A graduate of Kent State University, where he received his Master of Library and Information Science degree, Christopher Korenowsky (right) has almost 18 years of public library experience gained through his work at the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Columbus, Ohio. From direct public services to administrative management positions, he played a strong role in helping to shape the Columbus Memorial Library from 1991 to 2009.
 
 In 2010, the Columbus Memorial Library was awarded the top prize in the industry when it was named Library of the Year by Library Journal magazine. Korenowsky holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Ohio State University. In February 2009, he became the director of professional development for the Ohio Library Council, the statewide organization that advocates legally and educationally for all 251 public libraries in the state of Ohio.
 
In addition to leading library teams through successful fund raising, building projects and budget and revenue generating initiatives, Korenowsky has extensive experience in working with strategic messaging and branding initiatives in public libraries.
 

Two graduate commencement ceremonies were on campus at the Lyman Center for the last several years, but there will be one combined ceremony at the Webster Bank Arena for 2012. The undergraduate commencement is also moving indoors at Bridgeport after being held outside at the Connecticut Tennis Center in Westville for the last eight years.

A graduate of Kent State University, where he received his Master of Library and Information Science degree, Korenowsky has almost 18 years of public library experience gained through his work at the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Columbus, Ohio. From direct public services to administrative management positions, he played a strong role in helping to shape the Columbus Memorial Library from 1991 to 2009.
 
In 2010, the Columbus Memorial Library was awarded the top prize in the industry when it was named Library of the Year by Library Journal magazine. Korenowsky holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Ohio State University. In February 2009, he became the director of professional development for the Ohio Library Council, the statewide organization that advocates legally and educationally for all 251 public libraries in the state of Ohio.
 
In addition to leading library teams through successful fund raising, building projects and budget and revenue generating initiatives, Korenowsky has extensive experience in working with strategic messaging and branding initiatives in public libraries.

Registration for Summer Session 2012 is now under way.

Summer Session 2012 Dates:

• Session A:  May 21-June 24 (5 weeks; no class May 28)

• Session B: June 25-July 29 (5 weeks; no class July 4)
  
  
• Session C: July 30-August 19 (3 weeks)

For more information on Summer Session and how to register, visit the Summer Session Website.

About This I Believe

In 1951, Edward R. Murrow hosted a daily radio program called "This I Believe," which reached 39 million listeners. Well-known Americans and everyday citizens read five-minute essays sharing their personal life philosophies. The broadcast became so popular that 50 years later, a not-for-profit organization, This I Believe, Inc., has been established to encourage learners young and old to examine their belief systems and write personal essays describing what they believe and why.

More than 100,000 people from around the world and all walks of life have shared their personal stories. Many of these stories are archived on the "This I Believe" Website, broadcast on public radio, chronicled in books and featured in weekly podcasts.

As individuals, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly (right), showed Americans how optimism, an adventurous spirit and a call to service can help change the world. As a couple, they became a national example of the healing power to be found in deeply shared love and courage, as Gabrielle began her long battle to recover from traumatic brain injury.

The lecture will take place at the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts (wheelchair accessible).

Tickets:

Regular Seating:

• $20 General Public
• $15 SCSU Faculty /Staff/Active Alumni, SCSU Student Guests
• $10 All Students with valid ID
• $10 Non SCSU students/Children

Premium Seating:

• $30

Reserved Seating: tickets.southernct.edu
or (203) 392-6154

A portion of the proceeds supports Southern's Endowed Awards of Excellence, a merit-based scholarship program.  

The event, "A Conversation with Dr. James P. Comer and Dr. Edmund Gordon," is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Metropolitan Business Academy, 115 Water St., New Haven. Comer and Gordon are considered to be two of the nation's most outstanding scholars and education reformers, according to Norris Haynes and Carlos Torre, event co-chairmen.

Haynes, professor of counseling and school psychology and director of the Center for Community and School Action Research, says the speakers are likely to address topics such as defining and measuring the achievement gap; the importance of adequate child development; how school reform is important, but not a sufficient answer to the problem; and why this gap can and should be eliminated in Connecticut.

In addition, the program is expected to honor Comer and Gordon, as well as outstanding educators and students in the New Haven Public Schools for their efforts to close the achievement gap. A question-and-answer period is also scheduled.

Comer (pictured above) is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center. He founded the Comer School Development Program in 1968, designed to improve social, emotional and academic outcomes for children. He is an associate dean for student progress at the Yale School of Medicine and is the author of 10 books, including Leave No Child Behind: Preparing Today's Youth for Tomorrow's World. He served as a consultant to the Children's Television Workshop, which has produced Sesame Street, and The Electric Company. He is a member of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.

Gordon is one of the founders of Head Start and is the director emeritus of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has written or edited 18 books and has done considerable research on those individuals who have succeeded in their education and in life despite coming from socioeconomic disadvantaged groups. He is the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Yale University. He also serves as chairman of the Gordon Commission on the Future of Assessment in Education.

The event is free and open to the public. For further information, call (203) 668-9940, (203) 688-0028 or (203) 392-6402.

SCSU placed fourth of 98 schools in the country in reducing its electricity use during the recent Campus Conservation Nationals 2012, a spring competition among colleges and universities to reduce energy consumption. SCSU posted a reduction rate of 20.5 percent during the three-week period from March 26 to April 16. A benchmark usage rate was taken at each school - generally in the weeks before the contest began.

The other top five schools in electrical energy savings were: Bowling Green University, University of Kentucky, Hofstra University and Western Technical College. The competition is coordinated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The energy reduction posted by Southern - equal to 76,251 kilowatt hours - translates to a cost savings of $11,437 for the university. But as one of the top 10 schools in the conservation contest, Southern also will receive a credit for 200 megawatt hours of renewable energy from Sterling Planet, a company that works with organizations toward becoming carbon neutral. The 200 megawatt hours of free energy should be enough to power one of the university's smaller residence halls for about a year.

"This is very exciting for us - both from a sustainability standpoint and in terms of cost savings," said Executive Vice President James E. Blake. "Students applied their natural competitiveness toward achieving an incredibly positive result. Our university has really come a long way in the last five to 10 years in terms of energy conservation and this project exemplifies our efforts."

The money saved from the renewable energy credit will be used to fund future sustainability initiatives on campus, according to Robert Sheeley, associate vice president for capital budgeting and facilities operations.

"Saving energy and preserving the environment have been and continue to be goals of the university and this is an example of what students, faculty and staff can do to accomplish those objectives," Sheeley said. "In particular, our resident students and housing staff, under the leadership of Housing Director Angela Todaro, have done a remarkable job. They all deserve to be congratulated."

North Campus Midrise - the largest residence hall on campus -- recorded the most significant savings of all nine residence halls with a reduction of 28.4 percent. Jenna Retort, director of the North Campus Residence Complex, said several initiatives took place before and during the competition in an effort to save energy.

"In our North Campus office, we engaged in an 'Operating in the Dark' effort in which we kept the lights off as much as possible during that three-week period," Retort said.

She also pointed to a "Caught Green-Handed" program coordinated by students in that residence hall.

Elizabeth Dishian, a student who spearheaded that program, said it entailed an interactive bulletin board that displayed the names of students who were particularly energy conscious during the three-week period. Students who qualified for such recognition also received a free T-shirt or reusable shopping bag.

"It was a lot of fun to see the residents get involved and active in the process of being energy conscious," Dishian said. "And it was a great feeling when we found out that our residence hall had the highest percentage of savings. Many of the students were shocked because most said all they did were the simple things - turning off the lights and the TVs when they left the room. But those small things truly make a big difference."

Josh Kwame Sumrell, a student serving as North Campus senior community advisor, said he participated in a "Discover: Sustainability" program in which he and other community advisors advocated sustainable practices to their peers on campus. "We wanted students to know the advantage of being a sustainable community."

Suzanne Huminski, an instructor of science education and environmental studies who helped coordinate SCSU's participation in the national contest, pointed out that many sustainability initiatives are in progress. "Southern is a very green university with campuswide efforts growing very quickly," she said.

She noted the following programs and projects are examples of sustainability efforts at SCSU in recent years:

*In 2007, SCSU became a charter signatory to the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment, which calls for schools to bolster their conservation efforts in pursuit of eventual carbon neutrality.

