University lauded twice by Hispanic Outlook magazine
For the sixth consecutive year, Montclair State University has been labeled
an educational leader by a prominent national higher education magazine.
MSU has been selected as a "Publisher’s Pick" by Hispanic
Outlook in Higher Education magazine. In its Nov. 18 issue, publisher
Jose Lopez-Isa said that the magazine’s 2002 "Publisher’s
Picks" honors "colleges and universities that we believe enable
so many of our Hispanic youth to succeed…We base our assessments
on responses to our formal inquiries, on data from the National Center
for Education Statistics, and on informal input from all directions. We
invite the enablers of these institutions to take a well-deserved bow,
and know that your efforts are respected and appreciated and will doubtless
ripple down through succeeding generations."
Additionally, MSU was cited as one of the "Top 100 Schools Graduating
Hispanics" nationally, the fifth time the University has been so
honored.
"Montclair State is proud of the diversity and cultural richness
of our University community," said President Susan A. Cole. "New
Jersey’s Hispanic community is growing rapidly, and our University
is unconditionally committed to being an accessible and high-quality educational
resource for this ambitious population.
"We are pleased to be honored by this outstanding educational magazine
for the sixth consecutive year, and truly appreciate its continuing validation
of the success of our broad-based educational mission."
Digital Backpacks Program available
Digital Backpacks, a professional development and technology distribution
program for faculty, adjuncts and graduate assistants, will be offered
in the spring. Applications are due Thursday, Dec. 12.
Participants are loaned a backpack containing everything they need for
the course. The program, developed by Susan Amirian of Information Technology,
is appropriate for faculty at the "experienced beginner" to
"intermediate" level of technology use. Familiarity with computers,
Microsoft applications and Web browsing is recommended.
For more information, e-mail Susan Amirian at amirians@mail.montclair.edu.
Help wanted at Bookstore
The
University Bookstore is looking to hire seasonal staff, age 16 and
older, for the beginning of the spring semester. Cashiers and stock clerks
are needed from Jan. 2-24. There also may be a need for staff from Dec.
23 through 31.
Day, afternoon and evening shifts are available. Employees must work at
least 20 hours a week in a minimum of four-hour blocks. Pay is $6.50 per
hour.
For more information, call Steve Gaffney at 973-655-7391 about stock clerk
positions and Richard Ammerman at 973-655-7193 for cashier positions.
Holiday classic comes to campus
American Repertory Ballet (ARB) will perform "The Nutcracker"
in Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 4:30 p.m., and Sunday,
Dec. 15, at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $35, $30 and $25.
For more than 100 years, families around the world have started their
holiday seasons with "The Nutcracker." Filled with holiday presents,
scampering mice, gallant nutcracker soldiers and plenty of holiday sweets,
ARB's lush production of Graham Lustig’s classic lavishly re-imagines
this holiday favorite.
With a cast of more than 100 performers, including students from ARB's
acclaimed Princeton Ballet School, whimsical sets and costumes by Zack
Brown, and Tchaikovsky’s beloved musical score, "The Nutcracker"
is a perennial favorite.
For tickets, call the Box Office at 973-655-5112.
MSU and Westfield symphonies perform in Crawford Concert
The Montclair State Symphony Orchestra was joined by the Westfield Symphony
Orchestra for the annual Beatrice Crawford Memorial Music Celebration
that took place yesterday in Memorial Auditorium.
The free concert, conducted by David Wroe, who has been the music director
of the MSU orchestral program since 2000 and is also music director of
the Westfield Symphony Orchestra, featured George Gershwin's "American
in Paris" and Dvorak's "New World Symphony."
Wroe said the idea to have the orchestras perform together worked out
perfectly, both logistically and creatively. "We were able to create
a continuity of artistic goals so the Montclair community as a whole could
experience some of the greatest classical repertoire," he said. The
combined orchestra performed familiar works by Gershwin and highlighted
Dvorak's "Symphony No. 9 in E minor."
But this musical celebration was more than a concert. "This experience
for the audience was an opportunity to observe conductor and musicians
construct, from scratch, a professional presentation." The collaboration
was born out of Wroe's vision to provide an educational and professional
experience for students aspiring toward careers as musicians. "The
professional environment that the students are immersed in during rehearsal
and performance contrasts with the normal educational environment, which
is one of reflection, analysis, exploration and discussion," he explained.
"The professional environment is on-the-spot employment of skills
learned, and an intense, compacted experience designed to sharpen the
students' skills and produce maximum efficiency of execution. Furthermore,
the student collaboration provides an invaluable active exposure to seasoned
professionals as they work."
The Crawford Celebration was made possible through an endowment sponsored
by the Crawford Foundation. Beatrice "Billie" Crawford was dedicated
to the development of music for the community audiences in Montclair,
directing the Choraliers and later the Upper Montclair Women's Club chorale
group, the Madrigals. She arranged music for both groups until her death
in 1969. In 1994, the Keating Crawford Foundation established an endowment
at the University in recognition of Beatrice Crawford to ensure that her
legacy would be maintained.
"This type of collaboration, to my knowledge, is unique at MSU,"
Wroe said. "Never has there been such an infusion of students and
educational components injected into a professional program." Wroe
said permission was needed from the American Federation of Musicians to
present the program. "This is not a situation of experts coming to
MSU in a university environment. Rather, this is MSU being drawn into,
and experiencing a unique exposure to the professional performing world.
Unique indeed."