Fairfield Now - Winter 2009
Year in Review 2008-2009

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From left: In January, the School of Nursing and Bridgeport Anesthesia Associates welcomed the second class of 13 nurse
anesthesia students at a reception at Cinzano restaurant. From left, Fairfield student Marilyn Osuchukwu, Clinical Coordinator
Karen LeCleir, and Dr. David Jaffe; GSEAP professor Aidin Amirshokoohi teaches elementary school teachers about
science education during a summer workshop.

College of Arts & Science

• Five faculty were tenured and promoted to associate professor; three were promoted to rank of full professor. Ten new faculty members were hired. The new faculty members are expected to have interdisciplinary connections to programs in Asian Studies, Black Studies, the Program on the Environment, International Studies, Italian Studies, Peace & Justice Studies, Russian & Eastern European Studies, and Women's Studies.
• College faculty members continue to provide significant leadership to the University on strategic initiatives and service in governance. Of the 19 handbook committees, CAS faculty members chaired 14. Twenty-eight CAS faculty and staff members serve as advisors for student clubs and organizations.
• The College undertook record high activity in efforts to procure external funding for research. Almost $6 million in external funding was sought, with $2.15 million received and $1.9 million still pending.
• Students continue to excel in study abroad and other areas of civic engagement, with 220 students completing internships; 151 students studying abroad in 35 locations; 78 students presenting research at scholarly meetings or authors on published manuscripts; 192 conducting independent or supervised research or creative projects.
• Of all 2010 graduates, 103 were accepted into graduate programs and 300 students were inducted into various disciplinary honor societies. In addition, 47 graduate students completed their M.A. or M.S. in American Studies, Communication, and Mathematics.
• Faculty authored or edited 20 books, more than 100 articles, chapters, and other publications. Over 200 presentations were accepted at professional meetings, invited talks, and exhibits.

Charles F. Dolan School of Business

• For the fourth consecutive years, the Charles F. Dolan School of Business was chosen as one of Princeton Review's Best 296 Business Schools for graduate programs. The Accounting Program was named as one of the top 15 in the nation.
• The Charles F. Dolan School of Business Advisory Council hosted a Career Opportunities Night focusing on Entrepreneurship.
• Continuing the tradition of hosting lectures by prominent figures in the global business community, the school hosted the 2008 Dolan Lecture with special guest Sanford Weill, former CEO of CitiGroup, Inc.
• The school initiated a new study abroad program, beginning with Institute Quimic De Sarria, a Jesuit college in Barcelona.
• New Bloomberg trading terminals were installed in the school's Business Education Simulation and Trading Classroom.

From left: Timothy Crawford '10 from Essex, Conn., uses the new Bloomberg computers in Dr. Michael Tucker's Dolan
School of Business class; Tending the seedlings in the new core science lab in the Rudolph F. Bannow Science Center
are Lauren Poccia '11 and Brittany Fusillo '11; Dave Hill, an engineer from Fairfield checks out the latest technology from
Rocky Hill-based firm Hesco on display at the School of Engineering.

School of Engineering

• The High School Engineering Academy finished its first year in 2009, welcoming 60 area high school students to campus for 180 hours of instructional time in SOE facilities. The Saturday program for students in Bridgeport's public and parochial high schools was supported by a $400,000 grant from General Electric.
• A four-course sequence in Biomedical Engineering was established in the framework of the Electrical and Computer Engineering program and Systems Engineering was established as a separate track in the Management of Technology program.
• Noah Benjamin '09, a mechanical engineering major, had a perfect, four-year 4.0 average and won the Bellarmine Medal and the John and Veronica Gleason Award at Commencement.
• The School hosted well-received conferences in solar energy and automation in manufacturing.
• Dr. Doug Lyon received a grant, in kind, valued at $177,000 from Altera Corporation in support of courses in digital design.

