Tenure & Promotion to Associate Professor

• Cory Cummings, Social Work
• Courtney Forbes, Psychology
• Francesca Gentile, English & Communication
• Rupert Johnson, Communication Sciences & Disorders
• Bishal Karna, Religious Studies
• Heather Pyke, Communication Sciences & Disorders
• Devparna Roy, Sociology & Anthropology

Promotion

Professor

• Linda Riek, Physical Therapy
• Rose Hair, School of Business & Leadership
• Zhansui Yu, World Languages & Cultures

Clinical Associate Professor

• Season Bonino, Physical Therapy
• Deborah Forth, Nursing
• Tania Giorgis, Communication Sciences & Disorders
• Amy Pete, Physical Therapy
• Michael Rood, Social Work
• Lisa Sykes, Occupational Therapy

Senior Lecturer

• Trista Nilsson, English & Communication

• The Graduate Advisory Council and the Graduate Strategic Enrollment Management Committee have been meeting monthly to refine processes and work toward defining strategy for Graduate Studies. Updates from this area include centralized evening class locations for graduate students in spring, a new loyalty program at Millie’s that earns graduate students free coffee, and an updated process for graduate students seeking funding for co-curricular opportunities. The Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC) launched in Fall 2023. The following graduate students are representatives for this academic year: Amaya Barnes, Benjamin Davis, Kylee Ego-Walters, Zeba Ellikka, Chloe Fisher, and Maggie Vay. The GSAC serves the needs of graduate students by building and fostering a strong graduate community. The purpose of the GSAC is to represent all Nazareth University graduate students to the University administration with the mission to:
  • build and maintain a strong Nazareth graduate student community;
  • advocate for graduate student issues; and
  • work collaboratively with, and advise, college administration to improve the level of graduate studies.
  Graduate Student Appreciation Week will take place April 8–13. Many thanks to the offices around campus who will be offering celebratory activities, food, and swag giveaways!
• In collaboration with our CLASBE Dean, we’ve also created an internal advising tool for students and advisors to support the bridge between undergraduate and graduate studies at Naz.
• For all students, our Student Funding Opportunities website is now live. Please consult it as a resource to help students locate funding in the case of need, emergencies, or to support their ability to participate in all Nazareth has to offer.
• The new Center for Professional Learning, Innovation, & Creativity is here! Welcome to Susan Sturm, the Director of the Center for PLIC, who will oversee the Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) team, the Teaching Innovation and Integration Lab (TIIL) and professional learning opportunities for faculty at Nazareth. Look for the Center for PLIC monthly newsletter for workshops, training, and other learning opportunities focused on inclusive pedagogies, teaching and learning online, and innovative teaching practices.
• Welcome to our new Director of the Core Curriculum, Scott Campbell, whose work with the Core Curriculum Committee is now underway! They are moving forward on implementing the new DEIB Course Requirement. We now have 45 courses that have been approved!

English & Communication

• Mackenzie Reed '20 visited campus on Nov. 7 and read from her debut YA novel, The Rosewood Hunt (HarperCollins).
• University of Rochester professor Stephen Schottenfeld will visit campus on Nov. 16 to read from his latest novel, This Room is Made of Noise (U of Wisconsin Press).
• Two Comm majors are organizing a revival of the student newspaper after a pandemic hiatus.
• English major Katherine Oechsle has started an English/Comm Department book club.

History, Politics & Law

• Phillip Guingona just accepted a tenure track position as Assistant Professor of Asian History. He attended the NY Conference on Asian Studies as a board member and is expecting the release of his book with Cambridge UP (news to come) by the end of the semester.
• Timothy Kneeland recently returned from the UK as part of his efforts to continue building on his popular short-term Naz trip, "The 21st Century Museum: Diversity, Equity, and Community."
• On Oct 27, MAP majors Alyssa Burba and Alexis Tobin presented their exhibit on change-making women Sylvia Rivera & Iris Morales, for Latinx Heritage Month.
• HPL is currently running two faculty searches and has added several new course offerings for the upcoming semester.
• The Law and Politics Club just held a talk on the historical background of the Israel-Palestine conflict with the collaboration of Paul Spalletta, visiting professor.

