Spring 2015 Affairs in Rev iew - Duq

FEATURE ARTICLEReflections from the AssociateProvost – EnrollmentManagement Group 2

PROFESSIONALSUPPORT

Biomedical Engineering 12

Center for Adult Learners 10

Center for African Studies 13

Center for TeachingExcellence 5

Community-EngagedTeaching and Research 10

Duquesne University Press 13

Enrollment ManagementGroup (EMG) 7

Financial Aid Office 8

The Gumberg Library 4

Learning Skills Center 15

Media Services andDistribution Center (MSDC) 3

Office ofInternational Programs 6

Undergraduate andGraduate Admissions 8

Undergraduate Retentionand Advisements 7

University Registrar 7

AcademicAffairsinReviewA SEMI-ANNUAL PUBLICATION OFSCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS, EVENTS AND NEWS

Spring 2015

The deadline for submission to the fall issue of Academic Affairsin Review is July 31, 2015. All items should be submitted via emailto Renee Stockey at [email protected].

www.duq.edu

Message fromthe ProvostDR. TIMOTHY R. AUSTINProvost/Vice President Academic Affairs

The British poet Percy Shelley famously asked, “If Winter comes, canSpring be far behind?” This year, I suspect, there were days in Februaryand even March when many of us found ourselves uncertain how toanswer that question. As the mercury dropped and the “wintry mix” did

its best to slow our commute to and from campus, we saw no end in sight. Sincethe break, though, as I have driven to work through North Park, I have watchedthe ice on its lakes shrink and disappear, and the early signs emerge of the seasonof new growth that lies ahead.This may serve as a metaphor of sorts for the way in which we need to look

beyond our immediate challenges when we think about the future of highereducation in this country and of our own academic community in particular.Politicians in Washington and pundits in the media seem never to tire ofpointing to the rising cost of a college education, to the pain caused by alcoholabuse and sexual assault on campus, and to demographic trends that reveal ashrinking pool of eligible high school graduates in the coming decade –especially in the northeast. And other topics less commonly mentioned in theheadlines are equally important: the reluctance of our government to invest inbasic science research, for example, or to assist students from less affluentbackgrounds to access the education they deserve. All in all, it’s easy to findreasons to feel gloomy.But it pays to take a second look, especially here on our campus, because a

different mindset reveals signs of expansion and creativity all around – some of

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ACADEMIC AFFAIRS INREVIEW SPRING 2015

them highlighted elsewhere in this issue of AcademicAffairs in Review.Consider, for example, the number of submissions

received by the Office of Research for this year’sUndergraduate Research & Scholarship Symposium:147 in comparison to the previous all-time record of 107.The extensive involvement of students in independent,mentored scholarly research has emerged over the pastdecade or so as a hallmark of excellence in undergraduateeducation – and Duquesne faculty and students haveevidently heard that message loud and clear.Consider too the progress that has been made toward

completing construction of the new black box theatrebetween College Hall and the Mary Pappert School ofMusic. While we will have to wait until early fall to seewhat lies inside, the mere promise of a well-equippedpurpose-built theatre on campus is enough to raise thespirits of theatregoers as well as actors and “techies.”Or consider some of the “numbers” by which others

judge our success (whether rightly or not). The Schoolof Law rose in this year’s rankings in U.S. News &WorldReport, despite an environment for legal educationnationally that is beyond challenging. The School ofNursing rose, if anything, even more dramatically.The hard work of the Enrollment Management Grouphas resulted in a healthy rebound in the number ofundergraduate applications for fall admission. Andgenerous gifts have underwritten “named” facultypositions in the School of Business.We all know that sustaining the recent forward

progress in each of these areas will take effort andcommitment – in most cases, the combined andconcerted effort and commitment of faculty, staff andadministrators from all areas of Academic Affairs.But it’s easier to dig deep and find that extra spurt ofenergy if (to quote one of my childhood mentors) one“focuses on the crocuses” at the end of a long winter.

Reflections from theAssociate Provost –EnrollmentManagementGroupBY PAUL-JAMES CUKANNAAssociate Provost –Enrollment Management Group

INTERSECTIONS….

Igrew up on a small farm and, as an undergraduate, studied the lifesciences. I’m acutely aware of the intersection between winter andspring and its transformative impact on the weather, land, plant andanimal life, the human spirit and even the colors I use in my abstract

paintings. While the seasonal intersection this year might have appearedto be more arbitrary or random when compared to recent years, itis always reflective of the activities of an intelligent and ordered universe.In regard to intersections, I have a wonderful group of colleagues

within the EMGwith whom I have the privilege of working. Order,discipline, collaboration, consistency, efficiency, fairness and the use ofsophisticated tools are key parts of our culture because our work is largelyabout establishing and maintaining relationships throughout a student’slife cycle. This cycle of engagement can last for decades and includesdescriptor words such as prospect, applicant, accepted, enrolled,graduated, alum and donor to describe the phases. Since a collegeeducation is a driver of personal economic improvement and key to theSpiritan mission, we strive to provide value to students by establishing,building, tracking and managing these relationships throughout theentire student life cycle. In an economic environment where studentloyalty is often tenuous and competition for new undergraduate,graduate and professional students is intense, we are expected to betterunderstand and value these relationships.Factors like increased competition, decreased funding, higher student

and parent expectations, and smaller applicant pools create challengesfor most colleges and universities. On the student side, rising costs,tight job markets, and shifting demographic trends make the prospectof higher education equally formidable. Students have more choicesthan ever and also have access to more sources of information to informtheir decisions. My colleagues and I often reflect on how we canaccommodate the needs and preferences of a more sophisticated andbroadly diverse student body.You can read more about what my colleagues have been up to below

and how the intersections of their efforts – from advisement, recruitment,retention, marketing, financing, to system implementations – add valueto the student experience and help to improve institutional efficiencyand effectiveness.

