The College has more than 75 different study abroad programs.

Marist continues to offer among the strongest study abroad options in the country, with its full academic year study abroad program ranking No. 1 in the nation in participation among US master’s degree-granting institutions, according to the latest Open Doors report for the 2020–2021 academic year. Marist also ranked among the top 10 institutions in the country for its semester-length abroad program (5th), total number of students abroad (5th), and overall study abroad participation (9th).The report is published by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with the US Department of State.A global education is a foundation of the Marist learning experience, which is why the College has more than 75 different study abroad programs including semester-long, full academic year, and short-term study abroad time frames designed to enable students to stay on track with their studies while giving them access to rich cultural experiences.In addition, the Marist Italy campus in Florence offers bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in partnership with one of the most established and innovative educators in Florence, Italy, Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici. The Marist Italy experience has become one of the College’s most distinctive offerings and draws interest from students around the world.“Study abroad has become a signature aspect of the Marist experience, with about half of our students studying abroad prior to graduation in recent years, which is nearly five times the national average,” said Dr. John Peters, dean of International Programs at Marist. “Navigating a new context and culture is often cited by students as pivotal and transformative. Our students have these incredible opportunities to learn about themselves and the complexity and diversity of our shared story through international and intercultural exploration.”The latest rankings for Marist’s study abroad program came less than a year after the program received the Senator Paul Simon Award for its freshman year abroad programs in Italy and Ireland. The award is one of the most prestigious a college or university can receive for excellence in international programs.

29 Mar 2023

Professor of History David Woolner has received the 2023-2024 Fulbright Danish Distinguished Scholar Award in American Studies

Marist College Professor of History David Woolner has received the 2023-2024 Fulbright Danish Distinguished Scholar Award in American Studies. 

11 Apr 2023

Alumni survey responses were key to identifying priorities.

A committee representing all members of the Marist College community is developing a new strategic plan for the College.“This plan will serve as the blueprint for Marist’s future,” said Marist President Kevin C. Weinman, “building upon all that this incredible institution has accomplished to date while charting a bold and ambitious vision for its future.”Weinman announced the kickoff of the strategic plan process in a May memo to Marist staff. He said his goal is to provide a proposal to the College’s Board of Trustees for their review and approval at the board’s May 2023 meeting.The initiative is being led by a steering committee made up of deans, faculty members, staff members, and Student Government Association president Gabriel Borbon ’23. Co-chairing the committee are Dr. James Snyder, dean for academic engagement and associate professor of philosophy, and Dr. Emily Saland, vice president of strategic initiatives and chief of staff.One of the committee’s first tasks is to assess the impact and outcomes of Marist’s 2018–2023 strategic plan. The committee also is seeking input for the new plan from all facets of the College community—faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends.For updates on the new strategic plan, visit https://www.marist.edu/strategic-plan-2023

25 Oct 2022

Marist Announces First Senior Leadership Position Dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Following a national search, Marist College announced the appointment of Dr. Edward P. Antonio to the newly created position of vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Antonio brings nearly 20 years of advanced DEI experience to Marist, having served most recently as chief diversity officer at Concordia College in Minnesota. He also has 25 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate students at universities in Europe, Africa, and the US. At Marist, he is leading the inaugural office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, partnering with President Kevin Weinman, his colleagues on the President’s Cabinet, and faculty and staff across the campus to develop a strategic direction for DEI initiatives, build community, establish a system of accountability, and develop resources to support diversity initiatives.“We must continue to make progress towards the College’s goal of becoming a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable institution,” said Weinman. “While this work is the responsibility of each and every member of our community, it also requires vision and coordination by skilled leaders. Dr. Antonio has a proven track record as a DEI strategist and has implemented initiatives at other academic institutions with great success. I look forward to working closely with him to achieve similar successes here at Marist.”“I am excited to be joining Marist at this pivotal moment in its history,” said Antonio. “What is especially exciting about the role of the vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Marist are the many opportunities it provides to motivate and galvanize the College for good, transformative change.”Antonio had served at Concordia College since 2017, where he created DEI training and educational programs to support faculty and staff in their work with students. He also helped to create a yearlong Inclusive Teaching and Diversity Leadership Certificate program for faculty and staff and provided training to academic departments on implicit bias and belonging. In partnership with campus leaders, he also created and secured various scholarship programs for students from marginalized communities.In addition, Antonio supported and consolidated LGBTQ+-related work at Concordia, overseeing a program designed to empower students to develop empathy and understanding of difference through storytelling. He participated in the creation of the Bias Incident Response Team and chaired the Diversity Council.Prior to his time at Concordia, Antonio served as associate dean of diversities at Iliff School of Theology in Colorado. There, he created the Office of Diversity and played a lead role in the strategic planning process. He worked to ensure that DEI was embedded in the curriculum, directed the Social Justice Program, and coordinated one of Iliff’s signature programs on identity, power, and difference. He was also responsible for creating and overseeing the Title IX office.Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at MaristMarist’s commitment to DEI and social justice is reflected in initiatives such as the Marist College Diversity Leadership Institute and the Marist Center for Social Justice Research. Antonio will build on these initiatives while also creating new opportunities. As a member of the President’s Cabinet and a visible presence on campus, he will also have a strong voice in all institutional initiatives and priorities.“The College community is already doing important social justice work toward equity, diversity, and inclusion,” said Antonio. “My work and leadership at Marist will be informed by the values of equity, inclusion, and belonging. I will work with all stakeholders, with all members of the College community to embed these values in everything that Marist is about and in all its structures, policies, procedures, practices, and relationships. I know that students, staff, and faculty are ready to go beyond diversity to the next phase, to become a more deeply welcoming and inclusive college with a strong culture of belonging, an actively anti-racist culture, and a shared equity mindset. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead and guide this essential work.”

15 Oct 2022

Three Marist College professors within the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences have received prestigious Spencer Education Grants to enhance their research focused on social justice and equity.

