4

The Bryant Connection is published three

times a year for the Alumni-Admission Con-

nection members of Bryant University. Send

comments on this newsletter or Alumni-

Admission Connection activity to Rebecca

Eriksen, Senior Assistant Director for

Events and Volunteers, Bryant University

Office of Admission, 1150 Douglas Pike,

Smithfield, RI 02917, 401-232-6957,

800-622-7001, or reriksen@bryant.edu.

Alumni-Admission Connection

The Character of Success

Bryant University

Office of Admission

1150 Douglas Pike

Smithfield RI 02917

Phone: 401-232-6100

Toll Free: 800-622-7001

admission@bryant.edu

admission.bryant.edu

Bryant to offer Master of Arts in Teaching

Check out the new website for Bryant alumni at

http://alumniconnect.bryant.edu.

You’ll find connections to many events and activities

including innovative social networking features.

Learn about the following:

Alumni Leadership Weekend

Alumni Achievement Awards

Friday, April 20

Saturday, March 24

2012 Student Athlete Alumni Networking Event

9:30AM to 7:00PM • On Campus

Alumni New Venture Competition

Registration Opens May 1

Alumni Travel Program

Alaska in June and Italy in November!

2012 Reunion @ Homecoming

Friday, September 21 – Sunday, September 23

New Alumni Website

Bryant University's Board of Trustees has given its approval for the College of Arts and

Sciences to offer a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT). The 15-month graduate program

will lead to teacher certification in grades 7-12 in the areas of mathematics, science, Span-

ish, Chinese, English, and social studies with courses expected to begin in the summer of

2012 pending approval of the Rhode Island Department of Education.

Donald W. Holder, Ed.D., recently hired as Bryant's associate dean of the College of Arts

and Sciences, will direct the new MAT program. Holder has had a distinguished career as

an educator and administrator - most recently as assistant superintendent of Smithfield (RI)

Public Schools.

"The scope of education is changing greatly, and the need for exceptional educators who

have deep knowledge in the content areas of science, technology, engineering and math is

critical," said Holder. "The Bryant MAT program will produce such teachers. They will be

skilled in the use of new technology in the classroom and will understand how children of

different abilities and backgrounds acquire knowledge."

"As we work to ensure that we have excellent teachers in all Rhode Island classrooms, one

of our goals is to improve the quality and the rigor of educator-preparation programs in

our state," said Deborah A. Gist, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. "I

am excited that Bryant University has elected to develop a graduate program that will

emphasize mathematics, science, technology, and world languages. I look forward to work-

ing with Bryant officials to make sure that this new program is of the highest quality, and I

hope to welcome Bryant University as the newest teacher-preparation program in Rhode

Island."

Teachers certified in science and mathematics will have the best employment prospects in

the coming decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with most job open-

ings resulting from the need to replace tens of thousands of teachers expected to retire

through 2018. Currently, many school districts have difficulty hiring qualified teachers in

the subject areas of mathematics, science, bilingual education and foreign languages, the

BLS notes.

The MAT program "is a natural for Bryant and plays to our strength in the liberal arts - our

mathematics, biology and environmental science programs, as well as our programs in

Chinese and Spanish," said David Lux, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

"Bryant has a very strong tradition of pre-professional education and our students have

indicated a great deal of interest in becoming certified to teach. We're pleased with the

encouragement we've received from state officials and regional school systems. This is a

direction that offers our graduates a promising future."

A Newsletter for Members of the Alumni-Admission Connection

Volume 12, Issue 1, Winter 2012 Thanks to You!

1

Upcoming Regional Area Network Events

FL RAN

Saturday, March 17, 2012

34th Annual Naples St. Patrick’s Day Parade

8:45AM to 1:00PM

Join the growing number of Bryant alumni

in the 4th year of Bryant participation in Naples’ celebration.

FL RAN

Sunday, March 18

Reception at The Waterfront Inn • The Villages FL 32162

4:00PM to 6:00PM

MA RAN

Thursday, March 29

Reception at Armsby Abbey • Worcester

6:00PM to 8:00PM

CT RAN

Friday, March 30

The Hartford Funnybone with Steve Byrne

5:00PM to 9:00PM

RI RAN

Saturday, June 23

Pawsox Game & BBQ • McCoy Stadium

4:00PM to 8:00PM

Call for Volunteers!