School of Nursing

• The School of Nursing, in partnership with Bridgeport Anesthesia Associates, graduated the first cohort of 11 students for the Nurse Anesthesia track. All 2009 Nurse Anesthesia graduates have found employment with hospital-based anesthesia departments.
• The Robin Kanarek Learning Resource Center was opened in the summer of 2008. This year, the School added an information technology position to assist with simulation in the lab, held faculty simulation workshops, hosted a workshop for nursing faculty from Connecticut and Massachusetts, and was awarded $141,000 in Congressional appropriations for equipment and technology upgrades.
• In collaboration with Danbury Hospital, several of the graduate courses have been taught on-site in order to expand program enrollment outside of the immediate geographic area.
• This past year was designated as the year of the Distinguished Visiting Scholar. Our visitors included Marjorie Godfrey, M.S., director of the Clinical Microsystem Resource Group of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center; Christine Bradway, Ph.D., RN, CRNP, University of Pennsylvania; Deanna Gray-Miceli, DNS, APRN, FAANP of New York University, and Grayce Sills, Ph.D., RN, FAAN of The Ohio State University.
• The School of Nursing received 669 applications for full time undergraduate study and admitted 46 percent of those who applied.

University College

• University College's online courses experienced nearly a 20 percent increase in offerings and enrollment. Over 75 courses are available for online delivery.
• Community outreach and engagement activities included: joint-sponsored programs with community partners that provided Open VISIONS Forum (OVF) tickets to benefit local organizations such as Swim Across the Sound, The Bridgeport Symphony, Grasmere Elder Care, and the Jamie A. Hulley Fund for the Arts. A limited number of tickets were provided to groups such as the Bridgeport chapter of the NAACP, the Freeman Public Housing Committee, Harding High School, and the West Indian American Association of Greater Bridgeport.
• Diversity of students continued as a goal for the College. An example of success in this area is the online computer certificate program for persons preparing to leave the military. A representative sample survey indicated that 35 percent of all students are African-American, Native American, or Latino. A total of 450 students completed the certificate program during the past year.
• This past year, International Education began a pilot project to increase the number of international students in graduate engineering. A total of 15 new applications were generated as a result of this project.
• In the winter of 2009 Fairfield University enrolled its first cohort for the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program. This joint venture between University College and the College of Arts and Sciences is a benchmark for collaborative program-ming, As a result of its success, the Author's Forum was reformatted as a new lecture series, The MFA Inspired Writers Series. Over 900 people participated in these readings throughout the year.

From left: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is interviewed by students for the series, "Faith Meets Politics." The students
from left to right are Steve Bottari '10, Daryll Brackeen '10, Jenn Zocco '10, and Matthew Pecoraro '11; The
Rev. Jim Mayzik, S.J., is taught how to make a "bird man" hand by Joe Calvaruso '11 at the Ignatian Residential College
winter retreat at Wisdom House in Litchfield, Conn.

Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions

• The Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) awarded full, eight-year accreditation without stipulations to the Counselor Education Department in January 2009. The GSEAP counselor education programs are among only four nationally accredited programs in Connecticut.
• The Department of Curriculum and Instruction received a grant of $100,000 from the Connecticut Department of Education to assist Bridgeport teachers in the development of science curricula. Enhancing Science Instruction supported 2009 summer institutes for Bridgeport teachers and will support curriculum development and mentoring throughout 2009-2010.
• A teacher development partnership was formed with Saint Martin de Porres Academy, a Nativity School, in New Haven. Faculty members from across the GSEAP provide professional training to first and second year teachers pursuing graduate degrees.
• The Special Education Program has established a partnership with St. Catherine's Academy in Fairfield, which serves students with special needs.
• An international study course in family therapy in London, UK was successfully initiated in Spring 2009 and will be offered again in Spring 2010.

The Centers

• The Office for Jesuit and Catholic Mission and Identity organized the President's third annual retreat in September, which focused on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.
• The Center for Academic Excellence ran a record 27 workshops, enrolled 360 participants in all events (41 in faculty and professional learning communities alone), won a $200,000 grant from the Davis Educational Foundation, and drew a record 135 participants to its annual teaching conference.
• The CAE also ran retreats for 82 professional staff, conducted 41 Mid-semester Assessments of Teaching, and helped faculty produce three peer-reviewed publications and three chapters, and seven other accepted submissions.
• The Office of Service Learning has brought Nicole Kansagra, an Americorps VISTA volunteer, on board to help with SL projects. Service Learning now offers courses in each of Fairfield University's six schools.
• The Center for Catholic Studies hosted Mother Dolores Hart O.S.B. in Fall 2008. As a younger woman, Dolores Hart was a successful screen actress, and is currently the Prioress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis.
• Catholic Studies hosted a national conference on "The Future of the Catholic Media," an invitation-only conference of editors, publishers, and journalists to discuss the current and changing face of the Catholic media. This project was sponsored in part by an anonymous foundation, and is now on the way to becoming a book.
• The Center for Faith and Public Life convened a Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Assistance Network Assessment and Planning Workshop in August at Fairfield University. Funded by the Teagle Foundation, it was attended by members from Fairfield University, Fordham University, and Georgetown University. The meeting resulted in an enriched set of learning objectives that embodies the multi-disciplinary perspectives on humanitarian crises.
• The CFPL co-sponsored, with the Carnegie Corporation, the Interfaith Leaders National Conversation on Immigration, which convened 52 senior religious leaders across faith traditions in a dialogue exploring the broader implications of the issues.
• The 2008-09 year marked the 15th year of the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies Program. The center hosted 12 speakers throughout the academic year including the 2008 Judaic Studies Scholar in Residence, Dr. Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University; The Jacoby-Lunin Humanitarian Lecture, which featured noted actress and humanitarian Mia Farrow; General Wesley K. Clark, who presented the Bennett Lecture in Judaic Studies; and the second Samuel and Bettie Roberts Lecture in Jewish Art, which was presented by Melissa Shiff of Toronto, Ontario.

