For Immediate Release — Friday, August 22, 2008
Contact:
David
Irwin
Media Relations Manager
(585) 245-5516
irwin@geneseo.edu
SUNY Geneseo Welcomes Another Academically
Talented Class as the 2008-09 School Year Begins
GENESEO,
N.Y. – When SUNY Geneseo President Christopher C.
Dahl addresses the college’s opening convocation Friday (Aug. 22), his audience
will include the most academically talented freshman class to enter Geneseo in the college’s history.
The
1,050 entering freshmen have a mean combined SAT score of 1326 (critical
reading + math sections), an increase from last year’s average of 1313. The 2007 national mean SAT score for the
critical reading and math sections is 1017.
Both the mean combined ACT score and mean high school average of
entering Geneseo freshmen remain steady from last
year at 29 and 93, respectively. The
college had 10,589 applications this year.
“There
is no question we are admitting classes with an increasingly stronger academic
profile,” says Bill Caren, associate vice president
for enrollment service at the college.
“Our reputation has strengthened over the years allowing us to be more
selective and that enriches the college experience for both students and
faculty.”
President
Dahl’s convocation address begins at 3 p.m. in the Alice Austin Theatre in the Brodie Fine Arts Building.
His topic will be “Sustainability in Difficult Times.” The president also will present the college’s
2008 awards for excellence to faculty and staff at the event. Classes start Monday.
New
school-year activities for freshmen will continue Sunday afternoon as they
participate in campus-wide discussions of the summer reading program book,
“Taking Back the Vote” by Jane Eisner, which focuses on getting American youth
involved in the political system.
New
student convocation is scheduled Sunday evening on the College Green in the
center of the campus where Kathryn Rommel-Esham,
professor of education at Geneseo, will address “Geneseo’s Got Flair:
Ten Things to Think About Now That You Are Here.”
A wide
variety of activities are planned for students during the college’s Weeks of
Welcome (known as WOW), which run Aug. 22 through Sept. 22. WOW events include a “Meet the Candidates”
event Aug. 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. where students will be able to learn more about
the candidates running for New York Congressional offices and for state Senate
and Assembly seats; and the Geneseo 100 Volunteers
Project in which 100 student volunteers will spend Labor Day morning helping
people in need in Livingston County with miscellaneous household chores.
2008 Awards for Excellence – SUNY
Geneseo Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Jennifer
Katz, associate professor of psychology
Michael Rozalski, associate professor of education
Caroline Woidat, associate professor of English
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence
in Faculty Service
Michael Schinski, associate professor of finance and interim dean
of the Jones School of Business
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence
in Scholarship and Creative Activities
Michael
Lynch, associate professor of psychology
President’s
Award for Excellence in Academic Advising
Robert O’Donnell, distinguished teaching professor of
biology
President’s
Award for Excellence in Research and Creativity
Randy Barbara Kaplan, associate professor of theatre
President’s Award for Outstanding Professional Service
Fatima Johnson, coordinator
of multicultural programs and services
Edwin Rivenburgh, director of libraries
Harter
Faculty Mentoring Award
Rosemary McEwen, associate professor and chair of
foreign languages
Joseph M.
O’Brien Award for Excellence in Part-Time Teaching
Wendy Metz, lecturer, communicative disorders and
sciences
James and
Julia Lockhart Supported Professorship
Anthony Gu,
professor of finance
Roemer
Supported Professorship
Gregg Hartvigsen, associate
professor of biology