Faculty Accomplishments

• Work of a New Century: 84th SAGA Member’s Exhibition.
• Work chosen for the permanent collection of Syracuse University, and traveling to J. Wayne Stark Galleries at Texas A&M University and Richard E. Peeler Art Center at DePauw University.
• Presented Hard Looking: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected on the panel Art and Philosophy at The Contagion of Ideas: Philosophy Symposium at Middlesex County College.
• Co-Chaired Community College Professors of Art and Art History panel Championing the Relevancy of Studio Art and Art History in the Twenty-first Century: Stories of Success and Advocacy.

• Co-authored article Thermal History of CBb Chondrules and Cooling Rate Distributions of Ejecta Plumes, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 855:L17, 2018 March 10, doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/aab15b.

• Chosen by the National Institute of Health as a co-leader in developing the CSIR/Cas9 gene editing technology curriculum, as part of the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Short Course in Genomics Lesson Plan Project. CSIR/Cas9 gene editing is a promising new therapy in medicine with potential wide-spread applications and a technology which will be utilized extensively in the future. The curriculum will be made available to colleges and universities across the country.

• Published Functional Interfaces in Java, Apress 2018, released in stores early 2019.

• 2018 Excellence in Teaching Award recipient, Middlesex County College.
• 2018 Advisor of the Year Award recipient, Middlesex County College.
• 2018 Kappa Delta Pi Community Service Chapter Award recipient.

• Completed Masters in Educational Technology from NJCU.
• Completed thesis, Content Analysis of Essential Professional Skills of Future Accountants in the Digital Age.

• Participated in the development of the New Jersey Department of Health approved curriculum for a paid Dining Assistant program as specified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Completion of the course provides residence specific certification of staff in long term care and sub-acute residences for the provision of resident assistance with food and beverage intake. Provided training for resident specific program trainers at both a seminar and webinar.

• Presented Demons, Dreams, and Madness: Liminality in Henry Fuseli’s “The Nightmare” in conjunction with the exhibition It’s Alive: Frankenstein at 200, at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, December 2018.

• The Samson Narratives; The Theological Significance of a Chosen Biblical Hero, released through Amazon, fall 2018.

• Published five scholarly articles in peer-review journals for Incarcerated Families and Family Therapy.
• Won the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapists Doctoral Student of the Year.
• Awarded the AAMFT Minority Fellowship Program, funded by SAMHSA.

• Published This I Know, Black Rose Press, March 2018.

Susan Altman
Visual, Performing, and Media Arts

• Presented Gallery Adventures: Going Seeing, Thinking and Doing! and led a panel discussion Draw and Repeat: Reconsidering the Sketchbook, Foundations in Art Theory and Education (FATE) Conference, Beyond the Core, Kansas City, MO
• Presented Moving Forward Past Contingency: Retooling for the Job You Want and led a panel discussion on Reinventing the Familiar: Updated Approached in Art History and the Studio, College Art Association Conference, New York, NY
• Exhibited work in the following exhibitions:
  Sight and Sound 2017 Studio Theatre Gallery, Middlesex County College, Edison, NJ
  SAGA 83rd Member’s Exhibition The Old Print Shop, New York, New York
  Studio Art Reader Exhibition and Art Exchange Utah Arts Alliance, Salt Lake City, Utah

Heather Diblasi Domalewski
History and Social Sciences

• Earned Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) (March 2017)
• Re-certified Certified Prevention Specialist (CPS) (September 2017)
• Dissertation Topic on Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) approved (November 2017)

Marylou Kjelle
English

• Published The First Continental Congress, Mitchell Lane Publishers, Young America series targeted to middle school readers (Link) (August 2017)

Tom Lansburg
History and Social Sciences

• Presented a paper on Andre Malraux’s Novels The Conquerors and Man’s Fate at Chestnut Hill College’s Legacies of the Russian Revolution Conference, (October 2017)
• Presented a paper on works by Frederick Douglass & Melville at Far West Popular Culture Association, (February 2017)
• Reader, AP European History exam (June 2008-June 2017)

Adriana Mamay
Library

• Selected to Co-chair New Jersey Library Association Annual Conference, Atlantic City from May 30 – June 1, 2018
• Presented “Thanks for Coming! But Why Are You Here?” poster at the 2017 VALE (Virtual Academic Library Environment) Conference, Rutgers University
• Presented to SCARLA (Student College, Academic, and Research Libraries Association), Rutgers University on academic librarianship in a community college setting

