Chef Chris Misiak—National Extraordinary Chef Educator!

Also in this issue:History 101: Where did our name come from?I’m the ‘new guy’ and I’m here for youPaul Vann: Protecting the Government from HackersDid you know?It’s About HopeThe Word is Out—Schoolcraft College is one of the best!

For Alumni and Friends of Schoolcraft College | Vol. 2, No. 1 | Fall 2016

CONTENTSHistory 101: Where did our name come from? 2

Happy Holidays! 3

I’m the ‘new guy’ and I’m here for you 3

Alumni Focus with Chef Chris Misiak 4

Paul Vann: Protecting the Government from Hackers 5

Did you know? 6

It’s About Hope 7

The Word is Out—Schoolcraft College is one of the best! 8

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Brian D Broderick, Chair

Carol M Strom, Vice Chair

James G Fausone, Secretary

Eric Stempien, Treasurer

Gretchen Alaniz, Trustee

Joan A Gebhardt, Trustee

Terry Gilligan, Trustee

Conway A Jeffress, Ph D , President

FOUNDATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Kristina Mayer, President

Jeff McCarthy, President Elect

Julie Carrigan, Vice President

Ryan Jenner, Treasurer

Nicole Sherard-Freeman, Secretary

Paul Anderson, Jr

Craig Bowles

Charles Dardas

Gwendolyn Davenport

Michael Davenport

Marc Djozlija

Loretta Dickey

Rebecca Himm

Emeritus Members:Thomas Marek

Charles McIlhargey

John Santeiu, Jr

Ex-Officio:Gretchen Alaniz

Conway A Jeffress

Frank Ruggirello

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Beth Kohler Blake Williams

COVER PHOTO

Chef Chris Misiak In the Schoolcraft

College Culinary Department kitchens Photo courtesy of Schoolcraft College Archives

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft photo courtesy of Schoolcraft College Archives

History 101: Where did our name come from?Northwest Wayne County Commu-nity College. That name surely is a tongue twister. It was the origi-nal name for Schoolcraft College, reflecting the communities that encompassed the college’s district and primary areas of service. In November, 1962 the Board of Trustees decided to have a “name-

the-college” contest. Unfortunately, after receiving submissions, none of the names appealed to the trustees. Trustee Jane Moehle along with Lois Waterman explored the Burton His-torical Library in Detroit and came across a name they thought would appeal to the trustees—Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft was a 19th

century explorer, scholar and Indian agent who played a part in the early development of the state of Michigan. Based on Schoolcraft’s achievements, he was the ideal person to name the college after. In Feb-ruary, 1963 the name of the college changed to Schoolcraft College and on June 8, 1963, ground was broken for the first three buildings on campus.

2

Elizabeth Johnson

Robert Luce

David Reid

Paul Serwinek

Thomas Steele

Janice Tessier

Frank Winters

Happy Holidays!

Hello,

My name is Blake Williams and I serve as the new Alumni Program Coordinator at Schoolcraft. I wish to take a moment to share a bit about myself and what I hope to bring to the Schoolcraft Alumni Program. Recently I earned my master’s degree from Oakland University in Higher Education Leadership and served as a graduate assistant in the Annual Giving Office.

Alumni are graduates or former

students of a college or university. It does not matter whether you earned your final degree from Schoolcraft College or from another institution. As long as you attended classes here, you are considered an alumnus.

Take a moment and think back to when you were a student at School-craft. What was your favorite part of being on campus? Was it having the chance to meet new friends, form new relationships, being in a student organization, attending athletic

events, or eating at American Harvest? Could it have been something I did not mention? Whatever your experience of being on campus was, it helped shaped who you are today.

Would you like to once again be a part of what Schoolcraft has to offer? Well, here is your chance!

I’m the ‘new guy’ and I’m here for youI am going to challenge you to help make Schoolcraft College continue to be a great place for future.

• Help create an alumni affinity group

• Get involved with an alumni affinity group

• Attend future alumni events

• Make a gift to help support scholarships for students

The fact is you will always be considered alumni of Schoolcraft College. The question is what kind of alumni do you want to be? While I cannot tell you what kind of alumni to be, I can tell you that I will be here to welcome you home if you choose to return. Ultimately the decision is yours.

All the best,

Blake Williams bwilliam@schoolcraft.edu 734-462-7373.

