Fiction Matters: Literary Texts in Transition

An Interdisciplinary Conference
sponsored by
The Departments of English and World Languages & Literatures 

Saturday, November 7, 2009
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Engleman Hall A120

Session I   9:45am-11:00am       
Albert R. Ascoli    "Dante, Petrarch and the Making of a Modern Reader"

Bart Ehrman    "Literary Forgeries and Counter-Forgeries in Early Christian Tradition"

11:00am-11:15am          Coffee Break

Session II  11:15am-12:30pm           
Carol Symes    "Prescription, Postscription, Transcription, Improvisation:  Deciphering the Textual Evidence for Pre-modern Performance Practice"

Sarah Beckwith     "Shakespeare's Resurrections: The Winter's Tale"

Click here to see the speakers' bios and the conference brochure.

View the conference Web site here. 

For more conference information, or to register, please contact:

Pina Palma at (203) 392-6753 (palmag1@southernct.edu)
or
Jim Rhodes (rhodesj1@southernct.edu)

Sponsored by Dr. Selase Williams, Provost and
Vice President for Academic Affairs

Funded in Part by a
Faculty Development Grant

Anne Bianchi Gundersen remembers trying to sneak up the wide stairs in the little building that housed New Haven State Normal School in the 1930s, but the creaking noises gave her away.

"The principal came out and said, 'Young lady, you're late!'"

Gundersen, 97, chuckles about that memory now, and thinks back fondly on a lifetime devoted to opening the doors of education to students of all ages and backgrounds. Although she and her late husband never had any children, she nurtured scores of youngsters during her 32-year teaching career.

"Prepare, deliver and inspire -- I believe everyone can learn, with patience," Gundersen says of her philosophy. "If you love them, you will be rewarded." 

Now, she continues to promote the cause of education through her philanthropy. A $400,000 gift to Southern will both bolster a scholarship fund Gundersen first established in 1995 and provide general support to the university's initiatives and priorities. The Anne Bianchi Gundersen Endowed Scholarship provides financial support for students pursuing a degree in education and since its establishment she has gifted more than $500,000 to the university. 

"This latest act of philanthropy reflects Mrs. Gundersen's lifelong devotion to furthering educational opportunities for others," says Megan A. Rock, Southern's vice president for institutional advancement. The gift continues a trend in which alumni support for the university has grown 35 percent during the last five years and gifts for endowed purposes increased 17 percent in the last year, Rock says.

President Cheryl Norton recognized Gundersen during the annual Alumni Homecoming breakfast earlier this month, sharing information from Gundersen's yearbook that characterized her at the time and appears to suit her well today: "Her aim is toward the goal." 

Norton praised Gundersen's generosity: "Leadership gifts such as this ensure that Southern will continue to meet its commitment to provide an affordable, accessible education to those seeking to earn a college degree."

In 1934 Gundersen received a bachelor's degree in education as a member of the New Haven State Normal School's first four-year class. Before that, she graduated from the first three-year class in 1933.

The normal school was the forerunner of what would ultimately become Southern Connecticut State University. But life on and off the school grounds was much different in the 1930s.

There were few extracurricular activities and no parties, and the big excitement on campus was if someone got married before he or she finished school, Gundersen says. She was a member of school clubs in art, travel, geography and science, as well as the Choral Art Society. 

After graduation she taught in Stratford for seven years, but when World War II started gas was rationed, meaning she couldn't get to work, so Gundersen left to take a job at the railroad. She spent some time working at the information desk -- and still recalls with warmth the time she put her husband on the wrong train from military leave. The U.S. Navy Police were waiting when he arrived late.

After the war she returned to the classroom -- this time in New Haven, where her family lived and her father owned a successful business.

Landing that job wasn't easy at first, she says, because just about everything in those days was about knowing the right people. But before long she had a job as an extra teacher for reading, which led to a 25-year career teaching in New Haven, mostly at Davis School.

She loved the children, but says the 1960s weren't an easy time to teach, so Gundersen retired in 1972.

A widow for more than 25 years, Gundersen says she had a small family, including one sister, who also became a teacher; both were directed to the career by their father. Her parents came from Bologna, Italy.

Gundersen says her secret to longevity may be that she never smoked and never drank much, "but we always had wine on the table."

"I had a wonderful family and life," Gundersen says. "We weren't wanting for anything."

Pictured above: Anne Bianchi Gundersen  (seated, second from right) is joined by President Cheryl Norton, (seated, second from left) and a group of students during the Alumni Homecoming Breakfast earlier this month. The students are: (standing, left to right) Sherrelle Coles, Chris Bandecchi, Frank Brady, Mary Faulkner, Melissa Genovese, and (seated, left to right) Patricia Dearborn, President Norton, Gundersen, and Brian Junious. Genovese is the recipient of a scholarship funded by a gift from Gundersen. 

The conference will feature keynote presentations by Eastern Connecticut State University's Anne Higginbotham, who also serves as Chair of the AAUP's Committee on the Status of Women in the Academic Profession, as well as Jean McLaughlin, a Research Associate for the Sloan Projects for Faculty Career Flexibility - American Council on Education.

Roundtable discussions will be led by faculty, work-life experts, and human resources professionals from regional institutions of higher education and corporations recognized for their work-life best practices.

The conference will take place in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom. Registration/check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. The conference begins at 9:00 a.m. and concludes at 2:30 p.m.

Higher Education faculty, staff, human resources administrators, and students are welcome to attend. Conference registration is now open. Click here to register. The $30 registration fee includes morning refreshments and lunch. Students are eligible for a $15 registration rate.

For more information contact Aimee Bonn in Human Resources at (203) 392-8848 or bonna1@southernct.edu.

The Expo will provide students with information about the wide variety of majors that are available, about the process for declaring/changing a major, and about career and post-baccalaureate program opportunities.

The Expo will help students to:

• Explore majors that Southern offers
• Make connections with faculty, staff, upperclassmen, and alumni
• Learn about career options as they relate to your major

For more information contact the Academic Advisement Center at 392-5367, the First-Year Experience Program at 392-6671, the Center for Career Services at 392-6536, or the Office of Student Life at 392-5782.

The university is leading a new state coalition that includes nine universities committed to the prevention of violence against women, thanks to a 3-year, $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The schools, in partnership with two state service organizations, are forming the Connecticut Campus Coalition to End Violence Against Women (CCCEV). The coalition members plan to join forces in an effort to reduce the incidence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking on their campuses. They also plan to use the federal funding to enhance sexual assault awareness and prevention programs, provide training for staff, create a unified network of support for victims of violence and bolster efforts to hold perpetrators accountable through school discipline and criminal prosecution.

"Tragically, violence against women poses serious threats to the health and safety of college and university communities across the nation," says Ronald D. Herron, vice president for student and university affairs (above, left).

"In fact, the national data shows that 32 percent of all college students report some form of dating violence and/or abuse with previous partners," Herron says. "It frequently diminishes the capacity of its victims to achieve their potential and dreams. This project distinctively harnesses the energies and expertise of five public and four private higher education institutions, as well as two state service organizations."

In addition to Southern, the CCCEV includes the three other Connecticut State University System campuses (Central, Eastern and Western Connecticut State universities), the University of Connecticut, Quinnipiac University, University of Bridgeport, University of Hartford and Trinity College. It also includes the Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services Inc. and the Connecticut Police Academy's Police Officers Standards and Training Council Post.

Southern has been designated as the lead agency in the grant, awarded by the U.S. Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women. Each of the nine higher education institutions, as well as the Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services Inc., will receive part of the funds. The Connecticut Police Academy's Police Officers Standards and Training Council Post is donating its time to the project.

Catherine A. Christy, coordinator of Southern's Women's Center (above, right), says she is excited to work with her colleagues at the other institutions and that the collaboration will be a valuable tool in addressing the societal problem of violence against women.

"College campuses are good places to offer education and awareness programs because they can influence people in a positive way early in their lives," Christy says. "In turn, this creates a ripple effect with a long-term reduction of such violence in society." 

Christy says several specific initiatives are planned, including:

• a training conference, followed by a series of three Webinars, focusing on best practices involving law enforcement, campus judicial processes, prevention and response programs;
• additional training for judicial officers and campus law enforcement;
• the creation of a coalition Web site that would include resources and curricula related to the prevention of violence against women;
• a comprehensive survey of current practices at each institution;
• the development and implementation of anti-violence and awareness programs for first-year students.

She says the coalition will examine existing and potential programs for first-year students, ranging from in-class speakers to out-of-class activities.

Christy also notes that the various initiatives will be sensitive to the needs of all students, including minority, international and students with disabilities.

And now the device, called a Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI), has gotten the attention of state innovation experts. Horch, associate professor of physics, recently was chosen as the "platinum recipient" of the 2009 Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (CQIA) Innovation Prize. That first-place achievement enables Horch to compete for the national-level Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for Performance Excellence.

Horch completed the DSSI last year and sent it to the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a national center for optical astronomy in Tucson, Ariz. He developed the instrument after receiving a $352,487 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2005, while he was an assistant professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. In 2007, he came to Southern, where he completed the project and garnered the assistance of several of his students.

The DSSI includes two cameras and a scanning mirror system inside a rectangular box that can fit on a coffee table. "Disturbances in the atmosphere can cause images to blur together," Horch said. "But with this special instrument, it's like putting eyeglasses on a telescope. It enables you to see the two stars in a binary system distinctly."

Horch received the award Oct. 23 during the 22nd annual CQIA Partnership's Conference on Quality and Innovation at the Water's Edge Resort in Westbrook. A group of about 12 examiners determined that Horch's application was the best among the 70 people who entered the contest.

Applicants for the CQIA prizes have developed a new product, service, or process and have either solved an organizational problem or leveraged an opportunity with their innovation.

Horch recently was awarded another NSF grant -- this one for $183,447 -- which will enable him to continue his work on researching binary stars. The project will be conducted in collaboration with the Yale Southern Observatory. He will collect data to provide a better understanding of these stars and the star formation and structure of the Milky Way. The grant also will allow him to run regular physics and astronomy seminars, as well as to work with high school physics teachers in the area and to help promote careers in science to underrepresented groups in Connecticut through these talks.
 

Homecoming and Family Day

Families are invited to celebrate Southern's spirit and pride alongside their students on a fun-filled day! Family Day 2009 will take place on Oct. 17, 2009 -- see details below.

Please click here for the day's schedule.

To register for the day, please click here.

Click here for Directions

More information to come! Click here for updates. 

Alumni ~ welcome back to Southern!

