Vol. 4, No. 3
COD alumna Ellen Briggs with the pH/alkalinity sensor she’s developing for her Ph.D. thesis at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Ellen Briggs may have grown up in Carol Stream on the Illinois plains, but today, the 29-year-old oceanographer-in-training says the sea feels like home.
Between here and there, sailing on the Great Lakes opened her heart to the water. College of DuPage
Professor Richard Jarman opened her mind to science.
“I went to school to maybe enter the medical field, but I fell in love with chemistry,” said Briggs. “Dr.
Jarman really inspired me to stay in chemistry. He made opportunities available for his students to be invited to summer research programs. I got accepted to Argonne National Laboratory, which gave me a glimpse at what life would be like in the professional
STEM world. This definitely motivated me to pursue a higher-level education in science.”
After completing most of her elective requirements and introductory science courses at COD, Briggs earned a bachelor’s degree, with honors, from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
From there, she was accepted into Scripps
Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography.
This summer, she landed a National Science
Foundation graduate research fellowship worth more than $30,000 per year over three years.
“It also pays for most of my school tuition and healthcare, which frees up funds for my lab,” said Briggs.
Given the oceans’ importance to life on
Planet Earth, Briggs’ laboratory is a big deal. She’s developing a sensor that measures alkalinity and pH in the ocean. In lay terms, Briggs said,
“I’m working on advancing chemicalsensor technology so we can better understand chemical cycling in the
ocean and how our lifestyles are impacting the oceans.
“The ocean is intimately linked to everyone’s lives around the world whether they know it or not,” said
Briggs. “For example, more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere is a product of marine photosynthesis.”
Briggs said climate change is affecting the oceans in many ways, including rising sea levels,
Briggs, aboard ship in the southern hemisphere, signs a float equipped with ocean sensors. On the cover, Briggs and a fellow researcher, braving the waves to gather seawater samples collected at different depths in the ocean.
acidification and changing circulation patterns. “The consequences of these three main concerns will be far reaching and will impact fisheries, coastal cities, weather patterns and more,” said Briggs.
“Climate change is real. All of our energy needs to be devoted to addressing what we are going to do about it rather than arguing whether or not it is real.”
The job won’t be easy or inexpensive, she said.
“The oceans are very difficult to study because of their inaccessibility and expanse,” said Briggs. She knows firsthand, having just returned from a research expedition in the southern Pacific Ocean from the
Antarctic Circle to Tahiti.
In addition to her love of the sea, Briggs was drawn to work that melds many disciplines: materials chemistry, electrochemistry, analytical chemistry, materials science and engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.
While Briggs said such fields are sometimes associated more with men than women, the male/female balance is increasing every year and it’s never been an issue for her.
“Everyone knows I pretty much do whatever I want,” said Briggs.
“My parents didn’t always like the choices I made (dancing rather than school) but they supported me and were very excited when I did decide to give school a go.”
As for any classrooms with more men than women, Briggs said she didn’t notice. “I’m a very selfmotivated person, so the room could have been filled with aliens for all I cared, and I would have put forth the same effort.”
College of DuPage :: impact
:: cod.edu/impact
Cover photo by Steve Showell; above photo by Katie Kirk

When College of DuPage Associate
Professor Lubna Haque began an applied chemistry degree in college, she was one of only 18 women among 400 students.
Photo by Press Photography Network/ special to College of DuPage
2
When COD student Alana
Alfeche was a child in the
Philippines, she had no clue what engineering was. But she liked bridges.
From her family home, getting to school required crossing a lake.
“On sunny days,” said
Alfeche, “the water level was low, so we could cross by jumping across rocks.”
When it rained, however, the water level rose to five feet.
“We still had to go to school,” said Alfeche. “So if we knew rain was coming, we’d prepare the day before by looking for the biggest log we could find in the forest and making a bridge out of it.
“Since then, I’ve liked the idea of making bridges.
I want to create bridges in material science and engineering that will connect my skills to someone’s needs.”
Today, too few students— women especially—are learning to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to build literal and figurative bridges.
Census figures show that women comprise almost half the U.S. workforce. But in STEM professions, women fill only 24 percent of the jobs.
“Many women never pursue careers in STEM fields in the first place because they feel disinterested or discouraged from doing so,” reported U.S. News.
COD’s women in STEM concur. And they’re shattering STEM-is-for-men stereotypes.
“I can remember two times when someone dismissed my thoughts or questions with something like, ‘Well, what do you know? You’re just a girl,’” said
Associate Physics Professor Carley Kopecky. “Even though these comments were said jokingly, they made me feel defensive about even being in the class.”
