Online Program Earns Top 25 National Ranking

Siena Heights University’s Online Learning Programs were ranked as the best in Michigan among private institutions and 25th nationally among public and private institutions by the U.S. News and World Report. The publication released its 2015 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs rankings Jan. 7.

SHU’s Online Learning Programs, which earned its first national ranking last year, moved up more than 100 places in the 2015 rankings. SHU has offered online bachelor’s degree completion programs in selected majors since 2004.

“We are thrilled and proud to receive this prestigious third party endorsement of our program,” said SHU President Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD. “This ranking reaffirms what we at Siena Heights already know to be true – that our Online Learning Programs consistently deliver outstanding quality and value to students. We will continue to strive for excellence in this very competitive environment.”

U.S. News and World Report’s methodology included student engagement, faculty credentials and training, peer reputation and student services and technology to determine the rankings. Siena Heights was particularly noted for its efforts in student engagement, receiving the second highest ranking of all institutions surveyed (97 out of a possible 100). SHU also received high marks in faculty credentials and training.

From the President:

Reflecting on the Dominican Tradition

Recently, I attended the biennial Sponsorship Conference for all the institutions sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. While attending, I had the opportunity to reflect on leadership and what it means to be a university founded in the Dominican tradition.

The following are some of my thoughts:

Because we are part of a Dominican establishment, we are all family, we are all related. Each of us are leaders in our own way. How do we lead? Is anyone following? When St. Dominic formed the Order in 1214, he believed that the Prior of the Order or the Master General should realize that he was the first among equals. That’s also how I think leaders should see themselves today. When we lead, we must be servant-leaders, putting the needs of the institution/organization/community and the people we serve first.

How do we live the mission of Siena Heights University? Many of us have multiple interactions each day. What is the quality of those interactions? Do we speak with respect and listen with interest, or do we dismiss people as well as what they have to offer? Right relationships must be the foundation on which our mission is built. It can’t be assumed. It is an intentional act. If relationships are off-kilter, then it is difficult to sincerely live our mission. Mission is not something to be written on a piece of paper and tucked away. It is something that must live and breathe, grow and deepen each day.

From the Editor:

Dominican “Daisies” In Bloom at SHU

“The memory of Mother Augustine Neuhierl lived on in the prophetic words spoken to the professed nuns gathered around her bedside during her last hours on this earth. She told them of the ‘daisy field,’ her vision of a peninsula in the West dotted white with Dominican foundations; and she reminded them that, though they were contemplatives, their active work would take them into the schools awaiting them.”
— From “Amid the Alien Corn,” Sister Mary Philip Ryan, OP.

I love history. I’ve learned from my personal and professional experience there are few things that put the present in perspective and help map the future better than studying the past.

So, not long after I arrived at Siena Heights, I had a chance to read “Amid the Alien Corn,” a 1967 work chronicling the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, which, of course, includes the founding of St. Joseph College, now Siena Heights University.

I found the above passage of Mother Augustine fascinating. The title of the chapter was aptly named “The Prophecy.” Her vision of this “daisy field” that she shared with her fellow Sisters, some of whom would eventually travel from New York to Adrian, Mich., has stayed with me during my time here. Even though I did not know very much about Siena Heights at the time, I couldn’t help but wonder if Mother Augustine was referring to—at least in part—present-day developments.