Published by the Sullivan County Democrat, School Scene is a special publication dedicated to educational institutions in Sullivan County in New York's Catskills region. This edition is dedicated to thegood things going on at SUNY Sullivan. Enjoy!

1. A look at activities in
Sullivan
County
Community
College
A look at activities in
Sullivan
County
Community
College
A Special Section of the Sullivan County Democrat
April 23, 2013 • Section S • Callicoon, New York

2. 2S SCCC SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT APRIL, 2013
Published by
Catskill-Delaware Publications, Inc.
Publishers of the
(845) 887-5200
Callicoon, NY 12723
April 23, 2013 • Vol. CXXII, No. 88
Publisher: Fred W. Stabbert III
Senior Editor: Dan Hust
Editor: Frank Rizzo
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‘A Look at Activities at
Sullivan County Community College’
Jazzed up about junior colleges
A
t some point during her career
in academia, Dr. Karin
Hilgersom realized she did not
want to spend her professional life
publishing papers in obscure jour-
nals or even teaching at a large uni-
versity.
“I knew I wanted to teach the stu-
dents who needed me most,” said
Hilgersom.
Appropriately enough, SUNY
Sullivan’s new college president is
passionate about the need and the
value of two-year colleges.
“I’m in love with community col-
leges,” Dr. Hilgersom said. “I love that
community colleges can focus
entirely on teaching and learning
excellence. I like it that we really are
open access – that everybody can get
higher education and career training.
I love it that a 35-year-old who always
wanted to be a nurse can make that
happen here.”
She’s also a great believer in the
synergistic role that community col-
leges can play in energizing a com-
munity – a virtue that made her the
leading contender in the search for a
new SUNY Sullivan chief.
“Her experience leading transfer
and workforce programs (preparing
local talent for the real demands of
local employers) will be an important
asset,” said the college’s Board of
Trustees Chairman Nick Speranza
when Hilgersom’s hiring was
announced. He also cited her back-
ground in policy analysis, research,
grants and supervising capital build-
ing projects in the colleges she has
served.
As a West Coast educator and
administrator, Hilgersom has also
watched and participated in the
revival of towns such as Bend,
Oregon and Walla Walla, Washington.
Walla Walla, for example, moved in
the 1990s from a “boarded-up town
with nothing but a prison and wheat
farms” into a vineyard-and-winery
tourist destination where the com-
munity college offers an associate's
degree in winemaking and grape
growing through its 10-year-old
Center for Enology and Viticulture.
“I hope we can do things like that
here,” Hilgersom said.
Her own education began as a com-
munications major at California
State University. After earning her
PhD in Educational Policy and
Management from the University of
Oregon, she taught speech, public
speaking and interpersonal commu-
nication at Oregon’s Spokane
Community College and Gonzaga
University, where she also launched
women’s study courses.
She later moved up to college dean
and then served as vice president for
instruction at Walla Walla Com-
munity College and then at Central
Oregon Community College.
SHORING UP BUDGET
At her new post, she’s impressed
with much about the half-century-
old college in Loch Sheldrake, with its
1,200 full-time students.
A strong liberal arts program, a
committed and talented faculty, the
power of the business and account-
ing department, an enviable “infor-
mation technology cluster” of cours-
es – digital media, graphic arts,
multi-media and communication --
are all key strengths of the college,
she said.
But supporting them is a budget
that has sadly eroded over the last six
or seven years, and one of Dr.
Hilgersom’s first steps will be to build
up a reserve fund. “We will start set-
ting aside two percent each year until
there is six percent of the budget in
reserve,” she said. Currently there is
no reserve.
In many cases, “faculty salaries are
abysmal and absurd,” and she wants
to get the spending plan to a place
where that can be mitigated.
She also has designs on giving the
business and accounting program
New president
invigorates
SUNY Sullivan
College President Dr. Karin Hilgersom came
on board in February, selected for her back-
ground in administration, grants, research,
workforce development and supervising
capital building projects.