Dr. Carol Rinke and Dr. Christina Wright Fields together have been awarded a Spencer Education Grant to conduct their research entitled The Storied Experiences of Teachers of Color through Photovoice. Dr. Vanessa Lynn also received the grant to study the undergraduate education and faculty experience of criminology and criminal justice programs and the curriculum surrounding race. Lynn’s research is entitled Race Pedagogies in Criminal Justice/Criminology.Rinke, who is assistant dean for the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and associate professor of education, and Wright Fields, assistant professor of education, are partnering with researchers from Rutgers University-Newark, including Rinke’s prior research partner, Dr. Lynnette Mawhinney.This work will continue and extend Rinke and Mawhinney’s co-authored book, There Has to be a Better Way: Lessons from Former Urban Teachers, which was released in 2019. “In previous research, we found that teachers of color were subject to microaggressions in many educational workspaces. This project is an effort to dig deeper into the particular experiences of teachers of color in P-12 schools, using their own perspectives to shape counter-narratives of schooling,” said Rinke.The research will utilize the Photovoice methodology in partnership with three groups of 20 educators to capture their experiences with visual findings. This methodology allows research participants to capture their everyday realities and visually provide valuable insights and data to the investigators.“We selected this methodology and applied it to P-12 teachers because we valued the way it encouraged participants to capture their own realities, rather than an outside researcher doing so on their behalf — we found it to be an empowering approach,” said Rinke.The motivation for this research stems from the frequent experiences of educators challenged by a system that is resistant to change and adaptability, leading to increased turnover within the profession. Rinke, Wright Fields, and the researchers at Rutgers University-Newark aim to understand the disillusionment for educators of color. “This project is an effort to engage directly with teachers, understand what may be some sources of this disillusionment for teachers of color in particular, and engage educators in a collective effort to challenge those experiences,” said Rinke. Dr. Vanessa Lynn, assistant professor of criminal justice, alongside researchers at Idaho State University, will conduct research over the next three years on how faculty learned how to discuss race in Criminal Justice and Criminology courses. “Our study aims to examine how the educational experiences of faculty who teach in criminology and criminal justice programs shape the pedagogical practices related to race within their classes,” said Lynn.Lynn, along with Dr. Deirdre Caputo-Levine of Idaho State University, will interview faculty across the nation and examine professors' syllabi in undergraduate-level courses. “Our study will allow us to investigate the relationship between graduate school experiences and the ways that faculty members construct race as an object of knowledge within courses in criminology and criminal justice programs,” said Lynn.In her research, Lynn hopes to understand how academic departments educate on bias within the criminal justice system.With three faculty members being awarded grants from the Spencer Education Research Foundation across two different studies, Rinke highlights the importance of their social justice and equity focus.“It’s quite significant that three faculty members from within Social and Behavioral Sciences have been awarded grants from the Spencer Educational Research Foundation for projects focused on issues of social justice and equity,” said Rinke. “The long-standing efforts of our faculty to engage with the local community around topics of mutual importance are now being recognized externally and supported in their application and expansion.”

09 Oct 2022

A National Institutes of Health grant will offer Marist students the opportunity to complete 10-week lab-based research experiences over three summers.

Marist has received a $346,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the chromatin-mediated maintenance of genomic integrity in germ lines.Associate Professor of Chemistry Elisa Woolridge is leading a team comprised of Associate Professor of Biology Megan Dennis; part-time Marist faculty member Dr. Paula Checchi; Dr. Teresa Lee, assistant professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts–Lowell; and Dr. Gordon Lithgow, director of interdisciplinary research at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California.Through this grant, Marist students have the opportunity to complete 10-week research experiences over three summers in the laboratories of Drs. Lee and Lithgow. In addition, Marist students will benefit from the development and implementation of course-based undergraduate research experiences within several of Marist’s biology laboratories. The work is anticipated to provide insight into the causes of human reproductive disorders and will generate findings that inform therapeutic strategies for infertility.

07 Oct 2022

The National Science Foundation support will allow students to focus on academic success and improve performance in gateway STEM courses as they pursue undergraduate degrees in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, or environmental science.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Marist’s School of Science a $1,480,254 grant to support high-achieving low-income students in STEM majors. Eleven freshmen, majoring in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and environmental science, started their journey as scholars in the program this fall.The project, entitled "Gateway to Success: Combining Financial, Academic, and Psychosocial Supports to Promote Academic Success of Low-Income STEM Majors," was spearheaded by Dean of the Marist School of Science Alicia Slater and Associate Dean Neil Fitzgerald. School of Science Associate Dean Neil Fitzgerald. Photo: Carlo de Jesus/Marist College.“This grant is a major milestone for the School of Science and a valuable tool in our efforts to help all students reach their full potential,” said Slater. “It is our hope that theprograms we begin for the S-STEM scholars will promote the academic success of alllow-income students in the future.”The overall goal of the project is to increase STEM degree completion among high-achieving undergraduates with significant financial need. In particular, the project willallow students to focus on academic success and improve student performance in gateway STEM courses. It includes strong mentoring and career planning support while fostering a sense of belonging to both the campus and community and adding to the professional formation of students’ science identities.“Expanding educational opportunity is one of our very highest priorities,” said Marist President Kevin Weinman. “This grant increases Marist’s ability to attract, enroll, and retain a diverse group of talented students regardless of their financial circumstances, and we are grateful to the NSF for recognizing the importance of this work.”Over its six-year duration, this project will cover all billable charges for a total of up to 23 full-time students or “S-STEM scholars” pursuing undergraduate degrees in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, or environmental science as well as a laptop and research and travel funding. Students will participate in a funded summer bridge program, take gateway classes as a cohort, reside in a living–learning community, have dedicated faculty advisors, and receive experiential and employment opportunities to reduce financial need and provide valuable discipline-based experience.All S-STEM scholars will also take Marist’s liberal arts core, reflecting Marist’s mission of developing well-rounded students.

01 Oct 2022

Marist students won 3 of 26 scholarships available across the US from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Three Marist fashion students were honored this past fall with design scholarship awards from the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). The winners, Allissa Divak ’23, Marina Matozzo ’23, and Tara Sears ’23, earned 3 of a total of 26 CFDA scholarships available across the country. The awards are $25,000 scholarships, funded by sponsors, for undergraduate juniors and first-year graduate students graduating in 2023 who are enrolled in a fashion design program at an American college or university.

30 Mar 2023

A Fulbright grant will allow biomedical sciences major Shivani Patel ’22 to pursue her commitment to improving palliative care in the United States by supporting research on unique models of such care in India.

