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The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival continues to be a gem in the crown of the university. The quality of the productions draws an audience like a cool ocean breeze attracts the summer crowds at the Jersey shore. These audiences spread the “good news” far and wide. Almost 34,000 patrons joined us this past summer. The annual budget now exceeds $2 million. And the Festival has operated in the black for eight consecutive summers. I have total confidence in the Board of Directors for the Festival under the leadership of Mr. John Russo and for the entire administrative team of the Festival under the direction of Patrick Mulcahy. We are truly blessed. 2. Faculty
During the 2011-2012 academic year, 18 full-time faculty members presented papers or posters at professional meetings; and 24 faculty members published books, chapters in books, and/or articles in professional journals. The quality and quantity of the faculty’s professional activities are impressive and at an all-time high. The following is a partial list. Dr. Julie Aaron’s application was accepted by the US Department of Energy for DeSales University to participate in the Joint Genome Institute’s (JGI) Microbial Genome Annotation program, which provides faculty collaborators and their students access to recently sequenced microbial genomes. The research experience provides students with a “real-world” opportunity to study the complete DNA sequences of microorganisms and make novel discoveries that enrich the community as a whole. Only 26 participants were chosen from undergraduate institutions across the country. Dr. Katrin Blamey co-authored the textbook Effective Read-Alouds for Early Literacy with Katherine A. Beauchat and Zoi A. Philippakos. Dr. Robert Blumenstein served on Pennsylvania Department of Education teams that evaluated the applications of Alvernia College and Mercyhurst College to move to university status. He also attended one of the famed “Harvard Institutes” for two weeks during the summer months to share his expertise with other academic administers in higher education. Dr. María Cristina Campos Fuentes is the co-owner and co-editor of the forthcoming academic peer-reviewed journal called L’Érudit franco-espagnol (www.lef-e.org). LEF-E’s board of referees includes faculty from prestigious universities such as Brown, John Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Emory, and West Point. Its focus is on Spanish, Latin American, French, Francophone, and comparative literatures. Ms. Kathleen Ehrhardt has been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital. Liz Elliott designed lighting for the following productions of the Looking Glass, a New York theater: “Twelfth Night,” “How I Thought the Milonga Would Save Me,” “Stakeout,” “He Says His Name is John,” “Friends,” and “Sidewalk Cracks.” She also designed lighting for a New York Fringe Festival show, “Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story,” at the Ellen Stewart Theater. Mr. Chuck Gloman had the following articles published: “The Steadicam Merlin” in TV Technology, “Umbrella Options” in Expert Photo Techniques, “Rosco LitePads 24 x 24 Axiom” in TV Technology, “Custom Color Balance for Portraits: Match the Light, Enhance the Mood” in Shutterbug, and “K5600’s Joker Bug 800 HMI” in TV Technology. His short film “My Weakness” was nominated for Best Direction at the Brandeis Louie Film Festival at Brandeis University in Boston. Dr. David Gilfoil and Dr. Charles Jobs co-authored an article entitled “Less is More for Online MARCOM in Emerging Markets: Linking Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Higher Relative Preferences for Microblogging in Developing Nations” which will be published in the Academy of Marketing Studies Journal. They also co-authored an article entitled “Mind the Gap: A Global Analysis of the Number of Buyers to Sellers Using Blogging, Social Networking, Online Video, and Microblogging Platforms” which was published in the International Journal of Business Research. Dr. Tahereh Hojjat presented a paper entitled “Food Inflation and Global Poverty” at the Thirteenth Annual International Conference of the Global Business and Technology Association held in Istanbul, Turkey in July 2011. Dr. Rodney Howsare and Dr. Larry Chapp co-authored an article on the thoughts of David Schindler for the book entitled Being Holy in the World: Theology and Culture in the Thought of David L. Schindler which was published in July 2011, by Eerdmans Publishers. Dr. Patrick Kenny was honored by the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) with the PSNA Leadership Excellence Award for his five years of leadership as PSNA president at the PSNA Annual Awards Ceremony. On May 8, 2012, Governor Tom Corbett signed Nurse Title Protection legislation into law, which was a priority of the PSNA because it assures quality patient care in the Commonwealth. Dr. Kenny is pictured in the photo of Governor Corbett signing the legislation. Dr. Francis Mayville co-presented “The synthesis of several spermidine analogs in a series of alcohols as possible growth inhibitors of breast cancer cells” with students Todd Bauer and Peter Kaplan at the Local American Chemical Society meeting at East Stroudsburg University, at the Regional American Chemical Society meeting in Baltimore, MD, and at the ACS Green Chemistry meeting in Washington, DC. Dr. Mary Ellen Miller was appointed Chair of the National Nursing Center Consortium Wellness Committee by Chief Executive Officer Tine Hanson