March 2017 edition

UNIVERSIT Y SCHOLARS PROGRAM

MARCH 2017

S e n i o r E r i c a Fe r e r Reflects on her SBU Career w w w. s t o ny b r o o k . e d u / u s c h o l a r s

T H E T O R C H N EWSL E T T E R Greetings, Scholars!

We hope the Spring semester is going well. There are many exciting things going on in the Scholars Program this semester. Scholars 102 (SCH102) classes are being offered for the first time. We have a broad range of topics being offered, ranging from Leadership and Issues in Science and Technology, to Global Issues and Science Communication. All 14 sections are going very well with the students and instructors reporting that they are having a great time. We are grateful to the faculty from all across campus for giving their time to teach these 102 sections.

We would also like to thank the handful of Scholars students who are serving as Teaching Assistants for these classes.

We have a several events coming up this semester, such as the Scholars Research Panel and Medical School Panel.

Please be sure to check our “upcoming events” section in this edition, or on our web page. Special thanks to the Social, Outreach, and Academic Committees, and especially the Chairs, for their help in conceptualizing and implementing many of these programs. We hope to see many of you at these events. Thanks also the Council, which meets the second Wednesday of every month, for their help in guiding our outreach initiatives and upcoming trip to the Museum of Natural History in New York City in late April.

We have a new cohort of 18 Scholars Fellows who are currently being trained in the SCH275 class. We thank many of the “forever” Fellows for their help in mentoring the new Fellows. The new Fellows are doing a terrific job in their new leadership position. The Peer Assistant Leader (PAL) mentoring program continues to be a huge success. Applications are now available to join our next group of PALs to assist incoming freshmen in their transition to Stony Brook.

Spring weather is almost here as we head down the home stretch of another great academic year. Scholars students continue to accumulate awards. We recently learned that 7 of the 15 recipients of the SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence at Stony Brook are University Scholars students. The Chancellor’s Award is the highest student award in the SUNY system, so congratulations to all the honorees! We will recognize these students, and many other Scholars, at our End of the Year Banquet and Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 2nd. We look forward to seeing you there.

Best wishes for continued success this semester.

Brian Colle, Jeremy Marchese, and David Maynard

Torch Contributors Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Marchese Lead Copy Editor Jessica Vestuto Editor Francesca Campione Lead Photographer Samar Syeda Contributing Writers Holly Jones Expedito Segovia Jessica Vestuto Kailey Walters

U N I V E R SI T Y S C HO L A R S

Brent Freestone, pictured with members of the Scholars Book Drive at the Wyandanch donation event

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Scholars in Action

Junior Brent Freestone is making strides at SBU

Scholars Committees

Learn about the three University Scholars subcommittees that you can get involved with

Faculty Spotlight

Associate Provost Dr. Richard Gatteau shares his thoughts on student success

Senior Spotlight

Erica Ferer looks back on her time at Stony Brook and provides advice for continuing students

Advising, Academic Deadlines, and Upcoming Events Learn about important upcoming academic deadlines and Scholars events

T H E T O R C H N EWSL E T T E R Scholars in Action Brent Freestone

Samar Syeda Brent Freestone is a living, walking testament to the power of developing confidence in new situations. As someone who used to have difficulty with public speaking and putting himself out there, he is now co-founder and vice president of the Global Innovation Team and has formed many connections with other students, administrators, and faculty on campus. In other words, Brent is a powerhouse within the Stony Brook community.

main goal is for members to apply the knowledge they have gained in their engineering and science classes to on-campus projects. They aim to complete four projects each year. “We wanted to accelerate the rate at which we actually do things,” Brent says. “We find all the projects ourselves. We just really wanted to use all the resources on campus and have complete free will, and to have no oversight other than just faculty advisors.”

A junior with a Mechanical Engineering major, Brent was first exposed to the basics of engineering from a young age, when he observed his grandfather helping his parents build their house. Once he started school and became exposed to the design aspects of construction and engineering, he grew even more interested.

Many of the projects the team has worked on involve using renewable energy to improve environmental sustainability measures on campus.

For example, they have worked on the restoration of Roth Pond by designing a floating island garden to be put in the middle of the pond.

Another project of theirs involves designing a garden for the inner quad area between the Yang and Lauterbur buildings. As they plan to have the garden be completely run by renewable energies, they will use solar energy to power the pumps for them to be self-irrigated.

Currently, the team’s next project

Fast forward to Brent’s time as a student at Stony Brook, and now he, along with two of the past presidents from Engineers Without Borders, co-founded an organization called the Global Innovation Team. Its

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involves proposing major waste reduction measures to the Faculty Student Association (FSA), in the form of reducing plastic usage and increasing composting.

