Dr. Petillo's Blog

This week we finalized our search for the new dean of the John F. Welch College of Business. We welcome John Chalykoff, Ph.D., who will officially join us July 1. Dr. Chalykoff most recently served as associate dean at Boston University where he was responsible for all academic programs for 2,200 undergraduate and 900 graduate students. He is particularly passionate about new frontiers in business education, and I am looking forward to the impact he will have on our mission, vision and strategic plan.

Dr. Chalykoff was selected after a lengthy search that included consideration of a number of highly qualified candidates. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Bridget Lyons, chair of the search committee, and the other members of her team for the effort they put forth to find the right candidate for this position. I also want to thank those of you who shared your thoughts and provided feedback to the committee. It was an important part of the process. Please make a point of introducing yourself to Dr. Chalykoff and welcoming him to the Sacred Heart community.

Julie Savino, executive director, University Financial Assistance, was in Hartford Tuesday evening to speak before a panel of legislators on proposed cuts to the Connecticut Independent College Student Grant program (CICS). After making major cuts to the program last year – cuts that will continue to impact student aid in the next academic year – Governor Malloy has proposed eliminating the package for private schools in the state that have an endowment of $200 million or more. While Sacred Heart does not fall into that category, we are extremely concerned about the effect the cut would have – not only on our sister institutions, but especially on students from low- and middle-income families who rely on this aid to help them attend the school of their choice. Julie believes her remarks and those of the others in attendance had an impact. Hopefully that will prove to be the case.

We had some special guests on campus on Wednesday when high school sophomores from the Yale-Bridgeport GEAR UP Partnership visited with Dr. Jennifer Mattei for a tour of her labs and a presentation on Project Limulus – a research program investigating the population dynamics of horseshoe crabs in Long Island Sound. The students had a chance to see and touch a horseshoe crab, and Dr. Mattei invited them to join her in the field this summer to tag crabs. Following the presentation, the students had a more extensive tour of the campus and joined us for lunch. The GEAR UP Partnership follows the same group of students from the time they are in seventh grade until they graduate from high school. The goal of the program is to prepare them to enter and graduate from college. Special thanks to Dr. Mattei and her team for making this a memorable experience for these young students.

While the Republican candidates for President were having a contentious debate Wednesday evening, Eugene Robinson from the Washington Post and Tucker Carlson of Fox News Channel were on campus having a debate of their own as part of the 2011-2012 Student Affairs Lecture Series. In an event moderated by our own Dr. Gary Rose, the two discussed everything from the upcoming election and who is responsible for the gridlock in Congress to the stimulus package, foreign policy and the current debate over coverage of contraceptives under the administration’s health plan. My own views on that last topic were recently published in an op-ed in the Connecticut Post.

Wednesday was also Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent. Lent is traditionally a special time of prayer, penance, sacrifice and good works in preparation for the celebration of Easter. The word “Lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon words “lencten” meaning spring and “lenctentid,” which not only means springtide, but also was the word for March, the month in which the majority of Lent always falls.

Carla Lapelle, associate dean of Student Affairs at Marshall University in West Virginia, was on campus yesterday to meet with Sacred Heart’s Student Affairs staff and with the members of the University’s Alcohol and Other Drug Coalition. Ms. Lapelle, a national expert on collegiate alcohol and drug issues, provided staff and the coalition with a number of tools that can be used to combat high-risk drinking, including activities and strategies to advance campus and community readiness. Her visit was funded from a $25,000 grant that the University received from Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks producer, and the First Mate Program, which is aimed at educating students about responsible drinking. 

The Sacred Heart University baseball team recently took time away from its preparations for the upcoming season to participate in the Read-A-Loud program at the Black Rock School in Bridgeport. The team divided up to read to students from 17 classes, grades K-6. Our students and staff give of their time to the local community and the world to the tune of more than 45,000 volunteer hours a year, and all such efforts are greatly appreciated. 

Congratulations to Sacred Heart members of the women’s swim team for breaking two school records on the first day of the Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving Championship. The Pioneers swam the 200 Medley Relay in 1:50.93, and the 800 Free Relay in 7:57.38. Haley McGill, Malvina Reinhold, Liz Bennett and Rachel McGrath teamed up in the 200 Medley Relay to break the previous record of 1:51.97 set at last year’s NEC Championship. Ms. Reinhold, Ms. McGill and Ms. Bennett, along with Meghan Bailey, also swam the 800 Free Relay in 7:57.38, topping the previous record of 8:00.12 set in 2009 at the NEC Championship.

