Tag Archives: nvcc

Important Bookstore Dates. Rentals, Buy Back, SFA, Hours.

The Bookstore would like to remind you of some important dates that are coming up:

*   November 27th – December 1st the Bookstore will be CLOSED for the Thanksgiving Holiday.   *   The week of December 9th and 16th is the BEST time to sell your books back via our Buy Back program. You can receive UP TO 50% CASH BACK! Buy Back is done outside the window in front of the Alexandria Bookstore entrance. Please note you MUST have your NOVA ID to do Buy Back. Before you sell back your textbooks make sure that you didn’t rent your textbook and that you wont need the book again for another semester. All Back Back sales are FINAL. Make sure you stop in after taking your finals!

 *   All textbooks RENTED for Fall 2013 are DUE back December 17th. Please note you must check in your rented book at the campus you rented from. Remember if you want to ship your rented book back to us WE WILL PAY FOR SHIPPING! Attached you will find instructions on how to print your free shipping label. Please note shipments MUST go out by December 17th.

 *   December 24th – January 1st the Bookstore will be CLOSED for the winter break.   *   January 2nd – January 30th you may use your SFA funds at the Bookstore, for in person transactions you MUST have your NOVA ID.

Regular Bookstore Hours:

Monday – Thursday:       9:00 am to 7:00 pm           

Friday:       9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Saturday & Sunday:       CLOSED

CONTACT:

For more information please contact Natalie Garcia | Department Manager | 703.671.0043 | SM650@BNCollege.com<mailto:SM650@BNCollege.com>

Join us on Facebook:      www.facebook.com/nova.alexandria.bkst<http://www.facebook.com/nova.alexandria.bkst>

Store Website:                  www.nvcc.bncollege.com<http://www.nvcc.bncollege.com/>

NOVA-IN-CHINA opportunity

Dear NOVA Community members,

Would you like to go to China with us to attend Chinese language classes, travel and visit cultural sights in Beijing, Wuyishan, Xiamen, Nanjing and Shanghai when you elect to join us for bothof the programs described below: Program #1 Language Studies in China and #2 Cultural Exploration. Or, choose only Program #2 Cultural Exploration and travel with us to culturallyenriching cities and places. Whichever program you choose, you will be immersed in Chinese culture and experience first-hand its beauty and history.

Both programs are open to all students and members of the community.  Some scholarships will be available for qualified students. (All dates, itinerary, and price may be adjusted.)

Contact: Dr. Dali Tan, Assistant professor of Chinese, China Coordinator, dtan@nvcc.edu <mailto:dtan@nvcc.edu> or 703-933-5078.

Information Meeting: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at Alexandria Campus, Bisdorf Building 0342, 8:00pm.

If you can’t come to the information meeting, please contact Dr. Tan if you are interested and she can set up individual meetings with you to talk about the trip and to answer your questions.

***

NOVA-IN-CHINA
LANGUAGE STUDIES AND CULTURAL EXPLORATION
May 17 to June 2, 2014
Morning language classes for beginners and those with background
Travel and Excursions in Beijing, Wuyishan, Xiamen, Nanjing and Shanghai

The program, open to all VCCS students and people from the community, will take place in two stages. Participants may elect to join us for both of the following opportunities or just the travel portion of the program.

(1)   Language Study in China (Friday, May 17 to Thursday, May 22, 2014):
Business Chinese for Beginners (CHI 103) or Business Chinese for Intermediate Level Learners (CHI 295) for 3 credits each or enrichment Chinese Language and culture classes

  *   Intensive language classes at a Chinese university with NOVA faculty for credits or with local instructors for non-credit language and culture classes

  *   Language and cultural exchange with Chinese professors and students
  *   Cultural classes and sightseeing excursions as well as service learning at  local sites

(2)   Cultural Exploration (Thursday May 22 to Monday, June 2, 2014, tour only participants leave DC on May 21, 2014): Beijing, Wuyishan, Xiamen, Nanjing and Shanghai

