Fairfield Now - Winter 2007

Year in Review 2006-2007

---

1) One of several hundred students to benefit from internships, Smita Balakrishna completed an internship with Erick Krosky of Merrill Lynch in Fairfield; 2) Peter Lynch, vice president of Fidelity Management Research and an advisory board member of Fidelity Investments, delivered the 7th Annual Charles F. Dolan Lecture; 3) Evening students enrolled in University College use a microscope in their biology course.
 

College of Arts & Sciences

• Faculty scholarship advanced at an unprecedented pace, with 14 books published and 475 scholarly publications, presentations, or performances made.
• Total funding for active and new grants: $1,850,809, and total pending grants: $1,689,159.
• Sixty-five students gave conference or poster presentations and/or co-authored a scholarly publication with a faculty mentor.
• Graduate and professional school acceptance climbed to 144 students.
• For the second year in a row, the College produced a record five Fulbright Scholars.
• Internships grew to 234 students; 40 CAS students were elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
• The 21-member Board of Advisors raised $150,000 for special projects in the departments of Biology, Religious Studies, and Visual and Performing Arts.

Charles F. Dolan School of Business

• Celebrated its 30th Anniversary.
• An AACSB International Maintenance of Accreditation Peer Review Team recommended accreditation for an additional six years, the year's most significant accomplishment.
• Faculty scholarship continued at a significant pace, with 64 peer-reviewed and six non-peer-reviewed publications accepted, and 103 regional, national, and international conference presentations delivered.
• One hundred thirty-eight students completed corporate and non-profit internships.
• Twenty-eight undergraduate and 13 graduate students were inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the national business honor society available only to students enrolled at schools accredited by AACSB International.
• Dolan School graduate students participated in the first national Jesuit MBA Day of Service in April.
• The 7th annual Dolan Lecture featured Peter Lynch of Fidelity Investments.
• The Dolan School of Business Advisory Council hosted two events: a Career Night and a panel on the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
• The Dolan School co-hosted a seminar at the New York Stock Exchange with the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association, attended by more than 300 people.

1) Dr. Winston Tellis (center, rear), Camille and Stephen Schramm Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management in the Dolan School, takes students to a Bridgeport school as part of a service-learning course he teaches; 2) The Dolan School hosts a panel on the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; 3) Professor Sally Gerard teaches nursing students how to use a Hoyer lift.
 

School of Engineering

• Designed a five-year, dual-degree program (B.S./M.S.) in software engineering, which was approved by the Connecticut State Department of Higher Education.
• Launched an engineering minor program.
• Enlarged the breadth and scope of the automated manufacturing program, through a grant for the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology.
• Graduated 91 students in May 2007, including 32 with bachelor's degrees, one with an associate's degree, and 59 with master's degrees.
• Established Tau Beta Phi, an engineering honor society, and inducted 28 students and alumni at ceremonies in February 2007.
• Expanded to 50 the number of area companies poised to offer summer internships to undergraduate students.

School of Nursing

• Launched a new Clinical Nurse Leader master of science in nursing degree.
• Admitted the first class of Nurse Anesthesia students in January 2007.
• Formed a partnership with the software company Emerigsoft.
• Received a grant from the United States Office of Veterans Affairs, one of just four schools selected in the country.
• Hosted the second annual SON lecture, "Dying in America," presented by Dr. Betty Ferrell, RN, FAAN.
• Received approval from the Conn. Board of Nursing for the next five years.
• Had a 45 percent increase in graduate program enrollment.
• Started the first Faculty Learning Community in the School of Nursing.

University College

• Earned approval from the Connecticut Board of Education for the B.A./B.S. in Professional Studies as Fairfield's first online degree completion program.
• Hired a new assistant dean to expand academic advising for the growing number of students electing to study abroad.
• Named the Fairfield University Roberto Bellarmino, S.J. Library in Florence, Italy, as part of a new affiliation with Florence University of the Arts.
• Served some 22,000 individuals through various programs and services.
• Had continued success (85 percent) with the general studies program for incoming students seeking to matriculate into the fulltime undergraduate class.
• Expanded lifetime learning programs.

