The Aquinas 1997-09-11

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Volume 70, Issue 1 The strtdent voice of tlz'e University of Scranton September 11, 1997
New administrators take
office (p.3)
Newspaper ufeatures"
student (p. 7)
Campus activities to
start school year (p.B)
Increased resources spawn new additions
By TOM CIAVARELLA
Assistant News Editor
In the last tifteen years nearly
every building now considered
part of the University campus
~: has under-gone new construe,.
tion. This year's adtlition to the
litany of renovations replaces
what was once the parking lot for
Lahey Hall.
Construction costs for the
new College of Health,
Education, and Human Resources
(CHEHR) building,
were less than expected. As a
result. the University will
improve upon the original conception
of the facility and take
on long-term renovation plans
earlier than expected.
"It's going to be a great building,"
said Daniel West, associate
professor of Health Administra-tion
1 Human Resources. The The CHEHR facility will Panuska, S.J., College of
new CHEHR building will stand have over I 00 rooms of class- Professional Studies.
next to Leahy Hall on Jefferson room and oftice space, state-of- Despite the recent and diverse
Avenue. the-art lab facilities, and other changes of plans to the original-
The date of completion is pro- high-tech amenities. ly conceived construction, the
jected for the end of August in The new fourth floor will CHEHR facility is not sacriflc-
1998. The tinal cost will amount house faculty members from the ing anything.
to just over $5.5 million. James School of Management (SOM) "The building is designed to
Pallante, dean of CHEHR. said when renovations on O'Hara deliver the curriculum," Palante
the facility is "tailored for [the] Hall begin. Presently O'Hara said. The sum invested to deliver
special programs" found within Hall houses SOM faculty all possibilities for this program
the college's curriculum. oftices. will benefit facets otherwise
The money appropriated The CHEHR program began unexpecting growth.
beyond the cost of construction in 1987 and offers undergraduate The help this project is giving
will be put towards the cost of and graduate courses in nursing, other parts of the University has
an additional floor. Originally, occupational therapy (OT), edu- not been overlooked.
only three floors were scheduled cation and other major areas. "Everybody wins on this,"
to be built. The recent success and consis- said West.
Further, the funds remaining tency with which physical thera- In other construction news,
in the budget will be used to ren- py and OT graduates have the University undertook many
ovate O'Hara Hall and to install recently shared in the job market new landscaping changes at the
central heating systems in Leahy, . indicates the strength of the pro- end of the summer.
O'Hara, and. Hyland Halls. gram. Now the program will Some of these changes
Plans have also been made 'to have state of the art facilities. included renovations to the
install power lines beneath side- In honor of University Alumni Garden located next to
walks, which is less expensive President, the Rev. J.A. Panuska, Loyola Ball, the front steps of
than using the Linden Street S.J., the college will be renamed. Loyola Hall, and to'the outside
Aquinas Photo/ BRENDAN MULLINS power supply. New poles will be At the end of this year of the Institute of Molecular
~ Construction began this summer on the new facilty located on Jefferson Ave. erected as early as next month. CHEHR will become the J.A. Biology. I University receives highest ranking ever
1 By BRYAN KNOWLES University receives a regional classitica- sistently ranked within the top ten region- University community is proud of its
r-~ Aquinas Staff Writer tion and is assigned to the northeast al universities in the north over the past accomplishments and is striving to climb
·.. region that stretches from Maryland and several years, and ranked tifth in last even higher in the ranks.
} Students returning to or just entering the District of Columbia to Maine. "Our latest rating was a tribute to our
;a the University this fall semester are not Regional universities are defined as .. _. -··-- ...... - ...... ~.~'"M·····~""···w"' ....... '"''·" ....... -- students, faculty, staff, and alumni," com-
~· only facing new professors, acad~mic similar to national universities as they "Our latest rating WaS a mented the Rev. J.A. Panuska, S.J. "I am
.~.., challen~g es and physical changes around provide a full spectrum of under~g raduate tn" b ute to our stud ents, proud of it." ~ campus, but also a new ranking among and master's level programs; however, "At the same time, I would emphasize l the colleges and universities in the coun- only a few offer doctoral programs. faculty, staff, and alumni that the important fact is not whether we
·i~ try. The universities are then evaluated I am proud of it." are number three or number ten," Panuska
~ In its Sept. I edition on "America's upon their academic reputations, gradua- continued. "What is important is the con-
Best Colleges, U.S. News & World Report tion and retention rates, faculty resources, The Rev· J .A. Panuska sistency of our recognition as being a
magazine ranked the University as the student selectivity, financial resources University President tirst- rate regional university."
third best regional university in the north- and alumni contributions. "The number of schools with which
east.
Based on criteria set forth by the
. Carnegie Foundation for the
'i.] Advancement of Teaching, the annual
~J report by U.S. News establishes whether
an educational institution is a national
university, national liberal arts college,
regional university, or regional iiberal arts
college.
D'ue to its size and location the
The University had an overall score of
94 out of possible I 00 points and placed
third out of nearly 200 northeast regional
academic institutions.
Ranked higher than the University
were Providence College and Villanova
University, schools both tied for the number
one position.
For those members new to the
University community, Scranton has con-years
U.S. News college revi-ew.
Among its numerous favorable marks
in the 1997 survey, the University
achieved high ratings for its freshman
retention rate of 90 percent and graduation
rate of 83 percent.
With the highest ever quality ranking
as the third best regional university in the
northeast section of the United States, the
we competed in the ratirrg in the north was
about 160, the most competitive region
reviewed. TJ-:!is means that we are in the
upper 2-3 percent." Panuska added.
"A sobering thought, however, is that
we were separated from three schools
behind us by only I percent. "
"So, let us celebrate soberly and be
challenged to continue to stabilize and
. even increase our quality."