 |
Welcome Home
NYIT graduates with thriving careers are giving back to their alma mater
By Kathi Vieser (alumni@nyit.edu)
When Orla Smyth isn't busy building her architecture career, she's sharing her expertise with NYIT's current students.
Like many talented NYIT graduates, Smyth (M.Arch. '99) has returned to her alma mater to groom today's students for tomorrow's careers. "I gained a lot of knowledge from NYIT. Now, I'm sharing that knowledge with NYIT's next wave of students," says Smyth, an architecture professor and project supervisor for the Town of Islip (N.Y.) Department of Planning and Development.
Smyth isn't alone. Look inside NYIT's classrooms and you'll find dozens of alumni teaching across all of the college's academic disciplines. Like all NYIT faculty, their academic expertise is enhanced by ongoing professional endeavors. But they also bring something extra to the party-firsthand knowledge of the NYIT student experience.
Just ask Rebecca Fishman (D.O. '99). A decade ago, Fishman would never have pictured herself teaching at the nation's second-largest medical school, NYIT's New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM). "My undergraduate degree was in drama," says Fishman, "and I had spent most of my life as a professional entertainer." Yet today, Fishman is sharing her specialty, physical medicine and rehabilitation, with students at NYCOM.
Fishman began her journey away from the stage and into higher education through the guidance of NYCOM administrators and professors, first as their patient and later as their student. It was one of those faculty mentors, Humayun "Hank" Chaudhry (D.O. '91), who approached her about teaching at NYCOM-his alma mater as well.
"Students can identify with a professor who attended NYIT," says Alexandra W. Logue, NYIT's vice president for academic affairs. "They may be more likely to see themselves following the same path than would occur with a non-alum professor. And alumni/ae are likely to feel a great deal of dedication to NYIT and its students... [they] often want to give something back, and our students are the happy and fortunate recipients."
Changing Relationships
How do you treat former professors now that you're sitting next to them in a faculty meeting? Do you use their first names? Ask them for professional advice? For several alumni faculty members, what could have been uncomfortable interactions with their former mentors instead grew into gratifying professional relationships and even friendships.
"At first, it felt awkward relating to one of my favorite professors and mentors, Don Alfano, as a colleague," says Marie Byrne (B.F.A. '91), a professor of interior design and a partner in an independent design firm. "But after a short while, it became more comfortable and I gained even more respect for him."
"I felt somewhat awkward about the notion of now working with the same people who were teaching me not so long ago," says Kevin Tabackman (B.S. '99), an advertising professor and creative director at Audiovox Communications Corp. in Hauppauge, N.Y. "But they made the transition easy for me."
Tabackman is especially grateful for his past and current relationships with advertising profs Arthur Iger and Leonard Leimgruber. "I had great student/professor relationships with [them] that got even better at the professional level," he recalls. "They were a great help when I was a student and now it's been an honor to work beside them."
Similarly, Smyth finds herself emulating former professors Michael Schwarting and Frances Campani. "Both professors taught our graduate class with the highest standards of professionalism and respect...I still rely on their advice."
For NYCOM's Chaudhry, returning to the classroom has involved some complex emotions. "Sometimes I feel like the teacher who returns to his old high school in that show from the '70s, 'Welcome Back, Kotter.' At times, it's a bit awkward when I'm advising one of my former professors."
While still maintaining admitting privileges at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y., and Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, N.Y., he has in recent years devoted much of his professional time to teaching. "On the whole, everyone has been very supportive...I'll never forget the greeting I got on my first day back at NYCOM as a faculty member from Barbara Nelson, one of the administrative assistants: 'Welcome back!'"
Those positive relationships also extend beyond individual academic departments. Frank Acevedo (M.S. '02), a professor in the physician assistant studies department who pursued graduate work in instructional technology, found an invaluable professional and personal ally in Joan Penrose, his former professor. "Having been Joan's student has never interfered with our professional relationship. She has readily accepted me as an equal and has broken me of the habit of calling her Dr. Penrose. Joan continues to be more than a colleague, as I consider her to be a friend as well."
Been There, Done That
Many alums who are now faculty members have worn multiple hats during most of their adult lives.
Christopher Rivielle (B.S. '91, M.B.A. '02) is one prime example. "I loaded trucks at UPS five nights a week, worked as a land surveyor two days a week and had a small grass-cutting business that took up another day and a half. I crammed the majority of my classes into a two-day cycle."
Now, as a professor in the architectural technology program and a construction management executive with StructureTone Inc. in New York City, he sees himself in his students. "That work ethic is what most of the students have today, and I respect that."