1) Dr. Katherine Schwab, professor of art history, speaks with Dr. Jeanne Novotny, dean of nursing, at the Walsh Gallery exhibit, "The Creative Photograph in Archaeology;" 2) The Quick Center offers Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol; 3) This daughter/mother combination - Kaitlyn and Pamela Kelly - each received a bachelor of arts degree in English in May 2007.
 

Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions

• Dean Susan D. Franzosa was elected president of the American Educational Studies Association.
• Twenty-two scholarly articles were published, two book proposals were accepted for publication, and faculty gave 34 presentations at national meetings.
• GSEAP's Special Education Program received one of four federally sponsored five-year, $1 million U.S. Department of Education grants awarded to train dually certified bilingual and special education teachers.
• Associate Professor Virginia Kelly served as president of the North Atlantic Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors.
• The Connecticut Writing Project became a GSEAP-affiliated program, and co-sponsored literacy workshops for the professional development of teachers and curriculum specialists in the region.
• The undergraduate education minor, implemented in conjunction with the College of Arts and Sciences, is now the largest minor at the University.
• An undergraduate program in music education leading to teaching certification was approved by the Connecticut State Department of Education.

Quick Center

• Coordinated 472 events, including 198 performances, exhibits, lectures, rehearsals, and meetings.
• Offered 11 distinct cultural series (jazz, chamber music, radio drama, children's programs, dance, art exhibits), to name a few.
• Welcomed 8,000 to the Walsh Art Gallery during the season's four exhibits.
• Saw an 18 percent increase in ticket sales and a 30 percent rise in attendance at other University events.
• Installed an updated system for the hearing impaired in the Kelley and Wien Theatres.

Student Affairs

• Absorbed Campus Operations into the division's purview.
• Reorganized the Center for Multicultural Relations into two distinct offices: The Office of Institutional Diversity Initiatives and the Office of Student Diversity Initiatives.
• In residence life, continued the transition from using part-time graduate students as residence hall coordinators to hiring one full-time, master's-level professional area coordinator for every two residence halls.
• Undergraduate resident assistants coordinated more than 200 programs in the halls, including a dozen with faculty in presentation/facilitator roles.
• With the Office of Student Activities, the Career Planning Center piloted Sophomore Success 100, an eight-week spring program designed to get students thinking about the practical aspects of résumé writing, interviewing, dressing for success, and online networking.
• The Career Planning Center conducted 1,583 formally scheduled meetings with students, an increase from 886 the previous year.
• The Department of Public Safety developed a comprehensive master plan for emergency response. The University acquired and implemented an emergency notification system that allows students and others to receive simultaneous notifications via multiple technologies.
• The Face AIDS Club sponsored a national conference on campus, while Colleges Against Cancer brought the national Relay for Life to campus.

1) Women's volleyball goes undefeated in the regular MAAC season; 2) Fr. von Arx and Vice President for Student Affairs Mark Reed (right) welcome new head women's basketball coach, Joe Frager; 3) Ignacio Pallares '10 and the Rev. Jim Mayzik, S.J., mix cement for a school they are helping build as Arrupe Volunteers in Tijuana, Mexico.
 

Athletics

• Men's rowing was elevated from a club to a varsity sport, bringing the total number of Division I teams at Fairfield to 20.
• Women's and men's varsity rowing moved to a boathouse on the Pequonnock River in Bridgeport.
• Men's soccer won the MAAC regular and post-season championships, and went on to a first-ever victory by Fairfield in round one of the NCAA Tournament.
• Women's volleyball went undefeated in the regular MAAC season.
• Fairfield hired Joe Frager (current Division II national titleholder) as the new women's basketball coach.
• Won NCAA award for community service for the fifth consecutive year.
• Hosted major conference events, including the 2006 men's and women's soccer championships at Lessing Field, with coverage on ESPNU; the 2007 Bank of America MAAC men's and women's basketball championships at the Arena at Harbor Yard, with coverage on MSG and ESPN2; and the MAAC softball championship.
• Nearly 2,900 students participated in intramurals, with some 1,400 engaged in more than one sport.