Kathleen Shay
Mathematics

• Co-presented Building Mathematics Courses Using the Backward Design Process, Mathematics Association of Two Year Colleges of New Jersey fall meeting, Raritan Valley Community College, (October 2017)

Eman Tadros
History and Social Sciences

• Awarded scholarships from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Ohio Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (August 2017)
• Presented Family Therapy with an Incarcerated Mother and Her Teenage Daughter: A Clinical Case Study at the Indiana Association for Marriage and Family Therapy state conference, winning 1st Place Poster Presentation award as well as the Audience Favorite award. (November 2017)
• Honored at a New York Knicks game and awarded The Community Playmaker Award. (November 2017)

Shirley Wachtel
English

• Published Three for a Dollar, original short stories (Fall 2017)
• Authored This I Know, a novel, to be published by Black Rose Press (March 2018)

Annette Walters
History and Social Sciences

• Awarded Bill and Melinda Gates scholarship (Summer 2017)
• Participated and presented to the Women Leading Education Across Continents conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; hosted by Rio State University (July 2017)
• Presented at the NJPSA/FEA Women’s Leadership Conference

Antonio Cardona
History and Social Sciences

• Provided training on public administration and participated in a panel presentation entitled Dialogue on Teaching Public Administration in Diversified Classrooms– Strategies that Work at Rutgers University
• Spoke on Enhancing Your Careers in Human Resources at Rider University
• Spoke on The Endless Sentence: Role and Effect of Sentencing at Monmouth College

Andrew Dzurisin
History and Social Sciences

• Received a STAR Program award from Princeton Community Health Care System for developing educational materials for their patient safety initiative.
• Worked with Princeton Community Health Care System to create a hospital leadership program for both senior and junior management.

Cristobal Espinoza-Wulach
History and Social Sciences

• Presented “Current History: An approach to History in the Age of Information” at Crossroads: The future of Graduate History Education at Drew University (March, 2016).
• Co-presented “Teaching without Electricity. The advantages of offline pedagogies” with professors Ostacher and Santelli at the Eastern Regional Conference of the Community College Humanities Association in Providence, Rhode Island (October, 2016).

Katherine Howard
Nursing

• Gave a poster presentation entitled Improving Student Success in a First Year Medical Surgical Nursing Course through Content Focused Test-Taking Strategy Sessions at the 2016 NJLN Convention
• Appointed to the Editorial Board of Teaching and Learning in Nursing journal
• Reviewer/Clinical Consultant for several nursing books: Varcarolis, E., Essentials of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, 3e ,Elsevier, 2016; Townsend, M., Essentials of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, F.A. Davis, 2016, Lisko; NCLEX RN Made Incredibly Easy, LWW, 2016, Valencia-Go.; Research Success: A Q&A Review Applying Critical Thinking to Test Taking, FA Davis Publishing, 2016.

Hillary Hyman
ELA and World Languages

• Published Academically Speaking: AN Activity Book for ESL/EFL Students, Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2016. Available in e-book and paperback editions from the publisher, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Jane Jiang
ELA and World Languages

• Translated God’s Fingerprints: Impressions of Near Death Experiences, by Judy Long, into Chinese for publication
• Published Go! Go Ladies, Dixie W. Publishing Corporation, November 2016, about the struggles and fates of several Chinese women who came to the U.S.
• Chief Editor, Selected Poems of the Chinese Diaspora, Wingpress, New York, a collection of recent poems of 12 Chinese writers who live in the U.S. Through different experiences and sensibilities, each of them expresses their point of views toward the world in music and rhythms from their true love of nature, people, and life.

Kimberly Krapels
Radiography

• Spoke on Blended Learning in the Radiography Curriculum lecture at the New Jersey Society of Radiologic Technologists Annual Meeting in April 2016
• Organized Radiography Career Day at MCC in November 2016, attended by over 200 Radiography students across New Jersey.