Homecoming 2009, planned for Saturday, Oct. 17, promises to be a wonderful time for all, and the Alumni Tent at Jess Dow Field will bring families together for a day of fun, food, sports, and entertainment. All alumni are welcome to return "home" to Southern for a very special "Fairy Tale" Homecoming!

To see to see a complete listing of Homecoming activities for alumni, and to pre-register, click here and scroll down the page. 

See you there!

In Connecticut, meeting the needs of all the students can be especially challenging, with special education students today generally being taught in the same classrooms with other students. And for teachers who are not certified in both special education and regular education, the task can be even more daunting.

To provide teachers with the resources to deal effectively with all groups of students, Southern is launching a 6th year diploma program called "educational coach." The program -- to be offered to certified teachers, administrators, counselors and school psychologists -- will enable individuals to bring an expertise into the classroom that helps ensure that the needs of all students are met, such as through a curriculum that is diversified so that both regular and special education students can learn effectively. It also is designed so that educational coaches will be skilled in classroom management techniques that foster an atmosphere that is conductive to student learning.

The educational coaches can work side by side in the classroom in a "team teaching" situation, or serve as a mentor for a group of teachers. They also can use these skills to improve their own teaching.

The state Department of Higher Education's Board of Governors recently granted its approval for licensure and accreditation of such a program at Southern. It will be the first in Connecticut.

"We are very excited about this new program, which we believe will be a tremendous resource to schools throughout the state," said Christine Villani (pictured at right), associate professor of education and educational coach co-coordinator. Ronald Tamura, assistant professor of special education, also serves as program co-coordinator.

"Superintendents of schools throughout the state have been asking for this kind of training for their teachers," Villani said.

Villani developed the curriculum with Pamela Brucker, who recently retired after many years as chairwoman of the university's Special Education Department. 

A total of 10 courses will be required to earn the 6th year diploma. Courses will be offered starting with the 2010 spring semester. Villani said that in addition to a master's degree, the following are criteria for acceptance into the program: a 3.0 GPA; two letters of recommendation; an interview with an adviser; course work or professional development in working with culturally diverse students, and service to teaching (participating in professional organizations).

The program will instruct students in subjects such as coaching and collaborating with teachers, administrators and other service providers; diversification of instruction and assessment to address the educational needs of all students; classroom management and understanding classroom law. A fieldwork component (within classrooms) will be part of the curriculum as well.

The "educational coaches" will serve as instructional coaches in subjects such as reading, math, and writing.

For further information about the program, call Christine Villani at (203) 392-5343.

Admission is free and open to all. The Ethnic Heritage Center is located at 270 Fitch St., New Haven, Conn.

Contact the Ethnic Heritage Center for more information at (203) 392-6126 or ctethnichc@yahoo.com.

Learn more about the Ethnic Heritage Center.

Chevan, an organizer of the series, says the concerts will be about "intimate jazz -- no drums, just a piano and a bass, and one other instrument." He and Cadwallader, along with a guest, will perform in each of these "spontaneous jazz concerts that will unfold right before the audience."

Chevan and Irving point to the new private lessons program offered by the Music Department this year as making "The Art of Trio" possible. The grant for the private lessons, generously donated by the Stutzman Family Foundation, has enabled the department to hire new adjunct faculty members and, Irving says, the series gives the department "a chance to showcase these performers."

"The idea is to feature faculty members who are involved in jazz-making," says Chevan, adding that the concerts may also bring in musicians from outside the university or the region who are leaders in their respective fields. "We are bringing to Southern some of the best people from the area."

The inaugural concert will take place on Sept. 16 from 8- 9:30 p.m.

The second concert of the fall semester will take place on Oct 14 at 8 p.m., and will feature Chevan and Cadwallader, with special guest guitarist George Raccio.

Both concerts will take place in the Charles Garner Recital Hall (Engleman C112). Admission is $5.

For more information call (203) 392-6630.

Giacomo Gates, right  (photo credit: Frank Stewart) 

Rex Cadwallader, below

David Chevan, below

August 31 - October 30, 2009
Monday - Friday • 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
SCSU Multicultural Center
Adanti Student Center 234

The New Haven Holocaust Memorial was erected in 1977 by Holocaust survivors on land donated by the city of New Haven. The SCSU Multicultural Center is proud to bring the Memory & Legacy exhibit to our campus to tell the story of the first Holocaust memorial built on public land, and to preserve these memories for future generations, promoting tolerance and understanding, so the words "never again" are a reality.

Free & open to the public

School & community groups welcome

With support from SCSU Judaic Studies Program, SCSU English Department, SCSU Student Support Services, SCSU Biology Department, SCSU Public Affairs Office, and the SCSU Political Science Department.
------------------------

schedule of events

Please join us for an opening reception for Holocaust survivors, the New Haven and SCSU communities.  The reception will include a welcome from the SCSU President Norton, testimony from survivors,  a memory ceremony with SCSU staff,  students and faculty, reflections, musical entertainment, and more.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 • 1 p.m.
Adanti Student Center 201

RSVP: brownd2@southernct.edu

Info: (203) 392-5888

---------------------------------
Film Screening: Schindler's List - Free and open to the public

• Part 1: Monday, September 21, 2009 • 12 p.m.
• Part 2:  Wednesday, September 23, 2009 • 12 p.m.
   Adanti Student Center 201

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009 • 5 p.m. (both parts)
   Adanti Student Center 301

Schindler's List is being shown in honor of the Memory & Legacy exhibit and reception, to help effect positive change in each of us by overcoming racial and cultural divides. This movie is one of the most powerful movies of all time. It tells the compelling true story of the German businessman Oskar Schindler, who comes to Nazi-occupied Poland looking for economic prosperity and leaves as a savior of more than 1,100 Jews.  A charming and sly entrepreneur, Schindler bribes and befriends the Nazi authorities to gain control of a factory in Krakow by Aryanization, which he staffs with Jewish slave-laborers. Soon he is making a fortune. Among the Jews who work for him is Itzhak Stern, the plant manager, who in his benevolence sees to it that Schindler's workforce includes the most vulnerable and cherished members of Krakow's Jewish community.

MOVIE FYI: This 1993 film was a box office success and recipient of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), and Best Original Score. The running time is 3 hours and 15 minutes.

The Granoff Student Health and Wellness Center welcomes you to the Fall 2009 semester at Southern Connecticut State University. We anticipate that many of you may have concerns about this year's flu season and how we will handle H1N1 (swine) flu here on campus. An action plan is already in place, guided by the advisories for higher education institutions issued by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We are also working closely with the health departments of the State of Connecticut and City of New Haven to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning our university. We will keep you updated on  new information as it becomes available to us. Click here for practical steps that you can take to help prevent the spread of flu at Southern.
 

"I looked through a number of poems, finding some pretty amazing things," Kuss says.  "I settled on a small autumnal poem called 'Exeunt,' setting it three different ways -- each mirroring the structure of the poem in reductive form."

Wilbur's honors include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1957 and 1989, the 1957 National Book Award, and the 1971 Bollingen Prize, among many others. In 1987 he became the second poet, after Robert Penn Warren, to be named U.S. Poet Laureate, after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant.   

Kuss has received awards from the American Academy and the Institute of Arts and Letters, the N.E.A., the Jerome Foundation, Meet the Composer, A.S.C.A.P., the Copland Foundation and others. His work has been performed by the 20/21st Century Consort, the Folger Consort, the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, at Merkin Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the MacDowell Colony, the Swannanoa Music Festival, the Monadnock Music Festival, Composers Inc., Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, and throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Wilbur was involved in the concert, Kuss says, reading selections from his work for approximately 40 minutes before the musical part of the concert began. Then, before each setting was performed, he read the poem aloud.  Kuss says, "It was interesting to hear his declamation compared to how the texts were set.  I discussed with him how his texts had -- in addition to great imagery -- good 'sounds' -- and a specific  'mouth feel' -- how the words hang and fall from the mouth when read aloud.  He was quite interested in this idea as a way of physicalizing the texts."

Kuss says he "deliberately fractured" the syntax of the third setting, re-arranging the texts in order to redefine the imagery. Wilbur was interested in this proces, Kuss says, but less comfortable with as it involved altering his ideas.

Other poets and composers were also involved in the event, Kuss says, with other composers setting the texts of guest poets.  The event was recorded by a Boston television station. Following the event was a discussion about text setting and how one approaches musicalizing the words of others. 


 

The 1906 murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in Herkimer, N.Y., inspired at least two well-known versions of the story: Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy and the 1951 film A Place in The Sun, starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, and Shelley Winters. Taylor and Bay's documentary looks at the various sides of a complicated set of events, which included Gillette's declaration of innocence in Brown's death, a highly publicized murder trial, and Gillette's subsequent execution.

The extensive media coverage Taylor and Bay have received -- accessible through the links below -- was prompted by the historical re-enactments being filmed.

Herkimer Evening Telegram: "Making of A Documentary"

WKTV: "Infamous 1906 Local Murder Case the Subject of New Documentary"

Utica Observer Dispatch: "Documentary Filmed in Central New York"

On August 26, 2009, the university will hold University Forum XLIII: "How Students Learn" from 8:30 a.m.-noon. The forum will feature keynote speaker Dr. Todd Zakrajsek (pictured at left) on "How Students Learn: Strategies for Teaching from the Psychology of Learning."  Abundant research demonstrates that learning takes place when the student's mind actively engages in the material.  The major problem is determining how to increase that activity.  Within the discipline of human memory, learning, and cognition exists a vast body of literature dealing specifically with this issue.  Forum participants will gain an understanding of the basic concepts in human learning, how to present information so that students most effectively encode it into long-term memory, and how to help students know when they know.

Dr. Zakrajsek is the executive director of the Center for Faculty Excellence at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He was previously the director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching at Central Michigan University and the founding drector of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Southern Oregon University, where he also taught as a tenured associate professor in the Psychology Department.  Dr. Zakrajsek received his Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from Ohio University.  He has written two introductory psychology instructor's manuals for McGraw-Hill and a student study guide for Addison-Wesley.  He has also published and presented widely on the topic of student learning, including workshops and conference keynote addresses in over 30 states and four countries in the past several years.

The forum will take place in the Charles Garner Recital Hall, ENC 112. Breakfast refreshments will be provided.  Following the keynote address, a buffet luncheon will be served (12:00 - 1:00 p.m.) in the Engleman Hall Seminar Center, ENB 121. 

To register for the event and for the luncheon, e-mail the Faculty Development Office at facultydevel@southernct.edu no later than Friday, August 21, 2009.  Contact:  Bonnie Farley-Lucas, Coordinator, Faculty Development (farleylucab1@southernct.edu).

