Collaboration and partnerships

Collaboration and partnerships are important to the University-wide strategic plan Towards 2016. These relationships are even more essential for GRE, given its small size and limited resources. Several collaborative initiatives and partnerships have been formed during the past academic year.

The vision for instituting an AJCU Conference for Theological, Pastoral, and Ministerial Education was conceived at Fordham University four years ago. In April 2012, the 12 Jesuit universities participating in the Conference will hold their annual meeting, entitled “Building Bridges Within the Jesuit University and Beyond: Theology, Pastoral Studies and Spirituality in Service to Church and World.”

The graduate school’s relationship with the Archdiocese of Hartford bore fruit as students from an initial certificate program completed that program and were admitted to master’s programs at GRE. The graduate school has contacted more than 25 dioceses in the United States to talk about starting collaborations like the one with Hartford.

The initial lecture in collaboration with the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center in Purchase, N.Y., took place in spring 2011. GRE is prepared to build on this collaboration in the coming year with a course taught jointly by a rabbi and Patrick Ryan, S.J., the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society.

Online education

The hiring of a new assistant dean for marketing/admissions in December 2011 has allowed GRE to reach its goal of promoting online programs regularly throughout the United States and developing nations. In 2010-2011, the school had online students from 12 states and three foreign countries: Australia, Denmark and Zimbabwe. This year, online course enrollments grew 13 percent over the previous year, and 30 percent of GRE’s total credit hours are derived from online courses, a 5 percent increase over the prior year.

Latino/a programs

The Latino/a programs continue to expand the efforts of Joseph Fitzpatrick, S.J., a forceful advocate for the successful integration of Puerto Rican immigrants into New York City and the Catholic Church. His work for the Hispanic community was recognized nationally and it serves as the cornerstone for program development.

Grants have provided full- or half-tuition scholarships for Latino and Latina students in master’s programs at GRE. A major conference was held and new summer programs were initiated in the past academic year. The expansion of the school’s online programs to include the master of arts in religious education in Latino/a studies, under consideration, would bolster growth in this area. GRE and Latin American Jesuit schools have discussed collaboration through the use of the extensive online degrees and courses shared by members of the Asociación de Universidades Confiadas a la Compañía de Jesús en América Latina (AUSJAL). It is hoped that this collaboration would not only involve students but also allow AUSJAL faculty to teach Latino/a ministry courses to American students.

Program development

A committee of 22 faculty members, representing all areas of the school, systematically reviewed existing programs and divided into smaller task forces to develop new programs for launch in 2011-2012. The new programs are:

• Master in Investor Relations. This program is being offered in two formats during 2011-2012. One was launched in September at Lincoln Center; the other is in collaboration with the National School of Development of Peking University.

• Master in Business Enterprise. This program targets a new and growing market for graduate business, namely, the recent liberal arts graduate. The program is 10 months long and prepares the student for entry-level positions in business and for further study in specialty areas in the curriculum.

• Three-Continent Master in Global Management. This 12-month program is a collaboration with the Antwerp Management School, Antwerp, and the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, India.

• Master of Science in Global Finance. Given the increased demand for the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance that the school cannot fully satisfy, GBA has launched a year-round version of the Master of Science in Global Finance at Lincoln Center to accommodate some of that demand and to build a more significant position in the financial community of New York City.

The faculty committee also reviewed the current MBA program and recommended major changes. A small design team is working on a comprehensive revision of the program. The team’s proposals will be circulated among a larger group of reviewers representing the faculty of the school, its alumni, and its advisors.

Establishing a coherent global standing

The school began a “nodal” strategy organized around six regions—Greater China, India, Europe, Turkey, South Africa, and South America—where the school is engaging and mobilizing alumni and cultivating partners in industry, academia and government. In all cases, the significance of carefully selecting academic partners cannot be overstated. They are the key to engaging faculty in collaboration on research and curricular activities. Without meaningful collaboration among faculty, GBA’s global strategy cannot be sustained. For this reason, each academic program of the school has a designated faculty director, who is supported by one of the associate deans as the administrative lead.