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Media Services and Distribution Center (MSDC)

The success of the first Duquesne-built FlexTech classroomgenerated a level of excitement and enthusiasm that has beenunparalleled for a campus classroom. Courses in business,chemistry, computer science, English, ESL, graduatepsychology, math, modern languages and sociology have usedthe space since August 2014. Not your typical lookingclassroom, Room 442 in Fisher Hall boasts a livelyatmosphere bolstered by writeable, aqua glass top tables,multicolored chairs, vivid flatpanel monitors and vibrantLED blade lighting. The room’stechnology permits the sharingof information among the sevenflat panels and room’s LCDprojector. Students and facultyalike have embraced the spaceand the new approach tolearning this room provides.The acceptance and

endorsement of 442 Fisher Hallby faculty and the Board ofDirectors Executive Committeehave generated approval foradditional FlexTech spaces oncampus. Another space wasadded in January 2015:551 College Hall – sameconcept and functionality,smaller classroom.

Two additional FlexTech rooms will be implemented thissummer: 310 Canevin and 600 Fisher.In working to promote collaborative teaching, the MSDC

and Center for Teaching Excellence have teamed up toorganize faculty learning groups to provide outlets forfaculty to share collaborative concepts, ideas and activities.The MSDC is also working with various departments toimplement collaborative concepts into their learning spaces.

Gumberg Library

Gumberg Library underwent many changes over the pastyear, including new acquisitions, technology and facilityupdates, and retirements. These transformations speak tothe library’s dynamic nature and the broader reinventionunderway.In 2014, the Gumberg Library and the Law Library

jointly purchased an integrated library system (ILS) thathas simplified access to library resources and will allow forsignificant savings for the University over the next few years.An implementation team of librarians from both librariesselected Sierra, a next-generation system from InnovativeInterfaces. The team chose Sierra, in part, because itprovides a search interface that combines functionalitysimilar to Google with elements of a traditional librarycatalog, such as the ability to view real-time circulationstatus of items.More than 150 years’ worth of America’s oldest Catholic

newspaper, the Pittsburgh Catholic, is now available onlineas part of a digitization project recently completed byGumberg Library. The project began in 2008 aftermicrofilm reels of the newspaper showed signs ofdeterioration. The digital archive provides access to issuespublished between 1844 and 2001. Issues from 2001 topresent day are available through the Pittsburgh Catholic’sonline archives. As a premier chronicle of Roman Catholiclife in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Catholiccollection represents a significant contribution to thegrowing body of primary documents covering the RomanCatholic Church in the 19th and 20th centuries. Libraryfunds, a Library Services and Technology Act grant, and acapstone gift from the Cahouet Foundation supported theproject. University archived issues can be accessed athttp://digital.library.duq.edu.A rare 1611 folio edition of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie

Queene and The Shepheardes Calendar was donated toGumberg. The book is the first collected edition of Spenser’sworks, printed in London by Matthew Lownes soon afterSpenser's death. Thanks to poet and alumnus RobertGiannetti, the folio is available in the University Archives.Gumberg Library hosted an art exhibition

commemorating the 2014 centenary of the extinction ofthe passenger pigeon. The exhibition, Moving Targets,opened to the public on Nov. 10 and continued throughDec. 6. In artist Ann Rosenthal’s words, “The exhibitionparallel[ed] the plight of the passenger pigeon with that of

the artists’ maternal lineage, piecing together the fragmentedstories and forced migrations of both pigeons and Jews.” Theexhibition corresponded to the common text selected for theMcAnulty College of Liberal Arts learning communities, JoelGreenberg’s A Feathered River Across the Sky: The PassengerPigeon’s Flight to Extinction.The Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center at

Gumberg Library acquired the personal papers and artifactsof prominent Montreal psychiatrist Karl Stern. The archivewas officially opened and dedicated on Oct. 10, 2014. KarlStern, who was deeply influenced by existentialphenomenology, maintained a wide-ranging correspondencewith Catholic intellectuals. These correspondences includeexchanges with Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, GrahamGreene, Clare Boothe Luce, fellow psychiatrist GregoryZilboorg and John M. Osttereicher, a Catholic theologianand leading advocate of Jewish-Catholic reconciliation.These discussions will be included along with other notablecorrespondences with Catholic philosopher JacquesMaritain, who was Stern’s mentor, C.S. Lewis, ReinholdNeibuhr and one letter each from Sigmund Freud andCarl Jung.The Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center hosted

its 33rd Annual Symposium, Experiencing Disaster, onMarch 30-31, 2015. The SSPC welcomed Professor DebraBergoffen, the Bishop Hamilton Lecturer in Philosophy atAmerican University, Professor Jane Anna Gordon, AssociateProfessorof Political Science and African-American Studies at theUniversity of Connecticut at Storrs, Professor Kevin Hart,the Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies at theUniversity of Virginia, and Professor David Loy, anindependent scholar, writer, and Zen teacher in the SanboKyodan Tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism as keynotespeakers. The symposium addressed difficult aspects ofhuman experience and paid particular attention to theexperience of disaster. The symposium was well attendedand opened up a discursive space for the discussion of allaspects, and particularly the difficult aspects, of humanexperience.The Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center also

welcomed two visiting scholars during the 2014-2015academic year. Dr. Habip Turker has been in residency sincethe beginning of the academic year and will remain throughthe end of the academic year. Dr. Turker is a post-doctoralresearch fellow working with the Department of Philosophy.Dr. Guilherme Messas has been in residency since the