From left: Artist Robert Vickery's painting "Admiral Benbow." The University hosted a retrospective of his work in 2009;
Fairfield now broadcasts The Metropolitan Opera in high definition at the Quick Center.

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts

• Revenue from all sources including ticket sales, artist concessions, afghan sales, food and liquor sales, rentals, and other merchandise amounted to $1,066,317.
• The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts produced 420 events over the year, including 196 performances, exhibits, lectures, rehearsals, and meetings produced by the Quick Center, with another 181 events by other University departments, and 43 rentals. The Center was open 325 days during the fiscal year.
• The Center was chosen by The Metropolitan Opera as a venue for live high definition broadcasts of Saturday matinees, one of several venues worldwide. There were 21 Met HD performances and encores during the season. Also, the first broadcast of the new London Theatre Live featured a live-on-tape performance of Phédre, starring Helen Mirren.
• The Walsh Gallery hosted Robert Vickrey: The Magic of Realism. Several of the artist's works from 75 of the nation's leading art museums were on display. Robert Vickrey was awarded the University's Gerard Manley Hopkins award for artistic excellence.
• As part of our outreach to local schools, 5,640 elementary and middle school students attended specially scheduled SchoolDay shows. Of these, 3,776 tickets were donated through grants obtained by the Center.
• The Missoula Children's Theater celebrated its 16th anniversary at the Quick Center, engaging nearly 400 community children in a series of six weeklong summer theatre camps.

Student Affairs

• Fairfield was selected to receive the 2008 Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award, presented each year by Security on Campus Inc. (SOC). The national award honors schools and individuals "that have done extraordinary things to make college and university students safer."
• A great deal of the spring semester was spent expanding an existing pilot of the Diversity and Social Justice living and learning community for the Just-Us Residential College (JRC) in Jogues Hall. Seventy-four students enrolled in Just-Us Residential College for fall 2009, an increase from 20 students last year.
• Build a House is an initiative that provides living and learning communities around a topic that engages and benefits the larger Fairfield community. The success and publicity of this year's program attracted over 30 applications from rising upper-class students and yielded 15 projects centered on service, sustainability, and diversity involving 89 students and 15 faculty/staff advisors.
• Fairfield University's 21st annual Hunger Cleanup surpassed the 500-participant goal with 657 participants, and exceeded the $10,000 fund-raising goal with over $10,100 raised. The funds raised went to educational programs in the greater Bridgeport area.
• This year, 44 students and eight staff and faculty participated in this year's "Amazing Breaks" spring break service trips. Besides returning to New Orleans and Kentucky, a trip was introduced to discern the issues of hunger and homelessness in Washington, D.C. and a trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
• The Office completed all pre-construction activities and received all regulatory approvals related to the Student Housing Master Plan. Planned projects include the renovation and conversion of Dolan Hall into an apartment building, construction of a new apartment building in the Village housing area, renovation of St. Ignatius Hall, construction of a new residence hall in the Quad housing area, and minor renovations to four of the existing Quad area residence halls.

Campus Ministry

• Campus Ministry spearheaded a well-attended presentation for students and a workshop for staff and faculty on today's student relationship and dating culture. Professor Kerry Cronin from Boston College's Lonergan Institute was the featured speaker. Campus Ministry and Student Development plan to continue the discussion about sexuality with book group discussions and additional speakers.
• Over spring break, students volunteered with Re-Member, an organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for the Oglala Lakota tribe on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Students assembled and installed bunk beds and made home repairs.
• Under the directorship of Dr. Carole Ann Maxwell, a new choir called the Lord's Chords was formed. The group of about 12 students, who sing a blend of contemporary church and popular music and play a variety of instruments, is heard regularly at the 9 p.m. Sunday Mass.