When Associate Professor Lubna Haque began an applied chemistry degree in college, she was one of only 18 women among 400 students. While some expected women to change majors or quit, Haque rose to the top of the class.
“My whole persona began to change,” she said.
COD women teaching and studying STEM say that mentors, early career exposure, parental encouragement and role models are keys to attracting more women to STEM.
“If you hear, ‘That’s not good for girls,’ you will be discouraged,” said Haque. “But if you hear,
‘Everything’s open to you,’ young women will make the choices they want.”
“If more girls knew what STEM jobs entail, they might match their interests to a STEM career,” said
Kopecky. “Some K-12 schools let students build circuits and rockets. Such programs might make a young girl say, ‘I like designing/building/fixing/ problem-solving. Maybe I should be an engineer/ mathematician/programmer.’”
Linda Kirby, a U.S. Navy veteran and COD student said schools should do for STEM what they’ve done for other vocational subjects.
“Implementing more technology programs into high school, similar to automotive classes, would be a great way to get students interested,” said Kirby.
“We can get more women interested by setting up field trips and job shadowing very early in the education system,” said COD pre-med graduate Ina
Furxhi. “Student organizations also provide insight into what STEM is really like in the working world.”
In clubs, said Alfeche, “students get to apply what they learn in class to real-world situations. College of
DuPage, for example, is the only community college in the nation participating in NASA robotics mining competition. This competition is really challenging the robotics team’s creativity and problem-solving skills.”
Alfeche said the need for STEM-educated professionals will continue to grow.
“There are many bridges that need to be constructed and buildings that need to be redesigned.
Our health is in danger as new illnesses are introduced. We have limited resources such as gas and water. And many of our experts will retire soon and we need to be prepared to replace them.”

College of DuPage :: impact
:: cod.edu/impact
Robotics photo at left by Lloyd DeGrane; above photo by
Press Photography Network/special to College of DuPage

4
Talented high school seniors are constantly bombarded with the question:
Where are you going to college?
The usual expectation—a prestigious
Ivy League or Big Ten school—is tempting, but as they dig into the details, many students find the best answer lies much closer to home.
“No other college I saw offers the opportunities and hands-on experience to its students in their first semesters,” said Presidential Scholar Joseph Stahl.
“I knew that I had a greater chance to succeed at College of DuPage.”
Likewise, Jamie-Leigh Danemayer of Naperville North said she was offered scholarships at some ‘fancy’ schools,
“but each came with a collection of strings attached. COD gave me a straightforward, generous offer, and I felt like all the work I had done to get high marks in high school had finally paid off.”
Wheaton-Warrenville South grad
Teal Russeau recalls that “the external pressures and expectations of my peers and community initially influenced my confused, high school self. Not only did
I feel unprepared for the emotional aspect of ‘going away,’ I was unsure of my career path.”
She points to College of DuPage as the perfect solution to those dilemmas, allowing her “to grow and figure things out until I felt mature enough to be on my own.”
For Nemanja Kuzmanovic (Downers
Grove South), Jamieson Walker (Lyons
Township), Eugene Boguslavsky
(Glenbard South) and others on this year’s Presidential Scholars list, COD’s
Engineering Pathways program was a key factor, providing them with a direct route to admission in the Engineering school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign.
“The opportunity to get a degree from one of the top 10 engineering schools in the nation for an affordable price was something I couldn’t pass up,” said
Kuzmanovic. “What made COD an even clearer choice for me was my selection as a Presidential Scholar.”
Willowbrook’s Muaz Mansour ticked off an impressive list of COD benefits:
• “I don’t want to pay off loans when I’m 30.”
• “I can go home and come back in between classes.”
• “The high quality Culinary Arts program I’m taking.”
• “The beautiful campus, state-of-theart equipment and knowledgeable teachers.”
• “Hanging with old friends and making new friends from all over the country and the world.”
Taking all of those advantages into consideration, Mansour concluded:
“So why did I choose COD? Because
COD chose me.”
