byrne seminar book 3.12.13 version

As the Interim Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, I have the good fortune to oversee a number of signature educational initiatives at Rutgers University. The many and varied units that report to my office are dedicated to developing and fostering programs that transform the undergraduate experience, from experiential learning opportunities and cutting-edge research programs to distinguished scholarships and fellowships that take our students around the world. The gateway to all of these opportunities—indeed, to the undergraduate educational experience writ large—is the Byrne First-Year Seminars Program. I have been at several major universities, both public and private, in my career as a professor and administrator, but I have not encountered another program as remarkable as the Byrne First-Year Seminars. That a public university, even one ranked as highly as Rutgers, has a first-year experience like the Byrne is remarkable. It offers our students a small, intimate liberal-arts college feel—a touchstone—in the midst of an enormous university. Taught by our best faculty, these unique courses introduce our students to the intellectual life of a research university, and it is for this that they have become a mainstay in our undergraduate educational programming since their introduction six years ago.

Though it has been particularly gratifying to continue to shepherd the growth of the Byrne Seminars during the last three years as a senior administrator, my greatest rewards have come from teaching in the program, which I have done since its inaugural year. Indeed, I have taught about fourteen Byrne courses, beginning years ago when I first came to Rutgers, and I look forward every year to thinking about new topics and new ideas to explore with my students. Each semester, I am struck anew by the difference these classes make to the academic careers of our students. I meet undergraduates who, years after I have had them in class, describe our Byrne seminar as the pivotal experience in their time at the university. From the small group settings, which allow students to interrogate material openly with their peers and professors, to the educational enrichment opportunities, which bring students into contact with the material they are studying (in the field, in labs and archives, and in venues throughout the Northeast), the Byrne Seminars create learning experiences that simply cannot be replicated elsewhere.

As an educator, I value the opportunities that the Byrne Seminars Program provide me to “think different” about teaching and learning. Indeed, teaching in the program has made me both a better scholar and a stronger teacher. As a scholar of early American religious history, my career relies on the resources and support that can only be provided by a top research university. But the Byrne Seminars Program has allowed me to experience what it is like to teach in a small, liberal arts setting within a large research institution. The lively intellectual interplay that is enabled through the combination of seminar discussions and experiential learning opens new avenues of scholarship by testing my ideas with enthusiastic budding academics.

by Gregory S. Jackson, Interim Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Under the leadership of the program’s dynamic new Director, Angela Mullis—who we recruited as a faculty member, a specialist in Native American literature, and a department chair from a liberal arts college in North Carolina—the Byrne First-Year Seminars has enjoyed dramatic growth. But we are not simply continuing to grow the core mission of the program. Last year we introduced courses designed specifically for transfer students, because these students benefit from this unique introduction to the intellectual life of the University just like our first-year students. And this year, we partnered with the Aresty Research Center to create the Aresty-Byrne Program, where students in designated research-oriented seminars have the opportunity to continue the work they began in their courses by participating as Research Assistants for their professors in their sophomore years. These types of innovative initiatives are testimony to the vitality of the Byrne First-Year Seminars Program, and they are made possible because of the strong foundation that has been established through the philanthropic vision of the Byrne family. Tens of thousands of students and more than a thousand faculty members have had their careers at Rutgers transformed by the “Byrne experience.” On behalf of the University, thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Gregory S. JacksonInterim Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Academic AffairsAssociate Professor of English

“All I wanted for my three sons was for one professor at one college to get them excited about some intellectual idea.” -Jack Byrne

The Beginning: 2007

The Byrne First-Year Seminars Program began in 2007 to engage incoming Rutgers students in a one-of-a-kind learning experience. Shortly after, your sustaining $5 million dollar pledge became a major component of the Transformation of Undergraduate Education (TUE) at Rutgers.

Freshman Diana Won commented on her seminar experience, Gentrifying New York City, taught by Dr. Kathe Newman in 2007:

“I thought it was great Dr. Newman taught this seminar, because she mainly teaches upper-level courses. She really helped us understand gentrification and it piqued my interest in the subject. It was great to get to know a professor as well as the people in my class.” Four years later, Diana Won graduated from Rutgers with a degree in planning and public policy. She can attest to the role her out-of-classroom experience played in her life.

