Volume 8 | Spring 2016

In this Issue

Advancing Southern New Hampshire University

im pact

Meet New CIO Tom Dionisio ’76 International Women’s DayCfA’s Small Business Co-Op

A Note from a SNHUcommunity CallerPenmen on the Road EventsCOCE LEADS Conference

SNHU’s creative partnerships with world-class organizations inspire student success in the classroom and beyond.

A Winning Model

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Southern New Hampshire University has developed a reputation for reinventing education for the modern student, especially in the last decade. But this has been a critical part of our mission since the institution was founded by the Shapiro family in 1932. The original school started in a few modest classrooms above Dee’s Sandwich Shop and Quality Shoes on Hanover Street, with a series of business programs offered in the evenings to working adults and military personnel – populations with much to gain from a higher education but few options to pursue it.

Today, the SNHU family has grown to include nearly 80,000 current students, 70,000 alumni, and nearly 9,000 faculty and staff members across the globe. We serve students who are hungry for their education, from working adults in the College for Online and Continuing Education, to employer-sponsored workers through College for America, to traditional college-age students in University College. The growth we’ve experienced would not have been possible without the unique partnerships we’ve deliberately cultivated to increase opportunities for our students and expand their personal growth and professional development.

In the following pages, you’ll read stories from across the SNHU community showcasing these partnerships and the benefits they bring to students in all our pathways. In our cover story, we explore how our connections with the Boston Celtics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Flatiron School, and other local, regional, and national organizations are opening doors for SNHU students, from earning additional degrees and certifications to gaining hands-on professional experience – not to mention the impact on the greater community.

Through initiatives like the mini-pitches we’re creating across the country with Major League Soccer, SNHU is opening access points to education and critical workforce skills for underserved populations, empowering students who may never have considered how a degree can change the trajectory of their career. In fact, we know that a bachelor’s degree is worth $600,000 more in earnings than a high school diploma over the course of an adult’s working life.

As always, our commitment to our students remains at the forefront of our mission. We believe that education is a transformative experience, one that often marks the difference between living up to one’s dreams versus simply surviving. We’re proud to bring that opportunity to our students and alumni across the globe.

Letter from President

President: Dr. Paul J. LeBlanc

Managing Editor: Audrey Bourque

Contributors: Heidi Bernstein Nick Brattan ’76 Shane Carley Jessica Erb ’08 ’15G Tim Gerardi ’04 Lauren Keane Rebecca Mahoney ’11MFA Erin McGonagle ’15G Ceilene Mitchell, Class of 2018 Logan Ouellette Linnae Selinga Michelle Shreeve ’15 Daniel P. Smith

Graphic Design: Karen Mayeu

Production Manager: Jennifer Crossett

Printing: Talient Action Group

Impact is published by the

Office of Institutional Advancement Don Brezinski, Vice President

Changes of address may be sent

to alumni@snhu.edu or to the

Office of Institutional Advancement Southern New Hampshire University 2500 North River Road

Manchester, NH 03106-1045

Visit us online at alumni.snhu.edu

for more university news

and information about

upcoming events.

Join the conversation online with #SNHUimpact

/SNHUalumni

@SNHUalumni

bit.ly/SNHUcommunity

We Are SNHU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Let’s Get Personal: A Note from a SNHUcommunity Caller . . . . . . . . . . 4

Meet the New VP of Technology and Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

International Women’s Day Comes to SNHU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Bridal Bliss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Giving College Opportunities to Working Adults at Businesses of All Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Finding Success in the Virtual Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

MBA Program Celebrates 40 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Paying it Forward at Penn Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Teaching and Learning in the Center for Innovative Practice in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Global Perspective: Stories from International Alumni . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

A Winning Model: Partnerships for Student Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

COCE LEADS Conference Connects SNHU Community . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

On Target: A Partnership for SNHU Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Building Partnerships for Competency-Based Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Penmen on the Road Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Engaging Alumni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Preserving History and Building the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Congratulations to the Class of 2016! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

im pactinsideAdvancing Southern New Hampshire University

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Southern New Hampshire University has refocused its message to

alumni from giving to engagement – a major shift from most traditional

universities. Then again, SNHU is anything but traditional, so it should

be no surprise that we have changed in such a dramatic way.

So what does that mean?

You can engage with the SNHU community on campus or from afar during Homecoming Weekend in October, or help set up a regional community event near you. Join the Alumni Board of Directors or share your professional expertise with SNHU students through the SNHU Career Advisory Network (SNHUcan).

The bottom line is, just like with your time at SNHU, you have the ability to make your post-graduate experience your own.

It’s important to consider not only how you wish to give back to your alma mater, but also how we choose to leverage our growing alumni community. We currently have a population of more than 70,000 alumni, and over the next five years we’ll likely see that number pass 100,000. From young alumni just breaking into the working world all the way to senior executives of major corporations, SNHU alumni represent a diverse network.

I wouldn’t be where I am today if it were not for the SNHU alumni I connected with and learned from. Your degree not only gives you a path to greatness, it also gives you a wealth of experience and networking possibilities.

It’s an amazing time for SNHU. I am honored to be the President of the Alumni Association, and am excited about what is next for us as a community!

Timothy J. Gerardi ’04 President, SNHU Alumni Association

We are

SNHU

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Most Popular Degree ProgramsBusiness Administration

Business StudiesAccountingMarketingPsychology

Computer Information SystemsSocial Science

Community Economic Development

Engagement Report

Copyright © Free Vector Maps.com

Where did SNHU Alumni Study?

Growth in Global Alumni Population

Alumni Who HoldMultiple Degrees

2011

2016

47,989 4,50970,376

85 events in 11 states,

with more than 2,000 participants

SNHUcommunity Events (July 1, 2015 – May 1, 2016)

Volunteer Hours (July 1, 2015 – May 1, 2016)

Nashua, NH Center - 2,375

Brunswick, ME Center - 2,515

Salem, NH Center - 3,439

Portsmouth, NH Center - 3,751

Other Center - 4,332

14% of our population

Career Coaching & Mentoring

LeadershipRole

Event Support

CommunityService

Sharing YourStory

179volunteers

574Hours of Service

34volunteers

258Hours of Service

102volunteers

242 2,128Hours of Service Hours of Service

467volunteers

140alumni

featured in publications

1,235 - International Location

1,083 - Burlington, VT Center

308 - College for America

28,103 - Manchester Campus

13,306 - SNHU Online

50Where do SNHU Alumni Live? Countries, All States and DC137

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The SNHUcommunity Calling Program is a team of student callers whose

mission is to help alumni create sustainable, lifelong connections with the

SNHU community. We’re encouraging commitment, loyalty, pride, and support

for the University.

We call our alumni and friends because it’s the next best thing to a personal visit. We want to thank you for your support and invite you to engage with the University, current students, and each other. We’re also happy to update you on events, SNHU news, and new programs, so you can be proud of your alma mater, Southern New Hampshire University. When you receive a call from a SNHUcommunity Caller, it’s an SNHU student on the other end of the line - and we’re excited to speak with you!

What drives you to come to work each night? Each night I walk into the team room, pick up the phone, and ask myself, ‘who will I talk to tonight?’ The SCCP is not just a team; it’s a family. Throughout the night, we meet and build relationships with so many people. We get engaged in conversations with alumni about their time as students. We talk about their families now, or even how they became the manager of a paper clip factory! We learn so many things from people who were once in our very seats.

What is your most memorable conversation?I would have to say, my best conversation was with an older gentleman, a veteran. He shared with me how hard it was for him to work while going to school. He got really personal and talked about how the death of his wife impacted him. It was a great honor to lend an ear to his tender story. He was really compassionate, and I shared a few personal experiences with him, as well. He said he couldn’t offer financial aid or other support to our school, but he gave me a greater gift. Those short 15 minutes on the phone with him impacted me more than his financial gift could have.

Talk about the transition from asking for money to inviting people to engage with the University. How has this impacted your feelings towards the work you do?I love the fact that we no longer call and ask only for money. I have a bit more confidence on the phone and more room for chit chat – and meaningful conversations. Alumni are more willing to open up and share life experiences and the best of advice. Asking for connections with the university builds more of a relationship with the person on the other side of the phone.

Does this job impact how you would like to be engaged as an alumna?Definitely! Being on the phone every night with alumni has opened new doors to what kind of alumna I would like to be. The best conversations are with people who are open and kind. I love hearing stories of their time as a student, or the time they got lost on vacation in Jamaica. As an alumna, I will be engaged and dedicated. I want to give a future Penmen the same wonderful experience I have every night on the phone. ■

Let’s Get Personal: A note from a SNHUcommunity Caller

Meet Ceilene “Cece” Mitchell

Year: Sophomore(anticipated graduation in 2018)

Major: English Language and Literature

Minors: Communications and Public Relations

Clubs & Activities: Penmen Press Newspaper, Signature Leadership Program, MarComm Student Association, Diversity Club, SNHU Drama Club, and Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)

by Ceilene Mitchell, Class of 2018

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Meet the New VP of Technology and Transformation

In his prior role as a managing partner & CIO at Boston Consulting Group, Dionisio led a global team of technology professionals with responsibility across 75 offices in 52 countries. And throughout his forty-plus years with SNHU, Dionisio has watched SNHU grow from a small-town school to a global powerhouse in education. We asked him to share his perspective amid

his changing roles with SNHU and his insights on how technology will continue to drive growth and success for students.

