USMMA Newsletter July 2016

Message from Rear Admiral Helis

Dear Midshipmen, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Parents and Friends:

In the weeks since our last newsletter we celebrated achievements, marked beginnings, and took action on important challenges.

The proud Class of 2016 achieved a stellar licensing pass rate, and we celebrated their graduation with honors as you will read in the articles below.  We then rapidly followed graduation with Indoc, welcoming the incoming Class of 2020. This class is one of the Academy’s most diverse and has the highest percentage of women in our history.

We celebrated CAPT Douglas Hard ’62 and his many achievements as he retired after 42 years of dedicated service to the Academy, and 54 years of service to our Nation.  CAPT Hard set the gold standard for service.  We can’t thank him enough for all he contributed to the Academy and to the education of the thousands of Midshipmen he taught. Together with the faculty, staff, and Midshipmen, I wish him fair winds and following seas.

As we aim to continuously improve the USMMA education experience, we took action on important challenges.  Sea Year is and will remain a core element of the Academy’s academic program. It is because the program is so important that together with the Department of Transportation and Maritime Administration (MARAD) we stood the program down to take decisive steps to ensure midshipmen can work and train in an environment that is both safe and respectful.

We are now restarting the program using federal assets such as Military Sealift Command (MSC) and MARAD vessels.  We are engaging with the industry to institute necessary measures, and are making every effort for an on-time graduation for the affected students.  We will continue to communicate with our Midshipmen and other stakeholders as we move ahead, and will post further updates on our web page.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) recently issued their accreditation determination, and while they found the Academy’s academic foundation is sound, and in many ways exemplary, they issued a warning with recommendations regarding two broad areas separate from academics: combatting sexual harassment and assault, particularly during Sea Year; and governance of the USMMA.

We appreciates MSCHE’s candid, thoughtful, and thorough work.  We are committed to the process of continued improvement to accomplish the Academy’s mission. I am confident that USMMA will meet the requirements and recommendations. 

The Academy remains accredited while we work with MSCHE to address the requirements and recommendations, and ensure the highest caliber education for the Academy’s Midshipmen.  The Academy has two years to reach compliance. The accreditation documents, which are best read in context to appreciate how the Academy intends to address each of the issues, are available at on our web page.

We look forward to our Academic Convocation this week, which marks the formal beginning of the 2016-2017 Academic Year, followed by Acceptance Day, August 5th.  Please be sure to check our calendar page for Parents’ Weekend, Coast Guard Weekend and all the other Athletics, Academic and Regimental events ahead.  I hope to see many of our alumni, parents and friends of the Academy there.

Rear Admiral James A. Helis

 

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Graduates 229 to “Lead with Character and Courage” The Academy graduated 229 new Merchant Marine and Military Officers as part of its Class of 2016 commencement ceremony.  “Your craft now is leadership,” said keynote speaker, Gen. Darren W. McDew, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command. “On behalf of the men and women of Transportation Command, and the men and women of our nation’s Armed Forces, Bravo Zulu on a job well done, welcome aboard, and welcome to the team.” Click Here for Full Story

 

Class of 2016 Completes Licensing - Best Results Seen in Years On June 7th, the Class of 2016 was 100% complete for passing U.S. Coast Guard license exams, and all Midshipmen that needed retake part of the exams passed on their first attempt. “These are the best results we have seen in years, with the highest first time pass rate for deck since 1981 and the highest for engine since 2010,” said Superintendent Rear Adm. James A. Helis, USMS. “For the first time in memory, no Midshipmen were required to retake the full exam.” Click Here for Full Story

 

Fair Winds and Following Seas to Capt. Douglas Hard ’62 Faculty, staff, alumni, and Midshipmen bid farewell to Capt. Douglas A. Hard ’62, USMS, Professor in the Department of Marine Transportation, who retired after 42 years of dedicated service to USMMA, and 54 years of service to our Nation. He was honored during formal ceremonies surrounding the Class of 2016’s graduation.  Click Here for Full Story

 

2015-16 Athletic Award Winners Announced; McDaniels And Rose Earn Top Accolades Four major athletic award winners were announced during the 2016 Awards Convocation – the Male and Female Athletes of the Year as well as the two Coaches of the Year – along with a number of other athletic awards and honors. The Admiral Giles C. Stedman Trophy, the highest athletic award bestowed upon a graduating male Midshipman went to Matt McDaniels (Malverne, N.Y.) of the football team, while Elizabeth Rose (Hamilton, Ohio) of women's swimming earned the Julie A. Berke Trophy for the top senior Female Athlete of the Year.  Click Here for Full Story

 

USMMA Welcomes Incoming Class of 2020 The Academy welcomed its incoming Class of 2020, consisting of 279 plebe candidates, representing 51 states and U.S. territories, and two foreign countries, Panama and Malaysia. The new plebe candidates make up one of the most diverse USMMA classes. Minority enrollment for the Class of 2020 is now at 23.7, and the percentage of females is at 19.7 %. This is the highest percentage of females to enter the Academy in its history. Click Here for Full Story

 

SS Robin Moor Story Told in “How to Abandon Ship" The American Merchant Marine Museum opened its most ambitious display to date, “How to Abandon Ship,” The SS Robin Moor Story. The exhibit endeavors to tell this story of the ship’s sinking, the survival of the crew and passengers, and of the aftermath, both in its historical and human dimensions. It uses a specially-commissioned ship model, painting, and a small book entitled Outrageous and Indefensible to explore these dimensions. It also uses photographs taken by the survivors in the lifeboats, recreated radio broadcasts from 1941, and artifacts from the actual lifeboats to interpret the horrific experience of being cast adrift in a lifeboat.  Click Here for Full Story

 

Kings Pointers Rescue Fishing Crew Adrift in Indian Ocean Midshipmen 1st Class Joseph Mugno, assigned to the MV Maersk Kentucky as a Deck Cadet during his Sea Year, helped the crew, including two Kings Point alumni, rescue 11 Pakistani fishermen, who were adrift for ten days at sea, May 29.  Click Here for Full Story

 

USMMA Celebrates National Maritime Day & Midshipman Appreciation Day The Academy celebrated National Maritime Day with events that highlighted the critical role that the U.S. maritime industry has played since the infancy of our nation. The afternoon transitioned into an evening focused on fun. For the first time in Academy history, Midshipmen Appreciation Day was celebrated on the same day as the National Maritime Day.  Click Here for Full Story

 

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