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beginning of the spring 2015 semester and will remainthrough the end of the semester. Dr. Messas serves as theCoordinator of the Postgraduate Program onPhenomenological Psychopathology at the Santa Casa deSão Paulo School of Medical Sciences. He is activelyworking to promote the study and recognition of scholarlyresearch in phenomenology and phenomenologicalpsychopathology both in Brazil and on the South Americancontinent.The first floor of the Gumberg Library has been

transformed with the installation of new high-efficiencyLED lighting. The lighting, designed to be a soft, morenatural light, has improved the study environment andlowered energy costs. The lighting on floors two throughfive also will be updated progressively over the next fewyears.Dr. Laverna Saunders has retired after serving as

University Librarian for 12 years. Dr. Saunders made manysignificant contributions to Gumberg Library over theyears, including the digitization of the Duke and thehistorical archive of the Pittsburgh Catholic; extendedlibrary hours and 24-hour access during finals; andrenovations that improved study and collection space.Dr. Saunders has been a champion for the library andDuquesne University. As the search for a new UniversityLibrarian begins, Maureen Diana Sasso has assumed therole of Acting University Librarian. She has served asDirector of Information Services at Gumberg Librarysince 1991. A new University Librarian is expected to bein place before the start of the next academic year.

Center for Teaching Excellence

At the annual Celebration of Teaching Excellence onMarch 26, the Center for Teaching Excellencecommemorated its 25th anniversary. Provost Austinconferred the Graduate Student Awards for Excellence inTeaching and the Creative Teaching Awards. Also honoredwere over 100 colleagues who have contributed to CTE'swork this year through workshops, committees andnear-peer mentoring. CTE continues to serve graduatestudent teaching assistants and those preparing to befaculty through the Certificate of University Teaching.Eleven recipients received their certificates at the recentCelebration of Teaching Excellence. Also recognized atthe celebration were three colleagues who have embodiedthe Spirit of CTE by helping us foster an environment

where teaching is considered an art that grows throughscholarship, practice, reflection and collaboration.CTE has seen a lot of changes this year. Erin

Rentschler began as the Center’s Program Manager.Rachel Luckenbill, CTE’s new graduate assistant, createdThe Flourishing Academic, a blog that explores howteacher-scholars thrive in academia. The blog has hosted13 guest writers from the Duquesne teaching communityand one post from Sue Hines, who visited Duquesne andfacilitated a workshop on adult learners. Writers havecovered the scholarship of teaching and learning, studentmotivation, classroom management, race and diversity,work-life balance and more. At the start of the springsemester, the Center piloted an online orientationprogram for adjunct faculty in December. CTE staffled participants through modules focused on engagingstudents in learning, creating a narrative of effectiveteaching and course design.CTE staff traveled to Dallas, Texas for the annual

POD Network conference, where Steve Hansen andLeslie Lewis (Gumberg Library) offered a full-daypre-conference workshop on Leveraging Whole PersonFaculty Development through a Center Sponsored Retreat.Laurel Willingham-McLain co-led a session in whichearly and mid-career educational developers discussedissues they faced with experienced colleagues.We offered several of our most popular workshops

and added some new twists. At this year’s Discoveringthe Teacher-Scholar Nexus workshop, Laurel Willingham-McLain and Jason Margolis (Education) facilitated adiscussion of ways in which panelists and participantshad made connections between teaching and researchthrough a Spiritan prism. Mike McGravey collaboratedwith Christine Pollock (Office of Research) to offer a newsession for graduate students on Grant Opportunities inthe Humanities. Steve Hansen collaborated with MilitaryPrograms to offer The Face of the Student Veteran (DonAccamando, Ann Martin, Rod Dobish, Roger Brooke,Theo Collins, Laura Howell). Erin Rentschler co-led asession, Exploring Race at our Predominantly WhiteUniversity, with Emad Mirmotahiri (English). CTE alsopartnered with Gumberg Library to caution about thedangers of predatory publishing and with Media Servicesto present a session on the new FlexTech classrooms.Two informal groups of faculty are meeting regularlyto share strategies for using the FlexTech classrooms todeepen student learning.

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International Programs

This March, 125 Duquesne students enrolled in six coursesthat traveled to Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria and Poland,and Costa Rica as part of the Spring Breakaway coursesoffered every year. These classes provided a unique on-siteacademic experience, with each location serving as a “learninglaboratory.” Since 2008, Spring Breakaway courses, which aremanaged by the Office of International Programs and taughtby faculty members in various academic departments, havebeen a significant part of the study abroad offerings atDuquesne, and are a wonderful opportunity for students whomay not have the ability to study abroad for an extendedperiod of time.One course in particular, Exploring Intercultural

Communication taught by Dr. Joe DeCrosta, provided 13Duquesne students the opportunity to flex their “intercultural

muscles” while traveling abroad to Rome, Italy. Students notonly had the opportunity to discover the classic ancientattractions that are significant to Western history, philosophyand art, and to spend time at the Vatican to understand theinfluence of the Catholic Church throughout the world, butalso were able to learn about Italian culinary culture, to spenda full day with their Italian counterparts in Italian schools,and to experience contemporary Italian social issues throughunderstanding modern street art and the work of laycommunities. The course was carefully designed to integraterelevant academic material with the cultural grandeur ofRome, framed in a practical and enjoyable format. Thestudents’ journal entries and reflection papers eloquentlyexpressed how even such a short experience abroad, withinthe context of an academic course, could shift theirworldviews in ways they would have never imagined.St. Augustine once said, “The world is a book, and those

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who do not travel read only one page.” As Duquesnestudents in every discipline prepare to become global citizens,Spring Breakaway courses can serve as one port of entry tohelp students discover the diverse world around them insubstantive ways.