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enough financial capacity to assist
small businesses in Sullivan County.
A wish that is more than a dream is
the construction of a new building to
house the “workforce professions” –
the programs taught in digital media
and graphics, healthcare, green tech-
nology and business.
Putting a signature building on
campus creates instant jobs for the
county, solidifies strong programs,
and most importantly would have a
healthy impact on enrollment, she
said.“When you build a new building,
the impact on enrollment is immedi-
ate.”
Hilgersom pointed to $10.5 million
in capital project funds promised to
SUNY Sullivan through the SUNY sys-
tem in Albany.
“We have to come up with matching
funds – but I do think there are donors
out there who want to fund work-
force,” said Hilgersom.
CREATING A ‘COLLEGE TOWN’
One way in which the local institu-
tion is an anomaly in the field of com-
munity colleges is the size of its cam-
pus. Built on what was 400 acres of
farmland, SUNY Sullivan uses only a
portion of that land, and the college
president is working with the county
on how best to parlay some of the
acreage into a win-win for both enti-
ties.
“We are beginning to explore how
we can develop a private/public part-
nership to use this land” to help with
the county’s economy and to develop
in students an appreciation for the
campus itself, she said.
Some possibilities are a health and
fitness center, a coffee bar or a pub
that could spur more of a college
town feel on that huge piece of land.
Students could intern in the new
businesses, Hilgersom noted.
In the meantime, the college presi-
dent and her husband, web developer
Matt Helmick, are busy exploring Sul-
livan County’s own must-see ameni-
ties.
“We discovered the Dancing Cat
Saloon (on Route 17B in Bethel),” said
Hilgersom with a delighted smile,
“where on Saturday afternoons, they
feature songwriters playing their
music in the Distillery. Terrific!”

4. 4S SCCC SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT APRIL, 2013
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Wrestling more dollars to pummel budget woes
W
hen colleges face financial
challenges, attracting more
students is the obvious
solution – in SUNY Sullivan’s case,
each in-county student translates to
about $9,000 in revenue, while an
out-of-county student earns the
institution some $12,000.
So the college’s Athletic Director
Chris DePew has come up a sporty
way of grappling with enrollment
issues and shrinking dollars.
“When I learned of our financial
difficulties, I said, ‘I think I can
help,’ ” Depew recounted.
His three-phased plan to attract
between 100 and 130 new students to
the Loch Sheldrake campus by offer-
ing more sports programs will begin
in earnest this fall.
That’s when newly recruited stu-
dent athletes will take to the mat and
the net respectively in the new men’s
wrestling and women’s volleyball
programs to be offered at the Loch
Sheldrake campus.
Both sports were specifically cho-
sen because of the minimal outlay in
finances required volleyball takes
place right at the gym, and wrestling
will benefit from a “free” $12,000
wrestling mat, courtesy of SUNY
Sullivan’s longstanding relationship
with the New York City wrestling pro-
gram called Beat the Streets.
Already, the college is hearing from
prospective new student athletes.
“We have several athletes in both
sports who will be coming there,”
said DePew. “These are kids who
would have gone somewhere else”
were it not for the new initiative.
How did they learn of SUNY
Sullivan’s new programs?
Each January, the college hosts the
Eastern States High School Wrestling
Tournament, and announcements
were made then. In addition, DePew
serves as an officer with the National
Junior College Athletic Association,
and he’s gotten the word out that way.
And Beat the Streets is spreading
the news. That inner-city program
had specifically asked SUNY Sullivan
to offer college wrestling for their
high school graduates, who wanted
to wrestle in college but found few
opportunities.
He’s clinching, grabbing and wrestling the college’s financial difficulties: Athletic Director
Chris DePew comes up with creative ways to get more kids into the college.

5. APRIL, 2013 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT SCCC 5S
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“Nationwide, there are only 20
wrestling programs on the junior col-
lege level,” said DePew. “We think
we’ve hit a market where there’s a real
need.”
