Retirees Honored with Emeritus Status
The Herkimer County Community College Board of Trustees recently approved emeritus status for five retiring employees, effective January 1, 2019.
Nora Dusseault joined the campus community 38 years ago, and was promoted through the ranks to associate professor of information systems in 2001. Dusseault served on several standing campus committees, including the Academic Computer Committee and Academic Affairs Committee, as well as the steering committee for the Middle States Self Study.
Paul Dusseault, J.D. was appointed in 1981 as an instructor of business, and was promoted through the ranks, ultimately to professor in 2010. He served on several standing campus committees, including the Library Committee, Scholarship and Writing to Learn Committee, the Paralegal Advisory Board and SUNY Learning Network Experiences Committee. He is also the New York State Teachers’ Retirement delegate for Herkimer College.
Karen Nagle Karen Nagle joined the business faculty in 1984 and retired as an associate professor. Her service included Phi Beta Lambda chapter co-advisor, Enrollment Management Committee co-chair, and membership on the Library and Chancellor’s Award for Excellence committees. Nagle also served as president of the Professional Association, the bargaining unit for faculty and professional staff.
Gale Farley joined the campus community in 1995 as instructor of photographic technology. He was promoted through the ranks, ultimately to professor in 2015. Farley has served as curator for the Cogar Gallery and as an advisor to the Photography Club.
The longest serving faculty member at Herkimer College, William Pelz retired after 50 years of service. He joined the faculty in 1968 as instructor of social science, and was promoted through the ranks to professor in 1980. At one time, Pelz was chairperson of the Humanities/Social Science Division, during which time he founded the first computer-based college learning center. He also has served in the roles of director of learning systems technology, distance learning coordinator, and webmaster. Pelz was a leader in the implementation of the Internet Academy, which now offers 19 degree and four certificate programs entirely online. Pelz served as instructional designer for online learning since 1999. As lead trainer for the SUNY Learning Network (SLN) from 2000 until 2010, Pelz facilitated workshops and provided training to nearly 3,000 new SLN professors in the SUNY system. He also has trained faculty in Chili and South Africa. Pelz has also served as associate editor and content contributor for the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) project. Pelz was named a Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) Fellow in the field of online learning in 2013. He received the Sloan-C Award for Excellence in Online Teaching in 2003, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994 and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2006.
Emeritus status is an honor granted by the Board of Trustees to retired professional, academic and administrative staff members who have demonstrated excellence and commitment to making Herkimer College the exceptional institution it is today.