The University of Scranton Receives $1 Million Donation From left: Jacquelyn Dionne and John Dionne receive the President’s Medal at the President’s Business Council dinner in 2013. The University of Scranton’s Kania School of Management announced a gift of $1 million from John D. Dionne ’86 and Jacquelyn Dionne ‘89. The generous donation will be used to name and support two Kania honors programs: the Frank P. Corcione Business Honors Program; and the Robert L. McKeage Business Leadership Honors Program. The fund will support the growing Study Abroad program and other activities for students in these two honors programs, as well as other students enrolled in the Kania School of Management. The Frank P. Corcione Business Honors Program and the Robert L. McKeage Business Leadership Honors Program are among the University’s five undergraduate programs of excellence. The Business Honors Program is a selective four-year program geared toward highly-motivated undergraduate students interested in pursuing academic excellence in business who will pursue honors studies in the areas of economics, entrepreneurship, operations management, accounting, finance, international business, marketing and management. The Business Leadership Honors Program is a highly-selective program students enter in their junior year. Participants explore the basic theories and concepts of leadership through special seminars and courses in management, ethics, strategy and analysis, in addition to field trips to learn from top executives and projects in leadership, service and mentoring. For over twenty-five years, the Dionnes have been good friends and generous benefactors of The University of Scranton and the Kania School of Management. The Dionnes were co-recipients of the 2013 University President’s Medal and were the driving force behind creating the Kania School Business Leader Hall of Fame. The green located at the heart of the University’s campus is named in their honor. “I can’t thank you enough for your generosity and steadfast support. You are an example to our students and your fellow graduates and an inspiration to me.” said Joseph G. Marina, S.J., University president, upon announcing the gift at his Inauguration as Scranton’s 29th president on Sept. 24. A native of Scranton, Jackie Dionne is a registered nurse and received her bachelor’s degree in health administration from the University. She currently serves as an RN with elderly and Alzheimer’s patients. Jackie Dionne serves on the University’s Board of Trustees and previously served on its board from 2011 to 2017. She works with numerous charitable organizations, including the National Charity League, Horizons Organization of Bridgeport and Meals on Wheels. A New Hampshire native, John Dionne graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics/finance and accounting from the University and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. A very successful business executive, he retired in 2013 as a senior managing director from the Blackstone Group. He currently serves as a senior advisor to Blackstone, is a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School, and a director of Fortune 500 companies. A former chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, John Dionne, helped launch the President’s Business Council and the annual award dinner. A frequent speaker in the Kania School of Management’s Executive in Residence program and other leading universities, he was recently ranked among Harvard’s top 50 most prominent alumni. “We are grateful to honor two of the long-time icons of the Kania School in current Professor Dr. Robert McKeage and the late Dr. Frank Corcione. They share a demanding Jesuit philosophical ideal, illustrated by the quote of St. Luke – ‘from whom much is given, much is expected,’” said John Dionne. “Dr. Corcione was demanding but cared, and motivated students to give it their all. Wall Street is awash with ‘Corcione products.’” “Additionally, we are pleased to enhance the rapidly growing demand by students for semesters abroad by making them more affordable. We believe the program is a life-changing experience and an exciting complement to a University of Scranton Catholic and Jesuit education,” added Jackie Dionne. “Dr. McKeage is award-winning, dedicated faculty member, who always places student learning first.”
