Summer is beginning to wind down and the start of the fall 2017 semester is just around the corner. The Summer News Update is packed with key information to keep in mind as you prepare to head back to campus.
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Extensions Dance Company, Salve Regina’s pre-professional dance company, will perform two pieces at the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival this weekend.
Dance minor Marissa Masson ’19 will show her piece “Weight of the World,” which premiered at Salve Regina’s Student Choreography Showcase last April. It will be danced by Haley Andrews ’18, Nicole Landry ’18, Madison Stewart ’19, Allyson Storch ’18 and Lauren Wyble ’18.
“The Boston Contemporary Dance Festival vets submissions and then invites a range of talent from across the country to show their works in front of audiences, critics and leaders in the dance community,” said Lindsay Guarino. “Acceptance into the festival proves that Marissa Masson, who choreographed ‘Weight of the World’ as a sophomore, has talent beyond her years, and it’s thrilling to see that her potential is recognized beyond the Salve community.”
In addition to Masson’s piece, adjunct faculty member Cayley Christoforou ’15 will present her work “Seek, Seeking, Sought,” which was set on Extensions Dance Company earlier this year. It will be danced by Andrews, Olivia Gormley ’17, Allison Lavoie ’17, Marikate McConnell ’18, Rebecca Sock ’20, Jacquelyn Stevens ’19 and Wyble.
The Boston Contemporary Dance Festival will be held Saturday, Aug. 12 at the Boston Center for the Arts. Established in 2012, the annual festival brings a diverse array of contemporary dance artists together from across the United States, inviting the greater Boston community to experience this art form at its finest.
For ticket information, visit bostoncontemporarydance.org.
Administration of justice major Darwin Salazar ’18 hasn’t had much downtime this summer.
In mid-June, he took a break from his two internships to attend Harvard Business School’s Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), a highly competitive program for rising college seniors designed to increase diversity and opportunity in business education.
Salazar was introduced to the program by Corey Thomas, CEO of cybersecurity company Rapid7 and an SVMP alumnus, who praised the impact SVMP had on his own career. “After that conversation, I did some research on the program and saw that it was very competitive and very rewarding, which is what ultimately led me to apply,” Salazar said. “I also had never taken a business course in my life, which made the program even more appealing to me.”
During the week-long residential program, Salazar attended classes that used the renowned Harvard Business School case study method to facilitate shared learning. Studies ranged from Chile’s heavy reliance on a natural resource for its economic stability to Threadless’ self-sustainable business model to Beyonce’s surprise album release.
In addition to lessons about financial planning, investing and ethical decision-making, Salazar learned a lot about himself. “After the first day of classes, I told myself that I would never second-guess my knowledge or skills by limiting myself to certain opportunities,” he said. “I also learned that if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. These are the environments that drive change and force you to think outside of your common mental parameters.”
After SVMP, Salazar returned to his primary internship in Washington, D.C., where he is working in an information security and business continuity role for the financial institution ICMA-RC. Additionally, he has continued his internship with Francesca Spidalieri, senior fellow for cyber leadership at Salve Regina’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy.
“I have also been mentoring some students and attending cybersecurity networking events in the D.C. metropolitan area,” he added. “And thanks to the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals and their amazing initiatives, I attended the biggest cybersecurity conferences in the world, BlackHat and DEF CON, which were both held in Las Vegas.”
Growing up in socioeconomically challenging conditions in Providence’s South Side helped to shape Salazar’s drive for success. “I was exposed to situations that most children just don’t see,” he said. “This included people carrying out violent and malicious acts, and doing whatever it took to acquire money.”
As he grew older, several of Salazar’s friends dropped out of school, went to prison or were even lost to gun violence. “I noticed all the mistakes that the people around me had committed, and would tell myself that I should avoid that course of action,” he said. “This allowed me to not only learn from my mistakes but from others’ as well. My upbringing is why I work hard, why I mentor inner-city students, why I love giving back and why I remain humble.”
