History, Mission, and Organizations

History || Mission Statement || Goals and Objectives || Core Values || Faculty || Scholarship || Governance || Enrollment || Campus || Location

History of the University and Graduate Education:
Marywood Experience

Marywood College was established by the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in l915. In 1917 the College was incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in 1921 approval of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools was secured. The College expanded to include graduate study in 1921, and the charter was extended on June 26,1922, to include the Master of Arts degree. In the intervening years, the College moved to expand graduate degree offerings in those areas where it had particularly strong resources and strong mission related needs. In the spring of 1997, the Pennsylvania
Department of Education approved the request to change Marywood’s status from college to university. By definition, a university is a multi-unit institution with a complex structure and diverse educational functions, including instruction, promotion of scholarship, preservation and discovery of knowledge, research, and service.
In addition, a university has a broad cultural basis from which undergraduate and graduate units draw upon the arts and sciences for basic courses. Currently the University offers the widest variety of professional degree programs in the region.

Marywood University Mission Statement

A Catholic university sponsored by the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Marywood University roots itself in the principle of justice and a belief that education empowers people. Enacting its ideals, Marywood offers students a welcoming and supportive community that encourages men and
women of all backgrounds to shape their lives as leaders in service to others. Proud of its liberal arts tradition and host of professional disciplines, Marywood challenges students to broaden their understanding of global issues and to make decisions based on spiritual, ethical, and religious values. Marywood calls upon students to seek their full potential and invites all to engage in a lifelong process of learning. Witnessing the efficacy of teaching and scholarship, Marywood educates students to live responsibly in a diverse and interdependent world.

Goals and Objectives

1. Provide a values based context for university experiences.
   
   • A majority of students will participate in service opportunities in an on-going way.
   • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of their fields of study.
   • A majority of students will participate in spiritual development activities.
   • Employees will demonstrate core values in the work place.
2. Foster an awareness and appreciation of the pluralistic nature of contemporary society.
   
   • Graduates will choose to study or work in multicultural settings either at home or abroad.
   • Students will demonstrate a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity and an understanding of global issues.
   • Enrolled students will travel abroad during their college years.
   • Employee groups and governing bodies will reflect the pluralistic nature of contemporary society.
3. Provide a supportive and welcoming environment to a diverse academic community.
   
   • Students enrolled in any program will fulfill their academic goals by successfully completing their degree work.
   • An increasing number of racially and culturally diverse students and employees will choose Marywood as a welcoming community.
   • Students from a cross-section of socio-economic groups will enroll in each incoming class.
   • Campus constituencies will express satisfaction with all campus services.
4. Prepare people for socially responsible leadership roles.
   
   • Students will participate in an internship or practicum experience.
   • Students will demonstrate a significant level of co-curricular activities.
   • Students will experience positive interactions with faculty members outside of class.
   • Employees will serve as role models of socially responsible leaders.
5. Provide a challenging instructional program.
   
   • Students will demonstrate achievement of cognitive skills at a level comparable to peers on standardized tests.
   • Students will demonstrate the ability to think critically by engaging in research activities and by developing problem solving strategies.
   • Students will demonstrate the ability to integrate the liberal arts tradition with their professional specializations.
   • Students will demonstrate competence in both information literacy skills and communications skills.
   • Faculty will provide evidence of ongoing scholarly activity.
6. Inspire a sense of personal responsibility for responding to social justice issues.
   
   • Faculty, staff, and students will participate in projects designed to address social inequities.
   • Students will demonstrate knowledge of both national and international social justice issues.
   • Faculty, students, and staff will serve as advocates for justice in their personal
     and professional lives.

Core Values

1. Catholic Identity. A commitment to spiritual, ethical, and intellectual values in the context of faith community.
2. Respect for Each Person. Respect for the value of each human being, for diversity in the context of vibrant community, and for the earth and all creation.
3. Empowerment. Education to enable access and to empower the underserved to take a full role in the life of the broader society.
4. Service. Rooted in the deep belief that learning and scholarship serve the global community is the belief in the value of the diverse types of work that support that service, and the preparation of students for leadership by participation in service.
5. Commitment to Excellence. The belief that the work of education has the capacity to forward the kingdom of God, in broad and varied ways, leads us to care passionately for the quality of the mission of Marywood.

Faculty

Marywood University has developed an excellent three-fold faculty system to bring teaching and instruction to the highest level possible. This three-fold system involves full-time faculty, community professional practitioners in the applied disciplines, and field site/practicum supervisors. Each of the three groups works in
concert to deliver the curricula. This approach integrates and balances practice and theory in the professions, keeping the curriculum current to practice, and is reflective of the creative ideas generated in the various disciplines.

