Skip to main content


Repost Message will copy the article into draft mode and enable you to edit/change dates and information.
Do not change the dates of this posting because it will affect the original.

MCC Daily Tribune

25th Anniversary of the SUNY Online Summit: MCC Student, Faculty and Staff Kudos

SUNY Online Summit celebrates its 25th Anniversary in New York City at the SUNY Global Center from February 28-March 1, 2024! We had some great representation from the MCC community at the Summit and we wanted to highlight some of the individuals who participated, presented, and received awards. 

We extend kudos to our two MCC students, Aneisha Breiner and Kurtis VonBergen, from the Hospitality department, who were a part of the SUNY Online Student panel. They shared their insights and challenges of learning at a distance and some recommendations on what is helpful to their success. They frequently mention several common themes: they desire a well-organized course in Brightspace, clear expectations, engaged professors, an accessible schedule with predictable due dates, easily accessible materials, quality feedback, and the ability to engage virtually through clubs and activities if available. Students are always appreciative of faculty who reach out to students through email and announcements and encourage them to ask questions. Aneisha gave a shout-out to Professor Rebecca Griffin for her supportive instructor presence during the session!  

The Virtual Campus team celebrates our two newest SUNY Online Ambassadors recognizing their dedication to supporting online education. Congratulations to our 2024 Ambassadors, Brigitte Martineau and Michael Weingart! Each year, the Virtual Campus can nominate two online faculty for this award based on their positive contributions to online learning. Brigitte and Michael have taken a lot of time to learn Brightspace and use it to design their online courses for student engagement. Kudos to both of them for their outstanding work! To see our previous Ambassadors, see Meet the SUNY Online Teaching Ambassadors. 

We also wanted to celebrate this year’s SUNY Online Effective Practices Award winner from MCC, Amy Betti. Amy’s presentation “Using VoiceThread to Assess and Provide Feedback in a Pronunciation Course” was voted 3rd place by community voting! Congratulations to Amy on her work supporting online students through the innovative use of online tools. VoiceThread is an institutional tool that every faculty has access to, so you may reach out to our Virtual Campus team directly if you have questions. See our Virtual Campus Faculty Center with more VoiceThread resources, including resources created by Amy! 

We thank our Virtual Campus team members, Kate Robinson and Abby Bechtel, for moderating virtual sessions during the Summit. We also want to recognize our team member, Jeremy Case, for being the Summit's official photographer! 

Finally, Dr. Andrea Gilbert, Assistant Director of the Virtual Campus, co-presents with Alexandra Pickett, Director of SUNY Online Teaching during the D2L Connections event on March 1, 2024. They showcased their collaborative design work creating templates in the Digital Learning Environment that can be adapted and used by the entire SUNY system. Their presentation titled “OSCQR Quality Standards-Informed Online Course Templates in Brightspace” highlights the embedded connections of the OSCQR rubric standards in the Brightspace templates. If you require a template for new course development, please reach out directly to Andrea Gilbert, as we have a specific template customized for MCC. 

A full set of recordings and materials from the Summit can be found on the website: Recordings and Resources. 

Andrea Gilbert
Instructional Technologies
03/08/2024