The Fordham Consortium is a significant instrument to accelerate and to clarify the execution of a global strategy for the school. Launched in November 2010, the consortium assembles approximately 50 people from different walks of life, from all regions of the globe, three times a year to deliberate on the purpose of business. Additionally, the Fordham Consortium served as a means to help selected faculty members introduce their research to an expansive and critical audience of people who will encourage and promote the scholarly work of Fordham faculty.

Building industry relationships

A key to solving the placement problem of the school’s graduates and reaching the development objectives of the capital campaign, Excelsior | Ever Upward | The Campaign for Fordham, is to build deeper and much more expansive industry relationships. Although it is important for GBA to make more inroads into New York’s industrial social networks in order to raise the profile of the school, it is arguably more important to expand industry relationships well beyond the metropolitan area.

In January 2011, the GBA Wall Street Council was launched. It meets once a month at the Penn Club, typically with a theme and a speaker. The council has grown to 150 members, and is becoming an important social networking activity for students seeking to build professional contacts.

Additionally, having retained a representative on the West Coast, the school has begun to cultivate prospective employers who have shown interest in the new specialized master’s programs. This initiative has been augmented by a series of breakfast events, held three times a year, at which prominent industry representatives speak to alumni and friends of GBA. At the pilot event, held in San Francisco, more than 70 people came to hear Darcy Antonellis, GBA ’96, speak about the influence of advancing digital technology on business models.

In keeping with the new mission of the Graduate School of Social Service (GSS), which embraces human dignity, diversity, and social justice, the faculty adopted human rights and social justice as the organizing construct of the curriculum beginning in academic year 2011-2012. To effect this change, faculty members spent five years studying and discussing new ideas about educating social workers who can respond readily and appropriately to the challenges facing people and the societies in which they live—locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. A signature course was developed, required of all students as of fall 2011, that allows students to explore human rights and prepares them to define human rights for themselves and their practice of the profession. Students will be prepared to work toward the establishment of societies free from poverty, inequity, violence, oppression, and discrimination, as articulated in the school’s mission. Additionally, GSS graduates will be well prepared to advance economic, political, social, physical, mental, spiritual, and educational well-being of their clientele, be they individuals and families, groups, communities, or organizations. This new curriculum will greatly enhance GSS’s international efforts.

New online MSW program

A new program allows students to obtain a master of social work, with a clinical concentration, completely online. It began with two courses in the fall 2011 semester, and is initially being offered to students in the tri-state area who live beyond a 50-mile radius of the Fordham campuses. This is the first online social work program approved by the New York State Department of Education.

Because the faculty members of GSS thoroughly understand the potential of online education, and its ability to reach underserved areas, they see this new program as fully consistent with the mission of the school. The program has generated a great deal of excitement among members of the GSS community. In large measure, GSS is charting the way for other Catholic schools of social work in online education, and will no doubt provide professional social work education in areas where it would not otherwise be available.

The three primary goals the Graduate School of Education focused on in 2010-2011 were:

Achieving full accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)

Data responsive to NCATE and the needs of specialized professional associations were collected on student and program outcomes and impact using protocols developed by the Program Review and Evaluation Committee of GSE, which oversaw data collection and analysis. A report was prepared and submitted to the NCATE Board of Examiners. The site visit team indicated that GSE has met all of the standards and their components, including having achieved national recognition from all 18 specialty professional associations to which program-level reports were submitted. The NCATE Board of Examiners reviewed the report and issued a response for full accreditation.

Expanding as a partner for excellence with public and faith-based schools

GSE has many partnerships, throughout the area and beyond, with both public and faith-based school systems and the educational organizations that support them. In its biggest partnership, GSE continues to serve New York City as a Partnership Support Organization, providing customized services that help city schools boost academic achievement. The PSO expanded to 25 schools .

The graduate school’s second-largest partnership is with the Yonkers public school system, where GSE is involved in two professional development schools, and with whom GSE works on major professional development grants from the state education department.

