The Benefits of Experience
The number of Susquehanna students gaining valuable worksite experience through internship and externship programs continued to increase during 1995-96. The University’s Center for Career Services reports such placements increased by 22 percent over the previous year and have tripled since 1990. Internships increased by 31 percent to 150 and shorter-term externships by 70 percent to 64 for the year. The totals reflect a successful campaign by the Sigmund Weis School of Business which resulted in internships for 59 accounting, business and finance majors. Susquehanna alumni continue to play a major role in identifying opportunities for the internship program including placements at State Street Global Advisors, Estee Lauder, Pennsylvania Blue Shield and Black & Decker. Employers often give special weight to experiential education in hiring entry-level college graduates, and opportunities such as internships, practicums, service learning, and study abroad programs are helping Susquehanna students stand out in the job market.
Project House System Celebrates 20th
Susquehanna’s commitment to community service passed a milestone in 1996 with the 20th anniversary of the University’s nationally recognized Project House System. Founded in 1976, the innovative program continues to offer Susquehanna students the privilege of living in special campus housing units on the basis of their commitment to an approved volunteer project. In 1995-96 more than 250 Project House students completed more than 14,300 hours of service. The February Project House celebration also coincided with the 10th anniversary of Student Volunteer Day at Susquehanna. Alice Ann Leidel ‘58, president of the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, was guest speaker for the event.
The University’s Center for Service Learning and Volunteer Programs reports that nearly three-quarters of the student body, approximately 1,200 students, spent more than 33,190 hours on major service projects during the year. More than 430 members of the University’s fraternities and sororities contributed nearly 16,000 hours as “Greeks in Service.” Three hundred students also gained work experience community service components of 21 “service learning” academic courses. Collectively, the campus efforts, from flood relief to volunteer income tax assistance, benefited several dozen groups and numerous individuals on campus and in the surrounding community.
Selective College Guide Recognition
Prospective college applicants and their parents who consult selective college guides once again find Susquehanna consistently ranking among institutions recognized for educational quality and value. The University is featured in current editions of guides including Barron’s Best Buys in College Education and Compact Guide to Colleges, the Fiske Guide to Colleges, The Princeton Review’s Student Advantage Guide to the Best 310 Colleges, the Yale Insider‘s Guide to Colleges and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges.“
Reengineering
Faculty and administration members of the University Council launched a pilot program to apply reengineering principles to help improve performance in the University’s organization and operations. Task forces appointed by President Joel Cunningham in December investigated possible changes in two key areas. One group, focused on strategic planning, assessed administrative structure and decision-making. Their report provides specific recommendations on topics such as human resource systems, the role of deans of schools, annual planning and budget cycles, and the strategic planning process. At the suggestion of the Student Government Association, a second task force is exploring ways to enhance student advising, a key aspect of teaching and learning.
Technology in the Classroom
Continued expansion of information technologies at Susquehanna is creating new methods of teaching and learning to enrich educational opportunity and enhance career preparation. Significant improvements in the past year also include the addition of computers and software in the Bogar Hall accounting classroom. The Whitaker Foundation provided a $91,500 grant for a new multimedia mathematics classroom/laboratory in Seibert Hall. A new music computer laboratory and two multimedia classrooms are being installed in the Department of Music’s Heilman Hall with support from a $174,630 grant from the Edna M. Sheary Charitable Trust. The year also brought the debut of the University’s prototype computer presentation classroom in Steele Hall; the facility is equipped to combine audio, video, computing and networking capabilities for multimedia presentations.
Expanding Access to Information
Investments in hardware, software and Internet/network services are increasing the access students and faculty have to each other and to world-wide information. The University’s Blough-Weis Library offers users a networked bank of databases stored on compact disks and global access through the Internet. The University also subscribes to FirstSearch, a service that offers more than 60 specialized databases, including full-text articles from more than 1,000 academic journals. Videoconferencing equipment, to be installed this fall, will provide campus audiences with two-way video and audio access to programs from off-campus sites. Located in the University’s video studio in the lower level of the Library, the project is partially funded by a federal grant to Susquehanna and other member institutions of the Center for Agile Pennsylvania Learning (CAPE).