ENROLLMENT: 1,451 STUDENTSSEMINARS OFFERED: 110

YEAR ONE

“The Byrne Seminars’ intimate setting and emphasis on discussion was a welcome change from typical freshman lectures. My Byrne gave me important connections and a direction for my future at a very critical time;

the experience was truly life-changing - Stephanie Marcus, RU‘15

Members of the Rutgers Community:

A gift of $3 million from Mr. and Mrs. John J. Byrne has become the keystone of our new First-Year Seminars Program, established last fall as an important element of the Transformation of Undergraduate Education (TUE) at Rutgers-New Brunswick. In recognition of their generosity, and in their honor, the name of the program has been changed to the Byrne Family First-Year Seminars or, more affectionately, the Byrne Seminars.

Jack Byrne’s generosity is matched by his record of achievement. After graduating from Rutgers College in 1954, he earned a master’s degree in math at the University of Michigan and then embarked on a remarkable career in the insurance industry. Jack Byrne’s personal connection with his Rutgers math professor, Joshua Barlaz, was a source of inspiration for learning and for fulfilling his ambitions.

In this spirit, the Byrne Family First-Year Seminars bring Rutgers’ greatest resource ‒ our outstanding faculty ‒ into an intimate educational setting with our incoming students. As we complete a successful inaugural year of the program, we celebrate the commitment of our donor and that of our many faculty who are contributing to undergraduate academic excellence at Rutgers. In addition to learning about the research done here, our first-year students are talking about exciting ideas and experiencing the joy of working in the research areas of their professors. This, too, is cause for celebration.

With pride and anticipation, we look forward to greeting the next class of students who will launch their Rutgers careers through the Byrne Seminars.

Richard L. McCormickPresidentRutgers, The State University of New JerseyApril 18, 2008

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YEAR TWO

“My Byrne seminar, “Gentrification of New York City,” was particularly formative as a guide for my undergraduate career. I also took “Riots and Policy Response” in my second semester as a first-year student at Rutgers. The hands-on approach of the seminars and exposure to the research of high-ranking professors was truly amazing. I went to Coney Island, Harlem, and Newark as part of my classes and met with real policy makers and practitioners. I subsequently majored in Planning and Public Policy at the Bloustein School and really built upon my experience in my Byrne Seminar learning about the different actors involved in implementing policy.

I now work in the private sector with New York City agencies like the Department of City Planning and Board of Standards and Appeals on the behalf of property owners and developers. I think I will pursue a career internationally as I spent a year after college as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Bucaramanga, Colombia. This experience has changed my scope a bit to include international diplomacy.” -Diana Won, RU ‘11

Expanding Seminar Possibilities: 2009

2009 marked the introduction of a new seminar course that brought students to the Jacques Cousteau Estuarine Research Reserve at Mullica River-Great Bay estuary in southern New Jersey: The Estuary in Winter: Field Experiences at Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS). Under the guidance of Dr. Ken Able, Director of RUMFS, students explored the relatively unaltered terrestrial and aquatic habitats within this unique watershed. Along with exposure to ongoing research at RUMFS, Dr. Able guided tours of the Pine Barrens, white cedar forests, aquatic marshes, marsh microhabitats, and intertidal creeks.

Expanding Seminar Possibilities: 2009

2009 marked the introduction of a new seminar course that brought students to the Jacques Cousteau Estuarine Research Reserve at Mullica River-Great Bay estuary in southern New Jersey: The Estuary in Winter: Field Experiences at Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS). Under the guidance of Dr. Ken Able, Director of RUMFS, students explored the relatively unaltered terrestrial and aquatic habitats within this unique watershed. Along with exposure to ongoing research at RUMFS, Dr. Able guided tours of the Pine Barrens, white cedar forests, aquatic marshes, marsh microhabitats, and intertidal creeks.


YEAR THREE

“I now find that students from the first year contact me for course advice or graduate school advice or sometimes just to ‘check in’”.

- -Professor Mark Robson (Entomology)

Water, River, Raritan: Byrne Seminar Theme 2010

“We, at Rutgers University , have many blessings, including some we take for granted. Chief among these is our access to other parts of the world; the United Nations projects that more than half of the world’s population will lack sufficient water by 2025. In 2010-2011, the Byrne First-Year Seminars at Rutgers - New Brunswick joins the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in a yearlong inquiry into, and celebration of water. In particular, we will focus on our local neighbor, the Raritan River. The Raritan River ba-sin in an ecosystem full of history, both natural and human. Seminars will be offered in art, science, politics, economics of water, from papermaking to surveying the river’s health via state-of-the art research instruments.”

