March 2023 Provost's Newsletter

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New Core Curriculum

A new Core Curriculum, consisting of 39 credits, goes into effect this coming fall for newly accepted undergraduate students. As stated in its mission, St. John’s offers a core curriculum that enacts a Catholic and Vincentian identity, affirms the values of the liberal arts and sciences, and develops an engaged citizenry to serve their communities.

Each course of the new core is aligned with the following learning goals: Mission and Values, Personal and Civic Responsibility, Communication Practices, Global and Intercultural Appreciation, and Applications of Intellectual Curiosity. Sincere appreciation is extended to all past and present members of the University Core Curriculum Committee who have worked collaboratively to create the new core. For more information, including specific courses, visit University Core Curriculum. 

High School Partnerships

High school partnerships have always been important to St. John’s University. We are always working to create new opportunities for engagement with our existing high school partners. For example, we are planning to include members of our campus community at special events at these high schools and other secondary institutions.

These activities will help strengthen our relationships with the schools and allow their college-bound students to observe the elevated level of academic excellence available at St. John’s. If you have an idea for an engagement initiative, or if you are currently working with a high school and would like to share details of your program, please contact Jacqueline Grogan, Ed.D., M.B.A., Associate Provost for Enrollment Partnerships and Engagement, at groganj@stjohns.edu. 

New Website Launch

A redesigned version of the University’s website was launched on March 1. The website serves as our major digital driver of new student enrollment and aims to meet students’ needs. Some of the strategic enhancements include

  • a unique program pathway generator that lets website visitors seamlessly explore undergraduate programs based on their interests, outcomes, and future goals.
     
  • streamlined and revised search navigation.
     
  • redesigned program pages that display the unique offerings and opportunities, while providing easy pathways to connect with key contacts at St. John’s.
     
  • redesigned success stories, student pathways, and alumni success profiles highlighting how the St. John’s signature experience contributes to student and alumni success.

The site is informed by research conducted with current students, faculty, administrators, and alumni. It reflects a commitment to showcasing St. John’s University’s signature experience by highlighting our academic programs and the people who make St. John’s the thriving community it is today. Visit www.stjohns.edu to explore the redesigned website.

University Honors Program

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce that Rachel Hollander, Ph.D., will assume the role of Director of the University Honors Program effective June 1. Dr. Hollander is an Associate Professor of English and has led the Honors Program on the Staten Island, NY, campus since 2010.

During that time, she has worked to expand the number of students and course offerings in the program, while simultaneously fostering a deeper level of student-faculty engagement across the campus. Under her leadership, the Honors Program became known for specialized academic mentoring, a strong sense of community across Schools and Colleges and majors, and collaborative programming with student-led groups. As a literary scholar, Dr. Hollander specializes in 19th- and early 20th-century British fiction and literary theory (especially ethics and gender).

While directing the Staten Island Honors Program, she has served in many other roles on that campus, including as a member of several strategic planning committees, faculty liaison to the resident students, and as a Staten Island faculty representative on the University’s Coordinated Community Response Team. Dr. Hollander came to St. John’s in 2006, having earned her B.A. in English at Swarthmore College and her M.A. and Ph.D. at Rutgers University, and after two years on the faculty of the University of Texas at El Paso. She looks forward to the challenges and rewards of guiding the program in the vibrant and dynamic community of the Queens, NY, campus.

Sincere thanks and gratitude are extended to Robert Forman, Ph.D. ’68C, for his leadership and commitment to the University Honors Program and its students. Having served for 16 years as its director, Dr. Forman will maintain a teaching role with the program.

Office of Grants and Sponsored Research

Reporting under the Office of the Provost, the Office of Grants and Sponsored Research (OGSR) identifies opportunities and partnerships and facilitates the submission of sponsored project proposals on behalf of St. John’s. Their team provides advice and guidance regarding applicable rules and regulations, and assists faculty and staff in the proper submission of sponsored projects. The OGSR oversees all pre-award submissions, some aspects of postawards, the Cayuse Research Suite, the Institutional Review Board, the Women in Science Scholarship Program, the Clare Boothe Luce program, and industry partnerships.

The OGSR Welcomes New Employees

Elenora Levin, M.B.A., C.R.A., is the new Director of the Office of Grants and Sponsored Research. She brings with her extensive experience in research administration. Ms. Levin was formerly a department administrator at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Prior to joining Einstein, Ms. Levin was a Grant Specialist in the Office of Grants and Sponsored Research and is a cohort nine graduate of the Vincentian Mission Certificate program. She also worked at Weill Cornell Medical College, where she was the Administrative Manager for the Division of Geriatrics.