AAC Phone Calling Campaign

We are looking for AAC members to connect with

admitted, prospective students in their area to provide

information to help them make their final college decisions.

We’ll send you information on about 10 students

and ask you to phone between

April 9 and April 22.

Then we ask you to return the call records to us.

We even give you a pre-paid envelope.

It’s easy to sign up!

Just send the

mailing address and email address

you wish us to use for this program to

Judy Famiglietti at jfamigli@bryant.edu

We offer a big thanks to our AAC members who have so generously

shared their time and experience with prospective students and their fami-

lies during 2011. Hearing the Bryant stories and professional experiences

of our alumni lends irreplaceable credibility to our message. And being at

a function when our staff needs to be elsewhere, extends our effective-

ness immeasurably. So thanks to each of you who attended college fairs,

Summer Sendoffs, Winter Receptions and on-campus events; we can’t

imagine how we would do our job without you.

Four members went out of their way to conduct admission interviews in

their area. They are Bree Dillon ’01, Jim Magee ’88, Dave Suaviso ’96,

and Christine Thompson ’05.

Elena Barkalova ’11 was a huge help during our International Counselor

Fly-In last Fall.

One of the hallmarks of our Bryant 101 information sessions is alumni

participation on the panels. Last fall, Stephanie Gallo ’04 and Julie

Wentzell ’08 each presented their unique perspective.

Each fall, our office sponsors a case competition for high school teams

dubbed Bulldog Challenge. We rely on the expertise of some AAC mem-

bers for judging the presentations; Emily Coutu ’10, Leonidas Foussekis

’07, and Christine Lorefice ’09 helped us this fall.

The following attended college fairs (some attended several!) when our

representatives’ schedules prohibited their attendance:

Many attended receptions in January, designed to pique the interest of

Early Action applicants and to encourage applications from those who

have not yet applied to Bryant. They are:

A huge thanks to all of you!

Ezenwayi Amaechi ’05

Gerry Berard ’80

Nick Cianci ’07

Steven Cowen ’69

Michela Giordano ’09

Robert Harvey ’10

Megan Hatt ’99

Wendy Hildreth ’02

Brenda Kahler ’00

Stephanie Kirk ’10

Jim Magee ’88

Leanna Mansour ’00

Kim McGraw ’01

Mike Motschwiller ’88

Alicia Townsend ’10

Daniel Verderamo ’11

Alan Zuckerman ’80

Kristen Friction ’08

Stephanie Kirk ’10

Tiago Machado ’10

Jim Magee ’88

Barbara Manville ’80

Jim Manville ’80

Mike Motschwiller ’88

Michael Rogers ’85

Dave Suaviso ’96

Deanna Polizzo ’93

Ashley Reynolds ’11

It’s been called the linchpin of Bryant’s International Business program and it is certainly a valuable learning experience for our seniors. But it’s also garnering rave reviews from client businesses, leading to jobs for graduates and even a special gift for the University. Students in Bryant’s International Business (IB) Program are required to learn a second language, study abroad for a semester, complete a concentration in accounting, computer information systems, entrepre-neurship, finance, management or marketing, and take a block of courses that integrates it all. The culmination of these experiences is the International Business Consulting Project. During their senior year, IB students work in groups with companies that have come to Bry-ant’s John H. Chafee Center for International Business seeking help to do business globally. The student teams assemble data and develop contacts aimed at helping the companies enter overseas markets.

Madan Annavarjula, Ph.D., associate professor of management and faculty coordinator of the IB program says, “In the fourth year, it is about real-life experience.” He proposed the collaborative effort to the Chafee Center. Then, according to Gerald Cohen, a Chafee Center international trade specialist, “…the idea was formulated, and implemented, very jointly…to go out and locate businesses that either were

doing business internationally or wanted to do business internationally and bring them into the fold and assign the student teams.” The num-ber of clients has grown from six in the first year to an expected 24 or 25 next year. In drawing up a plan for Tatutina, a small local business looking for marketing opportunities in Europe, the students took account of how the seizure of vessels by Somali pirates had increased the cost of ship-ping Tatutina products from China, their manufacturing location, to Switzerland, where they were to be sold. They gathered data on the numbers of vessels, barges, and hostages being held and then incorpo-rated the reality of the threat in their marketing plan with specific recommendations for insurance coverage. “The Bryant students brought tremendous energy and a remarkable professionalism as they worked with us on successfully expanding our company to international markets,” said Tatutina President Roberta O’Neill. She was so impressed that she wanted to build on that experi-ence with a second student team focusing on markets in Japan and the United Kingdom.