Ralph Lecessi
Computer Science and Information Technology

• Author of International Knowledge Measurement’s Java SE Examination, deployed February 2016

Mellissa Luis
History and Social Science

• Member of the Executive Counsel which worked to bring about the charter of the Alpha Theta Zeta chapter of Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education at Middlesex County College. Initiation of the first class included thirty-four students, followed by seventeen more at the second initiation in October.
• Partnered with Roseann Bucciarelli, Dean of Continuing Education, to create the new Content Specialty Program for certified teacher interested in obtaining middle school certification in a content area. https://www.middlesexcc.edu/continuing-education/content-specialty-program/

Adriana Mamay
Reference and Instruction Librarian
Library

• Spoke on a panel entitled Shine Bright Like a Diamond: How to Stand Out from the Pack and Land Your First Librarian Job at the New Jersey Library Association Conference in Atlantic City in May 2016.
• Panelist on a session entitled Level Up: How to Master Your Craft and Become a Better Librarian for the 2016 class of New Jersey Library Association Emerging Leaders in November 2016.
• Served on the following committees: Association of College and Research Libraries New Jersey Chapter Executive Board; New Jersey Library Association Conference Committee; New Jersey Library Association Professional Development Committee; VALE (Virtual Academic Library Environment of New Jersey) Users’ Conference Committee.

Benjamin Marshall
English

• Reading of new play Galilee House at the Writers Theatre of New Jersey, and at the Binghamton Theatre retreat in Connecticut.
• Essay published in What Does it Mean to be White in America?, edited by David and Forbes, a copy of which can be found in the MCC library
• Residency at the Helen Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico, for three months
• Fellowship grant from the Victor Bumbablo/Robert Chelsey Foundation
• Participant, National Playwrights Symposium, Cape May, NJ.

Steven Rowley
Natural Sciences

• Presented Flipping the Classroom, and Interactives Tegrity and Poll Everywhere in an event sponsored by McGraw-Hill in Dover, DE.
• Began revising the General Chemistry Lab manuals (having written both in 2004)

Kathleen Shay
Mathematics

• Co-presented with Prof. Jennifer Applebee Tech Tools We Love at Engaging Learners in the 21^st Century Conference, Mercer County Community College
• Co-presented with Prof. Jennifer Applebee Our Favorite Tech Tools at the 42^nd American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges Annual Conference, Denver.

Eman Tadros
History and Social Science

• Northern Chapter Representative of the New Jersey Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, January 2016
• Pre-Clinical Fellow Representative, NJ Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
• Awarded Seton Hall University Experiential Education Honorable Mention
• Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges honoree
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Fellowship Award for the second year in a row for excellence in working with underserved youth populations. Honored at the AAMFT 2016 Annual Conference in Indianapolis, September 2016.

Shirley Wachtel
English Department

• Presented and discussed her novel, The Musicmakers (Createspace, 2014) at the Blue Colt Bookstore, MCC. (February 2016)(Blast Press, 2016)
• Held a reading and book signing of her latest children’s book, Zoey and the Purple Elephant (Dog Ear Publishing) at the Rutgers University Bookstore. (April 2016)
• Completed revision of Spotlight on Reading, Vol. II (Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company) which she co-authored with Dr. Helena Swanicke. (August 2016)

Tracey Siegel
Nursing

• Completed EdD from Walden University, focusing on multiple choice item writing and test construction practices in nursing education. (httP://shcolarworks.walden.edu/disertations/603/)
• Editor for Teaching and Learning in Nursing, the official publication of the Organization of Associate Degree Nursing.

Kathleen Smith-Wenning
History and Social Sciences

• Volunteer member of the US Board of Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots, which serves children living in poverty in Oaxaca, Mexico. The organization believes in education as a human right and helps the poorest of Oaxaca’s children realize their dream of going to school. Smith-Wenning visits annually, and recently collected heights and weights or many of these children in an effort to identify nutritional status
• Volunteer child advocate for the Young Center of Immigrant Children’s Rights which promotes the best interests of unaccompanied immigrant children from all corners of the world. Child advocates accompany children through court proceedings, advocating for their best interest, ensuring their safety and well-being. Smith-Wenning is currently advocating for a 5 year old from Central America

Matthew Spano
English

• Published Hellgrammite, Blast Press, a book of poems and short stories. Several readings and book signings have helped to promote and sell the book, with all proceeds going to MCC student scholarships. According to the publisher’s description, “Hellgrammite. . . is a mythological multi-legged creature, creeping and crawling with vivid nature poems, ink drawings, sensitive haiku and two remarkably crafted short stories.” The book is available on Amazon.com
• Published poems in several journals:
  • Scarecrow and Vous etes tous Charlie, Psychological Perspectives.
  • What Tried To Get In, fiction journal Quantum Fairy Tales.
  • Merlin and Grouper, poetry journal This Broken Shore.
  • Several poems were published in Middlesex: A Literary Journal.
• Research on Carl Jung was the subject of a chapter of a new book about the interdisciplinary exchange between psychology and literature entitled Remembering Dionysus (Routledge 2016) by renowned Jungian scholar Susan Rowland. Rowland concludes with the comment, “Spano is persuasive in his ground-breaking comparison of Jung’s Red Book to modernist art.”