The Grants Coordinator position has been filled by Christina Costello, another former employee of St. John’s University. Ms. Costello has extensive experience in research administration, having worked at the Research Foundation of the City University of New York, Hofstra University, and Queens College. Prior to leaving St. John’s University, she worked in the Office of Business Affairs, initially as a Grants Accountant and then as a Grants Manager.         

Martyne Anne Volcy is the OGSR pre-award grant writer. She provides our research community at St. John’s University with assistance during the proposal preparation and grant submission process. 

Enrollment Update

The Office of Enrollment Management has been busy issuing January conferrals, welcoming our new and returning spring semester students, and preparing for the Fall 2023 incoming class.

In January, the Office of the Registrar conferred 718 Queens, Manhattan, and Distance Learning degrees and 46 Staten Island degrees. Spring 2023 enrollment remained comparable to years prior with 13,291 total undergraduate and graduate students, including 248 new graduate students, 104 new transfer students, and 47 new first-year students joining our community. In addition, enrollment in the College Advantage Program remained strong for the Spring 2023 semester with 3,970 enrollments.

As of March 7, Enrollment Management is on track to meet undergraduate and graduate enrollment goals for the Fall 2023 incoming class and see an increase in early undergraduate first-year and transfer enrollment deposits. The Office of Student Financial Services has been busy completing financial aid packages for students, and to date has finalized packages for more than 9,500 new first-year and new transfer students, an increase over this period last year. Approximately $11.5 million in endowed and expendable restricted scholarships have been awarded and disbursed for the 2022–23 aid year compared to $9.3 million disbursed by year end for the 2021–22 academic year.

While preliminary numbers are promising, we face an increasingly challenging and competitive marketplace, which places significant importance on our yield and antimelt efforts over the next few weeks and months. These efforts include

In collaboration with multiple departments and offices across the University community, these events focus on engaging our tuition-deposited students and their families throughout the summer months to maintain their excitement in joining the St. John’s community this fall.

Enrollment Management would like to extend a sincere thank you to the faculty, alumni, administrators, staff, and friends of the University who have engaged with our prospective students and their families. It truly takes a community, and your efforts are important and appreciated!

Enrollment Management Department Spotlight: Customer Service Center

The Customer Service Center is pleased to share that a Live Chat option is now available through the Ivy ChatBot on www.stjohns.edu. During normal business hours, students and their families have the option to contact representatives from the Customer Service Center by phone at 718-990-2000, email at csc@stjohns.edu, or by live chat by clicking the chat bubble on the main St. John’s University website.

On average, the Customer Service Center team resolves 150,000 calls and 100,000 emails in a calendar year. The center is excited to be able to offer our students the option to live chat so that the team can better assist them in resolving inquiries relating to admission, the application process, admission event registration, deadlines, campus updates, program information, full financial aid options, registration, health service inquiries, and all other inquiries relating to the University. It is the mission of the Customer Service Center to provide support and help to students and families, professionally and accurately representing nearly every department at the University in a friendly, customer service-focused manner.

University Strategic Planning Pillar 2: Academic Distinction

We are pleased to provide an update on Pillar 2 of the University’s Strategic Plan. As you may know, Pillar 2 focuses on Academic Distinction—Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Research. Below, you will find the pillar’s goals, action items, and metrics. We look forward to working collaboratively with many of you to support the accomplishment of these goals as we seek to provide an outstanding educational experience for our students.

Goal 1: We will create, enhance, and consolidate (when necessary) academic programs to provide opportunity for all students while elevating the University’s academic reputation and profile.

Action Item 1: Revitalize the University Core Curriculum to increase student flexibility, opportunity, and educational relevance.

  • Metric 1.1: Review and approve all overall learning goals and all course proposals in the new University Core Curriculum (UCC). [Year 1]
  • Metric 1.2: Create an assessment plan for the UCC. [Year 1]
  • Metric 1.3: Complete review of the assessment plan for the UCC by the University Assessment Committee. [Year 2]
  • Metric 1.4: Implement annual assessment plan and cyclical UCC improvement. [Years 2–5]
  • Metric 2: Create a UCC research committee in partnership with the Chief Data Officer to establish a baseline for student success in the UCC. [Year 1]
  • Metric 3: Train all UCC faculty and advisors. [Years 1–2]

Action Item 2: Implement Strategic Program Positioning (SP2) to create, enhance, and consolidate (when necessary) academic programs.

