Dr. Karen A. Talentino, former dean of faculty and professor of biology at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., joined Saint Michael's College as Vice President for Academic Affairs last week.
In announcing her appointment, Dr. John Neuhauser, president of Saint Michael's said, "It is a true pleasure to welcome Karen Talentino to campus. Her passion for active learning and undergraduate research" are very much aligned with the mission of this college. He cited her academic presentations on academic technology and her numerous multiyear grants to enhance technology and pedagogy from the National Science Foundation, Davis Educational Foundation and elsewhere.
"Saint Michael's is a very good fit for me," Dr. Talentino said. "I feel right at home already; I feel a sense of community." She praised Saint Michael's for giving students "a good sense of what it means to be a good citizen," and for doing such an excellent job of "educating students in the liberal arts and sciences and in professional fields as well." Dr. Talentino also praised the Saint Michael's faculty, "If there hadn't been a strong faculty, I wouldn't have come; I know Saint Michael's has a very strong faculty."
Dr. Talentino earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and master's and doctoral degrees in zoology from the University of Nevada, Reno, where her research included the study of daily activity patterns of ground squirrels and cytodifferentiation in developing tapeworms.
Priorities
Dr. Talentino identified three top priorities, acknowledging that she is just getting acquainted with Saint Michael's. The priorities are (1) to look at current allocation of resources, find new money, and set priorities for how to re-allocate; (2) engage in curriculum review of the general education program, and (3) prepare for the 2010 reaccredidation process. She added, "I'm here to support and encourage."
"I see student/faculty research in all fields as a defining quality" of Saint Michael's, "and that's key, that's something we can build upon," she said. "Given our location, I think we can continue and grow environmental science" -a subject she would like to teach, if she can fit it in. "I love to teach," she said. She is also interested in expanding Saint Michael's substantial study abroad program. "I'm looking at ways to get students out of Vermont through domestic and exchange opportunities," she said.
Dr. Talentino has over 30 years of experience as a faculty member and academic administrator. Prior to joining Stonehill, she came up through the ranks at Simmons College as a faculty member, department chair and academic administrator.
Dr. Talentino and her husband William Talentino, who is director of the public library in Sudbury, Mass., have two children, Michael and Rachel, both recent college graduates.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report rankings.