This letter provides updates on key developments and achievements from the Fall semester, and shares resources and tools for the Spring. Thank you to everyone who works to advance our academic mission, develop new and innovative opportunities, foster innovation and engagement and strengthen our core commitment to learning.

Below you will find updates about:

• Partners in Excellence

• Leading with Excellence

• Elevating Excellence

• Academic Space Updates

• Spring Learning Resources

Partners in Excellence

Join me in welcoming Dr. Kafui Kouakou as Quinnipiac’s new assistant vice president of career development and experiential learning. Kafui will provide leadership and strategic direction to the career development council and be responsible for strengthening and expanding career development and experiential learning at Quinnipiac. Working closely with faculty and school-based staff to achieve these goals, he will also be accountable for setting and achieving campus-wide career readiness goals and immersive learning opportunities across all fields of study. Kafui’s office is temporarily located in CCE-213.

Jordan Jefferson joins us as the new director of the Lynne L. Pantalena Law Library and associate professor of law at Quinnipiac. As director, Jordan manages all aspects of the law library's services, facilities, and staffing and teaches legal research. Her legal research interests are wide-ranging, with a particular focus on criminal justice and access to justice, military and veterans’ issues, and LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights. A frequent presenter on technology, pedagogy and service improvement in law libraries, she is also an active participant in national and regional professional associations.

Katie Bauer is the associate director for collection development and management at Quinnipiac. Katie oversees the library’s collection development including working with faculty and students in assessing the resource needs to support the university’s curriculum.

We welcome Jill Fehleison, professor of history, as the new director of general education starting July 15. As director of the interdisciplinary studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences, Jill brings a strong interest in curriculum and pedagogy that is well-suited for this critical position.

We congratulate the following faculty members honored as Emeriti Faculty in the Fall:

• Robert Engle, entrepreneurship, strategy and international business;

• Charlotte Hammond, biological sciences;

• Alexander Meiklejohn, Law;

• Mary Schramm, Marketing

Each of our nine schools achieved tremendous distinction in various areas such as successful accreditation visits for our occupational therapy and physical therapy programs, partnerships and curricular innovation during the Fall. For example, the law school developed a new privacy, cybersecurity and information technology law concentration that will provide students with a legal, ethical and practical framework. The School of Computing and Engineering earned approval for a new M.S. in Computer Science and hosted a successful accreditation visit for four programs. The School of Business launched its first cohort of the ConnCORP-Quinnipiac Community Entrepreneurship Academy and Clinic to support entrepreneurs building wealth in their communities. This Spring, the school will collaborate with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Economic Development and Workforce Initiative to launch a Manufacturers’ Day interview event open to all Quinnipiac schools. The goal is to help small and midsize companies across the state hire Quinnipiac students.

Faculty from the Schools of Communications, Business and the College of Arts and Sciences partnered for an expansion of the Quinnipiac Poll Signature Experience. This academic collaboration with the Quinnipiac Polling Institute provided students with unique opportunities to explore interdisciplinary connections while gaining valuable research experience. This commitment to collaborative learning is also reflected in two Grow With Google pilots launching this semester in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business.

Our vision of becoming The University of the Future rests on a shared commitment to leveraging our academic expertise to address critical needs of the communities where we reside and serve. Our strategic partnership with Hartford HealthCare has helped contribute to the growth of medical education in the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine including the approval of a new rural family medicine residency program. In November, more than 170 high school students gathered at Quinnipiac as part of a partnership between the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Educator Rising Program and the School of Education. The program encourages first generation and students of color to pursue careers as K-12 educators.

That spirit of partnership is evident in other initiatives as well such as a new pathways program between Albertus Magnus College and Quinnipiac that will enhance opportunities for students to enter the Social Work program. Similarly, the launch of the Quinnipiac-Yale New Haven Health Scholars program is designed to support members of underrepresented communities pursuing nursing careers.