Introduction to the bustling streets of China’s largest cities, as well as to Chinese life at its most basic, beginning in Beijing. See the most famous landmarks of China, including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven in addition to famous Olympic venues like the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.  Travel continues to Wuyishan to view the magnificent Tianyou Peak and to ride on a bamboo raft on the beautiful Nine-Crooked Creek.  Then fly to Xiamen to explore Gulangyu Island and visit the famous South Putuo Temple as well as Xiamen University, known for having the most beautiful campus in China. Take another flight to Nanjing where you will have opportunity to visit the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and have an exchange event at Nanjing Institute of Industry Technology. Then move on to Shanghai to visit the Shanghai museums and the Yuyuan Gardens and explore the Bund and Nanjing Road and get a bird’s eye view of the entire city of Shanghai from the top of the “Oriental Pearl Tower.” We’ll fly back to the United States with the group and arrive home on Monday, June 2, 2014.  Language learning will continue to be a focus of the program. We will take full advantage of this immersion experience to arrange many structured opportunities for participants to practice what they have learned during the intensive language studies program, so they can further enhance their linguistic proficiency and deepen their cultural understanding during the cultural exploration part of the program.

 

CONTACT:
For more information contact Dr. Dali Tan | Assistant professor of Chinese | China Coordinator | dtan@nvcc.edu<mailto:dtan@nvcc.edu> | 703.933.5078

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Faculty Spotlight: Prof. Sherry Trachtman

PROF. SHERRY TRACHTMAN

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN FINE ARTS

ART DEPARTMENT

ALEXANDRIA CAMPUS

Beach Baby Sherry“I learned to walk on the beach at the Jersey Shore”

 

In the 1950’s and 60’s, my grandparents had a beach house on the Jersey Shore in a quiet family-oriented town with big Victorian hotels and penny arcades along the wide boardwalk.  On weekends, we somehow packed 12+ family members into the 4 small bedrooms. Before breakfast, the men loaded the car with our heavy wood and canvas beach chairs and umbrellas. Popa drove the 2 short blocks and backed up to the boardwalk to unload. Forming a line, my uncles and Dad would pass our equipment over the fence and onto the sand to set up our family encampment. After everyone ate (usually in shifts in the tiny kitchen), the family walked to the beach in a caravan of strollers and wagons toting food hampers, toys and kids, to claim our space for the day.

 

Sherry for SpotlightTo keep me from toddling off too far (like into the ocean), my mother attached my carriage harness (a 50’s version of a car-seat strap) to a chair on a short rope. Tempted by the interesting foods and folks in the adjacent family groups, I soon learned how to walk on the sand.  Kids then could safely be given the freedom to visit neighbors in the beach-blanket community, and according to family lore, I’d put on my mother’s sunglasses, exclaim, “Dark in here”, and head off to other enclaves 5 feet away, to sample their Armenian or Italian tidbits.

 

By the time I was five, I could walk behind my Dad, stepping in his footprints to avoid the hottest sand, and help carry back all the ice creams. I could walk to the trash cans near the boardwalk, to the ocean’s edge with my pail and shovel, and to the life guard stands to compete for a seat underneath. The life guards stood up often with lost, crying kids on their shoulders and blew their whistles to alert the families. No kid wanted to miss that show! These exciting early childhood summers started my journey as a life-long explorer.

 

Hilary Clinton wisely taught us that it takes a village to raise kids, and the Jersey Shore beaches of the mid 20th Century were little villages of 3 generation families who watched out for each other. The art department at NOVA, Alexandria is a little village, too. We may not be enjoying surf and sand, but we are a community, do have fun while learning, and there are often interesting international foods to try.

