Students Apply for Internships

Internships are nearly a necessity in the quest to find a job in today’s market. First they make the employer more comfortable with a student’s knowledge and experience, and second, it’s a way for a student to understand more about his or her field and either confirm or dissuade his or her career choice. CW takes this premise seriously and once again hosted the Internship Fair. 18 companies attended today and while they all agree that it’s important for students to explore an internship to shape their career, some reps highlighted the top three reasons for taking internships:
1. “Students obtain first-hand knowledge. They immerse themselves and absorb the knowledge by doing it.”Anyitsi Reynolds, H&R Block.
2. “You get real experience, not just academic knowledge. Students have the opportunity to analyze their potential employers and see if they are the right fit for them.” Daniel Lansen, Compufit
3. “It can be a turnaround in their career. They can fix things and make it a long-term career, or is the perfect opportunity to explore other options.” Nicole Johns, The Johns Family Agency.
Other companies attending the Internship Fair included Aflac, Arts Westchester, New York Life, and Women’s Enterprise Development Center.

BBA Awareness Day

The Office of Bachelor Studies and Returning Students hosted a BBA Awareness Day, where students had the opportunity to explore the bachelor’s degree programs at CW. Two alumni students attended the event and shared their personal experiences regarding the benefits of obtaining a bachelor’s degree from CW, “I came to CW because I was looking for this type of environment. I left a big college where nobody knew who I was, I literally had to take a number and wait outside my career counselor’s office. You find personal attention here, small classes, dedication from the faculty, hands-on experience, and so much more,” said Alexis D’Ambrosio, a 2014 BBA graduate who is currently working at HMG Strategy in Westport, CT.

Brittney McGuinn, who obtained her BBA in 2011 and currently works at Home Street Homes in The Bronx, made CW her second home, “These five floors were my home from early in the morning to basically when they were ready to close the building at night. I learned about time management and how to balance many things in my life.” Brittney, who is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Mercy College shared some tips to the students, “Make the most out of your classes, have fun, don’t think about it… just do it.”

For more information visit the BBA Center or email us at bbacenter@cw.edu. Hit your goals and explore our BBA programs today!

The College of Westchester presents Learning Outcomes at ANNY Conference

Dr. Warren Rosenberg, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs along with Dr. Stacy Larson, Chairperson and Professor, General Education, from The College of Westchester (CW) delivered a presentation entitled, “Aligning Program Learning Outcomes, Course Learning Outcomes and Assessments” at the recent 3rd Annual Conference of the Assessment Network of New York (ANNY). The presentation included CW Allied Health Department’s program learning outcomes and how one particular course at CW titled “Human Resources Management in Healthcare mapped to course-level learning outcomes. The workshop included support from CW Prof. Michael Flanagan and Dr. Beth Coyle, CW Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs.

ANNY, a state-wide network, was formed by higher education professionals representing New York’s private colleges and universities, the State University of New York (SUNY), and the City University of New York (CUNY).  ANNY was a created to stimulate dialogue and the exchange of ideas related to assessment across institutions and to provide support and resources to those committed to meaningful assessment of student learning and institutional effectiveness. The 3rd annual conference took place last month in Dobbs Ferry, NY.

From Soft Drinks to Pet Food

The pet industry is in constant growth and CW students heard the story of an entrepreneur who learned how to grow with his company and how he became passionate about the product he sells. “This is a fun and engaging industry,” said Vito Mileo from Petflow.com, a company that distributes 150 brands of pet food around the country.

“You have to know your audience. I did a lot of research, and learned a lot about my customers. It took me a lot of time to understand my audience.” said Mileo to the Interpersonal Group Dynamics class. “Passion comes from within, and I became passionate about my work.” 

Mileo added that being an entrepreneur and a leader is not an easy task, “No two people are the same, you have to give people a job where they can feel comfortable and be successful.”

Before launching PetFlow, Mileo worked for companies including Pepsi Cola Bottling and Coca-Cola Enterprises.

It Was a Tie!

Academics sponsored CW's annual Barbecue and Softball Game in Delfino Park yesterday. Students and Staff & Faculty gathered to enjoy a BBQ, followed by a pie toss, and the traditional softball game between students and Staff & faculty. This year the game ended with a final score of 11-11. Congratulations to both teams!

Dr. Grace Bonanno Completed Her Ph.D.

