Dr. Petillo's Blog

President Petillo's Blog: Friday, May 29th

I am enjoying a little rest and relaxation in Italy with my family. It is one of our favorite spots to visit. I hope all of you will get some time off in a favorite place before the summer ends.

Commencement exercises at the arena two weekend ago were a great success. Commencement is the culmination of everything we all work for and, of course, all the students have been working toward during their time with us. It is always a joy to congratulate them and wish them well and to see their families celebrating their accomplishments with them.

For the first time ever, we will have more than 1,000 graduate students on campus this summer. We have already passed that number, and we are still enrolling in some courses. This is great news as our strategic plan calls for focus on our graduate programs.

In other graduate program news, we had a lot of activity last night between well-attended information sessions in University Commons and the Martire Forum that focused on business, education and communications programs; an event in Curtis Hall that created a networking opportunity for students with cybersecurity professionals; and a mini film fest at the Avon Theatre in Stamford that was hosted by the FTMA program and showcased student films from this year’s class.

Students from Lucjan Orlowski’s economic and financial forecasting class recently presented the findings in their economic outlook report for the state of Connecticut during a program at the Martire Forum. Most of their discoveries indicate that Connecticut is lagging behind the rest of the country in recovery from the most recent recession. They focused on such areas as housing, labor, the state budget and the state’s financial sector.

Freshman orientation sessions will be taking place over the next few weeks. Thanks to the orientation leaders who are already on campus training for their important role. Please welcome our newest Pioneers and do everything possible to make this last visit before move-in a great one.

Before I close, congratulations are once again in order for some of our amazing students and faculty. First, I want to acknowledge the baseball team for winning the NEC championship. They are currently in Texas training for what they hope will be a first-ever NCAA tournament win for SHU baseball. The tournament is double elimination, so they are guaranteed two opportunities. The first comes tonight at 8:05 eastern against Texas Christian University. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. All regional games will be televised on an ESPN network. Go Pioneers!

I also want to congratulate Kieran McGirl ’15, who is currently working as a producer for New England Sports Network. In the final episode of NESN’s Next Producer, Kieran was named the winner, along with three co-eds from Boston University. The teams split the $20,000 prize and all four were given jobs at NESN. Way to go, Kieran—and thanks to everyone in the SHU community who supported Kieran with votes for his outstanding film.

Congratulations to Ken Daly, III, who has been named Teacher of the Year for his school district of Wallingford. Ken is on track to complete his Educational Leadership - Administrative Certification program of study in June and will continue on for his 6th-Year Certificate of Advanced Studies in administration.

Finally, kudos to Edward Joyner, former associate professor of education here at SHU, who was recently sworn in by Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of New Haven as the newest member of its board of commissioners. He will be tasked with governance and policy development as a commissioner. We wish him success and great wisdom.

Have a great weekend!

President Petillo's Blog: Friday, May 15th

Happy Senior Week! The week has been jam-packed with activities with still more to come! I very much enjoyed the Presidential Brunch yesterday. It was great to see all of you seniors relaxing and enjoying the break in between finals and commencement. I also enjoyed the graduation receptions at the College of Education and University College. I understand the evening activities have been fun as well. Students who participated in last night’s trip to Mohegan Sun were treated to a private concert by 50 Cent, and I hear our old friends Boomer and Carton were on hand as well.

I also had dinner this week with the resident success assistants. They are a special group, and I know we all appreciate everything they do to ensure that the residential life experience is a good one.  

There is still more to look forward to, and I am especially excited about the family dinner dance on Saturday. It is always a great time and so nice to celebrate with both students and their families. I also always look forward to the pinning ceremony for our graduating nursing students. It is a special and moving event that commemorates all their hard work.

All of these activities lead up to the grand finale—commencement! We have two outstanding commencement speakers this year. Mark Thompson, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company, will share his thoughts at Graduate Commencement on Saturday, while George Mitchell, former U.S. senator and senate majority leader from Maine, will address the Undergraduate Commencement crowd on Sunday. I want to encourage all of you who will be at the commencement ceremonies to take lots of photos and share them on social media. The hashtag for commencement social media is #PIONEER15.

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of presenting diplomas at the Senior Athletics Gala to four members of the women’s rowing team who will be unable to attend commencement because they will be rowing in the MAC championship on Sunday. Congratulations to Lauren DuFresne, Alissa Kneeland, Allison McCusker and Jaclyn Smith. And we wish you and the rest of the rowing team the best of luck on Sunday. Go Pioneers!

