According to Monique Savage, director of counseling services at AC, there is a diverse group of students who seek advice and help from the counseling center. She explains that many freshmen are dealing with the transition from high school to college, and the challenges of being separated from family and friends back home.

“The top three issues that we’ve dealt with are depression, anxiety and relationships,” Savage said.

Statistically, Savage said about two-thirds of the students seen in Sage are female and about one-third are male. Sessions typically last fifty minutes and she does not see more than five or six students per day. There are two counselors that work within the Sage Counseling Center, Savage and Michael Snyder-Barker.

“Michael specializes in anger management and alcoholism,” said Savage. “I’ve learned a lot from him and I believe that we both bring our own strengths to the center.”

She said it is important to have a female and a male counselor because different students have different comfort levels, depending on gender.

“It may be easier for females to relate to females and males to relate to males, and vice versa,” Savage said.

“It’s not a bad thing to go to counseling,” said one student. “I go because it’s a way to express myself and explain my feelings to someone else. Having a therapeutic relationship is much different than telling my mom something that I’m dealing with.”

Students seem to feel that the counselors at the Sage Counseling Center are understanding and good listeners.

“By going to counseling, I am able to independently think about my problems without being ashamed of them,” said the student. “I like knowing that I have someone to vent to and it’s completely confidential.”

The Adrian College Athletic Training program has made great strides toward obtaining accreditation in the 2009-2010 academic year. (Photo courtesy www.adrian.edu)

There have been major changes for some of the academic departments during the 2009-2010 academic year, as part of an attempt to better the academic experience of Adrian College students. The Social Work and Athletic Training programs have seen the most results this year.

“Every year we’ve been implementing new courses and new requirements,” Tina Claiborne, the director of Athletic Training Education and Exercise Science, said. “There’s been constant change.”

The Athletic Training program is currently working on becoming an accredited program.

According to Claiborne, they plan on submitting a self-study of the course by the end of May and hope to have a site visit sometime next year during which a committee will come to the campus to evaluate the program and offer recommendations to AC about becoming accredited.

After that, the Commission on Accreditation for Athletic Training Education will make the final decision about whether or not Athletic Training at AC will be accredited.

According to Claiborne, the commission to determine accreditation status only meets once a year in August, so the program will not know if they have become accredited until August 2011.

“I think it’s all tremendous,” Claiborne said about the changes in the Athletic Training program this year. “Everything’s positive.”

There is currently only one course of study that has achieved accreditation status at AC and that is the Social Work program.

According to Charles Vanderwell, professor of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice, the Social Work curriculum has been striving to become accredited for the past five years.

The program received accreditation in February.

“What it means for students is that they are eligible to be licensed as a social worker in every state in the country that licenses Bachelors,” Vanderwell said about reaching accreditation status. “It allows them to work.”

He also said that it grants students advanced standing, if they decide to attend graduate school.

“[It] reduces time in graduate school by about 25%,” he said.

According to Vanderwell, the initial application to vie for accreditation is challenging in order to weed out programs that still need a lot of improvements. However, once a program receives candidacy status, all their graduates are treated as if they went to an accredited institution.

Also, when the Social Work program became accredited, all their graduates since they first applied for accreditation in 2006 were given accreditation status.

“It’s been exhausting, but what it has done is challenged us to think through every facet of the program,” Vanderwell said about the accreditation process. “It’s a much better program as a result. [The students have] really benefited from the changes.”

According to Vanderwell, the Social Work program will have to apply for reaccreditation every eight years and was encouraged to start working on that process two years ahead.

Junior Kim Palmerton is studying to become a social work major.

“I think it’s great,” Palmerton said about Social Work becoming accredited. “It opens up more opportunities for those who want to go into social work.”

There was also an “Accreditation Celebration” that the Social Work department held last Thursday, as a way to congratulate the program for its achieved status. It was located in the second floor of Valade Hall and there were refreshments available, along with a collection of what the social work program has accomplished.

“It was pretty cool,” Palmerton said. “They had tables displaying social work stuff.”

According to Palmerton, there was a display that showed everything it took for the program to become accredited.

“I know that it took a lot of work to get accredited,” she said.

The Health Center is located in the basement of Caine Student Center and is open Monday through Friday. From 9 to 11 a.m., their walk-in clinic is available and from 1 to 4:30 p.m., is open for afternoon appointments.

“We are usually open until 5 p.m. on most days,” Marsh said.

She said that students can come in until closing, if they have any questions they would like to ask.

“There’s no fee to be seen at the health center,” Marsh said. “We’re not here to make a profit off of [students].”