Shivani Patel ’22 has been selected as a 2022–2023 Fulbright US student grant recipient, giving her an opportunity to study youth volunteerism within the palliative care sector in India. Palliative care is a form of preventative medicine that utilizes a holistic, individualized approach to improve the quality of life by relieving suffering.Patel began her grant period in Kolkata, West Bengal, attending healthcare management research seminars. There she also volunteered at Nirmal Hriday, Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying Destitutes, in Kalighat, Kolkata. She spent time with the female patients, caring for their wounds, feeding them and performing chores for them. Then she moved to the Institute of Palliative Medicine in Kozhikode, Kerala, where she has been observing patient care and taking part in workshops and courses.Patel, who majored in biomedical sciences degree and minored in chemistry, was a huge part of the campus community both on and off-campus during her time at Marist. As a first-generation student, she says she was always service-oriented because it was a great way for her to learn about the world and develop her own passions. Her activities have included serving as a hospice volunteer in her hometown of Danbury, CT.She was involved in a number of extracurricular activities on campus, most notably with one of Marist’s largest student fundraising endeavors, “Hudson Rally for St. Jude,” for which she served as executive director during her senior year. This work contributed to Marist being recognized by St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital as a top recruiting and fundraising college. She also was involved in Marist’s Upward Bound program.Following her Fulbright grant year and future studies, she plans to become a pediatrician.“My experiences at Marist have deepened my commitment to pursuing a career in medicine,” she said. “For me, engaging with my community has always been a reciprocal, moving experience of learning, growing, and giving back. As an aspiring pediatrician, it would be a privilege to nourish a positive outlook on healthcare amongst families and children in my community.”Marist has been recognized by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs four times over the past 10 years as a High Producing Institution for US Fulbright Student Grants.The Fulbright Program is primarily funded through an annual appropriation made by the US Congress to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. More than 2,200 US students and more than 900 US college and university faculty and administrators are awarded Fulbright grants annually. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet members, CEOs, and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers.

03 Oct 2022

The Marist Institute for Public Opinion has brought Marist College distinction around the world. And the institute’s renown is a combination of reputation and education.

The Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College prides itself on opening doors for students. From the classroom to the collection of data on national issues, it’s the student workers who power the Marist Poll.Founded in 1978, the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, commonly referred to as the Marist College Poll or MIPO, was the first college-based research center to include undergraduates in conducting survey research. Today thousands of Marist students have participated in polling, workshops, courses and seminars, field trips, and internships. “Over the more than 40 years since the Marist Poll first started measuring public opinion, we have changed our technology many times as the Poll gained recognition for its accuracy and newsworthiness,” said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, the Poll’s founder and director. But the formula has always stayed the same. If the idea is something I would have liked to pursue as an undergraduate, then we find a way to make it happen at Marist.”Dr. Lee M. MiringoffAlong the way MIPO has become one of the top polling institutes in the country. Its polls are cited by news media worldwide and it received top grades from website FiveThirtyEight, which specializes in opinion poll analysis. The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll was one of five polls used by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates to determine eligibility for the 2020 general election presidential and vice presidential debates. To be chosen, a poll had to meet three requirements: reliable frequency of polling and sample size employed, methodological rigor, and the survey’s longevity and reputation. The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll was the only college-based survey to be included in the group of qualifying polls. The other four were the ABC/Washington Post Poll, CNN Poll, Fox News Poll, and the NBC/Wall Street Journal.“It’s really exciting,” said Amelia Morel ’21, a MIPO worker and alumna now working at NY1 News in New York City. “It’s cool to see that people are recognizing our work.”MIPO’s students are its backbone. The undergraduate workforce’s main contributions are interviews that provide the Poll’s results, but it contributes much more. Just about every aspect of the Marist Poll — from its polling to its media platforms to its data analysis — involves students.Engaging students in the Marist Poll has been a key objective since its inception. The idea for a polling institute at Marist was born out of a classroom activity that Miringoff designed when he was teaching in the fall of 1978. He guided 100 students in conducting an exit poll in Dutchess County, where Marist is located, tallying the responses by hand. “I think what makes the Marist Poll unique from any other poll, even polls that are at other colleges and universities, is the Marist Poll has always been an educational vehicle for the students at Marist College,” said Dr. Barbara Carvalho ’79, the director of the Marist Poll. Barbara Carvalho '79Every student starts as an interviewer who makes phone calls and collects the responses. They read carefully worded questions and click the answer that the respondent gives on a computer screen. Interviewers can be promoted to the managerial position of coach or head coach, who assists interviewers and works with administrators as well. The work is done in teams: one head coach, one or two coaches, and 10 to 12 interviewers. There are other positions beyond the polling side of the MIPO operation that upperclassmen can fill including field assistant, media assistant, podcast production assistant, and many more. Students from various disciplines see the Marist Poll as a workplace that’s appropriate for their field of study. The job appealed to Morel and Victoria Howard ’21 — both political science majors, and the former graduated with a double-major in poli sci and journalism — because it offered a chance to work in areas relevant to their studies. Michelle Maloney ’22, who is studying cyber security, simply saw MIPO as an interesting part-time job opportunity. Hannah Kirk ’20 who now manages the survey center started working with the Marist Poll two weeks into freshman year at Marist because the job is an easy one to secure. “It’s pretty much a guaranteed job as long as you go through all the training processes and you take it seriously,” she said.“I definitely love the job because of how many people I get to talk to, which started out as mostly me interviewing people,” Howard said. “I liked talking to constituents. But then, growing from there, being a coach, you get to interact with other students and help them complete their calls.”Working with the Marist Poll offers plenty of exciting opportunities, such as election-related events and field trips. In their most recent trip, students traveled to the New Hampshire primaries in February of 2020. “We got to see one of the debates in New Hampshire, we went to several rallies for presidential candidates, we got to be in the audience for Meet the Press with Chuck Todd. That was really cool,” Morel said. “It was like being a reporter and following the New Hampshire primary. That was such a unique experience.”Just a month after the trip, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an overhaul of MIPO’s operation. Until the pandemic, rows of students would make calls in MIPO’s survey center, located on the third floor of the Hancock Center, gathering answers from respondents nationwide. In mid-March, when the pandemic led New York State to order the closure of most of its organizations, including all colleges and universities, MIPO implemented a polling system that allowed Marist students to conduct telephone polling from their homes. More than 200 students participated in virtual polling during the 2020 spring semester. In several regards, it actually made the job easier. “It’s hard to find anything positive to say about a pandemic but what it did was it broke down the walls, figuratively, in Hancock where we had a fixed number of workstations,” Miringoff said. The new software allows them to deploy double the number of interviewers, which allows them to run polls more frequently. Carvalho said that students didn’t have any trouble switching to an online workplace. It was one thing that actually kept everyone all connected.During the fall 2020 semester, the Marist Poll continued to use a remote polling setup in addition to its on-premises operations. Similarly, the Poll continued to record Poll Hub, its weekly podcast, coordinating with students remotely.Students participated in polls done in collaboration with the Marist Poll’s longstanding national polling partners NPR and the PBS NewsHour, monitoring public opinion on a range of issues. The Poll teamed up with its battleground-state polling partner, NBC News, to conduct eight polls on the presidential contest in the most competitive electoral states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.The pandemic also created the right environment to create an internship program, College 2 Career. “The C2C program developed during the height of the pandemic,” said Mary Griffith, director of media initiatives and polling news. “We recognized a need for Marist students who may be missing out on the opportunity to experience an internship because of the situation and the circumstances in which we were all living.” C2C has two tracks: the news/marketing side, which combines social media content creation, public relations, and marketing, and the data/project-managing side, which involves statistical analysis and polling. In spring 2021, the Marist Poll welcomed 12 C2C student interns from a variety of majors.With so many avenues for learning, MIPO clearly is dedicated to the student experience first. The latest expansion of the Marist Poll is a pre-college program that launched this summer. Students enrolling at Marist can take a three-week course called “Data Science for Polling and Political Communication” that features lessons about the purpose/impact of polling, the actual experience of conducting a poll, and creating social media content. In the course of fulfilling its academic mission to educate, MIPO has raised awareness of Marist College enormously. According to the media monitoring service Meltwater, the Marist Poll generated an ad equivalency of more than $743 million in 2020.But at MIPO, name recognition and stature are not the main sources of motivation. Six of the nine Marist Poll administrators attended the College, and their goal is to offer an educational experience for their fellow Red Foxes. Howard says that recruiters have noticed the Marist Poll on her résumé and asked about her experience with it. “I think being a poli sci major from Marist and working four years at the Marist Poll shows that it wasn’t just a major,” she said.Kirk said MIPO offers students valuable communication skills. The unique nature of the job — talking with strangers over the phone seeking information and opinions from them — can be a trial by fire at first but still helps students learn.“I think it helps students know how to properly phrase questions and how to speak professionally,” she said. “That’s something that I’ve noticed — a lot of students don’t necessarily have those skills, which is totally understandable if you’ve never had an internship or a job before. But being able to be the first step for a lot of students in the professional atmosphere…is a great resource that the Marist Poll offers.”Revamped and Ready: The Marist Poll’s Client ServicesThe Marist Institute for Public Opinion may be best-known for its public opinion polling, but there’s another, equally as important dimension to the Institute — its Client Services division.The Marist Poll has conducted proprietary research for several of the world’s most influential businesses and organizations for decades. Building on that longstanding history, the Marist Poll recently enhanced its client services offerings in the wake of a global pandemic. From a new high-tech remote survey center to expanded products and services (including Marist Poll Open Surveys which provide cost-sharing benefits to clients), virtual focus groups, online surveys, and consulting services, the Marist Poll is well-equipped to fulfill the needs of clients in need of high-quality, scientific-based research that will provide the crucial insights needed to make key business and organizational decisions.  The revitalized client services arm of the Poll was a silver lining as the survey research industry and the world, at large, grappled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through hard work and innovative thinking, the Marist Poll team addressed those challenges head on and crafted new opportunities. “The coronavirus pandemic led us to reevaluate the way we operate and the types of products and services we offer to our clients,” said Mike Conte, director of data analysis at the Poll. “In adapting to the increasingly virtual work environment, we focused on developing our product and service offerings to ensure that we remain a strong presence in the research field and continue to grow and evolve as a premier research organization for years to come.” The Marist Poll’s Client Services division has collaborated with leaders in the world of business, including IBM, Marriott, Yum! Brands, and the Children’s Health Fund.  p { overflow-wrap: normal; }

