College announces new director of Office of Civic Engagement

After a nationwide search, Ithaca College has appointed David Harker as the new director of the Office of Civic Engagement. He will begin in this position following Thanksgiving break, on Nov. 28. Currently, Harker serves as the director of the Collaborative for Community Engagement at Colorado College. His professional experience largely consists of supporting curricular and co-curricular service learning and community-based learning initiatives.

As the center’s director, Harker will provide leadership in furthering the college’s vision for the office while working with faculty, staff, students and community partners to increase service learning and community-based learning opportunities for students.

Social hour to provide information on women’s and gender studies

The women’s and gender studies program will be hosting a session to help interested students learn about the program 5:30–7 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Handwerker Gallery.

Faculty members who teach in the program will be in attendance. All interested students are welcome to come and go freely within these hours.

Park School to host screening of film written by IC professor

The Roy H. Park School of Communications will be screening Fair Haven, a film written by Jack Bryant, assistant professor in the Department of Media Arts, Sciences and Studies, at  5 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Park Auditorium.

A Q&A session with Bryant and award-winning filmmaker and director Kerstin Karlhuber will occur after the screening.

The film follows a young man named James who returns home after being in gay conversion therapy, which he entered after his mother died. It shows his romantic conflicts with his former lover, Charlie, and his current relationship with a woman named Suzy.

The film was written by Bryant, directed by Karlhuber and produced by Tom Malloy. It was shot in Victor, New York, and stars Michael Grant, from the ABC Family television series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

IC offering new cloud-based tool for video and audio conferencing

Ithaca College is offering faculty, students and staff a new cloud-based platform called Zoom, used for video and audio conferencing, collaboration and online meetings. Zoom provides a way to host collaborative sessions, and hold classes for two to 500 participants.

The platform is accessible through the Sakai system and https://www.ithaca.zoom.us. It uses high-quality video and audio and works on MacOS, Windows, iOS and Android devices. Zoom can also be used with conventional phone lines for audio conferencing.

The college community can access the pro-level Zoom service, supported by Digital Instruction and Information Services with an Ithaca College Netpass ID and password.

Anyone can join the Zoom meeting, including those not affiliated with the college.

Faculty, staff and students can host a meeting with up to 50 participants. If a meeting has more than 50 participants, meeting hosts should contact the DIIS Service Desk. There is no added cost for the larger meetings.

Consulting firm to visit campus to assess Office of Public Safety

The Ithaca College campus will be visited by Margolis Healy, a nationally recognized campus safety and security consulting firm, Nov. 8–10 to conduct a comprehensive external assessment of the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management. This assessment is intended to identify ways in which campus security and Public Safety’s strategies and practices can be improved.

Members of the campus community will be able to contribute to the assessment by sharing their thoughts, insights and suggestions related to safety on campus at open forum hours held by Margolis Healy. The student forum will take place from 12 p.m. to 1:05 p.m. Nov. 8 in Emerson Suite B in the Campus Center, and the faculty and staff forum will take place from 12 p.m. to 1:05 p.m. Nov. 10 in the same location.

Anyone who would like to share their feedback with Margolis Healy but is not able to attend these drop-in sessions can send their comments anonymously through a Google Form by going to http://bit.ly/2e02wnu. This Google Form is open now and accepting submissions until Nov. 18.