Alex and Ani, a Rhode Island jewelry company best known for its ex-pandable and customizable bangle bracelets, which have a sliding mechanism to allow people to adjust them to their wrist sizes, has enjoyed widespread success in the U.S. Annual 2009 revenue of $2.2 million more than doubled in a year to $4.65 million and, was project-ed to reach about $18 million in 2011. Employment at the firm has grown from 23 in 2009 to 139 currently, with 32 additional in a separate manufacturing company. When the jewelry caught the eye of an executive of Spain’s El Corte Inglés S.A., the largest department store group in Europe, company CEO Giovanni Feroce “thought it was prudent to make the project with Bryant focus on Spain.” The program has yielded good things for at least one Bryant graduate. Last spring, Feroce served as judge of the student presenta- tions taking notes about who im- pressed him most. Later he asked program leaders to encourage certain students to apply for jobs. Elena Barkalova ’11, an international student from Bulgaria, was one. She says the program taught her strategy and how to analyze a business market or an industry, and she particularly liked the interac-tion with company CEOs in her senior year and the required study abroad. Feroce hired her after graduation and soon had her working with Spanish executives on Alex and Ani’s expansion into Spain. “It’s been phenomenal,” says Barkalova. In an ultimate expression of approval, Alex and Ani’s participation has led the company to commit $1 million to boost Bryant’s IB program. The company hopes that its ten-year commitment will prompt other local companies to turn to Bryant for help expanding overseas. The donation will help the university hire a program coordinator to attract more businesses to the program. It will also help sponsor two popular, annual seminars at Bryant – World Trade Day and the Women’s Sum-mit. Alex and Ani will continue to participate in the program each year, and Feroce expects Bryant students will help the company ex-pand into two new countries a year for the next ten years. “The key to all of this is it’s a business decision,” Feroce said. “We’re trying to ring the bell, so to speak. Businesses need to wake up. They need to invest, OK? And we are – as loud as we can – saying to the business community and the state as a whole that it makes a lot of sense to invest in higher education and, in this case, Bryant University.”

2

IB program garners gratitude and a gift

Elena Barkalova ’11

Madan Annavarjula, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management

3

What is global supply chain management?

Supply chain management involves coordinat-ing and improving the flow and transformation of goods, services, and information within companies and around the world. In the mod-ern economy, the ability to manage complex global supply chains is critical to success. Of-ten it involves finding a solution to a complex problem. Beer suppliers in England learned this lesson when a supply chain problem was impeding their competitiveness—kegs were disappearing. Suppliers would provide pubs across the United Kingdom with aluminum barrels filled with ales and porters. But once empty, the kegs were nowhere to be found. It turns out that large pubs, which received a discounted rate on bulk purchases of keg beer, were selling their barrels to small pubs, which allowed them to avoid paying a premium for smaller orders. The big pubs were making money; small pubs were saving money. The beer distributors were left entirely in the dark. To solve the mystery, a small, thin tag was attached to each of the distributed barrels. Called radio-frequency identification (RFID), the technology helped distributors track the kegs and discover a “gray” supply chain. Today, using RFID, the spirits industry can control market distribution and keep track of its prod-ucts. The case of the missing kegs is just one exam-

ple of the successful ap-plication of RFID technol-ogy, says John Visich, Ph.D., an associate pro-fessor of management at Bryant. The healthcare industry is using the technology to track and locate medical equip-ment. Food distributors

use RFID to monitor air temperature to ensure food safety and quality. Big box retailers, like WalMart, use the technology to track invento-ry in order to avoid costly out-of-stocks. Anecdotally RFID has had a reputation as a technology that failed to live up to its expecta-tions, and collecting data on actual technology deployment has been difficult. Practitioners within the global supply chain industry, keen to

retain a competitive advantage, are often tight lipped about their strategies. Visich and Suhong Li, Ph.D., an associate pro-fessor of computer information systems at Bryant, were determined to discover the real story about RFID. In 2009 they published one of the first research studies to find that, in fact, RFID delivers a strong return on invest-ment in several key areas of supply chain per-