Moss and Terrence Echols ’21 Also Selected for Unique Mentorship Program

Kaylin Moss ’21 has received the 2021 Generation Google Scholarship, a Google-sponsored program. She is one of 42 college students nationwide to win the award. Moss is majoring in computer science with a concentration in software development.The Generation Google Scholarship was established to help aspiring students pursuing computer science degrees excel in technology and become leaders in the field, according to buildyourfuture.withgoogle.com. Selected students receive $10,000 USD (for those studying in the US) or $5,000 CAD (for those studying in Canada) for the 2021–2022 school year. The scholarship is awarded based on the strength of each candidate's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, demonstrated leadership, and academic performance.Moss was also one of two Marist students selected for the inaugural Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship Program. Moss and Terrence Echols ’21 each received a $1,500 scholarship from Resorts World Casino.Following a competitive application process, Echols and Moss were selected to enroll in the mentorship program sponsored by Resorts World Casino.They were two of 10 college students who earned the opportunity to participate in the intensive six-week virtual mentorship program to hear from prominent authors and speakers from all over the nation.The lecture series is based on Marc Morial’s book The Gumbo Coalition: 10 Leadership Lessons That Help You Inspire, Unite, and Achieve. Students in the program read chapters of the book and participated in virtual discussions with other leaders on the topics and lessons contained in the chapters.“Throughout history, effective leadership has guided us through the most challenging times,” said Michelle Stoddart, vice president of community development at Resorts World New York. “Now more than ever, a new generation of students must be equipped to lead boldly in the face of the medical, political, and environmental challenges we face as a country. By teaming up with the renowned civic leader and former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial, Resorts World is proud to present the Gumbo Coalition University, a virtual platform that will shape the leaders of tomorrow.”Morial, who was mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002, is president and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization. Both Marist students learned about the Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship Program from Desmond Murray, associate director for the employer experience in the Marist College Center for Career Services. Their applications included an essay discussing their professional experience and career-related goals. Candidates who advanced to the next round were invited to meet virtually with the program’s speakers and talk about what leadership meant to them.Echols majored in communications with a concentration in public relations/advertising and has already begun graduate work in Marist’s five-year dual degree program in integrated marketing communication. He was a student-athlete on the men’s basketball team and a senior researcher in Marist’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation. As an AAF member, he wrote copy and helped prepare presentations with his group for the National Student Advertising Competition. “Collaborating with everyone using online platforms like Zoom, FaceTime, and Google Meet has really helped me get comfortable having meaningful conversations in a virtual environment,” Echols said.He mentioned how joining the Marist Radio Club as a freshman inspired him to create his own podcast, which has helped him articulate his thoughts and ideas on a variety of topics. This summer he is interning with Galaxy Media, a multidimensional media company that services clients in Syracuse, NY. He has thought about owning his own advertising agency one day but definitely aspires to a leadership role in marketing or public relations. He said participating in the Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship Program aligned with these goals.“I’m learning how I can be someone who others look to for guidance, and that’s inspiring.”Moss participated in the Marist/IBM Joint Study program for one year and completed a virtual internship with IBM in the summer of 2020. “The joint study exposed me to a lot of public speaking roles and presentations,” she said. “So I felt like I had a lot to draw on from that experience when applying for the (Gumbo Coalition University Mentorship) program.”In October 2020 Moss founded a chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) at Marist. The honor society’s main goal is to create an inclusive community for Black students and other students who are interested in pursuing opportunities in technology, engineering, and other sciences. In addition, Moss was recently named the winner of the health technology company Zillion’s Women in STEM Scholarship. She was chosen for her commitment to learning, perseverance, and advocacy for women in science. Moss sees computer science as an industry where she can hone her artistic talents.“In my career, I want to focus on things like software development, web design, user interfaces, and anything else that creates new digital experiences.” 