The University of Scranton Celebrates Inauguration of 29th President “A Fire That Kindles Other Fires,” the theme chosen for the Inauguration of Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., as the 29th president of The University of Scranton, was evident throughout the address given by the new president at the ceremony. In his Inaugural Address, Father Marina referred to remarks of former Scranton presidents, words of Jesuit superior generals, the life of St. Ignatius and the accomplishments of students, faculty, staff, alumni and others, to illustrate the influence one person can have on others. “In his first inaugural address, Father Pilarz referred to our University as a miracle in the mountains. And that’s exactly what it is. But it didn’t take long for me to notice that Scranton is also a vineyard in the valley, a place where hard work, dedication, and an authentic commitment to the ideals and characteristics of Catholic and Jesuit higher education converge for the benefit of the students we serve,” said Father Marina. “This vineyard produces sweet and abundant grapes and our harvest is a harvest to be envied. … The credit goes to our wonderful students, our amazing faculty and staff, loyal trustees, alumni and benefactors who, year after year, have cultivated the soil of this vineyard to make it rich and nurturing.” Father Marina said the term “a fire that kindles other fires,” from the second decree of the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, “is a metaphor that every Jesuit work, and every member of that work, can take on in a personal and apostolic way. The University of Scranton is, without a doubt, a fire that kindles other fires – one that illuminates and warms rather than burns and destroys.” Father Marina referred to the University’s sense of community as its greatest asset. “The community that is Scranton is authentic, and you can feel it almost immediately when stepping onto our beautiful campus. We are a family,” said Father Marina. “Our community is not an insulated one. It is grounded in God’s love. Our university exists because of Jesus Christ. And our future will be stoked by the fire of the Holy Spirit for decades to come. This triune reality makes our community open to all, not despite their differences, but precisely because of them. We are made stronger by our diversity and by our love for one another.” Father Marina closed his remarks citing advice he received from Scranton’s 23rd president, Rev. Joseph McShane, S.J., currently the president of Fordham University: “If you love The University of Scranton, if you truly love it, then marvelous things are bound to happen.” Father Marina said that is “exactly” what he intends to do, and asked others to “please join me as we carry our mission forward, or, more rightly, may I join you? So that, together, we can cultivate this wonderful vineyard in the valley and be that fire that kindles other fires.” The Inauguration occurred during the Ignatian Year, the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. Nearly 1,500 members of the University community and invited guests attended the Inauguration, including representatives from more than 45 colleges and universities; Rev. Joseph M. O’Keefe, S.J., provincial of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus, who presented the Missioning of the President at the ceremony; Scranton’s Mayor Paige Cognetti, who provided greetings from the city; and Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, who provided the Invocation, among others. Recorded greetings were given by U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and U.S. Senator Bob Casey, a Scranton native. The Inauguration also featured the performance of an original work composed for the Inauguration by David Lantz III, titled “To the Ends of the Earth.” A recording of the ceremony is available for viewing. Photos from the event can be seen on the University’s Inauguration Flickr album.
The University of Scranton Named Among Top Colleges in America Forbes ranked The University of Scranton among “America’s Top Colleges” for the 13th year. Scranton is the only college in Northeast Pennsylvania to be named among the 600 elite colleges listed in the 2021 ranking, which was published online on Sept. 8. Scranton, ranked No. 425, was among just 35 colleges in Pennsylvania that Forbes selected as “America’s Top Colleges.” The ranking by Forbes analyzed “outputs” of a college education, weighting alumni salaries at one to four years and 10 years after graduation the most at 20 percent of their overall score. The methodology used by Forbes also looked at graduation rates (15 percent), student debt (15 percent) and the number of alumni making the Forbes “American Leaders” lists (15 percent), such as its “Forbes 400” and “Richest Self-Made Women” lists, as well as alumni who won national and international awards or positions, such as winners of the Nobel Prize and graduates who are members of the Supreme Court. Forbes also rated retention rate (10 percent), academic success (10 percent), as measured by alumni winning prestigious academic scholarships, such as Fulbright and Truman scholarships, and a “return on investment” measurement (15 percent), which calculates the time it takes for students to pay their college debt based on the “post-enrollment earnings boost students get compared their typical salary of a high school graduate in their state.” Also in September, U.S. News & World Report ranked Scranton No. 5 among the “Best Regional Universities in the North” in the 2022 edition of their “Best Colleges” guidebook, marking the 28th consecutive year that U.S. News ranked Scranton among the top 10 universities in its category. U.S. News also ranked Scranton No. 14 in its category in its “Best Undergraduate Teaching” listing of the top colleges in the nation expressing “a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching;” No. 45 as a “Best Value Regional University in the North;” and No. 138 in its category in “Top Performers on Social Mobility.” In national rankings, U.S. News ranked Scranton No. 166 among America’s “Best Undergraduate Business Programs;” No. 185 among “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs;” and No. 148 among the nation’s “Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs.”