Please join CW in congratulating Dr. Grace Bonanno who successfully defended her doctoral dissertation at Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Nova Southeastern University. Grace’s dissertation, “The Importance of a Pictorial Medical History in Assisting Medical Diagnosis of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities: A Telemedicine Approach,” was chaired by Dr. Maxine Cohen. Dr. Richard Manning and Dr. James Templeton served as committee members. Congratulations Grace!

A Retail Experience

With over 20 years of experience in the retail industry, Jose Cortez has worked for important companies in the sector including Limited Brands. Last month Jose joined JCrew’s Managing Global Sales Audit Operations. Graduated from CW (then WBI) in 1993, Cortez came back to speak to CW students about his experience in the business world.

A member of the College Advisory Council at CW, Cortez shared with the Management Applications and Theory class, anecdotes that illustrated how competitive the retail industry is, the role of a manager, the importance of networking, and some challenges he still faces, “Get rid of hobbies that drain you and don’t help your career… and find the balance between work and family. I was a workaholic for many years, but I finally found the perfect balance,” said Cortez. 

Charging Batteries for Midterms

Midterms mark the halfway point of the semester, a time when students really need to focus and prepare for the exams. While study tactics may vary, all students need an extra boost! Academics took note of it and helped students with the stress of the midterms by providing snacks, study tips, and valuable information from the Student Center and the library.
Stay calm and good luck guys!

Recruiting at CW

Working during college is a great way to start testing the waters of a professional environment and beef up your resume a bit. A part-time job may be unrelated to a specific major, but students will learn transferable skills desired by employers, including time management, communication, teamwork, leadership, and problem solving. Once again Career Services put together a “Part-Time Job Fair” where 24 companies including Access Health Care Services, Bank of America, Best Buy, and Microsoft recruited CW students.

“We want to make sure that we are the right fit for them, and they’re the right fit for us. We have a high level of retention and we want employees to stay with us,” said John Rota, Training Manager at The Container Store.
Access Healthcare Services was also recruiting with full-time and part-time positions available, looking for the right candidates at CW, “Someone who works in the medical field knows it’s tightly regulated, so individuals who want to work for us need a particular amount of experience or a certification in their field in order for us to hire them,” said Patrick Moroney, Sales Executive at Access Healthcare Services.

Colin Jackson from Bank of America said he enjoys recruiting at CW for very specific reasons, “I like coming to The College of Westchester to recruit because I find better candidates here. They are prepared and feel confident about themselves."

Health Tech ‘15

The Westchester County Association held their second Annual “Health Tech ‘15” a conference in Tarrytown to discuss breakthroughs, challenges, and opportunities in the health technology industry.

Professor Jessica DeLuca, staff member and student Anna Bravo,  as well as student Norma from the HealthCare Administration program, and Yordaliza and Diana from the Medical Assistant Management program, attended the event and found it interesting and eye opening. They enjoyed the great tips share by the panelists about landing jobs and what they look for in candidates.

The WCA is a business leadership organization in Westchester County that works to promote economic development and stimulate new business in the region.

CW Participates at NAMIWalks

On Saturday, May 16^th, The College of Westchester walked to support our local NAMI chapter (the National Alliance on Mental Illness).  It started off weather-wise as a very rainy day, but this wasn’t going to stop the CW team from supporting this important cause!  The CW team that helped raise funds and those that participated in the walk included Mary Beth Del Balzo, Colleen McCartin, Cassandra McFadden, Nellie Capellan, Andy Capellan, Nichole Herrera, Erik Herrera, Esperanza Cruz, Nancy Trim, Christine Louangsiyotha, Joseph Handibode, Maria Gangi, Erica Schacht, led by team captain Diana Cusumano.  

            Team CW is proud to be able to raise awareness for NAMI, whose mission is advocating for access to services, treatment, support, research and continual raising awareness on mental illness. NAMI is a unique organization that offers the kind of understanding and care that only those who have lived the experience of mental illness can provide.  They offer multiple programs to provide support to those that have a mental illness as well as those with a loved one that has a mental illness.

            Thanks to the support of our College of Westchester family and friends and loved ones, the CW team was so far able to fundraise well over our expected goal amount!  We are still collecting donations if you would like to contribute.  The link to do so is   https://securewalks.nami.org/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?teamID=591300#&panel1-2