The College offers students the opportunity to study all around the globe or spend freshman year in Florence or Dublin.

Marist College was recently ranked second in semester-length study abroad and academic-year study abroad programs for master’s level colleges and universities in the latest Open Doors report, a U.S. Department of State-sponsored report, for the 2019–2020 academic year. Rooted in the ideals of the Marist Brothers, a global education has always been at the heart of Marist’s culture and curriculum. The College offers students the opportunity to study all around the globe as well as at Marist’s Florence campus in Italy. First-year students have unique year-long opportunities to study through the Freshman Florence Experience and the Freshman Dublin Experience. Living, studying, and exploring in the heart of the Renaissance, students in the Freshman Florence Experience spend their entire first year in Florence, Italy. Or Marist freshmen can spend their first year exploring the cultural history of Dublin, Ireland.Semester, Faculty-Led Short-Term, and Summer Programs With a global education being a foundation at Marist, the College offers 75+ study abroad programs, enabling students to stay on track in their studies while expanding their cultural experience. A range of semester-long, academic year, and short-term study abroad opportunities allow students to customize an experience to best fit their interests. With no academic restrictions, every major — including sciences and technology — offers the opportunity to gain a cultural perspective.Dr. John Peters, dean of international programs, finds that students who have the opportunity to study abroad are exposed to new experiences that allow them to grow as students and professionals. “International and intercultural engagement is a signature aspect of the Marist experience, and an important part of this is our abroad program. Through study abroad, our students not only experience new horizons but also reexamine the familiar through a new lens,” said Peters. “Learning to successfully negotiate and thrive in unfamiliar cultures and environments helps students to develop many of the skills we seek to foster as educators, including flexibility, problem-solving, and global competency.”Marist was also highlighted in other rankings in the Open Doors report. The College was ranked second in the number of students participating in study abroad, up from ninth in 2019. Additionally, with 46 percent of students participating in study abroad opportunities, Marist ranked seventh for undergraduate students participating in study abroad. Organized and distributed by the Institute of International Education, Open Doors is a comprehensive resource that examines data on U.S. students studying abroad for credit at their home institutions. The report is released annually. 

06 Jan 2022

On Saturday, May 22, the sidewalk along the Marist riverfront popped with a blue, orange, purple, and yellow covering, each color taking up a roughly 20-foot strip of the carpet that stretched from the Marist Boathouse to the very end of the walkway.

