This spring, the Ruth S. Coleman College of Nursing will begin offering its off-campus Bachelor of Science in Nursing—Completion program in Rochester, Minn., a community with a strong Franciscan presence and approximately 6,000 working nurses. This is the first time Stritch will offer a nursing degree program outside of Wisconsin.
“Although there are several schools in the area offering a variety of programs, Cardinal Stritch University will be offering a BSN program that is near to many of the nurses’ workplaces and is unique in its delivery model,” said college dean Dr. Ruth Waite, noting that classes will be held at the downtown Lanmark Center where Stritch’s College of Business and Management has an established presence.
The 30-month, accelerated program is structured with evening courses held one night a week to accommodate the schedules of working professionals and is geared toward nurses who already have an associate’s degree or nursing diploma. Students will become part of a group that progresses course by course through the program together.
“The trend is to have the University come to the working student,” Waite said. “Unlike the traditional student, the adult student continues to work full time while attending school. This makes it imperative to have a program that is flexible enough to meet the needs of busy registered nurses.”
Waite said the program is expected to attract students from two nearby Mayo Clinic hospitals – Rochester Methodist and St. Mary’s Hospital – as well as other hospitals and health facilities in the surrounding area. Stritch shares common Franciscan roots with St. Mary’s Hospital.
To learn more or register for an upcoming information session in Rochester, contact Holly Krebsbach at (800) 878-7482, Ext. 30, or visit www.stritchdegrees.com.
Dr. Helen Sobehart, the recently inaugurated sixth president of Cardinal Stritch University and the institution’s first lay leader, will be the keynote speaker at Stritch’s fall commencement on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 3 p.m., at the U.S. Cellular Arena, 400 W. Kilbourn Ave.
John Bremer, former chief operating officer of the Northwestern Mutual insurance company, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree at the ceremony. He served on Stritch’s board of trustees from 1993 to 2007, and was chairman of the board from 1997 to 2005.
A total of about 500 students will be receiving degrees from Stritch this fall semester.
Sobehart came to Stritch from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she most recently served as associate provost and associate academic vice president. An educator since 1969, she was the 2008 recipient of the American Association of School Administrators’ Dr. Effie Jones Humanitarian Award, a prestigious national honor that recognizes individual efforts related to the advocacy and support of women and minorities in education. She was a finalist for the American Association of University Women’s prestigious “Scholar in Residence” Award and received the Gold Star Award for Education and Mentoring of School Leaders from the Pittsburgh Council on Public Education.
In addition to her work at Duquesne University, where she also served as director and a faculty member for the University’s Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program for Educational Leaders and Leadership Institute, she is the former associate executive director of the Laboratory for Student Success at Temple University in Philadelphia, one of the nine federally funded regional education research labs.
Bremer retired as chief operating officer of Northwestern Mutual in October 2007 after 33 years with the company. He served on the Northwestern Mutual Board of Trustees and was responsible for the company’s audit, communications, compliance/best practices, corporate services, government relations, human resources and law departments. In addition, Bremer served as the company's chief compliance officer.
He is a member of the American, Wisconsin and Milwaukee bar associations and the American Corporate Counsel Association. He has also been active in the United Way, the United Performing Arts Fund and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music campaigns. He is a former director and officer at the Next Door Foundation, and was on the board of directors of Covenant Healthcare. He served on Stritch’s executive and finance and facilities committees, and is past chair of the Stritch Annual Fund Giving Campaign. He also served on the steering committee for the Campaign for Cardinal Stritch University, which raised about $14 million for the expansion of Stritch’s Bonaventure Hall, which opened in 2005. He has a B.A. in economics from Fordham University and a J.D. degree from Duke University.
For more information about the ceremony, please visit the Commencement Web site.
To better meet the needs of today’s working professionals, Cardinal Stritch University’s College of Business and Management has launched an entirely online version of its Master of Business Administration program.