formance. Basheer M. Khumawala of the Uni-versity of Houston and Pedro Reyes of Baylor University also contributed to the study. The research was especially useful for organiza-tions proposing to introduce RFID technology into the supply chain, says Visich: "For manag-ers, the empirical evidence presented can help identify implementation areas where RFID can have the greatest impact. The data can be used to build the business case for RFID." The Bryant professors’ role extended beyond research and publication; they involved their students in some real-life experiences. Visich’s study prompted several collaborations with students in the areas of global supply chain management, operations management, and RFID. Danielle Godon ’07 worked on her Honors Program thesis with Visich and devel-oped a survey to gauge RFID implementation challenges and benefits. A resulting paper was published in Management Research Review last year. Through a directed study, Visich and a Bryant MBA student crafted specific strategies to develop a global supply chain strategy for the student’s company. “Relationships start in class, but getting to know students, and what they want to learn, can lead to research and direct applications within their current businesses or in the fu-

ture,” Visich says. “We really want the materi-al we are teaching to be directly career-related.” Visich’s colleague in the Department of Man-agement at Bryant, Christopher Roeth-lein, Ph.D., is also a believer in integrating business practicum and theory. “When students graduate, we want to make sure that they have a degree and business experience,” he says. Roethlein says that in the supply chain manage-ment sector, job growth is at 20 percent, “While the economy was in decline, SCM jobs grew quickly.” He works to put Bryant stu-dents in contact with top businesses while they are undergraduates so they are well prepared to secure the best positions in the market after graduation. “My students have worked with companies like Bose, Hasbro, Honeywell, Polytop, and Raythe-on, and have given valuable advice on how to increase efficiency, profits, and workplace com-munication,” Roethlein says. A group of his graduate students also completed a collabora-tive project with Rhode Island-based Narragan-sett Brewing Company, and provided the com-pany with a plan to launch a new brewery. The company is now shopping the plan to inves-tors. “Not a lot of schools are doing what Bryant is doing,” Roethlein says, who receives unsolicit-ed requests from business looking for students to tackle consulting projects. “We’ve created a niche in teaching applied supply chain manage-ment.”

Christopher Roethlein, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management

John Visich, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management

Associate professor Suhong Li, Ph.D., reviews data from the radio-frequency identification (RFID) research.

It’s been called the linchpin of Bryant’s International Business program

and it is certainly a valuable learning experience for our seniors. But

it’s also garnering rave reviews from client businesses, leading to jobs

for graduates and even a special gift for the University.

Students in Bryant’s International Business (IB) Program are required

to learn a second language, study abroad for a semester, complete a

concentration in accounting, computer information systems, entrepre-

neurship, finance, management or marketing, and take a block of

courses that integrates it all. The culmination of these experiences is

the International Business Consulting Project. During their senior year,

IB students work in groups with companies that have come to Bry-

ant’s John H. Chafee Center for International Business seeking help to

do business globally. The student teams assemble data and develop

contacts aimed at helping the companies enter overseas markets.

Madan Annavarjula, Ph.D., associate professor

of management and faculty coordinator of the

IB program says, “In the fourth year, it is

about real-life experience.” He proposed the

collaborative effort to the Chafee Center. Then,

according to Gerald Cohen, a Chafee Center

international trade specialist, “…the idea was

formulated, and implemented, very jointly…to

go out and locate businesses that either were

doing business internationally or wanted to do business internationally

and bring them into the fold and assign the student teams.” The num-

ber of clients has grown from six in the first year to an expected 24 or

25 next year.

In drawing up a plan for Tatutina, a small local business looking for

marketing opportunities in Europe, the students took account of how

the seizure of vessels by Somali pirates had increased the cost of ship-

ping Tatutina products from China, their manufacturing location, to

Switzerland, where they were to be sold. They gathered data on the

numbers of vessels, barges, and hostages being held and then incorpo-

rated the reality of the threat in their marketing plan with specific

recommendations for insurance coverage.

“The Bryant students brought tremendous energy and a remarkable

professionalism as they worked with us on successfully expanding our

company to international markets,” said Tatutina President Roberta

O’Neill. She was so impressed that she wanted to build on that experi-

ence with a second student team focusing on markets in Japan and

the United Kingdom.

Alex and Ani, a Rhode Island jewelry company best known for its ex-

pandable and customizable bangle bracelets, which have a sliding

mechanism to allow people to adjust them to their wrist sizes, has

enjoyed widespread success in the U.S. Annual 2009 revenue of $2.2

million more than doubled in a year to $4.65 million and, was project-

ed to reach about $18 million in 2011. Employment at the firm has

grown from 23 in 2009 to 139 currently, with 32 additional in a

separate manufacturing company. When the jewelry caught the eye of

an executive of Spain’s El Corte Inglés S.A., the largest department

store group in Europe, company CEO Giovanni Feroce “thought it was

prudent to make the project with Bryant focus on Spain.”