Religious Studies

• Two new interdisciplinary minors, one in Spiritual Care and the other in DE&I and Interfaith, have recently been ushered into existence by Religious Studies faculty.

• A new Children’s Mental Health Clinic in the York Institute was launched last semester that incorporates existing play therapy services for young children and a new Youth Anxiety Center for older children. Grant funding is supporting specialty supervision and some student funding. Leanne Charlesworth (Social Work) and Steve Demanchick (Creative Arts Therapy) led development of these new programs.
• The first year of the AMPS Up grant, focused on expanding and diversifying the mental health workforce in schools, is supporting eight Naz graduate students in social work and art therapy who are now doing year-long practica in Greece schools. Project Director Erin Cole (Social Work) and Emily Genovese (Art Therapy) presented on the project at the NYS School Social Workers Association Conference this semester.
• The new graduate physician assistant program is in the initial application phase. Students are slated to begin in 2026.

• In the last two years, the College of Visual, Performing Arts & Design has welcomed top-notch faculty and staff. These amazing colleagues are dedicated to community-engaged teaching and learning and to fostering creative research, artistic development, and industry leadership in state-of-the-art facilities. We continue to develop forward-looking curriculum that enables our students to grow professionally, as innovating changemakers and global citizens. Among the additions to our diverse catalog of offerings are a Film & Media Scoring Advisement Track, a 4+1 Music Education Program, and an Inclusive Childhood Education option within the B.S. in Dance. In addition to the London Programs for Musical Theatre, other global engagement and bilateral academic agreements are being developed with partners in Poland and the Dominican Republic.

• The Well-Being Collective has launched and will begin a partnership with the JED Foundation in Spring 2024. As a recipient of the SAMHSA grant , this grant will help fund and recognize Nazareth as a JED Campus, a nationally recognized higher education program from the Jed Foundation (known as JED) that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults. JED will work with Nazareth to develop a customized strategic plan to build on existing strengths, and implement strategies that lead to improvements in mental health and a more connected community. The JED Campus Team will be a subcommittee of the Well-Being Collective, co-led by Sami Cohen, Kim Harvey, Cathy Rasmussen, and John Rigney, with faculty, staff, and student representatives.
• The campus-wide Wellness Fair was held Tuesday, April 2.
• Join us for a Golden Flyer Dialogue focused on Well-Being | Wednesday, April 17, 2024 from noon until 1 p.m. in the Shults Forum presented by the Well-Being Collective.
• Reimagined Student Leader roles. Recognizing the evolving landscape of student life and the goal to meet today’s learners, we have reimagined the traditional Resident Assistant and Peer Mentor roles for 2024-25.
• In Residential Life, we will introduce Community Assistants and Resource Assistants. These newly designed roles aim to provide more comprehensive support to our residential students within the halls. By restructuring the leadership positions, we seek to enhance the overall living experience, foster a stronger sense of community, and ensure that students have access to the resources they need to thrive academically, socially, and personally.
• Peer Leaders will serve as a point of connection beginning over the summer and throughout Fall Orientation and beyond by serving as a mentor to students through their ACS 101 or ACS 090 classroom experience. Peer Leaders will cultivate a sense of belonging and community among new students, fostering meaningful connections and friendships that extend beyond the classroom. By offering guidance on academic resources, extracurricular opportunities, and campus services, our Peer Leaders will equip incoming students with the tools and knowledge necessary to thrive both academically and personally.
• Orientation and First Year Experience. We are delighted to share with you the orientation schedule that promises to bring fresh energy and insight into the upcoming academic year. Your involvement and support are pivotal in ensuring a smooth transition for New to Naz students. Here's a glimpse into the exciting daily themes and sessions planned:

• Once sessions and presenters are confirmed a finalized version of the Orientation schedule will be posted on the New Student Website. Sessions denoted with the special icon provide an opportunity for multiple faculty-staff-student interactions. If you’d like to learn more about these opportunities, please email Nicole Juersivich.