Why did you choose SNHU (then New Hampshire College) for your education? I was a bit of an underachiever in high school, interested in things I was told I couldn’t pursue because I ‘wasn’t smart enough.’ For me, NHC was an opportunity to gain that ‘coming of age experience’ in a smaller institution where I felt comfortable and part of the community.

Was there a particular experience that impacted your education or your life after school? I wrote a series of National Science Foundation grants with Professor Bill Hunzeker and a small group of students. The experience of writing the grants, going to Washington, D.C. to present the outcomes, and eventually hiring students from other universities for the project gave me leadership experience and confidence. I was just some sophomore from NHC, and all of a sudden, I was hiring people with graduate degrees from the University of Michigan to come work for me.

The other point that stands out for me was the unlimited access to computer science resources. Because NHC was a small school, I had all the computer time I could ask for and such flexibility to experiment with what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.

What inspired you to stay involved with your alma mater after graduation?SNHU has transformed from a relatively unknown school to one with a brand and reputation that means something in the marketplace. Everyone in the industry knows who we are, and working with us is a big deal. And students trust us. People across the globe are proud to say they graduated from Southern New Hampshire University.

Because we’ve grown so fast, there are systems and processes that need to catch up to support the scale and complexity of what we’re doing to provide a high quality, meaningful education for our students. I knew that this is where I could dive in.

What are some of the initiatives you and your team are working on to drive change in the field of education and to help SNHU embrace a truly transformational approach to providing education for a wide variety of students?SNHU is agile enough to respond to the fast-paced world we live in, and to break away from the older work flows that would keep us anchored to the past. We need to continue to make supporting systems, business processes, and academic exchanges digital, so it is easy and efficient for students to get what they need. The next steps for us will be developing a road map

Tom Dionisio ’76 is an alumnus,

a longtime donor to student

scholarships, an accomplished

executive, a former SNHU Trustee,

and, as of February 2016, the

Vice President of Technology and

Transformation, heading up the

University’s IT department.

continued on page 36

By Audrey Bourque

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The Southern New Hampshire University community came together in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, with more

than 100 students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community leaders arriving on campus to explore ways to move together toward

greater gender parity, both close to home and on a global scale.

International Women’s Day Movement

By Audrey Bourque

International Women’s Day is a global movement celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year’s theme was centered on accelerating gender parity, calling for pledges to help women and girls achieve their ambitions, promote gender-balanced leadership, respect and value difference, develop more inclusive and flexible cultures, and root out workplace bias.

SNHU has the most diverse student population in New Hampshire, with approximately 1,000 international students attending classes on the Manchester campus. With representatives from 60 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria, the opportunity was ripe for robust discussions.

Brooke Gilmore, director of the Deborah L. Coffin Women’s Center at SNHU, organized the University’s events along with Helen Davies, director of community relations in the Office of the President. The two shared a passion for this project; Gilmore is committed to educating and empowering SNHU students around

women’s rights and gender parity, and Davies to strengthening the University’s community relationships through partnerships with local and regional organizations that bring depth to the SNHU student experience.

Davies says it was an easy sell to rally SNHU colleagues, as well as leaders in the local community, to come together on the issue. “We have so many influential and inspirational women at the University, many of whom have made this goal of empowering fellow women central to their work. The experience is only strengthened by bringing in partners with global perspectives like the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire, and community leaders like Dr. Janet Breslin-Smith - SNHU trustee, spouse to the former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and president of a local business.”

Gilmore and Davies designed the day’s events to celebrate the women in the SNHU community, and to explore the ways in which the University might help move our global community closer to the goal of gender parity. “We wanted to inspire our audience to

Comes to SNHU

From top to bottom: Keynote speaker and SNHU professor emerita Eleanor Dunfey-Freiburger with members of the Penmen Women’s Basketball team (top). From left, SNHU Trustee Janet Breslin-Smith, student Atheer Alshammar, and staff member Helen Davies (bottom right). From left, SNHU Men’s Basketball coach Stan Spirou, Athletics Director Anthony Fallacaro, and members of the Men’s Basketball team with staff members and Sheila Lambert and Kristi Durette (bottom left).

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think about the steps we each might take to become leaders within our own spheres of influence through conversation and critical thinking,” Gilmore explains. “We chose our speakers and our programming with the goal of opening new doors to productive dialogue geared to action.”

The events kicked off with a thought-provoking luncheon that set the tone and purpose of the day’s events. SNHU President Paul LeBlanc gave a brief welcome to the diverse crowd, sharing that in spite of the fact that his wife and two daughters are smarter and more talented than he is, it will take until 2133 for them to be offered the same rate of pay as men for the work that they do. With that sobering statistic in mind, LeBlanc turned the microphone over to keynote speaker and SNHU professor emerita Eleanor Dunfey-Freiburger.

Dunfey-Freiburger has committed her life to pursuing social justice and improving other people’s lives. Before retiring from teaching in 2012, Dunfey-Freiburger was a beloved professor of ethics and civic engagement at SNHU, and served as the Papoutsy Endowed Chair in Business Ethics. She also introduced the University community to the Global Citizens Circle, a nonprofit founded by her family that brings together human rights leaders, activists, and citizens to foster diversity, discussion, and constructive change in the United States and across the world.

On International Women’s Day, Dunfey-Freiburger shared that, as the youngest of 12 children growing up in the 1940’s and 50’s in an Irish-Catholic family, she looks back now at the influence of her father and eight brothers, and understands that her world view was shaped by men – good men, fair men. But it was an all-male world nonetheless. She then invited the room to engage in meaningful conversations through lunch, exploring the ideas and experience of gender bias as well as the ways each person can help move society toward parity.

SNHU’s celebration of International Women’s Day marked the start of university-wide programming for Women’s History Month. Gilmore knows how critical student involvement is to the success of any university movement. “From students who attended the luncheon – athletes, international students, those in leadership roles, and both men and women – to the educational and interactive table presentations put on by student

organizations, to the student-led afternoon session, the next generation of leaders was well-represented.”

Students Rachael Straehle and Youssaira Akennad shared their experiences working with women in Kenya and Morocco, respectively. Straehle says she was impressed with how the Deborah L. Coffin Women’s Center pulled together members of the Manchester community with international and domestic students to build momentum around these crucial issues. “The afternoon sessions really allowed for some powerful conversations about how different cultures, religions, and educational systems negotiate these issues on a global stage.”

The evening session was sponsored by the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire, which promotes greater understanding of world events by NH citizens through programming and training. Executive Director Anna Berry says that International Women’s Day represents an ongoing, worldwide movement that has gained momentum in recent years.

“More and more, we’re seeing high profile public figures like Burmese stateswoman Aung San Suu Kyi and actress

“ In a university with so many strong female leaders, we have an obligation to expose our students to these important conversations, and challenge them to consider how their paths forward can engender positive change.”

– Brooke Gilmore

continued on page 37

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As the founder of Brides Across America, Heidi Janson ’86 (left) helps military brides achieve their fairy tale wedding. In 2008,

Heidi Janson’s life took an unexpected turn.

By Daniel P. Smith

That year, Janson read a powerful news article on the National Public Radio website about U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan, a thought-provoking piece at a time when much of the nation’s attention centered on U.S. military involvement in Iraq. In the story, an Afghanistan-based U.S. soldier lamented that he felt forgotten, a sentiment that hit Janson particularly hard.

“Here we are, living day-to-day in the U.S. and rarely giving a thought to what’s happening beyond our front doors,” Janson says. “I wanted to know what I could do to make a difference beyond simply sending a care package.”

In quick time, Janson found the solution in her lifelong passion.

From her 500-square foot bridal boutique, the Bridal Stock Exchange in Seabrook, NH, Janson hosted a special event distributing free wedding gowns to fiancées of U.S. soldiers serving overseas. Over two days, Janson distributed nearly 60 dresses, inventory she corralled from industry allies – fellow retailers, designers, and distributors alike.

Janson’s first bride-to-be that day was a 19-year-old who flashed a photo of her fiancé serving in Iraq. At a time in this young woman’s life packed with its share of loneliness and worry, anguish and unease, Janson’s spirited event provided a necessary dose of energy and optimism.

“The wedding was something she could look forward to,” Janson says. “Knowing that day would come gave her hope.”

Eight years later, Janson’s spontaneous bridal dress giveaway event has evolved into a national movement that has outfitted more than 15,000 military brides in designer wedding gowns. Janson, meanwhile, has visited the White House alongside other heralded U.S. charities helping military families, been featured in People Magazine, appeared on the nationally syndicated “Steve Harvey” show, and had her nonprofit organization, Brides Across America, profiled in an HGTV documentary.

“A lot of heart, sweat, and tears have gone into building Brides Across America into something much greater than me,” says Janson. “And I’m proud to say that

Bridal Bliss

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this organization keeps chugging along and fulfilling its mission.”

Every year, Brides Across America hosts events in about 75 participating bridal salons across the country. Military brides register online at bridesacrossamerica.com, and qualifying women can visit a participating store and select a Brides Across America dress for free. Upwards of 1,500 dresses are given away each year.

