In less than a month, I will welcome the Class of2018 to campus and share some advice about whatthey ought to look for as college students. Each fallI tell new students this: You'll know you had apowerful education if, years later, you can thinkback on your time at RMU and remember the

professor who inspired you, got you excitedabout learning, and helped you to envisionyour future and lay the groundwork to

achieve your dreams. Most peoplelike me are in this disciplinebecause we had a mentor like that.

I've been saying it for years, and now I have thedata to back it up.

Gallup and Purdue University recently surveyed30,000 college graduates to determine what reallydefines a successful college education. The Gallup-Purdue Index homed in on people who say theyare enthusiastic and committed at work and intheir personal lives, and tried to look beyondnumbers such as average starting salary orplacement rate of recent graduates. It discoveredsix factors correlated with professional success andwell-being:

• a professor who excited you about learning• professors who cared about you as a person• a mentor who helped you follow your dreams• a project that took a semester or more• an internship that applied what you learned• being very active in extracurricular activities and organizations

These experiences are better predictors of successthan what you majored in or even where you wentto college. Yet only 3 percent of college graduatesstrongly agreed they experienced all six.

RMU's new strategic plan will focus on makingsure every student says yes to all six. We stronglyencourage faculty and staff to be mentors,

something that must be embedded in the DNA ofthe university. We will strengthen our StudentEngagement Program, which supplementsclassroom learning with long-term research andother projects, extracurricular activities, andinternships. We plan to partner with the Gallup-Purdue Index to survey our own students andgraduates.

We are also moving forward with majorimprovements to our career services, to fullyintegrate those programs from the day studentsapply to each of their years at RMU, andthroughout their lifetimes as alumni. This year'sfreshmen will see career services front and centerat orientation. We will also reach out to alumniwith new programs for their development, and askthem to help expand our network of internshipsand job opportunities for students.

An RMU education should make our graduates"engagement-ready," savvy enough to seek out andfind the jobs and workplaces that will inspirethem. As the Gallup-Purdue Index shows, peoplewho are engaged at work are almost five times aslikely to be thriving in all aspects of their life.

It starts with knowing that your alma mater trulycares about you as a person. When I welcome thenew students next month, I will be thinking aboutwhat they will tell the Gallup-Purdue people afterthey earn their diplomas. If we are fulfilling ourmission, it will be something like this: "RobertMorris University was the perfect school forsomeone like me."

Sincerely,

Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Ph.D.

SUMMER 2014

President’s

INSIDERFROM THE DESK OF GREGORY G. DELL’OMO, PH.D., PRESIDENT OF ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY

President’s

INSIDER

When China's military was accused in May ofstealing trade secrets from Pittsburgh companiesU.S. Steel, Alcoa, Allegheny Technologies, andWestinghouse Electric, students from Robert MorrisUniversity went to the Chinese embassy and askedsome uncomfortable questions.

The 17 cyber forensics and information securitymajors were in Washington, D.C., fora two-week national securityseminar conducted by TheWashington Center, whichorganizes seminars and internshipsfor nearly 500 colleges anduniversities. Students and facultyadvisors from universities acrossthe United States attended lecturesby experts, scholars, andgovernment officials and visited theForeign Intelligence SurveillanceCourt, the FBI, and an embassy. Asluck would have it, RMU students were chosen tovisit the Chinese embassy.

"Talk about the planets aligning!" says KarenPaullet, D.Sc., assistant professor ofcommunications and information systems and thegroup's advisor. "The students were jumping out oftheir skins that morning. They couldn’t wait to getin there.

"Our students had dozens of cyber security andtechnology questions prepared, because China isone of those places the U.S. has concerns about,"explains Paullet, who joined the faculty three yearsago after working 14 years in the Allegheny CountyDistrict Attorney's office.

"I got goose bumps watching the live feed as it camefrom the FBI and Department ofJustice," says Danielle Meyer '14,who attended the seminar in bothher junior and senior years andcredits it with helping her obtain acoveted internship this summer atThe Aerospace Corp. in California.

Meyer says the embassy visit beganas scripted with a videopresentation, but veered off courseduring the question-and-answer

session. "It was clear that the Chineseofficial wasn’t going to talk about what hadhappened," says Meyer. Then Paullet stepped to themicrophone and explained that the students werefrom Pittsburgh and wanted to ask questions aboutthat morning’s announcement. "His reaction wasvery clear," says Meyer. "His whole demeanorchanged. He turned red in the face and gotuncomfortable very quickly."