Phase 2 of the new sports plan will
bring men and women’s soccer to the
college, and Phase 3 will introduce
men’s lacrosse and women’s softball.
SPORTS AS STUDENT AND
COMMUNITY BUILDERS
Athletic Director DePew is quick to
point out that participation in sports
is not all play. Academically, students
must keep good grades and, in fact,
they tend to outperform the general
student population.
“A sport teaches teamwork, disci-
pline and following directions,” he
said. “When you’re a student athlete,
you’re held to higher standards. We
have over a 94 percent retention rate
of athletes (in other words, in those
who stay in college for the full two
years.) That’s a much higher rate than
the college as a whole.”
Unlike most community colleges,
Sullivan provides dorms for students,
which helps to foster a sense of cama-
raderie among athletes and with their
coaches.
“We have 126 student athletes, 126
kids that we follow,” said DePew. “If
someone is not in class, I know it. If
someone fails a test, I know it.”
Struggling athletes work on aca-
demics in study halls, with computer
help and by means of tutors.
A robust athletic program also
boosts the college in other ways.
“Athletics on the college level is a
draw, a way of life — look at Notre
Dame, Alabama, Michigan, where
you’re bringing 100,000 people to
your games,” said DePew. “That
impacts the institution. Of course,
we’re smaller than that but we’ve been
fortunate to have great coaches and
administrators, and we’ve built a
sports program of national promi-
nence.”
The wider community benefits as
well. “In winter, our basketball games
are the only game in town,” said
DePew, referring to the throngs of
locals and others who cheer lustily for
SUNY Sullivan’s nationally ranked
men’s and women’s basketball teams
and who attend the National Men’s
Basketball NJCAA Tournament, held
the past three years on the Loch Shel-
drake campus.
Tournament teams stay at the Villa
Roma Resort in Callicoon, and eat
locally at Liberty Diner and at many
of the fast food restaurants in Liberty
and Monticello.
Into the future, DePew looks for-
ward to more wins all around –
including boosting enrollment even
further by means of athletics.“Studies
show that for every one student who’s
actively recruited to play a sport at a
college institution, that brings two
others to the college.”
Specifically with regard to volleyball
and wrestling, decisions on new
coach hiring are expected shortly.
And DePew said he particularly
would like to get the word out about
the new sports programs to local kids.
“We are full steam ahead and excit-
ed about adding these sports to our
programs,” he said. “I’d like to say to
prospective students ‘We’d love to
have you as part of our inaugural
team. Give us a call.’ ”
For each one student who’s actively recruited by the college, studies show two others follow,
according to Athletic Director DePew.

6. 6S SCCC SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT APRIL, 2013
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Crucial role for respiratory therapists
‘We control the
patient’s airway’
J
acob Crawley wants a profession
as a flight nurse, and credentials
as a respiratory therapist are
mandatory.
Lori Mallia works as a medical
assistant at the Center for Discovery
in Harris, and wants to move into the
field of respiratory therapy there,
assisting sick children who have lung
problems.
Marilyn Bacchus’s husband is a res-
piratory therapist who relates vivid
stories about affecting people’s lives
for the better.
“He saved the life of a person who
had carbon monoxide poisoning,”
said Marilyn. “That’s what I want to
do: help people. I have a passion for
that.”
The three college students, along
with five others, are pioneers in a new
Respiratory Care program launched
at SUNY Sullivan last January. They
are being trained in a profession that
has exploded in recent years to the
point that Sullivan County’s health
facilities have begged for help meet-
ing their employment needs.
“There’s the baby boom generation
coming into older age and living
longer,” explained Respiratory Care
Program Director Lisa Shultis. “We
need to provide them with services
for emphysema and chronic bronchi-
tis, for COPD (cardio-pulmonary dis-
orders).”
Furthermore, today’s medical
advances allow doctors to save the
lives of very young premature babies,
but the tiny infants suffer from
underdeveloped lungs and need
services.
