Press ReleaseEngaging graduate projects, Cisco executive highlight Marlboro College Graduate Center CommencementBrattleboro, VT August 2006 - What do an online music portal, an automated system for jet engines and an online course in Tibetan medicine have in common? They are all examples of recent Capstone projects, undertaken by students at the Marlboro College Graduate Center. "This is not a drive-through professional master's," says Jacqueline Gens, who defended her Capstone project on Saturday, August 5. "These programs prepare people to do well." She will be graduating, along with 25 other students, on August 20 with a master of arts in teaching with technology. Capstone projects are the culmination of a Marlboro graduate student's studies. They require students to devise creative solutions through the application of information technology to real-world problems. The focus of these enterprises is determined entirely by the individual's interests but they must integrate key concepts from their studies into the project. Take Jacqueline Gens's project as an example. After earning a bachelor's degree in classics from Smith College and a master of fine arts degree in poetry from New England College, she came to the Graduate Center in 2005 to learn the sophisticated web technology that would give her the tools to effectively teach students online. For her Capstone project Gens created an online pilot course, entitled "Foundation in Tibetan Medicine, Part One," for the Shang Shung Institute of America located in Conway, Massachusetts. An enthusiast of Tibetan medicine and culture, Gens had served on the Shang Shung's board of directors since 1984, although she is currently on a leave of absence. By giving her students the underlying ideas of this medicinal approach before they arrive, Gens hopes they will be able to navigate the four-year program at the Shang Shung Institute more successfully. "It is an entrée into Tibetan medicine," she says. "This year's crop of students has been notably strong, as we have seen students for the first time move from static pages and Web sites to much more dynamic learning environments facilitating vibrant collaboration," says director of academic programs Kevin Bell. "As we approach almost a decade at the Grad Center, marrying technical tools with serious analysis of how we teach and learn in partly and fully online classes, we look to keep developing both subject matter and how we study together." Marlboro College Graduate Center's 2006 Commencement will be held in the Whittemore Theater on the Marlboro College campus at 10:30 am on August 20. Reza Mahdavi, vice president of corporate affairs and general manager of the Cisco Global Learning Network, will give the commencement address for the 2006 class. Mahdavi has managed Cisco's business in 96 countries and has overseen the establishment of Cisco operations in more than 33 countries. He is responsible for managing over a billion dollars of Cisco's field sales operations, technical engineering and marketing abroad. In addition, Mahdavi is considered a trusted advisor for many senior government and business leaders in countries including Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Hungary and Russia. |
