Institutional

Included in Book of 40 Transformative Institutions

Saint Mary’s was chosen as one of only 40 U.S. institutions in the 2013 edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Saint Mary's is the only Catholic college – and the only California college – in the history of the 40-school compilation, which was originally created by former New York Times education editor Loren Pope to highlight exemplary liberal arts colleges that break the traditional Ivy League mold. It is widely recognized for identifying colleges that offer life-transforming educational experiences. Read the complete entry.

President's Community Service Honor Roll

Saint Mary's was listed on the 2012 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction. In the past academic year, Saint Mary's students provided almost 40,000 hours of service to communities in the U.S. and abroad. The award particularly recognized SMC leadership initiatives as well as a School of Science environmental education project and math camp.

High in Academic Engagement

Saint Mary's students rate their College experience high in terms of academic engagement. That’s the consensus from the National Survey of Student Engagement, which polled freshmen and seniors in spring 2012. Our students scored above other colleges in the poll on most measures, especially “level of academic challenge.”

USA Today College Includes Saint Mary's Among Nation's Top 20 Colleges Committed to Community Service

While brief, a widely distributed story "The 20 colleges most committed to community service" notes that SMC "receives a goodly amount of recognition for its dedication to the Lasallian Approach to education" and that community service forms an integral cornerstone of coursework offered at the College.

Top 10 for Study Abroad Programs

The Institution of International Education's Open Doors Report ranked Saint Mary's seventh among colleges that grant master's degrees, up from 11th the year before, noting that 55 percent of undergraduates had participated in study abroad programs.

Listed Among "Green Colleges"

Saint Mary's was included in the Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition, which profiles 322 institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Canada that demonstrate notable commitments to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.

More International Students

Saint Mary's international student enrollment has doubled in 2012-13, with 23 new students from 10 countries.

In the Media Spotlight 

News coverage of Saint Mary's increased substantially the 2011-12 academic year, with media mentions of SMC faculty up by 104 percent. Academic and mission efforts such as TGEMBA, Jan Term and Mission & Ministry, garnered the attention of broadcast and print reporters. And with three WCC championship teams, SMC athletics coverage was amazing.

Fundraising for SMC Continues To Be Strong

The College raised more than $8.5 million in gifts and pledges this fiscal year, reports Vice President for Development Keith Brant. The 2012 senior class set a College record of 58% participation for its senior gift, and the number of gifts from faculty and staff increased almost 50%, with the value of those gifts increasing by 15%.

Academics

$1.7 Million Awarded to School of Education Program

The U.S. Department of Education awarded $1.7 million to Saint Mary's to expand "Reading Recovery," a teacher training and literacy intervention program based at the School of Education that is designed to address the needs of first-grade children at risk for not learning to read and write.

Trans-Global MBA

Hanover Research has profiled Saint Mary's College's Trans-Global Executive MBA program as one of the Top Thirteen (13) International Executive MBA Programs in the United States in 2011.

Hybrid MBA

Saint Mary's College of California's Hybrid Executive MBA program is ranked among the Top 25 Online MBA Programs of 2012 by Online MBA, and director Barry Eckhouse is often cited as an expert on the hybrid model of educating business students.

SMC Choirs Earn Silver Medals at International Competition 

The SMC Chamber Singers and Glee Club, competing against 362 choirs from 64 countries, both won silver medals at the 2012 World Choir Games in Cincinnati. 

Recent Graduate Awarded Fulbright Fellowship

Napala Pratini, class of 2012, has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. She will be working in Madrid with the Melanoma Group at the Spanish National Cancer Center, trying to identify genes that may suppress melanoma.

SMC Science Programs Earn Media Attention

Prevention.com reported on SMC research by Biology Professor Vidya Chandrasekaran and three current and former students - Wayne Doyle '11, Eric Shide '13 and Slesha Thapa '14 - showing that energy drinks can delay the healing time of wounds to human tissue.Read more. Also, a San Francisco Business Times story about the growth of science, math and technology majors at Bay Area colleges noted that the biology major at SMC has grown by 131 percent since 2008. Read the article.

Faculty

A Home to Distinguished Teacher-Scholars – Recent faculty achievements and recognition include:

Professor Kathleen Taylor (education) is an internationally quoted expert and researcher on adult learners and won a 2013 Fulbright award to study adult education in Greece.

Professor Jyoti Bachani (business) received a 2011 Fulbright Award to India to study how the practice of "jugaad" has contributed to the rise of India as a global economic power.

English Professor Lysley Tenorio’s debut collection of short stories, Monstress, garnered national praise from a multitude of news outlets, including The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe and NPR.

Kathy Perez, director of the M.A. in Teaching Leadership, was a featured speaker at the 56th International Council on Education for Teaching World Assembly in Cape Coast, Ghana. Her talk focused on "Transforming School Cultures through Teacher Leadership."

Brenda Hillman, Olivia Filippi Professor of Poetry, was awarded the 2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for poetry and named one of “50 of the Most Inspiring Authors in the World” by Poets & Writers magazine.

Professor Barbara A. McGraw (business) a renowned scholar of social ethics, published Rediscovering America’s Sacred Ground: Public Religion and Pursuit of the Good in a Pluralistic America

Athletics

Best Men's Sports Program in WCC

The SMC athletics program was awarded the West Coast Conference'sMen's All-Sports Trophy for the first time last week, recognizing it as the best men’s sports program in the league. The award came after Saint Mary’s teams won three WCC championships - men's soccer, men's basketball, and men's golf.

Championship Play

Men’s soccer, men’s basketball, men’s golf won WCC championships, while men’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s tennis and men’s golf all advanced to NCAA championship play.

Soccer — The men’s soccer team won more games in the postseason (3) than any other team in school history and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, matching the 1959 men’s basketball team as the only team to advance that far.

Basketball — The SMC Men’s basketball team won both the WCC regular-season and tournament titles in the same season for the first time in program history.

Rugby — Consistently ranked in the top 10 in the country, Saint Mary’s men’s rugby advanced all the way to the Division I semifinals in 2012 and were in the Sweet 16 for the past eight years in a row.

Coaches of the Year

Three coaches earned conference Coach of the Year honors in 2012: Adam Cooper (men’s soccer) and Scott Hardy (men’s golf) and Jessica Hanaseth (softball).

Academic Excellence

A total of 38 Saint Mary’s student-athletes earned academic all-conference recognition

Olympians

Gaels were out full force for London Summer Olympics. Matthew Dellavedova ’13 and alumnus Patty Mills played for Australia's basketball team, while Women's Volleyball Head Coach Rob Browning managed USA men's volleyball.