In the Know – Issue 34

The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Faculty mentors help students with real-world experience covering Sam Mills’ posthumous enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Motivation on Call

A social media shoutout by U.S. Senator Cory Booker prompted a deluge of listeners and kudos to Sports Psychology Professor Rob Gilbert’s “Success Hotline.”

Sights Set on Montclair

High school students participate in the summer Pre-College Access Institute on campus, getting a preview of college life from staff and faculty.

EOF Builds Confidence to Succeed

The University hosted the 10th annual statewide Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Empowerment Conference to support the newest EOF scholars with their transition to college.

Wind Symphony Performs in Prague

The University’s Wind Symphony, conducted by Thomas McCauley, performed in Prague, Czech Republic, at the invitation of the prestigious World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.

In the News

• Eva Goldfarb and Lisa Lieberman (Public Health) were interviewed on NPR about what age-appropriate sex education should look like. They also penned an opinion piece for The New York Times on the importance of sex education in the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision.
• Bond Benton (Communication and Media) and Daniela Peterka-Benton (Justice Studies) were featured in a BBC documentary about the global impact of QAnon and its growing popularity in Russia.
• Amanda Baden (Counseling) is quoted in The Washington Post for an article about the connections between abortion and adoption.
• Jordanna Maziarz (Undergraduate Admissions) was interviewed on the nationally syndicated radio program Marketplace about the Common App Direct Admissions pilot program (of which we’re a participant) that offers students admission before they apply.
• Yahoo! Sports published an article about Sam Mills ahead of his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend; in it, our magazine’s 2014 story on the star player’s legacy is mentioned and linked. News about Mills’ enshrinement was also covered by MSN.com, NJ 101.5, and USA TODAY.
• Carlos McCray (Educational Leadership) was interviewed by WFMZ, a Lehigh Valley news station, for a story about how Pennsylvania and New Jersey are dealing with teacher shortages as the new school year approaches.
• Greg Pope (Earth and Environmental Studies) is quoted in an NJ Spotlight News article about urban heat islands and cities like Newark, where temperatures can be much higher than nearby suburbs.
• Stephanie Silvera (Public Health) is quoted in an NJ.com article on monkeypox being detected in 13 New Jersey counties. Silvera was also interviewed by ABC News about how colleges should prepare for the potential spread of monkeypox on campuses, and commented on the monkeypox outbreak for NJ.com and Long Island’s Newsday.
• Montclair Local published an article about our Aphasia Book Club, a service of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.
• Mark Clatterbuck (Religion) recently helped to draft and also co-signed a statement opposing Christian nationalism that was published in his local outlet, Lancaster Online.

Reminders

• You can check the COVID-19 Dashboard to find the latest campus COVID data, including case numbers.
• University leaders including Junius Gonzales, Dawn Soufleris, Margaree Coleman-Carter, and OFE’s Emily Isaacs will update faculty on plans for the fall semester and answer questions at a presentation from 2 to 3 p.m. Monday, August 29 in Room CCIS 133. Register to attend in-person or online.
• Check your email for a message from the Provost’s Office about a new way to verify student attendance for financial aid purposes. The message went out on Tuesday to all employees, and you may need the information in case you receive questions.
• If you or a loved one is experiencing a mental health crisis or thinking about suicide, help is available. Call or text 988, the new nationwide 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support, 24/7.
• Opening Day of the fall semester is Thursday, September 1 and the first day of classes is September 2. Check out the Academic Calendar here.
• Testing on the Banner system on Wednesday, August 24 will lead to an outage on Banner services (including NEST) overnight starting at 8 p.m. Check your email for more information.
• You can help students during the first week of school by participating in our “Ask Me” information booths. For more information on volunteering, reach out to Casey Coleman (Center for Student Involvement) via email at colemanc@montclair.edu.
• In the Know will return to weekly publication on September 2. You can submit kudos for inclusion, but due to space constraints, we may not be able to publish every submission.

Kudos

• To Junius Gonzales (Academic Affairs) for presenting at two national meetings this summer: Invited Presenter, APLU Council on Academic Affairs Meeting, Preparing Students for the 21st Century Workforce, Chicago, Ill., July 2022.
• To faculty and staff, who, according to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, submitted 175 grant proposals and received 100 awards totaling $21.36 million in FY2022, which represents the second highest award total in University history.
• Janice Smolowitz (Nursing) and everyone at the University Health Center for bringing vaccination clinics to campus in August, giving dozens of people easy access to boosters and primary vaccines.
• To Milton Fuentes (Psychology) for being named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, granted in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of psychology.
• To Dawn Meza Soufleris (Student Development and Campus Life) for being quoted at length in this Chronicle of Higher Education story about how universities are confronting the difficulties students continue to face as a result of the pandemic. The article also uses Mike Peters’ (Communication and Marketing) photos.
• To Arnie Korotkin (Sociology), for being mentioned in an essay published in the June issue of the Journal of Historical Sociology. The essay credits and details work by Korotkin, who edited the underground newsletter Radical Against Poverty (The RAP) in the 1960s.
• To Sandra Passchier (Earth and Environmental Studies), who was elected a fellow in the The Geological Society of America (GSA) in recognition of her sustained record of distinguished contributions to the geosciences and to the GSA.

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