On Saturday, May 22, the sidewalk along the Marist riverfront popped with a blue, orange, purple, and yellow covering, each color taking up a roughly 20-foot strip of the carpet that stretched from the Marist Boathouse to the very end of the walkway. The light posts were decorated with streamers matching the corresponding color on the ground. Folding chairs were set up six feet apart alongside the grass, facing the river. Marist students lined up inside the boathouse, flaunting the creations by their classmates, ready to walk the runway for the 35th annual Silver Needle Runway Show. “Open your eyes past the distorted lenses you have built,” a voice implored through the speakers placed behind the audience before the models began their strut. “Liberate your mind to the world beyond your perspective. Now, what will you see?”The producers of the SNR show had been asking themselves that question for roughly a year. Bringing the show back to an in-person spectacle took exhaustive planning. After SNR 34 had to transition to a completely online venture because of the pandemic, this year’s edition of the Marist Fashion Program’s annual show looked, unlike any show before it. It was outside. There was a virtual show in addition to the in-person one. It was an entirely student-produced show, save for the efforts of Faculty Director Juan-Manuel Olivera-Silvera. Several factors changed in the show’s production that made it happen. The most impactful change was the omittance of outside help. Due to a crunched budget and social distancing guidelines to follow, there was no outside production company or experienced professional model corps at the SNR team’s disposal, unlike in years past. The production team had to make do with the resources they had. Olivera-Silvera — who is a senior professional lecturer of fashion and the Fashion Program’s internship coordinator in addition to being the SNR faculty director — wants SNR to be a “laboratory of innovation” for his students. They had to make the laboratory look different this year, but still, the experimentation produced results that the team was proud of.The student production team for this 35th edition of SNR was formed shortly after the virtual 2020 show. They started meeting on Zoom to get to know each other before working more with the show during the school year. Creative Director Ariana Pittelli ’21 took the reins on the “aesthetic visual” — the color palette and story that created the theme they wanted to express. Production Directors Kennedi Hudnut ’21 and Elizabeth Knight ’21 organized three sub-teams: model, wardrobe, and logistics. All in all, more than 30 students came together to tackle the production aspect of the show.The 18 designers, all of whom were seniors, created their outfits with the theme SNR35: illusion in mind. “Our whole goal is to give a deeper message about how your perspective is similar and we all see the world differently, but we need to recognize that and try to undo some of the walls we’ve built,” Pittelli said. Since working around the coronavirus pandemic was the theme of last year’s show, they wanted to do something different while still providing a meaningful, relevant message. “We thought a lot about the societal issues going on, like Black Lives Matter, and all the prejudice in our world,” Pittelli said. “We wanted the show to be a chance to recognize that and give people the message of, ‘We need to undo this illusion.’ ” Designer Jenna Mitarotonda took inspiration from traditional Scottish clothing by incorporating plaid designs and shades of red and light brown into all her designs. Her collection featured skirt-like shapes with baggy sleeves and black boots. She started designing the collection in the fall. Sketching the idea is the first part, followed by draping — taking pieces of fabrics and applying them on a dress form — and then making the actual garments, some of which were scrapped or redone. “I would say this whole design process is trial and error because you learn from your mistakes, or sometimes mistakes are actually really successful,” Mitarotonda said.The trial-and-error nature of collection designing is the same across the board, but the actual steps are not. Designer Natalie Ford is not a fan of draping. Instead, she focused on pattern making, which she took a class in and developed a knack for. She found inspiration in grocery stores, an idea she had had since freshman year. Her collection featured two ensembles with bright colors reminiscent of candy and one dress depicting waffles, accessorized by a round handbag with a waffle design and golden-brown color. Chloe Goldstein’s collection took inspiration from Morocco, which she visited for a few days while studying abroad in Italy in the fall of 2019. She utilized her line of handmade macrame bags in her pieces. Her collection focused on sustainability. She omitted the use of non-natural fibers and toxic dyes and sourced everything from small vendors. It took more time, research, and connecting with small businesses to make her collection, but for her, it was well worth the effort to make it more eco-friendly. The models for the show were all students. Hailey Keenan, a sophomore majoring in fashion merchandising, was selected as a model for Jenna Mitarotonda’s collection. Her only experience modeling had been for a capping project last year. She sent an audition video and auditioned in person before being selected to model Mitarotonda’s collection. Keenan and two other models met with Mitarotonda a week before the show for fitting. Production Director Kennedi Hudnut said that the team working out the logistics themselves and having only fellow students at their disposal involved a big learning curve. They didn’t realize the entirety of the picture that went into logistics, which included obtaining fire inspections and permits. “Stuff like that, we never thought we’d have to do being in the fashion show production class,” she said prior to the show. “But I think it’s going to make us grow stronger as a class and it’s really a great thing to know that it’s all student-run, from top to bottom.” The SNR project served as a capping class for Fashion students but was open to students of any major within the School of Communication and the Arts. The expansion drew students with a wide array of skills. And the production crew needed to reach even further within the Marist community to make the show go. Pittelli said they tapped several departments to set up certain aspects of the show — Athletics for tents, IT for Wi-Fi hotspots, the Marist Media Center for live-streaming capabilities. She added that the sense of feeling rewarded is not due just to their hard work, but because they’re setting up the group of younger students to take the reins and continue to thrive. Along with the in-person show, the SNR team created virtual content. They streamed the show live on Vimeo, using multiple camera angles and shots A 12-minute YouTube video shows the models’ walks around the Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne estate, a mansion owned by Marist 20 minutes north of the main campus on the west side of the river. They also created a documentary and a 17-minute film titled What you’ll see. The story follows Eliza, a young woman, going through the motions of her life without trying to find much more.“The virtual show has a greater reach than you could ever have with an in-person show, so that’s really important,” Pittelli said. “We’re always thinking about the future of the class, the future of the Fashion Program, the future of the industry, and [we] try to instill that into our teams and give them the experience they need moving forward in the industry. So it only made sense to do this.”Olivera-Silvera said the pandemic forced the fashion industry into some introspection. He said that due to the high costs and the copious amounts and forms of waste— trash, electricity, energy— that fashion shows produce, the current system wasn’t sustainable. “The pandemic has brought to light the fact that the industry needed to change, and the virtual platforms have been an amazing vehicle to bring that change,” he said. “Going forward, I think the virtual show will always be something that Marist Fashion does,” Production Director Elizabeth Knight said.The SNR show has been a staple of Marist Fashion for decades. But now they’re looking to become more than that. Leaning heavier into digital content is just one of the ways they’re doing so. SNR started a newsletter called “Through the Needle”, a four-part publication that took readers behind the scenes of the show. They also launched “More Than Fashion: The SNR Podcast,” a five-episode series that discusses different aspects of fashion with a guest. SNR launched their own social media accounts rather than use those of the Fashion Program. “It’s all about creating buzz for us,” Pittelli said. “We’re trying to make SNR not just a school fashion show, but a brand.”The College already has a strong reputation as a school for the study of fashion. This past May, Forbes named Marist one of the “Best Colleges That Are Shaping the Future of Fashion.” Forbes lists only 10 programs worldwide, only four of which are in the United States.The efforts to further expand as a brand went down to the wire during the week of the show. Olivera-Silvera consulted three different weather apps to ensure the team would be ready for anything. They prepped for bad weather by placing umbrellas behind every seat, stashing some for the models, and putting a rain date in place. Luckily, it wasn’t needed, as the weather was cooperative enough for the show to go on.Everyone came together the night before the event for a dress rehearsal around 5:00. A tent on the side of the boathouse, out of the sight of visitors, served as their headquarters. Olivera-Silvera gave instructions about walking paths for the models and pitched in to help where it was needed as everyone prepared for a test run. Models changed into their outfits on the second floor of the boathouse, which was restricted to everyone but the models themselves and a few SNR staffers. The first floor had water bottles, snacks, wipes, cotton swabs, lint rollers, hair straighteners, cotton balls, and more. SNR staffers strung a banner across the opening of the boathouse to mark the start and end of the runway. Members of the SNR creative team manned the upstairs balcony, working with the video and sound side of the operation after the models were ready. The models started their walk in the tent and through the first floor of the boathouse. They began their first practice run around 6:30. Olivera-Silvera watched from the side, offering tips to models as they walked. A few practice runs later, the only thing left to do was put on the show the next day. Or actually, to put it on five times: to accommodate the large audience SNR always draws, they organized five shows debuting every half hour, beginning at noon and ending with their last show at 6:00.On the day of the event, the SNR team’s check-in station featured two big tents with other elements of the show and the Fashion Program to explore — merchandise tables for SNR and Mporium, a student-run boutique, a funhouse mirror painted with SNR colors, a table promoting the new student-run magazine Measure, and a separate tent showing a short film on a projector.  John Bartlett, the director of the Fashion Program, spoke to the SNR production students before the show. “What you all have accomplished this year is Herculean.”He also addressed the audience at the start of the event. “Design students, you have simply moved me with your talent, your creativity, and your natural gifts — and also, your ability to lift each other up. You are all going to go very far in this industry and in life.”To see a video of SNR35, go to www.marist.edu/snr35. For related media, go to https://linktr.ee/silverneedlerunway 

10 Jun 2021

The College’s bachelor’s degree program in professional studies, master’s degree in business, and MBA program were named “Best Online Programs” by U.S. News.

Three of Marist College’s online offerings were ranked in U.S. News’s “Best Online Programs” lists for 2021.The programs included are the bachelor’s degree program in professional studies; master’s degree in business (non-MBA); and master’s in business administration (MBA).An early adopter of online programming, Marist has long been a leader in distance learning. This wealth of experience benefited the College greatly when all courses pivoted to fully remote during the spring 2020 semester due to COVID-19. In fall 2020, the College had a successful in-person reopening with courses ready to switch to online if needed.“We appreciate the continued recognition from U.S. News for our online programs. The College is fully committed to innovation and the online format benefits a variety of students—including working adults—by delivering flexible, rigorous, and efficient programs that lead to career-enhancing degrees. The lifetime value of a college degree has been well-documented; it is imperative to offer higher education opportunities that are widely accessible,” said Sean P. Kaylor, vice president for enrollment, marketing, and communication.For the 2021 ”Best Online Programs” ranking, U.S. News assessed a record 1,641 online programs. The list measures overall academic quality; complete rankings are available at usnews.com.Marist prides itself on flexibility in its offerings to reach students of all backgrounds and life situations. Recognized program highlights include:Marist’s Online BA/BS Majors in Professional Studies and Management StudiesThe professional studies major is an integrative, accelerated bachelor's degree completion pathway that can be customized to draw upon previous college, service, and professional experience while learning new career-related skills. Multiple degree concentration options and accelerated eight-week courses, in both online and hybrid formats, allow adult students to tailor this option to meet their interests and career goals and finish on a schedule that suits their needs. For more information on Marist’s online BA/BS in professional studies, visit the School of Professional Programs website.The management studies major is designed for the adult learner who is motivated to advance their career. A compact yet comprehensive general management curriculum forms the heart of this accelerated bachelor’s degree completion program. It is designed to combine the insights of the Marist faculty with guidance from practicing professionals.Marist’s Online Business Graduate ProgramsMarist offers a 100 percent online master’s degree in public administration. The MPA program features distinct areas of concentration including ethical leadership, healthcare administration, public management, analytics, and nonprofit management. The MPA program is accredited by NASPAA (Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration), the recognized global accreditor for graduate programs in public policy, public affairs, public administration, and public and nonprofit management. In 2018, Marist launched a master’s in professional accountancy program.For more information about these offerings, visit the School of Management’s MPA and MS in professional accountancy siteMarist’s Online MBAMarist launched New York State's first AACSB-accredited 100 percent-online MBA program in 1998, one of the first such programs in the nation. AACSB is the premier business school accrediting body. Also known as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, it accredits fewer than five percent of business programs worldwide. The program was recently recognized by The Princeton Review as a Top 50 Online MBA Program.For more information on the Marist MBA program, visit the MBA program website.