“And the numbers continue growing year after year,” Janson says.

That growth, Janson admits, has been challenging to manage, especially as she balances her Brides Across America work – efforts for which she has never taken a paycheck – with running Tulle Bridal, the Andover, MA-based bridal boutique she opened in 2008.

Given the competitive donor climate, Janson says she must constantly recreate and brand Brides Across America to secure funding, a reality that forces her, a self-described wallflower, to step out and champion her organization’s cause.

“Our purpose is always top of mind,” says Janson, who leans heavily on her SNHU marketing degree to elevate Brides Across America. She calls branding and communications central to developing a cohesive, strong organization.

“Without this outlook and creativity, it’s tough to get a business off the ground,” says Janson, who also credits SNHU’s study abroad program – she spent a semester in London during her junior year – with helping her establish a more global worldview, transcending her New England roots.

Today, from the Brides Across America office inside Tulle Bridal, a space filled with wedding gowns, shipping boxes and passionate energy, Janson calls the organization the best thing she has ever done and credits the charity for helping her overcome personal struggles, including having two children with chronic illnesses. She’s now focused on broadening the nonprofit’s reach to include first responders. She’s eager to deepen partnerships with like-minded organizations that can amplify Brides Across America’s impact.

“Brides Across America has become my life’s work and has proven immensely rewarding,” Janson says. “When

continued on page 36

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Southern New Hampshire University meets college students wherever

they are in their lives and careers; College for America (CfA) meets them

in the office, while waiting for kids to finish up soccer practice, and in

the quiet hours of the evening when household chores and activity give

way to the night.

Our competency-based college is engineered specifically for working adults and their employers, and, with a low tuition and self-directed learning pace, it gives the college opportunity to people who would not otherwise be able to afford it or fit it into their busy lives.

Because it’s designed to develop workplace-applicable competencies in working adults, CfA partners with employers to offer its programs to their employees. Like all universities that pursue these kinds of business-education partnerships, we have been focusing on teaming with large employers so we can give affordable college opportunities to as many people as possible. Anthem, Starbucks, and Chrysler have dominated the news, but the criteria for a high employee headcount meant that smaller companies were being left without the same chance to offer their workers higher education.

With our mission to expand access to high-quality higher education, CfA was determined to find a way to give employees at small businesses the same opportunity that those at large corporations have. So we created the College for America Co-op, giving smaller organizations the chance to offer quality, low-cost higher education to their workers.

With no partnering fees or student minimums, the CfA Co-op allows small businesses, nonprofits, and governments with fewer

Giving College Opportunities to Working Adults at Businesses of All SizesBy Linnae Selinga

From top to bottom

1. CfA’s Curriculum Assessment and Development team

collaborates on project design.

2. CfA students from Life Is Good discuss their project work.

3. CfA staff work together on designing the co-op.

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Giving College Opportunities to Working Adults at Businesses of All Sizes

than 1,000 employees to give their workers access to College for America’s extraordinarily affordable accredited degree programs. They are offered at $3,000 tuition annually—significantly less than other comparable programs—and the only way for a person to have access to them is through their employer’s partnership.

In less than four months, more than 30 small businesses have become official co-op partners with College for America, and nearly 100 employees have signed up to learn more—of whom, more than 40 have already enrolled or applied. Now, people who may not have had the access or means to pursue a more traditional college have the opportunity to earn their college degree and advance their career goals.

“College for America has been a catalyst in helping us to move working adults through the formal college education process and into a position that readies them for advancement,” said Catherine F. Lamson, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of MEMIC, a workers’ compensation insurance company with about 350 employees.

“The feedback received from those who have completed the program is nothing less than outstanding. We couldn’t be more pleased with our partnership with

College for America and with the positive results we see from our employees, and offering this program allows us to be more competitive with larger companies when recruiting and retaining talent.”

At a time when 94 percent of business leaders cite the need to build talent leadership and 87 percent raise concerns over employees missing skills for promotion, College for America is helping to bridge that divide within employers of all sizes. Of CfA’s first year associate’s degree graduates, more than half report getting a promotion or increased responsibilities at

work; nine out of ten are still with the same employer; and two-thirds have gone on to enroll in the bachelor’s program. In a more recent survey, 89 percent of College for America students say their work helps build skills applicable to their currents jobs.

“We have seen how valuable business-education partnerships have been for employers and students alike—they have proven to increase employee retention and employee satisfaction, and also resulted in promotions, all while building valuable workforce skills,” said Kris Clerkin, executive director of College for America at Southern New Hampshire University. “Why not give small businesses, often the backbones of our communities, the same opportunities to build a stronger, loyal, and more talented workforce?” ■

If you own or help run a small business, you can learn more—or sign up and get started today—by visiting collegeforamerica.org/co-op.

“ We couldn’t be more pleased with our partnership with College for America and with the positive results we see from our employees, and offering this program allows us to be more competitive with larger companies when recruiting and retaining talent.”

From top to bottom

1. CfA staff stand by the wall featuring partners.

2. CfA graduates proudly display the CfA logo on a graduation cap.

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A tribute to Louisa Martin

The Southern New Hampshire University family mourns the loss of Louisa Martin, dear friend, colleague, teacher, mentor, mama, aunt, and sister. Louisa passed away on February 7, after a courageous battle against breast cancer.

A dedicated educator, Louisa had been employed by Southern New Hampshire University for the past ten years. Most recently, she served as director of diversity initiatives. She welcomed all students to campus with open arms, free of judgment, and she had a passion for guiding students to a successful future and fulfilling career. A warm and gentle soul, Louisa always believed the best in her students, encouraging them to find their voice and advocate for a more just, diverse, and peaceful community.

Affectionately known as "Mama" to her students, Louisa had a profound effect not only on the academic lives of her students but on their core character. Her students were her children who grew up to become her friends. At SNHU, Louisa was an active leader and collaborator in student groups to celebrate diversity and bring awareness to social justice issues. Most notably, she was involved in the Beloved Community, the annual Soul Food Dinner, the Diversity at SNHU Day, and the Unity in the Community Dinner.

For those interested in the continuation of Louisa’s work, please contact the Office of Alumni Engagement at alumni@snhu.edu or 603-645-9799.

Remembering Professor Jim Duffy

Beloved professor Jim Duffy passed away on September 10, 2015, after a brief illness. Jim will be remembered in the SNHU community not only for his inspiring lessons, but also as a champion of service learning.

After retiring from a 30-year career in public education, Jim joined the faculty of SNHU in 2003 as a lecturer of sociology. From his very first course here, he was inspired to incorporate aspects of service learning into all of his classes, meaning each course involved thoughtfully organized service activities that address community needs and complement students’ academic studies.

He worked with many local organizations to expand the horizons of SNHU students, encouraging them to become involved in their communities and connect with the people there. Jim believed that by extending the classroom into the community, students could develop a stronger sense of social responsibility and citizenship.

The Center for Community Engaged Learning is renaming one of their annual awards to honor Jim’s legacy: the James Duffy Service Learner of the Year award will be given each year to recognize a student who has gone above and beyond with service learning and community involvement.

To learn more, please contact the Center for Community Engaged Learning at serve@snhu.edu or 603-314-7965.

InM

emor

iam

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Before enrolling at SNHU, with the support of his family, Dawley reached out to various schools and looked over various programs, only to be left feeling that he was a burden to the admissions counselors he spoke with. He felt as if he was taking up their time, and that his research to find the best school was inconsequential. That is, until he spoke to an admissions counselor from SNHU.

“After I did my research, I came across the Master’s in Communication program here at SNHU and noticed that it was a good program, well received by the academic community. That is when I realized that the school was a great fit for my academic goals. My admissions counselor seemed to truly care about my interests and needs, as compared to the other universities I inquired to.”

After the first year in his undergraduate experience, Dawley found himself struggling academically, questioning if college was right for him. “Thankfully, my older brother was attending the same school, and he mentored me through the next semester. He was the first person in my family to attend college, and I always looked up to him.”

Dawley’s grades radically improved, and he believes that it was during these formative years that the support of his loved ones set him up to succeed at SNHU.

While attending SNHU, Dawley came across many great teachers, but Professor Monica Fish left an immense, inspirational impact on him. “She had a large class but treated me like I was the only student. She helped shape my career path and was genuinely interested in my academic and professional goals. She encouraged me, and ultimately helped shape the professional I am today. She even made me feel like I wanted to turn around and give back one day to other students with the knowledge and skills I now possess.”

Although they have never met in person, Dawley hopes his gratitude comes across loud and clear. “I’d want to tell her, ‘Thank you for your continued involvement in my education, and also in my personal and professional development. You went out of your way to inform me about different professional associations I could join, different conferences I could partake in, and you advocated

Finding Success in the Virtual Classroom

As a first-generation college student and the first in his family

to receive a Master’s Degree, Josiah Dawley ’15 graduated from

SNHU with a 4.0 grade point average and a split emphasis in both

Public Relations and New Media Marketing. But his journey of

educational achievement was anything but easy.