• In 2010, Southern began purchasing graduation caps and gowns made from plastic bottles.
• The university adopted a single-stream recycling program last year.
• The university last fall installed solar panels on Brownell Hall, one of the campus residence halls.
• The soon-to-be opened School of Business also will have solar panels.
• The university annually participates in "Recyclemania," a national campus recycling competition.
• A community garden and orchard were created on campus last year.

She noted that next fall, Southern plans to launch a Sustainable Living Learning Community, in which students can opt to live in a residence hall with sustainability as a focus.

The funding will be used to significantly increase the number of low-income students prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education, and to provide scholarships for eligible high school seniors. The Connecticut state GEAR UP project will serve 3,000 students attending 12 middle schools in East Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury through 2019, and will follow these students though middle school, high school and their first year of college. 

"We need to better understand and break down the barriers Connecticut's students face when they are preparing for higher education," said Gov. Malloy. "Access to higher education is critical not only for these students' own future personal success, but for Connecticut's future economic success as well." 

GEAR UP in Connecticut is a partnership among the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR), three higher education institutions in the state -- Southern, Manchester Community College (MCC), and Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) -- and their local school districts. The colleges and universities, collaborating with the local school districts, will develop, provide and evaluate services to students, parents and teachers in order to fit localized needs and specific provider strengths.

Southern will serve 7th graders from the following New Haven schools: Augusta Lewis Troup School, Brennan Rogers School of Communications and Media, Celentano Museum Academy, King-Robinson Inter-District Magnet School, Lincoln-Bassett School, L.W. Beecher Museum School of Arts & Sciences, Mauro-Sheridan Science, Technology and Communications School, Wexler-Grant School.

Manchester Community College, East Hartford, will serve 7th graders at East Hartford Middle School. Naugatuck Valley Community College, Waterbury, will serve 6th and 7th graders at Michael F. Wallace Middle School, North End Middle School, and West Side Middle School.

"Innovative GEAR UP programs that intervene early give students the opportunity to determine if they are ready for college and can make all the difference in whether they attend college," said BOR President Robert A. Kennedy. "These grants provide the mentoring and support that gives thousands of students a chance to achieve academic success in postsecondary education."  

Grant funds represent about 42% of the total program budget, and about 3%, or about $2.5 million, is from private partners. 

This year's winners are: 

First Place: Daniel Spice
Second Place: Jonathan Uhl
Tied for Third Place: Michael Lake and Ben James
Honorable Mentions: Alyssa Paolella and Christine Katrenya
 

Pictured above: (back, left to right) Dan Spicer, Michael Lake, Ben James, Jonathan Uhl, Dr. Steven Corbett (from WACC), Mr. Scott Wells (Nancy Marano's son-in-law)
(front, left to right) Dr. Kim Lacey (Interim Director of WAC), Mr. John Marano (Nancy Marano's husband), Alyssa Paollela, Christine Katrenya 

Petal Post - which included students Kaitlyn Moran, Kaitlin Franco and Eric Gabianelli (team leader) - earned Best Personal Business. The plan developed by Petal Post entails the manufacturing and distribution of a fence post topper that doubles as a flower pot. The team, which earned a $5,000 grant for its plan, also recently won a $1,000 MetroHartford Alliance Prize in the first-ever Connecticut State University (CSU) Business Plan Competition.
 
Haven Docu-Services, which includes students Cari Tate (team leader), Mark Fields and Stanley Lamour, earned two awards - Best Written Plan for a Venture Enterprise and Best Social Enterprise. The plan developed by Haven Docu-Services involves a document storage and shredding business that would establish a partnership with Chapel Haven to provide employment for adults with autism. Each of the two awards carries with it a $500 grant. Haven also recently won the $500 Walker Group/reset Social Enterprise Award at the CSU Business Plan Competition.
 
Michael Okrent - an adjunct faculty member in the School of Business - served as faculty adviser for both teams.
 
In addition to those who won awards, several Southern students were finalists in the Connecticut Collegiate Business Plan Competition. They include: Andrew Chu, Ashley Holmes, Kimberly Witiak, Christine Cantor, Jessica Caponigro, Joseph McKnight and Marilyn Poznanski.
 
Pictured in the (top) Petal Post photo (from left) are: Michael Okrent, Kaitlyn Moran, Eric Gabianelli and Kaitlin Franco.

Pictured in the (lower) Haven Docu-Services photo (from left) are: Michael Okrent, Cari Tate and Mark Fields.
 

 

Active Minds Student Organization, in collaboration with University Counseling Services, the Recycling Center, the Center for the Environment, the Fitness Center, and Health and Wellness Center, are sponsoring the "Unplug...Tune In and Recharge" Earth Day Yoga Celebration, on Monday, April 30, 2012 from noon-2:00 p.m. in the Academic Quad. (Registration begins at noon.)

Unplug and turn off your lights, phones and computers and join us in the Academic Quad as we give back to the Earth through Sun Salutations!  

"The notion of a salutation to the sun is to pay your respects and surrender to the universe. This can be taken as a metaphor to let go physically -- the mind follows as you move 'inside' the practice." ~ Author Unknown

While giving back to the Earth and letting go, we shift from our electronic world and have the opportunity to go green for a little while. Yoga enables us to connect our minds, bodies, and spirits.  Earth Day Yoga will allow us to do something healthy and give back at the same time. If we each do one small green act, our world would be much healthier. 

So join us for this fun afternoon, get moving and recharge your life.  A $1 donation is suggested and will be collected by Active Minds.  All proceeds will go the Sustainable Southern efforts on campus and Fellowship Place in New Haven, which supports those suffering from mental illness.

**FREE yoga mats to the first 50 students to sign up! Bring your mat, wear comfy clothes and bring a refillable water bottle.**

Spring 2012 Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Conference:

Hand in Hand Transfer VALUE and Learning Quality - The New Currency in CT Higher Education

Friday APRIL 20, 2012, at Southern Connecticut State University   

Click Here to Register: http://surveys.southernct.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=92K34p7
 
General Education/Liberal Arts Core/Liberal Education (GenEd) programs encompass the necessary learning that all students need to master in order to function as educated citizens who are prepared for the world in which they live. GenEd programs include a core component and the foundations for learning in the majors.  The core enables students to gain knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, and encompasses a range of academic areas.  GenEd programs incorporate a balanced blend of learning disciplinary knowledge and methodologies that include the arts and humanities, the sciences and mathematics, and the social sciences. Beyond learning in the broad disciplinary domains, general education programs incorporate connections between a range of ideas and experiences, the development of students' intellectual capacity, and the nurturing of a personal disposition for responsible and effective participation in society.
 
On March 15, 2012, the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) adopted a resolution requiring competency based GenEd curricula in all Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (ConnSCU).  The resolution requires that, through the use of these common competencies, transfer degrees for all majors be created in which an equivalent of 30 general education credits are fully transferable.  By September 30, 2012, an agreed set of common general education competency outcomes needs to be created.
 
The LTA Conference this year will center on the use of competencies and rubrics to define GenEd learning.  Approaches such as the AAC&U's Essential Learning Outcomes and Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) Rubrics will be examined, and working sessions will address tools needed for implementation of the competencies and assessments for the areas of learning established by the BOR:

1.       Written and oral communication in English
2.       The ability for scientific and quantitative reasoning
3.       The ability for critical analysis and logical thinking
4.       The capability for continuing learning, including the skills of information literacy
 
GENERAL SCHEDULE (click here to download the full schedule)

    * 8-9 a.m. - Registration and Continental Breakfast
    * 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. - Keynote, Morning Sessions and Poster Sessions
    * 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. - Lunch
    * 1-3 p.m. - Afternoon Sessions

National VALUE Rubrics expert Wende Garrison (pictured above)will join the list of recognized speakers the conference has brought to Connecticut over the years.  They are:

2011 - Trudy Banta - Using Assessment Findings to Improve Teaching, Learning, and the Student Experience
2010 - Marilee J. Bresciani - Assessment in Program Review
2008 - Cliff Adelman - The Core of Bologna (in the US)
2007 - Randy Swing - Assessing the First-Year Experience
2006 - Jillian Kinzie - What Matters to Student Success: An Unshakable Focus on Student Learning
2005 - Peggy Maki - Assessment of Learning and Collective Educational Practices
2004 - Martha Stassen - Program-Based Review and Assessment
2003 - T. Bridgett Perry-Galvin - Assessing Critical Thinking


Location: Adanti Student Center Ballroom

Contact Information: Jen Ruggiero, (203) 392-8887

Pictured above, left to right: Barbara Kagan, Isabel Chenoweth, Alba Reynaga, and Christina Baum

The sessions to be held on April 19 are:

School of Arts and Sciences
School of Health and Human Services

Guilford Public Library
on the Guilford Town Green
67 Park Street
Guilford CT

School of Education
School of Business

East Lyme High School (in the cafeteria)
30 Chesterfield Road
East Lyme, CT

Prospective students are invited to meet faculty and staff, find out about programs and requirements, get information on financial aid, graduate assistantships, and more.