SGA Leadership Training Program – Leadership Institute

SGA Leadership Training Program – Leadership Institute

Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus

November 15, 2013

Itinerary

Opening Session

9:00 am -Welcome and Overview – Introduction  (room 132)

                facilitated by SGA Vice President Christos Vodas               

                            

9:30 am – Keynote Address: What Leadership Means 

facilitated by Dr. John Shosky

 

10:00 am – Group Session #1: Organizational Management

facilitated by Dr. John Shosky

 

10:45 am – Group Session #2:   Goal Development
facilitated by Dr. John Shosky
11:30 am – Group Session #3: Crisis Communication
facilitated by Dr. John Shosky

 

Break (15 mins)

 

12:30 pm – Lunch with Dr. John Shosky: Character Formation      

 

01:30 pm – Provost/Dean – Working with Administration             

 

02:00 pm Breakout Sessions #2

  1. Crisis Communication – Dr. Mayers  (for SGA) (room 132)
  2. Small Group Communication – Ms. Acosta (for Student Ambassadors)(room 131)
  3. Team building – Ms. Chelsee (for Club Leaders) (157)

 

02:30 pm – Closing Ceremony/Awards Presentations

NOVA Now Accepting Nominations for Student Excellence Recognition

NOVA Now Accepting Nominations for Student Excellence Recognition
Northern Virginia Community College has two outstanding opportunities to recognize exceptional students during the 2013-14 academic year:  The “Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges” publication and the SEAL Awards Honor.

The “Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges” is a national publication that recognizes students from across the United States for academic excellence. NOVA’s SEAL Awards Banquet recognizes our students that best exemplify Service, Engagement, Academics, and Leadership among our student community.

Students, Faculty, or Staff may nominate students that best display these attributes.

Please submit all nominations for consideration by Wednesday December 11, 2013 at 5 pm.  See link at bottom of email.  There is only one application form for both the “Who’s Who” and NOVA SEAL Award. Student must have earned 30 or more credits by the conclusion of the Fall 2013 semester for both awards.

SEAL AWARD CRITERIA:
SERVICE: Community service, volunteer efforts on or off campus
ENGAGEMENT: Participation in a community organization, active in a campus club or organization, campus enhancement, student life**
ACADEMICS: Cumulative GPA of 2.75 GPA or better
LEADERSHIP: Leadership in a student club, student government, campus committee, or community leadership position.

** If self-nominating, please provide a letter of recommendation to your campus Student Life Coordinator by December 11th to support your nomination.

NOMINATION FORM LINK:
http://miniurl.com/in3W

Application Deadline: Wednesday December 11, 2013 at 5:00 pm

For more information, please contact Brian Anweiler, College-wide Student Life Coordinator at banweiler@nvcc.edu.

 

NOVA Environmental Scientific & Musical Event

nova

All Students, Staff and Faculty are cordially invited

to a NOVA Environmental  Scientific & Musical Event

Please join us for an ecologically themed concert featuring music and piano reflecting on the environment performed by Jonathan D. Kolm and vocalist soprano Katherine Riddle and  an environment-themed lecture “Climate Change Mitigation and Impacts: Technologies and Policies” by Dr. Jayant A. Sathaye.

Presented by the Lyceum and Math., Science & Engineering Division Science Seminars

Friday, November 22, 2013, CE Theater, Ernst Cultural Center, Annandale Campus, Northern Virginia Community College

11:30 – 1:45 pm

Presenters

Jonathan D. Kolm,  DMA,  Composer, Pianist and Faculty, Northern Virginia Community College

Katherine Riddle, Soprano

Jayant A. Sathaye, Ph.D., Senior Scientist and Strategic Advisor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

11:30 – 11:45 Light Refreshments and Meet & Greet the Presenters in the Lower Gallery

11:45 – 1:45 Music Concert and Presentation, CE Theater by Jonathan D. Kolm, Katherine Riddle and Jayant A. Sathaye             

    Jonathan Kolm, DMA,  has  performed across the United States and abroad. His music has been called “fluent in its diversity” and “deeply moving”.  His music has won prizes and awards in many competitions including the American Prize, the Swan Prize in Music Composition, the Percussive Arts Society Composition Competition, the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, Voices of Change Composition Contest, the Austin Peay State Composition Competition, as well as many others. He has been commissioned by a wide range of artists and ensembles and his music has been heard at such festivals as June in Buffalo, highSCORE, Beijing International Composition Workshop, MUSCICX and the Ernest Bloch Festival.