By Michelle Shreeve ’15

Josiah Dawley ’15Home: Bend, OregonTitle: Marketer & Digital Designer, Bend Park and Recreation DistrictGraduate Degree: M.A., Communication

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The first students enrolled in Southern New Hampshire University’s Master’s in Business Administration program more than 40 years

ago, a class of 44 students at then-New Hampshire College on the sweeping new 300-acre campus in the north end of Manchester,

NH, in 1974. Classes were offered only in the evening, and students could focus on one of five specializations: accounting, business

education, business management, management information services, and nonprofit institutional management.

MBA Program Celebrates 40 Years

The First Graduate — The 1975 NHC Commencement program lists the first MBA graduate as Mohd Faud Bin Haji Ahmad.

In 1973, Amhad traveled to New Hampshire on a sabbatical from his employment with the Urban Development Authority in Malaysia, a governmental agency responsible for the redevelopment of dilapidated buildings and the conservation of historical urban properties. With a combination of transfer credits and a singular focus, he earned both his undergraduate degree in business and his MBA in two years from New Hampshire College.

When he returned to his post with the UDA, Ahmad would have been armed with a skill set that set him apart from his peers, the same outcomes that define the SNHU MBA program today: expertise in a diverse range of business needs, the ability to adapt to challenges and provide solutions to complex problems, and the grace and acumen to connect with people and build teams.

In 1976, just a year after Ahmed graduated, seven more students joined him as MBA alumni, and the program blossomed.

The SNHU MBA Today — Today, Southern New Hampshire University boasts one of the most affordable MBA

programs in the country, with the benefit of nearly thirty concentrations, from economics to healthcare management to internet marketing to Six Sigma. The degrees are available both in-person and online, and can be customized with a graduate certificate beyond the standard degree program, or as an international MBA for global careers.

With close to 7,000 students currently enrolled and a network of 14,000 alumni, the MBA is one of SNHU’s most well-respected and rigorously maintained academic programs.

Peter Chase ’85 ’92MBA continues to leverage his SNHU experience and network, often looking to the University to staff his successful small business, Scribe Software. He says that SNHU’s reputation for providing innovative, flexible learning models – including the MBA program – has historically attracted a diverse student population with a considerable representation of adult learners. Chase trusts this kind of candidate.

“I like scrappy,” he says, “and SNHU students have often fought for their education. The people in my classes were spending time away from their families. They were driven and focused. And that’s the kind of employee I want, someone with patience, persistence, empathy, creativity, and relentless drive.” ■

By Audrey Bourque

Spring 2016 Impact

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Paying It Forward at Penn MedicineAfter high school, Shannon Ruane didn’t see higher education

in her future; but there came a time when she realized she

needed a better path. “Once my daughter started school, it

hit home for me. I didn’t want her to struggle in life like I

felt I had, so I decided that I owed it to the both of us to do

something more with my life,” she said.

Like many other working adults, Ruane started pursuing her degree at her local community college. While she was a great student and earned a 3.5 grade point average, life eventually got in the way of her education. Her husband had been injured at work, and she needed to choose between school and her family. A semester off turned into three, and then a couple of years. She finally started back up and earned a certificate in nonclinical healthcare.

With her certificate, Ruane starting working as a medical assistant for University of Pennsylvania Health System (Penn Medicine). “I found it wonderfully gratifying in the beginning. There was a huge sense of achievement and reward, and I enjoyed patient interaction. I still do,” she said. While she has always enjoyed her job, she wanted to make more of a difference, to drive change and improve patient outcomes. She did not feel as though she could do that by answering the phone.

Then, Ruane’s office manager told her about the hospital system’s internal professional development academy, and College for America at Southern New Hampshire University—a nonprofit, fully accredited college built specifically to help working adults succeed. Ruane was interested in the program’s flexibility and low cost. At only $3,000 per year, Penn Medicine’s generous tuition assistance program covered the entire cost of the tuition.

Ruane started CfA’s Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare Management program and quickly found the college’s virtual community to be motivating. “It’s really comforting to have the support of people that are going through the exact same thing you are,” she said of the online learning community.

For Ruane, every project in the BA has real-world relevance, from understanding ethics, to problem solving with co-workers, to being better equipped to explain health insurance policies to patients. She has also learned how to apply critical thinking skills to improve her work, taking the time to sit back and think about a question before answering. She feels more well-rounded, both personally and professionally.

With her newly developed and deepened competencies, Ruane now feels ready to deliver the change she has always wanted to: “College for America has given me the ability to believe in myself and know that I can do it. I can bring positive, forward change for myself. And when we can do that, we can pay it forward to others.” ■

By Logan Ouellette

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Bold. Innovative. Trailblazing. Exciting. They’re words more commonly associated with a hot new tech company than the field of

education. But SNHU’s new Center for Innovative Practice in Education is aiming to change that. The Center is a leading-edge

research and teaching center that aims to help educators become more dynamic teachers. “I want us to be the Google of

education. The Apple of education,” says Dean Ray McNulty of SNHU’s School of Education.

By Rebecca Mahoney ’11MFA

Teaching and Learning IN THE

Center for Innovative Practice IN Education

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The Center, which is housed within the School of Education, helps SNHU students and teachers across New England explore creative, exciting new strategies to reach students. It’s a place for teachers and researchers to come together to research, host workshops and brainstorming sessions, and collaborate with innovative companies and organizations.

The goal is to better prepare teachers to respond to new research and technologies and to improve the way they address the changing needs of students. Schools have known for years that students learn in different ways—yet the instructional methods used by teachers and administrators tend to rely on the same old models, says McNulty. “We keep training our teachers to go out and teach the same way—as though there will always be twenty students in a class, sitting in neat rows, one teacher talking at the front of the room,” he says. “You can’t build a future by perfecting the past.”

The Center is the only one of its kind in New England, and SNHU is the perfect location for it, says McNulty. The university is already focused on delivering education to students in a variety of innovative ways, from traditional, on-campuslearning to hybrid and blended classes, to online education, to the competency-based College for America. The Center builds on those ideas, showing educators how to teach using flexible, individualized methods to excite students and inspire learning.

“To train educators for the future, we have to recognize that we are living in a world with more ways to learn and more ways to teach than what we have been doing,” says McNulty, who has more than 30 years of experience in public education, from elementary teacher, principal, and superintendent to commissioner of education.

The launch of the Center coincides with a redesign of the School of Education undergraduate program. Among other changes, the new program allows for aspiring teachers to spend more time in schools, including for seniors to spend an entire year student teaching.

“Our students will be part of a powerful extended learning community which will prepare them to embrace new and innovative approaches, while also providing opportunities for them to build relationships with professionals in the Pre-K through 12 environment,”

says Cathy Stavenger, associate dean of the School of Education. “SNHU will be the only teacher preparation program in New Hampshire where students will have these types of opportunities.”

Students will also be able to take advantage of the programs offered by the Center, including collaborating with existing teachers, working on new projects, and capitalizing on new research.

“We’re really spending a lot of time with students, helping them understand where the profession is going—we’re teaching them about really innovative approaches,” such as game-based learning and competency-based education, says McNulty. “We’re aligning their work not just with what would be considered traditional education, but we’re introducing

our students to a lot of things that are just beginning to happen out in the field.”

Several projects are already underway, including a partnership with LTS Educational Systems, a privately held educational software company, which is working with SNHU education majors and game-design majors to develop academic

games. “We’re putting our students in a position where they’re learning the cutting-edge techniques for game-based learning,” McNulty says.

Another partner is the Teacher Voice and Aspirations International Center, an organization that fosters teaching and learning environments that promote critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and open communication for students and teachers. Recently, SNHU worked with the organization to survey hundreds of teachers to gather their opinions on education, the results of which they plan to discuss during an upcoming summit. “It’s going to be so helpful for teachers that are in the field to start to understand the importance of using qualitative data to transform schools,” McNulty says.

The Center is also sponsoring a program to help develop one thousand mentors to work in area schools, which undergrad education majors are participating in, and McNulty is considering a new partnership with a local Montessori school that has asked for help with training for its teachers. “That’s what this is all about—a way for us to feed and develop new ideas for student learning,”

“ The SNHU Center will be recognized as the place where Educators look to improve their practices to better teach their students.”

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Minako Sato ’90

Degree: Bachelor of Science, Business Studies (Manchester Campus)

Occupation: Senior Support Engineer, Mentor Graphics

Current Town: Tokyo, Japan

Global Perspectives: Stories from International AlumniSouthern New Hampshire University has the most diverse population of any college campus in New Hampshire, with nearly 1,000

international students from 60 countries studying at the Manchester location. Soon, these current students will join the 11,000

When Minako Sato ’90 first arrived in the United States, it wasn’t to attend Southern New Hampshire University: she came as a high school exchange student and spent a month with an American family in Goffstown. When the time came to return to Japan, she found herself thinking about coming back to New Hampshire for college.

Southern New Hampshire University was still New Hampshire College when Sato arrived on campus, but she quickly decided that this was the place for her. In just a few years, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Studies, a degree that would set her up for future success in the business world.

Today, Sato works as a software engineer, a career which has taken her all over the world, from San Jose to Tokyo. Although she did not major in computer science, she took classes as SNHU that helped kindle that interest. The universal nature of programming languages appealed to her, giving her the flexibility to live and work anywhere she pleases.