Through its Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Centers (BETACs), GSE continued to provide professional development services and technical consulting to teachers and administrators throughout the lower Hudson Valley and the Bronx. The BETACs worked with more than 400 schools and 55,000 English language learners.

Through its Center for Catholic School Leadership and Faith-Based Education, GSE faculty members serve on advisory committees in all three of lower New York State’s dioceses and remain active at all levels of each diocese. The center was awarded a contract to provide courses by the New York City Department of Education under Title II-A ESEA that provides coursework in educational administration to teachers in faith-based schools, primarily in Brooklyn and Queens. The center also has been working with the Diocese of Brooklyn to develop a new accreditation body for Catholic schools and academies. The center’s members were invited to present papers on leadership development for Catholic schools at the Catholic Educational European Conferences (CEEC) in Scotland and England. Upon the recommendation of the CEEC, the center collaborated with the Archdiocese of Vienna and the University of Vienna Institute of Pedagogy to develop a study program in Catholic school leadership for Eastern European countries and the Nordic European Catholic School Community. This program of study was established at the annual CEEC meeting in October 2011.

Through the Rosa A. Hagin School Consultation and Early Childhood Centers, GSE faculty and students are deeply involved in delivering psychoeducational servicesto parochial schools in the South Bronx and Harlem Coalition, a project funded almost entirely by foundations and generous individuals. GSE is recognized throughout the region as a major partner in efforts to improve the quality of education for children in all schools, and is regarded as the leader in bilingual and English language learning in the state.

Reallocation of instructional resources and program hibernation

The Division of Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy responded to a request for proposals from the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) to join the second cohort of doctoral degree-level education schools in a nationwide effort to re-establish the value of the doctorate in education (Ed.D.). Participation in the project will entail a full redesign of the current doctoral program in education, a redesign welcomed by the faculty. In late June, GSE was advised by CPED that its proposal was accepted; full participation will begin in the fall.

Meanwhile, a faculty coalition drawn from GSE’s three divisions worked from last June through March to develop a Ph.D. program to replace two doctoral programs that were suspended at the end of last year. A proposal for a doctorate in contemporary learning and interdisciplinary research (CLAIR) was submitted to the New York State Education Department and was recently approved. The first cohort is scheduled for enrollment in Fall 2012.

Creating and strengthening
graduate programs

By developing several new programs, GSAS expanded the breadth of possible graduate study at Fordham. A proposal for a master of fine arts in theater with a concentration in playwriting was approved by the GSAS Council, the arts and sciences deans, and the New York State Department of Education. This highly selective two-year program is distinguished by students’ experience in all aspects of play production, and by the provision that students fully produce two plays during their course of study. Other programs being developed include a master of science in biomedical research, jointly offered with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an advanced certificate in public opinion and survey research, offered by the Department of Political Science.

Distinctive, timely, and mission-appropriate graduate programs require outstanding matriculants, and GSAS demonstrated continued improvements in admissions and enrollment in 2010-2011. Application numbers have climbed steadily over the past four years, with the number of applications for master’s and doctoral programs each jumping by 10 percent from fall 2009 to fall 2010.

GSAS showed a 27 percent increase in the number of degrees and certificates granted over the previous year: 54 doctoral degrees (up 42 percent), 232 master’s degrees (up 12 percent), and 29 advanced certificates (up 16 percent). Among the diplomas awarded were the first master of arts degrees in ethics and society and the first advanced certificates in financial computing.

Cultivating the academic and professional development of students

The total number of achievements (external awards, publications, and presentations) by GSAS students increased 5 percent to 261. Several programs showed dramatic two-year increases in the percentage of students with at least one achievement: psychology (from 14 percent to 41 percent), English (from 15 percent to 34 percent), history (from 16 percent to 33 percent), and biology (from 12 percent to 26 percent). The tradition of outstanding external achievements continued with 80 prestigious national and international awards, including 15 to biology students, 11 to English students, and 21 to students in the International Political Economy and Development (IPED) program. Students published 51 papers, book chapters, and literary works.