Salazar said his Salve Regina education has been highly instrumental in cementing his career aspirations. After earning his bachelor’s degree next spring, he’ll stay at the University to complete his master’s degree in administration of justice and homeland security, focusing on cybersecurity and digital forensics. Salazar plans to work in digital forensics and eventually pursue the dual Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration degree.
“My dream is to open a data privacy legal practice to defend our privacy rights and use my experience to bridge the technical language divide in courts,” Salazar said. “I always knew that I wanted to do something cybersecurity-related, but I never saw the beautiful combination that pre-law and cybersecurity could turn out to be. This has recently come to fruition with all the legal battles surrounding data ownership, data collection methods and encrypted platforms.”
Salazar said that many of Salve Regina’s faculty and administrators – including President Jane Gerety, RSM and dean of students Malcolm Smith – have played vital roles during his time at the University. “All of the faculty members from the administration of justice department, several from the business department and Francesca Spidalieri at the Pell Center have each been instrumental to my growth and perspective,” he added. “Millions of thanks to them.”
Salve Regina’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy has received a $200,000 grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to support the Rochambeau Dialogue over a period of two years.
Named after one of the most celebrated French commanders of the Revolutionary War, the Rochambeau Dialogue is a programmatic effort designed to strengthen defense cooperation between the United States and its oldest ally, France. This will take the form of an annual Franco-U.S. defense dialogue, held on campus over the course of two days. Led by Pell Center senior fellow Iskander Rehman, and in partnership with a leading French think-tank, the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS), the dialogue will serve as a forum for discussion with the participation of current and former French and American government officials.
“At a time of transatlantic turmoil, initiatives such as these take on a whole new importance,” Rehman said. “It is our hope that the Rochambeau Dialogue will strengthen the fraternal bond between both republics, and raise awareness among French and American audiences of the enduring value of the alliance.”
Jim Ludes, executive director of the Pell Center, praised the initiative and thanked Carnegie Corporation of New York for their support. “With the threats to liberal democracies on the rise, we’re eager to get to work to foster this important dialogue, and we are very grateful to the corporation for the grant to make this effort possible,” he said.
“FRS is thrilled to be a partner in this much-needed venture,” said Bruno Tertrais, deputy director of FRS. “At a time when the U.S. and France are more than ever key Western defense and security partners, this new strategic dialogue will help promote mutual knowledge and understanding as well as facilitate cooperation.”
“We hope the Rochambeau Dialogue will have a positive impact for years to come,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. “It is our privilege to provide a grant for this thoughtful, timely and worthwhile endeavor.”
CAE, a global leader in training, has awarded Salve Regina’s Department of Administration of Justice (ADJ) a $180,000 grant to fund a cybersecurity defense research project. The research study will assess the cyber risks to the military’s synthetic training environment, identify cyber effects to inject into the military’s training environment for more realistic training, and evaluate training needs for future scenarios where service members can train alongside real or synthetic cyber warriors.
Principal investigator of the study will be Jennifer McArdle, assistant professor in the ADJ department and a fellow in defense studies at the Washington, D.C.-based American Foreign Policy Council. Ten Salve students, both graduate and undergraduate, will work on the project as research assistants.
“The grant gives students an opportunity to develop their cybersecurity and policy research skills, while also providing them the unique opportunity to closely interface and network with members of the defense industrial base, defense policy community and military,” McArdle said.
The need for this research is paramount as global defense strategies are evolving and potential adversaries are increasingly viewing cyber, electronic and information operations as a way to asymmetrically challenge established technology-centric capabilities, McArdle explained. “Operators need to know how to effectively respond to threats in a networked environment,” she said. “Synthetic training provides the only high-fidelity environment where the end user can get this experience prior to combat.”
“CAE is always looking for ways to make our simulation-based training systems more immersive and realistic,” said Gene Colabatistto, CAE’s group president, defense and security. “We know cybersecurity and cyber threats will be increasingly critical in the military training environment, which is why funding projects such as this and other internal research and development programs will help us create the most integrated, interoperable and immersive virtual training environments.”