Computer Training Center
Individuals and companies in the surrounding community gained a new resource with the opening of a computer training center by the University's Office of Continuing Education. The center offers a variety of instructional programs on topics ranging from introductory computer applications to how to use the Internet. Flexible schedule options include two-to-eight-week courses for many difference audiences, including children, senior citizens and special sessions arranged to serve corporate clients.
Honoring Graduates
Jane C. Freeman, former national president of the Girl Scouts of the USA, addressed graduates, families and friends as the University closed its 138th academic year on May 17. Freeman, who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, titled her speech, “How Can I Make a Difference in Times of Great Change?” The University also awarded honorary degrees to Douglas Arthur ‘49, retired vice president for Nationwide Insurance and a member emeritus of Susquehanna’s board of directors; Valerie Capers, jazz musician, professor and chair of the Department of Music and Art at Bronx Community College, New York; and Vishakha Desai, director of galleries and vice president for cultural programs at the Asia Society, New York City. Three hundred and twenty students received baccalaureate degrees during the afternoon event while an additional 16 received associate degrees.
Between Two Worlds/ Entre Dos Mundos
A day-long symposium and cultural event celebrated ties between the Susquehanna and the regional Latino community at the second annual “Between Two Worlds/ Entre dos Mundos gathering. A round of speakers, panel discussions and a music workshop were followed by a gala dinner dance featuring music by a nine-piece Caribbean/Latino band, El Conjunto Ibague. The University’s Department of Modern Languages sponsored the April events in conjunction with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the local Spanish-speaking community. The American Association of Colleges and Universities has provided a matching grant to partially fund four follow-up events, “Entre dos Mundos and Beyond,” in the fall of 1996. The series will include two seminars, a public reading by Latina writer Esmeralda Santiago and a concert by Puerto Rican musicians Los Plenaros.
Holocaust Studies
Visits by Holocaust survivors and other speakers, a major gallery event, and ongoing program development marked the second year of a three-year project to create a new Resource Center for Holocaust-Genocide Studies at Susquehanna. The Charles B. Degenstein Foundation is funding the project to support development of new courses, public lectures and colloquia and a collection of teaching and learning aids at the University’s Blough-Weis Library. Michael Berenbaum, director of the Holocaust Research Institute of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, visited campus last fall. Duke University Professor Claudia Koonz spoke on “The Second Sex and the Third Reich: Women in Nazi Germany” and visited a University history class in March. The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a [$23,276] grant to Susquehanna University to fund a series of summer workshops on Holocaust-genocide studies to enhance teaching in area public schools.
Multicultural Performing and Visual Arts
Tribal sculpture and adornments from the African Art Collection at Dickinson College and “The Triumphant Spirit: A National Photographic Project Remembering The Survivors Of The Holocaust” were among exhibitions gracing the walls of the University’s Lore Degenstein Gallery in 1995-96. Other gallery highlights for the year included the works of landscape artist Diane Burko, recent prints from the Society of American Graphic Arts, and “Seeking the Tranquil in Forest and Stream: Les Reker’s Pennsylvania Landscapes.” On stage, the University Artist Series emphasized a multicultural season with performances by the Kiev Chamber Orchestra, Chen and Dancers, and the New Arts Six spiritual ensemble, which also held a masterclass with the University Choir and Chorale. Artist Series audiences in Weber Chapel Auditorium also experienced the bluegrass styling of the Alison Brown Quartet, big band sounds of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Broadway favorite The Tap Dance Kid and a classic production of Romeo and Juliet. Enthusiastic student productions for the year included A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a three-state choir tour, and a greeting by the jazz ensemble Frontline on “CBS This Morning.”
Sports Success on the Courts, Links, Track and River
Varsity, club and intramural athletics continued to play an important role in student life at Susquehanna in the 1995-96 season. Members of University crew won the men’s pair with coxswain classification for the Susquehanna University Rowing Club at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia on May. The University golf team was nationally ranked for the first time in school history. Outstanding success on the courts included the women’s volleyball team breaking the record for schools wins in a season. The Crusader men’s basketball squad finished the season with a flourish that included a Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth League Title. In Track and Field, junior sprinter Ian Smith earned All-American honors for the second time in his collegiate career with a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash at the NCAA Division III championships.