Through a unique combination of academic quality, service and convenience, the online MBA prepares adults to be successful leaders by applying theories and techniques to contemporary business challenges.
“The online MBA program represents another example of our commitment to reach students using methods that match their different learning styles – any time and any place,” said Clara Brennan, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business and Management. “Our ranking as the largest MBA program in Milwaukee is proof that our experienced faculty and quality MBA program will enable students to apply management theory and techniques to contemporary business challenges. At the same time, students gain experience with multiple technologies that will be valuable for advancement in their future business careers.”
In the online learning format, students enjoy the convenience of working from their computer and completing one course at a time. Students benefit from the support of a 24/7 High Tech/High Touch Concierge Support Service to make the online experience as convenient as possible.
The main goal of the MBA program is to develop the broad management analysis, synthesis, and leadership skills required for middle- and upper-level management. As a professional degree program, much of the MBA course work stems from the disciplines of management science, marketing, finance, and accounting.
For more information, contact Jennifer Lembrich, at (414) 410-4315 or jelembrich@stritch.edu, or click here.
Veteran Milwaukee TV reporter and news anchor Joanne Williams has been named Cardinal Stritch University’s new vice president for public relations and marketing, Stritch President Dr. Helen C. Sobehart has announced.
“We are immensely excited to welcome Joanne to the Stritch community,” said Sobehart. “Joanne brings a wealth of integrity and great respect in the Milwaukee community and beyond.
“Joanne has spent many years weaving herself into the fabric and trust of Milwaukee and beyond. As Stritch has also spent many years weaving education and outreach into the community, Joanne is a wonderful match with our mission. She will be a great asset in continuing to tell the University’s story.”
Williams, currently the education reporter and midday news anchor for WITI-TV Fox 6, has been one of Milwaukee’s most recognizable and trusted faces in broadcast journalism since she started in the business in 1971.
She began her career at WITI-TV or “TV6” in 1979 as community relations director, a time when Ward Allen and Albert the Alley Cat were still delivering the daily weather forecast. She later served as news anchor, medical reporter and education reporter at the station. As an education reporter, Williams has covered a wide variety of topics ranging from Project Head Start to No Child Left Behind to college affordability.
“For my entire career, it has been my privilege and responsibility to report the news,” Williams said. “In this next phase in my career, I am very excited to work with Dr. Sobehart and the Public Relations team at Stritch to make some news.”
Williams’ new position within higher education also has a deeply personal significance to her.
Williams’ father, John J. Williams, received a teaching certificate from the Milwaukee State Normal School, now the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, but was unable to find a job, as Milwaukee was not hiring African-American teachers in the 1930s. As a result, he taught briefly in Oklahoma before returning to Milwaukee to take a position with the United States Postal Service. John’s passion for education remained, and after his retirement from the USPS, he returned to education in positions with the State of Wisconsin Higher Education Aids Board and the Milwaukee Urban League.
At age 70, he received his master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. And shortly thereafter, he was hired as a counselor at UW-Platteville.
“I’m following in his footsteps,” Williams said. “And I’ve become very interested in education, both as a mother and education reporter. I’ve met so many people in education reporting who went to Stritch, so I realized that Stritch is doing something very well for a lot of people.”
Williams is past president of the Milwaukee Press Club and the Wisconsin Black Media Association. She also served as regional director of the National Association of Black Journalists. She is highly involved in various community activities including service on the boards of the Milwaukee Urban League and YWCA. She recently was coordinator for the Milwaukee Forum, a multi-ethnic leadership discussion group sponsored by business and non-profit organizations.
Williams will begin her duties at Stritch Nov. 10.
When Lori Neurohr decided to leave the banking industry to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher, she undoubtedly never imagined she would be named 2008 Wisconsin Elementary Teacher of the Year and then be selected to represent Wisconsin for National Teacher of the Year honors after just eight years on the job.
“It really is so much fun to be a teacher,” Neurohr said. “It’s just the best job. I do not have any regrets about that decision. It’s the best career decision I’d ever made in my life.”
