July 20, 2020
Counterclockwise, from upper left to upper right: Sally Child, Cindy Gary, Donna Porcelli, Dottie Welch, Lisa Norwood, and Marty Guenther. The Hajim School is proud to recognize them as part of Celebrate 2020, marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony and the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
We are all breathing a huge sigh of relief that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy issued July 6, barring the majority of international students from taking online-only courses from US colleges and universities, has been rescinded. This is a huge victory for international students currently studying at Rochester and all over the country. Read the University’s statement on this here.
Our first year and transferring students can tune in to The OL Show, a virtual panel discussion featuring student Orientation leaders discussing topics important to new students. Produced via Zoom, the show streams live, typically 11 a.m. to noon EDT each Thursday on the Orientation Facebook page.
“It’s a chance to have fun with the incoming class while also telling them what real life is like here at the University,” says IfeOluwa Adefope, one of the student leaders. “We discuss things like mental health, what to do for fun on campus, and the culture shock of coming to college as both a domestic and international student.”
The OL Show is just one of the creative ways Orientation staff members have been communicating virtually with first-year students and transfers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic has necessitated other changes as well. All first year and transfer students are asked to complete a checklist before the fall semester begins. New students also must complete an online academic honesty tutorial (accessible through Blackboard) by August 9 and register for fall courses remotely. The Orientation staff has created a virtual orientation program that includes videos, webinars, class placements, and family orientation sessions. This includes several summer programs coordinated by Wilson Commons Student Activities and the Orientation leaders. Read more here.
For more information on the COVID-19 testing and monitoring protocols being put in place as the campus looks to reopen, read this informative Q and A.
New students quickly learn that department undergraduate coordinators, academic counselors, and many other members of our staff are important resources for them.
So let’s continue our Celebrate 2020 observance by highlighting women staff members who have made notable contributions to engineering and computer science at our University.
For more than 50 years, Sally Child ’73 ’79(M) mentored students — increasing numbers of whom were women — in the labs of Edwin Carstensen, founding director of the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound, and Diane Dalecki, current director of the RCBU and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Sally came to the University in 1965 with an associate degree in laboratory technology, but little or no knowledge of engineering — and found it “a little intimidating” to be one of the only women in research in electrical engineering at that time, she says. Carstensen welcomed her wholeheartedly, and Sally became an expert in the biological effects of ultrasound. Her name appears on nearly 70 journal articles. As Diane notes, “if you talk to anyone around the world about biomedical ultrasound research, or the biological effects of ultrasound, they will know her name.” Read more here.
“Frankly, after working with Cindy Gary for a few years now, I don’t know how we got along without her,” says Mark Bocko, distinguished professor and former chair of electrical and computer engineering. “Cindy is amazing,” says Gilbert “Rip” Collins, director of the High Energy Density Physics program. Cindy, our assistant dean for grants and contracts, is a 2017 recipient of the Edmund A. Hajim Staff Award who has helped the school maintain a robust research portfolio amid a tough climate for federal funding. She is adept at coordinating the preparation of large, multi-investigator grant proposals. She launched a successful NSF CAREER award boot camp for our junior faculty and works closely to train and support grant administrators in individual departments. With Cindy’s help, the grants we receive provide invaluable opportunities for women and minority students to explore STEM careers by engaging in research. Read more here.
Marty Guenther, who served the Department of Computer Engineering for 25 years as its first undergraduate coordinator, played an important role in growing the department’s enrollment of women students. Even when there were only a handful of women students in the department, for example, Marty brought them together in events designed to create cohesion, notes former department chair Sandhya Dwarkadas, the Albert Arendt Hopeman Professor of Engineering. Marty also helped create Girl Power: A Girl’s Introduction to Computer Science, which was offered as a Rochester Scholars summer course for high school students. And she wholeheartedly embraced the department’s participation in the BRAID initiative. Marty was also instrumental in helping computer science undergraduates connect with overseas learning experiences. She was the recipient of the Hajim School Outstanding Staff Award in 2010. Read more here.
Lisa Norwood ’86 ’95(MW), our assistant dean for undergraduate studies, has been making her mark on the University since coming here to earn a degree in geomechanical engineering. She received the 1986 Fanny R. Bigelow Prize, one of the University’s highest awards for student service by women, in recognition of her distinguished achievement in both academic and extracurricular activities. She has been unceasing in her efforts to attract and retain young women and underrepresented minority students in engineering. For example, the STEM-Gems program she designed dramatically increased the retention of low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented racial minority students in the Hajim School and earned a Meliora Award from the University in 2016. Lisa is a recipient of the Hajim School Outstanding Staff Award and the University’s Witmer Award for Distinguished Service. Read more here.
“It’s a bad decision,” James McGrath quipped at Donna Porcelli‘s retirement party. “The reason that we can’t come to grips with this is we can’t imagine the department without you.” Donna, who had already served 25 years working up from secretary to administrative assistant in chemical engineering, was a godsend when she joined the fledgling Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2001. “Donna was the one who provided us with the guidance and the knowledge it took to really build this department into what it is today,” founding chair Richard Waugh said. The Department of Biomedical Engineering is now a beacon of gender equity in both its faculty and its undergraduate enrollment. Donna is a recipient of the Hajim School Outstanding Staff Award and the University’s Witmer Award for Distinguished Service. Read more here.
Dottie Welch served as the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s first undergraduate coordinator for 13 years – after 13 years in electrical and computer engineering. She epitomized what an undergraduate coordinator should be. Anytime students had a question, anytime they needed encouragement or advice, Dottie Welch was there for them. Beginning in 2014, the Hajim School began presenting the annual Dottie Welch Student Enrichment Award to a staff member “whose performance and dedication enriches the student experience” in the tradition Dottie exemplified. The best part of her job was watching students “grow so much” from their first year to their graduation, accomplishing things they never thought possible. And then coming back as alumni to tell Dottie about their families and their careers. “It’s like watching your own children grow up,” Dottie says. “It makes you feel like a proud parent.” Read more here.
As part of its ongoing efforts to highlight women’s accomplishments, the National Women’s Hall of Fame in nearby Seneca Falls will host a Zoom forum on “Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court” from 7-8:30 p.m. Aug. 6. Amy Bach, author of the book of the same title; Sarah Deer, a legal scholar, University of Kansas professor, and activist for indigenous women; and Mridula Raman of Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic will lead a discussion on injustice in our court system and respecting the voices of women. Registration is free for students; others are asked to make a $20 donation to the Hall of Fame.
Deadline extended: The committee soliciting “big ideas” on how to re-imagine the way our University operates has extended the deadline for submissions to Friday July 31. Read more here.
Have great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
