By employing student research assistants from the College of Business and Center of Entrepreneurial Finance (CEF), the Stony Brook Small Business Development Center (SBDC) developed a small business recovery and resiliency webinar series to provide tools to assist small- and medium-sized businesses recover from the devastating ongoing pandemic and unprecedented economic disruption. Sponsored by BNB Bank, the student research assistants gained hands-on experience for their future endeavors.

Funded by the State and Federal Government, the SBDC provides free and confidential, one-on-one business counseling to business owners. Statistics compiled by the SBA indicate that between March and September, those virtual counseling sessions assisted more than 900 small businesses in processing more than $35 million in Economic Injury Disaster and Paycheck Protection Program Loans, thereby helping those Suffolk County businesses save more than 1,450 jobs.

“The students have done an outstanding job in providing research for the three hardest-hit industries — restaurant, retail, and construction — and now understand the devastating economic effect of COVID-19 as it adversely affected and shut down small businesses throughout the country,” said SBDC Administrator Martha Stansbury.

Jacob Rueb ’21, a business management major, specializing in finance and operations management, said that during his research, he learned that many businesses were not ready for the restrictions brought by the pandemic because they did not have an online presence that allowed for revenue generation while their physical locations were restricted or shut down. He added that those who implemented online ordering or curbside pickup achieved a measure of success.

“We did make recommendations,” Rueb said. “Those recommendations included where to cut costs depending upon the industry and adjusting their digital marketing strategy.”

• Learn more about SBDC

Read the full story: SBDC, Business Students Team Up to Help Local Firms Cope with Pandemic 

“The impact of the events of 2020 on filmmaking will be monumental,” said Karen Offitzer, director of the undergraduate minor in filmmaking at Stony Brook and one of three co-directors of the Social Impact Filmmaking program. “It will bring changes in the way we make movies, changes in the way we see them, and changes in the very stories we want to tell.”

“Social media gives us all a powerful platform to get our content seen and interact with audiences,” added Simone Pero, another co-director of the program. “From a social impact perspective, what has fundamentally changed is that we believe filmmakers must evolve with what’s happening around us by leveraging the art form for positive change because the issues are now impossible to ignore.”

Despite the enormous capabilities individuals now have in their hands, Offitzer said filmmaking is still an art form with its own rules and language that must be learned and practiced to meet its potential as a change agent. And that is the mantra that serves as the backbone of Stony Brook’s Social Impact Filmmaking program.

“The students in our inaugural class are currently sharing stories and developing solutions on a wide range of issues including immigration reform, climate change, racism, LGBTQ rights, prison reform, women’s rights, and hunger,” she said. “All these students will be trained as creative, effective filmmakers by understanding and practicing the fundamentals and learning the more advanced techniques of visual language and story designed to motivate and inspire.”

“This program offers similar opportunities for transformation,” she said. “It provides filmmaking tools and support to anyone with a cell phone, a story, and a passion to make a difference.”

Read the full story: https://news.stonybrook.edu/facultystaff/social-impact-filmmaking-program-teaches-passion-to-make-a-difference/ 

As the coronavirus pandemic sent higher education into scramble mode, it was hard for Stony Brook University’s Department of Music to keep the beat.

That’s because in music, as in comedy, timing is everything.

“Music as a program of study relies on acute listening skills, nuance in gesture and sound, and an exact awareness of time. There is no program or service that allows musicians to collaborate in real-time,” said Michael Hershkowitz, Director of Community Music Programs.

Judith Lochhead, a professor of music history and theory, teaches a course titled “Perspectives on the Performance of Music Since 1945” with Contemporary Chamber Players Director Eduardo Leandro. She described the class as “very hands-on and experiential,” involving composers, performers, and music scholars.

“The pandemic required not so much a rethinking of how to teach performance practice, but rather a refocusing of content that would be useful for our seminar participants and allow us to connect up virtually with musicians around the world,” Lochhead said. “We called the whole project ‘Lemonade out of Lemons.’”

Most of all, the pandemic made all Stony Brook music-makers aware of the invaluable human connection, as best expressed by Daniel Beckwith, a professor of conducting and opera performance.

“We as humans desire contact, being in the presence of another person. I personally didn’t change anything in the curriculum to adapt to online teaching; I was able to work on vocal issues I heard in their singing as well as diction, interpretation, artistic choices, etc.,” he said. “I was a little hesitant at first because I’ve never done online teaching, but technology taught me that one can effectively communicate with students and accomplish what would otherwise have been done in person.”

Read the full story: Music Department Makes “Lemonade out of Lemons” During Pandemic