Saltman, a professor of special education known for her humorous approach to life, retired from the university as of July 1, and is directing her summer institute possibly for the last time. The course, SED 575-01, a special education elective that counts toward a master's degree or a sixth year certificate, will take place August 3-7 at the Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge, from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. each day. Saltman brings several outside speakers into the institute to communicate the H.E.L.P. message.  

She describes the institute as "a week of learning and laughing and finding out about yourself and how to interact with other people and how to teach with creativity." Nonteachers also take the course, although the evaluations Saltman receives at the conclusion of the course often say that every teacher should be required to take this course before working with children. 

In addition to Saltman herself, among the 15 presenters at this year's institute will be Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz; comedian Kathy Buckley; storyteller Len Cabral; Special Olympics athlete Loretta Claiborne; singer/songwriter Greg Cooney; children's author and illustrator Steven Kellogg, and singer/songwriter David Roth. Educational consultants, professors of education, learning specialists, and inspirational speakers will also make presentations. 

"A real camaraderie develops among the participants and the speakers," Saltman says. "We have a lot of fun -- it's a full emotional roller coaster week. And everyone tells me they learn more in this week than in any other course they've taken."

Saltman encourages anyone interested in attending the institute to register now. The cost of the three-credit institute is $1,400, which includes lunch and lab fees. Saltman points out that anyone who comes to the institute once is entitled to come back to future institutes at no additional charge. 

The "helping" spirit of the institute has been a hallmark of Saltman's career. She knew from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to teach. Her older sister was a dental hygienist, and Saltman would accompany her to schools in low-income neighborhoods, where her sister would care for the children's teeth. Saltman would read to the children while her sister worked, and she knew then that she wanted to work with kids. 

She has been teaching since 1965, and although she has retired, she will continue to teach a couple of courses next fall as an adjunct instructor. "I'm going to be here until I die," she jokes.

In demand as a public speaker, often on the topic of the therapeutic value of laughter, Saltman donates all of her speaking fees to charities. Among those she contributes to are a cancer research unit in Florida; Hadassah, a Jewish women's organization that supports hospitals and medical research in Israel, and the Hole in the Wall Gang camps.

In addition, 100 percent of the earnings from her recently published book "I'm Changing the Locks and Cementing the Windows" goes to the Hole in the Wall Gang camps, founded by Paul Newman in 1988 for children coping with cancer, sickle cell anemia and other life-threatening illnesses. Saltman wrote the book with her best friend, Ronnie Greenspan, who died in 2007. 

Saltman has given much to her students and the community over the years, and her gifts of laughter, education and support come back to her -- the walls of her Davis Hall office are plastered with posters, cards, photos, and notes from grateful students. Looking around at all of the mementos from her long, fruitful teaching career, she says, "This is my life. My students are the greatest."

Sargent first taught at Southern in the fall of 1999, and then returned permanently in 2003.  She teaches a wide variety of courses within the Communication Department, including those dealing with interviewing, interpersonal communication and small group communication."My primary responsibility is to my students," Sargent says. "This responsibility moves beyond the mastery of course material. It involves creating a sense of worth and accomplishment, fostering a climate of inquiry and respect, and developing an enthusiasm for learning that lasts a lifetime."

Her ability to create challenging courses that maximize learning while building positive student relationships is the quality most mentioned by many students who nominated her for the award.  She is equally well respected by her colleagues.

"I like to describe her as one of our teaching 'rock stars' because our students are so attracted to her teaching style," says Jos Ullian, chairman of the Communication Department. "Her classes are exciting, rigorous and informative."

Sargent's commitment to student success extends beyond the classroom to include academic advising for more than 30 students, serving as the faculty adviser for the College Republicans, and working with student interviewers on classroom communication research. 

At the university level, she is an active member of the Teaching Innovation Program Advisory Board, the Curriculum-Related Activities Committee, and the Academic Standing Committee.  She also shares her teaching expertise with Southern faculty through workshops, including the First-Year Experience Academy and the Teaching Innovation Program. Her teaching is complemented by an ongoing research agenda that includes health communication, training and development and pedagogy.

Frankel-Gramelis is the director of community education at Milford Hospital and regularly teaches two sections of a course in stress management and health promotion for the university's Public Health Department.

She is a former Southern student who earned both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the university. "I believe being a student here myself has added to my understanding of how important it is to be involved and available to your students in and out of the classroom," she says.

Students who nominated her for the award have stressed her compassion for students and the life lessons they learned from her, as well as the positive differences she has made in their lives. 

Bill Faraclas, chairman of the Public Health Department and a former professor of Frankel-Gramelis, says he hired her to teach part time more than a decade ago. "From the very start, and without exception, she has performed her teaching role with distinction - even beyond the level I had imagined," he says. "Her energy is matched only by the joy she derives from her classroom experiences."

Outside of the classroom, Frankel-Gramelis guides and mentors student interns at the Milford Hospital Education Department and presents workshops on stress reduction and health-related strategies for Southern's resident advisers and the School of Graduate Studies. She has also shared her professional expertise through presentations for the Wellness Center, at the Women and Work Life Balance Conference and during Administrative Professionals Day.

The J. Philip Award for Outstanding Teaching is awarded annually to one full-time and one part-time faculty member.  Nominations are solicited from the entire university community.  Nominees are invited to submit their portfolios demonstrating their teaching excellence.  The portfolios are then reviewed by the Outstanding Teaching Award Committee.  Key criteria are excellence in teaching, innovation in teaching, motivational and pedagogical techniques and professional development contributions and research in their field that relate to teaching.

The committee forwards its recommendations to the coordinator of faculty development, who then forwards the recommendations to the provost.

The book is by Terrence McNally, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek. Performances are Wednesday and Sunday at 2 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. For information call (860) 767-7318 or visit www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.  The theater is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton, Conn. 

Nye reports that in addition to the Southern alumni working at Ivoryton this summer, other Southern theater grads are performing and working for many other theaters across New England. He says that Jenna Sisson, '08, is playing "Amber" in Hairspray at The Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield, N.H., and Josh Wills, '09, is playing Sebastian in The Tempest for Capital Classics Theatre Company, based in West Hartford. The show takes place on the campus of St. Joseph College in West Hartford, July 9-26, with shows Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. Other students are working as stage managers and technicians throughout the region as well. "Our students are using their degrees professionally," Nye says.

Fifth time is the charm

Regina Milano has taken the fifth when it comes to her education at Southern. Fifth degree, that is.

Milano recently participated in a graduate commencement ceremony in anticipation of receiving her Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership and policy studies. Upon completion of her dissertation, she will have earned a diploma for the fifth time from the university. And she will become one of only four students in university history to have earned a Southern degree at each of the four levels -- bachelor's, master's, sixth year and Ed.D.

"Southern has been like a second home for me," says Milano, a high school science teacher at the Stiles Alternative Learning Center in West Haven. "I have developed so many positive relationships with faculty and staff, as well as my fellow students."

After graduating from Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden, she entered Southern and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communication. But it was when she returned to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in biology that her career path began to take shape. "I fell in love with biology after having worked with faculty members like Dwight Smith (currently the department chairman) and Noble Proctor (biology professor emeritus). They are among the best researchers in their field, and they brought the subject to life with collections and slide shows."

Milano later earned a Master of Science degree in biology, when she realized she wanted to enter the teaching profession.   

She landed a job 13 years ago as a high school science teacher at Sacred Heart Academy. Three years later, she opted to enter the public education arena and for the last seven and a half years, has taught science at Stiles.

Milano credits her mother, Jane Ciarlone, who serves as coordinator of Southern's Office of Study Skills Enrichment, with instilling in her the value of education. She said another impetus for her drive toward earning the Ed.D. is probably rooted in her own experiences as a student.

"As a student, particularly in high school and as an undergraduate, things didn't always come easy," she says. "But in the long run, that extra effort that I had to put in made me appreciate accomplishments in education even more and gave me an extra motivation to achieve. I also think it has helped me as a teacher to see things from a student's perspective."

She is thinking of becoming an adjunct faculty member at the college level and plans to work more closely with animals, such as pursuing training in the field of wildlife rehabilitation and writing for publications that focus on animals.

Milano said helping animals has been a passion of hers for many years. She credits Rosalyn Amenta, a Southern faculty member, with helping her during her undergraduate days to generate the intellectual fire power to convert her love of animals into tangible results that benefit them and improve the environment.

training the stars

Brian O'Loughlin was already living what many people would regard as the American Dream -- happily married with a rewarding career that was providing him with countless travel opportunities and the chance to hobnob with some famous people.

As a personal trainer, he worked with the likes of Hall of Fame golfer Chi-Chi Rodriguez and "The Big Man" Clarence Clemons, a saxophone player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.

Yet, one thing was missing from an otherwise fulfilling life -- a college diploma. O'Loughlin had been an active member of campus while he was enrolled as a Southern student in the late 1980s and early 1990s. O'Loughlin was nearly finished with his coursework, when the lure of a steady paycheck from a local gym led him to take a semester off from school. That one semester off led to another semester and then another. Eventually, he ditched plans to finish school when he relocated to Florida as part of an effort to further his personal training career. And the effort succeeded in enhancing that career.

Despite his success, the thought of forgoing that degree gnawed at him for years. He was particularly pained because his parents were always huge advocates of education.

"Being so close and never finishing -- it killed me inside," O'Loughlin said. "It chased me all around the world. No matter what I did, I never forgot that I didn't finish college."

That one misgiving was finally erased recently, when O'Loughlin received a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science. He finally had decided to take action about a year ago, when he got in touch with Frank Ladore, a friend from his college days and now interim director of Southern's Office of Academic Advisement. He wanted to see what it would take for him to complete his degree. Ladore, after analyzing his transcript and consulting with several university staff members, informed him that only two classes were needed to complete the degree -- a foreign language and a world history class. So, O'Loughlin successfully completed courses in Spanish and Western Civilization at Indian River State College in Florida, where the credits would be transferred to Southern.

"I felt like a thousand-pound weight was lifted off my shoulders," says O'Loughlin, who credits Ladore for helping him to rewrite his life story. "He changed my life...he was so awesome and so helpful."

While at Gold's Gym in Stuart, Fla., O'Loughlin worked as a trainer and developed nutritional programs for clients. One client, Susan Loretti, then married to professional golfer Larry Loretti, recommended O'Loughlin to Rodriguez, who became a regular client.