Enrollment Management Group (EMG)

EMG provides many services including the recruitmentof students, management of financial aid, registration,classroom management, retention, graduation, internalconsultations on enrollment issues, research and analysis,marketing and student system implementations. Our focusis to collaboratively and consistently enroll, service, retainand graduate the correct number, academic quality anddiversity of students that will help to provide the Universitywith the human and financial resources which are requiredto be competitive in the educational marketplace andto meet its mission.An important objective of the EMG is to implement

advanced software tools to improve student services andmaintain a competitive market position. Members of theEMG, along with colleagues from CTS, beganimplementation of Ellucian Recruiter – an application andconstituent relationship management (CRM) systemdesigned specifically for use in the higher educationmarketplace – in September 2013. As of August 2014,we’ve moved the majority of our online admissionapplications (undergraduate and graduate) from Banner –our student information system – to Recruiter to betterservice our clients.We are also beginning to communicate with prospective

undergraduate students and their parents through RecruiterCRM, utilizing both native functionality, as well as theExactTarget Marketing Cloud – a third-party digitalmarketing platform.To date, Recruiter has allowed us to develop admission

applications that meet our unique needs, create a morepersonalized, welcoming web presence for applicants, andautomate outreach for several steps in the applicationprocess, track marketing email open rates and responses andincrease marketing email deliverability with integratedwhitelisting capabilities.Our goal for the next recruitment cycle is to develop and

launch more sophisticated, automated marketing campaignsusing Recruiter CRM.

The following and pages 8 and 9 are updates from EMG units.

University Registrar

The Classroom Committee continued its work updating thefurnishings in the University’s shared classroom space. Theremaining two shared classrooms in College Hall werefurnished as were 11 of the 12 classrooms in Canevin Hall.After having completed its implementation of Banner

Document Management within the Office of the UniversityRegistrar, staff members are now assisting the Schools and theCollege with their efforts to go paperless with student records.Recent modifications to Federal Government regulations

have changed the institution’s reporting requirements forenrolled students. The Office of the University Registrarworked with Financial Aid and is now reporting each degree-seeking student’s progress-to-degree as part of the NationalStudent Clearinghouse dataset.

Undergraduate Retention and Advisement

The freshman-to-sophomore year retention rate for ourfall 2013 entering class was 89.8%. This rate is the highestin the documented history of the University and is a strongincrease over the rate of 88.7% for the fall 2012 enteringfreshman class. Prior to this year, the fall 2004 freshmanclass had the highest first-year retention rate, 89.2%.The Retention Committee is especially grateful for the

retention funds established by President Dougherty andProvost Austin. Since inception in fall 2013, 42 studentshave benefited from this program. While we have a strongcommitment to use the funds in support of our officialfall-to-fall retention rate, we also anticipate an increase inour time-to-degree-completion statistics. This past year,Duquesne’s six-year graduation rate held steady at 76%,which reflects a significant difference over the 65% six-yeargraduation rate for private, nonprofit universities.Another accomplishment over the past year has been the

successful integration of the early-alert system (Starfish) withBanner. The Director of Retention and Advisement lead ateam with representation from Educational TechnologyServices (ETS), CTS and the Office of the University Registrarwhich now reduces numerous manual processes required ofETS. Focus can shift from labor intensive maintenance of thetool to the more retention oriented functions within Starfish.Faculty will be able to make advisors aware of at-risk students

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through a variety of methods which will allow proactiveintervention anticipating increased successful resolution ofacademic challenges.In addition to supporting retention efforts, the Advising

Team continued in their professional development efforts,specifically those sponsored by the National AcademicAdvising Association (NACADA). Three members of thegroup attended the national conference in October. Theyattended sessions on a variety of topics ranging from: advisingfor success, STEM students, working with transfer studentsand retention strategies. Upon returning to campus, contentlearned was shared with the whole group. Members of theAdvising Team also participated in two NACADA sponsoredwebinars: Academic Advising for Military Students andAcademic Strategies for Students on Academic Probation.

Financial Aid

The Financial Aid Office continues to review and reviseprocesses within the office to better serve our students.The Duquesne University Financial Aid application was

eliminated for full-time undergraduate students as well as forlaw students. Priority filing deadline dates and necessaryinformation required for processing is now gathered throughthe Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Thiseliminates one extra step that the student had to complete inorder to receive an aid package.We have improved the verification process by eliminating

hardcopy mailings. Students who are selected for verificationby the Federal Processor are now notified to submit specificdocumentation to our office via email. Students can nowaccess the required forms from our website, complete andsubmit the forms to our office. This has greatly reduced theresponse time in this important area and students are packagedearlier in the cycle.The awarding process in the Tuition Remission program has

been automated. With the recent algorithmic process, TuitionRemission is automatically calculated based on the number ofcredits in which the student is enrolled. An extensive programfor the many rules within the program was created and thisgreatly simplifies the manual process.The Title IV Refund process was revised. In the past, we

used the Department of Education site to process refunds.This is now calculated through the Banner system. All studentinformation is updated immediately and refunds submittedto appropriate federal programs.In collaboration with the Admissions Office, the entry of

initial academic scholarships has been improved. Admissions’

staff, upon scholarship determination, now enters the awards ina specific screen. The Financial Aid Office can then review andupload the awards to the student package. This reduces timeinvolved in processing as well as assists in the renewal of theawards in subsequent years.In the fall 2014 semester, the Financial Aid Office participated

in the inaugural Ready To Succeed Scholarship Program,administered through Pennsylvania Higher Education AssistanceAgency (PHEAA). This provides additional funding toqualifying middle income families to receive State Grantassistance up to a maximum of $2,000 for full-time studentsand $1,000 to part-time students.In the fall 2014 semester, our office participated in the initial

Addison Gibson Foundation Award program. DuquesneUniversity received a $100,000 Grant to be used over a twoyear period (2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic years). TheRetention Committee will assist students with the most needby awarding $25,000 per term beginning with the fall 2014semester.We began sending out packages for accepted students for the

fall 2015 term the week of Feb. 24, our earliest release date inhistory and among the top 8% of schools in the nation thatsend out packages at such an early date. This is to assist ourAdmissions colleagues in recruiting a strong new freshman class.

Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions

It’s been a busy year in Undergraduate Admissions and springis no exception. This is an important time for seniors andfamilies as they make their final decision for higher education.Undergraduate Admissions partners with our colleagues acrosscampus to assist in making their accepted student day eventssuccessful and fruitful.While we continue to work with seniors, we know from our

research that many high school juniors and their families beginthe college search in their junior year. We are purchasing morejunior leads, where available, and are targeting morecommunication to this audience. Spring recruitment travel tomeet juniors is underway.We’ve also participated in many initiatives…

�We worked with Public Affairs to create a redesignedviewbook, which is much more engaging for prospectivestudents. Feedback has been great. We’ve also enhanced ourmessaging to match the look and feel of the new viewbookand to emphasize value. We know from our primary andsecondary research that value is a key factor for students whenchoosing a college. We appreciate the assistance of our


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colleagues around the University in helping to provideinformation about how Duquesne is different and providesthat extra value.

�On Nov. 11 we were invited by Global Pittsburgh to meetwith the delegates from Ukraine’s OpenWorld Program forHigher Education-Ukrainian External Testing InitiativeAlliance. The group was interested in a discussion as to whythe University chose to make standardized admission testscores optional for the McAnulty College of Liberal Arts.Debbie Zugates, Kelley Maloney, J.D. Douglas, AnthonyCappa and Jason Broadwater represented the University inthe discussion.

�Once again, Undergraduate Admissions assisted with hostingthe Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) RegionalCompetition in February. This is a great opportunity toshowcase the University.

�On Dec. 18, Duquesne hosted the Western PA Round TableCollege Success screening of the film First Generation. Afterthe film there was a panel of local first generation collegestudents from University of Pittsburgh, Slippery RockUniversity, Duquesne University and Rosedale TechnicalSchool. There were approximately 150 high school studentsfrom surrounding counties including some from PittsburghPublic Schools. Feedback was very positive.

� In November, representatives from the College Board visitedcampus to inform us of ongoing changes within AdvancedPlacement (AP) courses and testing and how those changesmight impact campus policies. We invited a broad group ofour faculty and academic colleagues across campus disciplinesto discuss changes in the AP program overall.

Graduate Admissions’ efforts this past year included focusingon recruitment by continuing to represent DuquesneUniversity at regional graduate college fairs in Pennsylvania,eastern Ohio andWest Virginia. Duquesne also hosted itsannual Graduate College Fair on campus in September.In addition, Graduate Admissions continued to purchaseGRE names and expanded efforts with Masterstudies, whichfocuses on international student lead development.Beyond recruitment efforts, Graduate Admissions

collaborated with the Graduate School of Liberal Arts toimplement and analyze a graduate student exit survey whichwas administered to graduating students. The survey wasdesigned to assess students’ program experience and opinionsrelated to Duquesne University. Graduate Admissions plans toextend this survey to all graduate students earning degrees inMay 2015 and beyond.


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Center for Adult Learners

This new center, which evolved out of the closure of theSchool of Leadership, manages recruitment, admissions andinitial advising for all part-time, adult undergraduate studentson campus – including students enrolling in accelerated,online programs (one exception: these aspects of the RN-to-BSN program will continue to be managed by the School ofNursing.) The Center also houses the Office for Military andVeteran Students, which provides outreach, serves as a centralpoint of contact and ensures quality service for all veterans,active service members, reservists and guard members andothers using military/veteran education benefits at DuquesneUniversity.

Community-Engaged Teachingand Research (www.duq.edu/cetr)

In August, Provost Austin named a new Center forCommunity-Engaged Teaching and Research. Working withan advisory committee of faculty, community partners andadministrators, the Center for CETR quickly expandedexisting community engagement programs within AcademicAffairs and created new opportunities for faculty and studentsto collaborate with community partners.The impetus for creating the Center came from a number

of assessment and reflection processes conducted in the2013-2014 year. In fall 2013, the University released thefindings of a student learning outcomes assessment conductedacross all service-learning classes. The outcomes showed thatstudents in service-learning classes had high degrees ofacademic performance but did not have demonstrable gains incivic learning or social responsibility. In a series of forumswith faculty and community partners throughout 2013-2014,faculty expressed an interest to have greater opportunities toapply their research to community issues and felt thatservice-learning was too narrow a vehicle for the range ofcommunity-engaged scholarship they might like to undertake.Community partners expressed an interest in leveraging theUniversity’s research and evaluation capacities in addition tohosting students working on projects. Community partnersalso asked for a centralized unit through which they couldaccess a range of collaborators at the University. Finally, inspring 2014, the University conducted an external review ofits service-learning program and the reviewers report suggestedretooling the service-learning graduation requirement,creating an engagement center to champion a myriad of

student and faculty engagement in the community andincreasing the logistic support available to faculty andstudents.At the same time as the creation of the Center for CETR,

the Provost announced a three-year moratorium on theservice-learning graduation requirement citing the need topause and re-think the curricular form of communityengagement that would be best used at Duquesne. Acommittee of faculty (largely sourced from the Center’sadvisory committee and expanded to include additionalfaculty who had taught service-learning classes) was chargedwith developing a proposal for curricular communityengagement moving forward. That committee began byreviewing extant literature about civic learning, publicscholarship and community-based pedagogies. Thecommittee consulted with Dr. Barbara Holland, aninternational community-campus engagement expert. Theirwork led them to develop a model in which studentsencounter civic issues or public problems through thedisciplines and develop competence in workingcollaboratively with others to address such issues in adevelopmental and scaffolded way. Their proposal forcommunity-engaged learning is distinct from service-learningin two ways: 1. community-engaged learning can occur in avariety of learning experiences in addition to traditionalcredit-bearing classes (e.g. internships, field studies,undergraduate research); and 2. Community-engagedlearning may or may not include direct service and ofteninvolves community stakeholders as co-educators on civic orsocial issues. The committee held forums in every school, atfaculty senate, with the core curriculum revision committee,with community partners, and with students to vet theproposal and to garner revisions. Pending final adjustments,the committee will forward its proposal to the Provost as arecommendation before the end of April. The proposal canbe found at www.duq.edu/academics/community-engaged-teaching-and-research/community-engaged-learning/proposal-for-community-engaged-learning.In collaboration with the Provost’s Office, the Center for

