The College of Saint Elizabeth welcomes nearly 600 new students in both its Women’s College and its School of Graduate and Continuing Studies this fall 2006. The CSE Women’s College was among the first in the Morris County area to begin letting students onto its campus. While some students started class as early as this Saturday, August 26, 2006 for its adult Saturday Fast Track® program, the rest began on Monday, August 28.
 

CSE Women’s College Students Make Big Move
 

Nearly 200 first-time Women’s College students turned out at the College’s Orientation, held Wednesday - Friday, August 23 - 25, 2006. As of August 29, 2006, the Class of 2010 number more than 160 with more than 30 transfer students. Members of the incoming class hail from California, China, Colombia, Florida, Germany, Japan, Massachusetts, Moldova, New Jersey, New York, Nepal, and Northern Ireland.

Photo Caption: (l – r): CSE first-year Women’s College student, Diana Cuestas, ’10, of Millburn, New Jersey, receives a warm welcome from “Lizzy” the Eagle at CSE Orientation on Wednesday, August 23, 2006. (Photo by Courtney Smolen)

First year CSE students were kept busy with a variety of activities during the three-day orientation event. Some events included students helping assemble 250 “Back to School” kits for K-8 grade students attending St. Rose of Lima in Newark, New Jersey, as part of their community service project. Kits included basic school supplies and a letter from CSE students encouraging kids to stay in school.
 

“The first few weeks of college can be an awfully frightening experience,” said Sharon McNulty, director of Counseling Services at CSE. “Students find themselves away from home for the first time, with new people and new communities that can leave them feeling either anxious or lonely. These activities help students get to know their community as well as one another,” she said. “It is a way to let students know that there are plenty of ways to get involved, here at CSE.”
 

Other activities that week included meeting Sister Francis Raftery, president of CSE, and the student life staff; sailing on the “Spirit of New Jersey” boat cruise; and attending several seminars about life at the College.
 

According to Katherine Buck, dean of Students at CSE, the theme of CSE Orientation, “Dreams Under Construction,” was selected to reflect both the College experience that incoming students are about to embark on, as well as the current construction progress of CSE new Fine and Performing Arts center, the Annunciation Center: a 44,000-square-foot facility housing the arts, music, theology, Center for Theological and Spiritual Development, and the Holocaust Education Resource Center. “It is our goal to hold onto the best of the past, while at the same time, building a College community that is responsive to today’s students, to contemporary societal concerns, and to academic trends and influences,” said Ms. Buck.

CSE Welcomes 400 Adult Students Fall 2006
 

Meanwhile, the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies welcomed approximately 400 adult students. The new students from the Graduate, Continuing Studies, and Center for Theological and Spiritual Development will be taking more than 8,000 credits this fall. Overall, the School has approximately 1,300 adult students enrolled for the fall 2006 semester.

 
According to Michael Szarek, director of Enrollment Management at CSE School of Graduate and Continuing Studies, the adult students continue to participate as a vital and vibrant part of the College of Saint Elizabeth community. “As the School begins its sixth year, its faculty and staff continue to ensure that the changing needs and goals of adult students in the 21st century are met,” said Mr. Szarek.