However, according to Marsh, they do sometimes add a small fee to a student’s account for a prescription or lab testing.

Marsh worked as a part-time nurse at the Health Center last year, before becoming the director.

“On average, I’d say we see 25 to 30 students [a week],” Marsh said.

According to Marsh most of these students visit the health center because of common illnesses.

The health center offers various services to students, such as wellness checks, lab testing, medical assessments, pregnancy testing, physician referrals, staple removals, flu shots, referrals for STD testing, referrals to family planning clinics and they have condoms for sale.

“We offer some prescription drugs,” Marsh said. “[But] I have to deem it necessary.”

According to Marsh, everything at the Health Center has gone relatively smoothly all year except for a two week rough period during swine flu season.

“We were prepared,” Marsh said about the season. “Students did a good job at self isolation and keeping it contained.”

Freshman Diana Fisher said she has been to the Health Center six or seven times.

“I’m sick a lot,” Fisher said.

According to Fisher, she received antibiotics from the Health Center once, but most of the time they would offer her advice on how to get better.

“They usually just tell me how to fix it without drugs,” she said.

According to Fisher, having a Health Center near the students is a good idea.

“I think it’s nice to have somewhere close on campus to go,” she said.

For next year, Marsh said that the Health Center is looking to inform the students more about health care and prevention.

“We want to set goals of more education for next year,” she said.

Another change that will take place next year is that the H1N1 vaccine will be included in the seasonal flu shot.

According to Marsh, the health clinic is also trying to become a little greener and increase convenience for students. For instance, waivers for health insurance for the 2010/2011 academic year are now offered online.

“We hope to move towards other documents being electronic too,” Marsh said.

As the summer is coming closer, Marsh said she would encourage students to use sun block and to stay hydrated.

“Hydration is extremely important when you’re in extreme heat for long periods of time,” she said.

Marsh said she would also warn students to watch their alcohol consumption, because alcohol can dehydrate you more quickly.

Freshman David Trevisan works at the Health Center for his work study job. He said that his work is mostly secretarial, such as pulling files.

“I think it’s great that it’s on campus,” Trevisan said about the Health Center. “Dawn really takes care of the kids.”

According to Trevisan, when he was sick with strep throat, the Health Center helped him get better.

He said that generally it seems most students are satisfied with the services that the clinic offers.

“We’re not a full on hospital,” Trevisan said. “But we help with everyday needs.”

There were 30 sessions throughout the day, located in Knight Auditorium, Rush Hall, Hickman board room, Peelle 207 and Jones 204.

Knight Auditorium in Valade Hall (pictured above) was one of five locations where presentations were given, as part of Ribbons of Excellence Day Tuesday. The event gave AC students the opportunity to share their academic accomplishments. (Photo by Kelly Funk)

The events were blocked off into groups. The first set of programs ran from 9:05 a.m. until 9:25 a.m., followed by a second set of programs, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and lasting until 9:50 a.m. Another group of students presented from 10:05 a.m. until 10:25 a.m. The last morning presentations were from 11:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., followed by lunch break from noon until 1:30 p.m. Following lunch, another group of presenters went from 1:30 p.m. until 1:50 p.m. From 1:55 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., was another set of presentations. There were also programs that happened from 2:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m., from 2:55 p.m. until 3:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m. until 4:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

There was also a meditation circle, led by Michael McGrath, professor of history, during the lunch hour, in the Mahan Dance Studio, at 12:45 p.m.

To bring Ribbons of Excellence to a close, there was a reception in the Adrian Tobias room and then an Honors Ceremony in Dawson Auditorium at 7 p.m.

“It would be impossible to honor every student with academic accomplishments at AC,” President Jeffery Docking said during the ceremony.

Various students attended presentations throughout the day to support their fellow classmates.

Junior Erika Squanda went to see senior Alemena Welker’s presentation on Nicaragua.

“It was in Spanish, so I’m really glad the pictures were up on the board,” said Squanda.

Squanda said that she liked how the presentation wasn’t just a lecture.

During her sessions, senior Debi Batey presented her art pieces from her collection “Mental Illness.”

Some of her pieces depicted schizophrenia, multiple personality disorders, bipolar and Alzheimer’s disease.

“I express myself best through painting,” Batey said. “Painting has been the most therapeutic for me.”

Sophomore Ashley Falcon participated in the Model Arab League (MAL) demonstration and went to hear the presentation on the Star Literary Society.

“I thought it went well,” Falcon said about the presentation. “I like learning about things that have happened at AC.”