  • Metric 1: Identify and review benchmarks for all University programs. Identify cost, credits, and health of each program. [Year 1]
  • Metric 2: Complete SP2 data packets and distribute across all programs; collect and analyze all program data. [Year 1]
  • Metric 3: Report results to all academic SP2 stakeholders and prepare the cyclical compendium reports for the Office of the Provost. [Years 2–5]
  • Metric 4: Identify and implement new and transformative academic programs, especially within the professional health care space. [Years 1–5]

Action Item 3: Expand partnerships to capitalize on the University’s academic expertise.

  • Metric 1: Create an inventory of all current academic partnerships and assess viability/growth/consolidation opportunities. [Year 1]
  • Metric 2: Identify 2–3 potential new academic partners for each school/college. [Years 1–2]
  • Metric 3: Establish 3 – 5 new academic partnerships with healthcare partners. [Years 1– 3]

Goal 2: We will promote an inclusive and accessible educational environment that supports and advances excellence in teaching and learning.

Action Item 1: Advance excellence in teaching and learning by providing enhanced opportunities for faculty engagement and collaboration.

  • Metric 1: Create formalized faculty mentorship programs for all faculty. [Years 1–2]
  • Metric 2: Assess and catalog high impact practices across all courses, programs, and disciplines. [Years 1–2]
  • Metric 3: Institute increased use of high impact practices. [Years 2–5]

Action Item 2: Expand faculty development to further excellence in teaching and learning.

  • Metric 1: Collect and utilize best practices in teaching and learning through our external professional development associations (such as the American Council on Education). [Year 1]
  • Metric 2: Conduct an audit of all programs and workshops offered through the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Online Learning and Services, and the Academic Center for Equity and Inclusion. [Years 2–3]
  • Metric 3: Institute increased use of externally identified best practices in teaching and learning. [Years 2–5]

Goal 3: We will strengthen and recognize research, scholarly activities, and innovation through increased faculty support and student engagement.

Action Item 1: Establish a “Discover Your Colleague” (DYC) system to catalog research and scholarly activity, promoting collaboration between and among faculty and in support of student engagement.

  • Metric 1: Create a complete and actionable framework for the DYC. [Years 1–2]
  • Metric 2: Implement the use of the DYC to recognize and promote research and scholarly activity to drive faculty-student engagement. [Years 2–5]

Action Item 2: Provide resources to support entrepreneurial and innovative research programs.

  • Metric 1: Establish a novel seed grant program to prioritize research that incorporates cross-disciplinary faculty, active student participation, and that drives the formation of externally funded centers of excellence. [Years 1–2]
  • Metric 2: Expand pre-commercialization activities of the University’s venture clinical laboratory. [Years 1–5]

St. Vincent Health Sciences Center Construction Update

The construction of the new St. Vincent Health Sciences Center is proceeding well, according to Tobias Bisharat, Senior Project Director, Facilities and Space Management, Department of Campus Facilities and Services. During the fall, the Design and Construction team responsible for the project was busy with preparing for the new construction. The old St. Vincent Hall was demolished. All the utilities that connected the Residential Village to the campus, such as the Information Technology network ring and the steam pipe heating/cooling infrastructure, were rerouted in preparation of the new building construction and the site was cleared.

Over the past several months, the focus of the work has been on preparing the site to receive the retaining walls, footings for the steel columns, and foundation walls. This work has involved a great deal of soil excavation to bring the grade down to the proper level for these important building elements. Currently, the construction of the north retaining wall that will face the Great Lawn is complete and has been partially backfilled. The perimeter foundation walls are 90 percent complete, and the column footings are mostly in place. Other subsurface work is also proceeding at pace, such as applying waterproofing and the installation of plumbing pipes and electrical conduits.

The building will begin to achieve a more visible shape with the installation of the steel columns, beams, and floor decks. This work is scheduled to begin at the end of March and will continue through the first week of June. Following this, the construction team will begin to clad the building with the exterior materials, such as windows, curtain wall, and brick. The building is expected to be mostly weather tight or fully enclosed by the end of 2023. Interior work and finishes will follow, and the schedule now calls for a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy by early Summer of 2024. Occupancy is currently targeted for August of 2024.

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