David Albright
Wheaton Academy
Binderiya Bolor
Fenton
Alayne Cross
Westmont
Alexis Haidl
Lake Park
Han Luu
Glenbard East
Thomas Almassey
Montini Catholic
Colton Brucks
Glenbard East
Grant Hosticka
West Chicago
Community
Viktor Ampulski
Lake Park
Sarah Burkhardt
Wheaton North
Ana Juvan
York Community
Joseph Malachiwsky
Addison Trail
Aleksandar Malesevic
Glenbard West
Jonathan Andersen
Glenbard South
Aya Cabanban
Neuqua Valley
Maggie Curran
Downers Grove North
Jamie-Leigh Danemayer
Naperville North
Juan Leyno Dasco
Lemont
Izabela Kapel
Glenbard North
Kevin Malinis
Fenton
College of DuPage continues to attract talented, high-achieving high school seniors. This year’s
108 Presidential Scholars represent an 11 percent increase over the previous year, and in the words of
President Dr. Robert L. Breuder,
“these numbers are a testament to the higher education treasure that is
College of DuPage.”
Earl Dowling, COD’s Vice
President of Student Affairs, said, “The high quality of our instructors, small class sizes, innovative programs and stateof-the-art facilities have created an educational environment that appeals to exceptional students.
Collectively, everything offered by College of DuPage leads to an agenda for success.”
COD’s Presidential Scholars pool carried an average GPA of
3.98 on a 4.0 scale and an average
ACT composite score of 28. In fact,
40 Presidential Scholars reported
ACT scores of 30 or better. All
Presidential Scholars are enrolled in the College of DuPage Honors
Program and the Phi Theta Kappa
Honors Society.
Presidential Scholars must pursue a degree or certificate at
College of DuPage and enroll in a minimum of 15 hours per semester, maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA, and complete a minimum of 15
Honors credit hours, including an
Honors seminar and/or Humanities
2210, Leadership Development.
Presidential Scholars must also complete a designated Service
Learning course or 20 hours of approved volunteer work during their first year at COD.
For more information about the Presidential Scholars award or attending College of DuPage, contact the Admissions and
Outreach office at (630) 942-2380 or admissions@cod.edu.
Stephen Myers
Wheaton Academy
Matthew Naughton
Willowbrook
Jake Nelson
Wheaton Warrenville
South
Ashley Nevarez
York Community
Matthew Pieroth
Lyons Township
Erik Schuchardt
Glenbard South
Jessica Piske
Metea Valley
Sabrina Scott
Westmont
Shilpa Pokkuluri
Downers Grove South
Alexander Poole
Homeschooled
Sean Seal
Lake Park
Sumaiya Shariff
Glenbard South
Nicholas Stewart
Lake Park
Amy Strom
Neuqua Valley
Samantha Sturino
Lake Park
Matthew Szymski
Wheaton Warrenville
South
College of DuPage :: impact
:: cod.edu/impact

Robert Angiulo
Glenbard North
Justin Ankus
Lemont
Julissa Aquino
Fenton
Diana Rose Aspuria
Wheaton Warrenville
South
Payton Baznik
Naperville Central
Marie Beaty
Naperville North
A.J. Bibergall
Wheaton North
Eugene Boguslavsky
Glenbard South
Alejandro Campos Jr.
Wheaton Warrenville
South
Taylor Cannon-Bobholz
Fenton
Hubert Celinski
Metea Valley
Alex Chapman
Glenbard East
Jason Chau
Glenbard North
Andrew Chialdikas
Lemont
Gustavo Contreras
Lake Park
Dylan Coupe
Naperville North
Pavel Dimitrov
Downers Grove South
Jennifer Emmert
Glenbard East
Gabrielle Escudero
Metea Valley
Samuel Franklin
Neuqua Valley
Naresh Ganduri
Naperville North
Kevin Grygo
Addison Trail
Valentina Guarino
Fenton
Dana Haas
Wheaton Warrenville
South
Joel Khristy
Naperville North
Akvile Kiskis
Glenbard South
Madison Kopjo
Lyons Township
Andrew Kramer
Lemont
Nemanja Kuzmanovic
Downers Grove South
Alyssa Laatz
Lyons Township
Jakub Lewandowski
Fenton
Samuel Liesman
Neuqua Valley
Jenny Mancilla
Addison Trail
Muaz Mansour
Willowbrook
Hannah McCarthy
Wheaton North
Melissa Metzger
West Chicago
Community
Kacper Mierzejewski
Addison Trail
Grace Miller
Glenbard East
Alyssa Minnicino
Lemont
Jessica Mondragon
Addison Trail
Jeremy Nielson
Lyons Township
Mark Noftz
IC Catholic Prep
Janelle Oca
Downers Grove South
Judah O’Neil
Metea Valley
Radhika Patel
Fenton
Sumera Patel
Glenbard North
Melissa Paz
Neuqua Valley
Matt Perkowitz
Wheaton Warrenville
South
Erin Posavec
Glenbard South
Matthew Powell
Wheaton North
Luke Pretzie
Lyons Township
Gloria Roark
Waubonsie Valley
Teal Russeau
Wheaton Warrenville
South
J.B. Ruutelmann
Homeschooled
Rodgene Francis Santos
Glenbard East
Brandon Schonert
Addison Trail
Linda Shaw
Wheaton Warrenville
South
Joseph Simkus
Glenbard North
Andrew Slobidsky
Downers Grove North
Caileigh Smarzewski-Wilson
Willowbrook
Courtney Smarzewski-Wilson
Willowbrook
Justine Solis
Glenbard East
Joe Stahl
Homeschooled
Kotryna Staputyte
Naperville Central
Betsi Terpin
Naperville Central
David Tuscher
Lemont
Kimberly Tuskey
Downers Grove North
Daniela Vidal
Glenbard South
Jamieson Walker
Lyons Township
Ashley Welter
Westmont High School
Colin Williams
Naperville Central
Kevin Zahrobsky
Downers Grove South
5

Beyond the classroom, there’s a lot to experience at College of DuPage. Whether dining at
Waterleaf Restaurant, listening to WDCB 90.9fm or attending a McAninch Arts Center event, there is always something new and interesting happening at COD.