Dr. Jacqueline Reich has been appointed dean of the School of Communication and the Arts, effective Monday, July 12. Reich has a robust background in higher education and brings a wealth of knowledge to Marist.

Dr. Jacqueline Reich has been named dean of the School of Communication and the Arts.Reich came to Marist from Fordham University, where she was professor of communication and media studies and recently finished a seven-year term as chair. She was also a member of the doctoral faculty at the University of Florence’s History of Art and Performance PhD program. As department chair, she oversaw the creation of four undergraduate majors and five new minors, an interdisciplinary program in new media and digital design, and a new master’s program in public media. Under her leadership, enrollments grew 40 percent in undergraduate and 50 percent in graduate programs. In addition, she supervised more than 60 full-time and part-time faculty.  Prior to Fordham, Reich spent 18 years as an assistant and then associate professor of cinema and cultural studies at Stony Brook University. There she was responsible for the revision of three undergraduate majors and two minors, participated in the merger of two departments into one, and supervised a staff of nine in her role as faculty director of the Undergraduate College of Arts, Culture, and Humanities. During her career she has served on a number of university-wide committees. Reich is the author of two books and co-author of another, including The Maciste Films of Italian Silent Cinema (Indiana University Press, 2015), which won Best Book on Film and Media from the American Association of Italian Studies and was a finalist for the Best Book on Film for the Theatre Library Association. Other honors and awards include a visiting professorship at the University of Florence and a Howard Fellowship from the George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation at Brown University. She has an MA and PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and a BA from Dartmouth College. She divides her time between Yonkers and Garrison, NY, with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. 

Marist is once again recognized as a Top and Most Innovative institution in the Regional Universities–North category.

Marist was once again recognized as a Top 10 Regional University – North by U.S. News and World Report. In addition, the College was also named one of the Most Innovative Schools in the region (#2 overall) and highly ranked for its focus on undergraduate teaching (#7 overall). These last two rankings are based upon surveys of college presidents, provosts, and admissions deans who were asked to nominate schools making substantial innovative improvements in the higher education industry.“Over the last decade Marist has been very intentional in how we have built our academic programs, which combine very distinctive educational opportunities and high-impact global experiences with an intimate liberal arts approach that provides highly personalized attention from faculty,” said Thom Wermuth, vice president for academic affairs. “These are the very reasons why our students are very satisfied with their experience at Marist and are highly successful after graduation.” A few of these areas are highlighted below:Study abroad: Study abroad is one of many experiential learning opportunities that add value to the Marist experience for students. Ranked #3 in the United States for study abroad by Open Doors Report, Marist creates pathways for its students to grow by utilizing the world as a classroom. Marist offers two very unique full-year study abroad programs for first-year students in Florence, Italy, and Dublin, Ireland. Marist’s Florence branch campus was founded to be the international face of the College’s commitment to global education and serves as the hub for our study abroad program. Over 50 percent of all Marist students study abroad during their undergraduate experience.Real-world experience: Marist has created numerous Centers of Excellence at its main campus in New York that provide unique opportunities and combine in-classroom learning with real-world professional experiences. These centers include the Hudson River Valley Institute, the Marist Poll, the Marist/IBM Joint Study, the Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership, and the Center for Sports Communication, among others. In addition, Marist has established significant partnerships with industry leaders including but not limited to the FDR Presidential Library & Museum, ESPN, and American Red Cross, to name a few. The College leverages these relationships to enhance the educational experience for our students. Approximately 85 percent of Marist students participate in at least one credit-bearing internship during their undergraduate experience. Accelerated degree programs: Marist currently offers six dual degrees which provide students with unique and affordable options to work toward their bachelor's and master's degrees simultaneously. Through these programs, students streamline their academic journey and are equipped with the knowledge and skills to enter the workforce. Dual degree programs offered at Marist include:•    Accounting (BS)/Professional Accountancy (MS)•    Communication (BA)/Integrated Marketing Communication (MA)•    Computer Science (BS/MS)•    Information Systems (BS/MS)•    Teaching (BA/MA)•    Psychology (BA)/Educational Psychology (MA)Marist’s first-rate educational experience is validated by its students. Ninety-five percent of students are satisfied with their college experience, highlighted by a strong first-year retention rate of 88 percent. Marist’s graduation rate is among the highest in the country at 85 percent, and following graduation, its five-year rolling average indicates that 97 percent of students are employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months. 

21 Sep 2021

Fourteen earn degrees from Marist’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, the College’s first doctorates.