CETR launched one new grant program and revised anexisting program for faculty. The Community-EngagedResearch grant dedicates up to $10,000 of seed money fortwo years to coalitions of faculty and community partnerswho are initiating a community-engaged research agenda ormoving into a new phase of an existing project. Up to threecoalitions may be funded in any given year. The GaultierFellowship was revised to focus more closely on community-

http://www.duq.edu/academics/community-engaged-teaching-and-research/community-engaged-learning/proposal-for-community-engaged-learning

http://www.duq.edu/cetr

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engaged teaching and will now award $4,000 grants to fourMaster Community-Engaged Teaching Fellows whodemonstrate expertise in a particular teaching theme thatchanges from year to year. This coming year’s theme isAligned Course Design: those selected will be faculty whohave developed innovative and effective alignment betweenthe student learning objectives of their course, thecommunity-engaged work they ask of their students andeffective assessment of student learning.The Center also offered a robust schedule of programming

for faculty as part of a concerted effort to reinvigorate facultydevelopment on community engagement (anotherrecommendation of the external review). The year beganwith the Campus to Community Excursion, an annual eventnow in its seventh year, which invites faculty to take a trip ledby various community leaders to learn about the Hill Districtand to meet a variety of potential community partners. Overthe year, two working sessions were held, the first onalignment between learning objectives, community learningexperiences, and student learning assessment and the secondon describing community-engaged teaching and research inpromotion and tenure materials. The Center initiatedmonthly open houses under the banner of CommunityUncorked, at which faculty and community partners mingledwhile enjoying a specially selected wine and cheese pairing.Some of the Uncorked events had themes such as workingwith Latino communities or conducting Youth-BasedParticipatory Research. The year will conclude with acommunity-engaged learning Design Day on Tuesday, May19 and a two-day writing retreat for community-engagedscholars on Monday, June 1 and Tuesday, June 2. For detailson any of these programs, visit www.duq.edu/academics/community-engaged-teaching-and-research/community-engaged-learning/faculty/how-we-support-faculty/cetr-events.Along with these recurring programs, Dr. Eva Simms

(Psychology), this year’s Gaultier Fellow, hosted a series ofconversations about community-engaged research atDuquesne. Dr. Simms' Share the Knowledge project is anexample of a participatory research process designed to developa set of best practices for reconnecting African-Americanchildren and adults to places of nature within theircommunities. Share the Knowledge was used as a primary casestudy to explore and expand upon the following questionsthroughout the year: How do we cultivate funding forcommunity-engaged research? How do we build aninstitutional language and nomenclature for community-engaged research? What are the ethical implications of

producing knowledge in and with communities? How do weappropriately reward and recognize community-engagedresearch as part of the faculty workload? The proceedings fromthese conversations will be compiled in a Community-EngagedResearch Wiki along with content on methods currently beingused by faculty and community partners at Duquesne.The Center for CETR is best viewed as a civic incubator.

Faculty and students who want to nurture a civic commitmentcan come to the Center for support and thought partnership.In its inaugural year, the Center incubated a range of projectsincluding the Gaultier Symposium on Incarceration, the Dayfor Learning and Speaking Out, the Minadeo EverydayDemocracy Project and PureThirst.In October, Dr. Norman Conti, 2013-2014 Gaultier Fellow

and Sociology faculty, convened a series of panels anddiscussions around the topic of incarceration policy and theimplications of current practices for black men in Americaunder the title of the Gaultier Symposium. In March, the firstDay for Learning and Speaking Out explored the link betweenpolice brutality and racial inequality and the pedagogicalimplications of exploring such current events within ourteaching. Initiated by Dr. Daniel Burston (English) andorganized by a group of faculty, staff and students and co-sponsored by six University centers, it offered paneldiscussions, pedagogical workshops, dialogues and studentaction. Throughout the spring, the Center has worked witha coalition of Minadeo Elementary School leadership,teachers, Duquesne faculty and students, Minadeo parentsand community stakeholders from Hazelwood, Squirrel Hilland Homewood to explore the role of democratic dialoguein resolving the racial achievement gap and behaviormanagement practices at Minadeo elementary. Lastly, theCenter became the institutional home for the PureThirstproject, a multi-disciplinary student-led initiative that seeksto address the world’s water crisis. In May, PureThirst leadersMatt Burnett (senior, Supply Chain Management) andLauren Drumm (senior, Environmental Science) will travel toTanzania to initiate a multi-year relationship with thecommunities of Moshi and Arusha so that the feasibility offuture water projects can be determined. PureThirst is aninitiative that enlists student leaders and faculty coaches fromSociology, Journalism, Multimedia, Nursing, Business andEnvironmental Science.For more information about any of the Center for

Community-Engaged Teaching and Research’s work, pleasecontact Dr. Lina Dostilio, Center Director, [email protected].

http://www.duq.edu/academics/community-engaged-teaching-and-research/community-engaged-learning/faculty/how-we-support-faculty/cetr-events

mailto:[email protected]

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Biomedical Engineering (BME) 2014-2015