Register for an Information Session using the form found by clicking here or call Graduate Studies at (203) 392-5240. For more information, visit /openhouse/

Where You and Your Future Connect:

Where can you network with nearly 100 employers and apply for hundreds of jobs in just a few hours? At the SCSU Career Fairs -- that's where!

Close to 100 Connecticut, regional, and national employers meet on-campus to recruit students and alumni. They recruit for full-time, part-time, summer and co-op opportunities.

Undergraduates from accredited colleges and universities are encouraged to participate. These are 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, join us at the Michael J. Adanti Student Center for our Career Fairs.

• Education and Nursing Career Fair: Monday, April 2, 2012
  
  
• General Career Fair: Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Both are in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
All SCSU undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni, are welcome. All attending should note that business attire is required. Bring copies of your current resume.

Information on Career Fair and employers attending is available at /

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

ATTENTION SCSU Seniors:

Check your university email and contact us as soon as possible to schedule your appointment. Email us at assessment@southernct.edu, call 203/392-8865 or stop by Engleman, Rm. A 220A.

**To thank you for your participation, you will receive a voucher for a FREE graduation cap and gown redeemable at the SCSU bookstore. In addition, the first 38 students who register will receive priority seating for two family members at the May 2012 commencement. Students can also earn other thank-you gifts like cash cards, diploma frames, and more. Those who take the examination early receive the gifts with the highest value.**

Your participation will help Southern gauge its performance in helping students develop such skills as critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication, and, in the future help to improve teaching and learning.

For information or questions, please contact the Office of Assessment and Planning at 203/392-8865 or assessment@southernct.edu.  

The competition involved the development of a marketing plan for an academic publishing company. Four of the business students who worked on the plan presented it during the AMA's 34th annual International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans.

"Our students represented themselves and our university well, tying for third place," says Robert Forbus, associate professor of marketing, who worked with the team. Second place went to the University of Pennsylvania, while the British Columbia Institute of Technology took first place. 

Forbus says, "I've seen many 'real-world' marketing presentations, and a few really good ones, but only one or two of those I've seen have been of the calibre of the Canadian students.  Interestingly, the Canadians had a team of 25, and they worked 6 months on their project (over the summer break).  Our students produced their work fall semester, and with only seven students working on the team.  Comparatively, our students performed extraordinarily well."

Forbus adds that this performance by the Southern students is "exceptional for for a group that was reconstituted in fall 2010, after having gone dormant, and by a group with no previous experience competing at this level. It was a terrific experience for them."

Next year's competition will be a social marketing campaign focused upon organ donation, Forbus says.  A team will soon assemble and begin to work on the campaign. 

In all, the Owls had three student-athletes collect seven All-America honors during the championships. Thomas won the NCAA title in both the 200 and 400 individual medley, was the runner-up in the 200 fly and placed third in the 200 backstroke. Amanda Burden (Orange, Conn.) collected accolades in both one- and three-meter diving. Sarah Thompson (Davenport, Iowa) earned recognition in the 200 backstroke.

They are one of 16 teams in the country playing on this stage and one of eight teams nationally who received an automatic bid.

The National Championships run through Saturday, March 17, in Vineland, New Jersey. The club's two coaches are Steven Novodor and David Tufano.The two captains are Joseph Innamorato and Steven Rosenkrantz. 

To keep an eye on the game schedules and scores, visit the ACHA Website.

Located about 25 minutes from campus, the fully air-conditioned indoor arena can seat up to 7,000 guests. The arena is wheelchair-accessible and will provide services for guests with disabilities. The arena is easily accessed from I-95 and the Merritt Parkway. A Metro-North Station is also within easy walking distance. 
This year, due to the arena's fixed capacity, guest tickets will be required.
 
Candidates wishing to participate in commencement who have successfully completed all of their degree requirements must pick up their reader card and guest tickets. Deadline for pick up is April 21.  ALL GUESTS ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO HAVE A TICKET.
 
Tickets will be distributed at the Adanti Student Center (see schedule below). EACH CANDIDATE WILL RECEIVE UP TO FOUR GUEST TICKETS - if additional tickets are available after the initial allocation they will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
TICKET AND READER CARD DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE:
 

• Tuesday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 18
  10 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Adanti Student Center Ballroom pre-function area
  
  
• Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20
  10 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Adanti Student Center Information Desk
   
• Saturday, April 21
  10 a.m. to 4 p.m. - Adanti Student Center Information Desk

 
Students who request additional tickets at the pick-up dates above will be notified by email regarding the distribution of these tickets.
 
CAP AND GOWN DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE:
 
Candidates for the bachelor's degree must purchase a cap and gown at the university bookstore in order to participate in the ceremony. Caps and gowns will be available beginning Friday, April 9th, and cost $40.98. Bookstore hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

The students showed much larger gains between their freshman and senior years than most of their peers across the nation on the 2010-11 Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) - a test that evaluates students' ability in several skill areas, such as analytic reasoning and evaluation; writing effectiveness; writing mechanics and problem solving. And perhaps more impressive is that Southern seniors greatly exceeded expectations in how well they performed on the exam compared with projections. Those projections are based on freshman CLA test scores and the SATs.

When all factors are weighed, Southern's seniors reached the 91st percentile nationally in terms of exceeding expectations in the educational gains by its students between their freshman and senior years.

"We are very proud of our students and the academic progress that they demonstrate during their years at Southern," says Marianne Kennedy, interim provost/vice president for academic affairs (pictured at right). "The positive result from this test is indicative of the quality of our faculty and the strong work ethic of our students. Our faculty members are dedicated first and foremost to effective teaching and the test results exemplify their success in reaching our students."

Kennedy adds that the benefits of a college education are in large part dependent upon the effort that people put into it.

"It's obvious from the CLA test that our students are conscientious about their education, exceed expectations and will be prepared to contribute significantly to the Connecticut workforce," she says.
A group of 121 Southern freshmen took the CLA exam last fall and their raw average score was better than 30 percent of the 144 higher education institutions participating across the country. But in the spring, 98 Southern seniors took the exam and scored higher than 40 percent of seniors from those same schools. That gain of 10 percentage points was significant enough to land the university a spot on the "above expected" performance level. But when taking into account its modest SAT scores compared with the other schools, Southern's performance was even more dramatic, vaulting to the top 9 percent in the nation in terms of improvement vis-a-vis expectations.

In addition to the stellar results on the CLA test, Southern students also have been selected to participate in a groundbreaking international project. The 34-nation Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development has selected Southern as one of just 10 schools in the United States to participate in a feasibility study for an international assessment test of general skills. The project is intended to compare college students in the areas of critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving and written communication. Southern students are being measured against college students from Columbia, Egypt, Finland, South Korea, Kuwait, Mexico and Norway, as well as those from four U.S. states - Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Michael Ben-Avie, senior research analyst in the SCSU Office of Assessment and Planning (pictured above), says that while there are international tests that compare high school students in math and science, he is not aware of a test that can effectively compare college students from multiple countries in multiple skills. "Our participation in the early stages of this exciting project enables Southern to play an important role in the discussion on how to measure and compare student learning around the globe," he says.

Charles S. Lenth, vice president for policy analysis and academic affairs for the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), praises Southern for its efforts to participate in the international project. SHEEO is coordinating the U.S. participation in the program.

"It is clear that Southern has a highly competent and committed team already at work in the assessment of student learning," said Lenth says. "The university has much experience and expertise to share with other institutions and nations. Connecticut and the United States will help shape the next steps in cross-national assessment of student learning."

