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Cited for Excellence

Posted on May 25, 2012 - Permalink
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The Accounting and Finance Department has been honored with the state's Citation for Outstanding Performance.

The citation recognizes the members of the department for their contributions to the goals of the institution, the region, and the commonwealth.

"This speaks to the quality of the program and the value we add for the students," said Dr. Jeanean Davis-Street, assistant professor and chair of the department. "The award recognizes the contributions of the entire department.

The department's faculty also includes: Saul Auslander, Patricia Bancroft, Mark Crowley, Carleton Donchess, Shannon Donovan, Kathleen Sevigny, Harold Silverman and MaryBeth Tobin. Dr. Davis-Street also singled out the efforts of the department's administrative assistant, Stephanie Chaves.

The members of the department were feted at a special reception by President Dana Mohler-Faria, who congratulated them on the citation.

Recent department accomplishments include the development of a Master of Science in Accountancy program that was granted "Option-One" status, the highest education status available, from the Massachusetts State Board of Public Accountancy and the Accounting & Finance Tutor Lab. The department continues to maintain rigorous CPA certification standards, a strong internship program, and an active student club and honors program.

"To put in all the work and to see it be recognized is very gratifying," Dr. Street-Davis said.

Photo caption: (Left to right, back row) Stephanie Chaves, Professors Carleton Donchess and Mark Crowley; (front) Professors Kathleen Sevigny, Jeanean Davis-Street, Shannon Donovan, President Dana Mohler-Faria, MaryBeth Tobin and Harold Silverman. (Missing from photo are Professors Auslander and Bancroft.)

(Story and photo by John Winters, G '11, University Advancement)

Dr. Emily Douglas (left) and Dr. William Smith (right) with master of social work students (from left) Patricia Sering of Woburn, Julie Grant of Scituate, and Maureen Velez

Philip Justin

Grad Work (Multimedia)

Posted on May 24, 2012 - Permalink
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The fifth annual Graduate Student Research Symposium held in the campus center's large ballroom featured poster projects and presentations detailing the work of more than 80 students from all BSU's graduate programs.

"This is a time for our graduate students to showcase their research interests and the scholarly projects they've been working on during their time at BSU," said Dr. William Smith, dean of the College of Graduate Studies. "It's a wonderful opportunity for them to talk to their peers, with faculty members and with other scholars."

Dr. Emily Douglas, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, expanded on Dr. Smith's sentiments, saying the symposium also provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate leadership skills, explain the importance of their work and "celebrate the hard work that they completed at BSU."

The wide range of research topics included bullying, softball pitching, media and GLBT issues, clean energy, literary analysis, and much more. (For information of the symposium and a list of the projects click here.)

Participating students, such as Maureen Velez, praised the value of the symposium. Ms. Velez of Plympton, who will earn her master's degree in social work, focused her research on possible nursing facility deficiencies in Arizona, Massachusetts and Washington.

"For me, it was an extremely useful project, because I had the chance to learn a great deal about how such nursing homes handle the problems associated with the care of the patients in their charge," said Ms. Velez.

Her social work faculty mentors were Assistant Professors Dr. Kathleen Bailey and Dr. Jing Tan.

Another student, Philip Justin of Brockton, studying to earn his master's in public administration, did his research project on "The Perceived and Actual Effects of the EAW Doctrine," which is the American law concerning employee/employer relationships. His faculty mentor was Dr. Kevin Donnelly, assistant professor of political science.

"I plan on working in a career in government service and so this experience was very helpful to me because it required extensive research into how laws are made and applied," said Mr. Justin. "It was an excellent learning experience." (David K. Wilson, '71, Office of University Advancement)

VIDEO:

Christine Michelson presents her research findings on how iPad technology improves the lives of autistic and nonverbal children.

Snapshots of Excellence

Posted on May 24, 2012 - Permalink
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Faculty

Jo-Ann Della Giustina (criminal justice) was invited to participate in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety's conference, "Rethinking Reentry: A Massachusetts Imperative." The conference's goal was to create tailored, concrete strategies to support successful reentry of returning citizens after incarceration. It was held in anticipation of Gov. Deval Patrick's statewide Reentry Task Force. Also, Dr. Giustina will present her paper, "Incarcerated workers in the Prison Industrial Complex: From convict leasing to modern day prison labor," at the Justice Studies Association conference to he held in Chicago. She is the national treasurer of the Justice Studies Association.

Dr. Joyce Rain Anderson was the keynote speaker with Lee Farrow at the South Shore Parent Leadership Conference, held in Brockton. The presentation was titled, "Strengthening Families to Strengthen Communities." The keynote address was filmed by Brockton Cable. Dr. Anderson was also elected to a third term as board president of the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center. Additionally, she was one of the speakers at the Women's Community Leadership Development Summit at Stonehill College. This event brought together women community leaders and activists. And in June, Dr. Anderson will present her paper, "Connecting People and Places: Native American Programming at Bridgewater," at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, to be held in Connecticut at Mohegan Sun.