Leading with Excellence

The Quinnipiac B.O.L.D. Strategic Hiring Initiative is designed to promote collaborative learning, heighten intellectual engagement, and foster interdisciplinary scholarship that builds on existing strengths while promoting emerging areas of growth. Faculty will be hired over a three year period into departments, programs and schools across the university with a shared commitment to innovative learning. The hiring initiative is based on four key goals:

• Build distinctive academic offerings and experiences that distinguish Quinnipiac as an innovative leader in higher education and beyond  

• Organize meaningful interdisciplinary collaborations across schools and programs that leverage expertise to address societal problems 

• Lead the recruitment, retention, and advancement of underrepresented faculty and students  

• Develop an ecosystem of community, industry, and global partnerships that enhance Quinnipiac’s impact on the future  

These goals will be pursued via three interconnected cluster areas that leverage scholarly and creative expertise to address grand societal challenges. The initial cluster areas are public health and health equity; leading and learning in a digital age; and inclusive futures. To date, the B.O.L.D. initiative has supported the hires of visiting, teaching, and tenure track faculty in areas such as visual storytelling; mechatronics and robotics; blockchain technology and architecture; biology; game design and development; and talent management. We look forward to receiving the next round of proposals for AY 2024-25 hiring by the priority deadline of May 1.

These new hires will join an impressive cadre of Quinnipiac faculty who achieve excellence in teaching, scholarship, creative endeavors, service, and mentoring. For example, this semester Philip Martinez, of the School of Nursing, starts a new role as elected Chair of the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The commission serves as the national accrediting body of nursing education. Tamilla Triantoro, of the computer information systems department, and her colleagues at Kozminksi University in Poland are leading research into collaborations between humans and machines. This work is supported by Quinnipiac’s Central European Institute. And Sean Duffy, of the political science department and the Albert Schweitzer Institute brought a delegation of five Quinnipiac students to the 18th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in South Korea.

Two faculty members, Roseanna Tufano, of the occupational therapy department, and Ruby ElKharboutly, of the engineering department, were recognized as the inaugural recipients of the Saulnier Family Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Faculty Fund. The fund honors the legacy of Dr. Bruce M. Saulnier, who responded to the question, “What do you teach?” by replying, “Students.” The fund supports faculty participation in regional, national, and/or international conferences and initiatives on teaching and learning. These are but a handful of the many faculty at Quinnipiac leading with excellence.

The university has made strategic investments in student academic success by expanding the vital support services provided by the Learning Commons. The Office of Student Accessibility has expanded to include two more generalist ADA coordinators who serve as initial points of contact to students; one new experiential ADA coordinator focused on clinicals, internships and fieldwork; two new proctors/testing assistants, who serve both Mount Carmel and North Haven campuses, as well as new software to expedite the disclosure, accommodation, and testing processes for all participating parties. The peer education programs offered by the Learning Commons have grown with additional funding for peer educators thus providing students with more opportunities for peer tutoring and more, role expansion for three staff persons and a new peer education assistant position. Intentional resourcing in peer education provides increased development and support opportunities for students using the services and also significant experiential learning opportunities for those students trained as peer educators. Additionally, through strategic investment in the Office of Academic Development and Outreach, a new academic specialist position will expand academic support for graduate students. Further investment in a new student outreach and data manager position will help leverage the power of technology to monitor student performance indicators in real-time and provide earlier outreach to students, helping to provide a more formative support experience.

The Office of Admissions had a successful fall recruitment season resulting in a year-to-date increase in Spring 2023 graduate and transfer applications of 14% and 28%, respectively. In addition, first-time first-year applications for Fall 2023 are up 15% year-over-year, with increases in both in-state and out-of-state applications as well as international. As we enter yield season, we are pleased to see that 11,265 unique prospective students visited campus in 2022, up 28.7% from 8,753 in 2021. In the coming months we will have numerous opportunities to increase these visits through Academic Exploration Days, Admitted Students Weekend, and the Multicultural Admitted Student Experience. Thank you to Chief Experience Officer Tom Ellett; Dean of Admissions Karissa Peckham; and all of the staff and faculty who contribute to our student recruitment efforts.

