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Two new academic deans and a new di-
rector of St. Bonaventure's cybersecurity
program were welcomed to campus in
June. Dr. Lisa C. Buenaventura, dean of the
School of Education, and Dr. Hossein Sar-
rafzadeh, director of the bachelor's degree
program in cybersecurity, arrived on cam-
pus June 1. Dr. Douglas Pisano, founding
dean of St. Bonaventure's new School of
Allied Health, began his duties June 19.
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Buenaventura, who has
more than 30 years of ex-
perience in K-12 and
higher education, was
previously special assistant
to the provost for special
projects at the University
of Massachusetts-Boston.
Her tenure there included
roles as assistant vice chancellor for co-cur-
ricular learning and assessment, interim vice
chancellor for Student Affairs, and adjunct
faculty member in Asian American Studies
and the Higher Education Doctoral Pro-
gram.
She previously served as a faculty member
for the Office of the Chancellor and School
of Behavioral Sciences and Education at
Penn State-Harrisburg, and as a director for
the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Ed-
ucation's Educational Resources Group.
"I am quite excited to join the St.
Bonaventure community and the School of
Education during a time of new leadership
and initiatives for the university," Bue-
naventura said. "People here are deeply
committed to the university and genuinely
care about the well-being of others. I look
forward to working with faculty in the
School of Education, as well as collaborat-
ing with colleagues across the campus."
Buenaventura earned her doctorate in ed-
ucational leadership from Seattle University
in 1997.
SCHOOL OF ALLIED HEALTH
Pisano, the first dean of St. Bonaventure's
new School of Allied
Health, was previously
vice president for Aca-
demic Affairs and provost
at Massachusetts College
of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences University, where
he's worked since 1984 in
a variety of roles, includ-
ing dean of the School of Pharmacy.
Pisano earned his doctorate in Law, Policy
and Society ­ Health Policy and Law from
Northeastern University in 1997.
"St. Bonaventure is a proven winner
whose team is looking to a long and suc-
cessful future where the health professions
complement an already stellar academic
community. I'm excited to be a part of this
future," he said.
St. Bonaventure now offers a bachelor's
degree program in health science as part of
its Allied Health Initiative. The major will
serve as a feeder program for graduate pro-
grams in the School of Allied Health, which
are in development.
CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity Director
Sarrafzadeh is a global ex-
pert in computer technol-
ogy and security who
comes to SBU from Auck-
land, New Zealand, where
he was a professor and
director of the High Tech
Transdisciplinary Research
Network at Unitec Institute of Technology.
He is also the founder and co-director of
New Zealand's first Cybersecurity Research
Center, which collaborates with universities
and research centers around the world.
Sarrafzadeh has extensive experience in
research, leadership and teaching, and in
the development and administration of un-
dergraduate and postgraduate programs.
He earned his Ph.D. in computer science
from University of Wollongong in Australia.
"I'm very excited about working with the
already strong team at St. Bonaventure," he
said.
Campus News
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SUMMER 2017
University welcomes new leadership in
Education, Allied Health, Cybersecurity
ACADEMIC UPDATES
New Gen Ed, grounded in cultural openness, offers more flexibility
Incoming St. Bonaventure
freshmen will now think of
Clare only as a saint.
The Clare College core cur-
riculum is being phased out,
replaced with a more tradi-
tional General Education cur-
riculum that still adheres to the
foundational principles of the
university's Franciscan her-
itage, but has more flexibility
for current students and po-
tential transfers.
The aim of the new core is to
provide students with founda-
tional knowledge for all majors
that aligns with the university's
learning goals.
"Within the framework of
these goals and the university's
mission, the new Gen Ed cur-
riculum offers students an ed-
ucational experience that
encourages them to examine
critically their own cultural as-
sumptions and to explore
openly and fairly other per-
spectives and cultures," said
Dr. Joseph Zimmer, provost
and vice president for Aca-
demic Affairs.
"This deepening apprecia-
tion of their own heritage and
sensitive openness to alterna-
tive frameworks should pre-
pare students to take their
place as thinking, moral indi-
viduals in a global commu-
nity," he said.
The 37-hour program has 15
required credits, including a
one-credit course in Contem-
porary Diversity and the three-
credit "The Way of Francis and
Clare," and one course each
from seven distribution
groups: Franciscan
Studies/Theology, Historical
Studies, Literature and the Vi-
sual and Performing Arts, Nat-
ural Science with a lab (4
credits), Social Science, Philos-
ophy and Quantitative Literacy.
From those seven groups, at
least one course must be clas-
sified as intensive writing, and
one must have a significant di-
versity component.
Students must also demon-
strate assessed proficiency in
information and computer lit-
eracy, and education in tech-
nological competency.
Seniors and some juniors will
be allowed to complete Clare
College course obligations still
being offered for the next cou-
ple years.