“Respiratory therapists work in
labor and delivery rooms, burn units,
intensive care units,” noted Shultis.
They also find jobs in doctor’s
offices, nursing homes, rehabilitation
centers, outpatient clinics and patients’ own homes. They work with people in sleep clinics, and they
Respiratory Care Program Director Lisa Shultis, seated at right, consults with Colease Palmer,
director of clinical education for the program.

7. APRIL, 2013 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT SCCC 7S
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provide care to victims of heart
attacks, drowning or shock. They
ride helicopters, keeping alive seri-
ously injured individuals who are
being transported to specialized
hospitals.
Shultis, a respiratory therapist her-
self who has taught for 23 years, is
also a member of the Medical
Reserves. She was deployed during
Hurricane Sandy to a hockey arena
where she cared for patients on ven-
tilators after their hospitals were
flooded.
The SUNY Sullivan course requires
two years of full-time study in order
to earn an Associate in Applied Sci-
ence Degree in Respiratory Care.
Students must be good in science
and math – they study human
anatomy and physiology, microbiol-
ogy, cardiopulmonary physiology, to
name just a few of the academic
subjects they must master.
During their second year, students
spend 81
⁄2 hours each day, Monday to
Thursday, as interns at one of nine
clinical sites, which include Catskill
Regional Medical Center, Crystal
Run Healthcare, Orange Regional
Medical Center and Wayne Memori-
al Hospital.
As a health care profession, Respi-
ratory Care is practiced under a
medical director, Dr. Rajan Subbiah,
a pulmonary disease and critical
care specialist.
All of this rigor is necessary, says
Director Shultis, because of the
important role played by RTs.
“If you can’t breathe, [respiratory
therapists] have two minutes to
make the right decision, said Shul-
tis. “RTs control the airway.”
After completing the program, stu-
dents are awarded their degree and
are eligible for the National Board of
Respiratory Care Credentialing
exam. Students first take the Certi-
fied Respiratory Therapist exam and
then, on passing, they may take the
more advanced Registered Respira-
tory Therapist exam. In order to
Posing with their mannequin “babies,” students from SUNY Sullivan’s first Respiratory Care
Program are, from left, Marilyn Bacchus, Jacob Crawley, Dominick Abato, Ryan Hilton, Lori
Mallia and Tracey Beltran.
practice in New York, graduates are
required to apply for a permanent
license.
Salaries for respiratory therapists
are excellent, as are the job opportu-
nities. The U.S. Department of Labor
projects that employment for respi-
ratory therapists is expected to
increase faster than most other
occupations through the year 2018.
Word is out about the program –
which can admit 20 students each
spring semester – and excitement
has mounted.
“Next spring,” said Shultis, “we
have 50 students waiting for 20
seats.”

8. 8S SCCC SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT APRIL, 2013
Dull committee? Not for this group of ‘changemakers’
It all began last year when the col-
lege’s re-accrediting agency, called
the Middle States Commission on
Higher Education, said SUNY
Sullivan must create a strategic plan
for the future. The college then
hired consultants in a technique
called Appreciative Inquiry (AI) to
begin the brainstorming process
this past January.
In order to make organizational
change, AI concentrates on what is
good now about the organization –
illuminating its strengths, peak
experiences, creativity and impor-
tant accomplishments, and then
building the future on those phe-
nomena.
“It looks to where you are strong
and how to leverage what’s positive
W
hat began as the rather dry
but necessary requirement
for SUNY Sullivan to sit
down and develop a strategic plan
has galvanized the college commu-
nity into a happy, zealous love fest
in which people are saying some
amazing things about their work-
place and its future.
“This is the most productive thing
I’ve done in 32 years.” (Mike Fisher,
chairman of Division of Profes-
sional Studies)
“We couldn’t be more excited.”
(Dr. Susan Rogers, assistant profes-
sor of psychology)
“This is fun!” (Dr. Paul
Reifenheiser, chairman, Division of
Liberal Arts Humanities).