From left: Fairfield students Christina Klecker '10 and Patrick Kelly '09 during a service learning trip to the Pine Ridge
reservation in South Dakota; Fifth-grader, Aysa Spann gets computer instruction from from Brian Erickson '08 at
St. Ann's School in Bridgeport; The Rev. Jim Martin, S.J., comments on the future of Catholic media during a
conference at Fairfield sponsored by The Center for Catholic Studies.

Faculty Books

Marsha Alibrandi, co-editor
Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
Digital Geography: Geo-Spatial Technologies in the Social Studies Classroom
Charlotte, N.C., Information Age, 2008

Cecelia Bucki
Professor of History
Social History of the United States: The 1930's
ABC-CLIO, 2009

Suzanne Hetzel Campbell
Associate Professor of Nursing
Simulation Scenarios for Nurse Educators: Making it Real
Springer Publishing, 2009

Javier Campos
Professor of Modern Languages and Literature
Caminando sobre el tejado (Walking on the Roof)
Translation of English into Spanish of the poems of Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Nicaragua, Granada: Amerrisque, 2009

Javier Campos
El poeta en llamas (The Poet in Flames)
Costa Rica: University of Costa Rica Press, 2009

Ralph M. Coury, co-editor
Professor of History
Writing Tangier
Peter Lang Publishing, 2009

Robbin D. Crabtree, co-editor
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Communication
Feminist Pedagogy: Looking Back to Move Forward
The John Hopkins University Press, 2009

David Crawford
Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
Moroccan Households in the World Economy: Labor and Inequality in a Berger Village
Louisiana State University Press, 2008

David Downie, co-author
Associate Professor of Politics
Director of the Program of the Environment
Climate Change
Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO, 2009

Elizabeth Dreyer
Professor of Religious Studies
Making Sense of God: A Woman's Perspective
St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2008

Philip Eliasoph
Professor of Visual and Performing Arts
Robert Vickrey: The Magic of Realism
Hudson Hills Press, 2009

Benjamin Fine
Professor of Mathematics
Aspects of Infinite Groups
World Scientific Press, 2009

Sheila Grossman, co-author
Professor of Nursing
The New Leadership Challenge: Creating a preferred future for nursing, 3rd edition
F.A. Davis Publishers, 2008

Sheila Grossman, co-author
Instructor's Manual for the New Leadership Challenge: Creating a preferred future for nursing
F.A. Davis Publishers, 2008

Adam Philip King, co-author
Associate Professor of Computer Science
Memory and the Computational Brain: Why Cognitive Science Will Transform Neuroscience
A.J. Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2009

Janie Leatherman, Editor
Professor of Pollitics
Director of International Studies
Discipline and Punishment in Global Politics: Illusions of Control
Palgrave MacMillan, 2008

Eric H. Mielants, co-editor
Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
Caribbean Migration to Western Europe and the United States: Essays on Incorporation, Identity and Citizenship
Temple University Press, 2009

Giovanni Roberto Ruffini
Assistant Professor of History
Social Networks in Byzantine Egypt
Cambridge University Press, 2008

David Alan Sapp, co-editor
Associate Professor of English
Feminist Pedagogy: Looking Back to Move Forward
The John Hopkins University Press, 2009

Brian Q. Torff
Professor of Visual and Performing Arts
In Love with Voices: A Jazz Memoir
iUniverse, Inc.,2008

Ellen M. Umansky, co-editor
Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies
Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality: A Sourcebook, Revised Edition
Brandeis University Press, 2008

Michael White
Professor of English
Soul Catcher
Harper Perennial, 2008

Kathleen Wheeler
Professor of Nursing
Psychotherapy for Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
Elsevier, 2008

Renee White
Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
Director of Black Studies
HIV/AIDS: Global Frontiers in Prevention/Intervention
Routledge, 2008

In Memoriam

Dr. Donald Ross
Professor of Biology, emeritus

Dr. Barbara Jean Flynn Sideleau
Associate Professor of Nursing, emeritus

Lectures of Note

Dr. Diane Ashton
Director of American Studies, Rowan University
The Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Lecture in Judaic Studies