In terms of future plans, Global Innovation Team is looking to move its projects off campus, particularly to Kenya to collaborate with Richard Leakey, the chair of the Turkana Basin Institute at Stony Brook. The team is also working with Dr. Craig Lehmann, Dean of the School of Health Technology and Management, who is currently working to improve child healthcare in Kenya.

“It’s really easy to get connected if you just go knock on doors here,” Brent says of the opportunities he has been afforded from reaching out to faculty around him. “There are so many things going on.”

Aside from Global Innovation Team, Brent has also served as a mentor in the University Scholars’ Peer Assistant Leader (PAL) Program, in which he helped four of

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U N I V E R SI T Y S C HO L A R S his mentees get oriented to college life at Stony Brook.

making connections with professors if they are interested in research and internships. Although some students may be too intimidated to approach a professor because they feel they are being bothersome, professors most often will be eager to engage with students and talk to them about their research.

“When freshmen come in, it’s really hard to get oriented quickly,” Brent says. “They do get oriented over the course of the semester, but a lot of times opportunities that they could have gotten, they’re late to the party on because they just weren’t oriented.

Additionally, just getting into social “It’s really easy to get connected if groups and getting into you just go knock on doors here... the swing of the academic There are so many things going scene can be really on.” difficult.” Knowing that many freshmen are often hesitant to approach advisors for help and sometimes don’t even know which questions to ask, Brent was able to guide his mentees by thinking about what he should have known when he was in their position. Currently, two of the mentees Brent continues to keep in touch with are already involved in research and have joined a number of committees and clubs, one of which is Global Innovation Team.

Brent also credits the Scholars Program with how much he has Brent’s freshmen mentees are changed over the years. “There not the only ones making strides, are a lot of opportunities within however. Throughout his time at Scholars to build your skills, and Stony Brook, Brent feels he has that has led to my ability to do other learned and changed a lot. “People things,” he says, such as planning say it all the time -- to be aggressive events and having the confidence -- and I think that’s really the to lead general body meetings for key to everything,” he says. He Global Innovation Team. “All those particularly encourages other skills are skills I began learning students to not be hesitant about with Scholars. I think it’s really,

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really valuable as a stepping stone towards careers.”

Ultimately, “My capacity as a freshman … to complete any task was so much smaller, and now there’s just way more room to grow,” Brent says. “You can really transform yourself here if you put yourself out there.” ~By Kailey Walters

T H E T O R C H N EWSL E T T E R University Scholars Committees Each semester, the Scholars community holds a wide range of events for all of its students to pick and choose from. These events allow us to connect with other Scholars, faculty, and the community at large, as well as uphold the feeling of community and continuity within the Scholars Program. A large number of these events would not be possible without the three sub-committees who organize and execute them. Each committee - Social, Academic, and Outreach - has two co-chairs who take the lead in running meetings and coordinating events.

The Social Committee, which to increase their involvement in plans events which encourage Scholars. Annalisa has a desire mingling between Scholars of to use her energy and passion in a practical different and fun way majors and - she says class years, the beauty is chaired by of the Social Natalie Korba Committee and Annalisa is that it Myer.

Both fosters a fun of these coatmosphere. chairs are Natalie d y n a m i c Annalisa Myer and Natalie Korba values the members of connections the Stony Brook community at large - amongst Scholars across the Annalisa, a freshman Psychology program that the social committee major, is also a Camp Kesem allows. Both are excited about counselor, research assistant for what the semester has in store. the Leadership and Creativity Their Calm-A-Con Event is Lab, representative for the designed to allow students to Psychology Student Association, de-stress with relaxing activities and a Scholars Sellow; Natalie, a before finals while visiting sophomore Sociology major with stations run by various clubs and a minor in creative writing is an organizations, and a fundraiser active member of the Commuter for Art Start, “a non-profit Student Association and Street organization that nurtures the Team, and is a Scholars Fellow minds of NYC’s underserved youth through creative workshops and Orientation Leader. and programs” is also being Both Natalie and Annalisa planned for next Fall. stepped up as committee chairs

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Both chairs work diligently the make the committee as fun and relaxed as possible. They describe their meetings as “light and casual” where students can provide feedback and pitch ideas. Says Natalie, “The Social Committee strives to mend the gap between upper- and lower-classmen, and residents and commuters. We’re special because our sole purpose is to help promote interpersonal connections among Scholars and plan events that help students bond within this unique community that we all have the honor of being a part of.”

