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Department of Media and Communication
(options: BA Digital Television and Broadcasting, BA Media and Communication)
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BA Media and Communication (BAMDCM)
BA Digital Television and Broadcasting (BATVB)
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Web Mining Lab
Ph.D. Studies in Communication
SSCI/SCI publications by PhD students during study period since 2008
Peng, T. Q., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2008). Cohort trends in perceived Internet influence on political efficacy in Hong Kong. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(1), February, 75-79. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Yao, M. Z. & Zhang, J. G. (2008). Predicting user concerns about online privacy in Hong Kong.CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11, 779-781. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Zhong, Z. J. (2009). Third-person perceptions and online games: A comparison of perceived antisocial and prosocial game effects. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 4, 286-306. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Peng, T. Q., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2011). Sophistication of Internet usage (SIU) and its attitudinal antecedents: An empirical study in Hong Kong. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 421-431. (Q1 in SSCI-Psychology, Multidisciplinary) [Link to the article]
Peng, T. Q., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2011). A game of win-win or win-lose? - A revisit to the Internet's influence on sociability and use of traditional media. New Media & Society, 13(4), 568-586. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Zhong, Z. J. (2011). From access to usage: the divide of self-reported digital skills among adolescents.Computers and Education, 56(3), 736-746. (Q1 in SSCI-Education & Educational Research) [Link to the article]
Lee, C. C., Li, H. T., Lee, F. L. F. (2011). Symbolic use of decisive events: Tiananmen as a news icon in the editorials of the elite U.S. press. International Journal of Press/Politics, 16(3), 335-356. (Q2 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Zhu, J. J. H., Mo, Q., Wang, F., & Lu, H. (2011). A random digit search (RDS) method for sampling of blogs and other user-generated content. Social Science Computer Review, 29(3), 327-339. (Q1 in SSCI-Social Sciences Interdisciplinary) [Link to the article]
Wu, L. F. (2011). The accelerating growth of online tagging systems. European Physical Journal B. 83(2), 283-287. (Q2 in SCI-Physics, Condensed Matter) [Link to the article]
Song, Y. Y., & Chang, T. K. (2011). Selecting daily newspapers for content analysis in China. Journalism Studie. 13(3), 356-369. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Li, H. T. (2011). Anonymous review as strategic ritual: Examining the rise of anonymous review among mainland Chinese communication journals. Asian Journal of Communication, 21(6), 595-612. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Wu, L. F., & Zhang, J. (2011) Accelerating growth and size-dependent distribution of human online activities. Physical Review E, 84(2), 026113, 1-5. (Q1 in SCI-Physics, Mathematical) [Link to the article]
Zhong, Z. J. (2011). The effects of collective MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) play on gamers' online and offline social capital. Computers in Human Behavior, 27 (6), 2352-2363. (Q1 in SSCI-Psychology, Multidisciplinary) [Link to the article]
Peng T. Q., Zhu, J. J. H., Tong, J. J., & Jiang, S. J. (2012). Predicting Internet nonusers' adoption intention and adoption behavior: A panel study of theory of planned behavior. Information, Communication & Society. 15(8), 1236-1257. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Song, Y. Y., & Chang, T. K. (2012). Legitimizing ruptures of development trajectories: Party press discourse on rural society in transitional China, 1997–2006. International Journal of Press/Politics, 17(3), 316-340. (Q2 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Yi, Y., & Chang, T. K. (2012). Institutionalizing public relations in China: A sociological analysis of the Chinese premier's press conference.Public Relations Review. 38(5), 711-722. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Song, Y. Y. (2012). Shifting journalistic paradigms of American correspondents on contemporary China: The case of Orville Schell. Public Relations Review, 38(5), 796–798. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Peng, T. Q., Zhang, L., Zhong, Z. J., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2013). Mapping the landscape of Internet studies: Text mining of social science journal articles 2000-2009. New Media & Society. 15(5), 644-664. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Peng, T. Q., & Wang, Z. Z. (2013). Network closure, brokerage, and structural influence of journals: A longitudinal study of journal citation network in Internet research (2000-2010). Scientometrics, 97(3), 675-693. (Q1 in SSCI-Informaton Science and Library Science) [Link to the article]
Lin, W. Y., Zhang, X. Z., Jung, J.-Y., & Kim, Y.-C. (2013). From the wired to wireless generation? Investigating teens' Internet use through the mobile phone. Telecommunications Policy. 37(8), 651-661. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Wu, L. F., & Zhang, J. (2013). The decentralized flow structure of clickstreams on the web. European Physical Journal B, 86(6), 266. (Q2 in SCI-Physics, Condensed Matter) [Link to the article]
Zhang, J., & Wu, L. F. (2013): Allometry and dissipation of ecological flow networks. PLoS ONE 8(9): e72525. (Q1 in SCI-Multidisciplinary Science) [Link to the article]
Wang, C. J., Wang, P. P., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2013). Discussing occupying Wall Street on Twitter: Longitudinal network analysis of equality, emotion, and stability. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(9), 679-685. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Zhang, L., Peng, T. Q., Zhang, Y. P., Wang, X. H., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2014). Content or context: Which matters more in information processing on microblogging sites? Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 242-249. (Q1 in SSCI-Psychology, Multidisciplinary) [Link to the article]
Qin, J. (2014). Food and binary oppositions in the Chinese meal system. Society. 51(1), 35-39. (Q4 in SSCI-Social Sciences Interdisciplinary) [Link to the article]
Zhang, X. Z. & Lin, W.-Y. (2014). Political participation in an unlikely place: How individuals engage in politics through social networking sites in China. International Journal of Communication, 8, 21-42. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Wang, Z. Z., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2014). Homophily versus preferential attachment: Evolutionary mechanisms of scientific collaboration networks. International Journal of Modern Physics C, 25 (5), 1440014. (Q4 in SCI-Mathematical Physics) [Link to the article]
Shen, F. & Liang, H. (2014). Do Chinese Internet users care about news? Tracking news consumers on the Internet in a metropolis 2009-2011. Chinese Journal of Communication, 7(1), 60-79. (Q4 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Liang, H. (2014). Coevolution of political discussion and common ground in web discussion forum. Social Science Computer Review, 32(2), 155-169. (Q1 in SSCI-Social Sciences Interdisciplinary) [Link to the article]
Shen, F., & Liang, H. (2014). Cultural difference, social values, or political systems? Predicting willingness to engage in online political discussion in 75 societies. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. (Q2 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Jiang, L. C., Wang, Z. Z., Peng, T. Q., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2014). The divided communities of shared concerns: Mapping the intellectual structure of e-Health research in social science journals. International Journal of Medical Informatics. (Q1 in SCI-Medical Informatics) [Link to the article]
Tu, J. W. & Lee, T. (2014). The effects of media use and interpersonal contacts on the stereotyping of lesbians and gay men in China. Journal of Homosexuality, 61(7), 980-1002. (Q3 in SSCI-Psychology, Multidisciplinary) [Link to the article]
Liang, H. (2014). The organizational principles of online political discussion: A relational event stream model for analysis of web forum deliberation. Human Communication Research, 40(4), 483-507. (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Zhang, L., & Zhu, J. J. H. (2014). Regularity and variability: Growth patterns of online friendships. International Journal of Web Services Research, 11(4), 19-31. (Q4 in SCI-Computer Science, Information Systems) [Link to the article]
Lin, F., Chang, T.-K., & Zhang, X. Z. (2015). After the spillover effect: News flows and power relations in Chinese mainstream media. Asian Journal of Communication 25(3), 235-254 (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Liu, J. & Yao, Z.Y. (2015). How to play the game of intellectual property rights in China: The impact of party affiliation and media location on the use of media frames. Asian Journal of Communication, 25(4), 371-392 (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Qin, J.(2015). Hero on Twitter, traitor on news: How social media and legacy news frame Snowden. International Journal of Press/Politics, 20(2), 166-184 (Q2 in SSCI-Communication) [Link to the article]
Zhang, L., & Peng, T. Q. (2015). Breadth, depth and speed: Diffusion of advertising messages on microblogging sites. Internet Research, 25(3), 453-470. (Q2 in SCI-Computer Science, Information Systems) [Link to the article]
Zhang, X. Z. (2015). Voting with dollars: A cross-polity and multilevel analysis of political consumerism. International Journal of Consumer Studies. 39(5), 422-436 (Q3 in SSCI-Business) [Link to the article]