Campus Ministry

• Welcomed new leadership in the person of Michael Doody, S.J., and three new staff members: Crissy Bowen, Wiley Smith Blake, and Conor O'Kane.
• Offered six spiritual retreats, in which more than 250 students participated.
• Organized four international immersion programs - two in Ecuador, one in Mexico, and one in Jamaica.
• Hosted an alumni panel, "How I'm Living My Jesuit Education."
• Assisted 12 members of the Class of 2007 in discerning their commitment to a year of post-graduation service.
• Coordinated student volunteer work at some 24 community sites, as well as special events including Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's parties for after-school programs and Best Buddies participants.

1) An engineering student is hard at work in the lab; 2) The Glee Club celebrates its 65th anniversary year; 3) Brian Merry, TV producer/director operates the Media Center's satellite uplink truck during Commencement 2007.
 

The Spiritual Centers

• Rev. Richard Ryscavage, S.J. director of the Center for Faith and Public Life, was named an official delegate of the Holy See to the 61st session of the UN General Assembly.
• The Center for Faith and Public Life continued producing, in conjunction with the Media Center, its Politics Meets Faith series.
• The Center for Catholic Studies sponsored a Living Theology lecture series on six separate Saturday mornings for laity in the region, as well as a number of evening lectures.
• The Office of Jesuit and Catholic Mission and Identity hosted a daylong colloquium on migration, co-sponsored with the Diocese of Bridgeport.
• The Office of Jesuit and Catholic Mission and Identity offered several formats of the Retreat in Daily Life (based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola) for members of the University community.
• The Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies sponsored eight lectures open to the public, as well as a model Passover Seder and a Holocaust remembrance service.

Information Services

• The Administrative Computing Department delivered critical upgrades to existing Banner systems and added new services that streamlined or eliminated formerly labor-intensive operations.
• Administrative Computing also provided new or improved services to support online payment for graduate and continuing studies students; classroom scheduling; and an electronic calendar of campus events.
• DiMenna-Nyselius Library won a gold award in the 2007 Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Innovation competition.
• Library created an intranet Wiki for technology news, library policies and procedures, and communication; screencasts for instructional purposes; and tutorials admired and copied by other libraries, including Harvard Law.
• Offered nearly 200 instruction and technology workshops on library resources (including 13 for graduate students).
• The Media Center's Production Group inaugurated an impressive new service of live satellite uplink broadcasting for the University and for major national broadcast organizations.
• The Media Center moved Fairfield into an elite category as one of the few schools in the nation to have HDTV (high-definition television) broadcast cameras.

1) Dr. Betty Ferrell, RN, FAAN, delivers "Dying in America," the 2nd Annual School of Nursing lecture; 2) Judea Pearl, founder of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, offers the 2007 Jacoby-Lunin Humanitarian Lecture; 3) Dr. Philip Eliasoph, director and moderator of University College's Open VISIONS Forum, converses with Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the Open VISIONS Forum of University College. De Montebello, first-ever Open VISIONS speaker, returned to mark the popular series' 10th anniversary.
 

Faculty Authors

Dr. Elizabeth Boquet (co-author)
Professor of English
The Everyday Writing Center: A Community of Practice
(Utah State University Press, 2007)

Jack Cavanaugh
Adjunct Professor of English
Tunney: Boxing's Brainiest Champion and His Upset of the Great Jack Dempsey
(Random House, 2006)

Dr. Arjun Chaudhuri
Thomas R. Fitzgerald, S.J., Professor of Marketing
Emotion and Reason in Consumer Behavior
(Elsevier Inc., 2006)

Dr. Ronald M. Davidson (co-editor)
Professor of Religious Studies
Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis: Studies in Its Formative Period, 900-1400
(Brill Press, 2006)