Turton. She co-authored with Dr. Katherine K. Kinsey a textbook chapter entitled “Nursing Centers: A Model for Nursing Practice in the Community” which was published in Public Health Nursing: Population Centered Health Care in the Community, 8th edition. Dr. Stephen Myers' poems “Our ‘In’ at Paballelo” and “Rehoboth Seascape, 10 a.m.” were published in the summer 2012 volume of The Southern Review, a very prestigious publication; one of the founding editors of The Southern Review was Robert Penn Warren of All the King’s Men fame. Dr. Richard Noll’s book entitled American Madness: The Rise and Fall of Dementia Praecox, which was published by Harvard University Press in the fall, 2011, was given a glowing review in the UK publication New Scientist by one of the most powerful psychiatrists in the United States, Dr. Allen Frances, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Duke University, who was chair of the DSM4 Task Force. Professor Frances’ review describes Noll’s work as “the wonderful book, American Madness, an artful analysis of the rise and fall of the label ‘dementia praecox’ from its promising birth in 1896 to its unlamented death in 1927....Though set in the past, the lessons of this book are as fresh as the controversies over the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM5) and the very future of psychiatry.” The biennial Cheiron Book Prize for 2012 was awarded to Dr. Noll for American Madness. The International Society for the History of Behavioral & Social Sciences awards the Cheiron Book Prize biannually for “an outstanding monograph in the history of the social/behavioral/human sciences.” Dr. Noll was interviewed on January 30, 2012, on the Harvard University Press Blog at http://harvardpress.typepad.com/huppublicity/2012/01/the-rise-and-fall-of-american-madness.html concerning his book. The United Kingdom publications THE (Times Higher Education supplement), Nature, and New Scientist have all reviewed his book. Dr. Katherine Ramsland has published or co-published 14 articles since December 2011, including the introduction for Masters of True Crime: Tales of Murder and the Macabre, Prometheus, 2012; “The Forensic Examiner: A Professional Showcase,” in The ACFEI Handbook; “Triple Homicide in Ohio: Cognitive Factors for Investigators” and “Database Trumps Clinical Judgment,” with Mark Safarik, in The Forensic Examiner, 2012; a foreword to Montague Summers’ The Vampire in Europe, edited by John Browning, 2012; “Prime Your Brain for the Aha Moment!” for InSinc, Spring 2012; and “The Care and Feeding of Serial Killers,” for Evil in American Pop Culture. She started a regular blog feature online for Psychology Today and published her 40th book, Snap! Seizing Your Aha! Moments, as well as three e-books, Psychopath, Midnight Murder on Lovers’ Lane, and The Ivy League Killer. Her book Snap! was #1 on the Wall Street Journal nonfiction best-seller list on May 19, 2012. Trinette Singleton was one of four panelists who discussed the documentary “The Joffrey Ballet: Mavericks of American Dance” at the world premiere of that film on January 28, 2011, in the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York City. The film and panel discussion were webcast live to 100 sites throughout the United States. Ms. Singleton began her career with the Joffrey Ballet in 1965 and toured throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, performing in ballets by notable choreographers such as Joffrey, Arpino, Ashton, Balanchine, and DeMille. Mr. Robert Spicer was given the award for “Outstanding Continuing Ph.D. Student” from the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University on May 4, 2012. Dr. Galina Yermolenko’s book entitled Roxolana in European Literature, History and Culture was reviewed by Dr. Katherine LeGouis from Mount Holyoke College in The Russian Review. Professor LeGouis states “This book is a strong contribution to European cultural history and will be of use to anyone interested in the shifting attitudes toward powerful women over the last four hundred years.” Dr. Karen Walton continues to serve as host (quizmaster) for “Scholastic Scrimmage,” an academic quiz show among 33 high schools. She has taped 35 shows annually for the last 15 years. The shows are broadcast three times weekly from October to June on PBS 39 television. Dr. Walton writes the mathematics questions for “Scholastic Scrimmage.” 3. Networks of support from academic affairs professionals for academic excellence a. Registrar’s Office
c. Trexler Library
d. Academic Resource Center (ARC)
e. Career Services and Internships Office
f. Academic Affairs support for International Learning
4. Faculty contributions to teaching and learning environments - Gambet Center It would be hard to over-emphasize the importance of the faculty’s contribution to the design and construction of the sophisticated teaching and learning environments that are included within the Rev. Daniel G. Gambet, OSFS, Center for Business and Healthcare Education. The Gambet Center introduces four laboratories where “hands-on” learning is integrated with technology for healthcare education as follows: #1. Eight “state of the art” standardized patient rooms have been created where direct interaction by the student with an actor “patient” occurs; #2. Five simulation laboratories where direct interaction in a team based healthcare environment occurs with electronically controlled “patient” mannequins that simulate various illnesses and respond appropriately to student inputs; #3. Two large basic skill labs for both nursing and physician