Fitchburg State President Donna Hodge has announced the students who qualified for inclusion on the Dean’s List and President's List for the Spring 2024 semester. A student is placed on the Dean’s List for the semester if an average grade of 3.20 or better is attained, and the student is attending the university full time. View the Fall 2024 Dean's List. The President’s List honors students for consistently high academic achievement. A student is named to the list after achieving a 3.75 average in each of three successive semesters. View the Fall 2024 President's List.

The Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University invites you to celebrate Valentine’s Day Italian Style with a performance by celebrated jazz singer Vanessa Racci. The concert will be given at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, in Weston Auditorium on the Fitchburg State campus. Vanessa Racci is a professional vocalist and touring artist of Italian descent with a passion for retro jazz and music made famous by Italian Americans. She puts a fresh claim on classic pop and jazz tunes with intoxicating vocals and presence that leave every audience member feeling nostalgic, enchanted and like family. Tickets are $25 for the public; and $15 for Fitchburg State students, faculty and staff with OneCard and may be purchased online at fitchburgstate.edu/cic. Racci, who will perform with a three-piece band, has been acclaimed for her rich and enthusiastic voice in both English and Italian, reinterpreting classic songs with sass and swing. Prepare for an unforgettable evening of fresh new arrangements of timeless classics and heartfelt passion in a tribute to music and love. Learn more about the Center for Italian Culture at fitchburgstate.edu/cic.

Faculty from Fitchburg State University have published new textbooks - on music, language, and mathematics - that may be downloaded and reproduced for free, as part of an ongoing project designed to create open educational resources for students and the general public. The volumes were published through the state’s Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens ( ROTEL) project, which promotes textbook affordability, student success, and inclusion and equity to benefit all students, particularly those from minoritized populations. The project provided stipends for faculty to remix and/or develop accessible, intentionally inclusive open textbooks that reflect students’ local and lived experiences. Fitchburg State faculty have embraced this initiative, which has resulted in the publication of 10 open textbooks. The newest volumes include: The Art of Music: Music Appreciation with an Equity Lens, by Associate Professor Amy McGlothlin of the Fitchburg State Humanities Department, written with Boston University faculty member Jennifer Bill. The book is a comprehensive music appreciation textbook with musical and cultural examples from medieval to present times. The text, photographs and musical examples represent populations typically underserved in professional music. Women, minorities, and practitioners from the music’s areas of origin are highlighted in each chapter. The text can be used in its entirety, or by choosing specific time periods or chapters. Polyphony, by Professor Elise Takehana, Associate Professor Diego Ubiera, and former Assistant Professor Jennie Snow of Fitchburg State’s English Studies Department, is a functional, creative, and radical resource for facilitating critical conversations about multilingualism, the politics of language, and linguistic justice in the first-year writing classroom. This book emphasizes open pedagogy, collaboration, and “polyphonic” approaches to first-year writing. The Reader includes key texts (written, audio, and video) that reflect diverse perspectives. The Explorations section includes reading, writing, discussion, and research activities designed around each text in the Reader, and range from shorter in-class activities to longer plans that could span a week or two of class meetings. Takehana is also director of the Borderlands Digital Humanities Center at the University of Texas at El Paso. Snow is currently an assistant teaching professor at Montclair State University. Algebra, Patterns, and Functions for Elementary School Teachers: A Workbook Approach, by Professor Mary Ann Barbato of the Fitchburg State Mathematics Department, is an accessible interactive workbook designed for future teachers with material on algebra, patterns, functions and statistics as they relate to elementary and middle school mathematics and beyond. It aims to use a universal language with clarity of expression that is reader friendly for all. It includes word problems and activities that strive to be relevant to a variety of cultures and genders. It includes components of UDL: material presented in multiple ways, scaffolding, extra explanations and a variety of examples and activities. Other volumes in the series authored by Fitchburg State faculty members include: Introduction to Communication and Media Studies, by Associate Professor J.J. Sylvia IV The Data Renaissance: Analyzing the Disciplinary Effects of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Beyond, by Associate Professor J.J. Sylvia IV Biological Psychology, by Associate Professor Michael Hove and graduate Steven A. Martinez Why Do I Have to Take this Course? by Professor Kisha Tracy Heritages of Change: Curatorial Activism and First-Year Writing, by Professor Kisha Tracy The Basics of Health, Wellness and Fitness, by Associate Professor Jessica Alsup Statistical Problem Sets in WeBWorK, by Professor Peter Staab and Rachael Norton To learn more about the project, or to download any of the volumes for free, visit rotel.pressbooks.pub. The ROTEL Project is 100% funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education ( FIPSE). The contents of the OERs do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and an endorsement by the Federal Government should not be assumed.

Fitchburg State University recently held the winter ceremony of its 128th commencement exercises, conferring hundreds of graduate and undergraduate degrees. (Download the list of graduates here.) It was the first ceremony for Dr. Donna Hodge, who joined the Fitchburg State campus this summer as its 12th president. “Today, I am filled with profound pride and gratitude,” she told graduates and guests at the ceremony, which was held in the university’s Athletics and Recreation Center. “This marks my inaugural semester as president of this esteemed institution, and it is an honor to witness this pivotal milestone in your academic journeys. I am particularly humbled to serve as the first woman president in Fitchburg State’s 130-year history. You are my first graduating class, among some of the first students I met upon my arrival this summer, and officially tonight, you have all become part of my own story. Our historic moment underscores the progress we have achieved as a university committed to equity, inclusion, and the pursuit of excellence.” She cited individual students who had made an impact on her as a newcomer to campus, as well as the collective narrative of challenges surmounted, ambitions realized, and aspirations pursued. “Many among you have balanced the rigors of academic study with professional commitments, internships, familial responsibilities, and community engagement,” Hodge said. “For some, this achievement represents a groundbreaking first within your families, forging a legacy for future generations. Your resilience and intellectual curiosity have been exemplary, and today we recognize not only your accomplishments but also the fortitude that has propelled you to this moment.” She urged the graduates to acknowledge those who had supported them along their journeys, and to embody the principles of intellectual curiosity, moral courage, and compassionate leadership in their future pursuits. “The world awaits your intellectual contributions, your creativity, and your principled leadership,” Hodge said. “More importantly, the world requires your dedication to the pursuit of truth, your commitment to fostering equity, and your resolve to effectuate positive change. Never ever underestimate your capacity to influence and transform the world.” View the ceremony courtesy of FATV.

The English Studies Department at Fitchburg State University is inviting writers from area high schools to submit original work for its annual writing contest, where prizes will include publication in the university’s literary magazine as well as gift certificates to the campus bookstore. All participants will also have their application fees and enrollment deposits to Fitchburg State waived. The contest is open to any high school student in Massachusetts, grades 9 through 12. Writers are asked to create their submissions based on the following prompt: Have you ever experienced things seemingly unrelated, but discovered an unexpected connection? Sometimes, thinking about two such events brings a new way of thinking about each of them. Consider, in your life, two separate experiences that are connected in some way and write about them. You may focus on a central image, word, or idea that connects the two experiences, or you may create a connection that makes sense to you. Share how looking at these two events together help you see things in a new light. Students may submit a narrative essay (up to three pages long), a poem or group of up to three poems (no more than three pages total), or a multimedia project up to five minutes in length. Written submissions may be offered in a language other than English. Submissions are due Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, and may be turned in online at https://tinyurl.com/4wy77sc6. For additional information, contact English Studies faculty members Wendy Keyser at wekyser@fitchburgstate.edu or DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld at dbelling@fitchburgstate.edu.