The program has yielded good things

for at least one Bryant graduate. Last

spring, Feroce served as judge of the

student presenta- tions taking notes

about who im- pressed him most.

Later he asked program leaders to

encourage certain students to apply for

jobs. Elena Barkalova ’11, an international student from Bulgaria, was

one. She says the program taught her strategy and how to analyze a

business market or an industry, and she particularly liked the interac-

tion with company CEOs in her senior year and the required study

abroad. Feroce hired her after graduation and soon had her working

with Spanish executives on Alex and Ani’s expansion into Spain. “It’s

been phenomenal,” says Barkalova.

In an ultimate expression of approval, Alex and Ani’s participation has

led the company to commit $1 million to boost Bryant’s IB program.

The company hopes that its ten-year commitment will prompt other

local companies to turn to Bryant for help expanding overseas. The

donation will help the university hire a program coordinator to attract

more businesses to the program. It will also help sponsor two popular,

annual seminars at Bryant – World Trade Day and the Women’s Sum-

mit. Alex and Ani will continue to participate in the program each

year, and Feroce expects Bryant students will help the company ex-

pand into two new countries a year for the next ten years.

“The key to all of this is it’s a business decision,” Feroce said. “We’re

trying to ring the bell, so to speak. Businesses need to wake up. They

need to invest, OK? And we are – as loud as we can – saying to the

business community and the state as a whole that it makes a lot of

sense to invest in higher education and, in this case,

Bryant University.”

2

IB program garners gratitude and a gift

Elena Barkalova ’11

Madan Annavarjula, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management

3

What is global supply chain management?

Supply chain management involves coordinat-

ing and improving the flow and transformation

of goods, services, and information within

companies and around the world. In the mod-

ern economy, the ability to manage complex

global supply chains is critical to success. Of-

ten it involves finding a solution to a complex

problem.

Beer suppliers in England learned this lesson

when a supply chain problem was impeding

their competitiveness—kegs were disappearing.

Suppliers would provide pubs across the United

Kingdom with aluminum barrels filled with ales

and porters. But once empty, the kegs were

nowhere to be found. It turns out that large

pubs, which received a discounted rate on bulk

purchases of keg beer, were selling their barrels

to small pubs, which allowed them to avoid

paying a premium for smaller orders. The big

pubs were making money; small pubs were

saving money. The beer distributors were left

entirely in the dark.

To solve the mystery, a small, thin tag was

attached to each of the distributed barrels.

Called radio-frequency identification (RFID), the

technology helped distributors track the kegs

and discover a “gray” supply chain. Today,

using RFID, the spirits industry can control

market distribution and keep track of its prod-

ucts.

The case of the missing kegs is just one exam-

ple of the successful ap-

plication of RFID technol-

ogy, says John Visich,

Ph.D., an associate pro-

fessor of management at

Bryant. The healthcare

industry is using the

technology to track and

locate medical equip-

ment. Food distributors

use RFID to monitor air temperature to ensure

food safety and quality. Big box retailers, like

WalMart, use the technology to track invento-

ry in order to avoid costly out-of-stocks.

Anecdotally RFID has had a reputation as a

technology that failed to live up to its expecta-

tions, and collecting data on actual technology

deployment has been difficult. Practitioners

within the global supply chain industry, keen to

retain a competitive advantage, are often tight

lipped about their strategies.

Visich and Suhong Li, Ph.D., an associate pro-

fessor of computer information systems at

Bryant, were determined to discover the real

story about RFID. In 2009 they published one

of the first research studies to find that, in

fact, RFID delivers a strong return on invest-

ment in several key areas of supply chain per-

formance. Basheer M. Khumawala of the Uni-

versity of Houston and Pedro Reyes of Baylor

University also contributed to the study.

The research was especially useful for organiza-

tions proposing to introduce RFID technology

into the supply chain, says Visich: "For manag-

ers, the empirical evidence presented can help

identify implementation areas where RFID can

have the greatest impact. The data can be used

to build the business case for RFID."

The Bryant professors’ role extended beyond

research and publication; they involved their

students in some real-life experiences.