Christine Wathen
Accounting, Business, and Legal Studies

• Completed EdD in Educational Leadership and Management from Capella University, graduating with distinction. Dissertation was titled, Evaluating the Effects of a Multimedia E-Book on the Student Success of Community College Students: An Action Research Study

Daniel Zimmerman
English

• Poetry reading on Long Branch boardwalk with several contributors to the anthology Palisades, Parkways, & Pinelands, edited by Emanuel di Pasquale and Gregg Glory (Blast Press, 2016)
• Poems published on the Canadian web site dispathespoetry.com
• Poems published in the ninth issue of Middlesex: A Literary Journal
• Presented a paper on E-Prime in New York, Parrying the Parasitic BE sponsored by the International Society for General Semantics

Susan Altman
Visual, Performing and Media Arts

• Presented at The College Art Association Conference in New York, Adventures and Misadventures: Learning What Works, part of the panel Foundation Flipped? Active Learning in the Art History and the Studio. (February 2015)
• Presented at The FATE (Foundations in Art Theory and Education Conference) in Indianapolis, Two Years or a Bit More: The Challenge of Successful Transfer, part of the panel Breaking New Ground: Foundations for Transfer. She also chaired a panel at the same conference, Beyond Good, Bad, and “I Like it:” A New Take on Critique, which incorporated ongoing research on critique, both in her own discipline and others. (March 2015)
• Exhibited her work in 100 Years of American Fine Prints: The Society of American Graphic Artists Centennial Exhibition, at the Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery at The Art Student’s League of New York. (October 2015)

Cristobal Espinoza-Wulach
History and Social Sciences

• Presented Struggle for Promoting Development: An Inter-American Analysis on the Making of the Alliance for Progress: Argentina, Venezuela and the United States at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2015 Annual Meeting, Arlington, Virginia. (June 2015)
• Attended Summer Institute: Seminar on Early American Women’s History: Teaching from within the Archives. National Endowment for Humanities, Providence, Rhode Island. (Summer 2015)

Christine Harrington
History and Social Sciences

• Published the second edition of her textbook, Student Success in College: Doing What Works!. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. (January 2015)
• Co-authored “Syllabus Length and Use of Images: An empirical investigation of student perceptions,” Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 1(3), 235-243. (September 2015)
• Authored chapter in Foundations for Critical Thinking, Bers, T., Chun, M., Daly, W. T., Harrington, C., Toblowsky, B. F., & Associates. Foundations for critical thinking. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. (July 2015)

Fred Hertrich
History and Social Sciences

• Received Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award from Brookdale Community College. (September 2015)
  http://news.brookdalecc.edu/fred-hertrich-wins-outstanding-adjunct-faculty-award/

Katherine Howard
Nursing

• Co-presented a poster at NJLN Convention: The Future is Now: Progression in Simulation Experiences that Develop Clinical Problem-solving Skills in the First Year ADN Student. (March 2015)
• Chief content reviewer for Hedman, et al. Nursing Assistant Care 4nd ed. Hartman Publishing, Inc.
• Reviewer for Valencia-Go. Research Success: A Q&A Review Applying Critical Thinking to Test Taking, FA Davis Pub.

Denalerie Johnson-Faniel
History and Social Sciences

• Presented a keynote speech at the Rutgers Douglass College Leadership Dinner for Women following her testimony and sponsorship of the Women’s Legislation Health Summit and League of Women Voters Democracy Act hearing at the Trenton State House. (September 2015)
• Serves as the NJ Social Action and Partnerships chair of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., which won all three Atlantic region social action awards. Her local chapter was named Social Action Chapter of the Year. (October 2015)
• Graduated from the Emerge NJ program, which is focused on ensuring women have a seat at the table when it comes to politics. (2015)

Will Kleinelp
Natural Sciences Department

• Published the 6th edition of the laboratory manual, The Illustrated Manual to Human Structure & Function Laboratory. Biologyworks & Middlesex County College. (2015)
• Completed revisions for the 5th edition of the laboratory guide, The Illustrated Guide to Human Anatomy & Physiology II Laboratory, to be published by Biologyworks in 2016.

