Curry Magazine Fall 2003

Curry Receives Response on Criminal Justice Report

Along with a number of other colleges and universities across the state, Curry College decided last year to submit an application report to the State Board of Higher Education (SBHE) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for approval for its undergraduate and graduate programs in Criminal Justice to participate in the Police Career Incentive Pay Program (aka the Quinn Bill).

A Visiting Team representing the SBHE visited Curry in November 2003 to review its bachelor's and master's degree Criminal Justice programs. In preparation for this visit, the College engaged in its own internal review of the quality and character of all components of its CJ programs and compiled a lengthy Self- Study. Later that month, the evaluation reports from the Visiting Team provided preliminary results which were extremely positive.

On December 11, 2003, the SBHE released its decisions on Curry, along with all of the colleges and universities which agreed to undertake this review. Curry College

did exceedingly well on eight of the standards - mission and purposes, programmatic structure and curricula, admission, resources, student services, integrity, branch campuses, and program quality and effectiveness. In fact, for these eight Curry received the highest summary scores possible. Only in the ninth standard on faculty was Curry found to be in partial compliance.

However, since the College was already at work on the ninth standard - to insure that two new full-time Ph.D.s in Criminal Justice are in place sometime by June 2004 - the Board found credible evidence that, although full approval was deferred, Curry will be in full compliance with all standards by next June. The College continues to conduct an intensive and wide-ranging faculty search, reviewing potential candidates across the nation for these positions.

In the meantime, Curry's Criminal Justice offerings continue as strong as ever in Milton and at off-site locations in Plymouth and Worcester.

Dr. Lisa Ijiri leads workshop: Helping LD Students to Navigate the College Search Process.

PAL and Admission Reach Out to Over 100 Guidance Counselors and Edcuational Consultants

PAL and the Office of Admission joined forces to organize a free hands-on workshop for guidance counselors and educational consultants titled Helping LD Students to Navigate the College Search Process. This outreach event was held in October 2003 and Curry hosted 113 participants, whose day on campus included this special two-hour workshop, an information session specifically about Curry, lunch, and a tour of campus.

Participants' comments were enthusiastically positive about the benefit of the workshop and the impression they gained about both Curry and PAL.

Channel 8 Upgrade Announced

Associate Professor of Communication and Director of TV Jerry Gibbs announced that upgrades to Channel 8 in the Hirsh Communication Center were completed in November 2003. These updates included the installation of a new message board and an automation system to air programs at off-hours. Audio for the new message board is provided by WMLN.

Channel 8 is an inter-campus cable channel that airs in the residence halls and some of the snack bars. All programs originate from TV production classes and Curry students produce a variety of talk shows and other productions that air at various times in the morning and afternoon. Look for and enjoy these student television productions next time you are on campus!