University of Scranton Psychology Professor Receives Conservation Award Jessica Nolan, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of the Environmental Studies Concentration at The University of Scranton, received a 2021 Women in Conservation Award from PennFuture, an independent, nonpartisan environmental advocacy organization. Dr. Nolan received the award for Woman of Environmental Education. Dr. Nolan joined the faculty at Scranton in 2008. She teaches Environmental and Conservation Psychology and Social Psychology, among other courses, and runs the Conservation Psychology Lab at the University. The Conservation Psychology Lab studies the human impact on the environment and uses the tools and methods of psychology to understand and solve environmental problems. Her research focuses on the application of psychological tools and principles to understand and solve environmental problems. She has studied the effects of normative social influence on various environmental behaviors, including energy conservation and household recycling. Dr. Nolan has published more than a dozen articles on environmental behavior in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented her research at numerous professional conferences. In her role as director of the Environmental Studies Concentration, Dr. Nolan has partnered with local environmental groups such as Friends of Lackawanna, Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation and the Lackawanna River Conservation Association to sponsor more than a dozen co-curricular events for students and the local community. In 2018, Dr. Nolan received the University’s Excellence in Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum Award. This award is given to a faculty member who strives for excellence in teaching about sustainability and makes extraordinary efforts to introduce concepts of sustainability into the curriculum. Dr. Nolan is also the founder of Green Drinks Scranton, an informal networking group that provides a forum for area residents interested in environmental issues to connect and learn from one another. Dr. Nolan earned her bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, her master’s degree at California State University and her Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas.
Presidential Inauguration Celebrates The University of Scranton’s Jesuit Mission The Ignatian mission of The University of Scranton will take a preeminent role in the Inauguration of Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., as the 29th president of The University of Scranton. The Inauguration will occur as the Society of Jesus celebrates an Ignatian Year, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. The Inauguration theme, “A Fire that Kindles Other Fires,” is quoted from Decree 2 of the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. The Decree reads: “Legend has it that Saint Ignatius, when he sent Saint Francis Xavier to the East, told him: ‘go, set the world alight.’ With the birth of the Society of Jesus, a new fire was lit in a changing world. A novel form of religious life came about, not through human enterprise but as a divine initiative. The fire that was set alight then continues to burn in our Jesuit life today, as was said about Saint Alberto Hurtado, ‘a fire that kindles other fires.’ With it, we are called to set all things alight with the love of God.” The formal Inauguration Ceremony for Father Marina will take place on Friday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m. on campus for members of the University community and invited guests. The University will livestream the event. A luncheon will immediately follow the ceremony. In addition to the Inauguration Ceremony, an Inauguration Mass is planned for Saturday, Sept. 25, at 4 p.m. on campus. An Inauguration Concert, set for Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, will feature an original work composed for the Inauguration by David Lantz III, titled “To the Ends of the Earth.” The events coincide with Family Weekend. Parents and family members visiting campus for the weekend are welcome to attend the Inauguration events. Thomas MacKinnon, vice president for university advancement, and Gretchen Van Dyke, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, are serving as co-chairs for the Inauguration Celebration. Additional information is available on The Inauguration of Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., website.
More than 96 Percent Vaccinated at Scranton The University of Scranton announced today that more than 96 percent of its students, faculty and staff who are on campus for the fall semester are fully vaccinated. The University implemented a vaccine requirement for the return of in-person classes and activities for the fall 2021 semester, which began on Monday, Aug. 30. Vaccination rates above 90 percent were found to be an important for resuming normal campus activity, according to a recently released study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Students attending classes on campus were required to submit vaccine information through the school’s Student Health Services and employees were required to attest to their vaccination status through the Office of Human Resources. In accordance with Pennsylvania law, students and employees could request a waiver to the vaccine requirement for religious or medical reasons. Students attending fully-online graduate courses were not required to submit vaccine information. According to University records, nearly 96 percent of students and more than 97 percent of staff are fully vaccinated. The University expects these percentages to increase in the coming weeks as individuals with one dose of the vaccine receive their second dose. Unvaccinated members of the University community who were granted a waiver to be on campus during the fall semester must participate in weekly PCR testing and wear a mask when indoors and when outdoors when social distancing is not possible, among other health and safety requirements as outlined in the University’s Royals Back Together plan. Vaccinated individuals do not need to participate in COVID-19 surveillance testing. Following CDC guidelines, the University will adjust indoor masking requirements for vaccinated individuals based on community spread. A Mask Status tile on the Royals Back Together webpage will indicate if masks are required indoors for vaccinated individuals, as well as other health and safety requirements. (Currently, the University is requiring all individuals to wear masks indoors through Oct. 4, and the access to the campus is limited to University community members, invited guests and others as outlined in its Royals Back Together plan. The University will update information on or before Oct. 4).
