Four Faculty/Staff Receive Chancellor's Awards for Excellence

At its forty-fourth commencement exercises held on Friday, May 16, Jefferson Community College awarded State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Awards to four distinguished faculty and staff.

The Chancellor’s Awards recognize extraordinary achievement and encourage the continuation of excellence. It is one of the most prestigious honors that can be conferred upon professionals employed at the 64 institutions of the State University of New York.

Matthew R. Lambert of Watertown, student support counselor in the Advising, Career and Counseling Center, received the Chancellor’s Award for Professional Service. Genny E. Pond of Pulaski, assistant professor of engineering science, was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Cynthia A. Shelmidine of Mannsville, assistant professor of criminal justice, received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service. John J. Thomas of Ogdensburg, assistant librarian, was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship.

Matthew Lambert joined the counseling center staff at Jefferson Community College in 1991. He has earned four degrees including an associate’s degree from Hudson Valley Community College, a bachelor’s degree in education from SUNY Cortland, a master’s degree in education from Alfred University and a master’s degree in counseling from SUNY Oswego. While at Jefferson, Matt became a provisionally credentialed alcohol and substance abuse counselor, earned a certificate in mediation and dispute resolution, and became nationally certified as an entrepreneurship instructor.

As the student support counselor at Jefferson, Matt has designed and implemented innovative programming for the personal, academic, recreational and professional needs of Jefferson students. He has assisted students with conflict management, test anxiety, learning styles, and health/wellness. Matt is known for his welcoming style and ability to tailor program offerings to meet the diverse needs of Jefferson’s student population.

Not a stranger to the classroom, Matt teaches the Success in College course which helps at-risk students succeed in a college environment. He also teaches several workshops relating to alcohol studies, building life skills, career exploration and personal growth.

Throughout his 17-year tenure at the College, Matt has served on and chaired numerous committees, served as advisor to many student clubs, and acted as coordinator for Jefferson’s North Country Community Cup team. Off campus, Matt is involved with numerous organizations including the CREDO Center for the Treatment of Addictions, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New York and the United Way of Northern New York. He provides foster parent training for the Children’s Home of Northern New York and offers leadership to the Communities That Care and Positive Choices programming for at-risk youth. He has been recognized numerous times for his contributions to the community and has been awarded a Dedicated to Service to Youth Award, the United Way Annual Giving Award, and the YMCA Community Leadership Award, among others.

Genny Pond joined the full-time faculty at Jefferson in 1998 as an engineering instructor and was promoted to assistant professor of engineering science in 2004. She is a graduate of Jefferson Community College and also holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master of engineering degree, both from Clarkson University. Genny is a member of the Two-Year Engineering School Association (TYESA), American Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Genny’s enthusiasm, along with her creative teaching skills, have propelled Jefferson’s engineering program forward. The program is well-known throughout the community and Jefferson’s engineering graduates are held in very high regard throughout the state. Genn has engaged her students by integrating design competitions and field experience into the coursework, and applying real-life engineering practices through visits to area companies. In an effort to further increase her students’ success, she has implemented supplemental instruction by way of establishing learning communities within the program. Always giving of her time to students, Genn is the advisor to Jefferson’s Engineering Club which competes annually in the TYESA Robotics Competition and which achieved 3rd place in the national competition in 2007.

Dedicated to advancing the engineering profession, Genny participates in numerous conferences and workshops in her field. She was one of seven delegates selected to represent New York State at the National Science Foundation Sugar Lake Conference, the goal of which was to develop a national plan to increase recruitment in the engineering field. The North Country community has certainly benefited from Genn’s expertise. She is the technical advisor for the Thousand Islands High School National FIRST Robotics Team and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Lead the Way Program at Carthage High School. Under Genn’s leadership, JCC’s annual Spaghetti Bridge Competition, which she created, has become a local phenomenon, attracting hundreds of area high school students to Jefferson to build bridges with uncooked spaghetti. This competition provides a mentoring connection between current and future engineering students.

In 2006, Genn received the JCC Alumni Association Rising Star Award, recognizing her leadership, contributions, professional achievements and impact on the field of engineering.

Cynthia Shelmidine taught as an adjunct instructor at Jefferson for six years before joining the full-time faculty in 1996 as an instructor of criminal justice. She was then promoted to assistant professor of criminal justice in 2000. Cindy has graduated from Jefferson twice, first earning an associate’s degree in liberal arts and then in criminal justice. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from SUNY Oswego and a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Albany.