With a crisp chill settling in on cam-pus; it is clear the holiday season will be upon us soon. As we get ready for the busy weeks to follow, which no doubt will include visits with friends and family, take a moment to reflect on those things for which you are thankful. As 2016 draws to a close, we want to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!

-From your friends at the Schoolcraft College Foundation

Winter at Schoolcraft College, Livonia Campus

3

National Extraordinary Chef Educator!In recent years Schoolcraft College has proven itself in many regards as one of the best community

colleges in the coun-try. Countless awards have been bestowed upon the college and most recently as the

home to the “2016 National Chef Educator of the Year,” Certified Executive Chef Chris Misiak. An alumnus himself and a member of the faculty of the Culinary Arts Program at Schoolcraft College, Chef Misiak received the award at the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) national convention in Phoenix, Arizona in July.

The ACF National Chef Educator of the Year Award was established in 1998 to pay tribute to an active culinary educator whose skills, knowledge and expertise has enhanced the image of the pro-fessional chef, and who additionally, by example has provided guidance to students seeking a career in a culinary profession.

“What an honor. I am very humbled,” said Chef Misiak during the award presentation. “Growing up in a small town in northern Michigan and now receiving this national recognition is truly an un-believable honor.” He is the first chef from Michi-gan to win this award.

The national competition is a rigorous one, requir-ing submission of the chef ’s resume, his profes-sional accomplishments as well as those of the culinary arts program in which he/she teaches, and a demonstration of different lesson plans that teach the science behind the food preparation. The course Chef Misiak submitted in his application was Chemistry 100, which also required demon-stration of the various experiments used in the course that relate to culinary arts and food prepa-ration. Chef Misiak gives credit to Cheryl Snyder, chemistry faculty member at Schoolcraft, who invested a great deal of time and energy working with Chef Misiak to create the CHEM 100 cur-riculum, which itself has been a popular course among students and a big success.

“I decided to submit a culinary chemistry lesson plan and lab because I thought it would be differ-ent from what others were submitting and because culinary chemistry is so new in the field. Cheryl

and I developed this course from scratch, which is also unique, and this competition was a great place to showcase that,” said Misiak.

Fellow competitors for this prestigious award represented major universities in Las Vegas, New York City and Orlando. With Chef Misiak repre-senting Schoolcraft College, he proved Schoolcraft College’s program can compete on a national scale and rise above even those of four-year university programs.

“We are very proud of how Chef Misiak represents Schoolcraft College and the quality of teaching he provides” said Culinary Arts Depart-ment Chair and Certified Executive Chef Shawn Loving.

Chef Chris Misiak photos courtesy of Schoolcraft College Archives

Alumni Focus with Chef Chris Misiak

Class of 1990

4

Paul Vann: Protecting the Government from HackersSchoolcraft College’s Distinguished Alumni award is given in recognition of extraordinary achievement and service to the community. Paul Vann’s work protect-ing United States’ government agencies and U.S. allies certainly qualifies.

As chief information security officer for the U.S. Con-gressional Budget Office, Vann protected the CBO’s sensitive economic data shared with Congress against potential foreign hackers. And now, he’s doing the same thing for Raytheon Foreground Security.

“I enjoyed working for the federal government,” he said, “but I had a desire to learn more.” Now, his role with Raytheon is protecting friendly governments from international cyber attacks on their homelands.

And it all began at Schoolcraft College – twice. Vann said, “It took me quite some time to get my associate degree.” He enrolled in Schoolcraft’s Fire Technology

program but wasn’t ready for college right out of high school, so he left the program.

Seven years later and facing an uncertain future, he again enrolled at Schoolcraft. Vann graduated with an Associate in General Studies degree in 2004.

“When I look back,” he said, “I remembered messing around with my family computer at a young age and quickly learned that the hunger to learn more about the inner workings of a computer was something I was passionate about.”

“I’m excited to see what the future at Raytheon brings for me,” he said. “I’m proud to say I went to Schoolcraft College, and if I’m living back in Michigan when the time comes, my kids are going to Schoolcraft too.”