Elevating Excellence

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) provides a range of resources and opportunities to support learning and engagement. This spans a range of tools such as teaching guides, communities of practice, book clubs, synchronous strategy sessions and much more. This semester, CTL is partnering to elevate conversations about the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and student learning. This includes work with Claude Mayo, director of academic integrity; Justin Hayes, of the English department; Adam Katz, of the English department; and others to explore the future of learning. With all of the public attention to things, such as ChatGPT, how can we harness the innovation to improve student learning while empowering faculty as classroom leaders? Stay tuned for more updates on this work. You can visit the CTL website to access helpful information such as accessibility policy language, attendance guides, and strategies for building community in the classroom.

A new micro-credential framework was established and approved by Faculty Senate in the Fall. The framework provides a shared understanding of how credentials align with specific learning experiences. Micro-credentials are digital records of a learner’s successful completion of learning activities that lead to recognized skills and competencies. They are typically less than 9 credits and are not academic programs. Digital badges are validated indicators of earned micro-credentials and are distinguished by the level of activity required. The Department of Lifelong Learning and the Center for Teaching and Learning would like to thank the faculty and staff innovators serving on the newly convened Micro-Credential Collaborative. The collaborative will develop micro-credential prototypes that may serve as a guide for future development. For those interested in learning more, check out the framework and approval process on the Center for Teaching and Learning webpage or email MicroCredentials@qu.edu.

Many thanks to the more than 200 faculty members who completed the Faculty Development Resources and Interests Survey. Your responses helped shape faculty development efforts planned for this Spring and Fall such as the Center for Research and Sponsored Programs’ January grant-writing workshop. Stay tuned for the full list of Spring offerings designed to support faculty in their roles as scholars, teachers and creatives.

Academic Space Updates

The three new South Quad buildings received approval from the Hamden Planning and Zoning Commission in December. Plans are underway to open a new home for our School of Business, the new academic building with a 700-seat auditorium, and the new residence hall during AY 24-25. In the interim, the provost office and facilities have been hard at work to optimize current space resources.

The following relocations and renovations occurred during the January break to enhance access, proximity, and functionality for adjunct faculty, the honors program, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and faculty and students from the School of Nursing.

Honors: Now located in the CCE-205 suite near the Mount Carmel Auditorium. This location expands student study and meeting space and allows for a conference room, staff offices and additional swing space for student and faculty collaboration.

Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL): Now located in CCE-103 just off the main lobby. This relocation provides a more prominent location for CTL to enhance faculty access and engagement.

School of Nursing Mount Carmel space: Now located on the second floor of Echlin, room 213. This location expands advising space for nursing students and creates swing space for nursing faculty and students.

Mount Carmel adjunct faculty space: Expanded locations across campus to better accommodate adjunct faculty needs. Now located on the second floor of the Arnold Bernhard Library in room 201; in the Modular 1 building near the College of Arts and Sciences, room 102; and in the open area on the second floor of the Center for Communications, Computing and Engineering outside the faculty commons conference room. These locations provide multiple designated spaces across the Mt Carmel campus for adjunct faculty to meet with students and/or conduct faculty matters in between classes and meetings. The combination of spaces enable adjunct faculty to choose based on their varying needs (e.g. FERPA-related privacy matters; community availability; visibility; etc.).

We look forward to relocating our student-facing academic functions and the new assistant vice president of career development to ABL this semester.

Spring Learning Resources

Please find links to information and resources on the following topics:

• Quinnipiac’s COVID-19 and Vaccine Resources

• Teaching Guides, Syllabi Policies, and Support for Dynamic Learning

• Employee Wellness Resources

  • Health, Wellness and Safety

  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) on MyQ

Thank you

Thank you for your tremendous commitment to academic excellence at Quinnipiac. Together we are creating meaningful experiences for our students that will last a lifetime. I send my very best wishes for a healthy and fulfilling semester.