Ryan Thompson, Ashley Mittlemeier, Kit Stetzel, Janet Creque and Mellissa Boyd are the members of our PR Staff. (Photos courtesy www.adrian.edu)

When students at Adrian College look at events like Bruiser’s debut and Declaration Day, they often don’t  have the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes.  The Public Relations Office, located in the basement of the Shipman Library is often hard at work, putting together some of the major events on this campus.  They sponsor campus activities, publicize events to the campus and community through flyers, and newer technology, such as face book groups and blogs.

The department consists of Mellissa Boyd, director of public relations, Janet Creque, web content editor , Ashley Mittlemeier, communications assistant, Ryan Thompson, sports information director and Kit Stetzel, assistant sports information director.

Students are beginning to notice all of their hard work.

“They did a really good job advertising the Switchfoot concert, I really like the little feet they put in our mailboxes,” said junior Crystal Cieslak.

The Public Relations office also employs many work study students, to assist in the smaller day to day tasks of office life.

“It is really cool to be a part of some of the things the PR office promotes,” said junior Erin Laurell, a worker in the PR office.  “For Bruiser’s debut we got to meet the dog and take pictures with him.  It was a lot of fun.”

Creque, a 2006 AC alum, with a major in communications, describes her job as mostly consisting of updating the AC Facebook pages and creating new groups for students to join.  She also assists student organizations with the creation of fliers and web pages.

When asked what she wished students knew about the Public Relations office, Creque had many things to say.

“If a group has an event that they want a lot of people to attend, make sure to come see us at least two weeks in advance,” she said.  “We can help write up a press release, design fliers, post it on the website and/or Facebook.  We can arrange to have a student photographer attend.”

The PR office is always looking for photos depicting student life on campus.

“We love Photos!” Creque said.  “If students have photos of their life at AC and they want to share, we are always happy to have them.  Of course they must be appropriate and not all photos will be used, but our office isn’t always available to be at those fun, spontaneous  moments; corn hole tournaments on a Saturday afternoon or ice cream runs to the Spotted Cow, but these are the types of photos we love because they show what life is like as an AC student.”

Students enjoy their meals in Ritchie Marketplace during the 2009-2010 school year. Sodexo is ending the school year with many upcoming events, and has big plans for the 2010-2011 school year. (Photo by Jon Wittkop)

(Photo by Anthony Spangler)

Throughout the 2009-2010 academic year, Sodexo has put on various events in Ritchie Marketplace.

“We try to do something every month,” Tim McLaughlin, the general manager for Sodexo, said.

According to McLaughlin, in October there was steak and shrimp night and in November they put on a specialty Thanksgiving dinner. In December, there was a Christmas meal and party. In February, a Valentine’s dinner was available and Chef Joaquin Suarez came to Adrian College from Columbia, as part of the global chef program to create a specialty menu for Ritchie. Suarez also made an appearance in professor of modern languages and cultures John Eipper’s accelerated Spanish literature class to talk about food and culture. Ritchie also had spring refreshers available for students the Thursday before spring break began, and has installed new cereal containers with different General Mills products.

“It was a good change for everybody,” freshman Alexandra Schaufele said about the specialty events. “I went to the Thanksgiving [dinner]. It was like a round table meal with all your friends. That was a lot of fun.”

Sodexo has also partnered with Chef Mai Pham, who owns her own restaurant in Sacramento, California, to create a menu for Ritchie every Tuesday and Thursday for the rest of the year, such as Thai spring rolls and curry.

“I think offering the international food is a good idea,” Schaufele said. “It provides more culture to AC campus.”

During finals week, Sodexo plans to put on a Breakfast under the Stars event, and is also going to provide food for commencement in April. After school ends in May, they anticipate having many catering orders to fill.

Also on April 22, Nikki Partee, the district marketing coordinator, plans on partnering with Adrian College’s Green Action Club (GAC) to offer a special event in honor of Earth Day, called “Pb and J for a Day.”

According to Partee, during Earth Day, Ritchie will provide various foods made of peanut butter and jelly, such as peanut butter and jelly cupcakes, as well as other standard food options.

She said that Pb and J Day saves water and carbon. dioxide and land.

According to Partee, eating peanut butter and jelly for the day saves 280 gallons of water, as opposed to eating hamburgers, and saves 12-50 square feet of deforestation, pesticide and pollution.

“It is astounding the difference [Pb and J Day makes],” McLaughlin said.

Sodexo has also partnered with many of its suppliers to offer a variety of opportunities for students.

Through General Mills, Sodexo sponsored the “Bike for a Better U” sweepstakes, where students could win a Timbuk2 backpack or a national prize of a school bike, which is like a bike share program for the campus.