Center for International Education (CIE)

• CIE is pleased to report that outbound study abroad programming is operating at full strength in FY2024! Traditional semester-long study abroad offerings are underway, with students studying with our partner universities in Australia, England, Finland, France, Scotland, and Spain in the fall, and Austria, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand this spring. We are offering 15 short-term international experiences this year. These programs run over Winter Break, Summer A and Summer B, and include destinations in both the Global North and the Global South. Nazareth students have or will travel to Austria, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. All program rosters are at full capacity with the exception of Spain.
• Our inbound international student community hails from 13 countries and study at Nazareth as exchange students or enroll as fully matriculated students seeking degrees. We are very excited to see these numbers grow again, for it represents a return to normalcy for the CIE.

Weider Community Engagement Office

• Credit-Bearing Community Engaged Learning: The Credit-Bearing Community Engaged Learning Advisory Team is pleased to announce the recipients of the latest round of Community Engaged Learning Exploration and Implementation Grants. These exciting new initiatives should benefit Nazareth students and faculty and their community partners for years to come. Exploration grants will be awarded to support the following projects:
  • Shelly Kuzniarek (Art and Design) will explore developing a partnership with a local organization through which her students in either AVCD352: Typography II or AVCD251: Graphic Design II can work with community partners to develop printed visual communication that aims to inform, educate, and improve the lives of under-represented communities.
  • Stephanie Zamule (Biology) will explore developing a partnership with the City of Rochester’s community garden development program, through which her students in BIO 320/320L: Analysis and Remediation of Environmental Problems can work with community members to test for lead and other heavy metals and recommend the safest places for growing produce.
  An Implementation grant will be awarded to support the following project:
• Lisa Sykes (Occupational Therapy) will implement a partnership with Rochester Childfirst Network and expand her partnership with Nativity Prep through which students in OTR204: Occupational Science will collaborate with community partners to develop programs for children that facilitate fine, gross, and sensory motor development as well as social participation.
• We will conduct another round of grant review early in the spring semester. As a reminder, the request for proposals is available here. We are pleased to note that several grantees thus far have benefited from the TIIL's CEL Essentials course for faculty and teaching staff, and we encourage you to watch for future opportunities to engage there as well.

Academic Advisement

• 120 Day was held on Tuesday, March 5, and students stopped by our table in the Shults Center to learn about their degree progress and talk to an advisor about their degree audit!
• The Master Advisor program was offered on Friday, March 1. Anyone who was unable to attend but is interested in the material can participate in the Moodle version of Master Advisor. Another session will also be offered in the fall!
• Please reach out to Mary Anne Parker-Hancock (or any of the advisors in Academic Advisement) for support or with questions during UG advisement for Fall 2024, which will be occurring between March 28 and April 18.
• Remember that the last day for students to elect pass/fail grading or drop a course is coming up on Monday, April 8, so you may be receiving requests for this from your advisees.

Student Success

• We will be reaching out to all students with 3 or more low (C- or below) midterm grades, encouraging them to take advantage of resources. Please continue to raise FlyerSuccess flags when a student's performance is of concern so we can do additional follow-up.
• Nazareth University was recently named to the 2023 Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges list.
• Our Social Coaching program has launched! Please refer any student whom you feel needs some social support or assistance finding their Naz community to our office!
• Testing Center Update: As a reminder, we are not able to support make-up exams for students who are not connected to SAS as the testing center is only for students with an approved accommodation.
• ReadSpeaker (Text-to-Speech) is now live in Moodle! Please enable it on your quizzes/ exams and contact TLT or SAS for support.

• We have been able to expand access to our Tableau Online instance to department chairs and program directors. Weekly Tableau Office Hours will be held on the dates below; all Tableau users are welcome. Bring your questions, suggestions, and curiosity! Unless otherwise specified, office hours are virtual on Zoom.
• Friday, 12 April, 1–2 p.m., virtual
• Wednesday, 17 April, 1–2 p.m., GTC Conference room
• Thursday, 25 April, 10:30–11:30 a.m., virtual
• Wednesday, 1 May, 11 a.m.–noon, virtual
• Monday, 6 May, 11 a.m.–noon, virtual
• Wednesday, 15 May, 1–2 p.m., GTC Conference room