Student Profile: Clint Porter

http://www1.cuny.edu/news/cm-archive/feb08.pdf

An except from "CUNY Grows Greener," an article in the Feb 2008 CUNY Matters magazine, featuring CUNY BA Program student Clint Porter

1st CUNY Renewable-Energy Grad Powers Up Solar Career

CLINT PORTER was studying photography when he stumbled across a book about the coming hydrogen economy that changed his life. “I wanted to build things and create, which is why I liked art and photography. But then I thought about hydrogen, biofuels, solar and wind, and figured that since people will always be using electricity, I’d always have a job.” He found that no CUNY program offered a course to a bachelor’s degree. That led him to the CUNY Graduate Center’s Baccalaureate Degree Program, which let him stitch together courses in physics, calculus, environmental policy and environmental chemistry from Baruch, City and Hunter Colleges. At the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems, he conducted an energy audit on the federal Million Solar Roofs program. He added three independent study courses and two internships, including one at the Solar Electric Power Association in Washington, D.C. Porter finished his solar-related coursework two years ago,
disposed of lingering English and American literature courses via CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) exams after moving to San Francisco to work in the solar industry, and will receive his BA in Energy Resource Policy in Latin America in January—the first CUNY undergraduate to earn a diploma in renewable energy. He now handles sales, government affairs and marketing for Kaco Solar Inc. USA, part of an international company that manufactures photovoltaic inverters, which turn the direct current generated by solar cells into the alternating current needed for most power uses.“This was an awesome way to study—to have the freedom to educate yourself when a program is not in place to give you what you need,” he said. “I’m 27 and have more experience and knowledge of the industry than people twice my age, most of it because of the CUNY Baccalaureate Program.”

Mohamad Bazzi, a most successful CUNY BA alum!

Read about Mohamad Bazzi, Newsday Middle East bureau chief and current Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, in this issue of The Hunter Word. Bazzi graduated from the CUNY Baccalaureate Program in 1997.

http://www.hunterword.com/articles/149

Degree Verification

On your job applications, resumes, graduate school applications, etc. you MUST identify that you have graduated from THE CUNY BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM. Of course, we know most of you strongly identify with your home college, and so you can include that as well...as your home college (see below for an example).

Why is this important? Because potential employers are likely to call to verify your college degree and if you write that you received your degree from "Brooklyn College" or "Hunter College," that college will receive the call and they will NOT verify your degree because that college did not confer it. Upon graduation, your degree is conferred by the CUNY Baccalaureate Program under the auspices of the Graduate Center. Employers or agencies who need to verify your degree will have to phone the CUNY BA Program (Registrar's Office, 212-817-8227).

How you might indicate your degree on resumes, job applications, etc:

Degree (B.A. or B.S.), Graduation Date, Title(s) of Area of Concentration, The CUNY Bacclaureate Program (Home College: xyz College), any Honors received.

So, if Jane Doe graduated "cum laude" in January 2007 with a B.S. in Nonprofit Accounting while she was at Baruch, her resume might look like this:

B.S., Nonprofit Accounting, January 2007, The CUNY Baccalaureate Program (at Baruch College), cum laude
or
B.S., cum laude, Nonprofit Accounting, January 2007, The CUNY Baccalaureate Program / Home College: Baruch College

Finally, note that we have three different graduation dates each year (September, January, June) so be sure you have the correct month on your records.

For graduate school applications (other than law, medical, dental schools), please use the Program's College Board (CEEB) code: 2479, to indicate the CUNY Baccalaureate Program.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions on this.
Beth Kneller
Deputy Director
bkneller@gc.cuny.edu/212-817-8238

CUNY BA Alumni Now Working at CUNY

If you graduated from the CUNY Baccalaureate Program and are now employeed at CUNY as either a faculty or staff member, please let us know. Contact Lidija Markes, Alumni Affairs Coordinator, lmarkes@gc.cuny.edu or 212-817-8223. Thank you.

Save the Date: CUNY BA at The American Folk Art Museum

You are invited to a special evening for students, staff and friends of the CUNY Baccalaureate Program

Friday, November 16th, 5:30-7:30pm at
The American Folk Art Museum, 45 West 53rd Street, NYC
(between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Free entrance and live music; cash bar and café

An opportunity to mingle and also explore the Museum's permanent collection of traditional and contemporary art, as well as its special exhibition:

"Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel"

The exhibition traces the journey of Jewish woodcarvers and other artisans from Eastern and Central Europe to America and the unsung role they played in establishing a distinct Jewish culture in communities throughout the United States.

(No RSVP is necessary. Guests are welcome.)

Did you know...

That the Majority of CUNY BA Graduates Report that they Find Careers/Employment Directly Related to their Areas of Concentration? Case in Point:

April 2007

Dear CUNY BA Program:

I know you must hear this quite a bit, but I have never been happier in my life, and it is due primarily to the educational experience I was able to have through the CUNY BA program.

My degree in Sociology of Volunteerism is one of the main reasons I was able to get my new job with New York Cares. My interview for the job focused quite a bit on my degree- what I studied, why I studied it, and most importantly how this was even possible. I was proud to sing the praises of the program and describe my own fantastic experiences with it.

In my first weeks here, several people came over to ask me about my degree and tell me how wonderful it was. Again, I was all too eager to discuss the academic challenges I was lucky enough to have and the wonderful program that provided them to me. Most people here had never heard of the program. They all now not only know of it, but are sorry they didn't get their degrees through it!

My job now is directly related to what I studied, as is obvious from the job title. I am primarily responsible for managing the volunteers' records, making sure that they are able to utilize the website and sign up for what they need, as well as recommending volunteer projects to
volunteers who aren't quite sure where to begin. I have been trained to teach the volunteer orientation and will be giving my first one next week.

Perhaps the most exciting part of my job is my participation in New York Cares' role in disaster relief. Along with two of my coworkers, I work with VOAD of New York City (Volunteer Organizations Active In Disaster). I am still very new to this responsibility and still have a
great deal to learn, but basically New York Cares is New York City's primary agency dealing with volunteers who look to provide aid after a disaster. As a part of this responsibility, I will be attending a conference on Disaster Response as a panelist representing New York Cares. I still have a great deal to learn about this new responsibility, but I have no doubt my experience with the CUNY BA program has prepared me well.

Thanks to you, and all the staff for the CUNY BA program, I am working in a field that I studied specifically, and in a career that I love. I'm doing exactly what I want to do, and CUNY BA made it possible. Thank you!

Jaime Denniston-Merced
Manager of Volunteer Relations