OCToBER • 2013
Recognition Luncheon 2013
Northern colleagues who attended the Recognition Lunch to receive their accolades in person are, front row, from left, April
Schrump, Margaret DeCola, Rebecca Yesenczki, Pamela Drake, Joseph Remias, Linda Fletcher, Lisa Ingram, Ina Robinson, and
Tina Edwards. Back row, from left, are Hilary Curto, Mary Merz, Vicki Riley, Joyce Britt, John Reho, Constance Dale, Mark
Goldstein, Linda Dudash, Robert Guy, Robert Gibb, Sandra Beck, and Charleen Stokes.
The 2013 Recognition Luncheon was
held Oct. 4 in the auditorium of the
B&O Building, Wheeling campus,
saluting more than 40 WVNCC
colleagues for their accomplishments
of the past year.
President Olshinsky served as master
of ceremonies, assisted by Peggy
Carmichael, chief human resources
officer. Commemorative clocks were
given to new retirees, employees
received pins for years of service
designations and others received
certificates.
Years of service honorees included,
for 5 Years WVNCC Service: Claire
Blatt, Robert Gibb, Robert Guy,
Peter Kozdras, Mary Merz, Bonnie
Peterman, John Plesa, John Reho and
Dr. Vicki Riley; for 10 Years WVNCC
Service: Margaret DeCola, Christian
Kefauver, Mary Marlin, Joseph Remias
and April Schrump; for 15 Years
WVNCC Service: Lisa Ingram; for 20
Years WVNCC Service and 20 Years
State of WV Service: Linda Dudash
and Jeanne Vanfossan; for 25 Years
WVNCC Service: Purnima Sharma;
for 25 Years WVNCC Service and
25 Years State of WV Service: Tracy
Jenkins and Charleen Stokes; for 30
Years WVNCC Service and 30 Years
State of WV Service, Rita Berry; for 35
Years WVNCC Service, Ralph Lucki;
for 35 Years WVNCC Service and
35 Years State of WV Service, Darryl
Clausell and Linda Fletcher.
Retirees honored, with date of
retirement, were Sandra F. Beck,
1/7/2013; Dr. Terry A. Craig,
6/28/2013; Constance S. Dale,
5/14/2013; Pamela L. Drake,
5/31/2013; Rita M. Malek, 5/14/2013;
Richard E. McCray, 2/28/2013; Walter
V. Slider, 5/14/2013; Mark R. Tracy,
6/28/2013; James E. Tully, 5/14/2013;
and Dr. Anthony J. Vavra, 5/14/2013.
Faculty members recognized for being
named to emeritus status included Dr.
Craig, Dale and Dr. Vavra.
Employees cited for earning degrees
and/or certificates were Hilary Curto,
associate’s degree; Tina Edwards,
bachelor’s degree; Ingram, master’s
degree; Lucy Kefauver, master’s
degree; Elizabeth Knollinger,
bachelor’s degree; Ina Robinson,
master’s degree; Rebecca Yesenczki,
master’s degree; Ingram, Quality
Matters Peer Reviewer certification.
Also recognized were Joyce Britt who
received the Danford Faculty Award;
Mark Goldstein who was presented
with the West Virginia Council of
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Wheeling Ca mpus
Resort and also included Kanawha
Valley Community and Technical
College, Pratt & Whitney Engine
Services, Inc., Pleasant Valley Hospital
and TROY Group, Inc.
Teachers of Mathematics “College
Teacher of the Year” Award; and Mike
Koon who was presented with the
West Virginia Community College
Association Service Award.
Musical Inspiration
George Dennehy, the 19-year-old
inspirational speaker and musician
who was born without arms, brought
his talent and powerful words to
Northern as part of the College’s
annual observance of national
Disabilities Awareness Month
in October.
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About 100 persons
attended the free performance Oct.
23 in the B&O Building auditorium
on the Wheeling campus and gave
Dennehy, a resident of Richmond,
Va., a standing ovation. His powerful
message in the open-to-the-public
presentation was made possible by a
grant through the Diversity for Equity
program of the West Virginia Higher
Education Policy Commission and the
Community and Technical College
System.
The singer said he started his musical
journey by learning to play the cello at
the age of 8. He advanced in classical
music until he was able to play cello
with regional orchestras. With the
cello as his launching pad he has
taught himself guitar, electric bass and
basic piano.
A captivated full house takes in the show.