Sato continues to feel a special connection with SNHU. When she was approached by the university and asked to help the International Admission department as an alumna, she eagerly agreed. She has helped to organize an event at the US Embassy in Tokyo, introducing many Japanese high school teachers and principals to her alma mater and the benefits of a global education.

As a mother of two teenagers, Sato also relishes the opportunity to spread the word about SNHU at the schools that her children attend. Her goal is to help as many Japanese students as possible to have the same eye-opening and enriching SNHU experience that she did. Sato continues to be an excellent resource for SNHU’s International Admission team, and one of the university’s strongest advocates in Japan. ■

A Universal Language, A Global Degree

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Nicolai Padoan ’02 ’05MBA

Undergraduate Degree: Bachelor of Science, Travel & Tourism (Manchester Campus)

Graduate Degree: Master’s in Business Administration (Manchester Campus)

Occupation: Director of Sales/Austria, Hilton Corporation

Current Town: Vienna, Austria

Nicolai Padoan ’02 ’05MBA represents Southern New Hampshire University on the global stage, while maintaining strong ties to the alma mater that prepared him for an international career.

Originally from Stockholm, Sweden, Padoan began exploring the possibility of attending SNHU back when it was still called New Hampshire College. After graduating high school and completing one year of military service, he applied to SNHU’s Travel and Tourism program.

During his time at SNHU, Padoan was an active member of the campus community, serving as the very first captain of the SNHU Men’s Tennis team. He was able to complete his Bachelor’s degree in just three years, and by June 2002 was already working as a Guest Service Manager at Club Quarters in Boston.

After several years of employment, Padoan decided to tailor his career for success with a more global company. Returning to SNHU, he worked with Professor Ravi Pandit and Dean Peterson to earn both an MBA and an MS in Hospitality Management before moving to Vienna, Austria, in 2005.

Even in Austria, Padoan remains a part of the SNHU community. He participates in the Hospitality Pen Pal Program, which involves reaching out to current students as a way to help them connect with alumni in their field. The program helps students make a more direct connection between their studies and their future career.

Padoan credits SNHU with much of his success, and says he went into college with the right attitude. He emphasizes that while hospitality can be a difficult subject to learn in a classroom setting, SNHU’s dedication to getting students real-world experience was a huge advantage. This contributed heavily to Padoan’s desire to remain connected with SNHU after graduation, helping to give current students access to similar resources. He hopes to remain involved well into the future. ■

alumni who hail from around the globe. From Italy to Rwanda, Malaysia to Belize, the SNHU network extends to nearly every country.

Here are a few stories of alumni who are strengthening that network from their own little corners of the world.

By Shane Carley

From Austria, with Pride

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A Winning Model: Partnerships for Student Success

By Audrey Bourque

Most universities have established partnerships with various organizations to create a pipeline of jobs for students, or

to bring a certain benefit to their alumni population. True to our roots, Southern New Hampshire University is taking

that traditional model and creating something new, exciting, and student-focused.

Former Boston Celtics player Leon Powe poses with students from Rochester Middle School in Rochester, NH, at the opening of the new technology lab powered by

SNHU on March 1, 2016.

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May says the University’s partnership model was developed in pursuit of its mission, to focus on student success by challenging the status quo of higher education. In fact, SNHU long ago abandoned one of the longest-held beliefs in the field of education: that information flows in one direction, in one medium, from teacher to student.

“Currently, there are almost 80,000 students at SNHU, and they come from all backgrounds, with all levels of career and life experience. Because our student body is so diverse, we knew we had to find ways to enrich their experience but also fit their educational goals and pathways,” she explains. “We look for ways to leverage business and community partnerships for our traditional college-aged students on the Manchester campus, as well as those in all 50 states and across the world enrolled in online programs. We’re looking for partners to think creatively with us, to explore how students can gain the most valuable experience possible.”

Many organizations have already jumped on board, excited to work with some of the best-prepared students in higher education, scouting new talent and creating pipelines of future employees. A partial list boasts such companies as the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, the Boston Celtics, the New England Patriots, Major League Soccer, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Manchester Monarchs, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and the Flatiron School.

Partnerships with brand names in education such as Flatiron, a New York-based coding school, give SNHU students access to programs and skill sets above and be-yond the University’s current offerings. SNHU President Paul LeBlanc points out that in the next decade, the U.S. workforce will need an estimated 1.4 million people with programming and software engineering skills.

“The partnership between SNHU and Flatiron represents a powerful blend of test-driven learning and the highest quality student-support services. We’re in the planning phase of rolling out a 3+1 program, through which

SNHU students will follow up a three-year academic program with six months in the Flatiron program and an internship or apprenticeship in the final semester before graduation,” LeBlanc says.

Steve Boucher, senior director of marketing and communications for University College (UC), has spent the last five years developing ways for students to learn outside of the classroom, guided by top executives in some of the nation’s most powerful organizations.

“Our students aren’t only learning graphic design in the classroom. They’re participating in a contest judged by the Boston Celtics’ design team. They’re learning about multi-cultural marketing, and then sitting face-to-face with Major League Soccer’s Chief Marketing Officer – alumnus Marc de Grandpre ’96 ’00MBA. They’re studying entrepreneurial skills, and then applying them in a group contest to design new promotions for more than 100,000 concert fans at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion,” Boucher explains, naming just a handful of examples from the past six months.

The Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, in particular, has proven to be a rich source of hands-on experiences for SNHU students. In the past four years, students have played integral roles in marketing, culinary, social media, and public relations for a major festival show. Boucher says that Culinary students participated in a BBQ Battle where they displayed their skills before 5,000 concert goers. Graphic Design students create the SNHU ad that goes in the Pavilion’s program book each year, which is distributed to more than 100,000 concert goers, and Video students created the thirty-second ad that runs on the giant stage side screens between acts. Game Design students created a game that lives on the Pavilion’s web page and competed against each other by having to sell the concept of their game at a major concert.

“The entire partnership model is student-driven – and how cool is it to have this type of experience on your résumé,” Boucher says.

“ In the past few years, we have started to focus more on cultivating partnerships

that bring unique opportunities to our students,” says Libby May, senior vice

president of external relations and communications. “We’re working with some

of the top minds in business, government and industry to provide experiential

learning opportunities for our students.”

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The ripple effects of these partnerships extend beyond the benefits to SNHU students and partner organizations, says May. “We’re also doing some pretty amazing things in the greater community, helping kids and future scholars gain access to technology and understand that higher education is within their reach.”

For example, the Boston Celtics and SNHU recently co-sponsored a brand new technology lab for Rochester Middle School in Rochester, NH. Celtics center/forward Tyler Zeller and former Celtic Leon Powe were on hand to celebrate the unveiling of the lab, which includes 13 Apple iMacs and Apple iPads, one Apple TV, a 65” Vizio HDTV and mount, and many more supplies. The room will be available to RMS students and faculty during and after school, inspiring students to learn the importance of technology and education.

“Investing in our students as well as national organizations and local community groups is the best way we know how to make an impact on the field of education and – more importantly – on the success of generations of students to come,” says May. ■

The partnership between SNHU and Major League Soccer is turning

heads and raising hopes. “It’s huge,” says Scott Durand, SNHU’s

vice president of marketing & student recruitment for the College of

Online and Continuing Education.

Major League Soccer: A Case Study in Success

A Perfect Pitch

By Hattie Bernstein

“There is no relationship like this between an educational institution and a major league sport anywhere else. We’re solving a major problem for MLS. Through education, we will help them achieve a long-term goal of developing U.S. soccer professionals who are on par with any country in the world.”

MLS’s challenge is keeping their highly talented, homegrown players in the fold as professionals. Top-talent high school players must decide between a professional contract and a college scholarship. The answer is SNHU’s College of Online and Continuing Education (COCE), a pathway for athletes to pursue a degree while playing in the pros and improving their game by staying with a professional club.

“They can have a professional contract and an education,” says Durand. “They can take a chance on themselves while they follow their soccer dream. Whether it’s a top line guy in the World Cup or a kid who signed a contract and was cut after two years, they still have access to that other dream through education.”

Student Benefits — MLS announced the multi-year partnership in the summer of 2015, naming SNHU its exclusive education partner. But the league isn’t the only winner.

Durand couldn’t be more excited about what the partnership is bringing to SNHU students, such as SNHU soccer players being invited to coach and teach youth players at the mini-pitch sites, and internship opportunities with the teams across the league and at league headquarters, which could result in employment for SNHU alumni in the long term.

Online and campus students alike also will benefit from webinar and face-to-face speaker series with executives from the league and its corporate sponsors, such as Audi, Heineken, and Microsoft, and from other components such as hands-on projects and events with the league.

Above - SNHU culinary students pose at the BBQ Battle at

the Bank of NH Pavilion

Above Opposite Page - SNHU President Paul LeBlanc poses

with scholarship recipient Veronica Rodriguez at the opening

of the mini-pitch in Santa Ana, CA.

Ed Foster-Simeon, President of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, says the collaboration elevates the idea of ‘doing well by going good’ to a higher level. “We’re using the sport to have a social impact on communities that need it the most,” he says. “They go to school because they have to. But they go running and laughing all the way to soccer.”