At the master’s level, GSAS started a pilot program that allows groups of students to get involved with nongovernmental organizations. A task force of 10 students from economics, elections and campaign management, IPED, political science, public communications, urban studies, and humanities and sciences is creating a public awareness campaign proposal for BRAC, the world’s largest NGO. As part of this campaign, two of the students were picked by BRAC to travel to Tanzania—a trip supported by the GSAS annual fund—to collect documentary footage about the group’s efforts to empower teenage girls. After evaluation and consultation with alumni, the program will be expanded using funding from Santander Universities.

Creating external partnerships
and collaborations with other
Fordham units

GSAS has made many strategic partnerships, both locally and globally. Facilities at local partner institutions were used for graduate courses, research, and other educational experiences: five students are conducting research for their theses and dissertations at the New York Botanical Garden, five at the Wildlife Conservation Society, and two at the American Museum of Natural History. Ten adjunct professors from these partner institutions are contributing to GSAS by mentoring students, serving on committees, and teaching courses. Preliminary talks with Albert Einstein College of Medicine have led to agreement about admission criteria, course requirements, learning objectives, target student population, and expected outcomes for a joint master of science in biomedical research.

GSAS initiated talks with the three Spanish Jesuit Universities—Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Deusto, and Ramon Lull (ESADE)—to facilitate research and graduate programs in ethics, humanitarian affairs, education, and management. This interaction resulted in the signing of a memorandum of understanding, under which several potential collaborations are emerging. The European Network on International Humanitarian Affairs (NOHA) is including representatives from Fordham’s master of arts program in humanitarian action in its meetings and planning for future programs, and NOHA students will take part in a program at Fordham this summer. A faculty member from Deusto will participate in the summer workshops offered by the Center for Ethics Education. In addition, Fordham will ask the partner schools to help recruit students for training in ethics education under a program funded by Santander Universities.

GSAS supported Fordham’s partnership with the University of Pretoria (UP) by welcoming a second cohort of UP students for summer courses and sending Fordham students to South Africa in August. The UP partnership will be expanded as the result of several exchanges. For instance, a Fordham faculty member took part in a conference at the university co-sponsored by the Ronald H. Brown Institute’s Center for Microfinance (renamed the Center for Alternative Banking). Also, Fordham has been visited by the university’s dean of theology faculty, by the interim dean of the faculty of economics and management science, and by Mark Oranje, Ph.D., head of the university’s Department of Town and Regional Planning. The exchanges’ results to date include two Fulbright Specialist awards to Fordham faculty.

Within Fordham, students are being accepted to the new master of arts program in international humanitarian action, created by GSAS and several other departments and units: the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, the Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation, the Graduate School of Social Service, and Fordham Law School. A master’s program in applied psychological methods was developed in collaboration with Graduate School of Education, and the advanced certificate in business analytics involves collaboration with the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and the Graduate School of Business Administration. Collaboration across schools and units resulted in recommendations for a name (Fordham Center for Community Engaged Scholarship), a vision, and a mission for a unit focusing on community partnerships within Fordham’s Bronx and Manhattan neighborhoods.

In summary, GSAS is building on the momentum of its achievements in past years. Thanks to the dedication and expertise of faculty, involvement and gifts of alumni, and motivation and efforts of students, the reputation of Fordham for providing a unique experience in graduate education in the arts and sciences is increasing. GSAS is proud to be known for the results of its focus on student-centered education within a supportive environment of faculty and alumni, consistent with the Jesuit tradition.

Note: Unless stated otherwise, all numbers, percentages and dollar amounts were current as of June 14, 2010.

