February Family Newsletter Dear Families & Friends, We’ve been busy here on campus! Just a few weeks ago we welcomed back 2,211 returning and new students at the undergraduate level and 30 part-time undergraduate students; over the course of the spring semester, 2198 graduate and professional development students will take courses. We have 1,909 students living on campus this spring. The seven new and 36 transfer students came to us from such institutions as Assumption, Stonehill, Suffolk, Salve Regina, Manhattanville, Savannah College of Art & Design, Catholic University, Hobart/William Smith, University of Vermont, University of South Carolina, and Syracuse University. There are exchange students from Australia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Philippines, Mongolia, and Pakistan. We also welcomed back 50 students from study abroad and we sent off 47 students for spring 2012 to countries such as China, Argentina, Denmark, Netherlands, Fiji, and New Zealand. The Admission Office reports there is once again a strong interest in Endicott for fall, 2012; we have seen a 7% increase in applications this year. We expect to receive over 4,000 applications for 675 freshmen and transfer positions. We anticipate SAT scores and secondary school GPA’s will continue to increase at a slow but steady pace. New Life Sciences and Business Building We are excited to announce that construction site work has begun for the new Life Sciences and Business building. Some architectural drawings of the design can be found on the Endicott blog. The new facility will consist of two wings connected by a very large atrium and area for students to study and socialize. The west wing houses the School of Business and will contain study rooms, special lecture halls, small study areas, team building rooms, classrooms, office spaces, and the Center for Entrepreneurship. This wing will be enhanced electronically with many rooms containing multiple screens and projections for students to work on various projects which can all be seen simultaneously. The Center for Entrepreneurship expands our efforts to help students create small businesses and to focus on all aspects of small business development, from concept and business plans, legal issues, copyright, and patent to marketing. The Center will be available for use by students in other disciplines who have interest in small business and entrepreneurship. Life Sciences and Biotechnology will be located in a separate wing, with dedicated classrooms for biology and microbiology, cell-molecular biology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry/biochemistry, physical sciences, and environmental sciences, along with dry and wet labs, prep rooms, and workrooms. A STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics) incubator lab will be created to stimulate start-up business ventures. We anticipate several small bio-tech businesses from the North Shore will occupy the space, use our facilities, and engage our students in the concept of incubators. Computer labs and a formal lecture hall seating 160 people will be just off the main lobby. The grand entrance will look out at the lakes and a walkway will connect the building to the Wax Academic Center and the Halle Library. It is an exciting project; the building is big, student-friendly and contains the richness for independent and guided study that is so important for students as they reach out and venture into their own areas of interest. It is also a place where students and faculty can work together in research. Our goal is to also integrate the Life Sciences and Business areas so that students in business are learning start-up operations and our life science students are learning business aspects. It is a unique concept, especially having them housed in the same facility with some sharing the same space, resources, and faculty. Additional Campus Improvements Other projects being designed include enlarging the Callahan Center to increase dining hall seating and redesigning the entire kitchen and food delivery areas so that food stations are spread around to create a mall food court atmosphere. The increased seating should help eliminate lines and will also provide opportunities to utilize the dining hall outside of the normal hours on a cash basis. The Bookstore will be relocated to the second floor, the Copy Center and Mailroom will be enlarged, a game room will be created, and more office spaces for both staff and students will be added. Student Government and the Observer newspaper, for example, will have dedicated space in the building. New entrances will be added to the rear of the building so that the students from Bayview, Marblehead and Stoneridge will be able to enter from the Stoneridge Road into the Dining Hall. We anticipate this will be under way in 2013 and will be completed in 2014. Dining services will not be interrupted as we will work around schedules and the summer and winter breaks. Internships and Career Opportunities This spring semester the Internship Program and Career Center have initiated a series of major events to help students compete for top internships and jobs in their respective fields. The Symposium for Semester Internship on February 27th is a new evening event for juniors. Keynote Speaker Jay Hargis of Jobscience and employers ranging from start-ups to life sciences, major advertising and technology companies will provide advice for aspiring interns. Employer panels on marketing and entrepreneurship will focus on entry level opportunities and advice for young professionals. Other February events include the 2012 Internship and Career Fair, required Prep Seminar meetings for Juniors, and resume critique drop-in sessions. The Spring 2012 Emerging Professional Series, offered by the Career Center, is a series of 13 career development workshops and events designed to help students develop skills critical to an internship or job search. Key programs that are not to be missed include Using LinkedIn for Your Internship Search, Successful Interviewing, and Social Media and Your Job Search. We encourage students to attend any of these series and are pleased with the variety of content that will be offered. University vs. College I was recently asked if Endicott was planning to become a university now that we will be offering a doctoral program. Historically, universities were institutions committed to research, publications, and scholarship. The faculty were primarily focused on those aspects of their professional careers and the creation of new knowledge. In recent years, university titles have been adopted by small state colleges and even some private institutions. While we will keep the discussion open on campus, there are many at the College who feel strongly that Endicott’s mission is one of teaching and interacting with students. Our goal is to include research and scholarship, but it is not the driving force of the institution. We strongly support the notion of remaining a college committed to the acts of teaching and learning. The doctoral program and the number of graduate students qualify us to become a university, and we would likely receive approval. However, we like the company we are in – the medium-sized New England college, similar to Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Amherst, and Assumption. It feels right and reinforces our mission. So, we will periodically look at the university title, but unless there becomes a compelling reason to change, we will stay a college. We recognize the word college impacts our international recruitment, for in Europe and in many places in the world, a college is a high school. But to the international community, we define ourselves as Endicott College, an american university. Again, we think that matches our goals and our mission. Gulls Athletics Update Endicott’s winter athletic season is in full swing, with several teams making runs at their conference’s postseason tournaments: - The women’s basketball team is fighting for one of the top spots in the CCC with an 11-4 conference record and has posted a 9-2 record at home this season.