A Q&A with Southern's New President, Mary Papazian

Q: You were a very successful student, graduating summa cum laude and being elected to Phi Beta Kappa. What fueled your success? 

"I grew up in a family that was very much committed to education. My mother, who was a teacher, was really the star of the family. She graduated from high school at 16 and was the first student elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior at UCLA. My father was born in Greece of Armenian parents and came to this country as a college student. He was an avid reader, so we were always surrounded by books. It was just something that was part of our household. 

"I have three brothers and we're all within a four-year span from top to bottom, so maybe there was a little bit of competition. For whatever reason, I seemed to do well in school. Some children are made for school and others succeed in other ways. I seem to be one of those who was made for school. All of my brothers also earned advanced degrees."

Q: You attended the first Armenian American high school.

"I am of Armenian parentage on both my mother's and my father's side. My mother's family came to the United States in the late 19th century, very early for Armenians. My father immigrated in the 1950s and met my mother at college.    

"I actually was raised in my early years in more of an American environment. The '60s weren't a time of celebrating your ethnicity. We were coming out of the '50s and it was a time of everyone fitting in.     "Initially, my brothers and I went to the public schools. But when I was 12, we moved from one part of Los Angeles to another. Right before the move, my mother had started to teach English and American history at Ferrahian High School. When we moved, we became students there. We happened to live next door to the principal and we didn't have ties to the local schools.   

"It's a wonderful small school, with a college-prep environment. The students have done very, very well. I recently went to my reunion and it was a lot of fun to see how well our graduates have done."

Q: The Armenian-American media covered your appointment with a sense of pride.

"It's a small community with a common history that was born most recently out of the tragedy of the 1915 Armenian genocide, but actually has a many-thousand-year history marked by many successes. Because the American Armenian community is so small - and because it emerged from that tragedy early in the 20th century - people really do have common interests and a strong connection. There is a lot of celebrating of and pride in each other's successes."

Q: You're reportedly a basketball fan. 

"I grew up in Los Angeles in the heyday of the Lakers, during the Lakers-Celtics competition. It was also the heyday of UCLA basketball under John Wooden. (The legendary coach led UCLA to 10 NCAA championships, including seven consecutive championships from 1966-73.) How could you be exposed to all that and not love basketball! I played for my high school, but wasn't tall enough to play for a big school like UCLA where I attended college. But I played in leagues and such for years after that, and my two girls both love the game. My 13-year-old still plays on a few teams."

Q: You mentioned that your mother taught English. Did this factor into your decision to become an English literature major?

"There's probably a direct connection. She was an English major and taught English literature for many years. From the time that I was about 5, I knew I was going to go to UCLA to study English literature. It was nothing that was forced on me; I just really enjoyed reading and the vistas that it opened. Majoring in English was a great opportunity to study something that I loved.    

"At the time, my father, the practical one, would say, 'What are you going to do with that degree?' - which is what parents sometimes say to children who want to study the arts or the humanities. But the truth is you find a way to be successful if you have passion for something, and I always had passion for  literature."

Q: You served as a professor for many years. What led you to become an administrator?

"I had the opportunity to participate in the university self-study for accreditation for Oakland University, Michigan. That experience exposed me to the entire university, academic and non-academic. Ultimately the success of the self-study is what led me to be invited to be associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

"But it's important to note that I never call myself simply an administrator. I consider myself an academic administrator, because I've always continued to nurture my identity as a faculty member. I try to stay active in my field as much as possible given the time constraints. In fact, I will be going to an academic conference in June in the Netherlands, where I am chairing and responding to a session. At the end of the day, it's what really motivates me . . . teaching, reading and writing about what I love and sharing that passion with students and colleagues.

"In my experience, the best academic leaders are those who come out of rich academic traditions. The university, like all large organizations, certainly has business functions and we must attend to them. But that is not our raison d'être. We are here as an academic institution - and so we should embody those academic values."

Q: What led you to pursue the position of president?

"The seeds were planted a long time ago, when I was a graduate student at UCLA, and my dissertation adviser was writing recommendation letters for me. He said some very nice things, mentioning my ability to teach and stressing the quality of my scholarship. And among all those kind, wonderful comments, in the last paragraph, he wrote: 'and in 25 years she'll be a university president.' 

"So I think people did see that interest or skill set early on. But that same adviser also told me, 'Don't even think about it until you've already established yourself in an academic career.' Which is what I did. I waited until I had 10-12 years of experience as a professor under my belt and had published and been granted tenure - and then I began to look at the next logical steps.

"It is a natural, logical and clear-cut progression from associate dean to dean to provost to president. In a way I am sort of catching up to where I always wanted to be. I thought when I graduated from college that I might seek elected office. Instead, I ended up going to graduate school. Public affairs and civic engagement have always been strong interests. The university presidency really brings all of that together."


Q: What was it about Southern that attracted you?

"To be honest with you, I hadn't thought about Southern until I was nominated by a colleague. So I wanted to learn more about the institution. I found that I felt a strong resonance with Southern's powerful mission of engagement, social justice and creating access, but with a strong commitment to excellence at the same time. It was very much aligned with the kinds of institutions that I have been at from the beginning of my career and so I saw that there might be a nice fit here."

Q: What are some of your 
immediate goals? 

"There are long-term goals and short-term needs. One of my long-term goals is to ensure that Southern continues to be a very significant player in the higher education landscape in the state of Connecticut and the region. Southern has a particular mission as a public institution to connect actively with its community and to create pathways to success for students who might not otherwise have them. I am very much committed to the access mission, but I am also committed to the excellence mission of the university. 

"The 21st century is a knowledge-based economy, so we need to be developing a knowledge-based workforce. Southern has in its curriculum a very strong liberal arts core. That liberal arts focus prepares our graduates to continue to reshape themselves as the economy reshapes itself . . . and helps them to become more independent in their thinking and, ultimately, to become leaders in their chosen fields. 

"Southern also has a strong commitment to science education, the arts and to everything in between. I am committed to ensuring that Southern maintains and strengthens its balance between the liberal arts core and professional education to best prepare students to become leaders in the workforce of the 21st century.

"In the short term, we have to look at the nature of our graduate programs to make sure they are best serving the needs of the business community and our students. We also have to look at how the new state system of higher education evolves as it brings together the state's public institutions of higher learning - the two-year colleges, the four-year universities, and Charter Oak - and determine how we can become a leader in shaping its future. Those are some of the immediate challenges that we face, and I am confident that Southern is up to the task."

Q: Clearly there are budgetary challenges.

"I grew up and went to school in California. I worked in Michigan, New Jersey and New York - these are states that have had their share of budgetary challenges. Limited budgets are the nature of public higher education today. Our challenge is to work within these constraints, while building resources and support from those who believe in what we're doing. Then we can continue to move forward with a positive agenda.

"The key is to make sure that the decisions we make are linked to our goals. I coined a phrase last year when I was at Lehman College, which was also facing serious budget issues. The college was opening a new Center for Human Rights and Peace Studies, and a guest speaker from one of the Western states, said, 'I am so impressed that you are actually opening something in this time of budget challenges.' My response was, 'We can't give up the future for the present. We will always find ways to meet the challenge.'"
   
Q: Where does the corporate community 
fit into the equation? 

"It's a win-win situation. We are only as strong as our partnership with the larger community, which includes the business community. They, in turn, are only as strong as Southern is because it's our students who will be recruited as employees and, ultimately, business leaders and community leaders.

"The business community will help us understand how we can best prepare our students going forward. They can help us anticipate the future because they have to anticipate their own needs. We can then align our curriculum in a positive way, while always maintaining our liberal arts core, which is timeless. The relationship between Southern and the business community can become very powerful. We will be looking for a win-win situation where we invest in them and they invest in us."

Q: Much of your scholarship focuses on the English poet John Donne. What inspired that interest?

"I mentioned earlier that after I spent the summer in Washington as an undergraduate, I thought I might seek an elected office. Many politicians emerge from a law school background, so I had been thinking about law as a possibility. More so, people had been recommending it to me. I had all the applications and was seriously considering it. Then I took a class I had put off . . . a requirement for all English majors at UCLA - a class in John Milton. I was blown away by it. 'Paradise Lost' was the most stunning piece I had ever read - not just because its language and poetry were beautiful, but because it was a work that brought together the best of the Renaissance traditions.