Students

In recognition of their outstanding academic achievements, 14 political science juniors and seniors were inducted into the National Political Science Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha. The inductees were Devin Armstrong, Virginia Buckley, Casey Crawford, Kelsey Davis, Joshua Derouen, Matthew Diomede, Kayla Harvey, Brendan Joyce, Michael Landry, Alexandria LaRose, Ryan Roccko, Christopher Schweitzer, Natasha Silva and Eric Wallace. The BSU chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha is one of 150 in the United States.

Alumni

Melissa Arrighi, who earned her MPA in 2001, has been appointed town manager in Plymouth. Ms. Arrighi also holds a bachelor's degree from Bridgewater, and had previously served as an assistant town manager in Plymouth and in Orleans.

Athena Mota was honored by the New England Business Bulletin as one of the South Coast's "Top Young Professionals Under 40 of 2011." She earned her master's of public administration in 2011.

Athletics

Seniors Jacob Curren, Justin Fuller, Matthew MacFadzen and Michael Nazzaro have been selected to the National Football Foundation 2012 Hampshire Honor Society.

Junior second baseman Sean Riley and junior first baseman David Pierce have been selected to the D3baseball.com 2012 All-New England Team.

For the second time this season, Bridgewater State University junior Molly Rouillard has been selected as the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week.

Junior third baseman Jennifer Shaw has been named to the Division III All-New England Second Team for both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and the New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association.

Senior pitcher Corey Batista will represent the BSU Bears at the 38th annual New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association College All-Star Game at LeLacheur Park in Lowell on Monday, June 4.

(Political science graduate student Aaron Lacher contributed items to this story, as did Mike Holbrook of Athletics. Full features about the athletes mentioned above are available here.)

Sgt. Robert McEvoy (left) and Lt. Matthew Rushton

Street Smarts

Posted on May 23, 2012 - Permalink
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MADD Massachusetts recently honored the Bridgewater State University Police Department for its commitment to enforcing drunk driving laws and keeping local roads safe.

The department as a whole was honored for actively engaging in high-profile DUI and underage drinking enforcement, demonstrating strong traffic enforcement with measureable results and engaging in safety belt and sobriety checkpoint enforcement. MADD Massachusetts officials said the BSU police department has developed a statewide reputation for effective DUI and underage drinking enforcement.

Individual officers were also honored. Lt. Matthew Rushton earned the 2012 MADD Hero Honorable Mention Award for his exceptional work in the area of DUI and underage drinking enforcement. Sgt. Robert McEvoy, meanwhile, earned the 2012 MADD Drive for Life Award for leading the department in DUI and other alcohol-related arrests in 2011.

"I am extremely proud of the efforts of the entire police department, and particularly those of Lt. Rushton and Sgt. McEvoy," said BSU Police Chief David Tillinghast. "A high number of DUI arrests is bad news for drunk-drivers, but good news for students and employees on the Bridgewater State University campus. Drunk-driving is a major concern in a heavily populated area such as a university campus, and these officers are making a difference. The students are in good hands."

MADD's annual "Drive for Life" law enforcement recognition breakfast was held at Devens Common Center on May 23. There are roughly 16,000 DUI arrests in Massachusetts every year, averaging out to nearly 44 drunk driving arrests per day. One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime.

"Keeping our roads safe is dangerous and thankless work," said David DeIuliis, MADD spokesman. "We consider the men and women of law enforcement everyday heroes and it is our honor to recognize the Bridgewater State University Police Department and say thank you for their commitment to enforcing our impaired-driving laws."

Snapshots of Excellence

Posted on May 16, 2012 - Permalink
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Academics

Students in COMM-470, Event Planning, worked with Quincy-based Interfaith Social Services to organize the 38th annual South Shore Walk and Family Fun Celebration. The event, held at the Kennedy Center in Quincy, raised $30,000 that will help feed families and individuals in need. Rick Doane, director of Interfaith, credited the BSU student volunteers with making this year's event so successful. In fact, the amount raised was nearly double the usual.

The Spring 2012 Video Showcase and Awards Ceremony honored the work of more than a dozen students in five categories. The annual event, coordinated by Instructor Gregg Seibert, provided an opportunity to recognize media students for their hard work and showcase their productions to the BSU community. And the awards went to: Community Service Award for Best PSA/Commercial, "Calculator" by Mike Shanahan; The Chair's Award for Best Documentary, "Canobie Lake Park" by Rob Morton; The Dean's Award for Best Dramatic Short/Trailer, "First World's Problem Man" by Brett Getchell, Alex Smith, Joe Steinkrauss and Derrik Darmondy; Special Recognition Award to Christina Gromada and Michael Vaz; and The President's Award for Best Overall Program, "One Moment" by Mac Capen, Mike Shanahan, Kristen Berghane, Jonathan Sikora and Alex Yarmosky.