He worked for Clemons for five years on several different tours, noting that the grueling schedule was "consistently inconsistent." He frequently got by on three hours of sleep. O'Loughlin says he once traveled to Spain, Germany, and France in a 24-hour period.

"I was able to meet some of the best musicians in the world," he says. "These musicians are the legends...talented beyond words."

O'Loughlin now works as a therapist at the Egoscue Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where he helps people correct their posture through specific exercises and stretches to eliminate pain. His work at the clinic offers new challenges and rewards.

PREVENTING INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE 

Anne Bubriski admits she "grew up in a bubble." "I never knew about domestic violence," she says, until a college course she took as an undergraduate at the University of Connecticut opened her eyes and changed her life. "I read a chapter in a textbook about domestic violence, and it was shocking to me that it existed. Reading about it got me interested in the process and the dynamic."

Bubriski came to Southern three years ago to earn a master's degree in women's studies and wrote her thesis on "Breaking Silence: African American Women Resisting Structure and Intimate Partner Violence." She graduated last month and in August will head to Florida, where she will enter the doctoral program in sociology at the University of Central Florida, one of only a few Ph.D. programs that offer a specialization in domestic violence. She received a teaching assistantship that will provide a full tuition waiver and a monthly stipend. The UCF sociology program has a nationally renowned scholar on violence against women, so the program is a good match for Bubriski.

Bubriski is particularly interested in domestic violence -- also known as intimate partner violence -- with regard to gender, class and race. In her thesis research she looked at the disproportionate representation of African American children in the welfare system and at the connection between child removal and IPV. Even as victims of IPV, African American mothers, in particular, often have to prove that they are "good mothers" in order to get their children back. Bubriski says that women's studies emphasizes giving back to the community, and she wants to turn her research into practice and get into preventive work, particularly with young men.

The statistics on IPV are tough: Bubriski says that one in four women in the United States has been a victim of domestic violence. "I couldn't believe it when I read this statistic," she says. Eighty to 85 percent of survivors are women, and 45 percent of first-time violence happens when a woman is pregnant. Abuse is also a problem among same-sex couples, Bubriski says, and she plans to look more into that in her graduate studies.

Bubriski says domestic violence is more complex than many people realize. "It's not enough just to say 'you can't hit a woman,'" she says, adding that there are seven or eight aspects of abuse. "Controlling behaviors are big -- controlling money, isolating a woman from her friends, manipulating the kids against her, cutting down her self-esteem. It's not usually that a woman gets hit out of the blue; other issues often come first. This is why I think preventive work is so important -- there's misunderstanding about what constitutes abuse."

Bubriski's thesis adviser, Yi-Chun Tricia Lin, director of the women's studies program, says that whatever Bubriski does "is driven by a greater vision for social change. Working with the underrepresented and underprivileged is her goal, and she finds her calling in making a change in a world that is marred by inequality." 

a time for everything

Working two jobs and helping to raise three boys while going to Southern part time, Anthony Gadsden has learned to make the most of his time.

"During the time school is out, it's unbelievable what the kids and I accomplish," Gadsden says, noting that he tries to spend "every ounce of time" with his children when he isn't at work or studying.

He applies that same ability to make the best use of his time when he is working, as well. A nurse's assistant at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, he was voted "Employee of the Year" in 2000, just a year after taking that position. He previously had worked in the medical facility's kitchen and later patient transport, before colleagues had suggested he become a nurse's assistant.

He recently earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology after starting at Southern in 2004.

In addition to taking classes, he has worked full time at St. Vincent's and has held down a part-time job at Jimmy's Hip Hop, a fashion store in Bridgeport. Between the two jobs, he regularly works every day, with the exception of every other Sunday. But Gadsden, 36, says the sacrifices he has made because of work and school were well worth it. Getting his degree was important, he says, because he wants to be an example to his children -- Dominick, 17; Anthony Jr., 10, and Brandon, 7. He says he could not have achieved his goal without support, particularly from his family.

"It's called having a great wife," Gadsden says about the key to his success and ability to juggle work, school, and family responsibilities.

Gadsden's hectic schedule didn't leave much time to enjoy the campus life as much as he would have liked, but he says the people he met at Southern were "unbelievable" and he loved the campus environment.

While he has a fulfilling career, Gadsden says he would like to explore his options now that he has a college diploma. He is particularly interested in helping people with substance abuse issues for a state agency, such as the Department of Children and Families or the Department of Adult Probation.

During internships, Gadsden got to see what a career in counseling would be like, and feels that it could be his true calling. Counseling seems like a good fit, he says, because he enjoys helping people, giving them "a breath of hope" for change.

Michael Ryan, professor of sociology, says he has been impressed by Gadsden. "Anthony just walked in one day as a typical advisee and I was impressed by his spirit and continued to be impressed during his tenure at Southern," Ryan says. "He made a phenomenal impression on all of the sociology professors. He's just an example of someone who very, very much appreciates the opportunity to receive an education."

This event provides an opportunity for alumni and friends to support and encourage the academic and athletic growth of Southern's student athletes. All proceeds from the tournament will be used for student scholarships and program enhancements for the Athletics Department. For more information and to register, click here: www.southernctowls.com

Russian philosophers had a rare chance recently to learn more about how their American counterparts view their discipline when Philosophy Professor Armen Marsoobian and his co-editor John Ryder traveled to Moscow for a book launch of the Russian translation of their book, "The Blackwell Guide to American Philosophy." The launch took place Sept. 26 at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Moscow.

Ryder is director of international programs at the State University of New York (SUNY) System Administration. SUNY and Moscow State University are engaged in a partnership that dates back to the mid-1970s. Marsoobian is editor of the journal Metaphilosophy, in addition to being a member of the Southern Philosophy Department faculty.

The U.S. State Department's Moscow Embassy chooses a few American books for translation into Russian each year and subsidizes these books' publication. Marsoobian says his and Ryder's book was chosen for publication in 2008 because of the high level of interest in Russia on the subject of American philosophy. 

Marsoobian explains it is not easy to publish American books in Russia without a government subsidy, and while the publishing industry in Russia used to be state subsidized, the number of academic books published has dropped since the end of the Soviet Union. 

"Philosophy is a pretty big subject area in Russia," he says, adding that at Moscow State, 2,000 undergraduates are studying philosophy, down from 4,000 before the collapse of the U.S.S.R. "It's staggering how large the university's philosophy program is," he says. Moscow State, home to the largest university building in the world, was the leading educational institution for the Communist world during the time of the Soviet Union but has now opened up.

Marsoobian explains that in Russia, a book launch is an academic event, similar to a conference. At the launch of his and Ryder's book, a dean of the university spoke, as did representatives of the embassy and the publisher, along with Marsoobian and Ryder. Then the audience had a chance to speak about their work in American philosophy and how they see this book being useful to them, or not. A book signing and reception followed the discussion.

About 30 philosophers attended the launch, Marsoobian says. Many had copies of the book, and some of these scholars had worked on American philosophy. "One person argued that there's no such thing as American philosophy," Marsoobian says. "He argued that you can't identify philosophy with a particular nation, that it transcends national identity and characteristics." 

Marsoobian was given copies of books and articles in Russian, and in turn, as a token of gratitude, he gave the faculty a gratis subscription to Metaphilosophy. "They haven't been able to get many English language journals so they were very happy," he says. 

Marsoobian is also trying to encourage more submissions to the journal from Russia. The journal is international but doesn't receive many submissions from Russia, and Marsoobian wants to make Russian philosophers more aware of it. "Being able to go to Moscow opens the door to new potential collaborators," he says.The Moscow State faculty said they'd like to bring American and Russian philosophers together to talk about philosophy across the East/West divide and to consider such questions as whether nationality affects philosophy. 

Marsoobian was in Russia for a week, from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1. He divided his time between Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he also met informally with faculty at a university. He has been invited back to Moscow State to give a series of lectures and hopes to work out an exchange of some kind between Southern and Moscow State.



 

Special Olympics Connecticut will host its annual Summer Games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 5, 6, and 7, 2009.  Most events will take place on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University with the soccer competitions being held at the Hamden Hall Country Day School Soccer Fields in Hamden.

Over 2100 athletes & partners from across the State will be competing for medals in sports such as soccer, cycling, aquatics, gymnastics, track and field, and tennis.  When not competing, the athletes can visit Olympic Town and take part in creative activities or go to the Healthy Athletes area where they can get their eyes, ears, feet, and teeth checked or get a quick massage - all for free.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS CONNECTICUT SUMMER GAMES

June 5, 6 & 7

2,141 Athletes & Partners
864 Coaches
4,000+ Volunteers

SITES & SPORTS COMPETITIONS
Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven
Aquatics, Athletics, Cycling, Gymnastics, Tennis & Housing

Hamden Hall Athletic Fields, Hamden
Traditional & Unified Sports Soccer

SPECIAL EVENTS
Law Enforcement Torch Run - June 3-5
3 days...statewide...3,500+ law enforcement officers, volunteers
& Special Olympics athletes running over 640 miles throughout 100 cities and towns

Opening Ceremonies - Friday, June 5, at Jess Dow Field, SCSU
A dynamic celebration with a parade of athletes, ceremonial lighting of the
Olympic Flame and family entertainment

Olympic Town - Saturday, June 6, & Sunday, June 7, at SCSU
Educational, Cultural, & Interactive Activities

Healthy Athletes Village - Saturday, June 6, & Sunday, June 7, at SCSU
Health screenings with Special Smiles, Opening Eyes, Fun Fitness, Fit Feet,
Health Promotion, Healthy Hearing and Massage Therapy

Victory Dance - Saturday night, June 6

Family Hospitality - June 6 & 7, at SCSU

TENTATIVE COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Friday, June 5
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM - 200Meter Run & Walk, Developmental Aquatics

Saturday, June 6
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Competition @ all venues

Sunday, June 7
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM - Competition @ all venues

For more information, call (203) 230-1201 or visit http://www.soct.org/

The trip is being made possible in large part by the generosity of the Stutzman Family Foundation, which last year announced its intention to fund a music lessons program for Southern music majors. Represented by Walter Stutzman (below, left), who just graduated from Southern in May with a bachelor's degree in music, the foundation made the gift to the choir because, as Stutzman says, "We wanted to be sure that people in the department could go on this trip and take advantage of this opportunity."

The opportunity is one that Gemme and the choir have been dreaming of for a few years. Simon Carrington, director of the Yale Schola Cantorum and professor of choral conducting at Yale University, invited the Southern choir to take part in the Dublin performance, which he will conduct. Gemme and the students were interested in joining, but cost was an obstacle. 