In addition to funding the research project, the CAE grant includes a $50,000 donation for the ADJ department to purchase software and hardware that will further differentiate its cyber and forensic capabilities. The investment will broaden the University’s pipeline to the future cyber security workforce with a particular eye for Salve Regina students joining the defense industrial base.
CAE is a global leader in training for the defense, civil aviation and health care markets. CAE continues to help define global training standards with its innovative virtual-to-live training solutions to make flying safer, maintain defense force readiness and enhance patient safety. The company has the broadest global presence in the industry, with more than 8,500 employees, 160 sites and training locations in more than 35 countries. Each year, CAE trains more than 120,000 civil and defense crewmembers and thousands of health care professionals worldwide.
Recent graduate and Commonwealth Coast Conference pitcher of the year Kelsey Boarman ’17 enjoyed a 10-day, three-city European softball tour with American International Sports Teams (AIST).
Boarman brought her dominant pitching to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, as her team went 5-0 while she delivered shutout innings in all five games. She allowed just five base hits in her three starts and two relief appearances.
Former Seahawk pitching coach Siera Sheehan recommended Boarman, who had just completed her final season with back-to-back conference championships and NCAA regionals appearances. Sheehan had enjoyed a similar experience after graduating from the University of Hartford.
Since 2002, AIST has been traveling the world with select players from across the country to compete in a variety of sports. The selection process is based on recommendations from coaches as well as statistical leaders from around the nation at all levels of college play.
In addition to her flawless pitching, Boarman got to bat during the game in Paris and collected a hit. She finished her Salve Regina career with a perfect 1.000 batting average (1-for-1).
Dr. D. Matthew Ramsey, associate professor and chairman of the Department of English and Communications, recently presented a paper at the 44th annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha conference in Oxford, Mississippi.
Ramsey’s paper looked at the 1958 Hollywood film “The Long, Hot Summer” starring Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, focusing on how its source text, the 1940 William Faulkner novel “The Hamlet,” is transformed and updated, particularly in terms of how it imagines the relationship between money and female desire and agency.
“This is the third time I’ve presented at the Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha conference, a gathering of prestigious Faulkner scholars, students and non-academic lovers of Faulkner,” Ramsey said. “Experiencing Oxford, Mississippi, Faulkner’s hometown, not to mention the heat of July, makes the experience rewarding and unique.”
Themed “Faulkner and Money: The Economies of Yoknapatawpha and Beyond,” this year’s conference followed the proverbial money in the author’s work, life and career. Through five days of lectures, panels, tours, exhibits and other presentations, participants explored the multifaceted economies of Yoknapatawpha County, the Faulkner oeuvre and the literary profession.
Pictured from left: Carmela Geer ’89, Helen McGowan-Gardner ’62 and Brian Pryor ’92.
Three Salve Regina alumni received achievement awards during the University’s recent Reunion Weekend celebration: Carmela Geer ’89, Helen McGowan-Gardner ’62 and Brian Pryor ’92.
Carmela Geer
Geer currently serves as executive director of Newport’s Edward King Senior Center, which offers a variety of social, educational and cultural activities for between 16,000 and 18,000 seniors annually. She previously served as the director of community outreach for Middletown Public Schools, where she was responsible for spearheading two fundraisers for families in need. For her work in this role, she received the 2010 Middletown Education Collaborative Teacher of the Year.
Geer has served on a number of boards, including the Middletown Substance Abuse Task Force, the Middletown Parent Teacher Association and the Newport Baroque Orchestra. She is the island-wide volunteer coordinator for the Aquidneck Island Emergency Volunteer Alliance, is a member of the Middletown Juvenile Hearing Board, and is a parent volunteer for Middletown Public Schools.
She embraces her leadership role with the Newport Partnership for Families, which connects Aquidneck Island residents with services, events, programs, and community engagement opportunities that they may not have otherwise had access to if left to navigate the system on their own.
Helen McGowan-Gardner
McGowan-Gardner was a pioneer in the early research on AIDS and the development of critical care for AIDS patients at the local, regional and national levels. As a certified infection control practitioner and director of infection control, McGowan-Gardner was the first nursing professional to make a home visit to an AIDS patient in southeastern Massachusetts. This was at a time when AIDS was a frightening new disease.