Alumni Focus with Paul Vann Class of 2004

5Paul Vann photo courtesy of Schoolcraft College Archives

Average age of Alumni

= 48 years old

65,913

1,854736

708

901

454

547652

510

500 - 999

1,000+

100 - 499

50 - 99

0 - 49

461

334315

257

255

254

232

199

197

179

175133

132

124

116

109

96

95

67

61

59 51

28

60

49

49

42

37

37

35

33

29

27

24

2216

1316

109

7

% of Alumni living in MI = 86%% of Alumni living outside of MI = 14%

Male to Female Alumni Ratio% of Male Alumni = 44%

% of Female Alumni = 56%

86%

14%

56%44%

May 1966 1st graduating class

60 peopleMay 2016

51st graduating class 2,421 people

Did you know? Facts about Schoolcraft Alumni# of Alumni living in MI = 65,913# of Alumni living outside of MI = 10,879Total Alumni # = 76,792

6

2016 Annual Campaign

HOPE◆ ACHIEVEMENT ◆ AMBITION ◆ ANTICIPATION ◆ ASPIRATION ◆ BELIEF ◆ CONCERN ◆ CONFIDENCE ◆ DESIRE ◆ EXPECTATION ◆ FAITH ◆ GOAL ◆ OPTIMISM ◆ PROMISE ◆ PROSPECT ◆ WISH ◆ DREAM ◆ ENDURANCE ◆ FORTUNE ◆ GAIN ◆ RELIANCE ◆ REVERIE ◆ REWARD ◆ PROMISE ◆ POSITIVE OUTCOME ◆ EMOTION ◆

It’s About

Dear Alumni,

As we welcome new students to campus and continue assisting those who are well on their way to earning their degree or certificate, we want to share with you what this year’s Annual Campaign is all about.

IT’S ABOUT supporting a wife and mother of two boys – one with special needs, who is determined to provide financially for her family. Nearly 20 years after attending college for the first time, Kelly has returned to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse. Receiving a scholarship gives her HOPE . It helps reduce the burden of her husband’s overtime hours to pay her tuition, and keeps her focused on her classes and her role as the president of the Schoolcraft National Student Nurse Association Club.

IT’S ABOUT helping a young man from Albania who at 14 years old became the head of his household. He knew that the best way to honor his father’s memory was to be committed to furthering his education. Now 5,000 miles away from home, with the support of a scholarship from donors, Elis is realizing that commitment at Schoolcraft College. With hard work and support form faculty mentors he has a 4.0 GPA, tutors in the Peer Assisted Learning Program, is a Phi Theta Kappa leader, and HOPES to continue his studies at the University of Michigan.

IT’S ABOUT championing a girl who turned her experience of being bullied in elementary school into a passion for the environment. Independent from a young age, this student-entrepreneur makes jewelry by collecting harmfully discarded garbage from the environment and recycling it into beautiful wearable art. The scholarship support Brittany receives helps her reduce her hours from two jobs while pursuing her dream of earning a Ph.D. in marine biology. It gives her HOPE that she can have a positive impact on the health of our world’s environment.

Please join us in making a gift to the 2016 Annual Campaign. Your donation directly supports Schoolcraft College scholarships and programs which gives students HOPE that they will complete their education, improve their families’ lives and make the world a better place.

Sincerely,

Kelly

Eli s

Brittany

To make a contribution to Schoolcraft College visit SCF.SCHOOLCRAFT.EDU/ALUMGIVE

Conway A. Jeffress, Ph.D., President Kristina L. Mayer, President (Class of 1994) Schoolcraft College Schoolcraft College Foundation

7

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSCHOOLCRAFT COLLEGE

ALUMNI PROGRAM 18600 Haggerty Road Livonia, MI 48152-2696

We all know that Schoolcraft College is a great school. There is no denying that. But just how great are we? Pretty great if recent studies are any indication.

To our delight, one recent study by Schools.com ranked Schoolcraft College as the second best community college in the state of Michigan. The access to potential life-experience credit, flexible campus scheduling, and number of student organizations, just to name a few, helped us claim the hon-

or of second place. We also are approx-imately $600 per year less for the total cost of tuition, fees, books and supplies, according to the National Center of Education Statistics when compared to the state’s top ranked school.

Another study by CollegeValues.com named Schoolcraft College the sixth best community college in the nation for value. The ranking methodology included graduation and transfer rates, the average salary for graduates and cost of tuition.

Summer at Schoolcraft College, Livonia Campus

The Word is Out— Schoolcraft College is one of the best!

“We’re very pleased,” said Conway Jef-fress, president of Schoolcraft College.

“Anytime you can get recognized na-tionally for excellence, you’re pleased. We know these criteria are important to students. In fact, those analyzed by CollegeValues.com are probably the three highest priorities for students.”

You always knew how great Schoolcraft College is and now the whole country knows it.