The Dublin "Messiah" is one of many similar events taking place around the world this year, which marks the 250th anniversary of the death of composer George Frideric Handel. Handel, born in 1685, was a German-English composer whose works include "Messiah," "Water Music" and "Music for the Royal Fireworks." He composed "Messiah" in the summer of 1741, and the work premiered in Dublin in 1742. Among the most popular works in Western choral literature, the oratorio includes the beloved "Hallelujah Chorus." 

When Gemme and the choir discussed the possibility of such a trip, students who were interested said they could probably afford half the cost, which is about $4,000 per person. "We thought about it again in the fall, and then the economy started to tumble," Gemme says. "We weren't sure the university could afford to support the trip financially."

Enter Stutzman. When he heard about the choir's interest in the Ireland trip, and about the cost being an obstacle, he made a generous offer.  

"Walter said we need music more than ever in these dark times," says Gemme. "He sees music as being a light in the darkness." He offered to provide $53,000 - about half the cost of the trip - with the balance being covered by students' personal funds as well as money raised through fundraisers.
Choirs from all over the world will participate in the performance, and Stutzman sees great value in this "chance for Southern's musicians to be part of the international music community. These opportunities don't come along very often."

In addition to rehearsing and performing, the choir will go sightseeing in Ireland and in London. A few of the students have traveled, but many needed to get their passports for the trip. Gemme points to cultural exposure as one of the main benefits of such an experience. "Being able to perform in a choir of singers from all over the world in a place like St. Patrick's Cathedral, and to be singing a masterpiece like 'Messiah' in the place where it was premiered, is so exciting," she says. 

The choir performed "Messiah," parts 2 and 3, at Spring Glen Church in Hamden on May 8, along with some singers from the church congregation. The trip to Ireland is June 14-22.      

"Even though these students already love singing," says Gemme, "this experience has the potential for changing their lives."
 

But last June, she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis -- a progressive disease in which scar tissue forms in the lungs and eventually destroys the lungs' capacity to deliver an adequate amount of oxygen to the bloodstream. In addition, she has several related conditions, such as pulmonary hypertension. As a result, Lynch is hooked up to an oxygen tank nearly 24 hours a day, whether it's the large converter that turns air into pure oxygen or one of her portable tanks that provides her with 20 to 30 minutes of oxygen apiece. In addition, she takes immune suppressor drugs, steroids and even Viagra to improve blood flow.

Nevertheless, none of that has kept her from her job. She simply has had students move the oxygen converter from her office to the classroom and remains connected to it with a 50-foot cord that allows her to move around in the classroom. "I can still walk, talk and drive, so why not keep teaching?" she says. "Sure, it is more difficult now. But I've never been one to just sit at home all day."

Her courageous approach to life has even caught medical professionals off guard. "My doctors just roll their eyes when I tell them I am still teaching," says Lynch, who adds that the person who makes the oxygen converter was surprised when she asked him about purchasing a second such device to keep in her SCSU office. "He told me he's never gotten such a request before because people my age who use the converter usually just stay home."

Gregory Paveza, dean of the School of Health and Human Services, says Lynch exemplifies dedication to her students and the university. "In most instances, folks with Barbara's illness would have simply given up," he says. "Her fighting spirit is admirable and is a quality that we should all aspire to have."

And while Lynch - who has taught at Southern for about 35 years -- is retiring at the close of this semester, she has not ruled out serving as an adjunct faculty member.

Nevertheless, her zest for life belies the seriousness of her illness. No cure exists and her treatment, at best, may slow down the progression of the disease.

"When I was finally diagnosed with it, the doctor told me that he had good news and bad news," Lynch says. "The good news was that it wasn't my heart. But the bad news was that it's this. And he told me that while they can fix many bad hearts, they can't fix lungs in this condition. In fact, when I asked him why he became a doctor who specialized in lungs, he said it was because it is the 'last frontier' in medicine. There is so much they still need to learn about lungs."

She says a lung transplant could "buy a few years," but that she is not eligible because of her age. Nevertheless, she is open to drugs in the experimental phase.

"Lungs are very complex little machines, yet we all take them for granted, until something like this happens," Lynch says.

She would like to help educate the public about pulmonary fibrosis. "Even though there isn't a cure yet, early detection is still important because the disease can be treated earlier and extend a person's life.

"The only real symptom I had initially was a little shortness of breath," she explains. "At first, I thought it was just because of my advancing age."

But the worsening of symptoms eventually prompted her to seek medical attention about 16 months ago. She went for a variety of tests and was finally diagnosed with the illness in June 2008.

Pulmonary fibrosis can be caused by a variety of factors, but often is idiopathic (no known cause). Lynch believes her case might be hereditary, noting that her mother had similar symptoms before dying in 1983 of Legionnaires' disease, an ailment that affects the lungs. She adds that pulmonary fibrosis was not something that was readily diagnosed at that time. "It makes me wonder if that's what she had," she says.

As for the future, Lynch remains realistic about her prognosis, but also hopeful. "Let's just say that I'm still buying green bananas," she said.
 

Undergraduate Commencement ceremony

friday, may 29, 2009

connie chung ~
investigative reporter, news anchor

An award-winning investigative reporter and one of the most recognizable faces on American television, Connie Chung has been a powerful force in the news industry for more than 35 years.

She began her long career in TV news in 1969 in her hometown of Washington, D.C., where she worked at WTTG-TV Metromedia (now Fox), first as a copy person, then as a news writer, and later as a news reporter. She joined CBS News in 1971 as a national correspondent for the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. In 1976, she moved to Los Angeles, where she spent seven years as an anchor.

In 1983, she joined NBC News as a national correspondent and anchor. Her assignments included anchoring the Saturday edition of the "NBC Nightly News," "NBC News at Sunrise," "NBC News Digests," several primetime specials, and a news magazine. While at NBC News, Ms. Chung was a substitute anchor for "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw." She was a floor correspondent at the 1984 political conventions and a podium correspondent during the 1988 conventions, and provided political reporting and analysis during the presidential campaigns and election nights in 1984, 1986, and 1998.

Ms. Chung rejoined CBS News in 1989 as an anchor and correspondent of "Saturday Night With Connie Chung" and also anchored the Sunday edition of the "CBS Evening News." In 1990, she became the anchor of the Emmy Award-winning CBS News primetime magazine program, "Face to Face with Connie Chung." During this time, Ms. Chung conducted a series of exclusive interviews, including the first and only national television interview of Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Exxon Valdez, and the first interview with Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson after his announcement that he was HIV positive.

From 1993 to 1995, Ms. Chung was co-anchor of the "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and Connie Chung," and anchor and correspondent on "Eye to Eye with Connie Chung." During that time, she covered the historic Israel/PLO signing ceremony at the White House. She also obtained an exclusive interview with Chinese leader Li Peng on the five-year anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Ms. Chung was a floor reporter for CBS News during the 1992 national political conventions and provided analysis during election-night coverage in 1990, 1992, and 1994.

During 1997, Ms. Chung was a fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In November 1997, she joined ABC News as co-anchor and correspondent on the ABC News primetime news magazine "20/20."

During the 1999-2000 "20/20" season, Ms. Chung was awarded the Amnesty International Human Rights Award for her report that revealed that young women in Bangladesh were being brutally burned with acid as revenge for turning down advances from men.

During that same season, Ms. Chung won several awards for "Justice Delayed," an investigative hour that uncovered new information in the 1966 murder of Ben Chester White, an African American from Mississippi. Her report led the U.S. Justice Department to re-open the case after more than three decades and to indite, try, convict, and sentence Ernest Avants for the murder.

In January 2002, Ms. Chung joined CNN to anchor "Connie Chung Tonight." She left on-air duties at CNN in March 2003.

The first Asian American and only the second woman to serve as nightly news anchor on a major TV network, Chung has received three Emmy Awards, including two for best interview/interviewer. In addition, she is the recipient of a George Foster Peabody Award, honors from American Women in Radio and Television, and an Outstanding Young Woman of America Award.

Ms. Chung graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree. She has been married to Maury Povich since 1984. The couple lives with their son, Matthew, in Manhattan.

graduate commencement ceremonies • thursday, May 28, 2009

Orlando L. Taylor ~

Vice Provost for Research, Dean of the Graduate School, and Professor of Communications, Howard University

afternoon commencement speaker

Orlando L. Taylor is currently Vice Provost for Research, Dean of the Graduate School, and Professor of Communications at Howard University. He has held many other positions at Howard, including Dean of its School of Communication and Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs. [photo credit: Howard University]

Prior to joining the Howard faculty in 1973, Vice Provost Taylor was a faculty member at Indiana University. He also has served as a Visiting Professor at Stanford University, Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Dr. Taylor is a national leader in graduate education and within his discipline. He is currently or has served previously as a member of numerous national boards, including the Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), for which he served as Board Chair in 2001. He is also a Past President of the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools and the National Communication Association. He is a former member of the Advisory Committee of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources of the National Science Foundation and of the Advisory Council at the National Institutes of Health. He is also the former president of the Consortium of Social Science Associations and a current member of the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Board of Directors. He chairs the National Advisory Board for the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning, a major NSF-funded center at the University of Wisconsin.

As Graduate Dean at Howard University since 1993, Vice Provost Taylor has played a significant role in assuring Howard's continued national leadership in graduate education. Howard, a richly diverse institution, produces more African American on-campus Ph.D. recipients than any research university in the United States. Vice Provost Taylor is a leader in several national initiatives involving graduate education. He has been a particularly vigorous advocate and spokesperson on topics and issues relating to access and equity in higher education.

Vice Provost Taylor has raised several million dollars in research, training and program development grants from federal and private sources during his career at Howard University. Currently, he serves as PI on major grants from the National Science Foundation to increase the production of minority Ph.D. recipients in science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) and in the social, behavioral and economic (SBE) sciences; as well as from the U.S. Department of Education to develop collaborative academic and research programs between universities in Brazil and in four European Union countries with Howard University and several others in the United States. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and books.

Vice Provost Taylor has earned honorary doctorates from Purdue University, Indiana University, The Ohio State University, Hope College and DePauw University. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association awarded him its highest award, Honors of the Association, and the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan awarded him its Distinguished Service Alumni Award.ward.

