Monday Morning Update

August 25, 2008

Back to School: Over the weekend, students began moving in their residences and already there is a buzz on campus as the new academic year approaches. When classes begin on Wednesday, they will mark the beginning of the College's 61st academic year.

New Faculty: The College has appointed 19 new faculty members and one faculty fellow. Their areas of expertise include: biology, chemistry, psychology, philosophy, history, political science, sociology, religious studies, management, finance, marketing, and English. This new group, which last week attended Orientation, brings to 156 the total number of full-time faculty members.

First-Year Class: While the majority of our 637 first-year students are from New England and the Northeast, students are also coming from Germany, El Salvador, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. We are also seeing students from a wider range of U.S. states including California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Utah, and Kentucky.

Service Outreach: Today, the first-year class is heading Into the Streets of neighboring communities to perform an afternoon of service. Their outreach ranges from working with the elderly at rehab centers and mentoring children at the YMCA to visiting food pantries and delivering furniture with My Brother's Keeper. Many faculty, staff and administrators join the students and we expect more than 700 members of the Stonehill community will volunteer for the afternoon of service.

Backpack Project: Service outreach is not confined to our students and their mentors as the success of the Alumni Council's Back to School Backpack Project -- now in its fourth year -- demonstrates. The Alumni Council's Community Affairs Committee recently collected 280 backpacks filled with school supplies from alumni and have distributed the backpacks to local children in area school systems.

Surveys & Rankings: The National Survey of Student Engagement reports that our students express considerable satisfaction with their Stonehill education. In addition, the annual U.S. News and World Report best colleges guide sees Stonehill continuing to rank in the top half of the competitive, national liberal arts category. For more, visit here.

Opening Events: On Tuesday, the Stonehill community will gather in the Sports Complex for Academic Convocation to formally mark the beginning of a new year. Also on Tuesday, community members will pray for the success of our educational mission when they participate in the Mass of the Holy Spirit on the main quad.