There is also a contest that students can sign up for in the Caine Student Center, which is offered through Yoplait, a General Mills product, where contestants can win items such as a Wii or plasma screen TV.

“We have a lot of good relationships with our vendors,” McLaughlin said.

Sodexo is also planning a lot for next year.

The second day that freshmen are on campus for welcome week, they plan to put on an event, tentatively labeled “Bruiser-Palooza,” where Sodexo’s vendors will be invited to give out samples and small prizes, such as water bottles, as well as larger prizes like iPods.

According to McLaughlin, they are also looking into a sushi company that they could offer using dining dollars or a Mexican/Latin section in Ritchie, where they would offer food in a similar fashion to how the Mongolian grill is set up now.

They have also looked into offering Indian food once a month.

“It’s a traditional Indian boxed lunch,” McLaughlin said.

He also said that they are thinking about setting up a yogurt smoothie bar through the company “Freshens,” as well as a walk through pizza window.

“I really like the smoothie idea,” Schaufele said. “It would be really popular.”

They are also looking into a program for Ritchie similar to the Simply-to-Go program at Caine.

Sodexo has added Country Skillet onto the list of restaurants that accept dining dollars, as well.

“We’re always looking at new restaurants,” McLaughlin said.

One thing that McLaughlin said they are trying to improve is being able to get student opinions.

“There’s what the administration wants and there’s what the students want,” he said.

There are comment cards at the front of Ritchie available to students. There is also a link on the Adrian College website available for commenting about Ritchie and Sodexo.

McLaughlin said they are also looking into DTXT, a texting program that will allow students to receive texts about updates at Ritchie when they sign up for it.

“If we could get students to sign up, we could do different promotions,” Partee said.

Another thing that they are looking into for next year is partnering with GAC to have “Tray-less Days with a T,” where food trays will not be used in Ritchie on weekdays that have a T in them.

“I feel like that would be a good idea,” Schaufele said. “It’s not that hard to make a second trip for a drink or whatever else you want.”

According to McLaughlin, this will reduce a lot of waste and water consumption.

“In the U.S. the average food waste on our plate is 40%,” he said.

McLaughlin came to Adrian the second week of August, and has worked with Sodexo for five years.

“A position opened up and gave me an opportunity to come to campus,” McLaughlin said. “I think things have gone well. It’s been a great experience.”

Partee said that McLaughlin has created a completely different atmosphere since coming to AC, one that is more comfortable and clean.

“He’s made great changes,” Partee said.

“This event gives students a rare opportunity,” said Robin Bott, Associate Professor of English, co-director of the English Department, Director of the Institute of Study Abroad and overseer for the event.

Submitting abstracts and presenting papers is an experience that, in the past, was limited to post-graduates and professors. This event gave students the opportunity to experience the process much earlier than has ever been available.

Students such as Chelsea Easter, who presented “Rape of Property: Comparison of Rape in Medieval and American Slavery Texts,” illuminated issues in an enlightening way and demonstrated their academic prowess in the question and answer session that followed. Professors and students, among other scholars and professionals in their field attended the event and presented often deep and open-ended questions that tested each students knowledge in Medieval and Renaissance Studies contexts.

“Adrian College was honored this year as the first site for this event because of its central location in the region, “Bott said, “In the following years the hosting school will be rotated.”

Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking delivered his annual State of the College Address Friday in the Adrian Tobias Room. Several topics were discussed, with the main topic being college improvement. (Photos by Briana Doolan)

“Shared Vision, Shared Success,” was the title of Adrian College’s Annual State of the College Address given last Friday at noon in the Adrian Tobias room by AC’s seventeenth President, Jeffrey Docking.

“The preponderance of this message… will be devoted to looking ahead, planning, visioning and, most importantly, working together as one community to create a College so extraordinary that the achievements of the past five years, and perhaps the last 150 years, pale in comparison to the amazing things that lie ahead,” Docking said.

In his speech, Docking described the many accomplishments that AC has completed in the past five years. For instance, the student population has almost doubled, $25 million has been added to AC’s annual budget in revenues, 16 academic and athletic facilities have been built or remodeled, Internet bandwidth has increased and AC is receiving noticeably more press and news coverage, such as being the number one “Up and Coming Baccalaureate College in the Midwest.”

“Our future has never been brighter,” Docking said.

He also said that this year’s State of the College Address was the start of another five-year plan that will focus on excellence and a shared vision.

“Our strategic plan must have broad participation,” Docking said. “If we are seeking creativity, we cannot limit the voices of any in our midst.”