There’s music for all tastes on campus this weekend with Gospelfest on Saturday evening and the Elements concert on Sunday afternoon. Gospelfest promises to be a wonderful evening of uplifting and joyful music with performances by 4 Heart Harmony, SHU L.O.V.E., the UnFOURgettable Women’s Quartet, as well as the Chamber Singers from the University of Bridgeport, the Fairfield County Children’s Choir, bass player Rodger Bryan and percussionist Chuck Saber. The Elements concert will feature performances from the University’s choral, theater and band programs in a non-traditional setting and a variety of musical styles. 

This is also Siblings Weekend. Whether or not you are entertaining guests from home, enjoy the weekend!

This week brought the second of the four lectures that make up the Academic Research Showcase, which is part of the Presidential Inaugural Lecture Series. Dr. Anne Barker of the College of Health Professions presented Complexity Science: A Theoretical Model to Inform New Beginnings. She discussed the roots of Complexity Science – the chaos theory, fractal geometry, the butterfly effect and complex adaptive systems – and then suggested we view Sacred Heart as a complex adaptive system or, as she put it, “one big mob!” Such a view, she mentioned, could lead to a variety of interesting changes in the way we interact. Those include making connections that don’t currently exist, connecting the disconnected, employing self-organization and being present. The first two lectures in the series have been fascinating, and I am looking forward to the remaining two.

Earlier this week, Anna Badkhen, author of Peace Meals: Candy-Wrapped Kalashnikovs and other War Stories spoke at the library as part of the Human Journey Colloquia Series. She shared her experiences as a war correspondent to an audience of students, faculty, staff and guests. She explained that rather than cover the war itself, she prefers to delve into the lives of the people who are living, keeping homes and raising families in the war zone.  Her talk sparked a lively discussion following the formal presentation.

The team from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has completed its visit here, and now we wait to hear our accreditation status later this spring. I want to thank Interim Dean Rupendra Paliwal and the entire staff of the Welch College of Business for their hard work preparing for this site visit.

Congratulations also to Beth Sullivan, vice provost for Admissions/Financial Assistance. She did a spot on the Fox Connecticut morning news this week where she offered advice to students and parents on how to pay for a college education. She was helpful and eloquent and represented the University well.

A special thank you to the staff of the Mail and Duplicating Center. Valentine’s Day may well be their busiest day of the year, and they did a great job making sure that approximately 500 packages – many of them bouquets of flowers – reached their on-campus destinations.

This week is Resident Success Assistant (RSA) Appreciation Week. Our RSAs work hard around the clock to support our residential students and ensure they have a successful academic year. If you see an RSA, be sure to let him or her know how much we appreciate all that they do.

Alumnus Jeff LeBlanc ’08 was on campus Wednesday night to perform at the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts. He is a Sacred Heart success story whose latest album, Worth Holding On To, reached number three on the iTunes Top 200 Singer/Songwriter Chart and number 163 on the iTunes Top 200 Albums chart. He also was the opening act for David Archuleta’s U.S. Christmas tour this past December. We hope he will come back often.

Congratulations to the women’s basketball team on their sweep of Rivalry Week by defeating Bryant College twice this week and improving to 12-2 in conference play. A special nod goes to freshman Gabrielle Washington who was named NEC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this week. She scored 21 points at home against Bryant on Saturday and 27 on Bryant’s home court on Wednesday, making her the first rookie this season to have back-to-back 20-plus point games.

The memorial mass for Sister Marie Julianne Farrington has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 29, at noon in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, in the next few weeks, I plan to begin hosting a series of casual faculty dinners of 10 to 12 people each time. Each guest list will include a mix of representatives from all of the Colleges. I look forward to great conversation in an informal setting and a chance for you to interact with colleagues you might not run into regularly.

Enjoy the weekend!

It was another week of special guests here at Sacred Heart starting with Monday night’s lecture and performance by singer-songwriter Derek Warfield and his newest group, the Young Wolfe Tones. The music was spectacular, and it was fun to hear about the origin of the Irish rebel song and ballad tradition and why people sing these songs today.

On Wednesday evening, the Welch MBA forum presented Kathy Giusti, founder and CEO of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. She spoke to a packed house of MBA students and guests at the Schine Auditorium. She provided solid advice about how to start a company – advice that was equally valuable whether the startup is for profit or not-for-profit. She also shared her very personal story of amazing courage and strength. After receiving the fatal diagnosis of multiple myeloma at age 37, she not only had a second child and has been raising a family, but also started her foundation and consortium to ensure that medical and academic institutions and scientists work together to develop new drugs and bring them to market. She used a corporate model based on her experience as head of Searle's worldwide arthritis franchise. During a lively question-and-answer session following her presentation, Ms. Giusti expressed appreciation for the thoughtful, knowledgeable questions and words of gratitude for her work that came from the audience.