Dr. Taylor received his bachelor's degree from Hampton University, master's degree from Indiana University, and Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan. 

michael bolton ~
singer, songwriter

evening commencement speaker

During the course of his extraordinary career, Michael Bolton - singer, songwriter, and social activist - has sold more than 53 million albums and singles worldwide, and has won, among his other numerous awards, two Grammies for Best Male Vocalist and six American Music Awards. A native of New Haven, Conn., he has earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and sold out arenas worldwide. The dynamically diverse performer has also sung and recorded with such iconic talents as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Ray Charles, played guitar with B.B. King, and had his music sampled by hip-hop superstar Kanye West (featuring megastar Jay-Z) and also on a CD/DVD by John Legend.

A prolific songwriter as well, Mr. Bolton has composed songs for legendary artists including Barbra Streisand, KISS, Kenny Rogers, Kenny G., Cher, Peabo Bryson, Patti Labelle, Joe Cocker, Marc Anthony, Greg Allman, Wynonna Judd, and many others. He has earned multiple honors as a songwriter, including BMI's Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, and Million-Air awards, ASCAP's Writer and Publisher Awards, and a Hitmaker Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He's one of a very few artists to have written with the incomparable Bob Dylan. Mr. Bolton has also collaborated with noted songwriters Diane Warren, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Desmond Child, and Babyface. 

Mr. Bolton believes in giving back in his own way, too. A dedicated social activist, he established the Michael Bolton Foundation 16 years ago - now Michael Bolton Charities, Inc. (MBC) - to provide assistance, education, and shelter to children and women at risk from poverty, as well as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Since its inception, the MBC has raised significantly more than $7 million in funding for local and national charities. The organization focuses its efforts in Connecticut and New York, with the goal to deepen and empower children's engagement in their own educations and futures and to develop educational support through scholarships, workshops, incentives, and internships. The foundation also collaborates with the corporate and business community, state and local governments, schools at all levels, and social services to develop outreach programs and employment opportunities for children across socioeconomic and multicultural lines.

Through the MBC, Mr. Bolton has also been deeply involved in, among other campaigns, the struggle to raise awareness about domestic violence. He is vice chair of the board of advisers of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and, in May 2008, he served as co-chair of the 30th anniversary worldwide celebration of the violence against woman's movement.

Mr. Bolton served as executive producer for the Lifetime Network's documentary "Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in America," for which he wrote and recorded the song "Tears of the Angels," which was nominated for an Emmy Award. Mr. Bolton's organization has enabled him to testify before both houses of Congress, notably as a champion of The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and as an advocate for the safety of women and children generally. He believes that of all the opportunities that his career has afforded him, this is the most important.

Mr. Bolton has served as honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America, national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research, and is a board member for the National Mentoring Partnership and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Among the philanthropic awards Mr. Bolton has received are the Lewis Hine Award by the National Child Labor Committee, the Martin Luther King Award by the Congress of Racial Equality, and the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.

Vice Provost for Research, Dean of the Graduate School, and Professor of Communications, Howard University

Orlando L. Taylor is currently Vice Provost for Research, Dean of the Graduate School, and Professor of Communications at Howard University. He has held many other positions at Howard, including Dean of its School of Communication and Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs. [photo credit: Howard University]

Prior to joining the Howard faculty in 1973, Vice Provost Taylor was a faculty member at Indiana University. He also has served as a Visiting Professor at Stanford University, Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Dr. Taylor is a national leader in graduate education and within his discipline. He is currently or has served previously as a member of numerous national boards, including the Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), for which he served as Board Chair in 2001. He is also a Past President of the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools and the National Communication Association. He is a former member of the Advisory Committee of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources of the National Science Foundation and of the Advisory Council at the National Institutes of Health. He is also the former president of the Consortium of Social Science Associations and a current member of the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Board of Directors. He chairs the National Advisory Board for the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning, a major NSF-funded center at the University of Wisconsin.

As Graduate Dean at Howard University since 1993, Vice Provost Taylor has played a significant role in assuring Howard's continued national leadership in graduate education. Howard, a richly diverse institution, produces more African American on-campus Ph.D. recipients than any research university in the United States. Vice Provost Taylor is a leader in several national initiatives involving graduate education. He has been a particularly vigorous advocate and spokesperson on topics and issues relating to access and equity in higher education.

Vice Provost Taylor has raised several million dollars in research, training and program development grants from federal and private sources during his career at Howard University. Currently, he serves as PI on major grants from the National Science Foundation to increase the production of minority Ph.D. recipients in science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) and in the social, behavioral and economic (SBE) sciences; as well as from the U.S. Department of Education to develop collaborative academic and research programs between universities in Brazil and in four European Union countries with Howard University and several others in the United States. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and books.

Vice Provost Taylor has earned honorary doctorates from Purdue University, Indiana University, The Ohio State University, Hope College and DePauw University. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association awarded him its highest award, Honors of the Association, and the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan awarded him its Distinguished Service Alumni Award.ward.

Dr. Taylor received his bachelor's degree from Hampton University, master's degree from Indiana University, and Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan. 

During the course of his extraordinary career, Michael Bolton -- singer, songwriter, and social activist -- has sold more than 53 million albums and singles worldwide, and has won, among his other numerous awards, two Grammies for Best Male Vocalist and six American Music Awards. A native of New Haven, Conn., he has earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and sold out arenas worldwide. The dynamically diverse performer has also sung and recorded with such iconic talents as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Ray Charles, played guitar with B.B. King, and had his music sampled by hip-hop superstar Kanye West (featuring megastar Jay-Z) and also on a CD/DVD by John Legend.

A prolific songwriter as well, Mr. Bolton has composed songs for legendary artists including Barbra Streisand, KISS, Kenny Rogers, Kenny G., Cher, Peabo Bryson, Patti Labelle, Joe Cocker, Marc Anthony, Greg Allman, Wynonna Judd, and many others. He has earned multiple honors as a songwriter, including BMI's Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, and Million-Air awards, ASCAP's Writer and Publisher Awards, and a Hitmaker Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He's one of a very few artists to have written with the incomparable Bob Dylan. Mr. Bolton has also collaborated with noted songwriters Diane Warren, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Desmond Child, and Babyface. 

Mr. Bolton believes in giving back in his own way, too. A dedicated social activist, he established the Michael Bolton Foundation 16 years ago - now Michael Bolton Charities, Inc. (MBC) - to provide assistance, education, and shelter to children and women at risk from poverty, as well as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Since its inception, the MBC has raised significantly more than $7 million in funding for local and national charities. The organization focuses its efforts in Connecticut and New York, with the goal to deepen and empower children's engagement in their own educations and futures and to develop educational support through scholarships, workshops, incentives, and internships. The foundation also collaborates with the corporate and business community, state and local governments, schools at all levels, and social services to develop outreach programs and employment opportunities for children across socioeconomic and multicultural lines.

Through the MBC, Mr. Bolton has also been deeply involved in, among other campaigns, the struggle to raise awareness about domestic violence. He is vice chair of the board of advisers of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and, in May 2008, he served as co-chair of the 30th anniversary worldwide celebration of the violence against woman's movement.

Mr. Bolton served as executive producer for the Lifetime Network's documentary "Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in America," for which he wrote and recorded the song "Tears of the Angels," which was nominated for an Emmy Award. Mr. Bolton's organization has enabled him to testify before both houses of Congress, notably as a champion of The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and as an advocate for the safety of women and children generally. He believes that of all the opportunities that his career has afforded him, this is the most important.

Mr. Bolton has served as honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America, national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research, and is a board member for the National Mentoring Partnership and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Among the philanthropic awards Mr. Bolton has received are the Lewis Hine Award by the National Child Labor Committee, the Martin Luther King Award by the Congress of Racial Equality, and the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.

The Connellan Prize, open to students at the four CSUS universities, is named for the former poet laureate of Connecticut, who was also the CSUS poet-in-residence. The John Holmes Award, given by the New England Poetry Club, the oldest poetry club in the country, is presented for a single outstanding poem by an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in a New England college. Vivian Shipley, professor of English and a prize-winning poet herself, calls the prize "significant."

Keylock has been working towards an M.A. in creative writing at Southern but was accepted into the university's new M.F.A. program in creative writing, which starts in the fall, so he will continue his work in that program. He earned his undergraduate degree at Southern, as well as an M.S. in English with teacher certification. 

An English teacher at Newtown High School, where he teaches juniors and seniors, Keylock also co-coaches, with poetry slam champion Elizabeth Thomas, Connecticut's youth poetry slam team. Keylock explains that slam poetry is "more urban and hip hop" than what he teaches or writes himself but that "the kids love it."

Slam poetry, performed for an audience and judges, "can be very contemporary," Keylock says. "It can be a response to war, or to something else in the news, and it can be highly personal." The best slam poets, he says, are the ones that work "both on the page and on the stage." The youth slam team Keylock co-coaches is now headed to represent Connecticut at Brave New Voices / International Youth Poetry Slam and Festival in Chicago in July.

Keylock's own poetry is largely inspired by his experiences within the volatile atmosphere engendered by the Irish/English conflict in England during the 1980s, when he was growing up. 

"As a kid in England," he says, "I had jobs picking potatoes and baling hay, and these were the only times in my experience when English and Irish would mix. There were a lot of Irish in my town, and in the '80s, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was pretty big. There was tension between the Irish and the English. Bombs were going off every week in England. Leaving England and being away from it for so long, I write a lot about that topic now because I have some distance from it."

Keylock left England when he was almost 17, backpacked around Europe and came to New York City by himself when he was 18. Always a reader, he found books to be great traveling companions. He only began writing poetry in earnest about four years ago, once he had finished his teacher certification. "I started writing and just got into it," he says. "I started reading more about poetic structure and form and learning more about the genre. I became more willful in my choices as I wrote." 

He started writing "The Tattie Hawker" on his own and finished it in a workshop. The poem draws on the tensions Keylock recalls between the Irish and English in his hometown and portrays an English boy's futile crush on an Irish girl. Having taken poetry writing workshops with both Shipley and English professor Jeff Mock, Keylock gives credit to both for having helped him shape this poem. 

Mock describes Keylock's poems as "tough-minded, gritty, muscular and still elegant." Shipley says Keylock's poems "offer the consolation of an intelligent human spirit who speaks of what flails at his heart. He struggles with the blackness and is not broken, showing us that we must not refuse to look away from the world, from its terror, but that we also must not ignore its ravishing beauty."

Keylock received the Connellan Prize at a writers' conference at Central Connecticut State University in April. 

Click here to read "Font."

Click here to read "The Tattie Hawker."

The quartet comprises this year's nominees for the Henry Barnard Foundation Distinguished Student Award. Each year, Southern chooses four outstanding students for the award who have at least a 3.7 GPA and have demonstrated outstanding participation in university and/or community life. A total of 12 students are selected each year from the four campuses of the Connecticut State University System.