I want to take a moment to share a story that shows the positive impact students can have in the local neighborhood. There are four young men who attend SHU and live next door to a woman named Ruth. The boys have developed a special friendship with Ruth. They help her out when she needs it, and she provides a family-like presence that eases any feelings of homesickness. In fact, one of the boys—Joey Falcone—recently participated in the Mr. SHU contest, and Ruth was right there to cheer him on. She even came on stage to present him with flowers. I know I was one of many who thought they were related. What a nice surprise to find that she is his neighbor here at college. I know that many of you are out there helping your neighbors shovel snow, rake leaves, move heavy boxes, etc. Your efforts do not go unnoticed.

In addition to all the events with the seniors this week, we also had the annual appreciation barbecue for faculty and staff. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. The food was great, the music was terrific and the weather cooperated. It was wonderful to see everyone taking a moment to celebrate another great year here at SHU.

As always, I am thrilled to acknowledge the accomplishments of our incredible faculty and students. Last week was the annual faculty awards event where we honor members of the faculty who have been promoted, received tenure or a sabbatical award. We also honored a group of faculty with research grants and grants for their creative teaching techniques—in particular the use of the high-impact practices that we have been focused on for the past few years.

This past Friday night, the freshmen students from the Welch College of Business presented their ideas and business plans for a new business or product. This year, a new requirement for freshmen business students was the Intro to Business class which involved groups of four or five students working together to research the feasibility of their business idea. I want to congratulate all of the students for doing an outstanding job In particular, congratulations to Nicole Cavataro, Katerina Christopoulos, Kristen Citerella, Christina Dimauro and Jacqueline Foley who won the Poster Session prize for their solar-powered heated sleeping bag that also serves a phone charger. And big kudos to Cameron Bernstein, Cara Connery, Daniel Cohen and Patrick Skinner who took the top prize for their presentation on Weel-Dee—an application that introduces student renters to landlords who want to rent to students.

I also want to congratulate Derick Horn and John Bellucci. These two students in our MSA program have passed all four parts of the CPA exam even before completing their coursework. This is no easy feat. They are well on their way to a successful career.

A round of applause also to SHU Upward Bound student Breianna Campbell who has been named Barnum Festival Queen. With her excellent grades and winning personality, she is the perfect choice to represent Bridgeport at this annual celebration.

I also want to give a nod to our women’s outdoor track & field team for winning the NEC championship. Their hard work and commitment has been rewarded. Congratulations also to their coach, Christian Morrison, who was named NEC Coach of the Year for both cross country and indoor track & field.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to congratulate all of you who will be graduating this weekend. Your hard work has paid off, and the trustees, administration, faculty and staff join your family in friends in being extremely proud of you. We have enjoyed every minute that we have spent with you. Your enthusiasm, curiosity and commitment have enriched all our lives. We will miss you, and we hope you will come back often to your home on Park Avenue.

Best of luck to all of you.  

President Petillo's Blog: Thursday, May 7th

I bring you the third installment of my video blog a day earlier than usual to wish everyone a relaxing and rewarding summer. Take a look and let me know what you think. Feel free to share this on social media and follow me as well. @SHUprez on Twitter and Instagram. Have a great weekend.  - See more at: http://sacredheartuniversity.typepad.com/dr_petillos_blog/#sthash.0LylPRxp.dpuf

 

 

President Petillo's Blog: Friday, May 1st

We had a lot going on this week as students finished their classes and started to think about final exams. Our Relay For Life was a big success. As usual, it was emotional, heartwarming and fun for all who participated. Most importantly, the students have raised more than $37,000 for the fight against cancer. It’s not too late to support their cause with a contribution. You can do so here.

Last weekend, the Green SHUs were out in force for a clean-up at the Birdseye Boat Ramp in Stratford. It was another great example of our students giving back to the community in a way that is meaningful to both them and their recipients of their generosity.

The weekend also offered a chance to see our performing arts students in action. Both the chamber ensembles concert and the two dance performances were outstanding.

On Monday, our senior nursing students presented their capstone projects, which represented a semester of extremely hard work. The projects showed thought and imagination and ranged from childhood obesity to exercise options for seniors.