Qin, J., & Peng, T. Q. (2015). Googling environmental issues: Web search queries as a measurement of public attention on environmental issues. Internet Research, 26(1):57-73. (Q2 in SSCI-Business) [Link to the article]
Cao, B. L., & Lin, W.Y. (2015). How do victims react to cyberbullying on social networking sites? The influence of previous cyberbullying victimization experiences. Computers in Human Behavior. 52, 458-465. (Q1 in SSCI-Psychology, Multidisciplinary)
Gong, W. Q., Tu, C. X., & Jiang, L. C. (2015). Stigmatized portrayals of single women: A content analysis of news coverage on single women and single men in China. Journal of Gender Studies. Doi: 10.1080/09589236.2015.1095082 (Q2 in SSCI-Women Studies) [Link to the article]
Zhang, X., & Lin, W.-Y. (accepted). Hanging together or not? Impacts of social media use and organisational membership on individual and collective political actions. International Political Science Review. (Q2 in SSCI-Political Science)
Lin, W.-Y., Zhang, X., Song, H.-Y., & Omori, K. (2015). Health information seeking in the Web 2.0 age: Trust in social media, uncertainty reduction, and self-disclosure. Computers in Human Behavior. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.055. (Q1 in SSCI-Psychology, Multidisciplinary)
Bernadas, M. J., & Jiang, L. C. (2015). Of and beyond medical consequences": Exploring health information scanning and seeking behaviors of Filipino domestic service workers in Hong Kong. Health Care For Women International, 37(8), 855-871. (Q2 in SSCI-Womens Studies) [link to the article]
Zhu, Q. (2015). Citizen-driven international networks and globalization of social movements on Twitter. Social Science Computer Review. doi: 10.1177/0894439315617263 (Q1 in SSCI-Social Sciences Interdisciplinary) [link to the article]
Skoric, M., Zhu, Q., Goh, D., & Pang, N. (2016). Social media and citizen engagement: A meta-analytic review. New Media and Society. doi: 10.1177/1461444815616221 (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Skoric, M., & Zhu, Q. (2015). Social media and offline political participation: Uncovering the paths from digital to physical. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, edv027. doi: 10.1093/ijpor/edv027 (Q2 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Skoric, M., Zhu, Q., & Pang, N. (2016). Social media, political expression, and participation in Confucian Asia. Chinese Journal of Communication. doi: 10.1080/17544750.2016.1143378 (Q4 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Jiang, L. C. & Gong, W. (2016). Counteracting the indirect influence: The responses of single Chinese women to prejudicial media portrayals of single womanhood. Chinese Journal of Communication. Doi: 10.1080/17544750.2016.1143852 (Q4 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Jiang, L. C., Yang, M., & Wang, C. J. (2016) Self-disclosure to parents in emerging adulthood examining the roles of perceived parental responsiveness and separation–individuation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 34(4), 425-445 doi:10.1177/0265407516640603 (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Liu, Q., Yao, M. Z., Yang, M., & Tu, C. (2017). Predicting users' privacy boundary management strategies on facebook. Chinese Journal of Communication. 10(3), 295-311 doi:10.1080/17544750.2017 .1279675 (Q4 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Zhu, Q., Skoric, M., & Shen, F. (2017). I shield myself from thee: Selective avoidance on social media during political protests. Political Communication (Q1 in SSCI-Communication)
Zeng, Y. (2017). Detached disseminator, populist watchdog and facilitative change agent: The professional role perception of foreign correspondents in China. Journalism doi:10.1177/1464884917724055 (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Kasadha, J. (2017). Information technology to support digitally networked action in developing economies: A case of Nyanzi's #Pads4GirlsUg campaign. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries. doi:10.1002/isd2.12009 (Q3 in CSIS-Information System) [link to the article]
Song, Y., Lu, Y., Chang, T. & Huang, Y. (2017). Polls in an authoritarian space: reporting and representing public opinion in China. Asian Journal of Communication, 27(4), 339-356. doi: 10.1080/01292986.2016.1261362 (Q2 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Madrid-Morales, D., Wasserman H. (2017). Chinese media engagement in South Africa: What is its impact on local journalism? Journalism Studies, 10.01.2017, 1-18. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2016.1266280 (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Zhang, N. & Skoric, M.M. (2018). Media use and environmental engagement: examining differential gains from news media and social media. International Journal of Communication, 12, 380-403. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Skoric, M., Zhu, Q. & Lin, J.-H. (2018). What predicts selective avoidance on social media? A study of political unfriending in Hong Kong and Taiwan. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(8) 1097-1115. doi:10.1177/0002764218764251 (Q1 in SSCI-Sociology and Political Science) [link to the article]
Zhu, Q., Skoric, M., & Peng, TQ. (2018). Citizens' use of the Internet and public service delivery: A longitudinal study of the first-level administrative divisions in China (1997-2014). International Journal of Public Administration in the Digital Age (IJPADA), 5(3), 32-42. doi:10.4018/IJPADA.2018070103 (Q3 in SSCI-Public Administration) [link to the article]
Madrid-Morales, D., & Gorfinkel, L. (2018). Narratives of contemporary Africa on China global television network's documentary series faces of Africa. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 53(6), 917-931. doi.org/10.1177/0021909618762499 (Q3 in SSCI-Development) [link to the article]
Wasserman H., & Madrid-Morales, D. (2018). How influential are Chinese media in Africa? An audience analysis in Kenya and South Africa. International Journal of Communication, 12, 2212–2231. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Xia, C. L., & Shen, F. (2018). Political participation in Hong Kong: The roles of news media and online alternative media", International Journal of Communication, 12, 1569-1590. (Q3 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Zhu, J. J. H., Chen, H. X., Peng, T. Q., Liu, X. F., Dai, H. X. (2018). How to measure sessions of mobile phone use? Quantification, evaluation, and applications. Mobile Media and Communication, 6(2), 02 February 2018, 215-232. doi:10.1177/2050157917748351 (Q1 in SSCI-Communication) [link to the article]
Bachelor of Arts - Media and Communication (BAMDCM)
Bachelor of Arts - Digital Television and Broadcasting (BATVB)


A spectacular hill station located at an altitude of more than 2750 metres, Ladakh has gained tremendous popularity among tourists in recent times. There are several scenic landscapes in this region that are set against the backdrop of beautiful snow-clad mountains. It is also characterized by an underlying silence, which has a calming effect on visitors. Leh is the capital city of Ladakh, which has several Buddhist monasteries and a population that welcomes every guest with a smile. Today, there are many tour operators who offer exciting Leh Ladakhtour packages for tourists who want to explore this fabulous region. Individuals and couples visiting this region can also get a glimpse of Ladakh's rich culture during Hemis festival, which is quite popular in this region. A sacred dance called 'Chaam', performed by masked Buddhist monks on this occasion attract a huge audience comprising of locals and tourists. Adventure seekers can indulge in various activities like white water rafting, trekking and jeep safaris.
There are many tourist attractions in Leh-Ladakh that can charm its visitors with its natural and man-made features. First in the list is Shey monastery, which is located on the banks of Indus River. It is wonderfully crafted with Tibetan-style carvings and showcases a blue-haired Buddha made of copper and brass. Thiksey monastery, located at a distance of 30-40 minutes drive from Leh, is another great example of Ladakh's architecture. It has marvellous wall paintings and carvings of Buddha's teachings and ideas on a large pillar. Thiksey Festival attracts plenty of tourists and Buddhist devotees every year and is held with great zest. Stok Palace Museum, which is located at a distance of 14 kilometres from Leh, has several royal artefacts and ancient Buddhist remains. Travel companies that offer Honeymoon packages in Leh Ladakh for newly-weds also include Nubra valley, which is a picturesque region located about 150 kilometres from the city of Leh. It is situated at about 10,000 feet above sea level and almost seems like a heavenly place for those visiting this amazing tourist destination. Alchi, Uletokpo and Drass are some of the other places that are included in tour packages to Ladakh offered by different travel companies.
Certain precautions have to be taken by tourists who visit Ladakh for enjoying their trip to this fabulous region. It is advisable not to take kids below the age of five as they may encounter acclimatization problems. Visitors must carry certain medicines such as Diomax and Disprin with them and drink plenty of water during their trip. Consumption of tobacco and alcohol must be completely avoided as oxygen levels in Ladakh region is very low and would lead to a hangover. This is especially true in case of trekking expeditions which involve trips to places situated at high altitudes. Many travel companies which provide LehLadakh holiday packages for tourists always take utmost care to ensure that these instructions are followed. Taking proper precautions would help tourists to have a pleasant and memorable tour of this enchanting region.


