President During A Pandemic

In this issue... FALL 2020

OFFICERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2020-2021

CHAIR OF THE BOARD

Maria A. Feeley, Esq. ’93 Rosemont Magazine | volume 17 | num-SECRETARY Ann Donovan Marshall ’66

TREASURER

Sean FitzPatrick

OFFICERS OF THE COLLEGE 2020-2021 PRESIDENT

Jayson Boyers, EdD

PROVOST AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS

Mika Nash, EdD

VICE PRESIDENT FOR COLLEGE RELATIONS

Christyn J. Moran ’94

VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Marty Mehringer

CHIEF OF STAFF AND VICE PRESIDENT OF DIVERSITY AND BELONGING

Yoli Alovor, PhD

VICE PRESIDENT FOR MISSION

Margaret Doyle, SHCJ

ROSEMONT MAGAZINE STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kathleen Troy Smyser

CO-EDITOR

Kathleen DuBoff

DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION

Susan M. DiGironimo ’18

WRITERS

Kathleen DuBoff Joe Darrah ’11 Christyn J. Moran ’94

CONTRIBUTORS

Joanne Demetriou Helen Sciubba

PHOTOGRAPHY

Susan DiGironimo ’18 Jaci Downs Bryan Karl Lathrop

PRINTING

Published Electronically © 2020 Rosemont College Rosemont Magazine is published by the Office of College Relations for alumni, parents, and friends of the College.

Articles contained in Rosemont Magazine and the opinions expressed within them do not necessarily represent the official policies of Rosemont College. Letters to the editor or other communications regarding the contents of the magazine, including address changes, may be sent to: Rosemont College, Office of College Relations, 1400 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, PA 19010-1699 or emailed to: alum@rosemont.edu. 3 | President During A Pandemic 5 | Rosemont Welcomes New Senior Staff

To Leadership Team 11 | Nursing During A Pandemic 13 | Rosemont Welcomes New Trustees 16 | Campus Ministry 17 | Brandon Jones ’19: From Kensington

To Rosemont 20 | Rosemontsters Reunite

Through Real Astate 23 | Class Notes 25 | Rosemont In Its Fall Splendor

This Issue: Meet Rosemont's Leadership Team

Fall 2020 On the Cover: Yes! We ARE Social Distancing! The cover photo for this issue of Rosemont Magazine only looks like we are gathering together. We shot each person on the Leadership Team separately and combined them together in Photoshop.

What’s it like to start a new job as a college president during a pandemic? President Boyers reflects on his first six months in office, reopening the College, and plans for the future.

President Boyers does not shy away from talking about what excites him about Rosemont.

“What brought me here was the College’s mission,” he said. “I can see that the community really, truly cares for each other here. For me, this is all about creating an environment for our students to receive an exceptional education and build a foundation to live a meaningful life.”

Boyers took office on June 1 and hit the ground running. He announced Rosemont’s reopening plan – Rosemont 2020 – on June 3.

“Debuting Rosemont 2020 on my third day as the College’s new President is not something I ever imagined doing,” he said.

The plan outlines how academic and administrative operations will proceed, and how testing protocols, quarantine capabilities, and enhanced campus cleaning procedures will be implemented following the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of Rosemont 2020, President Boyers announced that Rosemont would divide the Fall semester for its Undergraduate College into two seven-week terms - a plan known as Two Terms, One Focus, including the ability to offer in-person instruction.

“Two Terms, One Focus offers a unique opportunity for our students because they are able to concentrate on fewer courses at a time during two seven-week terms rather than one larger term. In addition, since faculty are teaching fewer courses at a time, they can continue to give the personal attention for which Rosemont is known to our students, regardless of whether we are on campus or online,” he said.

The divided semester was Rosemont’s response to a problem that all colleges in the country were facing: how to ensure students receive a full semester of content, given the very real possibility of the pandemic disrupting any plans put in place. No solution is perfect, and Two Terms, One Focus has had some valuable benefits for students.

“There have been some hurdles to overcome and continue to work through, with respect to students’ preparedness to do accelerated work, faculty reframing of courses to meet that framework, and the overall logistics of individual student needs,” Boyers said. “That said, we made the best decision for where we are in this moment, in terms of the unknowns of the pandemic, and we continue to place students at the center of the decisions we are making about how we are evolving our approach, moving forward.”

Courses for the School of Graduate and Professional Studies have been offered fully online.

In addition, President Boyers established a partnership with Main Line Health to provide the Rosemont Community with healthcare guidance and medical expertise as part of the campus reopening process.

While managing plans to reopen the College, he also had to move halfway across the country. After leaving Cleary University in Michigan in May, he worked remotely from his home in Sarasota, Florida, and moved to the Philadelphia area in early July. He had to quarantine upon arriving in Pennsylvania due to Governor Wolf’s request for anyone arriving from a list of states with increased outbreaks, including Florida, to quarantine for 14 days.

“I didn’t move halfway across the country during a pandemic if I didn’t think Rosemont held great promises and possibilities for the future. It felt so good to finally get here.”

After moving to a new home in Wayne with his wife, Mandy, and their dogs, Boyers is now settling into his commute and routine at Rosemont.

“I have to be honest, I may never wrap my head around all the Gulph Roads in Lower Merion,” he said.

His days are busy. There are safety and COVID-19-related matters to attend to. On an average day, his schedule fills up quickly – meetings with faculty and students, conversations with donors via Zoom, conference calls with local business leaders, and more. He says he has met nearly 500 alumni of all decades via Zoom since June.