His choral music has been performed by some of the leading choirs in the United States, including the New York Virtuoso Singers, VocalEssence, the Princeton Singers and the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus. Much of Kolm’s recent music incorporates themes of sustainability and ecology and he advocates for several environmental causes. Upcoming premieres with environmental themes in 2013 include commissions for a song cycle by Karen Murphy and Kathy Price, a chamber work for the Verge Ensemble, and a large work for choir and percussion solo for Georgia State University. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia and is the head of the composition and piano program. He advocates for various environmental issues and is an avid gardener.

Katherine Riddle, soprano, recently graduated magna cum laude and with University Honors from American University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music concentrating in Vocal Performance.  As part of AU’s study abroad program, Riddle spent a semester studying music at King’s College London and voice at the Royal Academy of music. Katherine is a recipient of the David W.Wainhouse Scholarship, a winner of the 2013 American University Concerto and Aria Competition and the winner of MD/DC NATS competition in both musical theater and classical voice. This winter, she will be playing Cosette in Weathervane Playhouse’s production of Les Miserables in Newark, Ohio.

 

Dr. Jayant A. Sathaye is a Senior Scientist and Strategic Advisor and a Founder of the International Energy Studies Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California. He was a primary contributor to the 2007 IPCC Nobel Prize.

Dr. Sathaye has more than 40 years experience with 220 publications in the research, modeling and policy analysis of energy efficiency standards and labels and financial incentive programs, assessment of cool roofs, and development of global and country-specific models for the evaluation of costs and climate mitigation potential options in US, India and other major developing countries.  He initiated the currently active International Energy Studies Group in 1978 at LBNL, participated in IPCC as Coordinating Lead Author  and Review Editor in 12 documents, and received Annual Award, Climate Works Foundation and a Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Bombay and several other awards. He holds a B.Tech. (Hons.) degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.

Abstract: Anthropogenic climate change is caused by the release of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc.) into the atmosphere. It is projected to increase temperatures and sea levels, and affect precipitation levels. Such changes are likely to impact agricultural activities, areas under forest cover, availability of water supply, human population health, and sea levels. It will also lead to increased release of methane from permafrost and have serious impacts on infrastructure particularly that which supports the supply of electricity and other forms of energy. These impacts are projected to vary sizeably across boreal, temperate and tropical zones.
Mitigation offers an effective approach for reducing GHG emissions. Mitigation options stretch across all the major sectors and broadly cover energy, forestry, and agricultural activities. Energy mitigation activities are structured and analyzed within the residential, commercial, industrial, transport, electricity and other forms of energy supply sectors, while those in forestry focus on deforestation and degradation of forest cover. Agricultural emissions vary by type of crop and the conditions among other items.
The talk will provide background information and overview of global energy and climate, mitigation components of climate change research, energy efficiency and renewable energy modeling, approaches for forest sector, ways to increase surface albedo and reduce GHG emissions, switching to non-fossil energy, capture atmospheric GHGs, ways to use safe drinking water, and fuel efficient cook stoves.

 

For additional information you may contact: 

Reva A. Savkar

Chair, Science Seminars

Chemistry

Math., Science, Engineering Division

Northern Virginia Community College

Email: rsavkar@nvcc.edu

Voice Mail:  703-323-3231

Blackboard Training Sessions

Blackboard Training Sessions

 

There will be Blackboard Training offered on November 22 and November 25.

 

Blackboard I (Moving Content Online)   November 22    9:00 AM-11:00 AM      AA 256

Blackboard II (Communication)            November 22    11:30 AM – 1:30 PM    AA 256

Blackboard III (Tests and Grade Center) November 25  12:00 PM – 1:45 PM    AA 259

 

You can register for the trainings at https://www.nvcc.edu/faculty-and-staff/technology/tac/tactraining/register/.

 

Free Workshops in Movement & Voice for NOVA Students and Employees

Free Workshops in Movement & Voice for NOVA Students and Employees

Tuesday, November 19

Movement Workshop: Viewpoints to Choreographic Theatre

Schlesinger Concert Hall

6:00 to 10:00 PM

Wednesday, November 20

Voice Workshop: The Labyrinthine Voice

Schlesinger Concert Hall

6:00 to 10:00 PM

These workshops focus on activating imagination.