GETTING OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE

"IT WAS CLEARTHAT THE CHINESEOFFICIAL WASN’ T

GOING TO TALKABOUT WHAT HAD

HAPPENED,"

}}

>> KAREN PAULLET, D.SC,

SUMMER 2014

For the next 45 minutes, the students asked theirquestions: Why was Pittsburgh targeted? Why didChina feel that the U.S. was ahead in technology?What did China hope to achieve by attacking thePittsburgh companies? The embassy official wasevasive, Meyer says, "turning it around and makingit sound like America was at fault." But theexperience was life altering. "What happened thatday supports the fact that cybercrime is rising, and this is going tobe my reality when I graduate,"says Meyer. "It is something I wantto help change."

Nicole Ambrogio '14 also hopes towork in cyber forensics sometimesoon, analyzing computer evidenceor creating security systems hackerscan’t penetrate. "Wherever I end up,I feel like Robert Morris hasprepared me for the real world, andthat I have the skills I need to beready for that first job," saysAmbrogio. She was a chartermember of the Top Secret Colonials, astudent organization to support participation in theD.C. seminars with study groups, mentoring, andfundraising to offset the program cost.

Impressed with the RMU students' performance atthe seminar and in the Chinese embassy, as well asthe Top Secret Colonials student club, the hoursstudents and faculty devoted to prepare for theseminar, and the recognition and support from theSchool of Communication and Information Systems,

The Washington Center named Robert MorrisUniversity its 2014 Academic Seminar University ofthe Year.

"Robert Morris University is a true leader within theacademic community, and we congratulate them onthis very deserving honor," says Mike Smith,president of The Washington Center. "It is a shining

example of how universities aretaking the traditional curriculummodel and incorporating study-away academic seminarexperiences that teach self-awareness, communityengagement, and lifelongleadership skills."

Partnering with The WashingtonCenter offers RMU students high-quality learning opportunities inkeeping with the university’smission of engaged learning and aglobal perspective, says AnthonyMoretti, Ph.D. An associate

professor of communications, Morettioversees internships for RMU students at the D.C.program and has been named co-director of theuniversity's Office of Engaged Learning. "Puttingstudents in a professional situation that they canreally benefit from is very important," he says."College campuses are safe, insular places, and it’simportant that students be in situations that aretruly out of their comfort zone."

"WHEREVER I ENDUP, I FEEL LIKE

ROBERT MORRISHAS PREPARED ME

FOR THE REALWORLD , AND THAT IHAVE THE SKILLS INEED TO BE READY

FOR THAT FIRST JOB,"

}}

President’s

INSIDER

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 6001 UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD, MOON TOWNSHIP, PA 15108-1189 RMU.EDU/CHANGE A LIFE

SUMMER 2014

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE GALLUP-PURDUE INDEX

The Gallup-Purdue Index, undertaken inpartnership with Purdue University and theLumina Foundation, seeks to "uncover whichcollege experiences and perceptions are related togreater gains in the workplace and in well-being."It is based on Gallup’s decades of research aboutpeople's satisfaction with their lives and jobs.

In February, Gallup randomly called collegegraduates of all ages across the country and askedthem to participate in an online survey. Nearly30,000 people responded, representing all 50 statesand the District of Columbia. The results showed 39percent of college graduates are engaged at work,meaning that they like their jobs, are loyal andproductive, and feel intellectually and emotionallyconnected with the organization and supported intheir development.

What type of college a person attended seems tohave no effect on engagement at work. Graduates of"nonselective" private, nonprofit universities areexactly as likely to be engaged at work (41 percent)

as graduates of "elite" schools — those listed amongthe top 100 by U.S. News & World Report annualrankings.

What makes the difference is the experiencestudents have while in college. Supportiveprofessors who care and who act as mentors doublethe likelihood of career engagement later in life; sodo experiential and "deep" learning experiencessuch as internships, semester-long projects, andactive involvement in extracurricular activities andother student organizations. These sameexperiences also correlate with thriving in theelements Gallup identifies as signifying personalwell-being: purpose in life, social and communityties, income, and health.

“If these magical but relatively simple elementshappen to you, it’s a profound game-changer foryour life and career,” Brandon Busteed, who leadsGallup's education work, told Inside Higher Ed.But not enough students have such experiences, he said.

THE UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE

I had at least one professor who made me excited about learning.

My professors cared about me as a person.

I had a mentor who encouraged me to pursue my goals and dreams.

All three

I worked on a project that took a semester or more to complete.

I had an internship or job that allowed me to apply what I waslearning in the classroom.

I was extremely active in college extracurricular activities and organizations.

All three

All six

Source: Gallup-Purdue Index

% of survey respondents who “strongly agree”

63%

27%

22%

14%

32%

29%

20%

6%

3%