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The Capital Regional District has issued a boil water advisory for the Wilderness Mountain Water Service Area in East Sooke. (Katja Just - Pixabay.com)
Boil water advisory issued in East Sooke
Apr. 21, 2021 11:42 a.m.
It's better to boil and be safe than sorry you didn't.
The Capital Regional District, in conjunction with Island Health, issued a boil water advisory on April 20 for the Wilderness Mountain Water Service Area, which provides drinking water for 73 residential lots near the top of Mount Matheson in East Sooke.
The treated water turbidity is elevated as a result of high turbidity water originating from the surface water source at Wilfred Reservoir, said Shayne Irg, senior manager of water infrastructure operations for CRD Integrated Water Services.
Higher turbidity, or cloudier than normal water due to algae activity, is the usual driver for an advisory of this nature, Irg said.
"You probably wouldn't see it with the naked eye," he added.
The last boil water advisory, which is not unusual for the service area, was about two years ago.
Household tap water should be boiled vigorously for one minute to disinfect it until further notice.
The advisory will be removed when Island Health is satisfied the drinking water does not pose a health concern. Customers of the Wilderness Water Mountain Service Area will be notified when the notice is lifted.
Updates on the advisory will be provided if there is a change in information. Check crd.bc.ca/alerts for updates.
For more information on boil water advisories, tap into islandhealth.ca/boilwater.
editor@sookenewsmirror.com
Drinking waterEast Sooke
Janitors at Uptown Shopping Centre in Saanich vote to strike
15-year-old choked in Beacon Hill tent, Victoria police assaulted while intervening

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Chef Ming Tsai whips up delectable East-West dishes in this collection of episodes from his popular cooking show. Beginners and pros alike can create delicious meals using Ming's Master Recipes -- rubs, pastes and vinaigrettes -- which use no more than eight ingredients and serve as the basis for a variety of dishes. The program features guest chefs, food and wine pairings, shopping excursions and tips on selecting the freshest ingredients.


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El solitari olomao  (Myadestes lanaiensis) és un ocell de la família dels túrdids (Turdidae).

Hàbitat i distribució
Habita els boscos de les muntanyes les illes Hawaii, a Molokai. Antany també habitava Lanai i Oahu.

Taxonomia
La extinta subespècie d'Oahu ha estat considerada una espècie diferent per alguns autors:
 Myadestes woahensis (Bloxam, A, 1899) - solitari amaui

Referències

olomao

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home Page / Cannvas / News / Poll shows deep opposition to City of Vancouver crackdown on marijuana dispensaries
Poll shows deep opposition to City of Vancouver crackdown on marijuana dispensaries
Vision Vancouver's decision to clip the wings of marijuana dispensaries could exert a political price. That's because a poll by
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Canncentral News
Vision Vancouver's decision to clip the wings of marijuana dispensaries could exert a political price.
That's because a poll by Nanos shows that only 10 percent support the City of Vancouver's ban on edibles in licensed dispensaries, whereas 85 percent were opposed.
Only 23 percent of respondents supported the city requirement that dispensaries must be twice the distance from schools as liquor stores. Sixty percent were opposed.
The poll was financed by Sensible Change Society, which supports decriminalization of marijuana.
Nanos also reported that just 22 percent support the city's prohibition on consuming cannabis inside dispensaries, whereas 71 percent were against.
And only 14 percent agreed with the city's decision to impose a $30,000 annual licensing fee on marijuana dispensaries.
The results were obtained from a telephone survey of 400 Vancouver residents between June 3 and June 8 who were 18 or older. According to Nanos, the poll's margin of error is plus or minus five percent, 19 times out of 20.


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MEDICAL SOS 100 N, 1650 E - Ch 30
Looking at Kulo floating in the sea, John sensed there was something else wrong with this magnificent creature. The whale seems utterly exhausted, barely moving, except with the waves, yet strangely content in this immobile state. He dialled up Steve Green's mobile using international code prefix. The wonder of modern communications is that, provided money is no object, you can speak with anyone, anywhere in the world. This is one of those emergencies where he breaks his own rules; his hunches are rarely wrong.
"Hey Steve is that you." Steve had been sleeping. Chasing that elusive story with a camera crew on dried food rations and cereal bars, had taken it's toll. Yawning, he mustered his strength and tried to focus on his wristwatch.
"Ya buddy, who else." "Don't tell me the whale is dead?" Desperately hoping he was wrong.
"No, but we've found it and something's not quite right. I need a marine biologist urgently - I know, it's a tall order."
Steve sat bolt upright in his makeshift bed, suddenly awake. To a reporter, this was another great twist. He felt suddenly ashamed. This was an animal they cared about, not something to capitalise on because it was dying. The guilt feeling lasted only fleetingly. Reporters cannot afford to get to involved with the subject of their reports, no matter what the topic, it' part of their training.
"How bad? No don't worry, I've got an idea. Call you back."
"Wait." Said Storm, and he went on to describe his observations, ending with "make it quick."
As he dressed hastily Steve Green's thoughts were racing. He threw on his trusty brown leather jacket while skipping to the coffee pot, and poured a generous helping, with plenty of sugar and milk to make the dubious brew instantly drinkable. He fumbled for his mobile, then scrolled down his list of contacts and dialled.
"Sorry, he's on another line can I…."
"Tell him it's urgent, Steve, about Kulo…"
"Hi Steve, Tom here."
"Tom, we've got a situation and need a marine biologist. Any ideas?"
"Uh, well I know there's a biologist on Oc. But, how to get her to – where?" "Hey, what's in this for us?" There were a few moments of silence while each man paused for thought.
"Tell you what Tom, you arrange for all the support we – that's John, his crew, and myself and Charley need to pull this off, and you can have an exclusive. That's for as long as I can reasonably hold off my existing contacts. Okay?"
"Not good enough. We'd need the exclusive to conclusion – whatever that is."
"Come on Tom, you know I've obligations, and we don't know how this'll turn out. You know I'll do my best for you, if I say I will." Tom thought for a minute. Steve had not let him down in the years he'd known him. He was the last of an honourable breed of reporter, wished there were more like him. It was a no-brainer.
"Yuh, sorry old chum, I'm so used to all those regular bozos who say anything to get you, then don't deliver." "I know where you're coming from Tom, but have we got a deal."
"Is there any need to ask; of course. I'll get back to you."
"Hey, keep a lid on the location."
"Need to know Steve, need to know."
John scanned the instruments, checked the radar and weatherfax, made sure the course matched the digital log, then couldn't contain himself any longer. "Dan, keep on the coms, handing over the phone, I'm going to check on Kulo." With that, he went outside and began fitting fins and snorkel. ……..
It seemed like they'd been waiting forever. John had been in and out of the sea like a yoyo, but he seemed to have a calming effect on Kulo, so he didn't mind a bit; the whale had a claming effect on him. Dan kept a weather eye open for communications, then finally the phone sounded.
"Elizabeth Swan, hello, Dan speaking."
"Swan, hi Dan there's a helicopter on it's way toting a full on cetacean expert.
"Thanks Steve, what's he like?"
"You let me know later. Just concentrate on the job in hand. We'll return this biologist to Ocean Shepherd. A volunteer dived straight in without being asked." Dan relayed the message to John as soon as he surfaced.
"A bloke called Hall is on his way."
Finally, a helicopter appeared as a speck on the horizon, getting larger, and then audible. John lowered the turbine boom all the way down. The helicopter was suddenly upon them, blowing a gale from its blades and throwing sea spray sideways. The Elizabeth Swan rocked from the buffeting. The pilot gave a thumbs up signal, which John returned. Inside the Seaking, the pilot turned back to his passenger.
"You ready." The marine biologist had hurriedly tumbled into a flight suit the pilot had provided. It was almost made to measure, a fact the pilot was taking in rather more than he should have.
"I just need my bag please, and I'm ready – thanks." The winch operator clipped the volunteer in and checked the safety straps were all fastened and nodded approval. Then he slid the side door open.
It was suddenly very draughty and noisy. What's a volunteer have to put up with these days, thought the volunteer. Looking down over the helicopter rails to see John Storm standing on top of the strangest looking boat. It looked even more intriguing close up. The deep blue panels spelled spaceship.
