stairwells as often as possible and has launched an ambitious fitness program to entice folks to participate!

MCC's Health and fitness guru Jonathan Crockett and his colleagues have been standing at the stairwells handing out prize tickets to anyone caught using the stairs. The tickets are entered into a random raffle for prizes like a front lot parking space, cafeteria food coupons, MCC merchandise, and coupons for discounts off textbooks or at downtown businesses.

By the way, if anyone's curious, there's quite a few stairs at stake in each of the city campus stairwells - 118 of them, ground floor to 5th floor! The average person can burn 10 calories per minute using stairs. So step right up, and generate some stairs!

Return of the Parking

MCC Blog Admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:25:00 GMT

So it's back to school time here at MCC, and while students are running around scooping up their textbooks and doing their last-minute class registrations, the MCC administration is also spending a considerable amount of time trying to get students, faculty, and staff prepared for the changes to come in the downtown Lowell parking scene!

With the arrival of our new neighbor, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, into the new Inn and Conference Center, the availability of parking in the Lower Locks Garage has decreased.

In hopes of alleviating the backup and parking crunch at that garage, as well as the Davidson Street lot, day students are now required to park at either the new Early garage on nearby Middlesex Street, the Ayotte garage alongside the Tsongas Arena, or the Davidson Street lot.

Faculty and staff with pass cards will still be allowed to park at the Lower Locks garage, along with all of the other downtown garages. Personnel who work at the college's Middle Street facilities will still be able to use the Roy garage on Market Street, along with the other city garages.

Part-time daytime faculty and staff will be able to get their parking receipts validated to enable them to park in the Lower Locks, Roy, and John Street garages. The validator will be located at the Lowell Campus Manager's office on the 5th floor, or with the faculty secretary on the fifth floor of the Talbot Building. Evening faculty, staff and students will be able to get their parking receipts validated in the lobbies of the City and Talbot buildings, for use in the Lower Locks, John Street and Roy garages.

Whew! Got all that? Now bring on the calculus and creative writing classes!

MCC Makes Billboard's Top 40!

MCC Blog Admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:11:00 GMT

(Or at least one of the top 40 billboards in the Greater Lowell area)

Since you've all probably been too busy paying attention to the rules of the road, focused on your own lane, cognizant of your fellow drivers, and of course, keeping a watchful eye peeled for those police officers waiting for you at the end of the Lowell Connector, you probably haven't had a chance to see MCC's new billboard alongside the Connector, towards the end.

Well because here at the MCC blog our goal is to provide you information that helps make your life just a little easier, one of our intrepid field reporters/photographers glommed a shot of said billboard while heading in-bound recently. Relax, no accidents occurred, and no speeding tickets were issued as a result of this photo shoot.

At the end of the day, it's just a different way for us to get the word out about some of the exciting things happening here at MCC, in this case, our new Weekend College. But now we know how those rock stars feel when they finally make it onto Billboard!

MCC Students Back from Russian Exchange Program

MCC Blog Admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:45:00 GMT

Six Middlesex students recently spent two weeks in Russia, participating in the college’s International Student Fellowship Program to Russia. The trip was part of an ongoing exchange program between MCC and Bryansk State Technical University. BSTU students visited Middlesex in June.

MCC students Leah Alloway (Lowell), Andres Arzapalo, (Lawrence), Jose Disla (Lawrence), Jamie Joshi (Cambridge), Tara Kirby (Nashua, NH) and Danielle Milagre- Pimenta (Acton) with advisor Aimee Rusman (Westford), director of MCC’s TRIO Program for Student Achievement, visited the region around Bryansk, a city of 400,000, located six hours southwest of Moscow. They toured museums, a crystal factory, poet Feodor Tyutchev's estate, and Tolstoy Park. They stayed at a summer camp in Sosnova and also enjoyed several other excursions around Moscow. The students prepared for the trip through a series of lectures on the history and culture of Russia.