Welcome Parents!

Dear Friends:

The start of a new year seems the perfect occasion to begin new endeavors. I am pleased to introduce the debut of the Purchase Connection, our parent electronic newsletter. We hope that you will find this “green” communication easy to access, informative and useful. While it is a newsletter from us, we encourage response and interaction and would welcome your insights and suggestions.

We look forward to welcoming our students back to campus for an exciting second semester. Our construction project of the plaza continues, though it is clear that scaffolding and chain link fences create opportunities for student expression: The “Art on the Fence” project, cosponsored by the Purchase Student Government and the Student Senate, took advantage of the construction site to display works of art of students from various disciplines. Several of our students have volunteered for specific roles on various committees instrumental to preserving excellence on campus and within the SUNY system. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, all of our students have the opportunity to advise, critique and suggest – to help us ensure that our campus is a vibrant learning community.

Thank you for your continued support of your sons and  daughters at Purchase College.

As always, we look forward to hearing from you.

Happy New Year,

Thomas Schwarz, President

Career Counselors work with students to identify and explore their career interests; referring them, as needed, to services and programs. Self-exploration is the first step as students begin to focus on major and career decision-making. Career counseling may help your student to discover his/her interests, abilities, values, and work style. Vocational Interest Testing is often recommended and may aide students in identifying potential majors and careers.

Resources for career exploration are also available in our Career Resource Center, and workshops on topics such as Resume Writing, Interview Preparation, Job Search Strategies, Marketing your Artistic Talent and Applying to Graduate School are just some of our programs that offer a practical understanding of career and job search planning.

Our Alumni Mentor Network and Career Week can further empower students with an opportunity to gain insight into careers by hearing from professionals in various fields. Experiential Education such as Internships can help students develop skills for the job market and “try out” their fields of interest. Career Development’s on-line system, Purchase Job Score, lists thousands of internship and part-time job opportunities with local and

national employers. Our annual Job and Internship Fair gives students a chance to meet employers seeking to fill available opportunities. The Career Center also sponsors a Campus Internship Fair and a Graduate School Expo where visiting representatives share information with our students.

The career counselors at the CDC are experienced, “student-centered” professionals dedicated to helping students explore and identify career options, make decisions, and locate employment during and after college. Your understanding of their unique talents and their combination of interests, abilities, and values will empower them to prepare and make important career decisions; so they may achieve real career satisfaction in the future.

www.purchase.edu/careerdevelopment

Important Dates

• 2010 Classes Begin 1.20.10
• Spring Break 3.27.10-4.4.10
• Commencement 5.14.10

Athletic Update

Suffering from a bad case of the winter blues?

Have no fear, the spring is near! And that means Purchase College athletics will be in full swing. Behind standout ace Albert Baez and slugger George Kennedy, men’s baseball will be back in action and looking to top its 17 win and Skyline tourney appearance from a year ago.

Returning Skyline Volleyball Player of the Year Daniel Grabowski-Clark will also be looking to take the Panthers back to the playoffs in spring 2010.

And on the softball diamond, All-Skyline returnees Jennie Angelone, Melanie Culpepper, Kiersten Morsanutto and Jillian Lucas are hoping to build on the team’s extended 2009 Skyline, ECAC playoff run, while men’s tennis All-Skyline returnee Matthew Plen headlines an up-andcoming Panthers squad on the courts. Don’t miss our exciting spring slate. Keep up with all your Panther news at www.purchase.edu/athletics

GO PANTHERS!

Arts Review

The spring semester is always a very exciting time for us in Purchase College’s School of the Arts, as it is marked by a flurry of performances and showcases that highlight our highly talented students’ continued development as pre-professional musicians, visual artists, actors, dancers, writers, and filmmakers. Within the next few months, the School of Art & Design will be hosting portfolio shows for their immensely gifted graduating students, and the Conservatory of Music and the Conservatory of Dance will be offering over  125 BFA and MFA recitals for their equally exceptional performers, along with major music events and the annual Spring Dance Concert, which takes place in late April.

For its part, the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film’s Purchase Repertory Theatre will be presenting Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest, Moliere’s The Miser and Tartuffe, and (in just a few weeks) a special offcampus production of Bronx Kiss: a Celebration of John Patrick Shanley, staged at the Emelin Theatre in Mamaroneck, NY. In addition, on March15th, the college will host the second School of the Arts Gala at the Hudson Theatre in New York City, with this year’s honorees including dancer/choreographer Paul Taylor, playwright Lynn Nottage, musician Paquito D’Rivera, and visual artist Kiki Smith. It is—as always— an exhilarating time for the arts at Purchase, and I urge you all to attend as many of these events as possible. You will be enthralled by what you experience, and by the sheer heart, soul, and promise on display.

SUNY Budget Summary

SUNY and Purchase College continue to be impacted by the financial crisis of New York State. The most recent of the budget cuts was in November 2009 when Governor David Paterson announced a $90 milion reduction in support to SUNY which affected Purchase College by over $1 million. In order to address this and future anticipated budget reductions, Purchase has reduced spending in accordance with our newly adopted Strategic Plan  and applied annual reserve funds to help mitigate the short term impact. Our Strategic Plan focuses on the needs of our students to ensure learning success.