"Here we go then," said the winchman. He pulled the biologist in front of him and said,
"don't look down," which was the first thing Hall did of course, but it was too late by then. Hall was over the side swinging by a harness. The volunteer clenched the wire to steady for a controlled landing. John went to catch him, but he was swinging away. Then the boat heaved back and he caught him, nearly going over in the process and noticing for the first time the shapely tight fitting suit, unmistakably filled out by a voluptuous woman. The biologist was now firmly on board. John unclipped her harness and looked at Suki Hall for the first time. Suki steadied herself and looked back. They studied each other. John was expecting a man and Suki hadn't known what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised.
"Oi, come on you two," shouted the winchman. All they heard was a mumble in the downdraught, but the message was clear. John let go the harness and signaled a thumbs up, shouting up
"Welcome aboard Miss Hall."
"Why thank you Mr Storm?"
"Yes, that's me, come and meet Dan and our patient." He could hardly suppress a smile, nor take his eyes off the curviest flight suit he'd ever seen. Though as soon as he saw Kulo all thoughts were back on the rescue.


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text:
Product Security Engineer
San Francisco / New York / Remote | Full-time
We build simple yet innovative consumer products and developer APIs that shape how everybody interacts with money and the financial system.
San Francisco / New York / Remote
We believe the way people interact with their finances will drastically improve in the next few years. We're dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and infrastructure developers need to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. We work with thousands of companies like Venmo and SoFi, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. Plaid's network covers 11,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Salt Lake City, Washington D.C., London and Amsterdam.
The mission of Plaid's Product Security Team is "Improve customer trust by assuring secure development and delivery of our products and services, identification and mitigation of the security risks, and constantly improving product security process and policies."We achieve this by implementing controls that ensure security in the CI/CD pipeline ensuring security measures are available by default, measuring effectiveness and adjusting controls. We also do Security Reviews, Threat Modeling, build Secure Architecture and reduce risk to the platform.
As a Security Engineer on the Product Security team, you will work with the Engineering team to build Secure Products, ensuring security controls are available by default and educating stakeholders on best practices and standards. You will also detect vulnerabilities and triage them with appropriate owners, use vulnerability remediation tools and practices, and follow compliance standards and frameworks. Major projects may include building/installing application security testing tooling, refining vulnerability management, runtime protection, and coordinating with other Security and Engineering teams to standardize Security policies and standards.
We're guided by our principles including impact, growing together, embracing openness and positivity, inventing tomorrow; we're looking for leaders who are motivated by those same principles.
Secure Architecture and Coding practices, that may include design reviews, threat modeling, code auditing, and security assessments on Products/Application developed in-house or externally.
Use AST tools to identify security vulnerabilities and remediate them early in the Development Lifecycle.
Build automation for detecting and responding to security vulnerabilities in CI/CD pipeline.
Expertise in security engineering, system or network security, security protocols, cryptography, and application security.
Passion to advocate and implement Secure SDLC.
Conduct Application penetration testing using tools such as: Metasploit, Kali Linux, Burp Suite, etc.
Identifying product coding/configuration flaws, and how attackers might exploit them.
Evaluate technologies for improving security defenses.
Communication in a friendly, supportive manner with software engineers or other stakeholders, helping to not only identify security issues, but also a mentor and advocate on solutions.
Background working in Product Security/Application Security team, protecting scalable enterprise/cloud applications.
History of implementing Product security best practices across SaaS services and applications.
Familiarity with working on security incidents/events and to investigate, remediate and respond to potential threats.
Run PoC's for potential new security controls/tools and determine their effectiveness.
Experience working on crypto primitives, authentication protocols, and authorization standards (Eg: SSL/TLS, SAML, OAuth, JWT tokens), and implementations within most major cloud providers, preferably AWS.
Experience with containers (Docker) and Container Orchestration Systems (Kubernetes/ECS), and specifically container security.
Experience working with IT/Technical teams to roll out security controls across the Enterprise.
Familiarity with security frameworks and risk-based security programs.
Experience using scripting to improve security controls and investigations.
Experience with the risks associated with financial technology companies.
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text:
Meeting of the Board of Regents | October 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - 9:10am
Subcommittee on State Aid
Johanna Duncan-Poitier
Regents Proposal on State Aid to School Districts for School Year 2009-10
Issue for Discussion
What are promising directions for the Regents State Aid proposal concerning BOCES? Are there other recommendations from the Governor's commissions on local government efficiency and competitiveness and property tax relief that the Regents should consider incorporating? What do representatives of educational associations recommend the Regents include in their State Aid proposal? What should the Regents proposal be for foundation aid? Other aid recommendations? Recommendations for mandate relief or cost savings?
Reason(s) for Consideration
At their June meeting, the Regents Subcommittee on State Aid reviewed information on the Report of the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness and the interim report of the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief. Attachment A presents background information on BOCES and selected commission recommendations for purposes of identifying proposals for inclusion in the Regents State Aid proposal. It also lists recent Regents proposals in these areas.
On October 8, members of the Subcommittee sought advice from representatives of New York State educational associations on the Regents State Aid proposal. Vice-Chancellor Tisch and Regents Tallon, Bowman, Tilles and Bendit attended. Attachment B provides a summary of the meeting and policy questions that staff have identified to help the Subcommittee further develop their proposal.
A discussion of the Regents 2009-10 State Aid proposal will come before the Subcommittee on State Aid at its October 2008 meeting.
In preparation for the development of the Regents proposal on state aid to school districts for school year 2009-10, the Regents Subcommittee discussed legislative action on state aid for 2008-09 at their May meeting and recommendations of the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness and the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief at their June meeting. In September, the Subcommittee discussed Foundation Aid and Contracts for Excellence. Members of the Subcommittee met with the Department's education finance advisory group on October 8.
Recommendations concerning Foundation Aid, Contracts for Excellence and cost-efficient strategies are being considered for inclusion in the Regents State Aid proposal for 2009-10.
For discussion purposes.
This discussion will inform the development of the Regents State Aid proposal to occur from now until the Regents approve their State proposal in late 2008.
BOARDS OF COOPERATIVE
A REPORT TO THE REGENTS
Overview of BOCES
Selected Executive Commission Recommendations
Regents Proposals
Selected BOCES Programs and Cooperative Activities
The State Aid Work Group
Executive commissions on local government efficiency and effectiveness and property tax relief have made recommendations concerning BOCES and mandate relief for school districts and BOCES. This report for discussion by the Regents Subcommittee on State Aid presents background on BOCES, selected commission recommendations, recent Regents proposals on these topics, and descriptions of selected BOCES programs and cooperative activities. The report is intended to inform the Regents Subcommittee on State Aid as they consider recommendations for inclusion in the Regents proposal on State Aid to school districts for school year 2009-10.
BOCES .................................................................................................................. 3
Selected Recommendations ........................................................................... 6
Commission on Local Government Efficiency
and Competitiveness ............................................................................. 6
Central High School ...................................................................... 6
Regional High School ................................................................... 6
Regional School Transportation Services .................................. 6
Central Business Office Demonstration ...................................... 7
Regional Collective Bargaining ................................................... 7
Commissioner to Mandate Reorganization ................................ 7
Cities with Populations Over 125,000 Eligible for
Membership in BOCES (New York City excepted). .................. 7
Commission on Property Tax Relief .................................................. 8
Centralize and Streamline School District Reporting ................ 8
Rescind the Statutory Cap on the BOCES District
Superintendent Salaries ............................................................... 8
Establish a BOCES Statewide Energy Purchasing Program
to Save Energy Costs ................................................................... 8
Provide Greater Sharing through BOCES Beyond what
BOCES is Legally Allowed to Provide ........................................ 8
Regents Proposals ............................................................................................ 9
Streamlining School District Planning and Reporting ............... 9
Give the Big Four City School Districts access to BOCES
Services .......................................................................................... 9
Make Improvements to BOCES Aid ........................................... 9
Eliminate the Salary Cap on District Superintendents ............ 10
Selected BOCES Programs and Cooperative Activities ........................ 11
Broome-Tioga BOCES: Alternative Education Programs .......... 11
OCM BOCES: Reading Recovery .................................................. 12
Career Academy ......................................................................... 13
Science Center ............................................................................ 14
Special Education: Technical Assistance Service .................. 14
Madison Oneida BOCES: Cooperative Bidding Service ............ 15
Broome-Tioga BOCES: Central Business Office ........................ 16
Energy Savings ........................................................................... 17
Erie 1 BOCES: Health Benefits Plan Trust ................................... 18
The following are basic features of Boards of Cooperative Educational Services as New York State has created them in the law and used them historically.