She has presented and published research findings pertaining to nursing care for those afflicted with the illness and also conducted research with nursing faculty at the University of Massachusetts, presenting their findings at the New England Organization for Nursing. In addition, she served as president, past president, secretary and member of the board of directors of the Association Professionals of Infection Control, New England.
McGowan-Gardner has distinguished herself through significant contributions to the Salve Regina community, serving as an active member on the Nursing Alumni Council for several years, participating in fundraising phonathons and other donor solicitation efforts, and volunteering as a class representative for the Class of 1962. She continues to serve on reunion planning committees.
Brian Pryor
Pryor is the founder and chief executive officer of the medical device manufacturer LiteCure, which is at the forefront of therapeutic laser design and technology in both the medical and veterinary markets. LiteCure Medical launched its line of LightForce Deep Tissue Therapy Lasers in 2011, and in 2014 the Companion Animal Health brand was launched along with an expanded line of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine products.
Pryor serves on numerous boards, is a fellow of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, has published more than 30 scientific papers and holds numerous U.S. and international patents. He is an active international speaker on laser applications as well as on business and marketing strategies.
His latest startup, mTrigger, is an innovative mobile health company focusing on rehabilitation. Pryor’s companies actively work with teaching institutions, clinicians and scientists around the world. He has also coached Little League baseball for many years and is very involved with mentoring college students at the University of Delaware.
Salve Regina has been ranked among the top 7 percent of the 2,400 higher education institutions nationwide that were surveyed by Money magazine for its 2017 “Best Colleges for Your Money” analysis.
Among the metrics examined by Money in ranking Salve Regina 160th overall and second in Rhode Island were actual cost of attendance and return on investment in terms of early career salaries.
Money ranks colleges based on 27 measures of educational quality, affordability and alumni success. In each category, researchers use at least one “value-added” measure, which reveals a school’s performance after subtracting the impact of its average student’s test scores and percentage of low-income students.
“We estimate a college’s ‘value-add’ by calculating its performance on important measures such as graduation rates, student loan repayment and default rates, and post-graduation earnings, after adjusting for the types of students it admits,” writes Money magazine’s Kim Clark. “We believe this analysis gives students and parents a much better indication of which colleges will provide real value for their tuition dollars.”
In building its rankings, Money focused on the three basic factors that surveys show are the most important to parents and students: quality of education, affordability and outcomes.
Dr. Elaine Silva Mangiante, in partnership with the Tiverton School Department, the University of California Berkeley and Rhode Island College, recently received a $526,000 Mathematics and Science Partnerships grant from the Rhode Island Department of Education.
The collaborative project, “Enhancing Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Skills of K-5 Educators in the Next Generation Science Standards,” is focused on deepening educator content knowledge and improving instructional practices, with the end goal of broadening students’ knowledge and skills in science.
“Salve Regina is fortunate to have been selected to work closely with the staff from Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science in providing this in-depth professional development to all elementary teachers in Tiverton,” said Silva Mangiante, an assistant professor in the University’s Department of Education. “Our efforts will establish protocols that can be used across the state to mentor teachers in conceptual understanding and pedagogical skills with the Next Generation Science Standards.”
Last month, Lawrence Hall of Science staff provided nine days of professional development on Next Generation Science Standards to Tiverton teachers in grades K-4 through the Amplify Science program. They will also provide three face-to-face professional development sessions throughout the school year, along with year-round virtual information and coaching webinars.
During the upcoming school year, Silva Mangiante and Amy Grattan, a master teacher at Rhode Island College’s Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities, will observe the Tiverton teachers as they give science lessons and engage them in evaluating student work. Observations will include data collection of teacher actions/discourse to promote students’ evidence-based thinking, as well as evidence of student-to-student talk when generating explanations and formulating arguments to explain their science thinking.
To build the sustainability of the program, teacher leaders will receive additional professional development, training them to observe and coach their colleagues in their science teaching and work with them to evaluate student work using key assessments in the Amplify Science program.