Alumni Get New Director
Chris Markle ‘84 has been named director of the Susquehanna University Office of Alumni Relations. The office sponsors a variety of regional club activities, special campus events such as alumni weekend and homecoming, and services including career networking. Alumni are also actively involved in the annual Alumni Career Fair, providing internship experiences for Susquehanna students, the Alumni and Parent Admission Network and the Susquehanna University Fund. Data from a new profile of the alumni body is being used to help the University communicate with and create programs to meet the needs and interests of nearly 13,000 alumni of record.
SUF Breaks Record for Fourth Straight Year
Nearly 4,500 alumni, parents and friends contributed a record $1.2 million to the Susquehanna University Fund (SUF) in 1995-96. The total is nearly a 4 percent increase over last year’s gifts and the fourth straight all-time high for the SUF. Jack Bishop ‘57 chaired the National Committee on Annual Giving. Susquehanna alumni accounted for nearly half of all donors and parents of current and former Susquehanna students contributed a record $76,072. The gifts make scholarship funds available to students, support library acquisitions, and the purchases, upkeep and maintenance of equipment for faculty and student/faculty research.
Susquehanna 2000: The Next Challenge
The University board of directors has approved the launch of a new capital campaign to raise funds to carry Susquehanna into the next century. Goals for the campaign are based on a comprehensive campus-wide needs assessment and strategic plan completed in 1994. Broad objectives include support for scholarship endowment, library resources, faculty development, classroom upgrades, the Susquehanna University Fund, and new facilities for business and communications, and athletics. The board has set a preliminary campaign goal of $25 million and will determine a final goal in early 1997 at the conclusion of the advance gift solicitation phase. Gift commitments received through June 1996 that match priorities totaled more than $13 million. The board will to launch the public phase of the campaign on April 18, 1997.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has awarded Associate Professor of Education and Department Head Pat Nelson a 1995-96 Higher Education Partnership Minigrant to train teachers and university student teachers in “inclusionary practices.” Nelson also developed, implemented and secured funds to offer a two-credit practicum for senior education students to study multicultural and bilingual education during a fall break program at the University of Puerto Rico. In September of 1995 she was appointed by the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education and the National Education Association as one of 22 national mentors to the Road Ahead Project, a nationwide effort [funded by Bill Gates of the Microsoft Corporation] to improve technology in schools.
Nelson, Associate Professor of History Linda McMillin, and Assistant Professor of Education Tania Ramalho, in collaboration with the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit and area school districts, have secured a seed-money grant from the Organization of American Historians. The award will partially fund "Rethinking History," a conference for history teachers, college faculty, and school district administrators that will address the National History Standards and recent controversies over modern historiography.
Robert Adams has joined the Susquehanna faculty as head of the Department of Music. An experienced educator, composer, keyboard performer and choral director with special interests in electronic music, multimedia and computer applications, he holds the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. Adams has been professor of music and director of electronic music studios at the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth for the past 18 years. His recent publications include articles for professional journals on the relationship between the arts and new technologies.
Interdisciplinary collaboration among three Susquehanna faculty members is providing a new opportunity for first- and second-year students to broaden their perspectives on global issues. “Focus: Ecuador” is the joint effort of Associate Professor of Spanish Leona Martin, Assistant Professor of Political Science Brooke Harlowe and Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences Christopher Cirmo. Participating students are taking a triad of courses in world affairs, environmental geology and Spanish, all with a special focus on Ecuador, during the 1996 fall semester. An optional, 16-day, two-credit travel/study seminar in Ecuador during January 1997 will serve as the culminating experience for the cluster.
Alan R. Warehime Distinguished Professor in Business Administration William Ward is serving as the on-site faculty member and coordinator for the Sigmund Weis School of Business Fall Semester in London Program for the second year. Twenty-two students participated in the first year of the new program designed exclusively for junior business majors. An additional 22 are abroad for the fall 1996 semester. The semester features courses taught by faculty from Susquehanna and leading London universities, including the London School of Economics. A complementary series of field trips and guest lecturers assists in offering students international business perspective essential to career in business in the coming century.
Assistant Professor of English Rachana Sachdev presented “The Sycorax Project: Reading Race into Gender in Shakespeare’s The Tempest,” and “Feminist Appropriations of Shakespeare in the Twentieth Century,” at the World Shakespeare Conference in April.