Dennehy gained worldwide attention
last year after he posted a video of
himself covering the Goo Goo Dolls
song “Iris” on the web. His story went
global and he received media coverage
from as nearby as his own hometown,
and as far away as London and
Sydney. Gawker.com called George
the “one man inspiration band.”
Then an astonishing thing happened:
The Goo Goo Dolls themselves saw
the video and loved it. They invited
George to share the stage with them
and perform ‘Iris’ to an enthusiastic
and excited crowd of 7,000 fans at
Musikfest, an annual weeklong event
held in Bethlehem, Pa.
The American family that adopted
George is a living example of
diversity: George has 11 brothers
and sisters, three biological and nine
adopted, and some of them are living
with disabilities. The family represents
five different nations besides the U.S.:
Romania, China, Thailand, India and
Ethiopia.
Tobacco Free Champions
WVNCC, the first two-year
institution in the state to become a
tobacco-free campus, has been given
the 2013 Tobacco Free Champion
Award by the Wellness Council of
West Virginia.
Recipients of the award were
announced at the 27th Annual
Conference on Worksite Wellness
held Sept. 25-27 at Canaan Valley
According to the council, the Tobacco
Free Champion Award recognizes
companies in West Virginia which
have made great strides in creating,
implementing or enforcing tobaccofree policies in the past year.
Industrial Tech Funded
Northern has received more than
half a million dollars in donated
gifts and state money earmarked for
scholarships for students seeking to
enter various industrial technology
programs and for equipment
to supplement or update those
programs.
In a joint statement, Dr. Olshinsky,
WVNCC president, and Dr. Mary
Marockie, president of the WVNCC
Foundation Inc. Board of Trustees,
said the state and donor funding “has
thrust Northern to the forefront of
training for these highly skilled jobs.”
The state of West Virginia’s
Community and Technical College
System provided $220,000 each to
Northern’s Petroleum Technology
and Mechatronics programs along
with $15,000 in matching monies
for scholarship purposes, Olshinsky
explained. “This is start-up money
for high demand technical programs
in the region to purchase equipment,
develop curriculum and employ
faculty,” he said.
Marockie said the Foundation is
appreciative of the $55,000 in grants
provided through several area trusts,
including the John C. Williams
Charitable Trust that gave funds
for Mechatronics equipment on
the Weirton campus; donations for
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scholarships by the Chevron Fund
and the Ken Dennis Scholarship
Fund, both through the Community
Foundation For The Ohio Valley; the
Schenk Trust; and the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
The scholarship funding, it was
explained, will have varying
requirements and will target the new
technology programs. For example,
Marockie said, some scholarship
dollars will go to applying high school
seniors to attend Northern during
their second semester while other
scholarships can be sought by any
Northern student.
Olshinsky said some donated funding
will be used in a partnership with
Marshall County Schools to provide
an opportunity for middle school
female students to study robotics.
The first program, he said, will be
for 16 girls and can be continued in
subsequent years.
Financial Aid Workshop
WV Northern again is hosting all
local high school counselors and
vocational rehabilitation counselors
to participate in the annual Financial
Aid Workshop on Friday, Nov. 15, at 9
a.m. This day is filled with invaluable
information for counselors to assist
their high school seniors and others
in applying for federal, state, and
institutional financial aid and meeting
important deadlines for the 2014-2015
academic year. Alicia Frey, associate
director of financial aid, says if you
know of others who could benefit
from this workshop, please encourage
them to attend. Forward them to Kelly
Herr at 214-8842 or kherr@wvncc.edu
for registration and other inquiries.
Pig Donation Keeps on Giving
The half a pig donated to the Culinary Arts department continues to also provide
academic assistance to the health sciences. This semester, surgical technology
students at Northern, shown here, practice sutures, etc., with the pig skin. The
partnership of the two departments received much media attention earlier this
year when the donation initially was made.
New Martinsville Ca mpus
Disabilities Awareness
Creative Math
New Martinsville faculty member Mark Goldstein’s students in the math for
teachers’ class have been creating posters this semester that could be used in
an elementary classroom to help students learn math concepts. The students
learn how they can use different ideas to teach young children a variety of math
equations. All the posters will be judged at the end of the semester by the class
to determine who did the best job.
Pamela Holstein, Sarah Eller, Kama
Martin and Deena Cline attend the
picnic lunch as part of Disabilities
Awareness Day activities in New
Martinsville.