The Creation of BOCES
The Legislature created BOCES in 1948. A BOCES is an organization of school districts in a Supervisory District formed for the purpose of providing, on a shared basis, certain education services and facilities which can be more effectively and efficiently organized on a regional basis. As a creature of statute, BOCES exist to provide supplemental shared educational programs and services at the request of school districts. BOCES have no taxing authority and cannot borrow money or offer high school diplomas. There are currently 37 BOCES in New York State.
Each shared service is called a CO-SER (cooperative service agreement) of which there are hundreds. Each CO-SER is approved by SED staff on behalf of the Commissioner for each BOCES according to criteria guidelines written by Department staff, based on Education Law Section 1950, Commissioner's Regulations, and advice of counsel.
The primary focus of BOCES is educational services to support and enhance the program of local school districts. In providing non-educational services, the intent of the Legislature in creating BOCES, was that they should not compete with the private sector, both in the kinds of services they provide and in only providing these services to school districts.
Although the bulk of BOCES work involves cooperative services approved by the Department, BOCES may engage in other activities that do not involve CO-SERS and are not approved by the Department. Examples of such cooperative activities are provided.
The Purpose of BOCES
The purpose of BOCES is to:
Allow districts which do not have sufficient numbers of students to support a program individually to join with others and receive shared educational services and instruction
Respond to school district needs permitted by Education Law;
Develop effective and efficient programs to create economies of scale which result in cost savings, and
Promote State initiatives through the role of the District Superintendent.
BOCES Aid
The Legislature provides aid on some services, which is a powerful incentive for districts to use BOCES services. When the State provides aid, it is calculated on a spend-to-get basis so that the more a district spends the more aid it gets. There is a state and local share of spending on BOCES services that the State aids. Aid is equalized so that low-wealth districts receive more aid than high-wealth districts. Here is how it works:
In the spring, each district's board of education selects BOCES services for the upcoming school year;
BOCES staff deliver the shared services to participating districts and the districts pay BOCES;
The following school year, BOCES Aid is calculated for each school district based on the cost of services;
The aid is a state share based on a formula based on district wealth or tax rate (millage) measures;
The aid is paid directly to the BOCES;
BOCES returns money not spent on BOCES administration, facilities and services to districts at the end of each fiscal year.
BOCES have over 30,000 employees and a projected expenditure for 2007-08 of $2.5 billion. BOCES Aid appropriated in 2007-08 for 2006-07 shared services equaled $628 million.
District Superintendents
BOCES are administered by District Superintendents who are jointly selected by the BOCES board and the Commissioner. District Superintendents are chief executive officers of the BOCES, regional representatives of the Commissioner, and the educational leader for local districts.
BOCES Programs and Cooperative Activities
Attachment A provides descriptions of a sample of selected BOCES programs and other cooperative activities that BOCES are involved with. These include:
Alternative Education programs provide a common positive school culture which focuses on maximizing student potential and providing academically rigorous courses, career opportunities, and a clear post secondary plan upon completion.
Reading Recovery programs serve the lowest achieving first grade students with one-to-one individualized daily sessions with a trained Reading Recovery teacher for 30 minutes a day over 12 to 20 weeks.
CareerAcademy is a high school program for at risk students which offers a rigorous curriculum of exploring different career paths through career exploration and smaller class sizes that foster positive relationships.
Special Education (Technical Assistance Service) provides district based support and consultation services to help district staff better serve students with more specialized needs so that those students may remain in the district and be successful.
Cooperative Bidding service provides bid coordination for participating districts and BOCES to help generate cost savings through large quantity purchasing and handling of all aspects of bid preparation and solicitation.
Central Business Office provides shared business office services to participating districts to reduce costs, eliminate duplication and create consistency among districts in the manner in which they carry out such services and functions.
Energy Savings describes a program that provides administrative functions for the New York School and Municipal Energy Consortium which includes the bidding process for natural gas and electricity for participating school districts and municipalities and has allowed participants to realize substantial cost savings by procuring these items as a group. This program is operated under an inter-municipal agreement.
The Erie 1 BOCES Health Benefits Plan Trust is a cooperative effort on the part of school districts and the BOCES to control cost and maintain employee benefits. This program is governed by the New York Insurance Department.
and Competitiveness
Recommendations Regarding
BOCES and School District Reorganization
The following are selected recommendations made by the Executive Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness in their 2008 report.
CentralHigh School District
Amend state law to allow for the creation of central high school districts containing more than one high school. Modeled after central high school districts operating in Nassau County, these districts are independent districts which operate the secondary schools with the authority to borrow and award high diplomas, while component K-6 districts operate the elementary schools and levy taxes to support both the central high school district and the elementary schools. BOCES could be used as a management company to operate such school districts.
Amend state law to allow for the creation of regional high schools composed of students from more than one school district. Modeled after the Tech Valley High School in East Greenbush, the regional high school is provided by BOCES. Districts can opt to send students and receive BOCES Aid. The sending school district awards the high school diploma and the regional high school has no authority to tax or borrow.
Regional SchoolTransportation Services
To reduce the cost of transporting non-public school students and students with disabilities within a BOCES region, school districts could jointly provide transportation for students crossing district lines or with similar needs. In addition, BOCES could offer transportation administration services to school districts on a regional basis as a shared service to increase the efficiency of routing and reduce the cost of administration. The State should facilitate a demonstration project or projects to determine the effectiveness of this approach and whether it should be adopted for statewide use.
4. Central Business Office Demonstration
To encourage the use of BOCES for back-office school district operations like payroll and purchasing, the state should facilitate a demonstration project that will serve as a model for school districts in other BOCES regions.
5. Regional Collective Bargaining
Provide for a regional collective bargaining contract negotiated by BOCES, to which school districts could opt in. These regional contracts would be phased in as current contracts expire and would initially apply only to new hires, with existing employees "grandfathered" for some term.
6. Commissioner to Mandate Reorganization
Give the Commissioner of Education discretionary authority to order consolidation of school districts based on reviews triggered by objective standards, including but not limited to size in pupils and geography, declining enrollment, limited educational programs, ability to achieve fiscal savings, and high tax burden. The Commissioner's order in each case would require a thorough review, the approval of the Board of Regents, and a public hearing in the area affected by the consolidation.
Cities with populations over 125,000 eligible for membership in BOCES (New York City excepted).
Make the big city school districts eligible for membership in BOCES, with the understanding that a variety of other changes would have to accompany it.
Commission on Property Tax Relief
BOCES and School Districts (Preliminary Report)
Centralize and streamline school district reporting
Create a single unit at the State Education Department responsible for all school district reporting, charged with responsibility for streamlining and consolidating all reporting. In addition, there would be no new legislative mandates or regulatory mandates from the State Education Department without a complete accounting of the fiscal impacts on local governments.
Rescind the statutory cap on the BOCES District Superintendent salaries.
The current statutory cap on the district superintendent salaries is linked to the salary of the Commissioner of Education in such a way that ensures the district superintendent salaries remain aligned with the Commissioner's 2003-04 salary. This salary level has proved to be an obstacle to hiring and retaining the BOCES superintendents in wealthier areas of the state where school district superintendents' salaries are either on par or higher.
Establish a BOCES statewide energy purchasing program to save
energy costs.
The commission encourages the expansion or replication of the New York State Energy Municipal Cooperative of the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES (see Appendix A for a description of this program). This cooperative is a corporation established under Article 5G of General Municipal Law to coordinate the purchase of natural gas and electricity for local governments in the regions served by National Grid and the New York State Electric and Gas.
Provide greater sharing through BOCES beyond what BOCES is legally allowed to provide.
BOCES are primarily limited to providing shared services related to education for two or more school districts. This recommendation is suggested by way of testimony presented to the Commission and is not a formal recommendation of the Commission. The suggestion is that BOCES could share with school districts, public libraries and/or municipalities products and services such as:
Broadband width;
Assisting with implementing energy efficient buildings;
Sharing transportation and maintenance; and
Processing payroll or purchasing.
The following are recent Regents proposals concerning topics addressed by the two executive commissions.
Streamlining school district planning and reporting. The Regents have recommended a mandate relief bill for school districts that would eliminate duplicative reporting and give the Commissioner authority to continue to upgrade and streamline school district and BOCES planning and reporting. Streamlining will also help the Department, BOCES and district staff to use information more strategically and comprehensively.