"I vividly remember throwing away all of the law school applications and saying, 'I'm going to graduate school in English and I'm going to study the Renaissance.'

"Now, at that time, I felt Milton was too intimidating to write about. If you've read 'Paradise Lost,' you know what I mean. So instead I wrote about Donne, a brilliant poet in his own right who was an older contemporary of Milton. He was also engaged in community affairs and in the significant issues of his day. That's why I love the field so much. It really does reflect and align with the kind of work we're here to do."
       
Q: Do you have a favorite line from Donne's work?

"There are so many, but I'll give you one. I have written a lot on Donne's 'Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions.' There is a very famous line that comes from the work, which not everyone realizes is from Donne: 'Never seek to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.' What I find so moving about the line is that it talks about our common humanity and how we are all linked. It's about how what happens to one person affects all of us . . . and how we need to think about the good we do in the world. I find it to be a very moving line."

Q: Are there any initiatives that you oversaw at Lehman College that you anticipate going forward with at Southern?

"We really tried to reposition Lehman College in terms of how it was perceived in the community as a leading light in its area of education. We clearly want to do that here as well. Southern has a longer tradition and over the years it probably has done a better job of branding itself. I use the word branding cautiously, because I don't mean it solely in terms of a marketing perspective. Our goal is for Southern to be seen as an important resource and intellectual player in the region.

"That's what we are going to try to do. The particulars will be different here - because the needs and opportunities here will be different. But ultimately the goal is the same: to create an institution of excellence, committed to social justice and access, and to ensure that active intellectual life at all levels can take place."

Q: You're the parent of a college freshman. Has this provided any new insight?

"One thing that the experience has really called to mind - and this is an interesting issue for Southern - is the balance between the residential student experience and the commuter student experience. 

"I was a commuter student in college. It was the only way my parents could manage to send four of us to college in such a short period of time. Our older daughter, a freshman at Tufts University in Boston, lives on campus. She's very happy and has adjusted beautifully. But I've noticed that she talks as much or more about what goes on outside of the classroom as what goes on in the classroom. It's not that she's not interested in academics. She's a great student - she was valedictorian of her high school class - but she is really interested in and affected by all that goes on outside of class. Here at Southern, this is something we have to pay a lot of attention to on behalf of all of our students - both those who live on campus and those who commute. Their education extends beyond the classroom. It's a critical part of our students' growth and we have to think about their education holistically to best meet their needs."

Q: How would you describe your leadership style? 

"Most people are micromanagers even if they don't see it in themselves. I really try not to be. I like to work with very talented, smart people. I like to set the goals working in conjunction with them, and I like to empower people to do their work.

"I am always here to help others think strategically about a problem or initiative. But while my way may be a good way, it is certainly not the only way. We can all learn from each other."
     
Q: Do you have any final thoughts?

"I have been very fortunate over the years to have had tremendous support from my husband, who has always been there for me, and my kids, who e nsure that I remember what is most important in life. This is not a trivial thing. It's so important to have a life of balance. 

"I work hard but I don't define myself as a workaholic. While I think it is important to work hard and be committed to excellence, it's also critical to have perspective . . . to be able to step back and see things from a number of angles. If I'm coaching my daughter's basketball game, it doesn't mean that I'm not thinking about work or an issue or problem. But it is happening in the back of my mind. We should recognize that good ideas come from all kinds of places. It helps to be open to them."

On March 29, 2012, Pettigrew will present the documentary film and give a lecture, "The Geography of Genocide in Eastern Bosnia," at the invitation of the Cultural Studies Program at Trent University, in Peterborough, Canada. His presentation is listed at the bottom of page found here: www.trentu.ca/culturalstudiesphd/events.php 

The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition has selected Nicole Henderson, an associate professor of English and director of the university's FYE, as an Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate. She was presented with the plaque at the organization's national conference last month in San Antonio.

Henderson is one of only 10 individuals across the country to be chosen this year from among 140 nominees. She was one of only two awardees in the category of four-year colleges and universities with 7,001 to 15,000 students. The center is considered to be the premier first-year student organization in the country, according to Marianne Kennedy, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.
"This is a well-earned honor for Nicole, who has worked very hard in developing and coordinating the implementation of a first-rate FYE program," Kennedy says. "It's also a tribute to the program itself and everyone who has played a role in making it such a success."

Henderson adds: "One of the things making this program distinctive is the high level of collaboration between faculty and administrative faculty, which you don't see at many schools."

In particular, Henderson points to Denise Bentley-Drobish, who is the director of student life and FYE coordinator, as a key reason for the program's success. Among Bentley-Drobish's responsibilities has been the coordination of the peer mentoring and New Student Orientation components of FYE.

Henderson says that the sense of community and of belonging that the FYE program creates is instrumental to its success. "It engages people intellectually and creatively in very important ways," she says. "In turn, this kind of engagement leads to more measurable ways of success." University officials have said that retention rates and graduation rates are likely to be higher as a result of FYE. She also notes that participation in FYE is nearly 100 percent -- much higher than at most schools.

Henderson says that in addition to the award, three students were selected for a presentation at the conference: Stephanie Waryasz, Kaitlyn Hoffmann and Benjamin McNamee. All three are peer mentors in the program. Their presentation, "Students Tell All: Engaging Students in the Classroom," focused on ways to engage first-year students in the academic world of first-year seminars.

"I was incredibly impressed with their professionalism, intellect and understanding of our program," Henderson says. "You just don't see many students selected for a presentation at this conference. It is an incredibly competitive process with peer-reviewed proposals from faculty and administrators across the United States." 

Above: Nicole Henderson (third from left) is one of only 10 educators to be selected this year as an Outstanding Student Advocate by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She is joined by three students who participated in the organization's national conference. They are (from left): Stephanie Waryasz, Benjamin McNamee and Kaitlynn Hoffman.

Pictured above are (standing, from left):  Peter Romas (secretary), Nicholas Gallicano, Marina Virgalla, and Daniel Morales; and (seated, from left):  Dr. Ellen D. Durnin (dean), Emily Burkhardt (vice president), Cassandra Cortese (president), and Dr. Robert Forbus (adviser).

In addition to Southern, the schools recognized as top 10 finalists are:

• Aurora University
• British Columbia Institute of Technology
• Hofstra University
• Portland State University
• Texas State University - San Marcos
• University of Arizona - Tucson
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
• University of Wisconsin - Whitewater 

The concentration within the studio art major has existed for maybe 50 years, says Professor of Art Terrence Lavin (pictured at left, with a student), who runs the program. It was small, with only two or three majors, when he first came to Southern in 2000, he says, but it has grown in the ensuing years and now has at least seven majors. In addition to Lavin, three adjunct professors are also now teaching classes. Typically, four beginning-level classes are taught each semester, with about 14 students per class. "The course is very popular," Lavin says. 

The concentration takes students through the full array of techniques and experiences they need to be able to design and create original jewelry or other metal pieces. The beginning course, ART 233 - Jewelry/Metals I, includes cutting, sawing and soldering metal. Essentially, students learn to make a sheet of metal into a three-dimensional object. In the course, Lavin says, students are taught the technical side of working with metals and then can explore their own ideas. The course is technically demanding and rigorous, as students are expected to develop strong skills to create the most rudimentary products. 

The introductory course is taught in the context of the Art Department, Lavin says, explaining that such an approach allows students to bring their interest in other studio arts to their metal work. In such a context, some students make jewelry while others may create works that are more sculptural and experimental. 

In the intermediate-level courses, students learn casting, metalsmithing and fabrication. Products of these courses might include ladles, teapots and other three-dimensional objects. 

Lavin is considering adding the beginning jewelry course to the Liberal Education Program (LEP), the university's new curriculum. "It would be great as part of the liberal arts to have students learn to do things by hand," he says. He has seen a paradigm shift over the past several years: as public schools have moved away from teaching students art and hands-on work, students often come to his courses unfamiliar with how to make things by hand. "Students can benefit from working with their hands," he says, pointing out that such work often has a meditative quality to it. But also, metalwork involves thinking about commodities such as silver and gold, and, Lavin says, involves physics, geometry, and other sciences, as well as art and practical knowledge. "The studio arts have never been part of the university requirements," Lavin says, "but this course would fit into the LEP program."

