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USF News

Panel Presentation “The Migrant Journey: Our Humanitarian Response” on September 26

The Migrant Journey: Our Humanitarian Response

Joliet, Ill. – The Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate Anti-Racism Committee and the Office of Institutional Diversity at the University of St. Francis invite the community to attend a special panel presentation, “The Migrant Journey: Our Humanitarian Response” on Thursday, September 26, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the University of St. Francis’ San Damiano Hall (520 Plainfield Road in Joliet).

During the presentation, a panel of persons directly involved with migrants will give voice to their experiences. Panelists will examine the impacts of faith and racism on new immigrants and organizations engaged in welcoming the migrants to our area, while also identifying what supportive actions we can take. Conversation and refreshments will follow the presentation.

To register for this free event, please visit https://forms.office.com/r/LUQCmGNJzv or contact Sr. Lois Prebil with questions or to register at lprebil@ameritech.net.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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USF Alumni Art Exhibition Open through October 3

USF Alumni Art Exhibition

Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) Art Gallery welcomes the community to enjoy its newly-opened USF Alumni Exhibition. The exhibition, which is open through October 3, 2024, follows other recent exhibitions including Roger Carlson: INNOCENT DAWN and Paul Erschen: LEACH FIELD.

Artists with works featured in the USF Alumni Art Exhibition include (majors listed in parenthesis):

  • Blake Allen ’03 (Marketing)
  • Jessica Baron ‘13 (Visual Art Education)
  • Roger Carlson ’06 (Graphic Design)
  • Jaclyn Duske ’24 (Art and Design)
  • Meghan Grilli ’24 (Visual Arts Education)
  • Austin Hines ’20 (Studio Art & Design)
  • Kathleen McElligott ’87 (Health)
  • Hayden Minor ’23 (Political Science)
  • Cameron Moore ’20 (Marketing)
  • Veronica Navarrete ‘22 (Graphic Design)
  • Alvaro Robles ’24 (Graphic Design)
  • Joe Santillo ’17 (Art & Design)
  • Lisa Scarcelli ‘94 (Journalism Communications with a concentration in Public Relations)
  • Marguerite Stoiber ’73 (Fine Arts)
  • Cindy Wirtz ’83 (Art/Journalism)

The USF Art Gallery is located at 25 E. Van Buren St. in downtown Joliet, and is open to the public every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information on the exhibition or the USF Art Gallery, contact Jennifer Moore, gallery director, at jmoore@stfrancis.edu.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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American Red Cross Blood Drive at USF on Friday, September 13

American Red Cross blood drive - Friday, September 13, 2024

Joliet, Ill. – The American Red Cross is experiencing an emergency shortage as the nation faces the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years. Help those in need as the University of St. Francis (USF) hosts its next American Red Cross blood drive on Friday, September 13, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Assembly Hall Gymnasium at USF’s St. Clare Campus, which is located at 1550 Plainfield Road in Joliet. The drive is open to the community.

For an appointment, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org and enter “60435” in the red “Find a Blood Drive” box on the home page. You can save up to 15 minutes when you donate blood by using RapidPass. Visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass for more information.

If you are an eligible type O, B – or A – donor, consider making a Power Red donation. Red blood cells are the most commonly transfused blood component.

For more information, please visit redcrossblood.org.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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Cedricka Carver Named New USF Dean of Student Life

Cedricka "Ceddi" Carver.

Joliet, Ill. – After a thorough search process, the University of St. Francis (USF) has announced that Cedricka “Ceddi” Carver has been named USF’s new Dean of Student Life. Carver began her new role at USF on August 1st.

Carver has held a variety of Residence Education and Student Life positions of increasing responsibility at USF since 2013, including serving as the Interim Dean of Student Life for the past month. In her interim role, she ensured a smooth, successful transition – including preparing to welcome USF’s Fall 2024 class.

“Ceddi brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of excellence to this role.  Indeed, as Director of Residence Education and Student Life, she made significant contributions to student development, crisis response, retention, and campus engagement.  Over her time at the university, she has developed a variety of residential and engagement initiatives, including the robust resident assistant curriculum, Saints Overnight program, Commuter Lodge, and many others.  She has also taught in the First-Year Foundations course and supported incoming students through the First-Year Transition summer bridge program,” said USF President Arvid C. Johnson, Ph.D.

As she begins her new role, Carver continues to see opportunity in the unique aspects of campus life at USF.

“USF is a vibrant place to connect with people from different walks of life with the addition of knowing and living out the university values. Our values and the people create an environment that is welcoming and unique. I look forward to nourishing that very environment through positive interactions, developing intentional spaces for connect and being a welcoming individual of the community,” she said.

Carver also plans to continue current efforts in which she is involved to enhance student supports, as well as proceeding with new initiatives and collaborations to help students persist and succeed.

Having served at USF since 2013, Carver reiterates the place that working directly with students has had in her decade-plus tenure at Joliet’s university.

