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The official student newspaper of the University of New Haven since 1938. Volume 96, Issue 10 | November 12, 2014 | West Haven, CT
Up ‘til Dawn sets a new goal By SAMANTHA MATHEWSON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SMATH3@UNH.NEWHAVEN.EDU ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
T
he University of New Haven’s St. Jude Up ‘til Dawn has challenged themselves to raise $18,000 by Thanksgiving break after surpassing their initial goal of $16,500. “We have had two major side events thus far. We have had our first annual Dodge Ball Tournament and our annual Zombie Prom. In total, both events raised over $400,” said Annamaria Primiani, St. Jude Up 'til Dawn senior vice president of recruitment and retention. The organization currently has raised $17,010, prompting them to raise the bar. Their overall goal for this year, to be raised by their finale event on Feb. 28, 2015, is $50,000. Last year the organization raised upwards of $33,592 by the end of their finale event held on March 2, 2014. “It may have been a little more than that with the addition of the money fundraised at our side events throughout the semester,” said Primiani. For this year’s finale event, there are a total of 52 teams registered, three of which are made up of Up ‘til Dawn e-board members. “In regards to logistics, our budget is clearly broken down for every aspect of the finale event and all venues are booked,” explained Primiani. “Although most of our finale event is kept a secret, we have announced that our theme this year is Disney. All of our challenges and side events during the finale event will be Disney related. We like to keep the challenges a secret to build anticipation and excitement! Being that the finale event is run on a point system, we offer point incentives throughout the school year to keep teams motivated.” St. Jude Up ‘til Dawn was started at UNH about six years ago, when an estimated $5,000.00 was raised. In comparison to past years, Primiani believes that the organization’s new recruitment approach See Up ‘til Dawn page 2
Students petition the phasing out of graduate education program Information of a proposed phase-out of the graduate education program was announced Friday, Nov. 7, as a result of the university’s Charging Forward intiative. Members of the department have since petitioned the proposal in attempts to keep the graduate program alive and flourishing at UNH.
By SAMANTHA MATHEWSON
ONLINE
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FILM
Brad Pitt stars in Fury P. 9
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SMATH3@UNH.NEWHAVEN.EDU
––––––––––––––––––––––––– Changes were expected, but that doesn’t mean that the campus community will accept them without a fight. Students petition the recent decision of Dean Lourdes Alvarez of the College of Arts and Sciences; President Steven Kaplan; Board of Governors Chair, Philip Bartels; and Dan May, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, to phase out the Graduate Education Program at the University of New Haven. The student-organized petition was started by graduate Stacey Frizzle on Change.org on Friday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. “As a UNH undergraduate alumni and current graduate student, it saddens me to hear of this decision. I spent many weekends as an undergraduate advocating for this program to groups of potential UNH students during information sessions,” said Frizzle in her petition. “This type of program is almost unheard of with small class sizes, one year completion length, and the integration of full time teaching internship. The program offered by the university prepares students in a way that few other schools in the country are able to do so.” There are currently 1,195 signatures, but there is an average of about 400 per day. There is no set requirement for number of signatures the petition must obtain; however, the goal is 3,803. “Administration has just said that they will consider any
contributions. The more signatures, the better,” said Frizzle. The petition explains that UNH is unique in offering an internship program, capstone program, and 4+1 program for education. Many undergraduate students have chosen to attend the University of New Haven specifically with the intention of entering the M.S. Education program. Removing this program not only diminishes the size of the graduate student body, but also deters undergraduate students from enrolling at this school. Undergraduates currently enrolled in the 4+1 program may decide to transfer to another institution to complete their Bachelor’s degrees. Under the 4+1 program, students pay for a four-year undergraduate education and get a get a free fifthyear master’s degree and become eligible to obtain teaching certificate, complete with teaching internships, which essentially is paid for by the school districts where they serve their internships. Frizzle also stated in the petition that she has worked with many teachers who have graduated from the education program at UNH. “They are, without a doubt, some of the most well-rounded, qualified, and in-demand teachers in the state of Connecticut. Many of these graduates have earned teaching jobs at top ranked public school.” In lieu of the petition, graduate student Kirstin Surdej posted on Facebook after signing the petition, stating, “The University of New Haven wants to get rid of the highly competitive, cost-effective program I just received my Masters from. This program was the only reason I considered, and ultimately decided
on, UNH as a potential school. I find it disgraceful that for all of UNH’s raving about an ‘experiential education’ they’re attempting to get rid of a program that requires over 4,000+ hours of fieldwork for completion. Please sign this petition, if only to ensure that other students who are passionate about education have the same opportunity that I did!” Surdej finished her required coursework in June, but is planning to participate in Winter Commencement this January. Surdej is currently student teaching, which she explained is the next step after completing the Master’s coursework, and is required for state certification. “It’s a 13 week placement under the guide of a mentor teacher and it’s a wonderful experience,” said Surdej. “I felt prepared for my placement as a student teacher after my coursework, but the 4,000 hours I’d already spent in a school during my internship increased my confidence in handling the stuff they can’t teach you in classes, like how to build trusting relationships with your students or how to handle social incidents between students. The 4+1 program allowed me to see a variety of school systems and grades, but it also allowed me to really focus on implementing content and running the whole school day by the time I got to student teaching, because I’d already been given a chance to practice handling the other stuff.” President Kaplan has responded to the petition, stating that, “First of all, I want to assure you that this is probably the most difficult decision I have had to make in the 11 years of my presidency at UNH, primarily for many of the reasons you outline
in your very thoughtful messages. I do not question the quality of the program or the fact that UNH has produced many exceptional educators. We are very proud of the impact and reputation of our program. Nevertheless, an 18-month-long, data-intensive review of all academic and non-academic units at UNH by task forces composed of faculty and staff made it clear that it was imperative for the long-term success of the University that we begin to seriously prioritize which programs would receive current or enhanced funding and which programs would be restructured or phased out. Unfortunately, education is one of the few programs that will most likely fall under the latter category.” The “data-intensive review” mentioned above is an initiative of Charging Forward, which is a multi-year period intended to shift resources away from programs that are no longer adequately contributing to the university’s success, in order to make additional investments in programs that are performing exceptionally well. However, Nancy Niemi, professor and chair of the education department, stated in an email sent out on Nov. 7, that closing the Education Department was not the recommendation of the Charging Forward task force. Instead, she stated, the recommendation was to restructure the finances of the Initial Certification Program, continue the Sixth Year Certificate in Instructional Technologies to attract even more students, and that the 4+1 program be given more resources to function with even See Phase out page 3