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A partnership between Salve Regina and Miami Dade College in Florida has expanded opportunities for students and graduates from the college’s two-year programs to complete their bachelor’s degrees at Salve Regina, as well as enroll in the University’s online graduate programs and low-residency Ph.D. program in humanities.

Dr. Scott Zeman, provost/vice president for academic affairs, prioritized the partnership with Miami Dade when he arrived on campus in July 2014. Miami Dade is among the nation’s largest colleges, with several campuses and an enrollment of more than 165,000 students from highly diverse backgrounds. The institution, which proclaims itself as “Democracy’s College,” provides educational opportunities to many first-generation students.

“It has been an energizing experience to be working closely with the students and faculty of Miami Dade College,” said Tiffany McClanaghan, director of graduate studies and continuing education. “Their drive and enthusiasm for lifelong learning to benefit them both personally and professional has been invigorating. We look forward to welcoming and supporting more of their fellow alumni into our community.”

Presently, Miami Dade students are enrolled in all three degree programs, pursuing bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Salve Regina. Here are some of their stories:

Nathalie Bazile, B.A. in psychology

Born in Port au Prince, Haiti, Bazile moved to the U.S. at age 3 along with her mother and two siblings. At the time, her father was still in Haiti, so the family had to look after themselves. It wasn’t easy, as her mom worked two jobs away from home and only got to see her children a couple times a week. Education was not a family priority either – there simply weren’t enough resources to invest in it.

“The thought of my mom struggling, although she seldom admitted it, is what instilled the importance of education in me,” Bazile said. “I made it my priority to excel so my mother would not have to carry the burden of covering my educational expenses.”

Despite attending schools in the U.S. for more than 19 years, Bazile is not recognized as a citizen. The document she holds, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), allows her to live and work in the U.S., but prohibits her from receiving any type of federal aid. After graduating from the Honors College at Miami Dade in 2015, the process of transferring to a university was much harder for her because most schools were not familiar with her status.

“My status also disqualified me from most scholarships, forcing me to decline admission due to lack of financial assistance,” Bazile said. “I saw no way out, until I met with two representatives from Salve Regina [Dr. Scott Zeman and Dr. Khalil Habib].”

Bazile decided to attend Salve even before she was accepted. “I knew I had to do whatever it took to be admitted because I felt like I would be recognized for my hard work and achievements and not be discouraged because of my nationality,” she said. “Not only would the barrier that was blocking me from fulfilling my dream finally be eliminated, but I would now have the opportunity to flourish in a positive intellectual environment.”

While she stumbled over some obstacles during her first semester at Salve Regina, Bazile quickly learned that she could rely on the caring campus community. She adjusted quickly, thanks to numerous services and resources provided.

“The Salve community has proven to be astonishingly close and shows interest in everyone who attends,” Bazile said. “They genuinely want students to succeed. The faculty, staff and students have helped me come to the realization that I am not alone on this journey and are also a big part of me achieving my goal of getting above a 3.5 in my courses and also effectively managing my work schedule.”

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As the high-tech breakthroughs and entertainment emanating from Silicon Valley and Hollywood cross increasingly more international borders, so does a prevailingly western vision of progress – of how globalization will reshape our shared world. “We discount the fact that there are other visions of the future that come from different cultures,” notes Associate Professor of Industrial Design Paolo Cardini. In recognition of this, the Italian designer is spearheading a RISD-supported project called the Global Futures Lab, a series of international workshops aimed at articulating alternative versions of what’s to come – both utopian and dystopian – and that reflect local realities of non-western communities.

As the second recipient of RISD’s Global Faculty Fellowship (GFF), Cardini has already led workshops at the Art University of Isfahan in Iran and the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India, with others forthcoming at Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru in Lima and Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. In these four-day workshops the designer works with local students in developing “souvenirs from the futures” – artifacts inspired by student-written speculative fiction and then fabricated in cooperation with local artisans. Cardini plays the role of catalyst: he introduces a structure that allows participants to generate ideas and then encourages their realization in the form of tangible objects informed by students’ own cultural conditions and traditions.

“Projects like Paolo’s are taking RISD to places in the world where we have not typically worked in a sustained way,” says RISD Global Director Gwen Farrelly, who works with Academic Affairs to co-sponsor the GFF. Last year, as the program’s inaugural fellow, Assistant Professor of Literary Arts and Studies Avishek Ganguly conducted research into translation in global contexts and next year, as RISD’s 2017/18 fellow, Assistant Professor of Architecture Emanuel Admassu will launch a project titled Where is Africa? that engages architects, designers and artists across that continent in a series of dialogues.

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At a time when the value of a college education is increasingly measured in terms of “return on investment,” recently released data suggest Bryant graduates receive high value for their Bryant degree.

An annual survey conducted by Bryant’s Office of Planning and Institutional Research (see below for background about survey) shows an impressive payoff in terms of salary for a Bryant education. The report shows that the median first-year salary for the Class of 2016 graduates is $57,000. In addition, 99 percent of graduates were employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of Commencement.

The results of the survey of the Class of 2016 complements data provided by the U.S. Department of Education in its annual College Scorecard, which gives users access to extensive federal data on average college cost and graduate salaries for institutions across the U.S. It echoes Bryant’s high rankings for value published by major media outlets earlier this year.

Highlights from College Scorecard, Money, Forbes

According to the federal government’s latest College Scorecard, the University ranks high in return on investment among peers within Rhode Island. Bryant comes in first in the state among median earners, and ahead of Brown University and Providence College when it comes to graduates’ earnings after college. The scorecard shows that Bryant students who received federal financial aid have a median salary of $64,500 10 years after entering the University, whereas Brown University and Providence College graduates earn $59,700 and $57,700, respectively.

Bryant is on Money magazine’s list of 50 Colleges That Add the Most Value, otherwise known as schools that best help students exceed expectations financially and academically. And Bryant is ranked No. 68 in Money’s assessment of 736 colleges that provide the best value for your tuition dollar.

Forbes named Bryant as one of 300 schools worth the investment in 2016. And The Princeton Review included Bryant in  The Best 381 Colleges: 2017 Edition and ranked Bryant 18th in schools with the best career services.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Just over a year ago, Brown University launched into the work of activating an ambitious, far-reaching plan to create a more diverse and inclusive academic community. Among the plan’s chief priorities was a multifaceted effort to double the number of faculty members from historically underrepresented groups by 2022.

Two initiatives related to that effort — the Presidential Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and the Provost’s Visiting Professors Program — are in full swing, each representing a distinct element in a broader strategy to boost faculty diversity. The first aims to widen the pipeline of young scholars from diverse backgrounds who will compete for tenure-track positions at Brown and elsewhere in the future. The other focuses more immediately on the present by attracting distinguished senior scholars from historically underrepresented groups to Brown for temporary appointments.

And both are already producing results.

“Diversity is a cornerstone of academic excellence,” Brown President Christina Paxson said. “Through a set of distinctive and purposeful programs, we are seeing success at increasing faculty diversity at all levels — from the most recent recipients of Ph.D.s to academics who are at the peak of their careers as educators and scholars.”

Liza Cariaga-Lo, the University’s vice president for academic development, diversity and inclusion, said that cultivating a more diverse faculty is essential to the creation of an academic community that embodies the social and intellectual diversity of the world and offers students and scholars the highest level of academic excellence.

“These programs are already helping us to meet the goals set out in our diversity and action plan by addressing faculty hiring at multiple points in the academic career pipeline,” she said.

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