And the magic has spread. “I’ve
been around a long time and have
had a lot of interaction with the col-
lege,” said Scott Samuelson, chair-
man of the County Board of
Legislators, “and I don’t think I’ve
ever seen this kind of energy flow-
ing.”
Planning a vibrant future for SUNY Sullivan enlisted the expertise and energy of college
leaders and faculty members including, from left, Dr. Paul Reifenheiser, Mike Fisher, Dr.
Stephen Mitchell and Dr. Susan Rogers.
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9. APRIL, 2013 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT SCCC 9S
and good,” said Mike Fisher, who
helped spearhead the AI process.
At a series of forums, students, fac-
ulty and community members from
town supervisors to regular citizens
contributed knowledge, experience
and ideas. The college, participants
said, began uncovering new ways to
live out its future as a dynamic insti-
tution that cares about its constituen-
cies.
The strengths of the college, and
therefore the direction to go in the
future, wound up revolving around
five themes: enhancing relationships
with students; encouraging commu-
nity engagement; supporting “sus-
tainability” in terms of farming and
green technology; developing pro-
grams to provide careers for students
and to foster economic development;
and ways to provide a more inviting
learning and work environment on
the campus.
Student Government leader John
Miller participated as a facilitator in
February, leading a packed room of
students at the college dining hall.
“The school has been around for
awhile, but I felt like we were still try-
ing to get a name for ourselves – not
many people know about us,”
explained Miller. Personally, “I want
to better SUNY Sullivan not just for
myself but for others, not just now but
for the future as well.”
Students at the forum were most
interested in new programs and
internships; upgrades to campus, res-
idence halls and cafeteria; and access
to more adult advisors and mentors.
“The energy in the room was sur-
prisingly very positive and enthusias-
tic,” Miller said.
Other ideas generated at forums
ranged from a new course offering on
Sullivan County geology and natural
science, to the construction of an out-
door amphitheater and a sculpture
garden, to avenues for small busi-
nesses to offer ideas to the college.
Fisher said the ball is now in the
court of the larger and more formal
Strategic Plan Institutional Assess-
ment Committee, which is chaired by
Dr. Stephen Mitchell, dean of Work-
force Development, Continuing Edu-
cation and Lifelong Learning
But the work of the Appreciative
Inquiry players is already bearing
fruit.
“The five themes (distilled from the
AI sessions) will be used in the col-
lege‘s upcoming budget delibera-
tions,” said Fisher, noting that the
work of the 200 participants “has the
potential to make positive change
that reaches for decades.”
And literal fruit bearing is in the off-
ing as well.
Spurred by an idea at one of the
forums, campus soil is now sprouting
humulus lupulus, the hardy climbing
plant known as hops, that is used in
making beer. The project involves
students and SUNY Sullivan’s Sus-
tainability Committee chaired by
teacher and director of Sustainability
Helena Le Roux.
Le Roux wrote a mini-grant and was
awarded funds from Sullivan Renais-
sance to get the hops project started.
Microbreweries such as one planned
for Livingston Manor by Catskill
Mountain Director Ramsey Adams
are interested in which variety of
hops can grow locally.
The link between students, learn-
ing, farming, and local business and
economy sounds good to those in the
know.
“The whole agriculture-tourism
business connection is starting to
grow in the county,” said County Leg-
islator Samuelson. “Growing hops –
that’s exciting. That’s cool.”
The two-year college at SUNY Sullivan offers students an opportunity to attend courses clos-
er to home to prepare for an associate’s degree, or to gain credits toward a bachelor’s degree
through a transfer to a 4-year college or university, or just to enhance and better their per-
sonal and professional skills.
Credits:
All photographs and stories
for this special School Scene
are by Sullivan County
Democrat Photo-
grapher/Reporter Kathy Daley.
The Democrat would also
like to thank the faculty and
staff of the State University of
New York (SUNY) at Sullivan
for all its cooperation in this
project.