Give the Big four city school districts access to BOCES services. The Regents 2008-09 State Aid proposal recommended that the State give the Big Four city school districts (Yonkers, Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo) the authority to contract with a neighboring BOCES for services in critical service areas that are strong in BOCES and weak in the city district and to pay BOCES Aid for such expenses. The Regents recommended the State provide a corresponding increase in aid to the New York City school district to allow it to fund similar programs within the city district without BOCES. Such regional services can include:
Arts and cultural programs for students;
Career and technical education programs for students;
Staff development as part of a district-required professional development plan and annual professional performance review;
Technology services provided through BOCES; and
Regional teacher certification.
Make improvements to BOCES Aid by raising the cap on salaries of BOCES employees that are aidable and increase the equalization of the BOCES Aid formula by eliminating the aid ratio option that benefits wealthier school districts. This would provide additional aid for increased costs that BOCES incur for employee salaries and would enhance the State's role of providing educational opportunity by equalizing aid so that poorer districts receive more aid and wealthier districts receive less.
Eliminate the salary cap on District Superintendents. This proposal would enhance the ability of BOCES and the State to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve as District Superintendents of schools by eliminating the current cap on salaries and certain benefits while maintaining limitations on payments for accrued leave at the time of retirement or other separation from service. The proposal would eliminate the salary cap, currently 98 percent of the salary earned by the Commissioner of Education for fiscal year 2003-04 or $166,762, with annual increases also limited.
The following pages describe some specific BOCES programs and cooperative activities that BOCES participate in. These are examples of such programs and activities. Each of the 37 BOCES offer more than 100 services each of which may be slightly different from the same service offered by another BOCES. BOCES offer many quality programs and services in addition to those that this section describes. The programs and the type of service are listed in the following table.
Broome-Tioga
CO-SER
Onondaga-Cortland-Madison
Madison-Oneida
Cooperative Bidding
Inter-municipal agreement
Health Benefits Plan Trust
BOCES action
BROOME-TIOGA BOCES
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Broome-Tioga BOCES has offered alternative education programs since the early 1980s. These all lead to a New York State local or Regents diploma with credit recommended by means of a transcript to the local component district which grants a diploma from their school. The philosophy surrounding the programs is to provide a common positive school culture which focuses on maximizing student potential and providing academically rigorous courses, career opportunities, and a clear post secondary plan upon completion. Statistically, the program averages 90 percent of students gaining a high school diploma with 50 percent attaining a Regents diploma, and 40 percent a local diploma. In school year 2006-07 of the 81 students eligible to meet graduation requirements 43 or 53 percent graduated after four years.
Component school districts realize the benefit of cost savings, specialized programming and increased graduation rates. The program offers districts a safe haven for a student to have a fresh start. It offers several types of programs located across the region to meet geographical needs.
Students in the programs range from 5th grade through 12th grade. The five Learning Centers, each with a slightly different area of expertise, are:
Columbus Learning Center which serves students in grades 5th-12th as well as an integrated special education component. The Center serves approximately 120 alternative education students in a rich community service learning environment.
Tioga Learning Center serves a similar population but with a focus on musical courses and business education.
Leslie F. Distin Education Center is a major site with the main campus serving a large special education population as well as offering career and technical education programs. Additionally this is the site for a Career and Technical High School for grades 9 -12. The 105 students in this program are focused on a field of study that has a corresponding career and technical education program.
Vestal Learning Center serves student in grades 9th – 12th who typically have been disenfranchised with the educational system but are very bright and need a high level of independence and educational opportunity. These students earn credits in quarter units. The program averages 45 students each year.
Endicott Learning Center serves several smaller programs which include a GED half-day program for students currently between 16 and 21 and at high risk of failing. The Center's GED enrollment averages more than 60 students; some are in the program for 10 weeks and many are in the program for one to two years depending on the student's planned outcome. Students in this program are encouraged to also attend a career and technical program. The Center provides a long term suspension program at this site which offers academic programming for approximately 40 students who are suspended one or more semesters from their home school but are scheduled to return.
OCM BOCES
Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES is a regional site for Reading Recovery, a nationally recognized early intervention program intended to serve the lowest achieving first grade students. The program supplements classroom teaching with one-to-one individualized daily sessions with a trained Reading Recovery teacher for 30 minutes a day over 12 to 20 weeks. Reading Recovery teachers teach students in Reading Recovery for one-half of each school day.
All training and continuing professional development of the Reading Recovery teachers must be provided by a specially trained Reading Recovery Teacher Leader. The training of the Teacher Leader requires a one-year residency training at either Lesley University in Boston or Ohio State University. The cost of this training is prohibitive for any one district to support individually.
The Teacher Leader provides:
Year long training classes
Support for new teachers
Research-based strategies
A significant amount of data is collected in the Reading Recovery program, which the teachers and administrators use to monitor student progress, make instructional decisions, and evaluate program effectiveness.
Another component of this service for districts is the Reading Recovery Planning Committee, which is composed of administrative representatives from each of the participating districts.
CAREERACADEMY
The Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES Career Academy opened in September 2006 in order to help more students graduate from high school. The program was designed at the request of three large suburban districts. The profile of the students the program seeks to reach is students who are disengaged in learning, failing several courses, and at-risk of dropping out of school.
The Career Academy is a high school program for students in 9th through 12th grade. The core principles center around the three Rs – Rigor, Relevance and Relationships. Academic coursework is rigorous and the expectations for students are high. The program is designed to make learning relevant by providing students the opportunity to:
Explore different career paths;
Make classes meaningful and engaging;
Learn in small class sizes; and
Have positive supportive relationships.
During the first two years of their program, students explore careers while touring local businesses, and participating in vocational assessments to identify their interests. During the junior and senior years, students participate in career and technical education programs. The Career Academy inspires leadership and confidence in students as they become motivated to take ownership of their learning. The goal of the program is to have all students graduate with a Regents Diploma with a career and technical education endorsement.
In September of 2006, 56 students entered the Career Academy. Because of the success that students have had, school districts are enrolling more students in the program. In September 2008, 156 students from four component school districts will be attending the Career Academy. Examination of program data indicates that student absenteeism has decreased and students are passing Regents exams, putting them on track for high school graduation.
SCIENCECENTER
The Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES Science Center offers a science kit program for K-6 classrooms that provides teachers with 42 weeks of science units per class per year. Currently, 30 districts, as well as OCM BOCES special education classes, use science kits.
The goal of the science kit is to provide:
Materials and content knowledge;
Teaching skills for teachers;
Detailed lesson plans; and
All living materials.
As part of the science kit program, professional development is provided that is science specific. During training, teachers learn the content knowledge and pedagogy skills for high levels of student learning, which occurs through hands-on exploration and dialogue on addressing common student misconceptions of the subject. There is a website and other resources to enhance student learning.
Another component is the Science Advisory Committee, which includes administrative representation from all of the districts using the science kits.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SERVICE
In September 2005, the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES initiated a new service for component school districts and their students, referred to as the Special Education Technical Assistance Service (SETAS). SETAS provides district-based support and consultation designed to assist districts with students who require more specialized academic and behavioral interventions to promote successful student outcomes.
The goal of SETAS is to provide training, coaching and support to component school districts in order to have students remain within the district to be successful in a typical learning environment. There has been a significant increase in the request for this service and the program has grown from serving three districts to 18 districts over the course of three years.
Training is provided by a certified administrator with several years of experience in special education. The ability to customize the service to meet the specific needs of students and staff has been valued by school districts.
The structure of the support varies and includes:
One-on-one coaching sessions
Classrooms observation
Joint meetings with staff
Positive behavioral interventions and support
Through participation in this service, school districts have been successful in meeting the needs of more students within their districts, by wrapping services and supports around the student rather than removing the student from the school for an out-of-district placement.
MADISONONEIDA BOCES
COOPERATIVE BIDDING SERVICE
The Madison Oneida BOCES Cooperative Bidding service provides bid coordination for ten school districts and BOCES. This shared service results in competitive pricing for supplies such as:
Office, school and art
Cafeteria food
Diesel, fuel oil and gasoline
Duplicating paper
Athletic and physical education
Print shop and carpentry
Bus garage parts
Custodial and floor care
The BOCES bid coordinator provides vendor source information, writes requests for proposals, and solicits vendor quotations and bids for districts on one-time or annual items not found on existing bids or State contracts.
With economies of scale in multi-district purchasing quantities, the BOCES Cooperative Bidding Service has generated millions of dollars in savings for participating districts. During the 2006-07 school year, 48t bids were developed, administered, and awarded through Madison-Oneida BOCES on over 8,000 items. When comparing the highest to lowest bidders, the savings amounted to $1,176,000. Cooperative bidding combines volume which creates economies of scale through a competitive market.