The Outreach Committee is co-chaired by Bryan Conry and Flynn Delany. Outreach is primarily focused on spreading the influence of Scholars offcampus and making connections between the University and outside organizations.

At committee meetings, the chairs lead discussions for members to share their points of view and ideas for events. Both Flynn and Bryan emphasize the importance

U N I V E R SI T Y S C HO L A R S of member input and involvement.

Bryan, a sophomore double major in CME and AMS, describes the Outreach Committee as “an extension of Scholars itself.”

Flynn, a freshman marine science major, values the Outreach Committee because of how rewarding it feels to do good beyond campus in the larger Stony Brook community. Both Flynn and Bryan are Scholars Fellows and have found getting

Bryan Conry and Flynn Delany

involved in the committee - even before they became co-chairs - a stepping stone to becoming more involved in the Scholars community.

This semester, the Outreach Committee has tentative plans for the annual Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck Cleanup and Senior-Senior Prom.

The Committee is also working on coordinating a Children’s Craft Day at the Little Flower Orphanage. Flynn describes getting involved in Outreach as a not-overly-time-consuming way to establish yourself in the

Scholars community. He sees Scholars as students who, in addition to planning for future accomplishments, are ready to do good work in the present.

with meetings consisting of members contributing ideas and collaborating with the co-chairs to agree upon them and fine tune their execution.

The Academic Committee is co-chaired by Emily Fowler and Anh Phan. As Anh puts it, this committee “plans and implements educational programs that enhance the learning environment and promote success within the University Scholars Program.” Anh and Emily are both sophomores and well-rounded Stony Brook students - Anh, a Health Science major and Biology minor, has a job on campus and is a member of the Stony Brook Volunteer Ambulance Corps; Emily, an English and Biology double major, volunteers with the English Pal program and is a junior member of Alpha Nu Zeta (the English Honor Society).

Both co-chairs ended up in their leadership roles simply by attending Academic Committee meetings and becoming active members. What is unique about this committee is that it often involves professors in their

In the past, the Academic Committee has put on the Faculty Library and various panel events.

Both chairs cite the Pi Day event as one of their favorites - students broke up into teams to compete at a jeopardy math game for the winning prize of a pie. Emily remembers it as a favorite because the students “seemed to have a lot of fun collaborating with one another in teams.” The Academic Committee itself acts as a team,

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Emily Fowler and Anh Phan

events, allowing students to make connections not only with one another but with faculty. And while attending events put on by the Academic Committee is a rewarding way to fulfill event requirements and spend time with other scholars, being a part of it is even more so - Emily says, “when I see Scholars interacting and having fun at an event, it makes me very happy to know that I played a role in planning it.” ~By Holly Jones

T H E T O R C H N EWSL E T T E R York catapult into a new state, considering cities everywhere from Boston to Seattle.

Faculty Spotlight Richard Gatteau’s position as Associate Provost for Academic Success at Stony Brook seems to have been fated. Years ago, when he was writing his dissertation about female college presidents, he interviewed Shirley Kenny, Stony Brook’s former president.

Six years later, Stony Brook was looking for a new Director of Academic Advising and Gatteau was looking for a change. After working at Iona College as the Director of Residential Life and at Columbia University as the head of sophomore advising, Gatteau felt he was a good fit for Stony Brook’s position, and that the position was a good fit for him.

And so he decided: if he didn’t get the job, he would leave New

“It fortunately did not pan out that way,” Gatteau tells me fifteen years later. We are sitting in his pristine office overlooking the Staller steps. “I was relieved. I didn’t want to leave.”

Gatteau is clean-cut and gregarious, beaming with positivity not typically seen on a Monday morning. Regardless of whether his home at Stony Brook was fated, Gatteau treats it like it was, working unwaveringly hard, grateful that he is doing what he feels he was meant to do.

The SBC system allows students more curricular flexibility. For example, an Introduction to World Dance course now satisfies both the arts and global requirements, whereas under the DEC system, it only fulfilled one. “I like the idea of integrating disciplines,” Gatteau says. “This encourages faculty to think outside their department and disciplines, which is very powerful in creating the curriculum for the twenty-first century.”

The SBC system’s paramount aim, however, is to help make students’ “roadmap to graduation” as efficient and enjoyable as possible.

“When I talk to college students I always hope they will have the same positive feeling I had when I found this job. If I didn’t love it, it would not nearly be as much fun.”

“My goal is for that roadmap to be clear,” Gatteau explains. “It has twists and turns as students find different things they are passionate about. That’s part of the college experience, but I’m trying to find a way for students to stay on the four-year journey, without it encroaching upon year five and six. I always try, when we come up with something to do different, to put myself in the place of the student.” He laughs.

