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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN UNIVERSITY | SINCE 1924
Volume CX, Issue 11
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 12, 2024
FREE
Bridget Chalk, Ph.D., Releases Second Book Ryan Wheeler ‘01, Helps U.S.A Women’s Box Lacrosse Team Bring Home Gold. @MANHATTANEDU / INSTAGRAM
EAC Discusses New Policies On Block Schedules, Academic Integrity And More The second Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) meeting of the semester was held on Nov. 5 to discuss updates to the university’s academic policies, including transfer credits, a new block schedule proposal, summer session start dates, academic integrity warnings and more. According to manhattan. edu, the EAC, “Shall make recommendations on the following matters, subject to the approval of the Provost, and shall inform the Senate of its recommendations which are then forwarded to the President.” These recommendations include, but are not limited to, standards for academics,
the status of schools and departments and grading systems. Chairs, deans and representatives from different schools, departments and committees were present at the meeting to present updates on certain policies and the state of their departments. The first order of old business approved by the EAC was the transfer credit policy. Historically, the university has limited transfer admissions by accepting only about 50 credits, considerably fewer than peer institutions. This year, however, in response to both competitive pressure from the decline of higher education and smaller class sizes, the university has revised its transfer credit policy. The updated guidelines, which are reflected in both catalog and marketing materials, aim to increase the number of transfer students.
IN NEWS:
IN FEATURES:
Mary Haley
Marketing Chair / Asst. Features Editor
MU’s ASME Chapter Takes on the Blackbox Challenge pg. 4
Joseph Begley ‘91 Shares Insight with Business Students pg. 6
Rani Roy, Ph.D., interim provost and executive vice president of Manhattan University, led the conversation on how this will benefit the number of transfer students and how the change would align the school better with regional institutions, like Fordham University and Fairfield, to improve competitiveness in recruiting transfer students. “There has been significant pressure to up the transfer numbers based on our smaller incoming classes, especially last year and this year,” Roy said. “The transfers really are helping to make up some of that budget.” With a majority vote from the EAC, the policy will be passed onto the interim president, Frederick Bonato, Ph.D., and if approved by him, __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Leyla J Mercado Asst. News Editor
Bridget Chalk, Ph.D., associate provost and professor of English at Manhattan University, recently published her second book “Novel Schooling: Education, Formation, and Reading in Fiction”. The book examines the central theme of the, “consistent link between negative depictions of education in novels and claims for the educative effects of reading them,” as stated in an article published on manhattan. edu. Through reflection of interest and criticism of the novels typically presented through formal education, Chalk discussed what led her to writing about this topic. “I noticed that many novels of education, or coming-of-age narratives, depicted schooling in a negative way,” Chalk wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “Characters almost always had some core traumatic experience at school-- from David Copperfield and Jane Eyre to more recent main characters in novels by Zadie Smith and Elena Ferrante. So I set out to see what other patterns I could find in these novels, and discovered that a majority of them posited reading (often reading fiction) as an alternative and positive form of individual education.” With the intent to ignite versatility within works of
literature, Chalk wanted to expand her goals about the core messages within this book. “The humanities have a bad reputation in our culture, and especially fiction is considered fake, useless and trivial,” Chalk wrote. “I wanted to make a powerful case about what the novel has to teach us…in our digitized world. Reading, I suggest, is a form of individual development, an exercise in intellectual optimization. It generates valuable lessons in perspective-taking, empathy, and the art of synthesizing chaos into meaningful form … I hope this project can contribute in some small way to fresh conversation about the value of the arts and humanities. Especially in higher education, students should be encouraged, as these writers urge, to pursue meaning and pleasure as vital to a fulfilling life.” Education, reading and writing have always been of significant importance to Chalk’s work and life, leaving the student body at MU feeling impacted by her work as well. Mary-Abigail Caglione, junior and adolescent education major with a concentration in English, spoke on what Chalk’s most recent book release means to her. “It’s exciting to see her create a piece of work because I always see her in action,” Caglione said. “It’s nice to get an insider look of how she thinks and how she writes. I’ve always been so impressed by __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
IN A&E:
IN SPORTS:
MU Players Announce Their Student Slot pg. 7
Cross Country Team Recaps Their Season After MAACs. pg. 9