While there is no such thing as a "typical" student, many undergraduate and graduate students hold down jobs in addition to their studies, and many are older than traditional college students. As a result, NYIT students tend to be more mature and have a stronger focus on their educational objectives.
"It's wonderful how highly directed many of our students continue to be toward a particular career," says Jeff Morosoff (B.F.A. '83, M.A. '01), an adjunct professor of communication arts and NYIT's director of alumni and government relations. "I think they like the fact that I'm a product of NYIT and that I can easily relate to their
challenges, successes and goals."
A personal understanding of the NYIT student experience also shapes the curricula of most alumni faculty. Fred Goldner (M.S. '87), a professor in the energy management program and founding principal of the consulting firm Energy Management & Research Associates, bases the coursework for his classes on what he found most valuable as an NYIT student.
"I try to make sure I add real-life examples into the class material and lectures in as many places as possible," he says. "Many of the comments I hear back from old students are about how I dealt with and presented these 'real-world' issues in my classes."
Lisa Colantuono (B.S. '94, M.A. '98), an advertising professor and marketing director at AAR Partners, an advertising consulting firm, sees a similar need to focus her teaching on specific career-related issues. "I have modeled my media planning course on [a former employer's] eight-month media training program," she says. "I also discuss with the classes I teach what the current events/trends are in the business."
Career Contacts
Alumni faculty can also play a critical role when it's time for students to begin their career searches. After all, alumni faculty also have full-time careers outside of NYIT. When they recommend their own students to key business associates, it carries a strong endorsement-one that nearly always results in career success.
Jim Turley (M.P.S. '88), chairperson of NYIT's hospitality programs (hospitality management and culinary arts) and an independent consultant to the industry, has a strong network of contacts from his years as an executive in the hotel, restaurant and gaming industries.
"It has been very easy for me to help our graduates seek jobs in the hospitality industry," he says. "We've had almost a 100 percent placement record.
Proper Guidance
Turley also uses his educational background in psychology to help guide students. "I have taught our senior seminar class for the past 15 years and this is the class that allows me to direct students to their 'ideal' job."
"I would like to think I have helped hundreds of students find work," says Jim Fauvell (M.A. '85), chairperson of Old Westbury communication arts programs and an independent film and video producer/director, who introduces students directly to his contacts, supervises internships for them and assists them in creating the pieces necessary to a media industry career search.
"The referral letter is often what gets you the job," he says. "Of course, you also need a good resume and reel. You also need to network, join trade organizations and never take 'no' as a final answer."
Familiar Faces
It is not uncommon for alumni faculty to soon encounter the students they recommended for jobs on the other side of a meeting table or conference room.
"The students this semester will be my professional colleagues the next," says Acevedo. This experience is echoed by Goldner, who has met former students in meetings of his professional organization, at conferences and in clients' offices. "There have been times at local professional meetings where a quarter to half of those in attendance are ex-students of mine, many of whom are in key positions in their firms."
In speaking to NYIT's alumni faculty, one word keeps coming up: rewarding. Overwhelmingly, those who have chosen to return to their alma mater to share their knowledge with students find themselves getting back as much as they give.
"Seeing the gleam in students' eyes when they suddenly understand a difficult concept I'm explaining during a lecture is a phenomenon I cherish, one that makes everything I do at NYCOM worthwhile," says Chaudhry, who also relies on his students to help him improve his teaching. "I welcome any and all comments from students that help me perform my job better."
"It is very rewarding, as I expected it to be," adds Colantuono. "I enjoy the fact that I've tried to help prepare students to be their best."
Her sentiments are echoed by Byrne, who made the decision to accept smaller scale professional projects in order to leave more time for her students. "I became instantly enamored by the teaching experience," she says.
Fast Times at NYIT
And for Smyth, the experience has proven that time truly does fly when you're having fun. "The biggest surprise during my teaching experience has been how fast a four-hour studio period can fly by!"
Rivielle recently found himself touched by a call from a former student, who had landed a lucrative position with a major construction industry firm. "When he called me, he said, 'I owe it all to you,'" recalls Rivielle. "He doesn't owe it to me because he did all the work. All I did was show him how to do it. That was the best phone call I've had in years."
In the end, perhaps Fishman sums up the experience best: "I recall a conversation I had with a professor in which I expressed how very much it meant to have such wonderful teaching. He replied, 'As those before have taught us and we have taught you, so too will you teach others.' I cannot think of anything more dear to my heart...than this."
Welcome home, Professor Fishman.
Send feedback and story ideas to alumni@nyit.edu.
|
|