At the same time, the law school has made progress toward its goal of a top 15 ranking by pursuing a number of discrete initiatives, many of them multi-year efforts. In 2010-2011, U.S. News & World Report ranked Fordham Law No. 30 out of 190 accredited U.S. law schools, up four spots from the ranking of 34 the previous year, and closer to the historical high ranking of 25 in 2008. The law school’s evening program also rose and was ranked No. 2 out of 80 such programs, up from No. 3 the previous year. The law school remains very proud of the recognition garnered by its specialty programs, many of which were ranked in the top 15. For example, in U.S. News & World Report, the Intellectual Property Law program, ranked No. 15 last year, jumped up in the rankings to No. 12 this year and the Clinical Legal Education program was again ranked No. 13.

Faculty Development

In 2010-2011, the law school sought to make a dramatic improvement—on the faculty recruitment front by making five lateral appointments. With the help of the Office of the Provost, the law school was able to extend the first five offers, which were accepted—a dramatic change from recent years, when it was common for the first few offers to be rejected.

The school also appointed an associate dean for research as part of a continuing effort to increase the visibility of its faculty, foster outstanding scholarship, and extend the reach of the law school’s influence. Strategic planning for joint degrees, and for retooling centers and institutes, is expected to further elevate the law school’s academic reputation.

Communications Initiatives

Toward 2016 calls for better public relations and communication to ensure that the law school’s strengths are recognized, and to raise Fordham’s reputation as a top national law school. While the school has improved according to the objective metrics of U.S. News & World Report in the last several years, it has fared worse according to subjective metrics that make up 40 percent of the score. Its reputational assessment numbers are either constant or slipping.

In 2010-11, the law school adopted a more refined and targeted media strategy and launched two efforts to communicate its strengths. The first was a new publication, directed at U.S. News & World Report academic voters, that highlights the faculty’s scholarship and accomplishments. This publication, Faculty Spotlight, featured the work of some of the most recently tenured faculty members and situated even the youngest ones at the apex of their fields—which include law and education, immigration and labor law, constitutional law and theory, criminal law theory, and empirical studies. This publication will continue.

The second effort was the Fordham Law Roundtable Series, a series of reputation-building events that spotlight faculty expertise and improve outreach to judges and attorneys, particularly beyond New York and the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic regions. The series was co-sponsored with the American Law Media group, producer of national publications such as the American Lawyer and the National Law Journal and local publications including New York Law Journal. In all, more than 1,362 members of the bench and bar took part in the series via webinars and 95 attended the events. The series was a distinctive effort to reach out to members of the bar and bench on a national level. No other U.S. law school is doing anything like it.

Student Recruitment and Placement

The class that enrolled in August 2010 was the law school’s best ever. During the last admissions cycle, applications were higher and the law school had to admit slightly fewer students overall in order to build the desired class. Also, in a demographic shift, the law school made the transition from 320 attending during the day and 160 at night to 400 in the day and 80 at night.

International Initiatives

In the 2010-2011 academic year, the law school continued to strengthen its signature programs—the master of laws programs, the program for visiting scholars and research fellows, and the Summer Institute in New York City. At the same time, the Doctor of Juridical Science program, or S.J.D. program and three new double-degree programs offered in conjunction with universities abroad will commence this academic year.

In developing these programs, the law school is building on the enormous popularity and success of its double-degree program with the Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas. Select students pursuing the juris doctorate will be able to spend their third year at a partner institution in France, Italy, or Spain and earn a master’s degree from that institution in addition to a Fordham law degree. Students would earn one of the following: a master’s in international and comparative European Union law from Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (LUISS) in Rome; a master’s in international and European business law from Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid; or the Diplôme d’Université en Droit from the Université Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne (Sorbonne).

LUISS and Comillas were chosen as partners because of their outstanding reputations and the breadth and depth of their English-language curricular offerings in areas that are at the heart of today’s global economy.

Other partnerships and affiliations

The law school formed a partnership with the Graduate School of Business Administration to offer the Fordham Accelerator for Business (FAB), a practicum that helps prepare young entrepreneurs to launch a business. This intensive immersion program confers an understanding of the partnership building, strategy, and tactical execution required to advance a start-up company. Participants work directly with faculty and community coaches who are experts in opportunity analysis, investment due diligence, market road-mapping, portfolio governance, lean startup principles, and other topics.