“There is something very special about the people at USF. Each new year presents an exciting opportunity to embark on a journey with a new group of first year students within this community. I find it rewarding to be able to learn, grow and challenge myself and others at an institution that values giving back to others, respect for all, opportunities to get involved and connecting with compassion,” she said.

Born and raised in the Joliet community, Carver remains connected to the community and continues to build upon external partnerships.  She is currently working towards her Ed.D. in Leadership, Learning, and Stewardship at USF.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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Financial Viability Tool Created by USF’s Gard Garnering Attention in Private Higher Education

Dr. Julee Gard

Joliet, Ill. – The landscape of higher education has changed dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020. Smaller, private institutions, in particular, have since faced publicly-recognized enrollment challenges that, because of the financial implications associated with enrollment declines, have resulted in institutions reaching the decision to close their respective doors forever. While smaller, private colleges and universities currently operating today continue to navigate these struggles and work to prevent the potential of arriving the same fate as some of their less fortunate peers, a new financial tool developed by Julee Gard, Ed.D., CPA, CMA, USF Vice President for Administration and Finance, is gaining attention for its ability to provide important strategic perspective to higher education leaders as they look to the immediate future and beyond.

For her dissertation as part of her recent doctoral program studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Gard created her Financial Viability Index for smaller private institutions. The tool presents institutions with a way to calculate eight different financial metrics using financial data from audited financial statements, taking in to account the value as well as the 3-year trend of each metric.  The resulting score, on a scale of 1 to 100, is assigned a color code indicative of overall financial health ranging from blue (excellent), down to green (very good), yellow (good), orange (marginal), and red (poor). The combination of the color coding and numerical score provides institutions with valuable trend data across several critical areas of measure that can be used as part of planning efforts to enhance their financial viability. Important to note, though, is that the tool is not meant to predict institutional closures.

“My hope was the Financial Viability Index could be used by higher education leaders (financial and non-financial alike) to help understand the underlying values and trends driving an institution’s given score and associated color coding, as well as to provide actionable information to help institutional leaders respond timely and effectively to financial viability concerns,” said Gard.

Gard’s work has already gained attention from smaller, private institutions across the nation, as well as from high-profile media outlets. In fact, Gard has responded to multiple requests in recent months to offer insight based on her Financial Viability Index. Recent articles in which Gard has appeared include:

“USF is proud of Julee’s contribution at this critical time in higher education.  She offers a series of measures by which institutions can not only track but also take action upon in order to enhance their viability.  Even institutions that need to make changes can find some comfort in the fact that her results show that, in general, institutions close ‘slowly’…with problems building and being left unaddressed over a number of years rather than due to some immediate ‘crisis,’” said USF President Arvid C. Johnson, Ph.D.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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IDHS Grant Leads to Two New CRSS Success Program Cohorts

USF College of Arts & Sciences logo

Joliet, Ill. – Thanks to another grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the Certified Recovery Support Specialist (CRSS) Success program at the University of St. Francis (USF) will continue to provide full tuition and wrap-around supports for students who complete its high-quality, recovery support training and supervised practical experience.  

USF’s CRSS program, which launched in fall 2022 with an initial cohort of 19 students, will welcome two new cohorts this coming academic year (up to 20 students each in fall 2024 and spring 2025). The program trains individuals with lived experience of mental health or co-occurring mental health and substance use recovery to leverage their experience to support others facing these challenges. Tuition is free for accepted applicants through June 2025 through the support of over $1.14 million in state grant funding from the IDHS Division of Mental Health.

“Students who have successfully completed the CRSS Success Program at USF have been gainfully employed in the field of behavioral health in a variety of settings, including substance use treatment, community mental health, and other non-profit settings. Training experience both in the classroom and the field practicum prepares students to share their lived experience in a way that promotes hope and change in those they serve, advocates for diverse and marginalized populations, assists in increased access to care/treatment, and reduces stigma around mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders,” said Patricia Ferdon, MSW, LCSW, CCTP, CRSS Teaching Instructor and Internship Coordinator.

For more information on the program, including how to apply for fall registration, visit stfrancis.edu/crss or contact Marcia Van Natta, MHS, BA, CADC, CODP II, CRSS Project Director and Instructor at mvannatta@stfrancis.edu or 815-740-3779. Student applications for the fall 2024 cohort are due by Friday, August 2, 2024. Applications received after this date will be added to a wait list for the spring 2025 semester.

About the CRSS Program

The CRSS program, now in its third year, is housed within the USF Psychology department along with USF’s Substance Abuse Counseling (SAC) program. The SAC program, an addiction treatment program, received full accreditation from the Illinois Certification Board (ICB) in November 2015. In 2023, USF was awarded a $125,000 subgrant through ICB’s Certified Alcohol and other Drug Counselor (CADC) Workforce Expansion Program to provide tuition and wraparound supports to students in the SAC program working towards CADC certification. USF’s CADC program is modeled after its successful CRSS Success program; both of these grants provide financial support to USF students as they work towards CRSS or CADC certification.

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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 3,300 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.

University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.

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