Also, on Monday, 10 students from University College were inducted into the Alpha Sigma Lamda National Continuing Education Honor Society. Membership is reserved for students with a minimum of 24 credit hours who maintain a GPA of at least 3.2. Congratulations to these adult learners who have achieved academic excellence while balancing the demands of professional and personal life.

On Tuesday, we had the honor of welcoming a team of professionals from Goldman Sachs to the Martire Center. Nine Goldman Sachs employees spent the afternoon working with our finance students in a series of workshops that covered such topics as defending your resume, workplace etiquette and preparing an elevator speech. The event concluded with yours truly interviewing Goldman Sachs President and COO Gary Cohn. He shared his views on leadership, choosing the right people to work for you, taking risks and much more. We are extremely grateful to Gary and the entire team from Goldman Sachs for taking time from their busy day to work with our students.

Tuesday was also the bone marrow drive sponsored by State Senator Tony Hwang. Thanks to all of you who participated in this important testing. You now may have the opportunity to save a life.

Wednesday brought the annual Campus Life Leadership Awards. I am still feeling the sting of being called out on the typos in my tweets—in front of my wife, no less! That said, I do want to congratulate the Pioneer Award winners—Manuela Contreras ’18, Adyel Duran ’17, Lily DiPaola ’16 and Jessica LaFlam ’15. I also want to congratulate Marie Nakos, who received the Doug Bohn Unsung Hero Award, and Nicole Gittleman, who took home the John Croffy Outstanding Leader Award.

Yesterday was Campus Donor Day—a time to celebrate faculty, staff and students for their generous gifts to the University. Thus far this year, faculty and staff donations have reached over $150,000, and student gifts totaled $13,700. In addition, Trustee Gary Levin ‘78 and his wife Mary Anne Levin ’78 once again challenged the students and matched their gifts dollar for dollar up to $12,500. We thank them for their support of the Student Philanthropy Campaign for the second consecutive year. And I thank all of you for your generosity as well. I hope you enjoyed the tacos and churros from the Taco Loco truck.

Last night, the Senior Portfolio exhibit opened in the Art & Design Gallery outside the Edgerton. It is an incredible display of student talent.

I had breakfast this week with State Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey. We had a great conversation about our concerns regarding some of the proposals for the state budget as well as other issues that impact both SHU and Fairfield—the district that Cristin represents. I appreciate her understanding of our challenges and look forward to working with her in the future.

I also had dinner with the student ambassadors this week. It was wonderful spending time with these students who devote their time to welcoming our prospective students and their families. Thanks, again, to all of you.

Unfortunately the news was not all good as we continued to deal with the ramifications of excessive partying at some of the homes where our students live off campus. Last week, I met with the mayor of Bridgeport and members of the Bridgeport City Council and Bridgeport Police Department, as well as our own administration and Public Safety team.  I am hopeful that students heed the letter issued by Dean Wielk. I know that this behavior is not indicative of the overall Sacred heart student body and our Pioneer spirit! I hope that we can all wind down the year with productive study and responsible fun as we prepare for finals. 

Some of our students traveled to a rural community in Guatemala for an alternative spring break through the Office of Volunteer Programs and Service Learning. Under the oversight of their adviser, Professor Charlotte Gradie, and Edwin Rojas from the local nonprofit CERNE, the SHU delegation worked with the community to assess and respond to its needs. One need they cited was a lack of safe and ventilated cooking stoves. Working through the nonprofit HELPS International, the SHU group raised funds to provide five ONIL stoves to the community. Congratulations to student Adyel Duran who spearheaded the initiative and to all the students who participated. This is the kind of news I like to write about!

Once again, I want to encourage faculty and staff to come out Monday night to 63’s and join me in serving late-night breakfast to the students. It’s always a great time.

If you want a break from studying for finals this weekend, there is plenty to do on campus! The annual Mr. SHU competition takes place tonight. Come out and cheer on your favorite candidate! Tomorrow is The MAX, a media arts exhibition, in the Martire Center where our media students showcase their talents through the projects they have been working on all year. Tomorrow is also Springfest and the band’s spring concert. Sunday brings a WSHU conversation with author Mary Higgins Clark and the choirs’ Motown music concert. In addition, you can see the musical comedy High School Technical both tomorrow and Sunday in the Little Theatre.

Have an enjoyable and respectful weekend.