YEAR FOUR

“Five years after the 2007 launch of the Byrne Seminars, we are more certain than ever of the vital role these unique first-year seminars play in helping students make the transition from high school to college and in building an intimate intellectual and social community in what can seem, at least initially, like a dauntingly large and impersonal environment.” - Greg Jackson

Re-Imagining the City: Byrne Seminar Theme 2011

“From the Greek polis to John Winthrop’s ‘city upon a hill’ to 20th-century urban renewal, the city has been conceived and re-conceived as a locus for human community and creativity. Over the next year, the Byrne First-Year Seminars will explore the way the city has been imagined and re-imagined in history, art, architecture, politics, geography, sociology, literature, and across other fields of study. We will also consider the role of civility, and our role as citizens, in the public spaces of our urban environments.

What kind of future do YOU want to see?”

YEAR FIVE

In the next three years, we plan to grow the Byrne Seminars by 25%. In 2012, about 60% of incoming students took a Byrne seminar (more than 3,500 students). By 2014, we hope that three quarters of all incoming students will have that opportunity.

New Collaborations: 2012-2013 and Beyond

The Byrne Seminar Program and the Aresty Research Center are joining forces to offer the first Aresty-Byrne Seminars. These are one-credit courses, limited to 20 students, that are taught (like all Byrne Seminars) by our world-renowned faculty from departments and professional schools across Rutgers. By taking a Byrne Seminar, students get to experience the excitement of original research as faculty members share their curiosity, their intellectual passion, and how they develop new ideas and fields of knowledge. In these unique Aresty-Byrne Seminars, students will also have the opportunity to learn some fundamental, hands-on research skills. In April, students will apply to the Aresty Research Assistant (RA) Program, where they will further test their theoretical knowledge through hands-on laboratory or field work. Aresty-Byrne Seminars allow students to explore a major or other disciplines of interest, connect to research faculty, and create friendships and social networks as they begin their Rutgers journey.

YEAR SIX

ENROLLMENT: 2340 STUDENTS SEMINARS OFFERED: 144

A few weeks after I joined the Byrne First-Year Seminars Program as the new Director in January 2012, I met a graduating senior who told me her favorite class at Rutgers had been her Byrne Seminar and that she was still in touch with her professor and with most of her classmates. I was struck immediately by how this one seminar had shaped this student’s Rutgers experience and by how she had this opportunity in her very first semester. But I came to realize quickly that she is simply one example of the thousands of students whose lives have been enriched by the Byrne First-Year Seminars Program.

When I first came to Rutgers from my previous position as a faculty member in English and department chair at a liberal arts college in North Carolina, I was looking forward to a new challenge. I was impressed by the program, and I anticipated an exciting new work opportunity. But I had no idea what a wonderful experience I would have interacting with Rutgers faculty and students and becoming a part of their Byrne experiences. The prestige of this program and the positive associations with it run deep at Rutgers—deeper than I ever imagined. Everywhere I go on campus, when I note that I work with the Byrne First-Year Seminars, people stop and comment on the uniqueness and the richness of the program. This is truly a testament to your gift and to your vision of what this program could be—one that has come to change the landscape of undergraduate education at Rutgers.

Each year the Byrne Program attracts more faculty and reaches more students. The Byrne First-Year Seminars Program began serving 1,451 incoming students through 110 seminar offerings in 2007-2008, and this year we are serving 2,340 students in 144 seminars. In 2013-2014, we are looking forward to our most successful year to date, as we are scheduled to offer an impressive 180 seminars. The Byrne First-Year Seminars are thriving, and they will continue to grow and enrich the academic lives of our students for many years to come. My career has been dedicated to education, and I look forward to guiding the continued success of this incredible program, one that creates life-changing moments for our students as they experience the power of learning. Thank you for the difference you are making in the lives of Rutgers’ undergraduates.

Angela Mullis, Ph.D.Director, Byrne First-Year Seminars

by Angela Mullis, Director, Byrne Seminars

byrne seminar book 3.12.13 version

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