Docking asked his senior staff for new creative ideas for the college and received answers, such as selling a children’s book entitled “Bruiser Goes to College,” having a pet-friendly dorm, building a bonfire pit in front of Caine for students to enjoy and having students give their favorite recipes to Ritchie Market Place.

He said ideas that centered more on academics included a four-year promise to help students graduate college in four years or offer their fifth year free, creating experimental learning for each class, having J-term courses where students can take one college course in January, having a location to honor distinguished faculty and alumni, creating an institute for the Visual and Performing Arts, hiring an on-campus videographer to film aspects of AC to send to potential students or alumni and alternative spring break educational trips.

“The ideas are endless because the creativity on this campus is endless,” Docking said.

He said that planning for changes in the next five years should be finished in one year or less.

“We will not halt progress for even a day,” Docking said. “We can enlarge and define our vision for the next piece of the Renaissance II plan in one year without a problem.”

Students who took part in the State of the College Address included junior Sam Kuzyk, who is a finalist for the BNY/Mellon Hockey Humanitarian Award and talked about his community involvement, junior Jamie Besier, who talked about her experiences as a first generation student and member of the ACES program and sophomore Emily Engel who went with a team to Manaqua, Nicaragua last December to provide healthcare to the locals.

Other speakers at the Address were alumnus Steven Piorkowski and his wife Fran. The couple talked about their son Steve, who had quadriplegia, and the troubles he faced when he went to Adrian College and how the college accommodated to his needs.

“Our strategic plan should seek to create a campus culture that respects all students and employees equally… [And] sees the infinite worth of all human beings,” Docking said.

Freshman Chelsea Howe was one of many students who attended the Campus Address.

“It’s good to give an overview of what’s going on at our college,” she said. “I was interested to see what changes are coming to AC in the upcoming years while I’m here.”

Howe said she that what stuck out to her the most about Docking’s speech was how excited he seemed to be to receive ideas from his teaching staff.

“I think some of his new programs would be really neat,” she said.

Charles Vanderwell, professor of Social Work, Sociology and Criminal Justice said he is interested to see what the institution is going to do exactly in the next five years.

“One of the things that was clear was that [Docking] was trying to impress upon us a vision, not specific concrete things,” Vanderwell said.

He said that Docking didn’t lay out the exact plan that AC was going to follow, but invited everyone to join in collaboration to improve the college.

Vanderwell said that one thing he noted about Docking’s speech was that it emphasized the social justice aspect of AC’s mission statement.

“If this college isn’t going to live its 150th year its mission, then we’re in trouble,” he said. “I was happy to see it there.”

However, Vanderwell said he would have liked Docking to note that the Social Work program recently became the first program on campus to receive accreditation.

“I wish [Docking] would’ve been open more to what the Social Work Program is doing,” he said.

Freshman Jacqueline Belman said that most everyone should attend the State of the College Address.

“It affects all of us,” she said. “We’re all paying for this, why not actually care?”

Belman said that having different students speak about their experiences at the college was a great aspect to the address.

“It was really cool how [Docking] did that,” she said.

Belman also said that Docking should have discussed whether or not the changes planned for the college would affect students’ tuition and that he should have elaborated on Renaissance II better.

“He should have brought up the Michigan Promise Scholarship,” she said.

Belman said that it’s important to have an annual State of the College Address to encourage people to become involved with Adrian.

“If [Docking] didn’t address the college, then there would be no way for people to tell what direction the college will go,” she said.

As many students know, funding for the Michigan Promise Scholarship has been cut, leaving an unfulfilled promise and unhappy students who relied heavily upon this scholarship.

Along with the thousands of Michigan students who were once awarded this scholarship, Adrian College student Ashley Greer was affected first-hand by its loss.

“My family lives pay check to pay check,” said Greer. “A big portion of my tuition is scholarships and grants, one of which was the Michigan Promise Scholarship.”

According to Greer, the loss of the Michigan Promise Scholarship is just as devastating, if not more so, to her parents than to her.

“For a parent to have to bear the news of withdrawal from college because of finances is absolutely heart breaking,” she said. “And our family is already maxed out on Financial Aid loans.”

Parents and students have been protesting the financial cuts to this program ever since it has been taken away.

Financially, AC has been virtually un-phased.

“We packaged students based on their financial need without the Michigan Promise Scholarship,” said Andrew Spohn, director of financial aid at AC. “It had very little affect on us, except for the occasional question from a student or parent.”

Unfortunately, the college cannot do anything to compensate for this loss financially.

“We counseled [parents] to make payments, as if the program was not going to be funded,” he said. “Then, if for some reason it did get funded they would receive a refund.”