During those eight years, second graders at Kohler Elementary School have reaped the benefits of Neurohr’s decision to change careers. Along with her love for teaching and belief that students should be at the center of everything she does, Neurohr brings to her classroom her thirst for continuing her own education through attending conferences, reading research, tapping into online educational resources, and pursuing her Master of Arts in Reading/Languages Arts degree from Cardinal Stritch University.
“There is very little that I learned through that master’s program that I haven’t been able to apply,” said Neurohr, who took accelerated classes one night a week at off-campus sites in Sheboygan and Green Bay. “So much of it I could take right away and utilize. I don’t even think I could pinpoint one thing because I’ve used so, so very many. Probably the biggest thing for me was the training I received in how to give formal and informal assessments – knowing which ones to pull out and use and how to explain them to the parents.”
Neurohr used her master’s thesis to explore the effectiveness of different teaching methods.
“I taught a social studies unit using the teacher’s manual exactly as they told you to teach it,” Neurohr said. “I didn’t go outside of it at all … . And then I taught the unit where every day we did some sort of vocabulary activity whether it was a physical activity or an art activity using the vocabulary words in meaningful sentences … . And then I compared the results and it was remarkable. The extra activities made a huge difference.”
Neurohr’s innovation, willingness to share her knowledge with colleagues, care for her students, work ethic, drive to continually improve her teaching, and fun-loving approach were all listed as reasons she first was awarded a Kohl Teacher Fellowship in spring and then named Teacher of the Year at a surprise all-school assembly in September.
“There are so many teachers that do so much,” Neurohr said. “And how many of them even have the opportunity to be recognized at all? I know so many teachers who work so hard who never get any recognition and to be singled out is really humbling. I just want them to know that I know how hard everybody works. It’s not just me.”
View a video of Neurohr getting the surprise of receiving the award:
The students, faculty, and staff of Cardinal Stritch University ushered in the 2008-2009 academic year with a joyful new tradition Aug. 20 that celebrated Stritch’s rich Franciscan tradition and dedication to transforming lives through value-centered education.
The University’s first-ever Matriculation Ceremony, held in the Nancy Kendall Theater, was organized for incoming freshmen and their parents, guardians, and friends. The purpose of this ceremony was to formally accept them into the Stritch community of students and scholars.
Stritch Board Member Dr. Prem Sharma offered an engaging keynote address, “If Ghandi Were Alive Today.” Father Jim Gannon, director of mission effectiveness and identity, provided a blessing while Stritch President Dr. Helen Sobehart and members of the University administration offered formal words officially welcoming students into the Stritch community.
To demonstrate Stritch’s commitment to providing high quality instruction to its students, the new class was escorted to the theater stage by University staff, who offered words of welcome to the students and shared business cards in an offer of ongoing support and guidance.
Upon reaching the stage, students were formally announced by Dr. Sobehart and faculty members gave each student a commemorative Stritch pin. The ceremony was followed by a brief reception in the theater lobby.
This new tradition was well-received by students, faculty and staff.
“The Matriculation Ceremony made us feel so welcome and at home,” said one parent. “My son felt welcomed and excited to be there and we felt good to be a part of such a wonderful University. After the Matriculation Ceremony our younger children were so impressed that they wanted to attend Cardinal Stritch University as well. You left an impression on everyone who attended that ceremony. “
“The Matriculation Ceremony was outstanding,” echoed one faculty member. “Congratulations on a great idea carried out splendidly.”
Dr. Sobehart said she is deeply appreciative of the many positive comments from the Stritch community about the new event.
“I would like to thank everyone who had anything to do with making our first-ever Matriculation Ceremony such a huge success,” said Dr. Sobehart. “We had the happy problem of having ‘standing room only.’ There was a great turnout among students and parents, who expressed sincere appreciation for the event.”