The Biomedical Engineering program began its first year ofinstruction by welcoming its freshman class on Aug. 22,2014. The incoming class comprised 23 students fromPennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Rwanda.Captain Richard Lewis Coleman, USN, was the keynotespeaker to induct the inaugural class, providing motivationaland leadership techniques important to their academicsuccess. In honor of Captain Coleman, the BME programinstituted the Richard Lewis and Mary Ruth ColemanChallenge, initiated by a gift from the Colemans. TheColeman Challenge is a series of contests open to BMEstudents that test their ability to overcome difficulties andsolve problems in an engineering context.In September 2014, the BME program established its first

research laboratory. This lab specializes in biomedical opticswith a National Institutions of Health (NIH) fundedprogram in melanoma detection and analysis. BME receivedadditional funding from Acousys Biodevices Inc. to support

this melanoma research. The Acousys grant was used to hire aResearch Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering.Three graduate students, eleven undergraduate students andone high school student conduct research in the lab undervarious projects covering oncology, ophthalmology,dermatology and critical care. Additionally, the lab hasworking collaborations with the University of Pittsburgh, theUniversity of Missouri and Thomas Jefferson University.The BME program appointed six courtesy faculty members

who will add to the program in areas of curriculumdevelopment, research infrastructure, ABET accreditation,entrepreneurship and outreach to local technology industries.These appointments also contribute expertise to expand theresearch program to include whole body biomechanics, withspecific studies in elbow and shoulder injury and repair. Thisresearch is to be performed in the growing research wing ofLibermann Hall, which is undergoing its second phase ofinstruction. This research wing will also house a new tenure-track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Theprogram is currently hiring tenure-track faculty to fully

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populate the program in line with the growing studentpopulation.A partnership between the BME program and the School of

Nursing has resulted in a five year, dual degree program thatresults in a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineeringand a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. This dual degreeprogram is the first of its kind in the nation. This programeducates Nurse Engineers to create innovative solutions toclinically relevant problems, since they have clinical expertisein addition to knowledge of engineering and designprinciples. Three of the 23 freshmen have opted for thisprogram, as have a significant number of new applicants. Thefirst students will graduate from this program in 2019.

Center for African Studies

The Center for African Studies expanded its programs andwas relocated to 104 Rockwell Hall this academic year. Thisnew space has offices for the director and an administrativeassistant, as well as a meeting room that is used for AdvisoryBoard meetings and a space for African Studies minors andinterested students to gather. The Center offered in 2014 forthe first time the Rev. Alphons Loogman, C.S.Sp., FacultyResearch Grant and received 12 proposals from sevendifferent schools and the library. Four grants were awardedand we look forward to the next round in 2015.Continuing the Building Relationships with Africa series, the

Center hosted Akwaaba! Engaging Ghana: Experiences &Opportunities, and Habariya Afiya: Building Relationships forCollaborations with Tanzania in fall 2014. Both sessionsfeatured students who studied abroad in Ghana and Tanzania,with special focus on Maymester Tanzania 2015. Incollaboration with the Office of International Programs, 20students made deposits to attend Maymester Tanzania wherethey will stay in the Spritian guest house in Arusha and visitthe site of early Spiritan missionary activity in Zanzibar andBagamoyo. Students will fulfill two university core themeareas of their study, Faith and Reason and Social Justice orCreative Arts.Some of the Center’s co-sponsored events during the year

were theWinds of the Sahel: Music Inspired by Africa and itsDiaspora held by talented faculty and students of the MaryPappert School of Music; the 3rd Annual Cultural Dinner:A Rhythm Through Time, a dinner that educated students onthe beauty and sophistication of Caribbean culture throughdance, song, food, music and lecture; and the Modern Day

Saints on the Battlefield: The Power and Resilience ofSudanese Women; and the Union of African Students:African Fashion Show.Based on initiatives by faculty, the Center sponsored two

African film events during the month of February, BorderFarm by Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi andWaiting for Happiness byAbderrahme Sissako. This was in concert with a psychologycourse on African film. Also as a faculty initiative, there wasan Exploring Africa Through Literature book group, whichdiscussed the book Americanah by Chimamanda NgoziAdichie. These faculty led initiatives underscore individualfaculty interest and involvement in the University’s strategicengagement with Africa. In March, our visiting speaker, Dr.Emmanuel Katongole spoke on The Sacrifice of Africa:Perspectives on Conflict, Violence and Peace and was respondedto by two of our colleagues.As the minor in African Studies continues to develop and

grow, the Center had its first meet and greet for AfricanStudies minors, now totaling 15, and interested students.At this event, minors were awarded a few small tokens of ourappreciation for committing to educating themselves andothers on ways to understand and engage sub-Saharan Africa.Wrapping up our year of activities was the 21stCommemoration of the Genocide in Rwanda, in consultationwith the two students we have on campus from Rwanda, theUnion of African Students and Campus Ministry. This event,which will be a recurring, will serve as our recognition of thevictims of the 1994 Genocide and our commitment to dowhat we can to prevent this from occurring again.In its third year of establishment, the Center is

meaningfully engaging campus culture and building healthyrelationships with individual students, faculty, staff andadministrators, and the many constituent units on campus.