Dr. Benjamin Fine (co-editor)
Professor of Mathematics
Contemporary Mathematics: Discrete Group Theory, Discrete Groups, and Number Theory
(American Mathematical Society, 2006)
and
Number Theory: An Introduction Via the Distribution of Primes
(Birkhäuser Boston, 2007)

Dr. Sheila Grossman
Professor of Nursing
Mentoring in Nursing
(Springer Publishing, 2007)

Dr. Hugh Humphrey
Professor of Religious Studies
From Q to Secret Mark: A Composition History of the Earliest Narrative Theology
(TNT Clark, 2006)
and
"The Gospel of Mark" An Indexed Bibliography 1980-2005
(Edwin Mellen Press, 2006)

Dr. Paul Lakeland
Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies
Catholicism at the Crossroads: How the Laity Can Save the Church
(Continuum, 2007)

Dr. Lisa Mainiero (co-author)
Professor of Management
The Opt-Out Revolt: Why People Are Leaving Companies to Create Kaleidoscope Careers
(Davies-Black, 2006)

Dr. Eric Mielants (co-editor)
Assistant Professor of Sociology
International Journal of Comparative Sociology
(Sage Publications, 2006)

Dr. Lisa Newton
Professor of Philosophy
Permission to Steal
(Blackwell, 2007)

Walter Petry (co-editor)
Assistant Professor of History Emeritus
Religion in Latin America: A Documentary History
(Orbis Books, 2006)

Dr. Raymond Poincelot (senior editor)
Professor of Biology
Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract
(The Harworth Press, 2006)

Dr. Gita Rajan (co-editor)
Associate Professor of English
New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the U.S.
(Stanford University Press, 2006)

Dr. Yohuru Williams
Associate Professor of History
In Search of the Black Panther Party
(Duke University Press, 2006)

Dr. Min Xu (co-author)
Assistant Professor of Physics
Random Processes in Physics and Finance
(Oxford Press, 2006)

Lectures of Note

Dr. María Pilar Aquino
Theologian and Author
Anne Drummey O'Callaghan Lecture on Women in the Church

Dr. Mary Frances Berry
Past Chair, U.S. Civil Rights Commission
Open VISIONS Forum

Philippe de Montebello
Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Open VISIONS Forum 10th Anniversary

Joan Didion
Author
Open VISIONS Forum

Phil Donahue
Talk Show Host; Documentary Filmmaker
Open VISIONS Forum

Dr. David Elcott
Author and Director of the Israel Policy Forum
Schnurmacher Foundation Lecture

Paul Farmer, M.D.
Medical Humanitarian, Haiti
Convocation

Dr. Betty Ferrell, RN, FAAN
Educator, Author
School of Nursing Annual Lecture

Dr. Diana Hayes
Professor and Theologian
Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation

Stephen Lewis
Former UN envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa
FACE AIDS Conference

Peter Lynch
Author and Vice President of Fidelity
Seventh Annual Charles Dolan Lecture

James Moore Jr.
Founder and CEO, ATI
Ignatian Residential College Lecture

Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe
Photographer and Author
Fairfield Awards Dinner, NYC

Bill O'Reilly
Host, The O'Reilly Factor
Open VISIONS Forum

Dr. Robert Orsi
Theologian and Author
Christopher Mooney, S .J. Lecture in Theology, Religion, and Society

Judea Pearl
Founder, Daniel Pearl Foundation
Jacoby-Lunin Humanitarian Lecture
Open VISIONS Forum

Thomas J. Regan, S.J.
Provincial Superior, New England Province, Society of Jesus
Commencement

Dennis Ross
U.S. Ambassador to the Middle East
Carl and Dorothy Bennett Lecture in Judaic Studies

Gore Vidal
Author
Open VISIONS Forum

In Memoriam

Dr. John Barone, provost and professor of chemistry emeritus
Dr. George Lang Jr., professor of mathematics
Dr. Ben Halm, associate professor of English
Thomas J. Walsh Jr., trustee