A Less Taxing Experience
Associate Professor of Accounting Rita Gow helps Yang Liu, a resident of Bengbu, China, prepare and file his income tax.
April 17 was a day many Americans circled on their calendars.
And not because they were looking forward to it.
April 17 was tax day.
“Imagine how most people feel about doing their own tax returns,” said Rita Gow, associate professor of accounting. “Now, imagine if you are a student from China, Vietnam, or South Africa and totally unfamiliar with the American tax structure or not familiar with the concept of taxing your income.”
A daunting task to be sure—unless you were one of the nine international students attending Keuka College who, thanks to a collaboration between Gow, the Center for Global Education, and AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, didn’t have to sweat April 17. (more…)
Finger Lakes Field Period
For junior Devin Filipiak, spending his January Field Period at the Finger Lakes Museum was a chance to build on past Field Period experiences, classroom work, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team participation, and his work-study position to expand his marketing portfolio.
It was also an opportunity for the marketing and management major to continue his volunteer work with the museum.
“SIFE’s focus this year is to be more hands-on in the community, and since the museum is so close to the College, this was a good place to volunteer,” said Filipiak, a resident of Orchard Park. “Last summer, I helped with the museum’s signature series, Back from the Brink: The Story of Hemlock and Canadice Lakes, that took place around the Finger Lakes, including at Keuka College. This year’s signature series event is called Dreams into Nectar.” (more…)
Plenty of Options for Multi-Talented Senior
Editor’s Note: This is the 7th in a series of stories saluting members of the Class of 2011. We asked division chairs for story ideas and they in turn contacted faculty members for ideas. We believe they came up with some terrific profiles.
If all the world’s a stage, Amber Smith has three she is intently looking into as she considers the next chapter of her life: hip-hop dance, acting or maybe owning her own business.
The Canandaigua resident will graduate Sunday with a bachelor’s degree in management from Keuka College, but has invested plenty of time acting in campus plays, serving as president of the Arion Players (drama club), and fine-tuning leadership skills in the business and management program.
Immediately following graduation, Smith plans to seek a full-time job and work on a master’s degree in management through Keuka’s Accelerated Studies for Adults Program (ASAP), which enables adults to earn degrees in 18 months or less attending night classes once a week.
“I’m currently looking at Cornell Cooperative and attempting to do something through 4-H,” Smith said, noting she did marketing work for a local 4-H camp for one of her Field Periods. At Keuka, each student is required to complete a 140-hour hands-on internship – known as the Field Period – each year. Smith has also conducted Field Periods in China at one of Keuka’s sister schools, in human resources at F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua, and in marketing assistance at non-profit Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park in Canandaigua.
Should she pursue a career in the corporate world, Smith is not likely one to be intimidated by public presentations or pulling projects together under a deadline. That’s because Smith has held a number of acting roles in her four years at Keuka in addition to coordinating events such as an all-arts or improv night, said Mark Wenderlich, associate professor of theatre. (more…)
ASAP Instructor Named Adjunct Professor of the Year
Praised for the knowledge and experience he brings to students studying criminal justice, Dave Wall of Marcellus was named Adjunct Professor of the Year Sunday during Keuka College’s mid-year conferral of degrees.
Wall, a former Onondaga County sheriff’s deputy, was presented with the award for superior teaching by College President Joseph G. Burke.
Wall has served as an instructor in Keuka’s Accelerated Studies for Adults Program (ASAP) since 2005. He, too, graduated from ASAP – with a master’s degree in management – and brings his own adult-studies experience to bear in his instruction. In his time as an ASAP criminal justice instructor, Wall has taught seven different courses in 14 separate cohort study groups to more than 100 adult students. Wall has also served as an adviser to more than 75 ASAP students pursuing degrees in criminal justice.
ASAP Grad ‘Masters’ Many Fronts
To say Jennifer Button Mong knows a thing or two about multi-tasking is an understatement.
Since 2007, this Painted Post resident has held down a 40-hour day job at a non-profit agency while taking weekly evening classes in management through Keuka College’s Accelerated Studies for Adults Program (ASAP). She started with a Bachelor of Science in organizational management and only took a few months off before moving into the master’s program, from which she will graduate Dec.19. Each year, Mong adds another seasonal job to her schedule: running the Country Cream ice cream shop she owns in Addison, where she puts in about 25 hours a week April through September. Meanwhile, she’s celebrated two other major milestones during her tenure as a Keuka student: the birth of her sons, Alex and Ethan William, both born on May 14, three years apart.
“She’s probably a poster child for time management skills,” said Keith LaSota, Mong’s ASAP adviser, wondering aloud if she manages to get 26 hours out of each day.
Superb Senior
The summer after her sophomore year, senior business management major (with concentrations in entrepreneurship and marketing) Jessica Spinks was shy and quiet.
But those traits don’t cut it in the management world.
A year later, she was more outspoken and her internship hosts took notice. Spinks was awarded Senior of the Year by INROADS New York/New Jersey Region Inc. INROADS is an international organization that places talented, minority youth interns in business and industry to prepare them for corporate and community leadership. INROADS operates 50 offices around the globe and serves more than 4,500 interns at 400 companies.
Spinks was placed with Fisher-Price, a Fortune 500 company. She worked for the company at its store in East Aurora (N.Y.) in the summer of 2008 and this past summer.
The Best Here and in Western New York
Sally Daggett (l), Laura Williams, and President Joseph G. Burke
To be nominated for Keuka College’s Student Employee of the Year award, a student must demonstrate excellence in several categories, including outstanding merit in reliability, quality of work, initiative, disposition, and contribution to employer.
The Center for Experiential Learning sponsors the annual award, along with the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators (NEASEA). Serving 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, NEASEA is a non-profit association of professionals from education, business, industry, labor and government who are involved with programs for students who work while attending college.
Outstanding Adult Students
Both Keuka College nominees for the Outstanding Adult Student award given by the Rochester Area Colleges of Continuing Education achieved perfect grade point averages of 4.0.
But scholarship is only part of the criteria for the award. Success at combining college study with other adult responsibilities such as family, job, career and/or community service is the other part.
Both nominees—current Accelerated Studies for Adults Program (ASAP) student James Noble and recent graduate Nathan Varland—fit the bill.
Field Period Leads to Job Offer
Finding a job after commencement is on the minds of college seniors across the country.
But for Keuka College senior and management major Chris Yurko, a job found him seven months before he will don a cap and gown.
“For my sophomore year Field Period, I worked at AXA Advisors in Vestal in the marketing and advertising department,” said Yurko, an Endicott resident. “In my junior year, I returned to AXA for another Field Period, expanded my duties, and started attending meetings, looking at accounts, and preparing financial data. I was responsible for completing all of the prep needed for my supervisor to advise the client.”
A Dozen Diplomas
Editor’s Note: Every member of the Class of 2008 has a story about his or her experiences at Keuka College and plans for the future. We couldn’t publish all of those stories but here are 12 of them and they give us a good idea of the kind of people the College is producing.
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