A personal message from College of DuPage
Board of Trustees Chairman Erin Birt:
My name is Erin Birt, and I have the honor of serving as chairman of the College of DuPage Board of
Trustees. In my professional life, I have my own law practice where I work to make a positive impact on people by helping them through sometimes difficult life transitions.
At COD, we strive to have a positive impact by helping our students prepare for the next steps in their lives and careers.
In this issue of impact, you will read about the importance of STEM professions. Science.
Technology. Engineering. Math. They drive our health care. Our computers. Our roads and bridges. Our world economy. Our national security.
There are plenty of high-paying STEM jobs available.
But as a nation, we struggle to fill them—especially with women.
College of DuPage is helping to change that. Through our programs and our people, we’re encouraging our community—everyone from school children to adult learners—to get excited about STEM.
Sure, some find the subjects intimidating. Others find them boring. Our story on “The Math Dilemma” shows the consequences: nearly three out of four students graduating high school in Illinois are not prepared for college-level mathematics.
But when you see former COD students such as Ellen
Briggs studying the world’s oceans, or Ina Furxhi awaiting word from the nation’s medical schools, or
Associate Professor Carley Kopecky getting local school kids enthused about rocket science, you quickly see how one college can make an impact on an entire community.
“Many students are not as interested in STEM subjects if they learn only in the abstract,” says Associate
Professor Lubna Haque. “But if we demonstrate how STEM can help them in the real world, they get really interested.”
Real-world learning is a key part of what we do, and why our students—including our current and largestever class of presidential scholars—succeed in STEM and a world of other subjects here at COD.
Sincerely,
6
Erin Birt,
Chairman, Board of Trustees, College of DuPage
WDCB’s Sunday Jazz Brunch at Waterleaf has been a sold-out success for October, November and December. Stay tuned for future WDCB and
Waterleaf collaborations.
Kirk Muspratt , Artistic Director and Music Director
NEW
Need a little break this holiday season? Whether it’s a girls’ weekend with friends, a night away from home or extra space for visiting guests, The Inn at
Water’s Edge offers various stays and packages to meet your needs. Call (630) 942-6888 or visit innatwatersedgehotel.com.
Ring in 2015 with New Philharmonic and experience an evening of waltzes, polkas and traditional Viennese musical selections at the MAC. Show schedules can be found at AtTheMAC.org or call (630) 942-4000. And,
Waterleaf restaurant has reservations available for its 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve celebration.
For reservations call (630) 942-6881 or visit waterleafrestaurant.com.

According to the results of the 2012
Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), among the 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD),
U.S. high school students ranked 27th in math literacy.
1. Korea
2. Japan
3. Switzerland
4. Netherlands
5. Estonia
6. Finland
7. Canada
8. Poland
9. Belgium
10. Germany
11. Austria
12. Australia
13. Ireland
14. Slovenia
15. Denmark
16. New Zealand
17. Czech Republic
18. France
19. United Kingdom
20. Iceland
21. Luxembourg
22. Norway
23. Portugal
24. Italy
25. Spain
26. Slovakia
27. United States
28. Sweden
29. Hungary
30. Israel
31. Greece
32. Turkey
33. Chile
34. Mexico
The numbers are in and they need improvement.
