{"id":330608,"date":"2026-08-26T23:26:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/330608\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T23:26:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:26:53","slug":"queens-university-welcomes-faculty-and-staff-back-to-campus-today-at-elon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/330608\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens University welcomes faculty and staff back to campus | Today at Elon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faculty and staff gathered for the official start of the 2026-2027 academic year at Queens University.<\/p>\n

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The official start of the 2026\u20132027 academic year\u00a0kicked off on the Queens campus as\u00a0faculty and staff\u00a0convened\u00a0on Aug. 24\u00a0for a campus update inside\u00a0the\u00a0Sandra Levine Theatre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The afternoon event\u00a0blended updates on\u00a0institutional\u00a0strategy\u00a0and operations\u00a0with\u00a0personal\u00a0reflections\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0university\u2019s\u00a0historic merger\u00a0with Elon University.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to know that I\u2019m proud of all that you\u2019ve done, your commitment to this university, your commitment to Queens,\u00a0and\u00a0your\u00a0commitment to Elon,\u201d\u00a0said Queens Acting President and CEO Jesse Cureton.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0powerful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ManQueens Acting President and CEO Jesse Cureton welcomed faculty and staff back to campus.<\/p>\n

Cureton\u00a0highlighted key administrative shifts, including the establishment of the Queens Advisory Board and Pamela Davies\u2019 transition to Strategic Advisor to the President. He\u00a0also\u00a0introduced the\u00a0Campus Core Team,\u00a0a cross-functional group connecting senior leadership with shared services leaders to foster transparency, operational alignment, and collaboration across campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cureton\u00a0commended\u00a0employees from both campuses for their collaborative work toward securing SACSCOC regulatory approval\u00a0with special\u00a0recognition\u00a0of\u00a0Nicole Tarr, executive director of institutional effectiveness and institutional research, and Derrick Everhart, director of financial aid,\u00a0both of whom\u00a0were\u00a0presented\u00a0with the Queens Leadership Award.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir expertise, commitment, and\u00a0willingness to do whatever was needed helped us reach this historic milestone,\u201d Cureton\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\"APresident Cureton presents Queens Leadership Award to Nicole Tarr and Derrick Everhart.<\/p>\n

Elon University President Connie\u00a0Ledoux\u00a0Book\u00a0addressed faculty and staff with her reflection\u00a0on the transformative power of higher education,\u00a0what she termed an \u201ceveryday miracle,\u201d\u00a0and a bold future for both campuses made possible by the merger.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Elon University President Connie Ledoux Book addresses the Queens community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am confident that\u2026\u00a0in 100 years, people are going to look back at this decision and point to it as a turning point for our institutions as we become one,\u201d\u00a0Book said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Newly appointed Chief Operating Officer Kenitra Horsley outlined how campus operations align with the overarching\u00a0Boldly Elon 2030\u00a0vision,\u00a0and she introduced\u00a0the\u00a0Campus Master Planning Committee led by Chief Integration Officer Jeff Stein.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just about combining institutions\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s\u00a0about building something stronger, more agile, and more relevant for the next generation of students,\u201d Horsley shared. Amber Slack,\u00a0vice\u00a0president of\u00a0campus\u00a0life and\u00a0dean of\u00a0students, presented student engagement and campus life updates, highlighting an\u00a0increase in night and weekend events last year and\u00a0nearly 8,500\u00a0total community service hours logged by students and student-athletes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Provost Sarah Fatherly highlighted summertime academic achievements, including 17 faculty-student research pairs through the seventh year of the James Rogers Summer Institute for Research, as well as an outstanding academic report card for Queens\u2019 student-athletes.<\/p>\n

Fatherly announced that Queens will host the National Learning Communities Conference in\u00a0November,\u00a0which recognizes\u00a0the\u00a0university\u2019s decade-long thought leadership in course-based learning communities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also discussed the academic calendar harmonization taking effect with the return of Winter Term in January 2027 and previewed expanded cross-campus professional development opportunities for faculty and staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following the main\u00a0campus\u00a0update, attendees gathered for interactive breakout sessions detailing core university priorities:\u00a0<\/p>\n

SOAR & Strategic Planning:\u00a0Led Dean Denise Rotondo and\u00a0Elon University Senior Vice President\u00a0Jim Piatt,\u00a0co\u2011chairs\u00a0of the\u202fSOAR Strategic Planning Committee,\u00a0the\u00a0session\u00a0explored strategic integration through a Charlotte lens around five core themes: place as curriculum, an integrated student journey, amplified opportunities, practice-driven hubs, and civic\u00a0convenership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Return of Winter Term:\u00a0Academic leaders\u00a0hosted a session\u00a0detailing the return of Winter Term in January 2027, an intensive three-and-a-half-week term designed to drive retention through immersive faculty mentoring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Targeted Enrollment & Cohorted Fellows:\u00a0Leaders from student affairs, academics and enrollment\u00a0explored\u00a0how cohort-based Fellows programs drive enrollment while fostering student belonging through shared academic experiences. The discussion also addressed scaling the model, integrating faculty feedback, and supporting overall enrollment growth across all academic programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Campus Master Plan & Infrastructure:\u00a0Facility\u00a0leaders provided updates\u00a0on this summer\u2019s campus renovations and upcoming facilities projects.\u00a0Attendees expressed their appreciation of the sprawling campus beautification and renovation updates including the renovation of the Sykes Learning Center, Queens\u00a0Hall\u00a0and residence halls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The afternoon concluded at Tyson House for the annual Opening of School Reception, bringing faculty, staff, and visiting Elon leaders together for refreshments and community connection.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faculty and staff gathered for the official start of the 2026-2027 academic year at Queens University. Share: Share…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-330608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}