His students often surprise him with their insights and designs, Lavin says. "Jewelry making has a loyal following," he says, adding that "there's a lot to be said for a university that has offerings like this."
"Everybody loves jewelry," Lavin says, so learning how to make jewelry is a great foundation for starting a small business - for instance, an independent jewelry shop that sells custom work. Such a shop, Lavin says, is "a cornerstone of Main Street America." 

Many of his students go on to start their own businesses, or they can design for jewelry shops and work for other people. One of his graduates works at Derek Simpson Goldsmith in New Haven, while another runs her own jewelry-making business and, Lavin says, is doing well at it, getting her work into craft shows and featured in magazines. Some students go on to graduate school, to earn M.F.A. degrees in jewelry and metals.

Lavin earned a B.S. in studio art from Skidmore College and an M.F.A. in jewelry/metalsmithing from Bowling Green State University. He thinks of himself as more of a metalsmith than a jeweler; some of his work can be seen on his Web site at www.terrencelavin.com. 

Come hear this powerful presentation on Feb. 23 from 5-7 p.m. in Engleman A120. The presentation will include a keynote address by Tom and Doris Smeltzer and a Q&A.

The Smeltzers will also do a workshop from 2-3 p.m. in the Adanti Student Center 306: "Things We Wish We'd Known...Insights that Inform and Improve the Care of Students with Eating Disorders."  In the 12 years since her daughter's death from an eating disorder, Doris Smeltzer has identified the information that would have been the most valuable for her to learn during her daughter's treatment. This workshop presents the "missing ingredients" in the recipe to improved care garnered from the epiphanies provided not only by extensive personal research but the often more illuminating view of parental hindsight .

Andrea Lynn Smeltzer, 19 (above), was trained in opera, enjoyed the theater, was an avid dancer, a masterful jewelry-maker and poet. After studying in Spain for a year as an exchange student at the age of 14, she spoke Spanish fluently. At the time of her death she was proficient in German and planned on mastering Japanese next.

Prior to college, Andrea was elected president of her high school's Amnesty International group and was an outspoken advocate for human rights. She was the representative chosen to present the student petitions to the Guatemalan consulate in San Francisco in 1996. At Pitzer College she was awarded the prestigious Fletcher Jones Scholarship, worked as a dorm hall Resident Assistant and Mentor, majored in International Business and Politics -- and looked forward to saving the world. She died tragically on June 16, 1999 after 13 months of bulimic behaviors.

Tom and Doris Smeltzer (right) co-founded Andrea's Voice Foundation following the death of their daughter. Since then they have created various eating disorder prevention/educational presentations (which have now been given as keynotes at hundreds of universities, conferences, and organizations nationwide and internationally) and a website to educate others on this so often misunderstood illness.

Andrea's Voice Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation, is dedicated to promoting education and understanding toward the prevention, identification, diagnosis and treatment of disordered eating and related issues. 

Sponsored through a Faculty Development Grant by the departments of Marriage and Family Therapy, Education, and Public Health, and University Counseling Services.

Dr. Voccola, an SCSU graduate, is director of professional writing and teaches copy editing at Kutztown University of Penn. He has edited a translation of a 19th-century Norwegian novel, and his fiction and nonfiction have been published in numerous journals and magazines.

The program is sponsored by a Faculty Development Grant. 

For information and appointments, contact Vivian Shipley at shipleyv1@southernct.edu.

This launch coincides with Apple's recent announcement of their new, enhanced iTunes U and iBooks apps that are now available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, allowing students and lifelong learners around the world to browse and download content.

You can check out SCSU on iTunes U at /

This web page includes a starter kit with guidelines, along with a link to the SCSU on iTunes U site. You will be able to view and listen to a number of Southern-developed podcasts including several recent international trips, featuring the Southern choir performing in London and public health students in Guatemala. The School of Business groundbreaking is also featured, along with commencement, several campus tours and highlights of a number of academic programs. New material will be added frequently, now that the site is live.

SCSU on iTunes U also provides an interactive learning opportunity for faculty to create high-quality podcasts, including lectures, projects, and other audio or video segments for students. With Apple's new iTunes U Course Manager (www.apple.com/support/itunes-u/course-manager/), faculty can create and distribute complete courses including an outline, instructor bio, assignments, and course materials such as books, apps, and iTunes U content. Once the instructor is ready to share their courses, they simply send Public Affairs the course link so that it can be added to SCSU on iTunes U. Access to podcasts may be public or, at the discretion of a faculty member, be restricted to students in a particular course. Students who have a faculty sponsor are also eligible to submit an unlimited number of creative, high-quality podcasts. 

For more information regarding SCSU on iTunes U, visit / . Training and assistance are available for faculty and staff members who wish to post any audio or video content. For information on developing, editing, and posting content, contact:

• Rick Callahan ~ (203) 392-6587 ~ CallahanR4@SouthernCT.edu
  
  
• Paul McKenzie ~ (203) 392-6596 ~ MckenzieP1@SouthernCT.edu 

Putting off the office purge?  RecycleMania is the perfect time to spring-clean the office. Time to recycle all those old phone books and old journals you no longer need.  Clean out your desk and free yourself from all of the unnecessary paper in your office.  If you need an extra bin to assist in your purge, call the Recycling Office at x26931.  We will make all the arrangements to have you clutter free in no time.  If you want to win, put it in the bin! 

To see how Southern ranks or for more information about upcoming events, visit

February 1, 2012

Dear Colleagues,

Today is the first day of my presidency at Southern, and I'm thrilled to be part of such a vibrant campus community. Southern is a distinguished and highly respected institution with strong values and traditions, and I am honored to lead the university through the next critical chapter of its history. I feel truly fortunate to have received this opportunity at a time when so much has been achieved by your community and its leadership in recent years. My challenge as president will be to build on these accomplishments and bring all of us together in a way that will continue to move Southern and higher education in Connecticut forward.

Since my selection as president in December, I have been completing my work at Lehman College, where I have spent the last five years as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Lehman is a similar size to Southern with about 12,100 students, and is one of the seven major senior colleges of The City University of New York. At Lehman, I helped articulate and implement a strategic vision and long-term goals, worked to build new community partnerships and assisted in launching the college's first major capital campaign. In recent years, admission standards were raised to better serve the student base, new strategies were implemented to support student success, and there was growth in both facilities and faculty.  These initiatives led Lehman to be designated for the first time as a "top tier public institution in the northern region" by U.S. News & World Report.

I envision similar development opportunities at Southern. I look forward to working with all of you to strengthen enrollment and academic standards and begin work on a strategic plan that will help us to set our priorities for the coming years. Building on recent advances, I also will look to forward research and development and expand the impressive array of public-private partnerships that has been successfully implemented here. I believe that this university has the potential to become a leading light in higher education: a university where our students are given every opportunity to acquire a first-class education with a global vision in an enlightened, compassionate, supportive and diverse environment.

During the weeks ahead, I plan to learn as much as I can about Southern and the Greater New Haven community.  Starting today, I will be a visible presence on campus, getting to know the faculty, students, administrators and support staff -- if you see me, stop me and say hello! I will also have regular office hours so that you can drop by and talk with me. I believe that an open, collaborative and responsive administration can bring out the best in everyone and ensure the success of a common enterprise. All of you play an important role in advancing our academic mission, and your insights and ideas will help me to develop a vision that will move us forward.

In the short term I will be commuting to campus from my home in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., so that my husband, Dennis, and I have time to buy a house here (and sell our house in New Jersey), and so that our younger daughter, Marie, can finish her final year in middle school.  Fortunately, our older daughter, Ani, has settled nicely into her freshman year in college. We are eagerly looking forward to moving to this area and becoming fully engaged in the rich mix of intellectual, social and cultural opportunities that this region provides.

I am excited about what the future holds for the next years and beyond.  Yes, these remain uncertain economic times and understandably there is some anxiety regarding the changing landscape in public higher education in Connecticut.  But I am convinced that together we can successfully embrace the opportunities and address the ongoing challenges facing Southern and all state universities.  I plan to be a vigorous advocate for this university and its mission in Greater New Haven, in Hartford and further afield. We must make it clear to the public, the business community and the political establishment that investing in an institution like Southern is not only an investment in our students, but also by extension an investment in our whole community and indeed, the very future of America.