Alberto Cifuentes, Jr. (at left), a media studies and English major, has a 3.75 GPA. He plans to continue his studies after taking a semester off to work for a state or national grassroots/nonprofit issue advocacy group.

Cifuentes has been a member of LGBTQIA Prism for two years, the last year as its co-president. He also has been treasurer of the Media Studies Club and secretary of the SCSU chapter of Amnesty International. He has been employed as a student worker in Buley Library since 2004. He serves as co-chairman of the Connecticut chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. He led a discussion last year for the Ella Grasso Youth Action Conference on the new teen driving laws. He has been a recipient of the Sylvia Spino Endowed Scholarship and the Dr. Adelaide P. Amore Memorial Endowed Scholarship, both from the SCSU Alumni Association.
"Alberto is not only a sophisticated critical thinker, outstanding researcher and exceptional scholar, but a human being who demonstrates kindness, generosity and empathy for every other living creature," says Rosemarie Conforti, chairwoman of the Media Studies Department.

Megan Rudne (at right), an art education major, has a 3.8 GPA. She plans to pursue a Master of Science degree in special education with a specialization in autism spectrum disorders.

Rudne is a member of the President's Sustainable Climate Committee and the Environmental Futurists Club. She has been employed as a student worker for the last two years in the Office of Judicial Affairs and for the last two and a half years as a resident adviser in the Office of Residence Life. She has been feeding homeless people on the New Haven Green for the last two and a half years. She was the recipient of the Sylvia Leggiero Spino Memorial Scholarship from the SCSU Alumni Association in both 2007 and 2008.

"She interacts with students at all levels and engages them in constructive community activities," says Mitchell Bills, chairman of the Art Department. "In addition, her past work as a nanny, a teacher, a Big Sister and a camp counselor speaks to her interest in working with younger children."

Catherine Shortell (at left), a history/secondary education major, has a 3.81 GPA. She plans to seek employment as a high school social studies teacher. 

Shortell is a member of the executive board for Zeta Delta Epsilon, the university's honors community service organization. She has been a member of the Newman Society for four years, including a term as its president in 2005. She has served as a volunteer at the St. Ann's Soup Kitchen, as well as having participated in the Hunger Awareness Crop Walk and the New Haven Cook and Care Walk-a-thon. She has volunteered as an SAT prep coach for Project GEAR UP. She worked as a private tutor for the last seven years for students in grades 6 to 12, including home-schooled students in the subjects of social studies, science, English and Latin. A member of the Honors College, she has been a student teacher at Sheehan High School in Wallingford. She has been a care giver for her mother, who is a quadriplegic.

"I admire her steadfast commitment, her remarkable grace and maturity, her ability to balance academic endeavor with love of family and selfless service to her mother," says Terese Gemme, Honors College director. "Often in these recommendations, we extol our students for their notable sense of responsibility. Seldom in my experience has the acknowledgement of this attribute been so richly deserved."

Walter Stutzman (at right), a music major, has a 4.0 GPA. He plans to teach music appreciation, theory and/or piano in a secondary school in Connecticut.

Stutzman is a nontraditional student, opting to pursue a music degree after working 30 years in the field of software design and implementation. In so doing, he was able to convert his hobby of music into his vocation. He has served as a volunteer accompanist for the choir at Temple Beth Tikvah in Madison. He earned departmental honors in music last year. He had earned a Master of Arts degree from Yale University in linguistics in 1975 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Pomona College in 1971.

Jonathan Irving, chairman of the Music Department, describes Stutzman as someone who "helps fellow students in ways that often go without any publicity; a person whose moral character rises to an example of humanity through often silent deeds, but with a conscience for service towards the betterment of life." 

Through his family foundation, Stutzman recently made a gift to the university to establish and support the Southern Applied Music Program. The program will provide free weekly private voice or instrument lessons to all declared music majors who maintain a C-minus or better average in music courses.

http://southernct.edu/emailblast/4_30_09/ESS_RWJrLecture_2009.pdf

The event is sponsored by the Department of Sociology, Alpha Kappa Delta, and the Sociology Club. 

Date and Time: Friday, May 8, 2009, 3-4:30 p.m.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Location: Engleman Hall C112

Contact Information: Dr. Jessica Kenty-Drane, (203) 392-5689, kentydranej1@southernct.edu

Kuss has received awards from the American Academy and the Institute of Arts and Letters, the N.E.A., the Jerome Foundation, Meet the Composer, A.S.C.A.P., the Copland Foundation and others. His work has been performed by the 20/21st Century Consort, the Folger Consort, the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, at Merkin Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the MacDowell Colony, the Swannanoa Music Festival, the Monadnock Music Festival, Composers Inc., Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, and throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

His recent projects include a Soprano Saxophone Concerto written for and premiered by Branford Marsalis and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, music for the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, cellist Fred Raimi, and for Hesperus -- ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.    

Mihai Marica, a 2008 graduate of Southern, began his training as a cellist at the age of seven at the Music High School in his native city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Now a member of Yale Cellos and a student of Yale's celebrated cello teacher Aldo Parisot, Marica won the 33rd International Music Competition in Vina del Mar in Chile, regarded as one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world. He played a Carnegie Hall debut concert in 2008 and is currently the acting principal cellist of the New Haven Symphony.

The ONE concert, sponsored by SCSU, will take place at 8 p.m. at Battell Chapel, located at the corner of College and Elm Streets, New Haven.

Since its founding in 1974, Orchestra New England has presented over 700 concerts, most at ONE's home base at Yale's Battell Chapel, with other engagements taking place in concert halls throughout New England and along the Eastern seaboard. Maestro James Sinclair has served as the music director of ONE since its founding. His versatility in delivering superb performances in a variety of styles -- from the Baroque to pop literature -- drives the remarkable success of ONE.

To order tickets for the May 2 concert, contact the Shubert Box Office at (203) 562-5666 or (888) 736-2663 or online at www.shubert.com.

For more information about ONE, visit the ONE Web site.

While there is much debate about what constitutes a contemporary "artists' book," it is generally agreed that an artists' book is a book created as an art work in itself.

Contemporary artists' books take many different formats -- from the traditional codex or scroll book to inventive forms such as flip books, accordion books, venetian blind books, flag books, pop-ups, and uniquely juxtaposed and engineered structures.

On Monday, April 27, and Tuesday, April 28, from noon to 2 p.m., please stop by for a brief -- or an extended -- look at this unique and growing collection. If you are unable to join us, the collection is also shown by appointment.

Buley Library, 3rd floor.

For more information, contact Tina Re, Arts and Special Collections Librarian, at (203) 392-5597 or Ret1@southernct.edu.

He began his career as a reporter for the Boston Globe in 1969 and wrote a very popular weekly Sunday baseball column for many years. He has also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the National Hockey League, college basketball and Major League Baseball (1976-78, 1986-90).

Gammons was honored as the recipient of the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing during the 2005 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y.
 

System-to-system Transfer Compact signed by leaders of 16 institutions

The Connecticut State University System (CSUS) and the Connecticut Community College (CCC) system have approved a Transfer Compact which will offer dual admission to students who are planning to enroll at Central, Eastern, Southern or Western Connecticut State Universities after completing an associate's degree.

In ceremonies at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, the presidents and chancellors of the two systems, which include 12 Connecticut Community Colleges and four CSUS universities, formally signed the document launching the new program, which will be available to students beginning with the Fall 2009 semester. On hand for the signing were key legislators, policy makers and state higher education officials.

The program will permit students to be admitted at a CSUS university while working to complete an associate's degree. Upon completion of the associate's degree, they then transfer to the university they have designated. Although each of the universities has had some form of enhanced admission program in place with some neighboring community colleges, the new program expands the benefits to students adhering to the conditions in the Transfer Compact Agreement. The signing also marks the first time that all 16 institutions will adopt a uniform statewide dual admission program.

The new agreement stresses the importance of students receiving early academic advising, coordinated between the community college being attended and the university designated by the student, to ensure a program of study that will result in the smooth transfer of community college course credits. It also significantly expands the privileges that guaranteed admissions students have received in the past.

"This collaboration comes with a clear-cut and unequivocal focus - to better serve Connecticut's students," said CSUS Board Chair Lawrence D. McHugh. "Receiving academic advising from both institutions, and developing an academic plan from day one, will be tremendously helpful to students," added CSUS Chancellor David G. Carter, "potentially saving them time and money and improving the likelihood that they will continue through graduation at one of the universities."

"Students throughout Connecticut will benefit from this partnership between our systems of higher education," said CCC Chancellor Marc S. Herzog. "The open door offered by community colleges also opens the door to new opportunities at the State Universities and in Connecticut's Knowledge Economy."

The Dual Admission Program is designed for students who:

• Plan to earn an associate's degree from one of the 12 Connecticut Community Colleges (in five years or less).
• Plan to pursue a bachelor's degree at one of the four Connecticut State University System institutions beginning within two years of completing an associate's degree.
• Have earned 15 or fewer transferable college credits at the community college at the time of application to the Dual Admission Program.

"As a graduate of a Connecticut Community College who transferred to a 4-year college, I understand first-hand how important it is to have a smooth transition without a loss of credits. It saves students time and money," said Representative Roberta Willis, co-chair of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee. "As the Beatles song went, 'this is the way it should be!'

Key features of the Dual Admission Program include:

• Guaranteed Admission
Students are guaranteed admission to the selected CSUS institution upon successful completion of their associate's degree with a minimum 2.0 GPA. Specific academic and professional programs may have additional admission requirements.

• Coordinated Academic Advising
While completing the associate's degree, students receive personalized academic advising from both community college and university advisors to ensure that appropriate coursework is completed and that all credits taken at the community college will apply toward their bachelor's degree.

• Library Access
Students have full library privileges at the university they have designated, even while completing their associate's degree at a community college.

• Registration Preference
After earning an associate's degree, students are given course registration and on-campus housing options equivalent to university juniors.

• Smooth Transition
Students enjoy a smooth transition because they take classes that will transfer, have met regularly with university staff while attending community college, have become familiar with the university's academic policies and know which upper-level classes they will need to take at the university.

"As a former, longtime community college teacher, I'm particularly happy about this new compact," said State Senator Mary Ann Handley (D-Manchester), co-chair of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee. "Considering the current state of our economy and the increasing cost of higher education at four-year institutions, it makes both economic sense and academic sense to expand educational opportunities for community college students. For those who want to pursue their dream of securing a college degree from any one of Connecticut's four state universities, this compact - and a lot of hard work - will help make that dream a reality."

