“CNR is a small College and a tight-knit community. This allows me to get to know and help my students and our graduates develop long term strategies to be successful in their careers.” Mary White Assistant Vice President for Student Services The College of New Rochelle

Mary, tell us a little about your background.

I am a native New Yorker!  I grew up in Suffolk County, Long Island and attended Holy Family Diocesan High School, which was my first introduction to the Ursulines. Upon graduation, I moved on to SUNY Oneonta for my undergraduate degree, and then received my Master’s degree in psychology from Hofstra University.

As an undergraduate student I experienced firsthand the impact that dedicated student affairs staff can have on the traditional college experience.  While at Hofstra I worked in Residence Life to help put myself through graduate school.  It became a natural transition then to utilize my education and experience within the Student Services area here at The College of New Rochelle.

What is your position here at The College of New Rochelle?  

I am the Assistant Vice President for Student Services, and I just celebrated my 25th anniversary with the College! When I began here I was the Residence Life Operations Coordinator and that included being the Residence Director for Ursula Hall.  Over the years, my position changed to meet the community’s needs.

What are your responsibilities?

The main aspect of my position is to facilitate communication within and beyond my division (which encompasses Athletics, Campus Ministry, Counseling & Career Services, Health Services, Student Development, and the Wellness Center) utilizing technology as a resource. I oversee the institutional college calendar, which recently transitioned to a communication and marketing calendar, as well as a facilities calendar. In addition I coordinate written and web publications for the Student Services division, working closely with each of the area directors.  And, of course, I assist the Vice President for Student Services as needed and serve as her designee in her absence.

What, in your opinion, are some of the advantages
for students to attend CNR?

There are so many advantages, from an accomplished and talented faculty to outstanding and dedicated staff, who bring to life our mission on a day-to-day basis.  Students at CNR get to embrace the full college experience with the constructive support furnished by the faculty and staff. The traditional undergraduate student has unparalleled access to student leadership and student athlete opportunities, and they have the opportunity to try out experiences they might not have tried or been afforded elsewhere.

CNR is also a collaborative community.  For instance, Student Development staff developed programs with the academic Deans to offer living learning residential areas such as the Wellness Wing for Nursing students and the Honors Wing for Arts & Science students. Students, faculty, and staff from all schools join together in community service outreach coordinated by Campus Ministry, and all of our students have life-long career services courtesy of the Counseling and Career Services staff.  And these are just a few of the advantages of attending CNR!  

What are some of the special services that your office has for undergraduates?

A major service that emanates from my office is the college calendar. In addition to the internet-based calendar, displaying CNR events that would be of interest to the public, we offer an intranet calendar, which focuses not only on public events, but also on various items of interest for students. The intranet college calendar provides full event descriptions and enhanced features that include student-friendly search options, personalization options, event subscriptions so they can be notified of any changes, event downloads to their personal calendars, and even event reminders that can be sent to their cell phone or e-mail. Students can be completely connected to everything happening on campus! They can also use it as a communication tool by using the college calendar to e-mail their friends about events. And most recently, we added social networking to the calendar so they can save an event to their Facebook, MySpace, Linked-In, or other accounts without having to retype it all!  So it helps students who want to market their events, such as a game night, fashion show, or athletic event, as well as helping students who want to participate to be reminded and kept up-to-date on changes!

In what ways does Student Services help students adjust to CNR?

Each area of Student Services reaches out to our students in a manner appropriate for that student population.  For instance, Campus Ministry has worked with all our campuses to enhance the peer ministry outreach program. Student Development works closely with the academic deans and creates programs throughout the year to help students adjust to college life. And Counseling and Career Services holds workshops on personal relationship issues as well as offering programs on time management.  In addition, Health Services not only engages students with their wonderful wellness programs, they also offer ‘Spa Nights’ each semester… which is a major hit with our students as they de-stress and learn some new coping strategies! Our coaches and athletics staff work closely with the traditional undergraduate students to support their adjustment to CNR, as does the entire Wellness Center staff.  And my office helps to keep students informed about the myriad of programs and events, educational and social, so that they can find the opportunities that will help them ‘fit in’ as well as to provide for personal growth.

What do you like to do when you’re not at the College? 

What do you like best about your job?