Lazy Summer Days? "Not In My Office!"

The long, lazy days of summer may be just a memory now, but for many at the Health Sciences campus, those days were anything but quiet. Summer here is a busy time for many departments because of a variety of programs that take place, not to mention preparation for the coming academic year. During midsummer, the Reporter caught up with a few of those busy folks to record some of the activities of summer 1997.

Donna Gaffney, assistant professor of clinical nursing, School of Nursing
"This is the first year in the history of the school that we've admitted a new class in the summer. The 45 students in this program have undergraduate degrees in another field and are starting a second career. We're offering 60 credits in a calendar year so they will receive their bachelor of science degrees in nursing next May, followed by a summer internship, and then they'll begin the master's program in the fall. They move into the hospital setting in the third week of the summer session. This new curriculum, so far, seems to work very well. In fact, two of our students actually identified life-threatening problems in their patients and helped to save their lives."

Anne Showers, assistant to the dean, Columbia School of Public Health
"The dean never stops working. Fortunately, we aren't short staffed. We have high school students who help out in the summer and they are delightful to have around."

Photos by Jonathan Smith Eva Matos visits with one of the Summer Youth Employment Program site supervisors.

Eva Matos, community affairs assistant
"The heat, the humidity, and the overabundance of human beings is making this one summer to remember! The Summer Youth Employment Program is extremely popular among the youth in this community. For many, this is their first real shot at obtaining some work experience. Presently, there are about 80 participants working in 44 departments throughout CPMC. Considering the number of kids and various departments, things sometimes get a little hectic. Fortunately, most of the participants are grateful for the opportunity to work and departments have been very patient and understanding when problems arise."

Jean Burns, P&S assistant dean and director of student affairs
"Two main projects that keep us extremely busy happen in our office during the summer months. The first is the dean of students' letters, which are letters of recommendation for fourth-year students that are distributed with residency program applications. We are writing 160 letters this time around. The dean's letter is a lengthy narrative of each student's performance at P&S. Writing the letters involves interviewing each student and then dictating letters, each of which is around three pages. The second big project in the summer is preparing for fall semester for more than 600 students. One of our staff members organizes the White Coat Ceremony for entering first-year students. Our office also organizes orientation for new students. It's the busiest season of the year for student affairs."

Kathleen Crowley, director, CPMC Occupational Health Service
"Summer starts off with a bang for us with the new house staff orientation and preplacement evaluations to be done before the start of the academic year. We see more cases of poison ivy, tick bites, sunburns, and summer colds. We also tend to see more needle sticks with the new residents who begin their programs in July. It's just a constant stream of activity here, especially with staff taking summer vacations, which makes those here even busier."

Susan Jacobson, director, Health Sciences Library
"Summer is the time for special projects, especially those that could prove disruptive to library users, such as shifting of volumes in the stacks to accommodate collection growth. We also work on collection projects, review the entire library stacks to be sure that books and journal volumes are correctly shelved, install new equipment for staff and users, and do lots of planning and preparation for the fall semester. In addition, information services staff continue to handle a large number of in-depth research questions to support the ongoing research activities on this campus."

Nancy Duthie, administrator, P&S deans office
"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. As the saying goes, the most important difference between business and academia is that in business it's dog eat dog. In academia it's just the reverse."

Galene Kessin, assistant vice president for human resources
"We get very busy with the July 1 faculty appointments, and to some extent with the new residents and fellows. The reason this makes us busy is because we provide benefits information and forms to these new people. Also in the summer, we have a lot of recent high school and college graduates coming here seeking employment, so our office is always filled with people completing job applications. I wouldn't say, however, that it's particularly busier this time of year because we're pretty much a year-round operation."

Ricardo Morales, lieutenant, Health Sciences Division Security
"In the summer, even though many students are away on break, we always keep the same level of high security in our buildings while patrolling the perimeter of the Health Sciences campus. Crime statistics in the 33rd Police Precinct, which covers the Health Sciences campus, show that crime is down. Columbia University security continues to increase awareness through security awareness discussions, information tables, campus mailings, e-mail, Security News, and with effective crime prevention programs that are available to Columbia affiliates. Upgraded emergency call boxes were installed along West 169th Street and Fort Washington, West 169th Street and Haven Avenue, and Haven Avenue and West 171st Street."

Pat Tobiasen, administrative assistant, P&S admissions office
"Summer is a time of waiting because our acceptance list is not stable. Lots of decisions are made in July, so there's some anticipation here. New students have until the day of orientation in late August to accept the offer to study at P&S. So, it's a little tense. It's also one of our busier times. New applications are coming in, so it's the beginning of our season. We also catch up on lots of administrative work." [And for a little summertime excitement, Ms. Tobiasen went on a wildlife safari in Kenya in August.]

Bash Parvez, manager of support services
and customer relations, facilities
"We're currently looking for a new supervisor to replace David Espaillat, who left Columbia this year after working in the mail room and receiving for 10 years. But I'm happy to report that even short handed we're keeping up with the mail because people are using mailbox numbers, which helps us sort the mail faster and more efficiently. We get a little less mail in the summer, but it really picks up again in September."

Renee Riley, director, Health Sciences Residence Halls
"This summer is not as hectic as last, when we installed the new wiring for the phone and data network lines. Every summer we close the athletic area for five weeks for cleaning and upkeep. This year we were able to reduce the down time by two weeks and by the beginning of July, the facility was up and running again. We are currently busy arranging housing for 350 students who are on their way to campus. Also, we're preparing for a different kind of Welcome Wagon. In conjunction with Fran Pantazis and the various schools' student affairs offices we are incorporating a number of orientation activities at Welcome Wagon. This one-stop-shop concept will not only consolidate activities, but will reduce the amount of running around for students."

Dr. Samuel C. Silverstein, the John C. Dalton Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and professor of medicine
"Every summer for the past seven years, faculty from throughout the University have provided laboratory research opportunities for 20 New York City intermediate and high school science teachers. We believe this program encourages teachers to, in essence, practice what they teach. There are no high school football coaches who have never played football, but there are plenty of science teachers who have never done science other than routine college lab exercises. This program has a qualitatively different effect on teachers' classroom practices than traditional lecture type training, which lacks the laboratory settings that are intellectually and technically challenging. Columbia's program resensitizes teachers to the way their students feel when they encounter unfamiliar scientific terms, concepts, and laboratory equipment. Teachers participate in the program for two consecutive summers and are selected and matched with faculty research mentors by members of the advisory committee of the Summer Research Program for New York City Science Teachers. Funds for teacher stipends and program costs are provided by industrial and private foundation grants."