20 for 20 in 2016 — As part of the partnership, SNHU is supporting the 20 for 20 Mini-Pitch Initiative with MLS, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and Adidas. The initiative includes the construction of 20 mini-pitches, or half-size soccer fields, for afterschool soccer programs in underserved communities where MLS teams are based. The program is part of MLS’s 20th season celebration and is designed to give back to local communities through soccer and service.

Each mini-pitch will offer children a safe place for unstructured play and will support the continued growth of the game in North America. They are supported by the U.S. Soccer Foundation in partnership with local agencies such as the After School All Stars and Soccer for Success programs, which mentor kids for school work and developing healthy habits through activities such as soccer. “We’re using sport as a vehicle for youth development and social change,” says Foster-Simeon.

“The partnership with MLS ties in very well with SNHU’s mission to provide access to quality education nationally,” says Durand. “In addition to internships, white papers, and an incredible speaker series, SNHU students will be able to participate in charitable events, assist MLS clubs in game day activities, and have an inside track to learning beyond the classroom.”

Independent and Inspired — SNHU also will provide a full scholarship to a deserving member of each mini-pitch community, someone who supports local students through soccer and education.

Durand said the scholarship component came about after university representatives learned about the efforts of local after school programs involved in the mini-pitch programs. “We asked the local MLS professional club to work with local organizations to identify someone who is passionate about working with youth in their community and would have their life impacted by education.”

The first person awarded a full scholarship to SNHU through the initiative was Dayna Puryear, who runs the after school soccer program at George Washington Carver Elementary School in Newark, NJ.

When Puryear was growing up in East Orange, New Jersey, her parents urged her to be her own person.

“They always said to me, ‘We didn’t raise you to be typical.’ It was always in my head, and I made choices that weren’t the typical choice,” she says. “If my friends went right, I went left. I had an independent mind.”

For Puryear, who holds a B.S. in public health and now is pursuing her MBA with a concentration in leadership at SNHU, the scholarship is both incentive and validation.

“As an adult, I’ve had corporate jobs with the large checks, but for me, it wasn’t where I felt I could give my strengths and talents and skills,” she says. “I’m just fit for this, good at it, because my parents let me know it’s okay to do things a little differently.” ■

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The second annual COCE LEADS Conference was held on the

Manchester campus on March 5, with 140 online student

leaders and guests from 13 states in attendance.

The LEADS (Lead, Engage, Achieve, Discover, Succeed) Conference brings together members of online honor societies, student organizations, and student advisory, as well as Peer Leaders, with a goal of enhancing academic potential, gaining new leadership skills, and exploring opportunities for professional development and advancement.

Conference co-chair Laura Corddry, senior director of student success in the College of Online and Continuing Education (COCE), says that she and her team took a tracked approach to building the program this year, giving attendees the opportunity to zero in on some of the most frequently requested online student services: leadership development, academic achievement, and

career preparation. This required the team to collaborate with departments across the University, including partnerships with SNHU Career, Academic Advising, and the Office of Alumni Engagement.

“We took the feedback from last year’s participants very seriously when we sat down to plan the 2016 event,” Corddry says. “Other than Commencement, this is the largest gathering of online students throughout the entire year, and we really want to give them the opportunities they crave.”

Not surprisingly, those opportunities revolve around connecting with fellow students and ensuring their studies are relevant in the job market. This year’s sessions were facilitated by SNHU staff and faculty, as well as outside experts like Marc Williams ’15 and Donna Williams, the CEO and president, respectively, of TMT Services International, an organization dedicated to guiding clients through common challenges to achieve growth and success. Marc Williams recently completed a Bachelor’s degree in General Studies with SNHU, so

By Audrey BourqueCOCE LEADS Conference Connects SNHU Community

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his attendance and presentation on career success was especially personal and powerful.

Other session highlights included: Be a Leader, Not a Dictator; Résumé & Interviewing Success Strategies; Making Moral Choices; Conflict Competence; Navigating Career Change and Advancement; and Tips for Educational Success.

David Numme ’16MBA, a course technology specialist at Dartmouth College, presented two sessions of Tips for Educational Success. Numme completed his degree in February, and says that building a professional network and a personal brand were vital elements to his success in an online learning environment. He focused his presentation on the many ways students can connect with each other and explore leadership opportunities in their COCE program.

“Looking back at my first few terms, I was just plodding along, trying to figure out how to make the most of my experience. My ‘ah ha!’ moment came when I started to get involved and make friends outside of the virtual classroom. You pour over discussion boards as a student, and you get out of your academic experience what you put into it; the same principle applies for building relationships. SNHUconnect, the online student center, gives students the chance to interact and feel connected outside of their schoolwork.”

In addition to facilitating his sessions, Numme also had the honor of introducing keynote speaker and SNHU alumna Beth-Ann Roberts ’91, senior vice president of regional markets at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Roberts spoke about her experience at SNHU’s Salem Center, a tight-knit satellite location in southern NH that caters mostly to working adults and nontraditional learners who wish to pursue a degree on their own schedules, but in classroom settings.

Roberts’ message resonated with Numme, who says her SNHU experience twenty years ago still represents many of today’s students. “She was working full time and about to have a child while she was going after her degree. Many of us in the room are similarly pulled in different directions, and she had wonderful, practical advice for us to persist and succeed.”

Gary Aviles, president of Miami-based Request Path Media, will graduate this spring with his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Technology with a minor in Social Media Marketing. Aviles attended the COCE LEADS conference as a member of SNHU’s chapter of the National Society for Leadership and Success (NSLS); he has been a peer mentor in NSLS and an active member of SNHUconnect. “The main highlight of this conference, for me, was finally getting to meet face-to-face all the people I’ve gotten to know over SNHUconnect for the last two years.”

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\

On Target: A Partnership for SNHU Students

The Dorothy S. Rogers Career Development Center is excited to build corporate partnerships to help our students

to achieve success after graduation. These partnerships are a win-win for students who are able to gain access to

internship and job opportunities, as well as for employers where career offices can orchestrate recruitment programs

to identify and secure talent. One of our most successful relationships has been built with Target.

by Jessica Erb ’08 ’15G

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Recruitment Programs — The CDC and Target collaborated on developing recruiting programs to help our talented students connect with Target.

• Management Training Program Info Sessions – A panel of five different employers talked about management training programs and answered student questions. Students then had the opportunity to network and speak with the recruiters.

• Target Information Session – A presentation about the

company, positions, and its hiring process. • Career Expo/Internship and Job Fair – Target attends

these events with former interns who are now successful alumni working for the company.

Target selects potential candidates from the job fairs for campus interviews following the event. The CDC team works with Target representatives to communicate directly with students selected for interviews to schedule the in-person interviews and also offer mock interview options. Target runs an Interview Prep Session the evening before interviews to meet the candidates, provide an overview of the company, and share what to expect during the interview process.

Professional Development — The CDC works with SNHU 303 (Life after SNHU) courses, developing career preparation skills for internships and jobs after graduation. The class covers topics such as résumé building, successful LinkedIn strategies, and interview skills.

During one SNHU 303 class this past semester, Target presented on interview preparation and skills, focusing on helping students prepare for common interview questions, behavioral questions, and common interview mistakes. At the end of the semester, students were asked for feedback about the most useful topics, and all agreed Target’s presentation had a great impact, as they preferred hearing this type of information directly from an employer.

As a result, the CDC brought this presentation to several SNHU 303 classes and developed a new co-sponsored event with the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) organization to provide the interview skills presentation to all students.

The successful partnership can also be contributed to Target’s enthusiasm to give back to the SNHU community through interview skills workshops, informational interviews, conducting mock interviews and attending résumé review events. Academics — The Degree in Three program and Target are also working together to provide case study projects for students to gain real-world experience by working on teams researching a case and presenting a final project to Target as a competition. More than 100 students participated in this competition this year. ■

To learn more on starting an employer partnership with the Dorothy S. Rogers Career Development Center, please call 603-645-9793.

In December 2014, Target’s Campus Recruiter, Greg Pare, contacted the Career Development Center (CDC) at SNHU to discuss a potential partnership to recruit students for internships and full-time positions. During that spring semester, Target and the CDC collaborated to develop recruitment programs to evaluate the potential success of this partnership. During the first semester, Target hired three students, and the partnership was off to a great start.

Target has now hired a total of nine students from the University College (UC), and interest in the company continues to grow. Target hired a campus liaison this year, one of our outstanding seniors who will also start as an Executive Team Leader with Target this summer. This student liaison will help spread the word about the company culture and job opportunities directly with students.

The CDC has worked closely with Pare, who, as campus recruiter, is always willing to assist with a career program or brainstorm strategies that align with the needs of SNHU students.

Left: Target represenatives Jake Reardon ’15 (second from left) and campus

recruiter Greg Pare pose with the 2015-16 new SNHU hires.

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College for America (CfA) at Southern New Hampshire University is partnering with USA Funds to create a competency-based

education (CBE) consortium for community colleges.

By Lauren Keane

Building Partnerships for Competency-Based Education

The consortium will provide an opportunity for community colleges to learn from CfA and to engage employers in addressing workforce challenges through competency-based education. Participating community colleges will learn about best practices from their peers and initiate conversations about CBE with employer partners in their communities.