The majority of Marywood’s full-time faculty who teach graduate courses are experienced teachers. Their experience and the University’s long history in adult professional and aesthetic education are factors which have led, over the years, to an open and engaging faculty-student relationship. At Marywood, the quality of faculty-student relationships, both within and outside the classroom, has become the standard by which educational excellence is measured.

Role and Practice of Scholarship

Scholarship at Marywood supports and builds upon its teaching and service activities. Faculty scholarship is frequently linked closely to teaching and becomes integrated into course work on an ongoing basis. Faculty work with students to improve research skills and a scholarly orientation within the professional degree programs. Joint publishing of students and faculty is an aspiration of all four colleges and is encouraged within the faculty. Graduate programs, because of a curricular focus on the human services and the professions, stress especially the concrete application of theoretical and empirical findings to local and regional needs whenever possible. The role of scholarship is continuing to grow at Marywood with the development of annual opportunities on campus via the Graduate Research Forum in which faculty and students present their findings each spring.

Governance

Each of the four colleges is led by a dean, aided by the advice and wisdom of the faculty, and provides specific structures and opportunities for student and community input. The standards and policies of graduate education evolve from the openness of discussion, self-criticism, and debate which graduate education embraces.

Formally, the process of information gathering, judgment, and decision-making occurs through the following committees and organizations: Policy and Operations Committees, Curriculum Committee, various department-based advisory groups and a Graduate Student Council.

Enrollment

Marywood University has an enrollment of over 3,000 students; enrollment at the graduate level is almost 1,600 students. Graduate students, both full-time and part-time, represent a diversity of backgrounds. Actively working to increase the diversity of the student body in Marywood’s graduate programs is a high priority.
Marywood’s size permits a closeness in faculty-student relations, uncommon in larger research-oriented graduate schools.

Campus

Marywood University is located on a scenic property of 115 acres on the edge of the city of Scranton. Visitors are impressed with the natural beauty of the campus, which has been designated a national arboretum. Nestled along scenic walkways, the campus’ twenty-five centers of living and learning create a relaxed and aesthetically
pleasing environment for studies.

Marywood’s commitment to nature and an aesthetic learning environment has been enhanced over the past decade with major developments in communications technologies and library and computer resources. The University operates its own television and radio stations and satellite dish for receiving programming from around the world.

The Shields Center for Visual Arts, with its two outstanding galleries, the Suraci and the Contemporary, provides the graduate student with a variety of exhibits throughout the year. Marywood’s strong heritage in music programming affords a rich repertoire of musical performances in the Sette-LaVerghetta Center for
Performing Arts. In the fall of 1999, Marywood dedicated the William G. McGowan Center for Graduate and Professional Studies. The Insalaco Center for Studio Arts was dedicated in 2001, and the O’Neill Center for Healthy Families was built in 2002. These buildings provide state-of-the-art facilities for students in the
Art, Athletic Training, and Nutrition and Dietetics programs, among others. To fulfill student needs for meeting places and recreation, the Nazareth Student Center provides lounges, a cafeteria, snack bar, game rooms, and bookstore. The Health and Physical Education Center houses an Olympic-size swimming pool, gym, racquetball courts, weight room and dance studio. Opened in 2006, the Robert J. Mellow Center supports both athletic and academic programs, including Health and Physical Education, Athletic Training, Sports Nutrition and Exercise Science and Kinesiology. The building includes a 5,000 square foot fitness center, a 1500 seat arena, an indoor jogging track, dance and aerobics studio, locker rooms, athletic training room and hydro therapy room, student lounge, and a climbing wall. Open air tennis courts are nearby.

Location

Marywood University is located in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area with easy access to the Pocono Mountains and resort areas. It is conveniently centered at the intersection of many interstate highways. The campus is 120 miles west of New York City and 115 miles north of Philadelphia.

The University’s location in a metropolitan area of more than 750,000 people, with reasonable access to the major eastern cities, provides the best of two worlds for graduate education — access and self-sufficiency. The Scranton area is home to a well-established off-Broadway series, offers a noted ski facility in Sno Mountain and Yankees Triple A baseball. The strong and continuing ethnic heritage of the region affords excellent variety and outstanding restaurant options. Several state parks and recreational areas are convenient to the city and provide excellent opportunities for summer and winter sports, camping, picnicking, and other outdoor activities.
Culture, recreation, and educational resources are blended well in Marywood’s location. It is an area that, in recent years, has been ranked high in national studies for its quality of life and has been experiencing a strong and sustained economic emergence in the past decade.