In closing, I want to thank all of you who welcomed me and my husband so warmly at my December introduction. As I stated at that time, the journey on which we are about to embark will be one of respect. It will be a journey of commitment, a journey dedicated to excellence and to human dignity. And it will be a journey that I look forward to sharing with each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Mary A. Papazian, Ph.D.
President

 

On  February 1, 2012, the university held a Transportation Fair to inform the campus community about transportation options. The fair will be held in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom.

Presenters included:

• Zipcar (car sharing service)
  
  
• U-Pass (CTTransit bus pass for university students)
  
  
• Diverse Transportation (SCSU Shuttle Services)
  
  
• R.I.D.E.S. (MetroCard via SCSU's Drug & Alcohol Resource Center)
  
  
• Connecticut Commuter Services (carpooling)
  

Tables for each program were set up around the room, and students met with representatives and enroll in Zipcar, obtain their U-Pass and R.I.D.E.S. MetroCard, and obtain shuttle bus information/schedules.

For more information, visit the Transportation website. 

Click here to download a printable flyer

On Wednesday, Jan. 25, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., the Hamden Chamber of Commerce and Southern Connecticut State University will co-present the first in a leadership series of conversations with business visionaries. Mike Katz (right), '66, owner/operator of Planet Fitness, will be interviewed by journalist and former WTNH anchor, Ted Koppy in the Grand Ballroom of the Michael J. Adanti Student Center at Southern. An informal lunch will be served. 

Katz is most famous for his appearance with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1977 bodybuilding documentary film Pumping Iron. Katz also qualified for the 1976 Mr. Olympia, placing fourth in the heavyweight division, and served as a professional football player with the New York Jets.

This is a great event for business, exercise science, and education students and faculty. Students and faculty are free, but if possible, please call Nancy Dudchik at the Hamden Chamber ahead of time to reserve seating: 203-288-6431. Admission for all others, $10.  

Watch an interview with Ted Koppy about the event

Click here to download the flyer

Not only has Southern scored well on the surveys compared with other schools, but it has shown significant improvement during the last seven years in most of the specific categories measured by the survey.

"It is quite an honor to be selected for this study," says interim Provost Marianne Kennedy. "The site team was very complimentary and genuinely seemed impressed with what we are doing. In particular, they noted how multi-faceted and complex our efforts have been.

"The results of the survey each year affirm our belief that the First-Year Experience (FYE) program has been a catalyst for the improvements," Kennedy says. "The biggest gains that we have seen with first-year students came right after the FYE was fully implemented."

Kennedy also says that other programs, such as the New Student Orientation, peer mentoring, faculty development efforts and co-curricular activities, have helped as well. NSSE asks freshmen and seniors a variety of questions to determine their perceptions in five categories: level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences and supportive campus environment. Studies have shown that those areas are predictors of future student success.

This fall, Southern's freshmen scored higher than most of its peers in four of the five categories, most notably in the areas of student-faculty interaction and providing enriching educational experiences.

Among this year's findings:

•  84 percent of freshmen and 79 percent of seniors reported their overall educational experience at Southern to be "good" or "excellent."
•  76 percent of freshmen and 73 percent of seniors said they would "probably" or "definitely" come to Southern for their college education if they had an opportunity to start again.
•  79 percent of freshmen and 81 percent of seniors talk at least occasionally about their career plans with faculty.
•  50 percent of students had participated in some form of community service or volunteer work by the time they were seniors.

The School of Arts and Sciences recently extended to Music Haven and the Haven String Quartet the opportunity to be in residence at Southern. Music Haven's mission is "to use a string quartet to build a vibrant urban community through performance and music education that empowers young people, their families, and professional musicians."

Yale School of Music graduate Tina Lee Hadari founded Music Haven in 2006, convinced that a professional string quartet could contribute to social change in New Haven's urban communities. In starting Music Haven, she created the opportunity for a string quartet to teach and perform in four of the city's most underserved neighborhoods. The Haven String Quartet -- which includes Hadari and Yaira Matyakubova, both violinists; Matt Beckmann, cellist; and Colin Benn, violist -- will integrate into campus life in a number of capacities: via concerts, workshops and class participation. The Southern community can expect concerts and learning opportunities to take place on campus for the next few years.

Admission to the Jan. 24 concert is $5 at the door. The event will take place in the Garner Recital Hall (Engleman C112).For directions visit /map/

For more information, contact the SCSU Music Department at (203) 392-6625.

Click here to access the blog.

At top of page: students with Okrent at the Connecticut Business Plan Competition; at left: students with Okrent and others at the intramural competition.

"This is great news for Southern, and for students in Connecticut who want to further their physics education in two critical sectors in our state," said Board of Regents Interim President Robert Kennedy. "I commend the Board of Regents for approving this program, and congratulate Southern for crafting this interdisciplinary, cutting-edge program." 

The M.S. program in applied physics has two tracks - materials science/nanotechnology and optics/optical instrumentation - intended to develop the state's workforce in the established optics industry, as well as in the emerging nanotechnology sector.  The program will begin in fall 2012 and be licensed through Dec. 31, 2014. Currently, Yale University is the only institution in Connecticut to offer a graduate program in applied physics.
 
Elliott Horch, SCSU associate professor of physics, will be the graduate program coordinator. "The program was designed in two tracks to align with the needs in the region's high-tech industry," said Horch.  "Our graduates will be adaptable to leading-edge technology development and able to fill leadership roles in research and development throughout the state."
 
The program is interdisciplinary between SCSU's School of Business and departments of Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science with courses aligned to meet industry needs. The M.S. in applied physics program is in the model of the Professional Science Master's (PSM) degree program that includes science training combined with management, marketing and entrepreneurship, making graduates highly marketable within Connecticut's technology sector.
 
DonnaJean Fredeen, dean of SCSU's School of Arts and Sciences, said the program addresses current workforce needs as Connecticut becomes a knowledge economy. "In addition to the technical background, students are going to have a much better understanding of the business process, project management and how to take a product to market," she said.
 
The M.S. in applied physics program was initially developed in consultation with an industrial advisory committee that will continue to guide the program as it matures.  Companies represented on the Advisory Board include Smiths Detection, Phonon Corp., Nights Inc., Sikorsky and Zygo Corp.
Horch said companies - such as Zygo Corp. in Middletown and Goodrich Optical Systems in Danbury - have manufactured optical systems for many years. "We felt the optical track represents an established industry in Connecticut and our graduates can help sustain this industry," said Horch, who specializes in optics, electro-optics and interferometry.
 
Professor Christine Broadbridge, chairperson of the Department of Physics said SCSU has a good working relationship with the state's businesses and the department's existing collaboration with Yale University creates a synergy with the new M.S. in applied physics program. The National Science Foundation recently awarded a $13 million grant to Yale University and SCSU to establish a Center of Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation also known as a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.
 
Broadbridge said SCSU graduates of the M.S.in applied physics program will have immediate impact on companies who hire them, serving the needs of high quality engineers and scientists in Connecticut.
 
"This program will have a substantial impact on workforce development as we train future manufacturing leaders for established businesses and emerging technologies," said Broadbridge - a leading researcher in nanotechnology, recognized by state government as a key area of economic opportunity. "Southern students stay in Connecticut and these programs prepare them for jobs that benefit both them and the state," said Broadbridge.

Learn more about the M.S. degree program in applied physics

Winter Session 2012 Dates:  December 27, 2011 - January 13, 2012

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On Thursday, Papazian said she is fortunate to join the Southern community on the heels of so much good work that has been done at the university. She said she will strive to help the university build upon those accomplishments.  She said she will fight so that Southern students are afforded the best education possible. "I want students to have the opportunity to participate in the American Dream." 
She said she is excited to embark on an exciting journey with the students, faculty and staff at Southern.  "I promise you a journey of respect and commitment -- one that is dedicated to excellence and human dignity.  Our students -- at the end of the day -- are the reason why we're here."

Papazian's first day at Southern will be Feb. 1, 2012. Interim Provost Marianne Kennedy is serving as the lead campus administrator through the month of January.

Dr. Papazian received her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in English literature. She began her career at Oakland University in Michigan as an assistant professor of English and ultimately became the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences there. Following her time at Oakland University, Dr. Papazian was the dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State University, a comprehensive public university with 17,000 students and 500 full-time faculty members. There, she recruited more than 30 diverse faculty members, managed the college's nearly $23 million budget and set spending priorities that supported the students even while budget dollars tightened. At Montclair State, Dr. Papazian also created a strong partnership between liberal arts and education, helping to strengthen the teacher education program at the school.
 