Photos
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Cardinal Stritch University has reached an agreement with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the purchase of the Cousins Center, 3501 S. Lake Drive, in the City of Saint Francis.
Although a sale price has been set, additional information will need to be gathered before the purchase is complete, and it is contingent upon rezoning of the property by the City of Saint Francis. A final agreement would be subject to approval by Stritch’s Board of Trustees and the administrative team for the Sisters of Saint Francis of Assisi, the University’s sponsors.
The Cousins Center, which is approximately 415,000 square feet in size and sits on about 44 acres, is part of Stritch’s creation of a master space plan for the future. The University, the largest Franciscan institution of higher education in the nation and the second-largest independent college in the state, is virtually landlocked at its current Fox Point/Glendale main campus and needs room to grow. Stritch’s Franciscan focus on serving the underserved by transforming lives through value-centered education, the University’s mission, can only be achieved with the opportunity to expand over time.
“We are delighted to be moving forward with this purchase,” said Dr. Helen C. Sobehart, Stritch president. “Our presence on the South Side would allow us to more effectively increase educational access for a broader and more diverse population, particularly the underserved.
“And the purchase richly reflects the history of Stritch, which started in what is now Saint Francis in 1937 as Saint Clare College, and of the Sisters, who formed their congregation there in 1849 and whose Motherhouse remains there, just north of the Cousins site,” she said.
In addition to the main campus in Milwaukee’s north suburbs, Stritch has campuses in Edina, Minn., and Madison, Wis., which serve primarily working adults in its College of Business and Management and College of Education and Leadership. The Edina site also will soon offer classes through Stritch’s Ruth S. Coleman College of Nursing. The Cousins site, if a final agreement is achieved, is expected to eventually serve primarily traditional-age undergraduate students, whose numbers the University is seeking to increase. And the purchase would offer Stritch much greater flexibility in serving all its student populations.
Cardinal Stritch University will offer a new Doctorate in Literacy and Language degree at its main campus in Milwaukee starting this fall. The program is for educators, professionals and researchers with a background and/or interest in literacy, curriculum and instruction, speech and language, or a related field.
The doctorate will prepare students to act as a literacy leader who understands theoretical and instructional models of literacy; recognizes new literacy trends in our digital age; facilitates literacy acquisition, development and instruction, and fosters systemic change in their organization and community.
Successful completion of the program can result in 316 Reading Teacher and 317 Reading Specialist certification from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This may require additional coursework depending on the student’s prior experience and is subject to approval by the Department of Public Instruction.
Cohorts of about 15 students, who progress through all coursework together, start once a year in September. Classes meet one weekend a month and on five weekends over the summer. Members of the cohort group support and challenge one another to accomplish goals, study together, collaborate on projects, and teach each other what they learn about literacy and language.
For more information, click here.
In response to the needs of the growing sport industry, Cardinal Stritch University has created a Master of Science in Sport Management degree program, the first of its kind in southeastern Wisconsin.
The program is geared to prepare students to be effective managers in the sport industry. The program is designed for working adults seeking to become a leader in the sport industry in a variety of settings, such as professional and collegiate sports, health and fitness clubs, recreation departments, sport marketing firms, not-for-profit sport organizations, and retail sporting goods stores.
Throughout the program, students will gain hands-on experiences outside the classroom, allowing them to apply learned concepts and theories directly to the sport industry. The program does not have a singular focus but rather it will provide students with a broad knowledge of the sport industry including the professional, governmental, and not-for profit sport industries, as well as intercollegiate and interscholastic athletics.
Sport industry topics and relevant professional experiences of each student are woven throughout the curriculum, allowing students to guide discussions and projects as they relate to their work experiences.
Classes meet one night a week at Stritch’s Milwaukee campus, 6801 N. Yates Road, for approximately two full years. Classes are taken one at a time and each class lasts eight weeks. Courses have been written to meet the requirements of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM).
Applications are now being accepted. For more information, visit www.stritch.edu/mssm.