A Special Message From CAS Dean Carolyn M. Barry

Dear alumni of the College of Arts and Sciences,

The end of the academic year is upon us here at The University of Scranton, and the campus is a buzz with honor society inductions, Celebration of Scholars student research presentations, and the exciting conclusions of our spring sports seasons. Amidst all these festivities, our students are preparing for their exams, giving final presentations, and putting the finishing touches on their undergraduate or master’s theses. Due to these celebrations of student achievements combined with significant uptick in the amount of spontaneous outdoor frisbee play, springtime has always been my favorite time of year. However, this spring is particularly special for me as it is my first spring at Scranton. Last July, I became the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences here at the University, having spent the prior twenty-three years in Catholic, Jesuit higher education at Loyola University Maryland. At Loyola, I served in a variety of faculty leadership roles, including Psychology Department Chair, Middle States Accreditation Report Chair, and Faculty Senate Chair. The last five years, I served as the Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Graduate Programs within their College of Arts and Sciences. When the opportunity presented itself, I was eager to utilize the knowledge and skills accrued through these varied experiences with my fervent commitment to Catholic, Jesuit values to serve as a CAS Dean here at The University of Scranton.

In my first year, I have sought to understand the hopes, challenges, and opportunities of our faculty, staff, and students within CAS and, in turn, strengthen this fine community by preparing our students to use their talents and skills effectively in service of the greater good. To ensure student success now and after graduation, we could benefit from your help in a variety of ways. First, we’d welcome you sharing your wisdom with our current students, whether it be by joining our Career Center’s Handshake to allow a student to conduct an informational interview with you, by letting a student shadow you in your current place of work, or by returning to campus to share your Scranton story and life post-graduation with our students. Second, as the costs of our fine Catholic, Jesuit education continue to rise (just like the cost of my family’s grocery bills), we seek to be good stewards of our resources and adjust spending to prioritize our students’ experiences and classroom/laboratory needs to ensure our high-quality education can continue for years to come. Therefore, we ask that you consider contributing to 5.06, the University’s annual day of giving, by supporting the following CAS Dean’s Priorities and/or named scholarships.
First, from my numerous conversations with faculty and students across CAS, I have identified three CAS funding priorities:

• CAS Student Research Fund: This fund began just last year by earmarking a time-limited amount of money for student research. This year, we have already received twice the number of applications for funding that we did last year, demonstrating both our students’ clear need for research supplies and their desire to broaden their horizons through travel to scholarly conferences to present their findings.
• CAS Student Experiential Fund: To promote students’ discernment in their future careers, our CAS Student Experiential Fund supports student field trips connected to coursework, student curricular-based clubs, and student internships, which are often unpaid but impactful.
• CAS Equipment Fund: Several CAS departments require updated equipment to support the arts (e.g., modular theater stage) and STEM fields (e.g., microscopes, sound processors, dynamic light scattering equipment, drill machines) to ensure our students can utilize current industry-standard equipment in their studies as they prepare for their careers after Scranton.

Second, I appreciate that many of you have been incredibly generous and devoted to named scholarships and programs such as SJLA, European Union Simulation, and the DeMichele Scholarship during our previous 5.06 giving occasions. I hope you will continue to support our current and future students during this year’s event. With your help, we can ensure that today’s CAS students become tomorrow’s ethical leaders. I remain deeply grateful for all that you have done and continue to do for The University of Scranton.

Sincerely,
Carolyn M. Barry, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences & Professor of Psychology
University of Scranton