According to results from 2013’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, nearly three out of four students graduating high school in Illinois are not prepared for college-level mathematics. And this is by no means a local problem—or a new one. At 27 percent, Illinois is just one percentage point above the national average for college-level math readiness, and there has been no notable change in either score since the last assessment in 2009. In immediate practical terms, this means the majority of high school graduates entering college must take non-credit remedial courses in mathematics, resulting in a costly and sometimes prohibitive obstacle on the path to a degree.
“This is a problem with considerable national and economic implications,”
said Erin Birt, Chairman, COD Board of Trustees. “Not only is there the issue of college readiness, U.S. students are performing far below most other developed nations. Math is at the very foundation of the STEM cluster, and in a knowledgebased, global economy with a substantial focus on quickly emerging technology, it’s clear that the U.S. can’t afford to fall behind.”
In response to this national dilemma, College of
DuPage has been working with local high schools to better prepare students for success in their college math courses and ultimately their careers. The Math
Curriculum Alignment Committee is comprised of
District 502 high school superintendents, principals, math department heads, math instructors, the
College of DuPage Associate Dean of Mathematics, members of the college math faculty and Learning
Support Services staff.
One component the committee has initiated involves area high school juniors visiting COD’s campus to take the ACT COMPASS placement test, an adaptive computerized test used by colleges nationwide to evaluate students’ skills in math. The results help identify students who need additional assistance with math. The same group of students then returns during the spring of their senior year to retake the test after completing a large part of their fourth year math coursework. In addition to providing feedback, the committee hopes this testing will
motivate the high school students to take four years of math, one year beyond the Illinois state requirement.
Since the project began in 2011, nearly 1,500 high school students have participated from eight area high schools. This has resulted in a substantial amount of data that the committee is currently analyzing for details about the effectiveness and longterm benefits of the process.
“We’re doing a lot of data-mining and analysis,” said Tom Schrader, COD Associate Dean of Math and Physical Sciences. “One practical outcome we are looking for in this testing process is to motivate students to take four years of math in high school.”
In an effort to assist students to make a seamless transition to college math, some high schools have aligned with the College of DuPage’s remedial math courses, offering Math 0481 and 0482 taught by their teachers using the College’s curriculum and standards. A significant portion of the committee’s work has been to increase communication and understanding across the border between secondary and post-secondary education.
“As a committee, we have come to understand the work of the high schools in aligning our courses to the Illinois State Common Core Standards as well as our preparations for the new Partnership for
Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
(PARCC) assessments,” said Dan Krause, Principal of Willowbrook High School. “In addition, we have learned more about the COMPASS exams and the college placement process.”
Schrader said that the work the committee members are doing will not change things overnight. Rather, they are in it for the long haul. He said that while the partnership is currently focused on helping high school students’ transition to college, he hopes the scope of the initiatives will eventually make its way to the earliest levels of the education system.
“This committee came about because this national problem is bigger than COD—we can’t solve it on our own,” said Schrader. “We hope to create best practices that can be replicated throughout the district for all students, not just those that attend COD.
Our ultimate goal is to deal with the problem at a fundamental systemic level and involve all levels from kindergarten on up.”
For more information about the state of math education in the U.S. and national efforts to boost math literacy, please visit the U.S. Department of
Education at www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_ math_g12_2013/#/.
7

Vol. 4, No. 3
Published December 2014 by the Office of Marketing and Communications at College of DuPage
President
Dr. Robert L. Breuder
Vice President of Marketing and
Communications
Joseph Moore
Marketing Director
Laurie Jorgensen
Writers
Jeff Elijah
Bruce Hetrick
Mike McKissack
Art Director
Lou Demas
Designer
Mark Brady
Direct all comments and questions to the editor at impact@cod.edu.
©2014 College of DuPage. All rights reserved.
Erin Birt
Board Chairman
Wheaton
Allison O’Donnell
Board Secretary
Winfield
Kim Savage
Darien
Nancy Svoboda
Downers Grove Kathy Hamilton
Board Vice Chairman
Hinsdale
Joseph C. Wozniak
Co-Vice Chairman
Naperville
Dianne McGuire
Naperville
Omar Escamilla
Student Trustee
Hanover Park
425 Fawell Blvd.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-6599
Residential Customer
Vol. 4, No. 3

We hope you enjoy this issue of impact and discover something new about your community college. There’s more to these stories, so be sure to check out our impact web page for other highlights, photos and video interviews.
America needs more women to fill available jobs in science, technology, engineering and math.
Meet some of the COD women who are working to fill the gap.