The Forensic Team took third place at the Northeast Regional Championships held at Suffolk University, and BSU student Taylor Pettiford qualified for Nationals in Prose Interpretation and Informative Speaking. Team members are Andrew Zbyszewski, Alexandria LaRose, Emma Hao, Matt Bates, Shannon Lynch, Hillary Howarth, Justin Perry and Mr. Pettiford. Professor Susan Miskelly is the team's adviser.

Brockton native Sharlene Paul, a psychology major with a minor in social welfare, has become inaugural recipient of the Adam London Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship was established by Dr. Howard London, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, and his colleagues, in memory of his son, Adam, who died August 2010 in a single-car accident at the age of 17. Sharlene, who will earn her bachelor's degree this summer, aspires to attend graduate school and enter the mental health field to help adult populations, the elderly and people with disabilities. In a thank you letter to Dr. London, Sharlene wrote, "I thank you very much for creating this scholarship. Not only does it help others, but it inspires people like me to keep striving for greatness."

The latest publication of Dr. Yongjun Shin (communication studies) was featured in the Journal of Urban Technology. The article is titled, "Community Informatics and the New Urbanism: Incorporating Information and Communication Technologies into Planning Integrated Urban Communities." Dr. Shin also presented his work on "Conceptualizing a Bourdieusian relational framework for urban politics research" at the annual convention of the Urban Affairs Association in Pittsburgh.

Dr. Jabbar Al-Obaidi (communication studies) announced that BSU signed a memorandum of cooperation with two Iraqi universities: University of Kufa UOK and Kirkuk University KU. Executive Vice President and the Vice President for External Affairs Fred Clark signed the agreements in Washington, D.C. with the presidents of the institutions. The memoranda promote faculty and student exchanges, joint research activities, collaboration in research and publication, organizing professional conferences, sabbatical, curriculum assessment and cooperation in the promotion of the cultures and economics of Iraq, Massachusetts, the Middle East, and the United States.

Athletics

Junior Nicholas Desisto, was named to All-Little East Conference Men's Tennis Team. The selection was made by the coaches of the league. Nicholas is a second team selection at the sixth singles flight. A native of Uxbridge, he posted an overall singles record of 6-3 on the season including a 6-2 mark at the sixth flight. He also went 3-2 versus Little East opponents. In double play, Nicholas went 7-5 competing mostly at the third flight. He teamed with sophomore Cody Farrell of Scituate, at number three as the duo went 5-4 in nine matches. The BSU men's tennis team posted a record of 9-6 in 2012 and finished second in the Little East standings with a 4-2 conference mark.
(Compiled by Kirsten Whitten, communication studies; and Rob Matheson, '07, G '12, University Advancement)

In keeping with the "cars" theme, faculty books are on display with the authors' photos positioned in model cars

President Dana Mohler-Faria delivers opening remarks

Dr. Andrew Harris (far left) delivers closing remarks for a crowd of faculty and staff

Annual CARS Celebration Held

Posted on May 16, 2012 - Permalink
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The 16th annual Center for the Advancement of Research and Scholarship (CARS) celebration held in the Moakley Center included more than 50 presentations and panel discussions that focused on top faculty and librarian research, creative endeavors and other modes of scholarship.

Opening remarks for the ceremony were provided by President Dana Mohler-Faria and Dr. Howard London, provost and vice president for academic affairs. They praised both the faculty and the event for its focus on teaching issues and professional development.

"As we think about the future of BSU, the most important element is teaching," said President Mohler-Faria to a capacity crowd of faculty and administrators in Moakley's auditorium. "It is important to invest heavily in our faculty and professional development."

CARS is formerly CART (Center for the Advancement of Research and Teaching). Formed more than 20 years ago, the CART advisory board last year adopted a new mission statement to reflect its broader objectives and voted to change the organization's name to CARS. The center's aim is to foster and provide resources for the development of research, creative endeavors and scholarship for faculty and librarians.

The presentations held throughout the two-day event represented a wide range of topics in a variety of disciplines. Some focused specifically on teaching, including, "Learning Assistance: What it is, How it works, and How Faculty are the Key to its Success?" and "Teaching the Whole Student: Using Intersectionality to Inform Curricular and Co-Curricular Work." Others had an international lean, such as "Health and Cancer Beliefs and Attitudes among Urban Chinese" and "Reading Instruction and Reading Attitudes in the Republic of Cape Verde." There were also sessions that focused on specific areas of research, such as, "Basking Sharks, Ocean Sunfish and Marine Turtles" and "The Mathematics of Escher's Path of Life III.'"

