Stockton News - Dec. 15, 2023
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
Palladino Announced as Next Provost
Following an extensive national search, Stockton has announced Michael A. Palladino as the University’s next provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.
Palladino is currently vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Bloomfield College of Montclair State University. His appointment is effective May 6, following approval at the Feb. 21 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
The provost and vice president for Academic Affairs is the chief academic officer at Stockton, providing leadership to the university’s more than 160 undergraduate and graduate programs and 700 faculty members.
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Palladino bring three decades of experience in higher education, from roles as a faculty member, dean and vice president, to Stockton,” President Joe Bertolino said. “Dr. Palladino was overwhelmingly the highest ranked candidate among consideration by Stockton’s faculty and campus community.”
OceanFirst Foundation Donates Another $40,000 for Scholarships
The OceanFirst Foundation continued its long-time support of Stockton students by presenting a check on Dec. 4 for $40,000 to fund 16 scholarships.
“Since 2017, OceanFirst Foundation has been committed to supporting Stockton University students by investing in scholarships. I’m pleased to share that, to date, OceanFirst has awarded $320,000 in scholarships to Stockton students,” said Katherine Durante, executive director of the foundation. “We look forward to continuing this valuable partnership in 2024.”
OceanFirst Bank President of Community & Retail Banking Vincent D’Alessandro said the foundation was established to support the needs of the families that live in the bank’s footprint.
“We want to be a bank that’s first considered to be an organization that cares about community,” he said. “We hear the stories from the kids who benefit from our scholarships and how meaningful it is."
“Just Be An Activist About It:” Student Projects Exhibited in Coffeehouse
Amidst the usual hustle and bustle of the Campus Center Coffeehouse was the culmination of a half-a-year’s work by First-Year Seminar students: an art exhibition and presentations centered around different world issues on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
The general arts and humanities course – Women, Gender and Sexuality, an introductory course to the WGSS interdisciplinary minor – tasked students to create visual presentations using mediums such as photography, illustration, collages and even audio and visual. The students then chose their presentation topics, including LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, women’s rights, sexual assault and cyberbullying.
Rather than having the students present to each other in class, Kristin Jacobson, professor of American Literature, and Sarah Messina, a graduate assistant currently in the Masters of American Studies program and a teaching assistant for the course, decided to have the students present their research and work in the Campus Center as a pop-up exhibition.
SPOTLIGHT ON: DUO HELEN WEI
Duo Helen Wei, associate professor of Computer Science and faculty associate at the Stockton Center
on Successful Aging (SCOSA), recently engaged in two conferences, showcasing her research and contributing actively to the academic
area.
First, Wei, who has taught at Stockton for more than 11 years, presented a compelling poster and flash presentation, "Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health for Aging Population - A Scoping Review," Nov. 9-12 at the Gerontological Society of America's Annual Scientific Meeting (GSA) in Tampa, Florida.
This collaborative effort involved Bianca Hernandez, a New Jersey Institute of Technology student, and David Burdick, director of SCOSA and professor of Psychology. Driven by the promise of AI in mental health research for the aging demographic, their work explores early-stage diagnosis, mental well-being monitoring, severity assessment, cognitive trajectory prediction and treatment support. The research provides a brief overview of AI's evolving utilization, incorporating insights into research methods, data sources and predictors of mental health.
FRAME-WORTHY
Picture Stockton... Through the Eyes of a Political Science Major
What does the First Amendment look like on a college campus?
Gianna Schiattarella, a photographer, Political Science major, and Holocaust and Genocide Studies minor, challenged herself with that question and used her camera to visualize her answer. Over the fall semester, she attended events and met with student groups to see how Ospreys exercise their First Amendment rights--the freedoms of speech, petition, assembly, religion and press.
The search for answers led her to a rock climbing gym, Stockton's annual Constitution Day event, a meeting with the Muslim Student Association, the Argo newsroom, the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy’s lecture on Daniel’s Law and a campus protest. At each of the events and meetings, she saw how our freedoms give students opportunities to grow, learn and lead.
WHAT'S TRENDING @ #STOCKTONU
Instagram: What an incredible semester this has been, #Ospreys 🦅💙📚
Facebook: Did you know a horse can hear your heartbeat from up to four feet away? 🐎🫀
LinkedIn:Have you ever wondered about the connection between Coca-Cola and #corporatesocialresponsibility? 🤔
FROM THE SIDELINES
Four Ospreys Chosen for ECAC Honors
Three Stockton student-athletes and one coach receivedpostseason honors from the Eastern College Athletic Conference for the Fall 2023 season. Junior Allie Palumbo was named to the All-ECAC Team in field hockey for the third straight year.
Freshman Nicole Palmer was named ECAC Rookie of the Year and All-ECAC First Team for volleyball, while sophomore Aiden Hoenisch garnered an All-ECAC Second Team nod for men's soccer. Rounding out the quartet was Sarah Elleman, who was honored as ECAC Coach of the Year for field hockey.
Elleman earned her first career ECAC Coach of the Year honor, after helming the Ospreys to 15 wins, which tied the school record that was set in 2018. Under Elleman's leadership, Stockton achieved its highest regional ranking ever with fourth in Region IV and defeated The College of New Jersey for the first time since 2003.
Elleman recorded her 150th career win in her 15th season as a college head coach and eighth at Stockton with a 4-0 win over Immaculata on Sept.11. She coached at Utica College from 2010-15 before her arrival at Stockton.
Rentzel & Mendick Receive Academic All-District Honors
A pair of Stockton volleyball playersreceived Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators for the 2023 season. The honorees were senior Aubrey Rentzel and sophomore Regan Mendick.
Rentzel was chosen for the second straight year, while Mendick received the academic recognition for the first time. Rentzel and Mendick alternated at setter in Stockton's 6-2 rotation and helped the Ospreys to a 21-11 overall record, first place in the NJAC regular season standings and a runner-up finish in the NJAC tournament this fall.
🗓️ View the full schedule of all upcoming athletic events here.
OSPREY NOTES
⛄Happy Holidays from Stockton!
ICYMI: The holiday season offers us a chance to reconnect and reflect on all that has occurred over the last twelve months and look ahead to the coming year. This year, we set out to find what the holiday season means to the Stockton community. View the video to see how our students, faculty and staff celebrate.
Winter Break, Holiday Week Hours
Reminder: The University will be closed Monday, Dec. 25, through Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. Staff will not need to use accrued leave for any of these days. Only those employees who received prior approval from their Divisional Executive may report to work during this time. The University will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
As a result, the first work week of 2024 will be 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 2 through Friday, Jan. 5. There will not be any compressed work week, but preapproved WFH schedules falling on a workday are available.
UPCOMING EVENTS
🎭 Winter Programming at the PAC
Dec. 25-Jan. 1: Holiday Break
Jan. 12-15: 🖋️ Murphy Writing Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway
Jan. 15:MLK Day of Service
Jan. 16: Spring Semester begins