Actors – Singers – Dancers – Teachers – Public Speakers

Deepen Your Breathing

Get Out Of Your Head and Into Your Body

Connect With Others

PLAY

Attire: Please dress in comfortable movement clothing that does not restrict your stomach or lower belly. We will work barefoot.

Please Sign Up for One or Both Free Workshops by sending an email to:

Kate Yust Al-Shamma, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Theatre

NOVA Alexandria

kyalshamma@gmail.com

Student Spotlight Special Edition: Helping Hands Program made a difference in MMR’s life!

MMR

Helping Hands

Student Spotlight

Hand

A few months ago, M.M.R (the student asked that we use her initials instead of her name) visited our office to request Helping Hands textbook assistance.  Helping Hands is a textbook fund administered by the Provost Office.

 

This fund allows the Provost Office to provide textbook assistance to students who do not have financial aid.  The following is an excerpt from a letter I received from M.M.R.:

 

Dear Ms. Nicci:

I want you to see that the $215 for my French book was not a waste of money, but rather it has prevented wasted potential.

My professor studied abroad, so at first glance I did not understand her grading system.  I talked with a representative of a local university on campus who told me to keep up my GPA.  She thinks it will open doors for me.

My relationship with GOD and college are my life now.  When I go to sleep in my car at night, I am not at all unhappy, especially if I have eaten enough that day, because my mind is on my coursework.  I look forward to the day when I will receive a scholarship to some university that will include hot meals.  Then I can really focus on my coursework without having to worry about where I will get food that day.

We had a big 7 page exam today given in two parts.  I was the last person finishing because I spent a lot of time proofreading and correcting ridiculous mistakes.  At least I finished.  If my professor grades our exams by next class period on Thursday, I will either bring it by or scan it and email it to you.

Thank you so very much for not allowing my GOD-given potential to go to waste.

 

Sincerely,

MMR

 

As a homeless woman, MMR has decided to re-position herself for success.   Whether she knows it or not, she is an inspiration to me.  She is a testimony of hope and perseverance.

Our office would like to help as many students as possible.  Unfortunately, our limited funds prevent us from helping more students.  If you would like to donate to the Helping Hands fund, please contact alprovost@nvcc.edu.

Your tax-deductible donation will not go to waste.

Women’s Center November Events

November 2013 Calendar Women’s Center

November 6 :    11:15am-12:15pm         AA 351

Round Table – Putting STEAM into STEM – Rebecca Kamen’s work explores the nexus of art and science. She has exhibited and lectured all around the world including NIH, MIT and many other world class institutions. Hear her talk about her experiences and inspire discussion about how the boundaries of art and science are more fluid than we think and how each discipline can inform and inspire the other.

November 6:     3:30pm-4:30pm              AA 351

Peer-to-Peer Mentoring – Anyone is free to participate in sharing with other students challenges, celebrations and support.

November 7:     2pm-3pm                          AA 351

Gay Straight Alliance

November 7:     4:30pm-7pm                    AA 196

Women’s Center and Psychology Department team up to show “Crazy Like Me”, a film about five interwoven stories that focus on mental illness and its impact on those it affects, their friends and families. After the movie there will be panelists to discuss issues surrounding depression, bipolar, and PTSD.

November 13:   11:15am-12:15pm         AA 351

Round Table: Dr. Abeba Fekade leads a discussion about resilience.

November 14:   2pm-3pm                          AA 351

Gay Straight Alliance

November 19:   2pm-3pm                          AA 351

Round Table – Topic to be announced

November 20:   4:30pm-7:20pm              AA 196

Movie: “Girls Rising” (http://www.girlrising.com/) offered by Women’s Studies, Psychology, and cosponsored by AAUW. The film tells about nine girls from around the world and the strength of the human spirit and the power of education to positively transform the world.

November 21:   2pm-3pm                          AA 351

Gay Straight Alliance

November 26: 2pm-3pm                            AA 351

Round Table: Topic to be announced