The BOCES Cooperative Bidding section on the Madison-Oneida BOCES website www.moboces.org announces bid opportunities to prospective bidders, posts bid results, awards, and ordering information for use by participating school districts. The website offers a cost-effective method to share information rather than printing, duplicating, and mailing bid documents to vendors or bid results to school districts. During the 2006-07 school year, the innovative use of the BOCES Cooperative Bidding web site generated an estimated $8,200 cost savings over traditional bid dissemination methods. The Madison Oneida BOCES Cooperative Bidding Service continues to seek cost-effective purchasing strategies to afford all component districts with reliable, quality, vendor solutions for products and services that comply with municipal purchasing regulations.
In 1995, BOCES began the Central Business Office (CBO) based on discussions between districts and BOCES related to efficiencies that could be achieved through shared services. Thirteen years later the concept of a shared business office has grown from three full-service districts to eight. This synopsis presents some details regarding this service and its delivery and growth.
Financial Services Provided
Full Service: Budgeting, accounting, accounts payable, purchasing and payroll, cooperative bidding
AlaCarte Services: Any individual activity
Shared Business Executive: School district may elect to share a school business official with one or more other school districts.
Participation in Services
Districts Participating in Full Service (District enrollment):
Binghamton CSD (6,019) Union-Endicott CSD (4,246)
Vestal CSD (3,956) Windsor CSD (1,857)
Newark Valley CSD (1,298) Owego-Apalachin CSD (2,171)
Deposit CSD (612) Susquehanna Valley CSD (1,921)
Districts Participating in Ala Carte Services (District enrollment):
Maine-Endwell CSD (2,586) – Payroll, Accounts Payable and Fixed Assets
Districts Participating in Shared Business Executive Service:
Susquehanna Valley CSD (1,921) and Deposit CSD (612)
1997: Total General Fund Budgets for Original three Districts - $123 million
W-2's for Original three districts – 3,007 (includes all district staff)
CBO Staff for the Original three districts – 22 (includes shared staff)
Today: Total General Fund budgets for 2008-09 for five districts - $366 million
W-2's for six6 districts on 12/31/07 – 7,470
Current CBO staff for eight full-service districts, cooperative purchasing,
Ala carte and Shared Business Executive services combined - 43
Benefits/Value Added Services Provided/Requested
More continuity of service through personnel cross-training and back-ups
High level of experience and expertise in private and public sectors
Internal controls implemented at CBO
Cooperative bidding and purchasing service – buying power
Each district benefits from experiences of all other districts
Most districts save money on a gross cost basis
Since business office costs in a school district are not aidable and mostly borne by taxpayers, the BOCES Aid that the CBO affords all districts shifts significant costs to the State
Savings Example:
Largest district cumulative savings before BOCES Aid since the 1997-98 school year - $1.8 million
Largest district cumulative savings after BOCES Aid since the 1997-98 school year – $6.1 million
The Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES is the "Administrative Participant" for the New York School and Municipal Energy Consortium (NYSMEC). Currently there are 142 school districts, BOCES and 24 municipalities participating in the program. This represents 666 individual natural gas and 1,363 individual electric accounts.
By State Education and Municipal Laws, electricity and natural gas are commodities that must be bid. OCM BOCES handles the bidding process and the billing and acts as a liaison. This includes:
Bid specifications and review
Award and placement of contract
Payment of bills
Confirming of service class and rates
Final reconciliation of accounts
Over the past five years, participating districts within the OCM BOCES area have saved over $8 million when compared to market prices.
Erie 1 BOCES
The trust plan was created in 2003 by four collective bargaining units and Erie 1 BOCES in a cooperative effort to control the cost of employee benefits among 14 component school districts.
An article 44 Trust is a plan governed by the New York Insurance Department and controlled by 10 trustees, five appointed by the labor organizations involved and five appointed by the Erie 1 BOCES Superintendent. As such, the trust is jointly run with both union and management having equal say in benefits offered to members and premiums charged.
The plan provides health benefits to employees and eligible retirees of Erie 1 BOCES and participating school districts, through two networks of providers (i.e., hospitals, doctors and other health care professionals). As a self-funded plan, the trust benefits from having premiums which more closely reflect the actual health claims experience of the trust's covered employees as opposed to an industry-wide experience, which a traditional insurance plan, employing 'community rating' would adopt. (Conversely, a trade-off in such a plan is that should actual claims experience exceed premiums, the employers are directly liable for covering this expense.)
Another benefit of this arrangement is that by covering 14 employers, the premium cost per employee is likely to be lower than for an individual district.
Note that there is no legal prohibition preventing schools and BOCES from forming such arrangements currently as this BOCES has done. As such, no Regents action is necessary beyond highlighting and perhaps advocating for this option that is already available.
Regents Proposal on State Aid to School Districts
for School Year 2009-10
Policy Questions
Sustainability and Competing Priorities
What should the Regents proposal be for sustaining the foundation formula?
What are the trade offs in a school aid plan that costs $1.0 billion versus $2.0 billion?
Providing aid to all districts (minimum guarantee)?
Targeting to high need or C4E districts?
Pre-K, foundation formula or aid on expenses districts have already incurred?
Contracts for Excellence
If the State Aid increase is limited,
Who should be subject to Contracts for Excellence?
How much should be devoted to new programs versus maintenance of effort?
How do we ensure districts have the resources to be successful?
How should districts transition to smaller aid increases when Foundation Aid is fully phased in?
Local Effort
Education finance is a State-Local partnership:
What is the right balance between State Aid and school district contributions?
Cost-efficient Strategies
Should the Regents recommend cost-efficient or mandate relief strategies to complement the Regents Foundation Aid proposal?
Meeting of Members of the Regents Subcommittee on State Aid
With NYSED's Education Finance Advisory Group
Summary of Discussion
Regent Tallon made brief introductions and welcomed participants. He talked about the issue of declining revenue numbers with regards to the state budget. He asked the participants to be open and honest in the discussion of state aid for 2009-10 and possible ideas to be incorporated in to the Regents proposal. Regent Tallon stressed the emphasis on the proposal for 2009-10 rather than the possibility in an adjustment to 2008-09 aid.
Regents State Aid Proposal
Chuck Szuberla gave highlights from the September presentation to the Regents Subcommittee on State Aid.
What is the most important recommendation the Regents should make with regard to Foundation Aid?
What is the most important other recommendation the Regents should make?
What are other mandate relief or cost saving initiatives the Regents should pursue?
The following summarizes discussion concerning questions posed to the group.
The financial crisis should be used to improve the distribution of aid to districts. Do not propose flat funding.
The Foundation Aid formula should be preserved, even if full implementation must be stretched out. Next year the increase should be moderated to around 3 percent. Retain the focus on high need districts. The schedule is constrained this year with the Executive proposal planned a month early.
Keep existing C4E but do not add more districts. Contract for Excellence districts must be given more flexibility and the Contracts themselves should be aligned with a simplified, differentiated accountability system. Perhaps greater flexibility should be given with the categories as well. The State's flexibility rules should take into consideration the extent that districts have funded student reforms before becoming a Contract for Excellence school district. New York City is treated unfairly in two respects:
The amount allowed for cost of living increases is less (three percent over the base) than for other districts (four percent over the base) and
The flexible amount allowed to continue existing programs is less (8 percent) compared with other districts (25, 35 and 50 percent)
Expense driven aids must be honored. These represent help already promised with expenses already incurred by school districts. Constrain them going forward.
Attack at least two major cost drivers – e.g. special education and consolidated business functions, including creating incentives for shared health insurance programs. Other cost containment and cost effective strategies mentioned include:
Greater role of BOCES
Flexibility in use of Universal Pre-K funds
Regional transportation administration
Certain adjustments to the state aid formulas were mentioned. Note that option 1 is the only option that saves money; options 2-4 would add additional costs. Options include:
Eliminating the Selected Building Aid ratio that allows school districts to select the most favorable building aid ratio back to 1981-82
Adjusting the Foundation Aid income wealth index floor from .25 to .65 to provide more aid to the lowest wealth school districts; consider swapping this adjustment for the elimination of High Tax Aid.
Adjusting CPI's that do not accurately reflect actual increases in educational expenses.
Increase the salary amount that is aidable for BOCES employees who provide shared services to school districts.
Other recommendations included:
Salary cap for District Superintendents must be increased.
If there is no increase in aid, even more important to avoid other requirements that could cost school districts additional money, e.g., pre-school special education costs.
Any roadblocks, in the form of regulations or statutes, that get in the way of cost-savings should be reviewed and modified or eliminated.
