Five Morrisville State College faculty/staff members were recently honored by the State University of New York and SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher.
Receiving the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching are:
Dr. Kurt Reymers, of Poolville
Dr. Clare Armstrong-Seward, of Smyrna
The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes professors who show outstanding skill in the classroom, scholarship and professional growth, commitment to students and high academic standards.
Receiving the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service is:
Sara Mansfield, of Fayetteville
The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service recognizes outstanding job performance by professional staff in administrative positions and those who have transcended the normal definitions of excellence.
Receiving the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service is:
Mark Whitney, of Morrisville
The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service recognizes faculty members for excellence in teaching techniques, scholarship and professional growth, student services and academic standards.
Receiving the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service is:
Wendy Groves, of Morrisville
MSC Honors Faculty
The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service recognizes employees who have consistently demonstrated superlative performance within and beyond their position.
Reymers, Armstrong-Seward, Whitney, Mansfield and Groves will be recognized during the college’s 102nd commencement ceremony which will be held May 18 at 1 p.m. in the recreation center.
Kurt Reymers
Reymers, associate professor of science, technology and society, joined the social science department in 2002 after working as the college’s Web designer.
Throughout his academic career, he has become known for his regular use of a vast array of multimedia in the classroom and researching and incorporating the latest methodology into his courses.
Reymers’ commitment to teaching is evidenced by his program development and co-coordination of the Science, Technology and Society (STS) bachelor degree program, involvement as faculty advisor of the Music Club, service on the Educational Technology Committee, coordination of the annual STS Symposium, as well as participation in numerous academic committees and task forces. He also served on the College Senate for six years.
A member of the Madison County Citizen’s for Safe Energy and a member and volunteer at Friends of Rogers Environmental Center, he is also an active member of various advisory boards, including the Advisory Board of Interdisciplinary Studies program at SUNYIT, and serves on the Editorial Review Board of the International Journal of Technoethics. He is also an active member of professional organizations, including the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) and the American Sociological Association.
Last year, Reymers was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society. His latest article on Internet ethics, “Chicken Killers vs. Bandwidth Patriots,” is being put into a book volume entitled, “Moral, Ethical, and Social Dilemmas in the Age of Technology: Theories and Practice” (2013 IGI Global Express).
Reymers earned a B.A. in sociology with a minor in philosophy at SUNY Potsdam College, and a M.A. and PhD. in sociology at the University of Buffalo.
He and his wife Suzanne live with their two dogs and four cats in Poolville.
Clare Armstrong-Seward
Armstrong-Seward, assistant professor of criminal justice and chair of the college’s criminal justice department, began her career with MSC at the Norwich campus in 2003, after working in the New York State Department of Correctional Services for 26 years.
MSC Honors Faculty
At MSC she developed numerous courses and programs including the college’s associate and bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice. She also started Alpha Phi Sigma, Mu Beta chapter, an honor society for criminal justice students, and the college’s Criminal Justice Club.
Armstrong-Seward is the recipient of many honors in criminal justice. She is the first woman to receive the New York State Medal of Honor, and was also recognized in a legislative resolution by the New York State Assembly. Both honors were for her courage and bravery handling a hostage situation. She was also profiled by the American Correctional Association in their international magazine Corrections Today as their first “Best in the Business” column series.
Additionally, Armstrong-Seward has taught numerous workshops and courses and has developed and conducted corrections and accreditation training programs. She also represents the American Correctional Association as a consultant, conducting accreditation audits throughout the nation.
In addition to her commitment in the classroom, Armstrong-Seward is dedicated in the community where she is a certified instructor with the Municipal Police Training Council. She has been a volunteer firefighter with the Smyrna Fire Department for 26 years, was a volunteer EMT for 15 years and was also a skills instructor.
Armstrong-Seward is also involved with numerous organizations. She is a member of the Correctional Accreditation Managers Association, the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents, Corrections and Youth Services Association of New York, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and New York State Women in Law Enforcement.
The founder of the Historical Association for Corrections, she is also a member and certified scuba diver for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and Scuba Schools International (SSI), two of the largest scuba diving certification organizations in the world. She has taken numerous advancement courses and extensively studied underwater forensics.
Armstrong-Seward earned an A.A.S. in criminal justice at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, a B.S. in sociology at the State University of New York, College at New Paltz, an M.A. in political science with an emphasis in public policy analysis and administration at Binghamton University, and a D.B.A. in business administration from California Coast University.
She and her husband, Chuck Seward, live in Smyrna.
Mark Whitney
Whitney, professor of humanities, has worked at MSC for 15 years, serving six as chair of the humanities department. A 15-year member of the College Judicial Board, serving now as one of its chairs, he is also a presenter at the college’s summer EOP program and at the college’s E.L.I.T.E. series, a program to provide leadership training for students.
MSC Honors Faculty
Whitney is also the voice of the college’s annual commencement ceremony. His dedication to students earned him “Outstanding Academic Advisor” in 2011.
Whitney’s long-standing record of service is also visible in the community where he has been a Morrisville Village Trustee for 10 years and also served as Deputy Mayor. He is also actively involved with the Morrisville-Eaton School District and teaches an annual presentation, “Teaching Deduction With Fossils,” to science classes at Andrews Elementary School in Morrisville.
Whitney earned a B.A. in speech (broadcasting emphasis) from Colorado State University and an M.A. in speech communications from the University of Wyoming.
Whitney and his wife, Marian, live in Morrisville and have two sons.
Sara Mansfield
Mansfield, mental health counselor in the Morrisville State College Health Center, has worked at the college for seven years.
During that time, she has been instrumental in changing the view of mental health on the campus by empowering students with information such as providing online tools, hosting nationally recognized speakers, and providing numerous outreach programs.
Mansfield has also developed and implemented numerous counseling services policies. She continuously participates in outreach programs across campus to provide mental health education in many diverse settings and on a variety of topics. She has also been involved in annual campus outreach, including organizing a Depression Screening Day.
She has also served the campus in areas beyond her role as counselor. Mansfield has been a member of the adjunct faculty for the School of Liberal Arts for seven years. In addition, she has been an active member of the college senate, serving on the executive committee for two years as parliamentarian.
Mansfield currently serves as the vice president of the Board of Directors, BRiDGES Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Inc., Canastota, and is a past mentor volunteer with Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Onondaga County.
A member of the American Counseling Association, New York State Mental Health Counseling Association, and the American College Counseling Association, she is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and is also a New York State Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor.
Mansfield earned a B.A. in psychology from Alfred University, and an M.S. in counseling and psychological services from the State University of New York at Oswego.
MSC Honors Faculty
Wendy Groves
Groves, administrative assistant in Technology Services, has worked at MSC for 23 years.
Throughout her tenure, she has been involved with numerous campus committees and served on the Morrisville State College Children’s Center Board of Directors for six years. She also served as president of the PTO in the Morrisville-Eaton School District for six years, and is active in her community. Groves is currently the secretary of the Morrisville Rural Cemetery Association. She is also a Stampin’ Up Independent Demonstrator and enjoys scrapbooking, card making and spending time with her family and friends.
Groves earned an A.A.S. degree in secretarial science (now office administration) from the State University of New York at Morrisville.
She and her husband, Andy, live in Morrisville and have one daughter.