Poster presentations in the Moakley Center's atrium highlighted faculty scholarship. Titles included: "Conductors, Charisma, and the Affective Communication Test," by Professor Donald Running, music; "Crisis or Crossroads? Child Welfare Professionals and Child Maltreatment Fatalities," by Dr. Emily Douglas, assistant professor of social work; and "Tea Time for the Coffee Maven," by Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan, professor of geography. For a complete schedule of the event click here.

In his closing remarks on day two, Dr. Andrew Harris, associate provost for faculty affairs, thanked the more than 80 faculty and administrators who had participated in the celebration. "It's been such a privilege and a pleasure, both personally and professionally, to have been part of this year's program and to have had the opportunity to admire your talent, ingenuity and scholarship," he said. "I know I speak for our entire community when I applaud you for your participation in this extraordinary event."

Dr. Harris, who has announced he will be leaving BSU this summer to take a position at another university, expressed his appreciation to his colleagues. He also offered special thanks to the CARS coordinators, Dr. Karen Fein, associate professor in the master of social work program, and Dr. Pamela Russell, professor in the Department of Movement Arts, Health Promotion and Leisure Studies. "Your extremely hard work to plan, coordinate and present this year's celebration has been outstanding in every respect," he said. (David K. Wilson, '71, University Advancement; top two photos by Rob Matheson, '07, G '12)

Sarah Hogue during the 'Top Sustainability Chef' competition

Competition judges (from left) Terry Walters, Dr. Arthur Lizie and Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan

Above and below are scenes from the Just Trade Fair

Thinking Green

Posted on May 16, 2012 - Permalink
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The Center for Sustainability held its annual Earth Week, which included a long list of fun and informative events across campus, each taking a different approach to food and water sustainability practices.

Co-organizer Dr. Deniz Leuenberger, associate professor of political science, said a primary purpose of Earth Week is to spread awareness about BSU's numerous green initiatives that take place throughout the year on campus, including recycling projects, lectures and other programming.

"Earth Week aims to bring more people to the conversation, to get to know us better and get more involved with us," said Dr. Leuenberger. "The ultimate goal is then to move toward action."

A highlight of the week was the "Top Sustainability Chef" cooking competition held in the East Campus Commons cafeteria, which promoted clean cooking with sustainable food sources in the spirit of popular cooking shows, such as Top Chef and Iron Chef.

For the competition, three competing chefs from the campus community created three plates for guest judges within a 30-minute time frame using only organic ingredients. They were awarded up to 20 points by each judge: 10 points for taste, five for presentation, and five for originality.

The chefs: Sarah Hogue, visiting lecturer of sociology; Ross DeLuca, visiting lecturer of communication studies; and Dr. Sandra Clark, professor of geography.

Guest judge was Terry Walters, author of Clean Start: Inspiring You to Eat Clean and Live Well with 100 New Clean Food Recipes and Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You. Additional judges included Center for Sustainability advisory board members Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan, professor of geography, and Dr. Arthur Lizie, chairperson for the communication studies. Event emcee was Jeff Fowler, '03, a BSU graduate who is station manager for Bridgewater Television (BTV) and executive producer of Bears Sports Network.

Another Earth Week highlight was the Social Justice League's fifth annual Just Trade Fair in the campus center's large ballroom. The fair each year presents campus and community members with information about socially and environmentally conscious products sold by various companies, some from the region. Fair-trade products on display included sweatshop-free clothing, organic coffee and food products, as well as free Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

Dr. Leuenberger said organizers aimed to offer a wide range of events for all types of audiences -- college students, faculty, staff, children and community members -- and promote a broad definition of sustainability and environmental issues. "We tried to reach out to as many audiences as possible," she said. "That way, people can find what best interests them."

Additional events featured numerous guest speakers, including Ben Hewitt, author of The Town that Food Saved, which is this year's One Book, One Community reading selection, and Sara Cogswell of Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership (SEMAP).

Local school children also got in on the action, with Bridgewater/Rayhnman High School students participating in the "High School and Community Partners Celebration," hosted by Dr. Leuenberger, with keynote speakers Dr. Nancy Van Leuven, assistant professor of communication studies, and Danielle Newton. Additionally, local fourth-graders acted in a presentation of "The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to having Enough -- Dia de los ninos/Dia de los libros (Day of the Child/Day of the Book)," a play adapted and directed by Professor Lisa Troy of BSU's Arts for Youth program and hosted by Pamela Hayes-Bohanan, associate librarian.

The week was co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability, the Students for Sustainability organization, and the One Book, One Community program, among others. Next year's focus will be on work and labor. (Rob Matheson, '07, G '12, University Advancement)