October Events Planned at The University of Scranton Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 7 Noon. Schemel Forum’s Munley Law World Affairs Luncheon Series: “Jane Jacobs’ First City: What Comes Next?” presented by Paige Cognetti, mayor, City of Scranton. Rose Room, Brennan Hall. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 14 8:30 a.m. 20th Annual U.S. Conference on disABILITY “Exploring Autism Across the Spectrum: Building Inclusive Communities. Year III.” This virtual conference will include daylong live events as well as pre-recorded session offerings. Free. Registration opens mid-September. Call 570-941-7819 or visit www.scranton.edu/disabilityconference. Oct. 15 Noon. Schemel Forum’s Munley Law World Affairs Luncheon Series: “Democracy in America? An Outsider’s View” presented by Fintan O’Toole, columnist for The Irish Times and the Leonard L. Milberg Lecturer in Irish Letters, Princeton. Rose Room, Brennan Hall. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 15 7:30 p.m. Performance Music: “In Recital” featuring Alexander Pattavina, organ. Houlihan-McLean Center. Free. Call 570-941-7624 or email music@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 20 4:30 p.m. Asian Studies Lecture: “Moral Psychology of Confucian Shame: Shame of Shamelessness” presented by Bongrae Seok, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, Alvernia University. Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall. No registration required. Free. Call 570-941-6312 or email ann.pang-white@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 23 7:45 a.m. Schemel Forum bus trip “Back to Gotham! NYC!” $150. Registration required to reserve a spot by Oct. 1 as spaces are limited. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 24 9 a.m. Open House for prospective students and their families. Various locations on campus. Registration required. Free. Call 888-SCRANTON or email admissions@scranton.edu. Oct. 24 7:30 p.m. Performance Music: “Bach for Humanity” featuring Mark Kosower, cello. Houlihan-McLean Center. Free. Call 570-941-7624 or email music@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 26 Noon. Schemel Forum’s Munley Law World Affairs Luncheon Series: “The Holocaust and Jewish-Christian Relations” presented by Dr. Carol Rittner, RSM, distinguished professor emerita of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor Emerita of Holocaust Studies at Stockton University, New Jersey. Rose Room, Brennan Hall. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Oct. 30 7:30 p.m. Performance Music: “In Concert” featuring The University of Scranton String Orchestra with guest artist John-Morgan Bush, horn. Houlihan-McLean Center. Free. Call 570-941-7624 or email music@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage. Nov. 7 9 a.m. Open House for prospective students and their families. Various locations on campus. Registration required. Free. Call 888-SCRANTON or email admissions@scranton.edu. Wednesdays: Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27 and Nov. 3, 10 6 p.m. Schemel Forum Course: “Social and Moral Issues in Information Technology” presented by Kevin Nordberg, Ph.D., professor emeritus, philosophy and Latin American studies, The University of Scranton. Room 305, Weinberg Memorial Library. Registration required. Fees vary. Call 570-941-6206 or email alicen.morrison@scranton.edu. Note: Access to the campus is currently limited to members of the University community, invited guests, spectators at athletic events and others as listed in the Royals Back Together plan. Campus access and other health and safety information will be updated throughout the semester and can be seen on the Royals Back Together webpage.
