The Center for Urban Educational Studies
Professional Development Series
Fall Semester 2003 Schedule
The Center for Urban Educational Studies at the Damon City Campus of Monroe Community
College is proud to announce a new learning opportunity available to the faculty, staff, and students
of Monroe Community College. Each Thursday from 12:00-1:00 in room 5269 of the Damon City
Campus we will host a speaker on a different topic related to comprehensive urban development.
Please RSVP to Barbara Edwards at 262-1524 or bedwards@monroecc.edu if you are interested in
attending. We hope to see you there.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
12:00 – 1:00 Room: 5269
Grant Writing 101: Making Visions Reality
Jim Maddison, Director, Center for Urban Educational Studies
This presentation will cover the basics of grant writing specific to highly-competitive federal and state discretionary
grant competitions. Topics include finding funding opportunities, developing strategic alliances to pursue grants,
developing a mission, measurable goals and objectives, developing a project timeline, and how to speak to project
evaluation in grant applications.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
12:00 – 1:00 Room: 5269
Student & Institutional Factors that Facilitate Persistence and Degree Attainment Among
Puerto Rican Community College Students
Emeterio Otero, Ph.D., Executive Dean, Damon City Campus
The presentation offers an overview of a qualitative study that highlights successful practices that enable Puerto
Rican community college students to persist and attain an associate’s degree.
Thursday, October 2, 2003
12:00 – 1:00 Room: 5269
The Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection
Annette Gantt, Executive Director, Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection
The Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection is a highly successful youth advocacy program that targets at-risk youth
in the Rochester City School District. Annette Gantt, Executive Director of the Hillside Work-Scholarship
Connection, will present on how and why the program is successful.
Thursday, October 9, 2003
12:00 – 1:00, Room: 5269
Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation
Samson Olaode, Project Director, STAGE
Toni Robbins, Lecturer and Trainer, STAGE
This presentation will focus on mediation techniques and the prevention of violence on campus and in our
classrooms. Preventive intervention strategies, proactive approaches to problem solving, and listening skills will all
be discuss. Mr. Olaode and Ms. Robbins are certified conflict resolution and mediation trainers with certification
from the University of Washington’s Conflict Resolution Unlimited (CRU) program.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
12:00 – 1:00, Room: 5269
Secondary School Funding: The Impact in Rochester
Maria Behncke, Finger Lakes Regional Coordinator, The Alliance for Quality Education
The Alliance for Quality Education is a statewide, privately funded, non-profit coalition that advocates for quality
education for New York's children. A key factor in ensuring a quality education is the fair and equitable allocation
of resources. A recent decision by the State's highest court ordered the Legislature to reform the current school
funding formula to give all children an "opportunity for a meaningful high school education". AQE is gathering
local support to ensure that a reformed formula is clear, stable and needs-based and meets the needs of all children in
the Rochester region.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
12:00 – 1:00, Room: 5269
Project Believe: Making Rochester the Healthiest City
Ralph Spezio, Community Health Liaison for Project Believe
University of Rochester Medical Center
Project Believe represents the commitment of the University of Rochester Medical Center to provide leadership and
to work collaboratively with the Rochester community to create the healthiest community in America by the year
2020. The major goals of Project Believe are to increase the quality and years of life for all individuals and
eliminate disparity among racial and ethnic groups. Mr. Spezio will provide a brief overview of Project Believe and
highlight the major community partnerships and programs underway.
Thursday, October 30, 2003
12:00 – 1:00, Room: 5269
A.G. Taylor Outreach Projects for Youth
Andre Taylor, President, A.G. Taylor Research and Development
A.G. Taylor Research and Development, an optics research and development company in Rochester, NY, is
committed providing opportunities for youth from the Rochester City School District to excel in math and science.
This commitment is put into action with two innovative opportunities for youth; a summer camp and a “Mission
To…” experience. In the “Mission To…” experience, teams of youth are challenged with getting a probe to Mars or
launching the space shuttle. These opportunities provide youth with the opportunity to work with real scientists.
Thursday, November 6, 2003
12:00 – 1:00, Room: 5269
Sprawl Costs Us All?
Patterns and Dynamics of Land Use and Development in the Genesee/Finger Lakes Region
Evan Lowenstein, Executive Director, Common Good Planning Center
Urban sprawl is random unplanned growth characterized by inadequate accessibility to essential land uses. Sprawl
has social and economic consequences such as heightened urban-suburban school disparities, accelerated urban
infrastructure decline, concentrated poverty, heightened racial disparities, and negative public health consequences.
In the nine-county Genesee-Finger Lakes Region since 1980, the rate of land development has exceeded the rate of
population growth by over ten times. This pattern has serious economic, environmental, and social consequences for
urban, suburban, and rural communities. Hear about the problems but also about the potential for our region to
achieve “smart growth”. Even Lowenstein, Executive Director of the Common Good Planning Center will discuss
the impact of urban sprawl in Rochester.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
12:00 – 1:00, Room: 5269
Social Barriers to Health Care Access
Dr. Julius Goepp, Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
University of Rochester Medical Center
Almost every man, woman, and child in New York State has access to low- or no-cost health insurance. However,
people of color and people who live in circumstance of poverty are far less likely to access the health care services
that are available to them. Dr. Julius Goepp, Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the University of
Rochester argues that the health care disparity in the United States is largely attributable to social barriers.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
12:00 – 1:00, Room: 5269
Regional Food Systems
Dr. Henry Herrera, President and CEO, The Center for Popular Research, Education and Policy
By the time the food we eat gets to our dinner table it has traveled an average of over 1,500 miles. The current food
distribution infrastructure we have in the United States limits our food options, produces waste, is prone to
terrorism, and creates economic disparity. There is a better way. This session will discuss the merits of regionalized
food systems and how this system can work in Rochester.