In 2007, Dr. Papazian became the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Lehman College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system. At Lehman, Dr. Papazian is responsible for a $60 million budget, more than 750 full- and part-time faculty members and 200 staff, as well as the management, planning, development and quality control of all academic programs at the college. Dr. Papazian helped articulate a strategic vision and long-term goals for the college and has played a leading role in their implementation. She also supported efforts to build strong community relationships with the college and was a key member of Lehman's leadership team as it launched Lehman's first capital campaign with a $40 million target by 2014- $34 million of which has been raised or pledged to date, including nearly $1 million for scholarships.
 
Focusing on Lehman's position as a comprehensive college within a research university, Dr. Papazian strengthened Lehman's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs to leverage support in that community for Lehman. She has hired dozens of research active faculty to join a group that has already been awarded $20 million annually in external funding.
 
Dr. Papazian has published a number of books, articles and reviews, including her most recent book, The Sacred and Profane in English Renaissance Literature. In 2009, Dr. Papazian presented to the "University Education for the 21st Century" conference in Armenia, focusing on the future of teaching and learning in the new millennium.
 

The Haven String Quartet will integrate into campus life in a number of capacities: via concerts, workshops and class participation.  In addition, the group will have the opportunity to offer its high school outreach program on the Southern campus once the program is initiated. The Southern community can expect concerts and learning opportunities to take place on campus for the next few years. 

Music Haven was founded on the idea that excellence and equity need not be competing or mutually exclusive goals, and that all people should have access to quality arts learning opportunities. The organization was also founded with the goal of bringing together people of all races, ethnicities, socio-economic class, genders, and ages to support each other through music, to make the world a better place.

Yale School of Music graduate Tina Lee Hadari founded Music Haven in 2006. Convinced that a professional string quartet could contribute to social change in New Haven's urban communities, she created the opportunity for a string quartet to teach and perform in four of the city's most underserved neighborhoods. 

In collaboration with generous individual donors in the New Haven region, a small Board of Directors, and the Vinca Quartet, Hadari launched Music Haven to provide programs that engage and inspire New Haven youth and their families.

In the Fall of 2008, the Haven String Quartet was founded to fulfill the needs of Music Haven's mission. Each member of the Haven String Quartet teaches instrument lessons, mentors students, and performs for the entire community.

The quartet's first on-campus concert will take place on January 24, 2012, at 8 p.m. in the Charles Garner Recital Hall (Engleman C112).

(Pictured above, from left to right: Yaira Matyakubova, violinist; Matt Beckmann, cellist; DonnaJean Fredeen, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences; Colin Benn, violist; and Tina Lee Hadari, violinist and executive director of Music Haven)

The choir performed in Ireland in June 2009 as part of an event recognizing the 250th anniversary of Handel's death. Carrington also conducted that performance and invited the Southern choir to return for the 2012 event. The former director of Yale University's Schola Cantorum, Carrington co-founded the British vocal ensemble The King's Singers at Cambridge University.

Composer Handel was born in Germany in 1685 and died in England in 1759. He is perhaps best known for his compositions "Messiah" and "Water Music."

Fewer than 10 students in the current choir went on the Ireland trip, says Terese Gemme, professor of music and director of the choir. "It was such a life-changing experience for the students who went on that trip, they knew they had to do it again."

Gemme refers to the cultural dimension of the trip as being especially significant for the students. "The exposure to history, and the connection of music through history is powerful," Gemme says. "This music has continued in this place since 1759." 

Southwark Cathedral, has stood for over 1000 years on the south bank of the river Thames in London. Shakespeare and Chaucer are among the historical figures believed to have worshipped there. 

Several choirs from the United States and Great Britain will take part in the London concert. Gemme estimates that about 85 singers will participate; nearly half of those singers will be from Southern. Southern will be represented by 53 people, including not only the choir members, Gemme and the accompanist, but also Donna Jean Fredeen, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and Walter and Esther Stutzman, whose family foundation is helping to support the trip. 

The Stutzman Family Foundation, which has supported other programs and initiatives in the Music Department over the past few years, has donated close to $100,000 toward the cost of the trip. The cost per student to travel to England and participate in the concert is $2,595. To help ease the financial burden on the students, President Stanley Battle is donating proceeds from the university-sponsored Diane Bish organ concert, held last spring at Battell Chapel. Each student is responsible for contributing $600 towards his or her fees, and the choir has held fundraisers such as sales of candles, cookie dough and candy bars. The fundraising began a couple of years ago, after the Ireland trip, Gemme says.

Walter Stutzman says, "it is the Foundation's goal to enable students to become the musicians they want to be.  As important as instruction, programs and facilities are, music is ultimately something to be shared. Southern's educational mission has recently placed increased emphasis on integrating a global perspective. One way to achieve this goal is to enable students to travel overseas.  Many types of learning, formal and informal, take place when musicians work together in an international venue.  This was certainly the case with the University Choir's trip to Ireland in 2009 and will no doubt be the case as the choir celebrates the opening of the 2012 Olympic year in London."

Prior to the London concert, the choir will do its own concert at Bristol Cathedral in Bristol, England. While in London, they will visit such historical sites as Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Tower Bridge, among others. A celebration dinner will follow the concert. Overall, the trip will be eight days long.

The choir performed the Coronation Anthems at its winter concert on Dec. 5, along with brass, timpani, and strings. About 70 singers performed at this concert.

"It will be exciting to be in London on New Year's Eve," Gemme says.

Interested students may register at gmsnewhaven.eventbrite.com

Click here or on the image at right for a printable flyer.

Click here for a printable version of the schedule of events, or see below.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? STUDENTS WHO ARE...

• African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American or Hispanic American; and
• 11th graders who have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, 12th graders who have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or above, both on a 4.0 unweighted scale, and those who have earned a GED. (GED recipients have no GPA requirement to attend.)

YOUR PARENTS/GUARDIANS ARE ALSO HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND!

WHAT IS THE GATES MILLENNIUM SCHOLARS PROGRAM?

The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program, was established in 1999 by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to UNCF (the United Negro College Fund) the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization. The goal of GMS is to educate "Leaders for America's Future"™ by providing eligible students with the opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in the discipline of their choice and continue through to a doctoral degree in seven GMS funded fields.

For more information, contact Kimberly M. Crone at (203) 392-9999 or cronek1@southernct.edu.

Schedule of Events 

Welcoming Remarks               

• Dr. Stanley Battle, SCSU President                  

Gates Millennium Scholars Program Presentation

• Mr. Ryan Davis, GMS Outreach Manager

Student Session - Navigating College Admissions

• SCSU Admissions Staff

Parent/Educator Session - Planning and Resources

• Mr. Ryan Davis, GMS Outreach Manager
  

Questions and Answers Session

Lunch

Next Steps

Departure

Kander and Ebb were a highly successful songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Known primarily for their stage musicals, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies, including their most famous song, the theme song from Martin Scorsese's New York, New York. Recorded by many artists, "New York, New York" became a signature song for Frank Sinatra. The team also became associated with actresses Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera, for whom they wrote material for the stage, concerts, and television.

A complimentary reception in the lobby and dedication of the Crescent Players' newly restored photo gallery will follow the performance. 

Tickets are $25 for general admission; $20 for active alumni (current membership card) and Southern faculty/staff; $5 for students; and $35 for a special Alumni Association membership ticket, which includes a one-year membership in the association. 

For tickets visit tickets.southernct.edu or call the Lyman Center Box Office at (203) 392-6154.

Nye choreographed the number to an original song written specifically for the event, which was a special celebration of the famed parade's 85th anniversary. He collaborated with national-level colleagues, including an Emmy-winning composer, and taught the young dancers an original piece he created to kick off the extravaganza. The performance is available for viewing on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPKiXc8T5_o

This is the third year that Stagedoor Manor kids have performed in the parade and the second year for Nye as director/choreographer. Last year, he choreographed for a new float by Office Max called "Elves Raise the Roof."

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade airs nationally on NBC-TV to an estimated 50 million viewers. An article about the Stagedoor Manor performance appeared on BroadwayWorld.com.