“It gets harder the older I get.”

As Associate Provost, Gatteau’s role is to keep students on track.

This included when the University changed its general requirements from the DEC system to the Stony Brook Curriculum (SBC).

When he was an undergraduate, Gatteau majored in Business Administration at Bucknell University. “My best best memory was a class called Business Management 101 with

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U N I V E R SI T Y S C HO L A R S Professor Miller,” he recalls with a smile. “The class was divided in four groups, and each was its own company.” Each group had to create, market, and sell a product, and then the profits went to a community service project.

“The entire class ran everything,” Gatteau says.

“It was unbelievable.”

After Bucknell, Gatteau earned a full ride to the University of Vermont’s Masters in Higher Education Administration program.

He enjoyed the curriculum so much that it later inspired him to start Stony Brook’s graduate program in Higher Education Administration.

The program has flourished since its creation five years ago, with faculty comprised of practitioners who work full time and teach at night or online.

Gatteau, who serves as Director, has taught the “bookend” courses of the program: an introductory course and the project seminar that culminates in a 25-page capstone research paper. “I love seeing the progression in students’ writing from the first class to the last,” he says. This stems from an experience Gatteau had as an undergrad. Though he did well in his English classes in high school, Gatteau was not happy when he got back his first writing assignment in college.

“I got the lowest grade you can ever get: a ‘please see me,’” he jokes. He sought help at office hours and the writing center, gathering skills he would one day use to write his dissertation.

“Now, when students in the project seminar say, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not a strong writer,’ I tell them, ‘That’s fine—I wasn’t either.’ The way you become a better writer is to write more. It’s an area I would love to see more students excel in.”

and-forth discussion style while teaching made Gatteau want to complete the readings each week; and a woman named Jill from Residential Life at Vermont, who was the woman Gatteau saw in a significant leadership role in higher education.

Gatteau has also taught courses in the Honors College, the School of Professional Development, and the University Scholars program.

This semester, his SCH 102 class centers on leadership and ethics in organizations. He recently had each student pick a person from an organization that they viewed as leader, good or bad. The answers varied from Walt Disney to Hitler.

In both his professional and personal life, Gatteau seems to be in good company. He has traveled everywhere from Europe to South America to Asia with close friends. He lives with his partner, and their French Bulldog, Jack, and sees his family often. The furniture in his office is lined with frames of happy faces. Just yesterday, he tells me, he hung out with his best friend from college.

In his own life, Gatteau has met several leaders—good ones—whom he still tries to emulate today: Professor Miller from Bucknell, who secretly coordinated with an AV person to start playing a video in class when he touched his tie, leaving Gatteau in awe of his forethought and attention to detail; Professor Nash from the University of Vermont, whose “meeting of the minds” back-

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“She had a commanding presence and was firm but nice,” he explains. “If she were to fire you, it would be said in such a way that you would say ‘thank you.’”

“The people you meet here should become your best friends,” he stresses. “When you’re in the stadium and you cheer and you get your diploma, I want you to be happy that you have a degree in hand, but I want you to also look back on the experience and say you have no regrets.”

Gatteau, it seems to me, is able to say the same. ~By Jessica Vestuto

T H E T O R C H N EWSL E T T E R explained. “So, it solidified my decision to choose Stony Brook,” she added.

Senior Scholar Spotlight When I learned that Erica Ferer was chosen to be featured in this edition’s Senior Spotlight, I thought it was a no brainer.

Erica is someone I’ve looked up to since my very first day at Stony Brook. She happened to be the Orientation Leader (OL) who helped me register for my classes and was also my Fellow for SCH 101. Nevertheless, when the opportunity arose for me to possibly write the spotlight honoring and recognizing her achievements as an SBU student and a Scholar, I was hesitant. I was nervous about interviewing her, and I was unsure if I was fit for the job. But just as Erica has proven time and time again, stepping out of your comfort zone will only serve to benefit you.

It was a blustery Thursday when we decided to meet for the interview. Erica was her usual vibrant, effervescent self.

Despite the windy day her hair was perfectly in place.

I started off the interview asking her to go back to the beginning and recall her early college experience. “I remember getting the acceptance letter from Stony Brook and reading that I got into the Scholars Program,” she said. “It was actually one of the biggest driving factors that made me choose Stony,” she continued.

Erica held that she was only looking at small schools as larger schools intimated her at the time. “But the Scholars Program emphasized a small school feeling with a tight knit community in a big research university,” she

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During her first semester at Stony Brook she claimed that she wasn’t too involved and it wasn’t until her friend in her freshman Calculus class convinced her to apply to be a Scholars Fellow.