The partnership will support both identifying workforce competencies needed by industry, and engaging employers in delivering those competencies to working learners. The consortium will work in two phases; the first will be to provide colleges a chance to learn and develop models and spark conversations about CBE within their institutions and employer partners. The second phase will be to scale and provide technical assistance for the colleges and to help them adopt CBE models if they are interested.

Harper College in Illinois, one of the founding partners of the Consortium, says the Consortium and College for America’s CBE model has given them the opportunity to speak with employers in their community who are seeking to build a skilled workforce and retain and promote employees from within.

“We were drawn to the Consortium because we were impressed with College for America’s CBE model. The level of support that students receive through CfA’s coaches, the CfA learning platform, and its student success analytics are unmatched – as are the program’s proven results,” said Dr. Kenneth Ender, president of

Harper College. “CfA is really modeling an alternative platform for higher education delivery, one that has enormous potential for reaching thousands of students that, heretofore, have not been able to access the traditional delivery platform. If the country is to reach the scale necessary to assure social and economic equity for all Americans, this model and other alternatives must shape the future of higher education in America.”

Seventy percent of CfA students are the first generation in their family to attend college. The median age is 42 years old; 98 percent are currently employed and 11 percent are employed at more than one job. A recent survey of College for America students found that 96 percent would recommend College for America to others.

“We are proud of the progress we have made at College for America and are excited about the opportunity to work with USA Funds and the Consortium on new models for workforce development. We look forward to continuing to deliver affordable, high-quality and flexible degree programs across the country in partnership with this group of forward-thinking community colleges,” said Julian Alssid, chief workforce strategist for College for America. “This new Consortium gives community colleges a safe space to experiment with CBE models for workforce development, to learn more about how they can reach new students and improve their relationships with business partners in their communities.” ■

For more info, contact Melissa Goldberg at m.goldberg@snhu.edu.

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Thanks to SNHUcommunity regional events, alumni, students, faculty, and staff across the country have uncovered the rich

SNHU network, right in their own backyards. Here’s a brief summary of some of our favorite recent trips.

Touring the Sunshine StateThere are more 2,500 Southern New Hampshire University alumni and 3,000 current students in the state of Florida. So, teams from the Offices of Alumni Engagement and Student Success joined forces for a road trip in January 2016 to connect the SNHU community in the Sunshine State: four staff members, five days, five cities, 804 miles in a rental car, 47 event attendees, and graduating classes spanning 37 years! This all adds up to endless connections amongst alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends of the University.

The tour of Florida offered a packed schedule of opportunities to connect, from professional networking to social events to a leadership development breakfast, and even a service project.

At the Quantum Leap Winery in Orlando, Dr. Nick Nugent Jr. ’02 ’04MBA ’05G ’08DBA shared his SNHU story. His father worked for the University as a marketing and international business professor long before Nugent obtained his first degree in 2002; with the institution already part of his DNA, Nugent went on to earn four degrees, including his Doctorate in Business Administration in International Business in 2008, and meet his wife at SNHU.

Penmen on the Road: Winter/Spring 2016By Erin McGonagle ’15G;

With an ever-expanding network of students

and alumni, there isn’t always one central hub for

the SNHU community to meet in person. So the Office of

Alumni Engagement makes it part of our mission to partner with

departments across the University and bring our show on the road.

We love seeing students meet each other face-to-face, or alumni who realize

their neighbor a block away also graduated from their alma mater.

Top: Staff, students, and alumni take a break from

community service at Feeding Tampa Bay.

Bottom: SNHU students pose with staff in an

impromptu meet up at a local Florida restaurant.

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Penmen on the Road: Winter/Spring 2016 - Continued

Nugent and his family make the trek from Florida to New Hampshire for Homecoming every year to stay connected with the SNHU community. With his encouragement at the networking event in January, there might just be a parade of Floridians driving up the east coast come the third weekend of October, with Nugent leading the way.

Tiff Fifer, director of online engagement in the College of Online and Continuing Education (COCE), is the mastermind behind SNHUconnect, the online student center. “SNHUconnect allows online students to communicate and get to know their peers in the same way University College students do in the Robert A. Freese Student Center on the Manchester campus. These regional events help strengthen the bonds made online and introduce members of the SNHU community to each other in person.”

Associate Director of Alumni Engagement Erin Neuhardt says that one of her favorite moments of the trip was watching two students meet for the first time during the cocktail hour in Tampa. “They’re in different programs of study; but both are presidents of online student clubs. It was so exciting to see them share ideas, thoughts, insight, and growing pains for over an hour. They exchanged emails and phone numbers and have continued to stay in touch on SNHUconnect.”

Taking a Slice of the Big AppleWhile the Florida tour was finishing up, more Alumni Engagement staff members were en route to New York City for the start of a late-January long weekend, kicking things off with a Happy SNHU Year Afterhours at the Heartland Brewery in Times Square.

The evening’s theme centered on making 2016 your best year ever, regardless of which stage you are in your career. The group consisted of members from the Alumni Engagement team, a SNHU Career team member, and alumni, students, and friends.

One attendee, Kunihiko Watanabe ’15G, used to go to the Business Indicator Series networking breakfasts on the Manchester campus as he worked toward his graduate degree. He networked with more seasoned alumni and

business leaders, seeking advice on figuring out life after graduate school. After personally experiencing the value of the SNHU network, Watanabe landed a partnership marketing internship with Major League Soccer, and is now excited to give back by helping students and recent graduates.

The next day, the men’s and women’s basketball teams played against Adelphi University, with a solid cheering section filled with blue and gold, thanks in large part to freshman guard Daquaise Andrews’ aunt. She managed to get on the local radio station with a call for all Penmen fans to report to Adelphia and cheer for SNHU, and single-handedly doubled the SNHU crowd. Several New Hampshire College men’s basketball alumni from the 80’s were in attendance, as well, proudly wearing their colors.

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Building Bridges in CincinnatiDuring spring break the week of March 14, a small group of University College undergraduate students traveled to Ohio for a week-long Alternative Break service learning project with the Center for Community Engaged Learning. The students worked with a variety of organizations, including the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, St. Francis Seraph Soup Kitchen, and Over the Rhine Community Center, to learn about the intersections of race and poverty in Cincinnati, the fifth-most segregated city in the United States.

Local alumni met with the UC students over a community dinner at Arnold’s Bar and Grill. Matt Petersons, associate director of residence life and one of the trip chaperones, says that the networking dinner was one of the most valuable pieces of the trip. “We worked hard all week and faced lots of heavy issues. I could see in the students’ faces that they were relieved to meet with alumni who are affecting positive change in this community.”

Neil Stafford ’95, the head women’s soccer coach at the University of Cincinnati and a former Penmen standout, was so disappointed he couldn’t make the community dinner that he arranged a breakfast for the UC students. “I wanted to reconnect with SNHU and give back in some small way to current students, the way so many alumni and faculty members helped me as I was just starting out after school.”

Hiring the Best in HoustonThe Houston Career Fair, sponsored by the SNHU Career team from the College of Online and Continuing Education, saw more than 110 students and alumni experience the power of the SNHU network, whether they were unemployed, underemployed or looking to hire great talent. Nearly 25 employers were in attendance, including representatives from Comcast Cable, eIntern, the Peace Corps, the University of Houston, and Walgreens.

Career Advisor and Team Lead Angelika Maryniak says that the fair was a great way for local students and alumni to make professional contacts. “One of things we hear most often from our students is that they want more ways to connect with each other and the SNHU network. This was a real value add, to see them shaking hands in person and making such valuable career connections.” ■

Find an event near you at alumni.snhu.edu/events.

Left: Penmen fans unite at the SNHU vs. Adelphi basketball game in New York on

January 16, 2016.

Top: Penmen fans at the SNHU vs. Adelphi game in New York.

Bottom: Students on Alternative Break take a break from their service projects to

meet with local SNHU community members in Cincinnati, OH, in March 2016.

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1. Sarah Carroll '14 speaks with a student during a mock interview exercise on campus (Nov. 2015)

2. SNHU community volunteers at the Salvation Army Toy Shop in Manchester, NH (Dec. 2015)

3. Men's Ice Hockey Coach Ken Hutchins '87 and former team manager Jocelyn Colena '85 at Alumni Hockey Day (Jan. 2016)

4. Women's Basketball alumnae pose before the 2016 Pink Day game in honor of breast cancer survivors (Feb. 2016)

5. The Coaches Corner brought four men's basketball head coaches back to campus (Nov. 2015)

6. Penmen fans in AZ for men's ice hockey vs. Arizona State University (Oct. 2015)

7. International alumni return to campus to advise current students on living and working in the U.S. post-graduation (Mar. 2016)

8. SNHU alumni and employees of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway pose together (Mar. 2016)

9. New graduate Amberly McNeill ’16 poses with her cutout of Petey Penmen, as part of the #PeteyProject (Apr. 2016)

10. Morgan Munson '12 returns to campus to recruit for the Boston Celtics at the 2015 Career Expo (Oct. 2015)

11. Alumna Tia Downing ’04, student Jeanette Plumer, and SNHU staff member Erin Neuhardt clean up the Portland Trails for a project with SNHU Global Days of Service (Apr. 2016)

12. The 2016 Alumni Board of Directors meets in the new Sandbox ColLABorative R&D think-tank at SNHU (Apr. 2016)

13. Former roommates, who lived in Greeley 23, get together for their annual girls’ weekend (Jan. 2016)

14. Chef Nicole Barreira ’06 ’10G came back to share her skills – both culinary and marketing – with students in the Culinary Symposium (Nov. 2015)

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In a single day, he might work with a literature class to examine a first-edition of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, then help students make a 3-D printout of a tiny human figure. But for Cooper, the past and the future blend seamlessly.