In addition to the general Dual Admission Program, the colleges and universities have a number of program-to-program agreements, specific academic baccalaureate programs, and pathway programs which will continue to be offered to students.

The Dual Admission application process is streamlined, allowing students to apply to both a community college and a CSUS university at the same time. Students must designate which of the four universities they plan to attend. A new web page, www.ct.edu/dual, has been launched to provide students with information about the new Dual Admission Program. Brochures and applications are now also available.

The new Dual Admission Program implements a key provision included in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed on March 29, 2007, by leaders of the two systems and institutions. That agreement envisioned a system-to-system agreement by 2010. The agreement signed Wednesday (April 22, 2009) puts the plan in place a year ahead of schedule.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Mary Anne Cox, Connecticut Community Colleges, mcox@comment.edu, 860-244-7639
Bernard Kavaler, Connecticut State University System, kavalerb@ct.edu, 860-493-0093

The Judaic Studies Program, The Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, and Hilton C. Buley Library,  invite you to:

Holocaust Remembrance at SCSU: A Week of Reflection, April 20-24, 2009

April 20, 1-2 p.m., Engleman Hall A120. Armen Marsoobian, SCSU Philosophy Department, will present a lecture entitled, "How Do We Memorialize Genocide?: The Case of the Berlin Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe."
 
April 21, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Engleman Hall C112.  A commemorative ceremony to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, featuring music performed by David Chevan (SCSU Music Department) and The Afro-Semitic Experience, and the poetry of esteemed Yiddish writer Irena Klepfisz ("A Child in the Warsaw Ghetto;" "Bashert"), read by Corinne Blackmer, SCSU English Department.

April 22, 1-2 p.m., Engleman Hall A120.  A book panel discussion in cooperation with Hilton C. Buley Library: Varian Fry's Surrender on Demand  -- Fry's account of his efforts to save 2,000 Jewish artists and intellectuals from the Nazis in Marseille, France, in 1940. Varian Fry (right) was from the tri-state area. He was born in Harlem, October 15, 1907, and then grew up in Ridgewood, N.J. He attended The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., in 1922 and then attended and graduated from Harvard in May 1931.  Fry was named Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur shortly before his death and was posthumously honored as "Righteous Among the Nations" at Yad Vashem in recognition of his heroic acts. In his later years he lived in Connecticut. At the time of his death in 1967, Fry was a teacher of classical languages at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Conn. The book panel is moderated by Martin Laskin, SCSU Sociology Department, and the  panelists include Corinne Blackmer, English Department; Shirley Cavanagh, Library Services, and David Pettigrew, Philosophy Department.

April 22, 7-10:30 p.m., Engleman Hall A120.  A film presentation of Roman Polanski's Academy Award-winning "The Pianist," the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman's survival in the Warsaw Ghetto. Introduction and discussion with Krystyna Gorniak, SCSU Philosophy Department.

April 23, 1:50-3:05 p.m., Engleman Hall A120.  Internationally renowned playwright Catherine Filloux (right) will present a lecture entitled "Lemkin's House: Responding to Genocide," examining the life and work of the Polish-Jewish jurist who coined the term "genocide" and championed its inscription in the law.

April 20 - 24 Varian Fry Surrender on Demand Book Exhibit at Hilton C. Buley Library
 
Varian Fry's Surrender on Demand and Wladyslaw Szpilman's The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 will be available to be purchased from the SCSU bookstore.

Varian Fry, Surrender on Demand (Boulder, Colo.: Johnson Books, 1997). Published in conjunction with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Wladyslaw Szpilman, The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945. trans. Anthea Bell (New York: Picador, 2000).

For more information about any of these events, contact David Levine at levined1@southernct.edu or (203) 392-6642, or David Pettigrew at pettigrewd1@southernct.edu or (203) 392-6778.

Undergraduates from accredited colleges and universities are encouraged to participate. The fairs provide excellent opportunities to explore careers, talk to professionals in your field, network, and practice your skills.

Whether you're a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student or alumnus, dress professionally and come to the Michael J. Adanti Student Center for the career fairs.

For additional information and/or resume assistance, call the Center for Career Services at (203) 392-6536 or stop by Schwartz Hall, room 102.

Career Fair dates and times:

Education & Nursing Career Fair
Monday, April 6, 2009
1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Grand Ballroom
Michael J. Adanti Student Center

General Career Fair
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Grand Ballroom
Michael J. Adanti Student Center

• The Today Show
• Dateline NBC
• NPR's All Things Considered
• CBS Radio's The Osgood File
• KPBS radio
• San Diego TV stations: KUSI, XETV, KNSD, KFMB, KGTV
• USA Today
• Time magazine
• Washington Post
• The Wall Street Journal
• Newsweek

More about Dr. Twenge's research can be found at:

http://www.psychology.sdsu.edu/new-web/facultystaff/twenge.html

Attention seniors and freshmen: Southern wants your feedback!

Congratulations to the freshmen and senior 2009 NSSE winners!  Seniors were selected to receive priority parking for a month, and freshmen were selected to receive priority fall registration.

And the winners are...

Kelsey Abbott
Mallory Bourgoin
Jillisa Dixon
Alyssa Funaro
Melissa Genovese
Paul Giuliano
Amanda Hardy
Andrea Harned
Simone Harrison
Jenny Huynh
Jennifer Jacobson
Nikole Lindley
Egon Loffel
Shanice Lynch
Catherine Magut
Megan McFadden
Kevin Pedone
Dylan Picard
Dana Proto
Joseph Reilly
Michael Sergreto
Erik Strobel
Abigal Tooker
Natalie Wall
Dave Watson
Angela West

Although prizes have been awarded we still need your help. You still have the chance to have your voice heard if you want a say at improving the quality of services at Southern.  Remember, the survey is confidential and only takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. 

So what are you waiting for?  Hurry, we need your opinions now!

If you are a freshmen or senior, and no longer have your NSSE e-mail invitation with your unique and confidential login information, please go to www.nssesurvey.org and select "Don't know your login ID and password."  Enter your MySCSU e-mail address, and the information will be sent to you. You may also call 1-800-676-0390 or Dr. Marianne Kennedy at (203)392-5761.

Visit the Summer Session Web site for more information.

Make Southern part of your summer plans.

summer session 2009 dates:

• Summer A: June 1-July 2 (5 weeks)
• Summer B: July 6-August 7 (5 weeks)
• Summer C: August 10-21 (2 weeks)

The event is the first in a planned series of events at Southern during the next year to celebrate the life and presidency of Lincoln.

what is recyclemania?

RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. Over a 10-week period, schools report recycling and trash data which are then ranked according to who collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate. With each week's reports and rankings, participating schools watch how their results fluctuate against other schools and use this to rally their campus communities to reduce and recycle more.

Recyclemania at Southern is running from Jan. 18-March 28, 2009. Watch for updates on special events, giveaways, and other promotions to encourage the practice of recycling on Southern's campus. Get involved!
 
Visit Southern's Recyclemania Web site to learn more.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill that took effect in July authorizing President Cheryl J. Norton and the university to take a lead role in developing recommendations for a comprehensive statewide plan to better teach children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Southern is working with several state agencies, including the Department of Development Services, the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education to craft such a plan.

"It's a huge project," says James Granfield, dean of the university's School of Education (pictured below, right). "There is such a need for this as people are desperate for information on how to better serve these students."

Autism spectrum disorders are developmental disabilities that cause substantial impairments in social interaction and communication, as well as unusual behaviors and interests, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Many people with these disorders also learn in unusual ways, the CDC states. Individuals with a form of autism vary in their learning abilities -- from gifted to severely challenged. These disorders begin before the age of 3 and continue through a person's life, according to the CDC.

An estimated three to six of every 1,000 children in the United States have the disorder, according to the Mayo Clinic. State and national statistics show a rise in children with autism during the last two decades.

Faculty members at Southern have been hard at work gathering data to develop new teaching methods to better prepare teachers. The data being collected include suggestions from individuals during public forums, as well as online surveys regarding teacher education programs.

Recommendations from community colleges that train special education paraprofessionals have been compiled and an examination of how other states have reached out to children and families is also being conducted. The compilation of information will be used to write a report that must be ready for the General Assembly by February. 

"There is such a need for teachers to have an understanding of this disability," says Ruth Eren, associate professor of special education at Southern (pictured above, right). She notes that parents of children diagnosed with autism are often at a loss as to how to address their child's medical, educational and social needs. Early intervention is considered the key to helping these children.

While there is no cure for autism spectrum disorders, Eren says effective teaching methods can offer huge benefits so that children can reach their full potential. Educating current and future teachers entails discussions about promising new practices that offer hope, as well as stressing evidence-based practices with proven results.

The state project is a good fit for Southern, Eren says. She points out that the university offers a master's degree program in special education with a concentration in autism and other developmental disabilities.

Pamela Brucker, chairwoman of the university's Special Education Department (pictured above, left), notes that the department is in the process of adding a new course that will help teachers develop strategies for greater inclusion of students with autism and other development disabilities. She is hopeful the class can be offered next fall.

Brucker says it is an honor for Southern to be chosen for such a role as to help offer ways in which teachers may be more effective in helping autistic students learn more effectively.
 

A pioneer and role model for African American women across the country, Dr. Cole's career as a college and university professor and administrator spans over three decades, after she made history in 1987 by becoming the first African American woman to serve as president of Spelman College. Her groundbreaking career took another notable step when she became the first African American woman to serve as chair of the Board of United Way of America.

Cole has had a long and prominent career as an educator and humanitarian. Her work as a college professor and president, her published works, her speeches and her community service, consistently address issues of race, gender, and all other forms of discrimination. A distinguished and respected intellectual, she speaks at conferences and universities throughout the country. Her powerful messages prove that barriers are meant to be broken, and the most unlikely of people can achieve the ultimate rise to success. 

Sponsored by SUOAF/AFSCME Administrative Union and the Southern Connecticut State University Multicultural Center.

Forum XLII will provide an overview of the current status of Southern's on-line instruction, introduce our resident experts on instructional technology, and highlight campus resources that support instructional innovation.  A model for best practices in on-line instruction will also be presented.  Breakfast refreshments and a light luncheon are provided.

Click here to see the forum's agenda. (opens as a PDF document)

To register for the event, e-mail the Faculty Development Office at facultydevel@southernct.edu.  Please RSVP no later than Tuesday, January 20, 2009. Call Jennifer Hudson at 392-5357 with questions.