She missed the deadline at first but when she saw the deadline get extended she saw it as a sign.

“The group interviews were really intimidating; I thought that everyone there was better than me so I kind of ‘gave up’ and just answered as truthfully as possible,” she described. She, of course, ended up getting the job. With her modesty and her honesty, it’s easy to see why.

“Getting the Fellows position was a springboard for me and it gave me the confidence to pursue more things,” she furthered. Erica then applied and got accepted for a research position in Dr. Brouzes’ lab as a freshman even though he normally only accepted sophomores. She participated in URECA later that year, presenting the work she did in that lab. But that wasn’t enough for Erica Ferer, as she also became an OL, then later an OTL (Orientation Team Leader). In her junior year, she was also selected as an RA in Roth Quad and now serves as an ARA in West Apartments. “I’ve had plenty of experience dealing

U N I V E R SI T Y S C HO L A R S with undergraduates as an RA and OL and I feel like I’ve helped a lot of underclassmen. Moving to West Apartments as an ARA gave me the opportunity to interact with, and help out, students who are around the same stage in life as I am,” she explained.

so much. “I remember this one event at the Wang Center where I had to help out because of my position as a Student Ambassador where I had literally 10 mins to get back to West Apartments, get dressed and then head to Wang,”

Erica’s vulnerability and honesty in telling me this was remarkable.

I asked her if it was okay to include this in her spotlight. She said, “Use whatever you feel is appropriate.” I hope that when she reads this she deems it so.

What Erica Ferer has shown “At the end of the day I recognized me in this short interview is that what’s really important is to Speaking of stages in life, I that success like she has had be happy and follow your values asked Erica what her plans in her undergraduate career and priorities. That’s the goal in are for after graduation. “I doesn’t come easily. More life.” actually applied to a bunch importantly, she taught of various jobs both in the me that it’s okay to cry BME field and other sometimes and that unrelated fields just because you do like event planning, doesn’t lessen you or financial analytics your achievements. and business,” she Emotions are answered.

“I’ve important to express realized in my time and often harmful to here, with the various bottle up. I’m sure jobs and internships Erica’s presence will I’ve gotten like Red be sorely missed Watch Band and in our Scholars at the University community, and the Erica Ferer (center) speaking at the Beyond the Classroom Event Police Department, University as whole; that I have too but, as Erica herself many interests to said in her last words be pinned down,” she further she recalled. “I broke down in to me that day, “The sky is explained. “At the end of the day my room but I continued on to looking blue.”

I recognized that what’s really the event”, she added. She then important is to be happy and described an encounter at this ~by Expedito Segovia follow your values and priorities. event with this girl who asked her That’s the goal in life,” she how she does all the things she added. She maintained that she does without having a mental or used to worry a lot about being emotional breakdown. “I told her perfect and doing everything I had cried right before I came without fault. It was only when here,” she said with a laugh. The she reached out for resources girl took this in and exclaimed here on campus and dug a little that she was glad she wasn’t the deeper that she stopped worrying only one.

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U N I V E R SI T Y S C HO L A R S Advising All University Scholars are encouraged to make use of their Advisors. From academic planning to research to general advice, the University Scholars Advisors are an invaluable resource to students. Please feel free to contact any of your advisors by email or visit them at the office hours posted below or by appointment.

Brian Colle Jeremy Marchese David Maynard brian.colle@stonybrook.edu jeremy.marchese@stonybrook.edu david.maynard@stonybrook.edu Wed. 2-4pm Tue. 11am-1pm by appointment Fri. 10am-12pm Wed. 12-2pm Thu. 9-11am

Academic Deadlines Mar. 24 Mar. 27 May 5 May 6 May 8 May 9-17 May 19

Last day to G/P/NC or withdraw from a course with a W recorded (Consult with an Advisor) Major/Minor changes begin Last day to take a leave of absence or withdraw from the University Last day of classes Reading day Final exams Commencement

Scholars Events Research Panel

Apr. 3 6:00pm-8:00pm Tabler Center, Performance Area Deciphering Real News from Fake News

Apr. 6 6:30pm-8:30pm LDS Center Medical School Panel

Apr. 12 7:00pm-8:30pm LDS Center Calm-a-Con

Apr. 18 7:30pm-9:30pm LDS Center Scholars End of Year Banquet and Awards Ceremony

May 2 5:00pm LDS Center For the most up-to-date information regarding events and to RSVP, please visit the Scholars Website at

www.stonybrook.edu/uscholars 14