SUNY Oswego senior Henrry Leon was recently one of 42 students in SUNY’s Educational Opportunity Program to receive the inaugural statewide Norman R. McConney Jr. Award for Student Excellence, recognizing ability to overcome obstacles to achieve success. “Henrry has taken on leadership roles on campus that include being a Spanish tutor, School of Business office assistant, note-taker for Accessibility Resources and zumba instructor,” said Grace Maxon-Clarke, an EOP counselor who nominated him for the award. “Henrry’s long-term goal is to open a Peruvian restaurant and bring his mother to the U.S. from Peru.” A double major in business administration and finance from Woodhaven, Leon was born in Peru, moved here with his father at the age of 7 and, with his father’s busy work schedule, learned to take responsibility at a very young age. “I believe that this award was given to me for being a hard worker and demonstrating to myself and my school that despite the amount of work I have, one can succeed in anything one desires,” Leon said. Read full story

Gwen Kay, an Oswego history professor and president of the SUNY Faculty Senate, recently was elected vice president of the National Council of Faculty Senates. NCFS consists of faculty members from universities from across the country in governance positions. The Executive Committee Kay joins is involved in reorganizing and repopulating the standing committees of the NCFS in advance of its first planned national conference in 2020.

Laura Spenceley and Raychel Kramer, who both won awards at the New York Association of School Psychologists conference

SUNY Oswego students, faculty, and administrators took on many roles in the 2019 New York Association of School Psychologists (NYASP) Annual Conference Oct. 17 to 19 in Syracuse. Dr. Laura Spenceley (above, right), associate professor in counseling and psychological studies and associate dean of graduate studies, co-chaired the conference, which had a theme of "Building Safe Harbors." Spenceley has been involved in planning since 2016, including building the schedule, recruiting speakers, coordinating the call for papers, building sponsorship and running the conference. She also was one of the recipients of the 2019 NYASP Presidential Service Award for her contributions to the conference. Third-year school psychology master’s/certificate of advanced studies student Raychel Kramer (above, left) was named a 2019 Ted Bernstein awardee, which honors outstanding graduate students in school psychology training programs across the state who exemplify the best qualities of a school psychologist and are committed to improving the lives of children and their families. More than 25 SUNY Oswego students had the opportunity to join other graduate students from across New York to attend the Graduate Student Luncheon on Oct. 18, where they engaged with the president of the National Association of School Psychologists, Leslie Paige; the president of NYASP, SUNY Oswego alumnus and adjunct faculty member Dr. John Garruto; and Dr. Kristen Eichhorn, dean of the Division of Graduate Studies at SUNY Oswego -- Eichhorn and the Division of Graduate Studies sponsored the event. SUNY Oswego was also well-represented in the presentations. Dr. James McDougal (a CPS professor) was joined by Dr. Michael LeBlanc (CPS department chair and professor) in presenting on advances in screening for internalizing behaviors, and presented again on implementation considerations for building systems that better support social, emotional and behavioral needs. Garruto served as the moderator for a panel discussion on ethical best practices.Third-year school psychology master’s/certificate of advanced studies students Nicole Maether and Kramer presented a poster on their findings from a grant-funded empirical study designed for inform diagnostic assessments of learning disorders and ADHD. Several SUNY Oswego alumni contributed to NYASP 2019 as part of the conference committee, including Christopher Baber (MS/CAS, 2019), Shannon (Flanagan) Gehring (MS/CAS 2017) and Sara Dool (MS/CAS, 2014). (Photo by Dr. Stacy Williams)

At the recent RR Lyrae/Cep Conference, Oct. 13 to 18 in Cloudcraft, New Mexico, professor and chair of physics Shashi Kanbur presented “When a Period is not a Full Stop: Light Curve Structure Reveals Fundamental Properties of Cepheid and RR Lyrae Stars.” The paper is a collaboration with SUNY Oswego alumnus Earl Bellinger, now a postdoctoral research fellow at Stellar Astrophysics Centre in Aarhus, Denmark.

Criminal justice faculty member Jaclyn Schildkraut published “Have we become too paranoid about mass shootings?” -- based on her extensive research in media and mass shootings -- in The Conversation, an academic news journal. This op-ed was picked up by numerous news outlets via the site’s network of connected publications.

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