Message from the Dean Fall 2023

Message from the Dean

Dear friends:

This is my favorite time of the year. To look out across the campus and see it filled with energy and activity lifts my spirits because it comes with an abundance of possibilities. Our faculty were busy all summer with their research projects, many involving our students and their preparations for their classes. The students' return for the fall reminds me how they are the center of everything we do in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS).

The University has never been stronger. Fairfield, long categorized as a regional comprehensive university, recently joined the ranks of national doctoral institutions. We also welcomed the largest incoming class in our history. In CAS, we saw our largest incoming class in many, many years, bucking the national trend in arts and science enrollments.

This fall, we opened our new Science Center, funded through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant and led by a team of expert science faculty. This new center joins the College’s other centers in the library (Writing and Math Centers) to provide students with the support they need to succeed in their studies.

Additionally, CAS launched two new institutes: the Communication and Media Institute and our new Arts Institute. Both will extend our programming and opportunities for our students in these areas. These Institutes join our Humanities Institute, the Science Institute, and the Fredrickson Family Innovation Lab as points of excellence.

Furthermore, we continue to advance the available experiences and immersion prospects for our students in their communication and media studies through our partnership with Connecticut Public Media and the CAS’s Media Council (an advisory group of industry executives). To this end, we welcome a new staff member, Michael Petshaft, who joins the College as our new director of media operations. Michael has spent a long career in broadcast media, working at several regional stations, and he brings a wealth of experience to his work with our students and faculty.

Perhaps most paramount this season, we were so proud to witness the opening of our Fairfield Bellarmine program —Fairfield University’s two-year, associate’s degree program, serving students from the Greater Bridgeport region. The 46 admitted students joined five newly appointed College faculty among others. Fairfield Bellarmine is a bold, innovative effort to address the challenges of access and affordability in Jesuit higher education.

We are also gratified to announce that 96 percent of our students land successfully upon graduation. But we do not rest, and to that end, we welcome Yamil Cobo '19, himself an alumnus, who joins us as a new career development advisor, helping to ensure that all CAS students continue to launch successfully.

Finally, we welcomed more than 35 new faculty to the College. This represents an astonishing leap forward for CAS and shows the University’s faith in our bright future. Our new colleagues have already made a mark in their disciplines, coming with many publications and accomplishments, and will bring so much to our students.
I hope you share my excitement and feel that CAS has the wind at our back. I encourage you to return to campus and reconnect to see what your College is up to, or if you're on campus, to join us for one of our many upcoming events this semester.

Kindest regards,