Joe Bertolino
Hello everyone, spring is finally here! I hope that those of you who were able to take a break last week have returned reinvigorated for the second half of the semester. After two challenging years, we are finally seeing some promise for better times ahead. It’s great to see students out and about on campus and it’s energizing to view the progress on our two major building projects – the Health and Human Services Building and the new home for our School of Business. And earlier this month we had a thrilling week of athletic success, with our men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams and our men’s track and field team winning their respective Northeast-10 championships. These teams have been dominating the conference for many years, speaking to the enduring excellence of our athletics program. There are many other exciting things happening on campus as we enter the final weeks of the academic year. Let me share some of that good news with you. This semester, the Buley Library Art Gallery is displaying a rare collection that is truly a one-of-a-kind exhibit. Here to tell you more about that is Art Department Chair Cort Sierpinski.
Cort Sierpinski
Hello President Joe! Currently on view in the Buley Art Gallery is a complete set of illustrations by famed surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. Commissioned by the Italian government to illustrate Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy to commemorate Dante’s 700th birthday, Dali brings to visual life the epic journey from the descent into Hell, ascension to Mount Purgatory, and his ultimate arrival in Paradise. The works on view come from the German edition published in 1974. It is a rare opportunity to see the complete set of 100 images intact, so please visit soon as the exhibition runs through April 7th.
Joe Bertolino
Thank you, Cort – it’s truly inspiring. Speaking of inspiring, we have a number of initiatives underway this semester that speak to the heart of our social justice, anti-racist mission. These collaborative faculty-staff efforts are focused on providing support and academic success for First Generation students, male students of color, undocumented students and high schoolers preparing for college. One campus entity that has been doing similar work for many years is the Southern Educational Opportunity program, known to most of us as SEOP. Now entering its 50th year, this wonderful program provides learning and practical skills for promising students who have faced educational or economic disadvantages that have impacted their preparedness for college. Here to tell us more is Dawn Stanton, Director of University Access Programs and an SEOP graduate herself…
Dawn Stanton
Thank you, President Joe! I am thrilled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of SEOP during this year’s Homecoming! As an SEOP 1986 alum, I am here to say that access to higher education and a supportive campus community is a powerful driver of economic mobility. The program has impacted thousands of students and continues to transform lives and communities. Fifty years ago, Southern was less than 1% racially diverse. Now, 47% of our students are students of color, and diversity is one of our greatest strengths. I can’t wait to reconnect on October 16 with fellow alumni, faculty, staff, and friends who have helped so many reach their fullest potential.
Joe Bertolino
Thank you, Dawn. There’ll be a number of opportunities to celebrate SEOP in the coming months so stay tuned! As you know, a large part of being a social justice university is establishing productive partnerships with the community. We’ve established three such collaborations in recent weeks … The New Haven Symphony recently announced its residency at the Lyman Center for the 2022/23 season, which will not only bring concerts to Southern but also a host of internship and learning opportunities. We have partnered once again with Jackson Labs to offer the professional development series “Teaching the Genome Generation” to New Haven public school teachers, SCSU pre-service teachers, and teachers from surrounding high-need districts. And later this week, there will be a major announcement about a new partnership between Southern and Yale New Haven Health. This will provide staff resources, clinical placements, and financial supports enabling us to double the number of students who graduate with a nursing degree by 2026. Not only will we be responding to critical workforce needs, we will also be enhancing the diversity of our nursing programs – again, a key aspect of our social justice mission.
Joe Bertolino
As you know, one of the high points of the fall semester was the site visit of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) reaccreditation team. It followed an exhaustive self-study that says so much about what we have accomplished and what a strong and resilient institution we are. Thanks to these efforts the NECHE Team concluded its visit with an overwhelmingly positive exit presentation. As a result, we are highly confident that we are well poised for a successful 10-year reaccreditation. Speaking of accreditation, our College of Education recently went through a highly successful review of its teacher and administrator preparation programs. Southern’s performance was assessed against nationally recognized standards and approval was gained with zero conditions attached – an outstanding testament to our commitment to providing the best academic experience we can to our future teachers and school leaders. Here’s Dean Stephen Hegedus to tell us more…
Stephen Hegedus
Thank you President Joe. We are very proud of our recent achievement with our CAEP accreditation which gives us a clear pathway for the next 7 years. There are 58 programs including teacher preparation in multiple subjects, school professionals and school leaders. I thank the continuing hard work of our faculty and staff that ensure the highest quality of preparation in our programs and the many long term partnerships with school districts that offer our students authentic learning experiences in their classrooms and buildings. One being our very own Obama Magnet University School here on our campus. Finally we could not do this without the support and feedback from our graduates who shared with the review team how our programs impacted their work and careers today. It’s a real honor and testimony to everyone to receive such a high recognition. Thank you.
Joe Bertolino
Thank you, Stephen. As you’ve heard, there are many excellent initiatives underway at Southern advancing student success. As a member of the Southern community, you can play your part in supporting the lives of our students by enhancing programmatic funding and scholarships through our annual Day of Caring on April 13th this year. Together as ONE, we will assure every student receives an exceptional education and the support they need to achieve their goals. Please consider making your gift on April 13.
In closing, I want to take a brief moment to acknowledge one of the newest members of our community – Canine Officer Jules, a two-year-old black Labrador Retriever and ADA Certified Service Dog who arrived on campus in January. Jules is the friendly, welcoming presence we all could use after so many stressful months, and his arrival is another symbol of good times to come. I invite you to learn more about our new and ongoing initiatives, as well as our priorities moving forward, at my Town Hall meeting at 1 p.m. on April 21 in the student center ballroom. I’ll see you then – thank you for all that you do - and have an enjoyable and rewarding close to the fall semester.