Stockton University News - June 2016 - Office of the President

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Greetings from Stockton University! This summer, I invite you to return to campus or one of our instructional sites, or join us on the Vision Tour in New Jersey this summer. Here are just a few highlights of what has been happening at Stockton:

Stockton Welcomes Lori A. Vermeulen as New Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

An opportunity to do undergraduate research with a faculty member changed the life of Vermeulen. In her new role at Stockton, Vermeulen is intent on providing the resources to enable more students to have that experience.

The Stockton community is pleased to welcome Lori A. Vermeulen to the University as the new provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

“My goal is to empower the faculty to do their best work through high-impact practices with students,” Vermeulen said. High-impact practices include research, internships and study abroad, which “can really show a student what their life could be like if they pursue that discipline,” she explained. “It happened to me.”

Vermeulen comes to Stockton from West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCU), where she served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest college at an institution
that serves over 16,000 students.

In her new position, Vermeulen is responsible for providing vision, leadership and strategic planning for Stockton’s academic core, supervising seven schools and other offices within the Division of Academic Affairs, and for the process of recruiting, hiring, mentoring and evaluating faculty.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Vermeulen worked as a chemist in quality control at Merck’s Chemical Manufacturing Division, and later Merck, Sharpe, & Dohme Research Laboratories manufacturing compounds for possible use in clinical drug trials. She then returned to study at Princeton University, where she earned her master’s degree
and Ph.D. in Chemistry.

Coastal Research Center Receives Prestigious Award from the Jersey Shore Partnership

Congratulations to Stewart Farrell, executive director of the Coastal Research Center, and his team for receiving the Tom Gagliano Leadership Award for Educational Excellence.

Stockton University’s Coastal Research Center received the Tom Gagliano Leadership Award for Educational Excellence from the Jersey Shore Partnership during its Summer Celebration and Visionary Leadership Awards on June 6.

The Coastal Research Center received a commendation for its “exemplary dedication and steadfast commitment to the Jersey Shore” from the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey.

Congratulations to Stewart Farrell, executive director of the Coastal Research Center, and his team for receiving this prestigious honor.

Stockton’s Coastal Research Center (CRC) was created in 1981 to assist local municipalities with coastal environmental issues related to recurring storm damage and shoreline retreat. Since its inception, the CRC has been working on shoreline monitoring and assessment programs with the State of New Jersey and several municipalities in New Jersey.

“It has been a unique pleasure to work for 35 years with Stockton graduates studying both the forces making changes to the Jersey Shore and the impacts of those forces. The Coastal Research Center would not exist today had not a sizable number of Stockton students agreed to serve as field crew, mature into full-time staff and together, succeed in making the CRC into one of New Jersey’s premier scientific study institutes,” Farrell said.

William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy Hosts Student Outcomes Symposium More than 200 higher education leaders convened to share best practices at the Student Outcomes Symposium, hosted by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University on June 15.

More than 200 higher education leaders convened to share best practices at the Student Outcomes Symposium, hosted by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University on June 15.

The symposium explored students’ academic success, workforce preparation and civic participation, and was attended by career counselors, academic advisers, admissions counselors and employers from 32 colleges and universities.

Students come first at Stockton University. Giving our students the skills and abilities needed to learn for a lifetime and to start successful careers is at the heart of the missions of our colleges and universities. This is the means by which we build a more prosperous and civil New Jersey. Only truly educated citizens can protect our special American sense of opportunity, liberty and equality.

I had the pleasure of serving on a leadership panel with David Payne, vice president and chief operating officer of Educational Testing Service Global Education Division, and Hasani C. Carter, who currently serves as the state director of the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) within the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education.

David Payne focused on student outcomes from a global perspective and about how we measure them and for what purposes. He stressed ongoing efforts to measure outcomes in a meaningful way for students, educators and employers, and growing interest in evidence-based assessment of civic learning.

Carter outlined the College Success Collaborative, an initiative of Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks which involves pre-tertiary, higher education and community-based organizations. The initiative also researches the broad set of skills needed to succeed beyond college and the workplace, such as tolerance for others and global awareness.

Darryl Greer, a Senior Fellow of the Hughes Center’s Higher Education and Strategic Information and Governance (HESIG) project, presented research on student attitudes toward college value and on counseling and advising services.

The HESIG research reveals recent college graduates believe the most important college outcome is “to get a better job,” with 30 percent naming that as their top priority. One in three students says colleges are doing “extremely well” in preparing them for a job and career.

Daniel J. Douglas, director of the Hughes Center, pointed to the research where students did not think civic participation was important to employers. However, a 2015 survey conducted by Hart Research Associates for the American Association for Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), reported that 86 percent of employers surveyed said that regardless of major, college and university students should “take courses that build the civic knowledge, skills, and judgment essential for contributing to a democratic society.”

Associate Professor of Biology Tara Luke Serves During NOAA Marianas Trench Deep Sea Expedition.

From behind her computer screen, Tara Luke, associate professor of Biology, will dive deep into the dark, frigid waters of the western Pacific Ocean to help identify marine life, possibly some new species.

From behind her computer screen, Tara Luke, associate professor of Biology, is diving deep into the dark, frigid waters of the western Pacific Ocean to help identify marine life, possibly some new species. Luke is a shore-based scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) exploration of the deepest place on the planet, the Marianas Trench, from the research vessel Okeanos Explorer.

Luke is part of a team of scientists contributing live commentary on the expedition while viewing footage from NOAA’s remotely operated vehicle known as the Deep Discoverer daily for 8-10 hours from now through Sunday, July 10, beginning at 5 p.m. ET. An online livestream will be available worldwide for anyone to explore the deep sea along with the scientists.

June 17 marked the start of the expedition’s third phase. During phase two, scientists used sonar to map areas of the trench to identify geographic features of interest such as basins, craters and seamounts (underwater mountains) that may attract colonies of sea life. Luke was an on-shore scientist during phase one and said that “the most exciting part was discovering a hydrothermal vent that had never been seen before.” Chemosynthetic organisms that use chemicals instead of sunlight to create their food inhabit regions with hydrothermal vents.

Previously, Luke participated as a shore-based scientist for a NOAA expedition off the Atlantic Ocean in 2014 that looked at submarine canyons along the New England seamount chain. As a post-doctoral researcher, she dove 2,512 meters below the ocean in Alvin, the U.S. Navy’s manned deep-ocean research submersible that has been operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for more than half a century.

“I loved being able to go out to sea to see these places,” she said, and with NOAA’s marine technology she is able to continue exploring these places from Stockton University.

Locally, Luke studies artificial reefs that attract colonies of coral, mussels and fish such as tautog and sea bass. She looks at the genetic diversity of corals and microorganisms to predict their ability to withstand change. “Knowing what’s out there and being able to identify species helps us document biodiversity,” she explained.