One year after joining Jefferson, Cindy was named lead coordinator for the criminal justice program and has been instrumental in curriculum development as it evolved into the public safety department with the addition of a degree program in Fire Protection Technology. As public safety department chair, she serves as Jefferson’s ambassador to constituents in the field of public safety both on campus and in the community. She has chaired five-year reviews for both the criminal justice and fire protection technology programs, chaired the criminal justice advisory board and served on search committees for both programs. Additionally, Cindy was instrumental in developing articulation agreements with SUNY Canton, SUNY Oswego and SUNY Potsdam.

Under her leadership, the public safety program has grown exponentially and is highly regarded in the community. Jefferson students intern at local law enforcement agencies and after graduation, many gain employment at local agencies as well.

Cindy is regarded by both her peers and students as an effective, caring and innovative instructor and advisor. Initiatives developed by Cindy that directly impact student success at Jefferson are the course Academic Career and Connect Forum and the “Write for Success” program. The first was created to assist students needing remedial coursework to connect with the criminal justice community and define appropriate career goals. The latter program was developed to improve the writing skills of criminal justice students through the use of tutors from the field of criminal justice.

She is able to bring to life the field of criminal justice by demonstrating real world applications in her teaching. She is a former police officer, in fact, the first female police officer in the Watertown Police Department, with more than 15 years experience in law enforcement that she shares with her students.

Cindy’s involvement with students extends well beyond the classroom. She is the advisor for JCC’s Judicial Board of Review and co-advisor of Jefferson’s Criminal Justice Club. She also serves on the Petitions Committee. Each year, she assists Admissions with organizing a Criminal Justice Career Day at JCC for those interested in entering the field of criminal justice. She also conducts portfolio reviews for students in five area BOCES criminal justice programs.

Cindy lends her expertise in law enforcement and as an educator to organizations across the North Country. She serves on the Criminal Justice Advisory Boards for the BOCES Technical Centers in Watertown and Mexico, as well as for SUNY Canton and Clinton Community College. Cindy is a member of Criminal Justice Educators of New York and is currently vice president of Region 6 which stretches to Plattsburg and includes five colleges. She is also a member of the Juvenile Crime Coalition of Jefferson County.

On campus, Cindy participates on numerous campus committees. She is a member of the Library Advisory Board and current president of the JCC Alumni Association. In the community, Cindy is a merit badge counselor in Sandy Creek for the Boy Scouts of America, a member of the Sandy Creek Central School Parent Teacher Association, North Country Archaeology Association and the Friends of Ainsworth Library in Sandy Creek.

John Thomas joined Jefferson’s Melvil Dewey Library staff in 2004 as assistant librarian and coordinator of the library instruction program. He holds an associate’s degree from SUNY Canton, a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Oswego and a master’s in library science from the University of Albany.

As coordinator of library instruction, John is responsible for the information literacy instruction program for both students and faculty. Under his leadership, the program has grown to serve more students, provide more classes each semester and now includes an online tutorial. John gives presentations on accessing and evaluating library resources for classroom projects that have assisted students with critical thinking skills and achieving success in the classroom. John interacts regularly with area high school librarians in an effort to bridge the gap in information literacy skills between high school and college. He has also taken the lead in coordinating the library’s involvement with Jefferson’s EDGE program for students concurrently enrolled in college-level courses taught at local high schools.

John also works closely with a diverse group of faculty to improve collaboration between the library and the faculty. The hands-on library services orientation he developed for new students is also used for new or adjunct faculty members.

One of John’s key accomplishments at Jefferson is the development of Jefferson’s information literacy assessment plan which utilizes the Blackboard course management system. When assessment results indicated a lack of understanding in the area of print resources, John developed a class to address that area of concern. The assessment tool he developed now serves as Jefferson’s model for SUNY General Education Information Management Assessment requirements.

On campus, John has served on the Committee for Academic Affairs, SUNY General Education Committee, Facilities Master Planning Committee, Affirmative Action Committee and the Library Advisory Committee. Dedicated to professional growth and scholarship, John serves on the membership committee of the Eastern New York Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ENYACRL). He has also been a member of the Regional Automation Committee and the Professional Development Grants Committee of Northern New York Library Network (NNYLN). He is currently a member of the SUNY Librarians Association (SUNYLA) Instruction Committee.

At Jefferson, John also serves as the library liaison to the music, history, political science and technology faculty, both for instruction and collection development. John’s personal interest in the area of popular music is evident in the entries he authored on Eric Clapton and Delbert McClinton in Routledge’s Encyclopedia of the Blues (2006). Additionally, in the community, John volunteers his time as webmaster for the Town of Russell in New York.