- Men’s basketball is also among the leaders in the CCC, currently carrying a 9-6 conference mark. Both basketball teams are 14-8 overall.
- The men’s volleyball team got their season underway by battling with three nationally ranked opponents and opened up their NECC season at home against Newbury Thursday night before travelling to the MIT Invitational tournament over the weekend.
- Endicott’s club hockey teams are in the home stretches of their seasons. The men’s team carries a 10-7-1 record and will finish their regular season with two games this weekend. The women’s club hockey squad has won three of their last games, including a 7-1 victory over Babson.
- Endicott dance team is preparing for the New England Regional Dance Competition on March 4th, where they are the returning champions.
- Cheerleading is fundraising and gearing up for a trip to Nationals next year. Both cheerleading and dance are performing at home games of basketball and both will hold tryouts in May for next year.
Off the court, student athletes have stepped up and participated in over 200 hours of community service in January alone including events at the Briscoe Middle School (Beverly) and the Cape Ann Food Pantry.
To give you a picture of our athletes, the average GPA for the Endicott student is 3.08 and the average GPA for our athletes is 2.96. Our overall graduation rate is around 70% and the athlete’s graduation rate is 79%. Financial aid for athletes mirrors that of all students. In no aspect of comparison is there a significant difference between athletes and non-athletes.
Center for the Arts In previous newsletters, I have addressed the high quality of music, theater, and art coming from the Center for the Arts. There is an energetic group of students who find art as a wonderful way to express themselves, to demonstrate and build their character, and to share it with enthusiasm with others. Please check the on-line offerings at the Center for the Arts for the latest on upcoming shows and events. Financial Aid Now is the time to apply for financial aid for the 2012-2013 year. For information on applying, please go to the Endicott Financial Aid web page at www.endicott.edu/financialaid and select “Application Instructions” from the menu. If you have any questions, please contact the Financial Aid Office at (978) 232-2070 and the staff will be happy to assist you. May Commencement Planning It’s that time again! The College commencement committee is actively working on Commencement 2012. Information regarding the details will be posted on our website by early March. Please encourage your sons and daughters to complete and submit the Graduation Application available on the Registrar’s webpage as soon as possible if they intend on completing their degree requirements or are planning to participate in the May 19th ceremony. This application provides us with the information to do a degree audit and order degrees for graduates. The number of tickets will be determined soon and is based on the number of graduating candidates. Massachusetts’ Marijuana Law We remain challenged, as is every college in the country, with issues of under-aged drinking and use of marijuana. Massachusetts’ decision to decriminalize marijuana has had an impact on the amount of marijuana used by students across the Commonwealth and at Endicott. We will work diligently to provide education and training; however that is probably not enough. We will take a sterner look at the use of marijuana on our campus and strengthen some of our sanctions to minimize its impact. The same is true of alcohol. We balance our sanctions with discipline, education, and, if necessary, we will remove students from the campus or residence halls. The College and parents need to work closely together as we try to curtail the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs on campus. Our first concern is the safety of students and we will work hard to make sure as a College we address each situation of which we become aware. The debate continues in colleges across the country on the best way to address alcohol and drugs. Some say campuses should be dry, others suggest that we should continue to educate, crack down of infractions, and discipline more. We will continue to address this issue at Endicott. Callahan Dining Offerings I often hear, "The variety of food in the Callahan is too limited." We pride ourselves in providing quality food with substantial variety and are confident that options exist for all palates. I am constantly reminded that we feed 2,000 people daily and, unfortunately, it is not quite the same as mom's home cooking! I urge you to connect to our dining website to see what is being offered, I think you'll find a selection that caters to the broad audience we serve here at Endicott. Misselwood Honored I am pleased to announce that Misselwood, the beautiful estate on the ocean which is used as the home of our hospitality program, events and planning for both the college and outside groups, was recently honored as a top wedding venue by two popular websites, winning “The Best of Weddings” for a second year in a row from The Knot, and earning the 2012 Bride Choice Award from Wedding Wire. It is a beautiful space and we are amazed at the number of alumni that come back and find either Tupper Manor or Misselwood as the site for their weddings or special family events. On behalf of the entire Endicott community, we wish you all a very happy February and wishes for a warm spring. Sincerely,
Dr. Richard E. Wylie, President
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