Paul Baumann
Editor, Commonweal
Second Annual Commonweal Lecture

Douglas Brinkley
Historian and author
Open VISIONS Forum

Cory Brooker
Mayor of Newark, N.J.
Open VISIONS Forum

General Wesley K. Clark
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander
The Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies

Monica Crowley and Mika Brezezinski
International analyst, MSNBC anchor
Open VISIONS Forum

Dr. Nancy Dallavalle
Department of Religious Studies, Fairfield University
Eighth Annual Anne Drummey O'Callahan Lecture on Women in the Church

Mia Farrow
Actress and humanitarian
The Annual Jacoby Lunin Humanitarian Lecture and Open VISIONS Forum

Olympia Dukakis
Academy Award-winning actress
Open VISIONS Forum

M. Dolores Hart, O.S.B.
Former actress and Benedictine Prioress
Third Annual Catholicism and the Arts Lecture

Harold Holzer
Lincoln biographer and Vice President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Open VISIONS Forum

Dr. Rosemary Kilkenny, Esq.
Vice President, Georgetown University
The LaFarge Convocation

Dr. Ruth Langer
Associate Professor of Jewish Studies in Theology, Boston College
Bank of America Lecture in Judaic Studies

Rev. James Martin, S.J.
Associate Editor, America
The 2009 Bellarmine Lecture

Mathy Mezey, Ed.D.
Director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University
Graduate Commencement, 2009

Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C.
Professor of History, University of Notre Dame
Second Annual Thomas More Lecture

Greg Mortenson
Author of Three Cups of Tea
Fall Convocation

Earl A. Powell III
Director of the National Gallery of Art
Open VISIONS Forum

Peter Pronovost '87, M.D.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Undergraduate Commencement 2009

Dr. Lamin Sanneh
D. William James Professor of World Christianity, Yale University Divinity School
The 15th Annual Christopher F. Mooney, S.J. Lecture in Theology, Religion, and Society

Sr. Christine Schenk, C.S.J.
Executive Director of FutureChurch
Catholic Studies Lecture

Jeffrey Toobin
CNN legal analyst, New Yorker contributor
Open VISIONS Forum

Sanford Weill
Chairman Emeritus of Citigroup Inc.
The Charles F. Dolan Lecture Series

Fareed Zakaria
Editor of Newsweek International
Second Annual Student Forum

From left: Yorel Hawkins '11 put together 10 straight games of double-digit scoring in 2008-09; Paulina Rys '10 was the MAAC Co-Player of the Year; men's soccer captured the MAAC tournament title.

Athletics

• Fairfield's Athletics program was awarded the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) 2008-09 Commissioner's Cup, the league's highest honor. In addition to the overall championship, Fairfield University also collected the women's crown from the conference.
• Ahna Johnson '10, senior on the women's soccer team, was named the MAAC female scholar-athlete of the year and was selected the MAAC's representative for the NCAA Woman of the Year.
• More than 200 student-athletes earned a 3.0 or higher GPA in the spring semester, including 88 dean's list student-athletes and eight student-athletes with 4.0 GPA.
  
• Men's and women's soccer as well as women's lacrosse and women's tennis captured their respective MAAC tournament title and earned berths in the NCAA tournament.
• Volleyball, men's tennis, and softball earned the MAAC regular-season championship.
• Fairfield University and Yale University served as co-hosts for the 2009 NCAA men's ice hockey East regional in front of a sold-out crowd at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
• Women's swimming and diving earned Academic All-America Team honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) for the fall 2008 semester after posting a 3.39 GPA. The GPA ranked 15th out of 93 Division I programs.
• Five teams were honored with NCAA Public Recognition Award for academic success - baseball, men's cross country, softball, men's and women's tennis.
• Baseball student-athlete Tucker Nathans '09 was featured on ESPNU's Campus Connection Show, while women's lacrosse student-athlete Kristin Coleman '09 was selected by Sports Illustrated for its Faces In The Crowd section.
• Women's basketball defeated nationally-ranked Marist College in front of national audience (ESPNU), while the men's soccer program beat nationally-ranked Loyola College to win the MAAC tournament title.
• Women's swimmer Michelle Yoshida' 10 captured the 50, 100, 200-yard freestyle crowns and set school, MAAC, and pool records in the process at the 2009 MAAC championships.
• Ahna Johnson '10 and Christian Uy '10 were named Fairfield University's Athletes of the Year by vote of the head coaches.