Friday Feature • September 8

Friday, September 8, 2023

This week in my Friday feature, I'd like to talk about two amazing faculty members we are lucky to have here at Alfred State, Tammy Brackett and Erin Vitale. I am sure many of you have your own wonderful stories to tell about these two game-changers.

During the first week of classes, I like to try and circulate to say hello to everyone and hear how their week is going. Occasionally, I find a faculty member who is sitting at their desk that I can chat with, but honestly, that doesn't happen often because they are typically engaged in teaching and helping students!

Tammy Brackett was no exception to that. Last week, while circulating about SAMET, I passed by Tammy's office and waived hello. It was apparent that Tammy was deeply engaged with a student, working towards helping the student “figure things out”. I didn't want to linger, but in the brief moments I did pass by, I could see the student's mixture of stress, yet relief, as the wisdom that Tammy communicated brought the student to some level of understanding on a path forward. These first few weeks are just such a critical time for our students. It was so nice to see this student in such good hands. Thank you, Tammy, for the help and guidance you provide both in and out of the classroom!

Thank you also to Erin Vitale, our second incredible faculty who continues to shape the educational experience of our students. While I didn't get to see Erin in person this past week (she must have been busy teaching or doing the dozen other things she does), I did get to see the labs she envisioned in use. The Doc Bruce Lab caught my eye as I passed by. Here, I witnessed the hands-on learning in action that we are so well known for, something that wouldn't have been possible without the spearheading of efforts and vision for the programs that Erin oversees, including Civil Engineering Technology, which is off to a great start. Erin's passion, vision, and action have created the space where she and the rest of our talented faculty within the department can transform lives. Thank you, Erin, for your bold, ambitious, and successful plan for making Alfred State better!

Please join me in recognizing these two amazing professors who are true pioneers in every sense of the word.