Three years ago, 14 young adults began their studies toward Marist College’s Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, the College’s first doctoral program. In December 2020, they completed their journey. This past spring, prior to returning to campus for their commencement in May, several of the graduates looked back fondly on how Marist’s DPT program has launched their young careers. Established in the Allied Health Building across Route 9 from Marist’s main campus, the program is designed to prepare students for the National Physical Therapy Examination and for successful careers as doctors of physical therapy. Inaugural DPT graduates credit Claudia Fenderson, PT, EdD, the program’s director, for selling them on the brand-new program. “I had a lot of faith in Dr. Fenderson’s reputation because she had been a program director at a different college for a number of years,” said graduate Katherine Whitman.A hugely impactful part of the program was its faculty, always available to help students with anything and offer experience from varied backgrounds. Students stay with the same cohort throughout the program, and all of their courses are taught by the program faculty, who get to know the students extremely well. In addition to traditional lectures, students and faculty engage in hands-on experiences in multiple lab courses. Additionally, students have a faculty advisor who assists them during their three-year tenure.  “The close interaction between faculty and students allows for support of the students academically, professionally, and emotionally,” said Fenderson. Having such a small cohort allowed the students more access to professors, and they took advantage of it. The faculty also brought in professionals from the area to speak with students and sometimes provide guidance in the lab. The program uses a variety of labs to provide students experience with the same equipment they will use in the field. It also incorporates volunteer work into its 115-credit curriculum. The mix of lab and volunteer service work provided a well-rounded pathway to becoming a physical therapist. Yara Adely was a big fan of the service-hours requirement because “it really put you in the community, advocating for all your future clientele in a sense…It just makes you feel like you’re making a difference.” The program provided several ways to accrue those hours. Adely mentioned fundraising walks for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and filling backpacks with school supplies for kids in the area. Madison Ward was one of four students to be selected for a medical mission trip to Ecuador in February of 2020. The week-long trip placed the students in hospitals to provide physical therapy services, mostly to children. The method of establishing professional clinical rotations was beneficial, too. Students are required to have four full-time clinical rotations, each of which features working in the field in a different way. At Marist, Whitman explained, students integrated their clinical work with their classroom instruction, whereas other programs have all clinical work at the end of their programs. Students were also able to choose their clinical sites themselves. The only requirement was that they had to work in at least one hospital setting and one outpatient setting. “Some schools choose your rotations for you and I’m so glad Marist lets you participate in the process,” Whitman said. Spending so much time as a cohort allowed students to form close relationships. Going through the same stressful classes and studying together created a unique and tight bond. They still keep in touch with one another and will all attend a wedding for one of their DPT classmates this summer. “I think that’s what helped us get through, too. We had the support of each other,” Ward said. The students weren’t shy about offering their input, Fenderson said, which was valuable in shaping the program. “The first cohort understood that their feedback was valued and necessary as it was used to inform the decision-making process about many areas of the program including the curriculum, teaching methodology, and the need for additional resources. When they engaged in full-time clinical experiences, the students provided information regarding their perceptions of strengths of the program and areas needing improvement. This input all factored into the success of the program.”In 2020 the program was granted accreditation for five years by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Five-year accreditation is the maximum period granted to a new DPT program.Some of the highlights of the past three years, said Fenderson, was observing the students “as they advanced to becoming such amazing, caring professionals, seeing their dedication to service of the local and global communities, watching their passion for helping patients evolve and flourish, and of course, developing close connections with these remarkable graduates.” Having 100 percent of the students pass the National Physical Therapy Exam was also a high point, she added.Although the cohort had almost completed the program when the coronavirus hit, the pandemic did have some implications for their studies. Clinical rotations were thrown off-kilter and students had to finish most of their classes online, which is extremely difficult for a profession and course of study that’s so hands-on. “The clinical experience is an invaluable part of the curriculum. The purpose of clinicals are not only for students to demonstrate the skills they have learned, but to continue their education in ways we can not simulate in the classroom. Students return after each rotation more confident in their skills and better able to absorb the new material they are taught. As a clinician and an educator, this is very exciting to observe,” shared Julie Fineman, PT, EdD, the program’s Director of Clinical Education.  The pandemic also affected the job market. Ward said that jobs she was eyeing in the Hudson Valley began offering only part-time or per-diem work or reduced work time and/or salaries. Still, opportunities were out there. Whitman is a physical therapist at Moriarty Physical Therapy in nearby Lagrangeville, NY. Adely works in the outpatient department of Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, NY, where she worked per diem as a DPT student. Ward is a physical therapist at Professional Physical Therapy on Long Island, NY, and works part-time for Healthie as a marketing associate.Fenderson is proud of the inaugural class. “Witnessing their graduation marks the end of their three-year journey,” she said. “It is a milestone for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program but also one for Marist, as this is its first doctoral offering. For the DPT Program, this is the culmination of a six-year journey the spans the demonstration of the need for the program, building support from the community, gaining state approval, recruiting faculty, staff, and students, and finally gaining full national accreditation. This moment is the result of the unwavering dedication and commitment of the faculty and so many at the College. “We were fortunate to have accepted and graduated an extremely talented cohort of students who are making important contributions to our profession and enriching the lives of their patients.”Being the first group of students to take on the program, as well as the first to earn doctoral degrees from Marist, is something the graduates hang their hats on, especially because everyone in the original cohort made it all the way through. “It really makes my heart happy,” Adely said, “knowing that we were able to shape the program to what it is today.” 

Marist’s School of Management welcomes Dr. Will Lamb as dean.

Following a national search, Marist College appointed Dr. Will Lamb as dean of the School of Management. Lamb brings a wide variety of experience to Marist, most recently serving as dean of graduate and adult learner recruitment at EAB Global, where he helped colleges and universities improve the strength of their academic programs and grow their enrollments. He previously served as dean of the LaPenta School of Business at Iona College, the Murata Dean of the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, and associate dean for graduate programs at Ohio University. “Dr. Lamb comes to Marist and to the School of Management at an exciting and pivotal time,” said Dr. Kevin Weinman, Marist president. “With growing undergraduate enrollment in the school, several renowned graduate programs, and a transformational renovation and expansion of the home of School of Management, the Dyson Center, now underway, the School is poised for an incredible future. I was immensely impressed with Will’s vision, strategic thinking, and excellence as an operational leader, and I have great confidence that Will can take the School to new heights.” “My experience at EAB has provided a unique opportunity to learn about the market for higher education, and to work with people at nearly every type of school and in all regions of the country,” said Lamb. “This position at Marist College offers an opportunity to work in a student-centered, liberal arts environment at a moment in the College’s development that presents significant opportunities for the School’s future growth and direction.” Lamb has extensive experience working as both faculty and dean at several institutions with highly regarded business schools. During his leadership of Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, he oversaw the faculty’s revision of the business curriculum and made significant enhancements to the MBA, MS in public accounting, and MS in finance programs. He also oversaw the development of Iona’s online MBA program. At Babson, he was responsible for the oversight and administration of the College’s four MBA programs, MS in accounting, and MS in management—programs that served more than 1,000 graduate students annually. While there, he led the development of two new programs: the MS in finance and the MS in business analytics.  While at Ohio, Lamb moved through the ranks from assistant professor to director of the MBA program, chair of management systems, and associate dean for graduate programs. Prior to Ohio University, he served as assistant professor of management at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. “The School of Management at Marist is renowned for its graduate and undergraduate programs,” said Lamb. “With this tremendous foundation already in place and the coming expansion and transformation of the Dyson Center, our students will have world-class resources at their fingertips to grow and succeed in their future endeavors.” He has a PhD from Virginia Tech and a BA and an MEd from the University of Virginia. 

17 Oct 2022