Also on Wednesday evening, our own Lucjan Orlowski, Ph.D., gave a presentation in conjunction with the exhibition in the Pitt Center marking the 30^th anniversary of the Polish Solidarność. Lucjan’s topic was “Reflections on the Origins and Legacy of the Polish Solidarity.” Before an audience of students, faculty, staff and visitors from the community, he shared the history and timeline of the Polish solidarity movement and incorporated stories from his personal experiences and those of his friends in Poland.

Lucjan has more reason to celebrate as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group Foundation has awarded a $45,000 grant to Sacred Heart University that will allow our Economics and Finance professors the opportunity to carry out advanced research designed to help financial market participants better understand financial futures behavior and, in turn, better manage financial risks. The grant also supports two student assistant positions, which have been filled by Brian Benson and Bryan Harmon, both participants in the John F. Welch Scholars Program. Lucjan was instrumental in getting this grant for the University. Congratulations to him and his team.

I had the honor last night of speaking at the Norwalk Catholic Club’s annual Lincoln Day Banquet. The other speaker was The Most Reverend William Edward Lori, S.T.D. The dinner honors the memory of Abraham Lincoln and is attended by more than 300 men of various faiths. I shared some thoughts on the importance of individual rights of conscience and the need to speak up whenever government attempts to erode and minimalize the role of said conscience.

NEC Week tipped off Wednesday night with the men’s basketball team edging the Bryant Bulldogs at the Pitt Center. The two face off again tomorrow night at Bryant. If you prefer hockey, the men’s team will play UConn Friday night away and then host them Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena. Or if you lean toward great music, Melissa Manchester will be on campus Saturday at the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts. Her songs always bring me back to the time in my life when I first heard them. Whatever you decide to do, have a nice weekend.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow in Pennsylvania yesterday morning, which means six more weeks of winter. If it’s six more weeks of the kind of winter we’ve been having this week, I’m ready for it!

We filled the Edgerton Center Tuesday night for a “Hot Stove” conversation between Brian Cashman, senior vice president and general manager of the New York Yankees, and Theo Epstein, general manager of the Boston Red Sox for nine seasons and now president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs. While the conversation was not as “hot” as it might have been before Epstein moved over to the National League, the two were extremely entertaining as they discussed everything from the Yankee-Sox rivalry to their mutual respect for one another as professionals and the challenges of making trades in the “Moneyball” era. The discussion was part of the 2011-2012 Student Affairs Lecture Series and was moderated by ESPN’s Steve Berthiaume, who did an excellent job. The program left a roomful of baseball fans completely satisfied.

Wednesday afternoon, faculty, staff, students and visitors gathered in the Starbucks Café at the Ryan-Matura library for a presentation and book signing by Dr. Gary Rose. He shared some of the findings from his most recent book, Connecticut's Fourth Congressional District: History, Politics and the Maverick Tradition. In particular, he introduced his audience to the range of characters who have represented Connecticut’s Fourth District over the years. Following a lively question-and-answer session, he signed books for those who wanted to purchase a copy. The library was a perfect venue for this program. Hopefully we can do it more often.

Later on Wednesday, the Mini Max took place at the Schine Auditorium. This event is held every semester and is a showcase of the best work of the students from the Communication and Media Studies program. The works include photographs, magazine production, creative writing, posters, videos and more. If you missed it, you can check out the projects at http://themax.posterous.com/.

Director of Bands Keith Johnston and student trumpet players Rob Cowan and Brian Beatty are back from a successful trip to Haiti. During their stay, the group worked and performed with Haitian students of all demographics and economic backgrounds. A highlight for Keith was the opportunity to hear a concert band play a funeral march written in the late 1800s by a Haitian composer in just one night – as funerals were held within 24 hours of death. Keith was impressed with the piece, which he says is a wonderful example of Haitian military band music. He was able to get photocopies of the band parts – all handwritten – and plans to perform and record the piece here at SHU in March. He believes this will be the first time the piece is performed and recorded outside of Haiti. I can’t wait to hear it.

The Welch College of Business will host the 2012 annual meeting of the Academy of International Business- Northeast Chapter (AIB-NE) next fall from October 11-13. AIB’s Northeast region stretches from Maine to Virginia along the Northeast coast of the United States. Its mission is to provide an opportunity for interaction and sharing of ideas among members. Dr. Khawaja Mamun and Dr. Jing’an Tang will serve as conference co-chairs. They will need a lot of help planning and executing this auspicious event.

You might want to mark your calendars for Monday at 7:30. That’s when the first of three music/lecture presentations on Irish traditional music will take place. This first lecture features singer-songwriter Derek Warfield discussing the history of the Irish rebel song and ballad tradition. Derek will be joined by members of his new group, the Young Wolfe Tones, for a performance that promises to be truly memorable.

Whether you are rooting for the Patriots or the Giants or just plan to enjoy the commercials, have a great time on Sunday. Just keep in mind that Monday’s 8 a.m. classes have not been cancelled!