Visich’s study prompted several collaborations

with students in the areas of global supply

chain management, operations management,

and RFID. Danielle Godon ’07 worked on her

Honors Program thesis with Visich and devel-

oped a survey to gauge RFID implementation

challenges and benefits. A resulting paper was

published in Management Research Review last

year. Through a directed study, Visich and a

Bryant MBA student crafted specific strategies

to develop a global supply chain strategy for

the student’s company.

“Relationships start in class, but getting to

know students, and what they want to learn,

can lead to research and direct applications

within their current businesses or in the fu-

ture,” Visich says. “We really want the materi-

al we are teaching to be directly career-

related.”

Visich’s colleague in the Department of Man-

agement at Bryant,

Christopher Roeth-

lein, Ph.D., is also a

believer in integrating

business practicum

and theory. “When

students graduate,

we want to make

sure that they have a

degree and business

experience,” he says.

Roethlein says that in the supply chain manage-

ment sector, job growth is at 20 percent,

“While the economy was in decline, SCM jobs

grew quickly.” He works to put Bryant stu-

dents in contact with top businesses while they

are undergraduates so they are well prepared

to secure the best positions in the market after

graduation.

“My students have worked with companies like

Bose, Hasbro, Honeywell, Polytop, and Raythe-

on, and have given valuable advice on how to

increase efficiency, profits, and workplace com-

munication,” Roethlein says. A group of his

graduate students also completed a collabora-

tive project with Rhode Island-based Narragan-

sett Brewing Company, and provided the com-

pany with a plan to launch a new brewery. The

company is now shopping the plan to inves-

tors.

“Not a lot of schools are doing what Bryant is

doing,” Roethlein says, who receives unsolicit-

ed requests from business looking for students

to tackle consulting projects. “We’ve created a

niche in teaching applied supply chain manage-

ment.”

Christopher Roethlein, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management

John Visich, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management

Associate professor Suhong Li, Ph.D., reviews data from the radio-frequency identification (RFID) research.

4

The Bryant Connection is published three times a year for the Alumni-Admission Con-nection members of Bryant University. Send comments on this newsletter or Alumni-Admission Connection activity to Rebecca Eriksen, Senior Assistant Director for Events and Volunteers, Bryant University Office of Admission, 1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI 02917, 401-232-6957, 800-622-7001, or reriksen@bryant.edu.

Alumni-Admission Connection

The Character of Success

Bryant University Office of Admission 1150 Douglas Pike Smithfield RI 02917 Phone: 401-232-6100 Toll Free: 800-622-7001 admission@bryant.edu admission.bryant.edu

Bryant to offer Master of Arts in Teaching

Check out the new website for Bryant alumni at http://alumniconnect.bryant.edu.

You’ll find connections to many events and activities including innovative social networking features.

Learn about the following:

Alumni Leadership Weekend Alumni Achievement Awards

Friday, April 20

Saturday, March 24 2012 Student Athlete Alumni Networking Event

9:30AM to 7:00PM • On Campus

Alumni New Venture Competition Registration Opens May 1

Alumni Travel Program Alaska in June and Italy in November!

2012 Reunion @ Homecoming Friday, September 21 – Sunday, September 23

New Alumni Website

Bryant University's Board of Trustees has given its approval for the College of Arts and Sciences to offer a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT). The 15-month graduate program will lead to teacher certification in grades 7-12 in the areas of mathematics, science, Span-ish, Chinese, English, and social studies with courses expected to begin in the summer of 2012 pending approval of the Rhode Island Department of Education. Donald W. Holder, Ed.D., recently hired as Bryant's associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will direct the new MAT program. Holder has had a distinguished career as an educator and administrator - most recently as assistant superintendent of Smithfield (RI) Public Schools. "The scope of education is changing greatly, and the need for exceptional educators who have deep knowledge in the content areas of science, technology, engineering and math is critical," said Holder. "The Bryant MAT program will produce such teachers. They will be skilled in the use of new technology in the classroom and will understand how children of different abilities and backgrounds acquire knowledge." "As we work to ensure that we have excellent teachers in all Rhode Island classrooms, one of our goals is to improve the quality and the rigor of educator-preparation programs in our state," said Deborah A. Gist, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. "I am excited that Bryant University has elected to develop a graduate program that will emphasize mathematics, science, technology, and world languages. I look forward to work-ing with Bryant officials to make sure that this new program is of the highest quality, and I hope to welcome Bryant University as the newest teacher-preparation program in Rhode Island." Teachers certified in science and mathematics will have the best employment prospects in the coming decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with most job open-ings resulting from the need to replace tens of thousands of teachers expected to retire through 2018. Currently, many school districts have difficulty hiring qualified teachers in the subject areas of mathematics, science, bilingual education and foreign languages, the BLS notes. The MAT program "is a natural for Bryant and plays to our strength in the liberal arts - our mathematics, biology and environmental science programs, as well as our programs in Chinese and Spanish," said David Lux, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "Bryant has a very strong tradition of pre-professional education and our students have indicated a great deal of interest in becoming certified to teach. We're pleased with the encouragement we've received from state officials and regional school systems. This is a direction that offers our graduates a promising future."

