"Well-rounded students with strong high school records who are open-minded and intellectually curious will be most successful at CNR." Marga Taylor Associate  Dean School of Arts & Sciences The College of New Rochelle

Dean Taylor, what is your educational background?

I was born and raised in Germany. At the University of Bonn I studied Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures because I have always been interested in foreign languages and cultures.

After my freshman year, I moved to Salamanca, a medieval university town in Spain, to improve my Spanish skills. There I met people from all over the world who taught me the meaning of cultural diversity, self-awareness and open-mindedness.

This was an incredibly invigorating experience, and I kind of got addicted to that experience. After I moved to the United States to pursue a Master’s degree in Translation Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, I had the opportunity to study in Sao Paulo, Brazil. One of the CUNY professors who organized the trip was Johnnetta Cole, who later became the first female president of Spelman College, a historically black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta. As a person and as a teacher, Johnnetta left such an impression on me that I decided to translate part of her book All American Women: Lines that Divide, Ties that Bind into German as part of my thesis. Once again this experience opened my mind further to diversity, specifically differences and commonalities among women, both on a national and a global level.

How long have you been at The College of New Rochelle?

I joined CNR in October of 2003. Before coming here, I taught translation studies and coordinated the translation certificate program at New York University. I later worked as the German editor for Guggenheim Museum Publications and also worked on several language-related artificial intelligence projects at the IBM Watson Research Center.

How are you involved with undergraduates?

I am pretty much in contact with our undergraduate students in the School of Arts & Sciences from the minute they come to campus for their freshman orientation to the day they graduate at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. In fact, I just “graduated” my first class which I have known since they came to the College in 2003. It is a very special feeling to see how our students grow spiritually, intellectually and as a community member over the course of the four years that they spend with us.

Do you also do some teaching here at the College?

Since my background is in translation studies and linguistics, I usually do not get to teach classes at CNR because we do not offer those programs. However, in Spring of 2006, I co-taught a French-English translation course with Dr. Andre Beauzethier. It was such a wonderful experience both for the students and for Dr. Beauzethier and me because we all learned a lot from each other. Since French is not one of my strongest languages, Andre and the students helped me improve my vocabulary. On the other hand they could learn the translation skills component from me. We also learned how challenging but ultimately rewarding it can be to discover and analyze subtle meanings in one language and then transfer those meanings into another language.

What do you think makes CNR a special college?

Its geographic location--approximately 20 miles north of Manhattan--offers our students a whole range of learning experiences in the city. At the same time, students live and learn in the smaller community of New Rochelle. They have many opportunities to explore the Long Island Sound and surrounding nature preserves, opportunities that our science students especially take full advantage of.

Our close proximity to New York City also enables us to attract excellent faculty who share their research interest with those incoming students who qualify for one of our research scholarships.

Also, at CNR both professors and administrators know their students by name from the very first day they come onto campus. We know our student’s strengths and challenges, and most of all, we are very proud of their accomplishments, whether they earn national scholarships, present at local or national conferences, or get accepted into medical or law school. We make sure our students stay on track academically during the regularly scheduled advisement periods; we help them find internship opportunities; and we aid them in identifying study abroad and other out-of classroom experiences. And more than that, we stay in touch with them long after they graduate from the College. They are always welcomed home to our campus, and they know and appreciate that aspect of being an alum of CNR.

I know our undergraduates develop a sense of confidence and pride in their accomplishments as women at a far greater rate than their counterparts at co-educational institutions. If you learn in an environment that instills confidence in you, you have a far better chance to succeed in the outside world. If you are surrounded by female role models, you are much more likely to take on leadership roles yourself.

What sort of student is successful at CNR?

Well-rounded students with strong high school records who are open-minded and intellectually curious will be most successful. Another key factor is a willingness to get involved both inside and outside of the classroom. By that I mean involvement as a life-long learner, as someone who is interested in a variety of subjects and disciplines and their interconnectivity, as someone who cares about their natural and personal environment and participates in the many clubs, community service activities and leadership opportunities that are available on campus and within the School of Arts & Sciences.

Where do your students go after leaving school?

Our students go on to medical school at places like Columbia University and SUNY Upstate Medical Center. They get master’s degrees in teaching from Columbia Teachers College. One of our students entered her first job out of college as a news producer at Fox News Network, where she had done an internship, and subsequently won two Emmy awards. Others work as mental health professionals or social workers, both in the city and in Westchester. They join the Peace Corps and go off to teach at the secondary school level in Tanzania. They become successful artists, editors and writers. And many of our graduates decide to continue their studies in one of the excellent Master’s Programs that The College of New Rochelle Graduate School has to offer.