Marc Lipman
Computer Sciences and Information Technology

• Served on the New Jersey Standards Review, a task force assembled to put forth recommendations to improve the Common Core State Standards of New Jersey.

Melissa Luis
History and Social Sciences

• Served on the New Jersey Department of Education’s Standards Review Committee, along with administrators and teachers from various New Jersey school districts, other higher education personnel, parents, and representatives from the business sector and professional associations. Their recommendations were presented to Governor Christie in January, 2016, and will be implemented over the next year in all NJ K-12 schools.

Benjamin Marshall
English Department

• The International Playwrights Festival in Torrington, Connecticut performed his play, Dad’s Vision. (October 2015)
• The Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) presented a workshop production of his short play, Corn Bread with Raisins and Almonds, at its national conference in Montreal. (August 2015)
• The Pierro Foundation commissioned him to write a play on the topic of Art in the Public Space. His play Elephants on the Vanishing Point was presented at South Orange Performing Arts Center, NJ. (November 2015)

Sabrina MisirHiralall
History and Social Sciences

• Successfully defended her dissertation at Montclair State University. The dissertation is entitled De-Orientalized Pedagogy: Educating Non-Hindus About Hinduism Through Kuchipudi Indian Classical Hindu dance.http://search.proquest.com/docview/1681626940
• Published “Mindfulness as a Pedagogical Tool: Kuchipudi Indian Classical Hindu Dance” in the ARTS Journal of the Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies. (vol. 27, no. 1)
  http://www.societyarts.org/arts-journal/online-edition/136-online-edition-vol-27-no-1/329-mindfulness-as-a-pedagogical-tool-kuchipudi-indian-classical-hindu-dance
• Is the current Vice President/President Elect of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Academy of Religion. https://www.aarweb.org/node/173

Brenita Mitchell
History and Social Sciences

• Wrote “Silence and Sexual Violence” for the Youth Ministry Magazine of Princeton Theological Seminary regarding the prevalence of college campus rape in America.
• Is the President and founder of Healing Waters Global, a 501C3 non-profit organization that offers free Healing Retreats for women and girls who were sexually violated.

Kathleen Shay
Mathematics Department

• Presented Engaging STEM students with Piazza, at Engaging Learners in the 21st Century Conference at Mercer County Community College. (August 2015)
• Co-Presented Get Out the Vote: A pedagogy for engaging students in college mathematics classes at the 41st AMATYC (American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges) Annual Conference in New Orleans. (November 2015)

Tracey Siegel
Nursing Department

• Completed her Doctorate in Higher Education (Ed.D.) from Walden University. Her research focus was multiple choice item writing and test construction practices in nursing education. http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/603/ (May 2015)
• Accepted the position of Editor for Teaching and Learning in Nursing. This is the official publication of The Organization of Associate Degree Nursing (OADN). http://www.jtln.org/ (April 2015)

Mathew Spano
English Department

• Contributed to several publications:“Hellgrammite” (Poem), in the literary journal Yellow Chair Review: Pop Culture Issue (December 2015)“Tardigrade,” “Scarecrow,” “Mantis Shrimp,” & “Desert Find” (Poems), Middlesex: A Literary Journal, Vol. 1, No. 8. (December 2015)“Salamander Brandy” (Poem), in the literary journal Turtle Island Quarterly, Issue 9
  (October, 2015)“Sleeper Shark” (Poem), This Broken Shore (Summer 2015, Vol. 8) (Literary Journal),
  (September 2015)“Snow Erasing” and “Seventh-Inning Stretch” (Haiku), Nest Feathers: Selected Haiku from the First Fifteen Years of The Heron’s Nest, August, 2015
• Presented an Introduction to Carl Jung’s Red Book to the Rutgers Honors College, Rutgers University New Brunswick. He guided appreciative and inquisitive RU Honors students and faculty through the labyrinth of Carl Jung’s masterpiece, The Red Book. Dr. Spano donated his $250 honorarium to the MCC Honors Program student scholarships. (December 2015)

Shirley Wachtel
English Department

• Held a book signing of her memoir, My Mother’s Shoes (Createspace, 2011) at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ (May 2015)
• Received the second prize award in the Dream Quest One – Summer 2015 Contest for her poem, “A Summer’s Evening.”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ (October 2015)
• ‪Published Zoey and the Purple Elephant (Dog Ear Publishing), a book for young children. (November 2015)‬‬‬‬‬