GSS Receives Top 20 Ranking in U.S. News & World Report

Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) stands among the top 20 graduate schools of social work in the nation, according to the editors of U.S. News & World Report.

GSS was ranked 18th out of 94 schools in the magazine’s April 2 issue, sharing the position with the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, the University of Kansas and the University of Maryland-Baltimore. Fordham placed higher than many other notable universities, including Boston University and New York University.

“I am very pleased that we ranked among the 20 top social work programs in the nation,” said Peter Vaughan, Ph.D., dean of GSS. “This ranking is tribute to the excellent reputation of our fine faculty.”

Taking top honors was Washington University in St. Louis, followed by the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in second place and the University of Chicago in the third position. Academic quality of programs was measured on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). GSS received a ranking of 3.5.

The magazine ranked this year’s graduate programs in social work based on statistical indicators measuring quality of faculty, research and students. The data was gathered from more than 14,000 academics and professionals interviewed last fall.

—Janet Sassi

Alpha Sigma Nu Honors Inductees and Fordham Faculty Authors

Student inductees recite the Alpha Sigma Nu pledge. Photo by Ryan Brenizer

Nearly 100 Fordham students and three faculty members were inducted into the Jesuit academic honor society Alpha Sigma Nu at a ceremony on April 3.
The event also included awards for five faculty authors whose recently published books were feted by the society in its annual book competition. Fordham authors won three of the four prizes, which were open to faculty and administrators at all 33 Jesuit colleges and universities. Fordham’s winning entries are as follows.

For Education:
Talking Race in the Classroom (Teachers College Press, 2005) by Jane Bolgatz, Ph.D., assistant professor of education

For Communication:
A Century of Media, A Century of War (Stanford Business Books, 2007) by Robin Andersen, Ph.D., professor of communication and media studies

For Business and Administration:
The Culture and Commerce of Publishing in the 21st Century (Peter Lang, 2006) by Albert N. Greco, Ph.D., and Robert M. Wharton, Ph.D., professors of business; and Clara E. Rodriguez, Ph.D., professor of sociology

“It shows to all the world, and especially all the Jesuit schools in the United States, that this is Fordham’s moment—an altar to greatness, greatness built on our faculty, their wisdom, their dedication, their great devotion to our students,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham.

In addition, Alpha Sigma Nu bestowed honorary membership on three Fordham faculty members: Mark L. Chapman, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department of African and African-American Studies; John D. Feerick, the Norris Professor of Law; and Patrick J. Ryan, S.J., vice president for University mission and ministry.

The ceremony, which was held at the McGinley Center Ballroom on the Rose Hill campus, ended with the student inductees receiving membership certificates and pins. In his remarks, Father McShane credited the honor students with embodying the principles of Jesuit learning.

“Through your studies, your love of learning and your devotion to service, you have made the ideals of Jesuit education come alive in our time and in our midst,” he said. “Jesuits look at you as colleagues in the great ministry of education—a ministry that we think is sacred.”

More than 750 high school students from the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries gathered on March 13 and 14 at the Rose Hill campus to participate in the “New York-Dominican Republic Model United Nations Conference,” a two-day initiative of workshops designed to emulate the workings of the U.N.

The event kicked off with a message from U.N. Secretary-General H.E. Ban Ki-moon, delivered by Francis Lorenzo, ambassador and honorary vice-president of the United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic (UN-ADR). On hand to welcome the students on behalf of Fordham were Michael Gillan, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College of Liberal Studies (FCLS), and Joseph Currie, S.J., director of campus ministry. FCLS co-sponsored the event.

“We at Fordham feel blessed to be in New York with all that the city has to offer, like the U.N.,” Father Currie told the students. “It puts us in touch with nations around the world.”

The conference was designed to help Latin American students understand, practice and promote the principles of the United Nations. Students attended mock sessions of the General Assembly, Security Council, International Court of Justice and the Economic and Social Council, among others. Student Maria Castillo, who hails from Santo Domingo, said the experience helped her understand international relations.

“They are presenting us with a crisis, and we have to think of ways to solve the problem,” she said. “We are interested in peacekeeping.”

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The Fordham University Association held its annual Easter Egg Hunt on March 15 at the Rose Hill campus. The event included crafts, games, lunch and a visit from the Easter Bunny. More than 80 children and 50 parents attended the event.