ANNUAL REpoRt 2010-2011 - Ithaca College

PARK SCHOLAR PROGRAM
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Ithaca College and the Roy H. Park School of Communications
continue to benefit from the exceptional generosity
and remarkable vision of the Park Foundation. Since its
establishment in 1996, the Park Scholar Program has
offered an incomparable opportunity to outstanding students
interested in pursuing the field of communications.
Dean Diane Gayeski and Program Director Matthew Fee
continue to refine Park Scholar programming that not
only develops a more focused vision of the program, but
also meets the changing needs of students, the school,
and the communications field. Their combined efforts
have resulted in a strategic plan for academic and service
programming that further enhances the Park Scholar
Program’s status as one of the most valuable and highly
esteemed scholarship programs in the country.
creativity that result from the collaborative endeavors of
these Scholars—numbering 64 strong for this 2011-2012
academic year—have been vital to the program’s accomplishments.
Indeed, the Park School, Ithaca College, and
the Ithaca community all greatly benefit from the wideranging,
sustainable commitments in service and media
that have resulted from the Scholars and their shared
passion for making a difference.
Taking into account those students currently matriculated
in the program, a total of 226 extraordinary students have
joined the Park Scholar Program since 1996. Moreover,
a vibrant network of 154 Park Scholar alumni expands
the impact and significance of the program, with our
outstanding alumni sharing their talents to the benefit of
communities both throughout the country and around the
globe.
With a concerted effort to recruit students with superb
academic talent, dedication to community service, and
strong leadership skills, the Park Scholar Program enrolls
an astounding group of students. The Park Scholars bolster
the level of academic achievement and intellectual inquiry
in the classroom, raise the quality and consequence of
Ithaca College cocurricular organizations, contribute generously
to the Ithaca community, and provide leadership
with exceptional vigor.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Park Scholars continue to excel academically. The 64
students enrolled at the end of the preceding 2010-2011
academic year achieved a cumulative grade point average
of 3.8 out of a possible 4.0. Over two-thirds of the Scholars
earned a place on the Park School Dean’s List, and more
than half are members of honor societies at Ithaca College.
Scholars are earning minors in many areas of study outside
of communications, ranging from politics and writing to
psychology and African Diaspora, from philosophy and
aging studies to sociology and art history. The faculty and
fellow students appreciate the hard work and dedication
to academics so visibly and consistently demonstrated by
the Scholars.
With a record number of applicants last spring—in fact,
double the number of applicants for four-year awards from
just five years ago—and with the successful introduction
of rising junior awards into the program four years ago,
we have been enable to maintain the number of Scholars
necessary to both sustain and build upon the achievements
of the program’s first decade and a half. The dynamism and
Their shared participation across an array of academic
programming encourages intellectual exchange and fosters
an energizing spirit of inquiry among this community of
Scholars. For example, each entering class of Park Scholars
participates in a seminar that focuses upon a critical issue
within the field of communications. For the fall 2011
semester, Park Scholar Program Director Matthew Fee is
conducting a seminar on Globalization and Media. Additionally,
all first-year Scholars participate in the H.O.M.E.
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