University Press

The last few months have seen the publication of severalnew titles from Duquesne University Press:

� Preaching the Gospel of Black Revolt: Appropriating Milton inEarly African American Literature by Reginald A. Wilburn(University of New Hampshire)

� Stages of Engagement: Drama and Religion in Post-Reformation England, edited by James D. Mardock(University of Nevada) and Kathryn R. McPherson (UtahValley University)

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� The King James Bible across Borders and Centuries editedby Angelica Duran (Purdue University)

� Levinas Studies: An Annual Review, Volume 9, edited byJeffrey Bloechl (Boston College)

� Lived Experience from the Inside Out: Social and PoliticalPhilosophy in Edith Stein by Antonio Calcagno (King’sUniversity College, University of Western Ontario)

� Levinas and Asian Thought, edited by Leah Kalmanson(Drake University), Frank Garrett (independent scholar)and Sarah Mattice (University of North Florida)

� Milton on Film by Eric C. Brown (University of Maine)� Psychotherapy for the Other: Levinas and the Face-to-FaceRelationship edited by Kevin C. Krycka (Seattle University),

George Kunz (Seattle University) and George G. Sayre(University of Washington)

� Milton Studies 55, edited by Laura L. Knoppers (Universityof Notre Dame)

A new book series for Duquesne, Philosophy/Communication: Studies in Hermeneutics, Ethics, andCritical Theory, co-edited by Ramsey Eric Ramsey (ArizonaState University) and Amit Pinchevski (Hebrew Universityof Jerusalem) will see three titles published in the next fewmonths. Previously published by Purdue University Press,its relaunching through Duquesne features both a new designand expanded outlook, including a more global focus.

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The Michael P. Weber Learning Skills Center

The Robert and Patricia Gussin Spiritan Division hosted its18th annual Spiritan Division Celebration on Feb. 20, 2015.The evening began with a Mass celebrated by Fr. Stegman,former Gussin Spiritan Division chaplain. Dr. TimothyAustin, provost and vice president for academic affairs,delivered the welcome address, and Daniel Walsh, directorof Spiritan Campus Ministry presented the SpiritanCongregation message.The recipients of this year’s Michael P. Weber Memorial

Scholarship, awarded annually to high performing Divisionfreshmen, were Don Crawford, Jamie Bird and Ellen Sanin.Another position of honor for which current and pastDivision students compete is the Gussin Spiritan DivisionStudent of the Year, established in 1998. There were ninestudents who qualified to compete. To contend, studentssubmit an application which includes a detailed descriptionof and a timeline for their proposed projects, and have aninterview with the selection committee. Students’ academicachievements, leadership skills, service to the Universityand/or community at large and their service and participationin the Gussin Spiritan Division are all measured during theselection process. The Student of the Year for 2014-15 isMaximillian Heinauer.As of December 2015, 378 students who began their

educations as Spiritan Division students have receivedundergraduate degrees. The four-year graduation rate is63.3%.The Spiritan Division is the proud recipient of a second

endowment from Robert and Patricia Gussin, who establisheda $1,500,000 endowment in 2004. The new award is in theamount $1,750,000 in support of the Division’s new programwith the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota. The programcalls for the enrollment of one-to-two students each academicyear in the Spiritan Division. The students selected havehad a long-term relationship with the Boys and Girls Cluband meet the admission requirements of the University.The Michael P. Weber Learning Skills Center (LSC) offers

a wide-range of services to the University and Pittsburghcommunity. Over a 25 year period, the Center hasadministered five different community programs, three ofwhich are still in existence—the Project for AcademicCoaching through Tutoring (PACT), the Jerome Bettis BusStops Here Foundation/Duquesne University—LearningSkills Center partnership and the Summer Institute.Through PACT this spring semester, Spiritan Division

students were engaged in a service learning experience andtutored and mentored elementary, middle and high schoolstudents in on-campus Saturday and after school tutorialstwo evenings a week as well as within schools, churches,and agencies in the Pittsburgh area. Partnerships included St.

Rosalia School and four community agencies: the WesleyCenter: The Center that Cares in the Hill District, Mt. AraratBaptist Church in the East End of Pittsburgh and theAmmon Center. We served 30 students through ouron-campus phase of PACT this year.The Jerome Bettis Bus Stops Here Foundation partnership

is scheduled to begin its seventh year in September afterhaving taken a break in service this academic year.The Summer Institute is a one-week residential enrichment

program designed to expose high school students toDuquesne University and the world of higher education. Atotal of 245 students have completed the Summer Institute.This past summer the Institute enrolled its largest group of25. The students hailed from 20 different schools, themajority (5 of 25) attending Canon McMillan High Schoolfollowed by 2 from CAPA High School.The Center’s Act 101 Program is a higher education access

initiative that has been in existence at the University since1977, serving students who meet academic and economiccriteria established by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.The program served 171 Pennsylvania residents this pastacademic year.Tutoring is available in course subjects, as well as in subject

areas in which students anticipate enrollment but needadditional preparation before taking the courses. Tutoringis the Center’s most frequently requested service. Requestsduring 2014-2015 totaled 2,134. As usual, the subjectsrequested the most were science courses. Language Arts andcomputer science courses came in second and thirdrespectively in both fall and spring terms. Business andforeign languages were also requested on a regular basis.Outreach Opportunity Program (for Marginally Performing

Students) (OOPS) is a retention effort that has been inexistence since 1989. This program offers services to studentseach semester who receive deficiencies at mid-term and whohave semester and/or overall QPAs below 2.0. Duringacademic year 2014-2015, 1,764 contacts were made withUniversity students regarding low performance, of which161 students responded. At end of fall 2014, 88% of49 students who received D or F improved their grades.For academic year 2013-2014, 28% of students tutoredand/or counseled received 3.0 or higher QPA.Students enrolled in Strategies for Academic Success and

Introduction to University Success, experienced highperformance and retention, which are the focal points of thesecourses. During 2014-2015, students enrolled in Strategiesfor Academic Success earned an average QPA of 3.36 and94.3 % retention. Introduction to University Successstudents performed well with an average QPA of 3.43 and96.4% retention. And students enrolled in its counterpart,Seminar for New International Students, earned an averageQPA of 3.71 and a retention rate of 75%.

Documents

Spring 2015 Affairs in Rev iew - Duq