James Tallon, Chair
Merryl Tisch, Vice Chancellor
Joseph Bowman
Roger Tilles
Charles Bendit
Educational Associations
Charles S. Dawson, Jr., Deputy Director of Governmental Relations, New York State School Boards Association
Brian Bennett, New York State United Teachers
Dan Kinley, New York State United Teachers
Lorraine Deller, Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association
Dennis Sweeney, Rural Schools Association
Pete Griffen
Bob Biggerstaff, Small Cities
Kristee Iacobucci, Office of the State Comptroller
Peter Mannella, New York Association for Pupil Transportation
Bob Lowry, NYSCOSS
Winnie Eisen, NYC Department of Education
Bob Biggerstaff, NYS Association of Small City School Districts
Charles Winters, NYS Association of Small City School Districts
Richard G. Timbs, Director, Statewide School Finance Consortium
Tom Rogers, Executive Director, New York State Council of School Superintendents
Bob Lowry, Deputy Director, New York State Council of School Superintendents
Steven VanHoesen, New York State Association of School Business Officials
Peter Griffin, School Administrators Association of New York State
Jim Carr, NYS Association for Superintendents of Buildings and Grounds
Peter Mannella, Executive Director, New York Association for Pupil Transportation
James Baldwin, District Superintendent, Rensselaer-Columbia-Greene BOCES
State Education Dept.
Richard P. Mills
Chuck Szuberla
Burt Porter
Deborah Cunningham
Charles Shippee
Raymond Kesper
John Frederick
Rosie Pugliese
Jay O'Connor
Darlene Tegza
Matt Reilly
Mary Sansaricq


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text:
FSHS » FSHS 2021 » The project
Autumn is well on its way and the big moment is just a bit under than two months away. At the moment, we are preparing to equip additional rooms at new and current service units and we are already planning the opening of the service units on a concrete level. A broad range of acquisitions is needed for the appointment rooms, everything from stethoscopes to work chairs and from gauze to network connections. In addition, assembling furniture, installing equipment and stocking shelves with supplies all require careful scheduling so that the whole process goes as smoothly as possible.
We are also looking forward to welcoming our new colleagues. Introducing such a large number of new employees at the same time requires careful planning and advance preparations. This part of the work is well under way. We are relying mainly on electronic material and orientation sessions for groups of different sizes. Naturally, we will also be providing close personal assistance for our new colleagues.
We are also looking forward to our new customers. Campaigning via student apps and social media channels has started and interactions have been encouraging on many fronts. The service network will be supplemented further during the autumn. We have already selected some of our partners by issuing invitations to tender. Regarding other partners, preparations for further measures are looking good. Premises for the service units operated by the FSHS are beginning to be clear and renovation work is well under way. In a few of the smallest study towns the educational institutions have made precisions on the in-person teaching that occurs next year and therefore the necessity for appointment services will be re-evaluated in those municipalities concerned. In a couple of the smaller localities, the exact location cannot be announced yet because contracts are still being drawn up. For more detailed information, see the Service network section.
Updated 4 September 2020
The FSHS expansion is just four months away, and the pace is accelerating. There's still a lot to do before the turn of the year, but things are progressing smoothly as planned. The current coronavirus situation has not held the project back, but we're still preparing for any challenges that may be caused by the epidemic.
At the moment, we're focusing particularly on premises and recruitment. Renovations are well underway in many towns, and the remaining projects will start during the autumn. There have been job vacancies since the early summer, and many more will open in the near future.
Tendering for the partner-operated service units has finished, and once the selections have been finalised, we'll be able to confirm the service unit locations too.
The FSHS 2021 project has now continued for over a year. We're still well on schedule in terms of planning and haven't met any significant problems. During the spring, we've been shifting from planning and the emphasis is now on concrete actions.
We've been communicating about our services together with Kela. Our joint student campaign has included tutor videos and student information sessions on Skype. As regards the services, we've been further refining our service model and mapping out special needs and features at universities of applied sciences in relation to those at universities. The service model will also greatly affect staffing levels, which are currently being decided.
Several procurements are under way, the most important being invitations to tender for the partner-operated service units that will be published in June. Renovations and acquisition of premises are also keeping us busy, as we aim to begin all major renovations during the summer closure in July and to confirm the last rental agreements.
After the summer holidays, the most important tasks for the rest of the year will be the completion of renovations and equipment acquisitions at the service units; strengthening collaboration with universities of applied sciences and their current student healthcare providers; staff recruitment and training; and scaling up the current systems, authorizations and plans to match the more extensive service network. Towards the end of the year we'll also have much more to say about our services for students.
Updated 14th of April 2020
The project has progressed as planned and on schedule. One major ongoing task is to choose the partners for those towns which won't have the FSHS's own service unit. We are working in conjunction with Sansia to invite tenders in accordance with the Public Procurement Act. Our aim is to confirm the partners and their service unit locations by September.
With regard to service planning, we've been focusing on finalising details of the service model. We've also been mapping the extra skills that the staff will need due to the expansion and have assessed the future need for services in different towns. We've continued recruitment planning and related communications, and we've been planning training sessions for current and new employees. Communications and materials for students have been produced together with Kela. The acquisition of new premises and the planning of renovation work are progressing as planned.
Work on the project will continue as planned despite the coronavirus epidemic. Short interruptions will not disrupt the project schedule. If there are longer delays, the most critical issues will be the acquisition of premises and the recruitment process. However, we have a back-up plan for any delays and other challenges caused by the coronavirus.
Updated 13th of February 2020
So far this year we've been working on details about the service network and service production. We've been examining study arrangements in different study towns, taking into account factors such as the special features of blended learning. We aim to assess students' service needs and staff skill requirements as accurately as we can by collecting information about the courses taken and how student numbers are distributed. We've also been looking into the current provision of student healthcare in different towns and planning the smooth transfer of services.
The renovation of current and new premises will be a major undertaking, but preparations are progressing as planned. The space requirement for service units has been calculated and planning for the location of premises at current service units is under way. At some service units, project planning is already ongoing. Major renovations at existing service units are planned for the summer so that they do not affect appointments. Some renovation projects, however, will continue in the autumn and this may necessitate changes at some service units. If any exceptional situations occur due to renovation work, information will be provided at the service unit in question.
Updated 10th of December 2019
Work during the final months of the year focused mainly on the contract between Kela and the FSHS and on the associated service network and service description. Policies for the provision of services have been planned extensively for all operations, and the number and allocation of future employees have been outlined. Careful preparations have been made to address the main risks of the project, i.e. recruitment and finding suitable premises. By strengthening the service network, we can advance in both of these areas in a more concrete manner when we know what kinds of premises and employees will be needed in different university towns.
Updated 15th of October 2019
The FSHS 2021 project consists of several interdependent areas involving a large number of FSHS experts. The project will last for at least two years, until the summer 2021.
A specially appointed project manager assisted by a project planner is responsible for project planning, monitoring and reporting. Project implementation is being supervised by the FSHS Board of Trustees and a monitoring group appointed for the project consisting of representatives of the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) and the Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (SAMOK).
Future framework planned and defined in 2019
The project began in spring 2019 with plans for the project overview, budget and service model. Towards the end of the year attention will turn to the service network and the planning required for premises, staff and the regional model. In practice, this means planning how services will be provided in the future in terms of locations, premises and staff and how this will be managed administratively. The framework for the services provided will be planned both within the project and in collaboration with Kela and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Framework for the expansion will be created in 2020
At the beginning of 2020, the focus will be on communications providing information about services. Communications aimed at current and future customers will be further boosted towards the end of 2020.
Recruitment will begin in spring 2020, and much background work has already been done in this regard. Applications for vacancies will probably not open until after the summer holidays, although those interested in job opportunities will be able to contact the FSHS earlier.
Subcontracting, contracting, acquisition of premises and renovation planning relating to the service network will be carried out in spring 2020. Furnishing and equipping the service units will be planned and implemented during the autumn. The new premises will be inspected and opened before the end of the year, which means that the FSHS will be ready to serve its expanded customer base right from the beginning of 2021.
New services will become established in 2021
The expansion will take effect at the beginning of 2021. However, the project will not end there, and work will continue until the following summer at least. The actual service needs and where and how new customers want to use the services will begin to become clearer only after the first few months. This is why the aim of the entire project is to implement the necessary changes in a flexible manner during spring 2021. The aim is for accessible and equitable services to be established nationwide as soon as possible in accordance with the FSHS's strategy.