IMPROVING CAMPUS INFRASTRUCTURE
Some of the major improvements to infrastructure completed over the summer are very visible; others are not. Read in this issue about the many major projects completed by Physical Facilities and Information Technology Services, as well as the new programs offered by the University Center for Training and Development.
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES OPENS NEW BUILDING
The opening of the new, $60-million School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University's Health Sciences Campus in Johnson City, N.Y., headlines this quarterly report, but there's also good news about collaborations, external funding and student successes. Read more in this issue.
SUCCESSFUL INITIATIVES SUPPORT STUDENTS
It takes donors at many levels to make Binghamton University successful, and in this issue of the quarterly report, you can read about a number of them. Whether it's AVANGRID offering full-tuition scholarships and capstone project support, or playing golf to benefit the Alumni Legacy Scholarship, the Division of Advancement works with Binghamton supporters.
BINGHAMTON RESEARCH FUNDING SETS RECORD
Binghamton University reported research expenditures totaling $47.5 million in 2017-18, an increase of about 19 percent from the previous fiscal year. The figure tops 2011-12, the campus’ all-time best year for research funding, when just over $40 million was reported. The new record, which follows several years of steady growth, is an important sign of the campus’ creativity and innovation. Healthcare research accounted for nearly a third of expenditures, with electronics packaging and systems engineering following at about 22 percent.
BAXTER THE BEARCAT BOOSTS SCHOOL SPIRIT
The Division of Student Affairs spent the summer hosting students and families for orientation and preparing for the opening of the fall semester. With some new people on board and some others with new duties, it has been a busy time. Not too busy, though, to show Binghamton University pride, as you'll read about the new Baxter the Bearcat Bench in the University Union in this issue.
STUDENT-ATHLETES CONTINUE TO SUCCEED ACADEMICALLY
Student-athletes continue to shine on and off the courts and fields. The Athletics Department sets high academic standards, and student-athletes surpass them across the board. Read about the accomplishments made by student-athletes in their sports and in the classroom – and check out the videos showcasing fall sports and the new women's head basketball coach, Bethann Shapiro Ord, in this issue.
HELPING TO MAKE THE CAMPUS MORE INCLUSIVE
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion works to educate and empower everyone on campus in ways that create a welcoming community. From the Udiversity Educational Institute, that holds trainings for students, faculty and staff, to the Multicultural Resource Center and Q Center, the division's offices that work to build bridges and support students though education and events such as Sundaze, part of its Welcome Week programming. Read about the division's recent initiatives in this report.
DONOR SUPPORT ADVANCES BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
The Binghamton University Foundation had a successful 2017-18 year, bringing in the second highest amount of cash ever in support of the University. Read the numbers in this issue of the quarterly report, and learn one way the Foundation celebrates its donors.
S.G. Grant’s work helps transform social studies curriculum
For S.G. Grant, it is exciting to see the “unbelievably positive” reaction from New York state teachers to the new social studies curriculum he helped develop.
“I have probably talked with 2,000 to 3,000 teachers across the state,” the former dean of the Graduate School of Education said. “They have said things like: ‘I feel like a teacher again’ and ‘I’ve never had a school year go as positively as this year.’”
Grant has served as the principal investigator for a $2.75 million grant from the New York State Education Department to transform the state’s K-12 social studies curriculum. The New York State Social Studies Toolkit, completed in summer 2015, is the largest reform in the subject in the past five decades.
The team of Grant, John Lee (of North Carolina State University) and Kathy Swan (of the University of Kentucky) created the Inquiry Design Model, which features a one-page blueprint of curriculum unit or inquiry. The trio had previously worked together on a publication by the National Council of Social Studies called the “College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards.”
“It’s all focused around a compelling question, a question that has intellectual value, but will also get under kids’ skin,” said Grant, who stepped down as GSE dean in August 2014 to devote his full attention to the toolkit project. “A question such as ‘Can words lead to war?’ is used as a way to start talking about the Civil War featuring the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe. But we also know that kids have a lot of experience in which words lead to problems. In each inquiry we wrote, we tried to make sure the content was solid and important, but that there was a way for kids to see themselves and the lives that they live.”