The annual Disabilities Awareness
Day activities were held on Oct. 2
at the New Martinsville campus. A
picnic lunch was provided through
the College disabilities office, and
Pamela Holstein presented a display of
information on learning disabilities.
Several students stopped by to learn
about the services available.
Visit from the Attorney General
Think Pink!
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick
Morrisey spent an evening at the New
Martinsville campus speaking to community
members about the role of his office. He
explained that the attorney general is the chief
legal officer for the state of West Virginia and
handles various legal matters that impact the
state, for example, consumer protection, civil
rights, tax and revenue, criminal appeals, and
other critical litigation involving the state.
Attorney General Morrisey indicated that his
duties include providing advice and counsel to
the state, its officers and agencies; prosecuting
and defending legal actions on behalf of the
state; representing the state in all actions
pending in the West Virginia Supreme Court
of Appeals, among several other duties. He
distributed material to those attending and
stated that he would be sending additional
information to those who were interested. New
Martinsville Campus Dean Larry Tackett and
Amy Witschey, editor of the Wetzel Chronicle,
were among those who attended.
In recognition of October as Breast
Cancer Awareness month, Student
Activities sold a variety of Pink
Ribbon items. For an additional
donation of $2, staff received a pink
ribbon sticker which they wore on
Oct. 29 and participated in a dressdown, Jean’s Day. All of the funds
raised from both of these events will
be donated to the Susan G. Komen
Foundation.
West Virginia Attorney General
Patrick Morrisey
Weirton Ca mpus
Job Well Done
Congratulations are in order for Nancy Albert, director of records/registrar, and Pam Woods, institutional research
director, for the exemplary work they did in preparing the Credit Hour Worksheet for the HLC Accreditation Visit. The
College was notified on Sept. 23 by HLC that they viewed the Worksheet submitted by the College as a good example
and asked permission to use it as a sample to share with other institutions going through the accreditation process.
Nancy spent numerous hours completing the worksheet with the assistance of Pam and the IRIS staff members who
compiled data reports. The HLC request verifies that they did a quality job which not only helped our process but which
will now also serve as a model for others, according to Weirton Campus Dean Mike Koon who also helped coordinate
the College’s response for the accreditation visit.
Monster Movie Night
Breast Fest
The Student Activities department sponsored Family Movie Night on the
Wheeling, Weirton and New Martinsville campuses in October, featuring
the animated movie “Monsters University.” The free event was opened to all
WVNCC students, faculty and staff and their children. The successful activity,
of course, featured popcorn for everybody. Manning the popcorn stand at the
Weirton campus is Ida Williams, program coordinator.
Students on the Weirton campus have been active in activities
to support Breast Cancer Awareness.
Nursing instructor Tammy Aftanas and second year nursing
students participated in the Weirton Medical Center “Breast
Fest,” an event to raise awareness about breast cancer. One of
the key elements of the event was the bra decorating contest
and the students prepared three entries for the contest.
Entries were displayed at sponsoring businesses prior to the
event and voting on Oct. 3 at the Medical Center. In addition
to participating in the contest, the Nursing students assisted
during event.
In addition, the Weirton Campus Activities Board and Student
Government sold bracelets and pins as a fundraiser for Breast
Cancer Awareness. With support from the campus community,
they were able to sell nearly all their inventory. Too, several of
the students prepared baked goods which they also sold.
Nursing students who participated in the decorating contest
with the bras being displayed in the lobby of the Redline
Building, from left, are Natasha Kowalczyk, Rose Horvath,
Alexis Carte, Tiffany Cranmer and Sam Wells.
Participating in the sale of Breast Cancer Awareness bracelets
and pins are, from left, Sarah Blankenship and Lita Burton.
Spooktacular Staff and Faculty
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1. Some of our scary staff and faculty get in the spirit. From left back row, Shannon Payton, Julie Horton, Tami Becker, Dave
Stoffel, Dr. Olshinsky, Kim Ghaphery, Dan Easton and, from left front row, Anna Brandi, Jenna Derrico, and Jody Tyburski.
2. Jody Tyburski and work study Kadie Whiddon. 3. Back row, Barbara Coburn and Al Works, and front row, Lisa Soly and
Tina Edwards. 4. Dr. Olshinsky. 5. Anna Brandi and Hilary Curto. 6. Jenna Derrico, Debbie Wayt and Tami Becker.