Sachdev and colleagues in the University’s Department of English also sponsored a Contemporary Shakespeare conference for students from Susquehanna, the University of Pennsylvania and Bucknell University in December. Participants presented individual research analyzing aspects of Shakespeare from a contemporary perspective, including Shakespeare on the Internet. Sponsored in conjunction with the Apple-Zimmerman Fund for Elizabethan Studies, the successful conference will be repeated in November.
Associate Professor of Management Mary Cianni has been elected to a three-year term as a director of the executive committee of the Women in Management Division of the Academy of Management. Her term began at a group meeting in Vancouver where she presented a paper written with Beverly Romberger, associate professor of communications, on “Life in the Corporation: A Multi-Method Study of the Experiences of Male and Female Asian, Black, Hispanic and White Employees.” Cianni will sabbatical during the spring of 1997 to prepare a book-length manuscript integrating 20 years of research on women in management.
An active schedule of on-campus recitals shared the talents of faculty in Susquehanna’s Department of Music with students, colleagues and friends from the University and surrounding community. Performances throughout the academic year included concerts by Assistant Professor and Director of the Opera/Musical Theater Workshop Nina Tober, and Associate Professors Susan Hegberg and Victor Rislow in a program of organ and trumpet duets.
Professor of Physics and Department Head Richard Kozlowski and colleagues on National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kuiper Observatory (KAO) missions received two Group Achievement Awards from NASA. One cites exceptional performance, dedication, and teamwork contributing to the highly successful NASA KAO mission to observe the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with the planet Jupiter. The second recognizes outstanding efforts in support of successful KAO observations of the Chiron stellar occultation and Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9/Jupiter impact events.
“The Era of the Vari-Vue,” a poem by Professor of English Gary Fincke, has been awarded a 1995 Pushcart Prize, given annually to the best literary work published in the United States by small presses and literary magazines. He has also received both individual author and magazine nominations for a 1996 Pushcart Prize. Fincke’s second collection of short stories, Emergency Calls, will be published by The University of Missouri Press in late 1996. He is director of the University’s Writer’s Institute which sponsors activities including an annual Visiting Writer series, a summer writing workshop for high school students, and The Apprentice Writer, which publishes work by high school writers from a ten-state area.
Professor of History Donald Housley delivered the University’s 15th annual John C. Horn Distinguished Service Lecture in April. Housley, who is conducting ongoing research into the University’s history, spoke on “Men as Metaphor: Henry Ziegler, John Woodruff, and Transition at Susquehanna University, 1858-1908.” The University’s board of directors established the Horn Award in 1979 to honor John C. Horn, who served as board chair from 1962 to 1978, and to recognize outstanding faculty scholarship and service.
Professor of French Jack Kolbert and Associate Professor of Music Jack Fries ‘61 have been awarded faculty emeritus status following announcement of their retirements at the end of the 1995-96 academic year. An award-winning teacher, prolific author and civic leader, Kolbert has been a member of the Department of Modern Languages faculty since 1985. Fries, a jazz pianist who founded and conducted the University’s FRONTLINE vocal jazz ensemble, joined the faculty in 1966.
Susquehanna University Teaching Awards announced at the 1996 commencement ceremonies honored the work of two faculty members. Professor of History Gerald Gordon was recognized for his dedicated teaching, attentive advising and active encouragement and participation in extracurricular activities. A member of the Susquehanna faculty since 1962, Gordon teaches American and Far Eastern history with a special interest in diplomatic and military history, particularly that of the Civil War. A second Teaching Award was given posthumously to the late Marcia Diamond, assistant professor of French and coordinator of the University’s Film Institute. A scholar of 19th-century French literature and French film, Diamond had been an active member of the campus community since 1991. Highly qualified and enthusiastic in the classroom, she had also been advisor to the French Club, and both the Pi Delta Pi, the National French Honor Society and Alpha Lambda Delta freshman honor society.
Associate Professor of Economics Tony Rusek served as co-editor of LIMES, a Journal for Economics and Business. The first issue of the new journal, a joint venture of the Sigmund Weis School of Business and Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, was published in February 1996.