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10. 10S SCCC SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT APRIL, 2013
College celebrates women
STORY AND PHOTOS
BY SHARON SPACE-BAMBERGER
O
n April 1, a multitude of
women converged on SUNY
Sullivan for the 17th Annual
Celebration of Being a Woman. This
year’s theme was “Finding The Best
You: The Confidence Connection.”
The conference fee included break-
fast, a keynote speaker, two work-
shops (from among a multitude),
lunch with brownies to die for, shop-
ping, raffles, a bag of gifts and time to
network.
Some of the women had attended
previous women’s celebrations at the
college. They looked forward to an
enriching day.
Carol Milewski of Liberty, who
attends every year, spoke of her plans
for the day: “I’m taking a morning
workshop about healing crystals and
I’ll do ‘Adventures of Decluttering’ in
the afternoon. It’s a very good feeling
to get rid of that stuff or finding a
home for it.”
The women filled the Seelig Theatre
to hear Keynote Speaker Nancy
Lombardo, a comedian who has
appeared on Saturday Night Live, All
My Children, and Comedy Tonight.
The women began laughing as the
comedian outlined highlights of her
career. Throwing a black shawl over
her head, Lombardo hunched her
shoulders like an old lady. She gave
piercing moans and explained, “I’m
the consummate Italian Mourner;
I’ve played that part on ‘Law and
Order’ and in the movies.”
Lombardo’s snappy one-liners kept
the laughing ladies in danger of
needing the ladies’. “I’m the mother
of two, one is my husband!” “We’re in
the Middle Ages, everything heads to
the middle.” “A man is like a shoe, buy
a good one and break it in
and it will last.” “What do
you call people who use
the rhythm method?
Answer: Parents!” Mary
Todd Lincoln to her hus-
band, “Would it kill you to
go to the theatre with me?”
“What’s the furthest dis-
tance between two points?
A man’s underwear and
the hamper.”
The women shared their
experience during a won-
derful lunch catered by
Chartwell’s and Michael
Weintraub. All agreed the
workshop presenters
delivered on their promis-
es.
Theresa Geed of
Callicoon enjoyed
Cephora’s “The Healing
Crystal Connection” class
and planned on buying
crystals after lunch.
Sue Long took “Artful
Glass Painting” but was
not too sure about her painting tal-
ent. She sighed, “Maybe it will look
better after it dries.”
Alberta Hillriegel said she plans to
teach her grandchildren the minia-
ture garden techniques she learned
from Master Gardener
Susan Dollard.
Cynthia Crisp, BA, LMT,
a massage therapist and
Celtic Shaman with a pri-
vate practice in both
Jeffersonville and New
York City led two work-
shops. The morning ses-
sion was “Steps to
Empowerment” in which
participants practiced
aligning their physical and
energy bodies, envision-
ing what they wanted for
their lives. They learned an
ancient form of prayer to
help them achieve the life
they always dreamed of.
In Crisp’s afternoon ses-
sion “Circle of Healing,
Circle of Power,” Crisp led
her students as they
drummed and shook rat-
tles to attract healing spir-
its for their journeys to a
magical world.
Conference co-chair,
Hillary Egeland, SUNY Sullivan direc-
tor of Special Events and Campus
Activities was pleased with the
Conference. “We had one hundred
and fifty women sign up and it went
smoothly,” she said.
Callicoon Center resident Theresa Geed checked out the healing crystals and jewelry offered
by “Cephora” the leader of “The Healing Crystal Connection.”
Comedian Nancy Lombardo’s one-liners had the women
laughing helplessly at the Seelig Theatre.
Alberta Hillriegel of Callicoon shows the miniature garden
she created in a class presented by Master Gardener Susan
Dollard of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan
County.
This year’s theme was
“Finding The Best You:
The Confidence
Connection.”

11. APRIL, 2013 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT SCCC 11S

12. 12S SCCC SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT APRIL, 2013
SCCL-124212