About Salem State
President's Newsletter
October 2009
In the short span of the past two months, we have all re-energized and re-engaged ourselves in the activities that represent an academic year at a busy institution such as ours. May that energy and spirit of engagement expand incrementally as we move forward to accomplish all we have set before ourselves. Each of you has an important role to play as we move forward, and it will take the combined efforts of us all to achieve our greatest goal: the success of each of our students. I want to take this opportunity to update our community members who could not attend the September 21 Annual Address on a few key items.
During this event, we recognized the service of many members of our community—nearly 140 people— with the presentation of service awards. I particularly want to highlight faculty members Richard Elia (English) (top left image) and Paul Green (sociology) (bottom left), each of whom has been making a difference for 40 years. I am grateful to them, and all of my colleagues, for their service and dedication to Salem State.
During my address, I announced that our new Central Campus residence hall/dining facility is both on budget and on schedule for its planned 2010 fall opening, at which time it will bring our residential student population to 30 percent. I’m also pleased to share with you the names we will be using for our Central Campus residence halls. Reflecting Salem’s maritime tradition and the college’s location adjacent to an extensive area of tidal land, our newest facility is to be called Marsh Hall, while the residence building that opened in 2004 will be known as Atlantic Hall.
In budget news, as you all are aware, last spring we had to make some very difficult financial and personnel decisions. Although we expect further budget cuts from the Commonwealth, we have prepared for them and I am confident that we are well positioned for this year.
The configuration of our physical plant continues to develop in response to changing needs. In late summer, our undergraduate admissions office moved from Loring Avenue into a wonderful new space in the Agganis Building/Enterprise Center. The Loring Avenue facility has been reconfigured to serve as an isolation house in the event of a serious flu outbreak on campus.
In May, we graduated the largest undergraduate class in our history. Daily, our students amaze and delight us with their academic successes, their compassion for others and the ways in which they stretch themselves and their horizons, excelling on the athletic field, challenging themselves academically and immersing themselves as volunteers in communities beyond our campus borders.
· Freshman business majors Stephen LaMonica and Sarah Shahin have begun their studies at the Bertolon School of Business as this year’s Jack Welch Scholars, bringing to eight the number now on campus.
· Freshman music major, and Honors Program student, Molly Madigan, recently took first place in the Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Competition.
· This year’s First Year Reading Experience brought our incoming new students in contact with nearly 100 faculty and staff members in Opening Day discussions on Listening is an Act of Love, our chosen book. Those workshops represent just the first of many ways in which we—as faculty, administrators and support staff—will continue to interact with our students over the course of their studies to ensure their success.
I am also pleased to inform you that Governor Deval Patrick recently appointed Monica Cost, a commercial real estate broker at Cushman & Wakefield Inc., and James S. Ansara, chairman and founder of Shawmut Design and Construction, to the Salem State College Board of Trustees. These two highly accomplished individuals bring unique and varied skills to our board at a critical juncture in the college’s growth and development and I very much look forward to the benefit of their collective wisdom as we carry out the mandates of our strategic plan in the months and years to come.
In preparation for what is predicted to be a very virulent flu season—one that includes H1N1—the college has developed a plan to deal with an outbreak should it occur on our campus. The most up-to-date information will be posted to salemstate.edu/flu on a regular basis.
As we continue to put elements of our strategic plan in place during the year, I plan to have open meetings on a regular basis to share with you our progress. The first one has been scheduled for October 20 at 11 am, and will be held in the Main Stage auditorium; another session will be held at 4 pm that day in the Callan Theater for second shift employees. Although I regularly post items of interest to the Salem State community on Navigator, which I encourage you to read, nothing replaces a chance to gather in a forum that allows us all to engage in dialogue. I hope to see you on October 20.
Sincerely,
Patricia Maguire Meservey
President