assistants simulate real life hospital settings; and #4. A human anatomy lab with space for eight cadavers has been included in the facility, the first of its kind in a teaching institution in the Lehigh Valley. Fr. Peter Leonard, OSFS, dean of graduate education, has served as a consultant to the architects and builders, representing the academic affairs office on the Gambet Center steering committee. In addition for business education, a “state of the art” trading room has been created that will give students a true “Wall Street” experience. The facility is also completely wireless with a high speed network and offers additional opportunities for group breakout learning to further enhance the integration of technology with “hands-on” learning scenarios. B. Office of the vice president for student life - contributions toward the accomplishment of Goal #1 – Strengthen the reputation of DeSales University for providing quality education. 1. Faculty involvement in recruitment The DeSales University faculty has identified a recruiter for each major to aid in student recruitment. At the beginning of the 2012 recruitment cycle, the enrollment management office representatives attended recruitment training sessions designed by academic affairs for the faculty. The DeSales University faculty make contacts via phone, email, and attend events to recruit students to their respective majors. Statistics are provided to these faculty recruiters on a weekly basis and contact lists are provided after each admissions committee to keep the faculty well informed about their application pool. After each event such as open houses, scholarship day, and bulldog bash, contact lists are provided so that interested faculty can reach out to attendees. The commitment of many of these faculty recruiters is to be commended. Prospective students and their parents appreciate the unique opportunity to get to know their future professors during these conversations. This chart shows the percentage of total traditional undergraduate population each division currently holds vs. the goal percentage for fall 2014: Current Goal Business 15.2% 18% Performing Arts 17.5% 18% Liberal Arts and Social Sciences 22.8% 31% Healthcare and Natural Sciences 37.2% 33% Undeclared 7.3% 4% 2. Networks of support from student affairs professionals for academic excellence While there are many opportunities for collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs, the Strategic Plan: 2010-2015 highlights two initiatives for singular importance: the “DeSales Experience” and international learning. The new organizational structure for the university places leaders within academic affairs and student affairs on both key oversight committees for their respective areas. The placement of the statues of Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane de Chantal on the opposite sides of the mall facing each other is meant to show the complementarity of both student life and academic life within the experience of the undergraduate day students. Much progress has been accomplished as the faculty and the student life professionals work together creating common links between “in-class” and “out-of-class” activities. a. The “DeSales Experience” The “DeSales Experience” is meant to be a four-year approach to undergraduate day education that links character education, leadership experiences, and Salesian spirituality. It begins with an intensive focus on character exploration entitled “Character U” during the freshman year and ends with a series of workshops call “senior success” during the final year of undergraduate education. DeSales’ student affairs department continues to be committed to providing quality education outside the classroom. This academic year the department has built on the strong foundation of the hard work of the past seven years. Statistically, the first year experience program, “Character U”, and the bookend program, senior success have shown greater involvement by the student body. This year’s freshman class was the first group of students that remained engaged from the fall semester to the spring semester, showing no decrease in participation. “Character U” continues to be the cornerstone of the outside of the classroom development for freshmen. The curriculum was revised to incorporate moral dilemmas for weekly discussions. The senior success series capstone program has also experienced steady growth with a 36% increase in participation. The L.E.A.DSU program, a leadership program that is built around character strengths and virtues, reported a 50% increase in participation. In the fall of 2012, we will launch the “DeSales Experience” in character and leadership. This unique developmental opportunity is a co-curricular initiative incorporating character, leadership, service, and classroom experience. The goal is to package this outside of the classroom experience and market it as an added value that is unique to DeSales University. There are over 100 paid leadership positions (as RAs, Character Captains, and PACERs) in student affairs, not to mention the numerous other leadership opportunities within the department. The impact of these positions on the community is significant. For example, the eight PACERs (peer, advisors, counselors, educators) participate annually in a regional and national Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students (BACCHUS) conference. This year the Peers Advising Counseling Education (PACE) Team presented a program, ‘Digging Deeper: The Diversity of Individuality.’ This program was selected to be presented at the national and regional BACCHUS conferences. These same students teach our first offenders alcohol education program. Character captains work with first year students and RAs. The experiential education that occurs at DeSales is significant to strengthening the reputation of the university. Programs such as our faith and justice service experiences provide a complimentary educational experience that stands on equal footing with the formal academic classes. Throughout this current academic year, there has been substantial interaction between the education department and the center for service and social justice. The tutoring program expanded into two new partnerships with the local community. Forty DeSales’ students served as tutors and mentors in the Allentown School district. Once again the turnover from the fall semester to the spring semester was minimal, indicating a sustained student interest in the program. This initiative was coordinated by Shaina Diamond, an alumna AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer. In addition to local service, DeSales’ students traveled to Kentucky, New Orleans, North Carolina, and as far as Kolkata, India. We also welcomed Sr. Cirrel from Kolkata to our campus, she shared her knowledge of service works and how one person can make a difference. Service does not stop after students graduate, an annual alumni trip took alums to New Orleans to share their time and gifts with those less fortunate. DeSales became the state sponsor for the Pennsylvania state schools of character program run by the Character Education Partnership (CEP) in Washington DC. This new relationship gives DeSales added credibility as an institution with a serious focus on character and leadership. Our relationship with CEP and kids of character enabled us to host a two-day youth leadership ethics conference for Lehigh Valley schools. This, coupled with our association with the Lehigh Valley athletic league character and sportsmanship council, firmly establishes us as a higher education entity for character development in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Finally, the publication of athletic profiles in character in September has given DeSales tangible evidence of the student affairs team’s emphasis and success on character development in athletics as well as academics. b. International learning
It includes five components:
At the present time there are two versions for the “full-time” study abroad semester. Fifteen students are selected to spend the fall semester in Rome. A full-time faculty member accompanies the students and lives in Trestevere. The faculty member offers several courses and the students also attend classes in Italian and the culture and history of Rome. In fall 2011, this position was held by Dr. Stephen Loughlin, associate professor of philosophy and chair of the department of philosophy and theology. DeSales University is the only Catholic university in the world to have four continuing internships within the offices of the Vatican. These internships were arranged by Dr. Brian Kane, professor of theology and head of the division of liberal arts and social sciences. We are also in conversation with the Congregation for Catholic Education for additional internships. DeSales University covers the expenses for this study abroad program. The second model for a study abroad semester involves our partnerships with several universities in Europe where we simply “exchange students.” We have developed this for three years with St. Mary’s University College in Twickenham, London, United Kingdom; and with the Northern Ireland Study USA Program. This past summer we expanded our options to include: the American College of Athens – Athens, Greece; the International University of Monaco – Monte Carlo, Monaco; the Catholic University of Murcia San Antonio – Murcia, Spain; Mary Immaculate College – Limerick, Ireland; and the International University at Geneva – Geneva, Switzerland. The beauty of this model is that there are very few additional costs for the students or the university. In many cases, they simply pay the tuition at DeSales and take their room and board monies with them overseas. At institutions with residence halls or other housing accommodations, no money at all moves. The students simply replace each other at their respective institutions. In addition to these two models for a full-semester abroad, the institution also offers a second option for international learning: a set of courses that contain a short travel abroad component. A full-time faculty member may request funding from the vice president for student life to include an international travel segment in a course for the traditional day program. This program allows students to immerse themselves for a short time period in the culture of the subject that they study. Travel is oriented toward the stated learning objectives for the proposed course. The university usually supports one course from each of the four divisions per academic year. In the spring 2012 semester Dr. Rodney Howsare offered TH-250-01 Christianity and Ancient Rome with 26 students participating in the international travel component. During the 2012-2013 academic year, two courses will run with international travel components: the division of liberal arts and social sciences is offering ED 475, Education for Human Good with a travel component to South Africa led by Dr. Judith Rance-Roney, associate professor of education and chair of the department of education; and the division of business is offering EC 400, Global