“Part of what we’re doing here is presenting students with opportunities that are unique to the on-campus college experience—they’re getting a lot of contact with primary sources, with physical materials they can’t dup- licate anywhere else,” says Cooper, who has worked at the Shapiro Library since 2005 and in his current role since 2011. “It’s an experience they can’t get any other way.”

As the manager of the university’s digital repository and academic archive, Cooper’s projects include archiving student and community projects, digitizing past issues of The Penmen Press student newspaper, and teaching students about the university’s special collection, which includes a second-edition copy of Winnie-the-Pooh and an anthology of banned books.

For Cooper, preserving SNHU’s past helps give students, faculty, and the community a greater sense of the institution’s history, including its longstanding tradition of innovation and emerging practices in education. For example, an archive of old course catalogs shows that the school’s secretarial and accounting curriculum in the 1940s was focused on competency-based education—an

approach SNHU is now reinventing through the College for America program.

“Having that sense of history is really important—people may not be aware that we have been around since 1932, that we’ve always been innovative. Being able to point to a sustained and lengthy history is a big deal,” Cooper says.

One of Cooper’s digital initiatives is focused on archiving student work, such as the Undergraduate Research Program projects, allowing students’ research to be accessible online worldwide. A project about the effects of Photoshopping in advertisements on body image, created by students Bailey Grotton, Kelsey Carnell, Sarah Brenner, and Adam Ferrucci, has been viewed more than 3,300 times by people around the world. “It’s a good way to share what students are doing, and it really does have some reach,” Cooper says.

Meanwhile, Cooper teaches students about experimentation and creative thinking through the cutting-edge tools and emerging technologies in the Innovation Lab and Makerspace, including 3-D printers and scanners, a laser cutter and engraving system, sophisticated cameras, a 3Doodler 3D Pen, and more. During a recent project, Cooper and a group of students turned the entire Makerspace room into a camera obscura to demonstrate a historically significant photography technique.

Preserving History and Building the Future

Chris Cooper, the digital initiatives librarian at the Shapiro

Library, has one of the most interesting dual roles on campus:

he helps preserve SNHU’s history through its digital archive,

and leads students into the future through the library’s

Innovation Lab and Makerspace.

By Rebecca Mahoney ’11 MFA

continued on page 36

Spring 2016 Impact

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Congratulations to the Class of 2016!

Welcome to the SNHU Alumni Association, a diverse and accomplished worldwide network of 70,000 professionals, community leaders, and change makers.

So what’s next?

- Complete your SNHU alumni profile at alumni.snhu.edu.

- Explore ways to stay connected with fellow alumni and the university at alumni.snhu.edu/engage.

- Become a career coach and impact current students at alumni.snhu.edu/snhucan.

- Access resources and benefits exclusive to SNHU alumni at alumni.snhu.edu/benefits.

- Join Homecoming festivities October 14-16, 2016, on campus or from afar at alumni.snhu.edu/homecoming.

- Join the SNHU Community group on Linkedin at bit.ly/SNHUcommunity.

alumni@snhu.edu | 603-645-9799 | alumni.snhu.edu | /SNHUalumni @SNHUalumni bit.ly/SNHUcommunity

continued on page 36

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Cooper’s students get a thoroughly hands-on experience, says Jennifer Harris, the emerging technology and systems librarian. “When working with students, he not only walks through the mechanics of the equipment or software, but also discusses opportunities to expand on current projects, troubleshooting why something may not have gone as planned and how to fix the problem, and more,” she says.

The Innovation Lab and Makerspace are used for a myriad of classroom projects, from game design to posters printed for academic conferences. But Cooper also encourages students to experiment for fun and let their curiosities inspire learning.

“We want them to have this chance to come in and use these resources, use design software, use the laser cutter … they’re getting exposure to these amazing new technologies and learning without even meaning to,” Cooper says. “There’s real value in that and it helps teach them to be flexible and adaptive as new technologies come out.” ■

you start seeing the transformation in brides and the hope you’re giving, it’s inspiring. We’re giving them their dream come true and a moment in life they will always remember.”

Janson has seen it firsthand hundreds of times throughout the years and grown personally attached to couples like Hugo and Ani from Florida.

After a terrorist attack in Iraq left Hugo legally blind, Ani remained an encouraging presence at Hugo’s side

throughout his lengthy recovery. Hugo wrote Janson about Ani’s loyalty and love and how he dreamed of marrying her in front of her family in the Dominican Republic. When the couple married in 2011, Ani donned a designer wedding gown supplied by Brides Across America.

“We helped create the fairy tale,” Janson says. “The smiles, the happiness, the love you see in stories like [Hugo and Ani’s], that’s what drives this mission.” ■

to take every transaction digital, and then identifying how to turn our digital assets into products or services that allow us to reinvest in the SNHU mission: providing a learning experience that transforms our students’ lives.

Given the University’s commitment to fostering educational experiences that are personal and transformative for each student, how do you plan to use technology to deepen those connections within the SNHU community and broaden access to information?Technology has flattened the world in the sense that we are all competing on a national and even global scale – for jobs, for customers, for students. We can set SNHU apart by strengthening our social connections and integrating those opportunities to connect into all our platforms, from content delivery to academic counseling to assessment. We’re allowing SNHU students to connect with the right information and the right people in the right way, turning their experience into something useful and meaningful. ■

Preserving History — continued from page 34VP of Technology and Transformation — continued from page 5

Bridal Bliss— continued from page 9

Finding Success — continued from page 13

everything that I could do with this degree and the skills I acquired. I appreciate everything you did for me, and for that, again I thank you.’” ■

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Emma Watson bring attention to issues like access – or lack thereof – to education, or equal pay, or child brides. Events like this remind us that we’re welcoming refugees into our New Hampshire communities. We’re able to make a difference, even with small actions.”

Gilmore says that a university with so many strong female leaders has an obligation to expose its students to these important conversations, and challenge them to consider how their paths forward can engender positive change. She sees the Deborah L. Coffin Women’s Center as a driving force in holding the entire community responsible to do better, helping students break free from systems of oppression.

“The response to this year’s event was overwhelming, and speaks to how much our community is both affected by gender-based challenges and committed to facing this complex issue. We look forward to building on this strong foundation next year to create concrete plans to enact as a community.” ■

International Women’s Day Movement — continued from page 7 Teaching and Learning — continued from page 17

COCE LEADS — continued from page 25

says McNulty, who has devoted his career to helping schools and school systems embrace change.

In five years, he hopes the SNHU Center will be recognized as the place where Educators look to improve their practices to better teach their students. ■

Tiffany Fifer, conference co-chair, director of online engagement in COCE, and the mastermind behind SNHUconnect, agrees with Aviles that these in-person connections were the most exciting thing about the conference. “This is what my colleagues and I talk about all the time; this is what our work is based on: how do we give online students opportunities to connect in meaningful ways, when they rarely, if ever, get to meet in person? It all came together at COCE LEADS. It was incredible to see.” ■

Make Your Impact on the Future of SNHUMake Your Impact on the Future of SNHU

Many of our supporters have made a gift to SNHU in their Will or Estate Plan. Would you consider such a gift?

Explore the giving options at snhu.giftplans.org.Institutional Advancement | 603-645-9799 | giving@snhu.edu | snhu.giftplans.org

Legacy gifts, like giving through your will, are a simple yet powerful way to make an impact. These thoughtful gifts ensure SNHU’s continued growth and commitment to student success.

Supporting Southern New Hampshire University through your will is simple. Learn more about how you can make a lasting impact on the future of SNHU at snhu.giftplans.org

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Office of Institutional Advancement 2500 North River RoadManchester, NH 03106-1045

Address Service Requested

NONPROFITORGANIZATIONU .S . POSTAGE

PAIDMANCHESTER, NHPERMIT NO . 6025

What inspires me to support SNHU after all these years?

While at then-New Hampshire College, several professors helped shape who I am. They were engagedin their teaching and wanted me to succeed. Approximately seven years after graduation, I started abusiness in Manchester and have been fortunate to see it grow and prosper, now employing one hundred NH

residents. I’m convinced there is a correlation between my SNHU experiences and the success of my career.

I am passionate about paying it forward and am now in a position in life to do so; thus,supporting SNHU allows me to provide opportunities for the younger generation. I’ve

been able to sponsor six of my employees in SNHU’s College for America program,allowing them to earn a high quality college degree with very limited investment.

I am grateful that I benefited from my college experience and am proud to seethe continued success of my alma mater.- Nick Brattan ’76

Why I Give

alumni.snhu.edu/giving