A Newsletter for Members of the Alumni-Admission Connection

Volume 12, Issue 1, Winter 2012 Thanks to You!

1

Upcoming Regional Area Network Events

FL RAN Saturday, March 17, 2012

34th Annual Naples St. Patrick’s Day Parade 8:45AM to 1:00PM

Join the growing number of Bryant alumni in the 4th year of Bryant participation in Naples’ celebration.

FL RAN Sunday, March 18

Reception at The Waterfront Inn • The Villages FL 32162 4:00PM to 6:00PM

MA RAN Thursday, March 29

Reception at Armsby Abbey • Worcester 6:00PM to 8:00PM

CT RAN Friday, March 30

The Hartford Funnybone with Steve Byrne 5:00PM to 9:00PM

RI RAN Saturday, June 23

Pawsox Game & BBQ • McCoy Stadium 4:00PM to 8:00PM

Call for Volunteers!

AAC Phone Calling Campaign We are looking for AAC members to connect with

admitted, prospective students in their area to provide information to help them make their final college decisions.

We’ll send you information on about 10 students and ask you to phone between

April 9 and April 22. Then we ask you to return the call records to us.

We even give you a pre-paid envelope.

It’s easy to sign up! Just send the

mailing address and email address you wish us to use for this program to

Judy Famiglietti at jfamigli@bryant.edu

We offer a big thanks to our AAC members who have so generously shared their time and experience with prospective students and their fami-lies during 2011. Hearing the Bryant stories and professional experiences of our alumni lends irreplaceable credibility to our message. And being at a function when our staff needs to be elsewhere, extends our effective-ness immeasurably. So thanks to each of you who attended college fairs, Summer Sendoffs, Winter Receptions and on-campus events; we can’t imagine how we would do our job without you.

Four members went out of their way to conduct admission interviews in their area. They are Bree Dillon ’01, Jim Magee ’88, Dave Suaviso ’96, and Christine Thompson ’05.

Elena Barkalova ’11 was a huge help during our International Counselor Fly-In last Fall.

One of the hallmarks of our Bryant 101 information sessions is alumni participation on the panels. Last fall, Stephanie Gallo ’04 and Julie Wentzell ’08 each presented their unique perspective.

Each fall, our office sponsors a case competition for high school teams dubbed Bulldog Challenge. We rely on the expertise of some AAC mem-bers for judging the presentations; Emily Coutu ’10, Leonidas Foussekis ’07, and Christine Lorefice ’09 helped us this fall.

The following attended college fairs (some attended several!) when our representatives’ schedules prohibited their attendance:

Many attended receptions in January, designed to pique the interest of Early Action applicants and to encourage applications from those who have not yet applied to Bryant. They are:

A huge thanks to all of you!

Ezenwayi Amaechi ’05 Gerry Berard ’80 Nick Cianci ’07 Steven Cowen ’69 Michela Giordano ’09 Robert Harvey ’10 Megan Hatt ’99 Wendy Hildreth ’02 Brenda Kahler ’00

Stephanie Kirk ’10 Jim Magee ’88 Leanna Mansour ’00 Kim McGraw ’01 Mike Motschwiller ’88 Alicia Townsend ’10 Daniel Verderamo ’11 Alan Zuckerman ’80

Kristen Friction ’08 Stephanie Kirk ’10 Tiago Machado ’10 Jim Magee ’88 Barbara Manville ’80 Jim Manville ’80

Mike Motschwiller ’88 Michael Rogers ’85 Dave Suaviso ’96 Deanna Polizzo ’93 Ashley Reynolds ’11