Economic Issues, with a travel component to Istanbul, Turkey, led by Dr. Tahereh Hojjat, associate professor of business. For the third international learning option the director of the center for social justice may request funding from the vice president for student life to conduct a service learning international travel experience. This program integrates Christian humanism with social ministry to vulnerable populations. Each year, the experience rotates among selected locations. At the present time, there are confirmed partnerships in the following places: DeSales Oblate Missions in South Africa; DeSales Oblate Ministry in Bangalore, India; Mother Teresa/Missionaries of Charity Ministry in Kolkata, India; and Cardinal Cipriani Ministry in Lima, Peru. Usually 20 students and 3 staff members per year participate. The travel occurs at times when traditional day undergraduate courses are not in session. Travel may take place prior to the start of the fall semester, after classes are dismissed for the Christmas break and before the spring semester begins, during spring break, or after May graduation. The travel time usually varies from 7 to 14 days. For option number four, an athletic coach, with the approval of the director of athletics, may request funding from the vice president for student life to conduct an athletic learning international travel experience. The purpose of these experiences is to permit varsity athletes to participate in international athletic competitions. The NCAA allows varsity athletic programs to travel every three years for international competitions. Participation is usually limited to 20 students and 3 staff members per year, but may vary depending on the team traveling. Finally, the office of student affairs conducts two annual trips to an international destination for the purpose of tourism. Ordinarily, the travel occurs during spring break and, destinations and dates for these experiences are widely publicized in the year prior to the commencement so that students may plan to participate. Destinations are at the discretion of the office of student life. Presently, trips have been scheduled to Ireland, Rome, and London. Whenever possible, travel is arranged to maximize time at the destination. The student life staff member who applies selects the students and staff members for the trip. Costs for these international learning experiences are covered by a $2 million endowment fund created by the university, by monies from the student activity fee, and by a $100,000 line item in the operating budget of the university. Support by the faculty, student life staff, athletic staff, social justice staff, and the various administrators of the university is solid. The director of international learning oversees both the continuing operations and the future explorations of the program. c. Political Activities during the Election Year We certainly anticipate a lively and exciting political year in the fall as we approach the presidential elections. In preparation for this, the president distributed a memo that references the two university-wide policies that define the limits of university involvement in the political process: Policy on Political Activity on Campus and Policy on Civic Participation – Speakers on Campus. Document #1: Policy on Political Activity on Campus is primarily addressed to any employee of the university. It states the following: DeSales University is absolutely prohibited from campaign intervention. Violations may result in loss of tax exemption and/or excise tax penalties. This includes (but is not limited to) direct endorsement of or opposition to a candidate. This includes any other action that has the effect of promoting or opposing a candidate. No employee of the university can use any university property, facilities, time, or materials for the purposes of supporting or opposing any candidate. [College employees certainly may engage in campaign intervention on their own time and with their own resources. The university wholeheartedly endorses such civic participation.] Document #2: Policy on Civic Participation – Speakers on Campus is primarily directed to event planners and administrators of the university. Item # 6 states: During political campaigns, it is an appropriate role for a university to serve as a venue for dialogue and discussion. DeSales University adheres strictly to the policy of neutrality noted above in the policy on compliance with the tax exemption code. While the university’s spaces are primarily for educational programming, the university does respond positively, when possible, to requests from candidates of the major political parties for space on the campus. The university does not endorse candidates, nor does it sponsor such events. It provides a neutral venue so that others may more easily participate in the political process. If any person at the university receives a request for an appearance on campus by a candidate, the request should be forwarded to the president’s office. The following guidelines must apply to the event:
If any group wishes to conduct a debate on campus or receives a request to conduct a debate on campus, that information should be forwarded to the president’s office. Any debate must use the following guidelines:
Political life is very important for the health and moral character of any nation. DeSales University wishes each person to exercise his/her right to vote and to participate in the political process. 3. Enhancing a reputation for academic excellence
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