On Thinking of Others and Helping (Ourselves)

by Sarah Kain Gutowski, Chair, New Member Mentoring Program

I don't know about you, but this is the point in the semester where I begin to feel pressure . . . papers are rolling in and subsequently building up in stacks on my desk. The number of new emails I receive each day has me on edge. The students who've ignored my office hours for the past four weeks are now making appointments in droves -- to make up quizzes or talk about their writing -- which is fantastic, because it's great that students are finally getting the point about office hours, but when am I supposed to do all this committee work?

My desk as visual metaphor (FOR MY MIND)

It feels like there's never enough time, and sometimes there really isn't enough time, and . . . well, I panic. I stay up late and wake up early trying to accomplish ALL THE THINGS. And then I grumble loudly (usually to the person unfortunate enough to be my office mate) about how overwhelmed and in the weeds I'm becoming/have been/have always been.

Distractions, or methods of procrastination, inevitably crop up around this time, and that's because it helps to think about something other than work when work is driving you a little crazy.

My suggestion is to make those "distractions" a little more purposeful, and little more meaningful, by concentrating on the needs of others for a few brief moments. Happily, the union has a few ways you can do this.

The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer/Jones Beach Annual Walk

Each year in October the American Cancer Society raises money by hosting Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks.

Each year, dedicated and energetic members of the FA and SCCC community drive out to Jones Beach and participate in one of these walks. For a couple of weeks beforehand, the FA collects donations for the American Cancer Society on their team page. The FA’s goal this year is to collect $5000.  

You can take that well-deserved break from the the craziness of work and do a little web surfing right now -- visit the link above and contribute to this worthy cause by making a donation. AND/OR sign up to walk at the event this year, Saturday, October 19 at 9 a.m. (Okay, the official start is at 9 a.m., but the FA team meets at 8 a.m. You're advised to show up an hour early for the walk because traffic gets bad. A LOT of Long Island turns out for this cause.)

The Fall and Spring AHRC Plant Sales

One of the FA's most well-loved community outreach projects is our annual collaboration with Suffolk County's AHRC ("A private voluntary non-profit agency dedicated to applying its professional and financial resources toward improving the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from birth through end of life,” according to its website, which you can find here: http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/).

One of the AHRC’s programs involves Flowerfield Gardens, a two-acre nursery and retail garden shop where the public can purchase plants raised by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The nursery functions also as a work setting where these individuals can learn horticultural skills while nurturing perennials, annuals, vegetable plants and herbs.

Twice a year, in the fall semester and in the spring semester, the FA invites the AHRC to bring the plants raised on Flowerfield Gardens to the three campuses of SCCC, where FA members volunteer their time and sell the plants to the students, faculty, administration and staff of SCCC.

If you’d like to volunteer your time and participate in the Fall 2014 plant sale, please contact Anita Greifenstein at anita [at] fascc.org and she’ll make sure your name and contact info is passed along to your campus plant sale coordinator.

Professors on Wheels

I think you may have heard about this particular endeavor at the New Member Orientation in August, but just in case you missed out on the details, here’s some more information:

The Professors on Wheels program was developed a few short years ago by Professors Daniel Linker and Adam Penna. The goal of the program is to address the intellectual needs of an often under-served and neglected part of our community, our senior citizens, and in particular those seniors who reside in nursing and/or rehabilitation centers without much access to the outside world.

Our program brings the world of academia to them. SCCC Faculty are encouraged to submit ideas for self-contained workshops and lectures to the program’s current coordinator, Dan Linker. Professor Linker will then bring a list of the available workshops and lectures to the attention of interested facilities and senior organizations, and those facilities pick their workshops based on the interest and needs of its community.

The workshops are arranged according to the speaker/faculty member’s availability. Many of our faculty from all three campuses have already participated in this publicly lauded and popular program, and they found the experience to be fun and rewarding.

If you’re interested in participating in this program, you should contact Professor Linker via email (linkerd@sunysuffolk.edu) with a proposal for your own workshop or lecture. Your email should include the following details:

• Name and rank
• Title of lecture, workshop, or class
• Brief course description (25-50 words)

Even though you're PROBABLY going to do community service out of the good of your heart (and as a way of avoiding -- er, taking a break from -- the hassles of work), all three of these opportunities count towards college-wide or community service on your promotion form, depending on how you choose to frame the experience. So ultimately, you'll help others while also helping yourself -- everyone wins! Yay!

In all seriousness, your participation means a strengthening of bonds between the college and the Suffolk County community, and a continuation of vital, mutually-benefiting partnerships between community organizations and the world of higher education. And that really is a cheering thought when the weather starts to cool and the work piles up, isn't it?