U.S. News Ranks Scranton No. 5 in 2022 Guidebook U.S. News & World Report ranked Scranton No. 5 among the “Best Regional Universities in the North” in the 2022 edition of the “Best Colleges” guidebook, which became available online today. U.S. News has ranked Scranton among the top 10 universities in its category for 28 consecutive years. U.S. News also ranked Scranton No. 14 in its category in its “Best Undergraduate Teaching” listing of the top colleges in the nation expressing “a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.” In addition, Scranton was ranked No. 45 as a “Best Value Regional University in the North,” which compares academic quality of programs to cost of attendance. This is the ninth consecutive year U.S. News has recognized Scranton as a “Best Value” school. Scranton was ranked No. 138 in its category in “Top Performers on Social Mobility,” which looks at schools that enroll and graduate “large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants.” In national rankings, as opposed to listings by category, U.S. News included Scranton among America’s “Best Undergraduate Business Programs,” ranking Scranton at No. 166 in the U.S., “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs” at No. 185 (where doctorate is not offered); and among the nation’s “Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs,” ranking Scranton No. 148 in the nation. U.S. News uses data on 17 measures of academic quality to rank 1,466 bachelor’s degree colleges in the America. For its rankings, U.S. News considers a range of quality indicators that include an “outcomes” measurement” (40 percent), which assesses graduation rates; freshman retention; a social mobility score; graduate indebtedness; and graduation performance rates, which compares a school’s actual graduation rates with predicted graduation rates based on characteristics of the incoming class. U.S. News ranking analysis also includes a peer assessment of academic excellence (20 percent); faculty resources (20 percent), which includes class size and regional cost-of-living adjustments to faculty pay and benefits; student excellence (7 percent), as measured by SAT or ACT scores and high school ranking of students in the top 25 percent of their class; financial resources (10 percent); and alumni giving (3 percent). U.S. News categorizes colleges for their rankings based on the official Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classification of universities. The 2022 U.S. News “Best Colleges” rankings became available online Sept. 13. The printed edition of the guidebook will be available in bookstores Nov. 2.
An Introduction to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workshop The University of Scranton’s new Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service will offer its inaugural workshop “An Introduction to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for NEPA Government Official” on Tuesday, Aug. 31. The workshop, offered free of charge to county and city officials of Northeastern Pennsylvania via Zoom, will run from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will be facilitated by DNG Consulting, an independent diversity, inclusion and equity consulting group (see attached flyer for facilitator bios). PNC is the exclusive sponsor of the event. “Promoting and maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion is imperative in ensuring ethical and effective governance for all. We are glad to provide a workshop on these timely issues and we look forward to having the Center offer programs on a range of topics that can aid public officials and their staff in their important work,” said JoyAnna Hopper, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science and co-director of the Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service. The interactive workshop will address why attentiveness to diversity, equity and inclusion is important for effective governance and articulate how implicit bias and systemic racism are defined and identified. The workshop will also cover best practices in how government bodies and officials can take matters of racism and bias into consideration in evaluating institutions and policy effectiveness. Three experienced consultants with DNG will facilitate in the workshop. Principal at DNG Consulting, Danielle N. Gadson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of public administration at Villanova University and chairs their Public Administration Department Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. As a professor and a trained Intergroup Dialogue facilitator focusing on race, Dr. Gadson teaches courses in public administration theory, data analysis, health services planning, and intergroup relations. Senior consultant at DNG, Stephen A. Sheridan, Jr. works as the director for accountability, accreditation and assessment services at Villanova University, providing leadership and expertise in the design, implementation, and analysis of assessment activities related to student development and learning outcomes. He is a trained Intergroup Dialogue facilitator with experience facilitating on the topics of disability, race and socioeconomic status. Senior consultant at DNG, Terri Boyer, Ed.D., is the founding director of the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women’s Leadership and an associate professor of education and counseling at Villanova University. Dr. Boyer has published widely on educational and workforce equity, institutional reform for equity, women’s education and leadership, the effectiveness of equity programs, and assessment and teacher training. The workshop is convened by the University’s Center for Excellence in Ethics and Public Service with its Office of Community and Government Relations in collaboration with DNG Consulting. Registration is required to participate in the event and can be completed online or by e-mailing ceeps@scranton.edu.
The University of Scranton Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program The University of Scranton’s Kania School of Management has announced the launch of the fall 2021 Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Cohort; a comprehensive, practitioner-focused program that tackles the pressing leadership challenges of high-potential nonprofit leaders throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania. To further understand the topics covered, here’s an outline of the program as well as a list of organizational goals/capstone projects that could be addressed during the program. For more information or to apply by June 25th, 2020, click here.
