Press Releases

Contact: Andy Tiedemann, 617.824.8541

Emerson to participate in Federal Direct Loan Program

Emerson College has announced its intention to participate in the Federal Direct Loan Program beginning in the upcoming 2010–2011 academic year.

Since 1999, Emerson had been a participant in the Federal Family Educational Loan Program (FFEL). Under that program, Emerson students borrowed Federal Stafford Loans and Federal Graduate PLUS Loans, and parents could borrow Federal Parent PLUS Loans. Due to recent changes by Congress made to the Federal Family Educational Loan Program, coupled with the current economic climate and a significant number of lenders leaving the program, Emerson decided to switch to the Federal Direct Loan Program.

“We believe this change is in the best interest of our students and their parents,” said Michelle Smith, director of administrative services. “The Federal Direct Loan program offers a stable source of student loan funding that is not impacted by changes in our economy. The loan funds are provided by the U.S. Treasury and not by private lending institutions,” she said.

Under the terms of the Federal Direct Loan Program, loans will not be sold to third parties, which currently can happen under the FFEL program, leaving borrowers to make payments to lenders other than those from which they initially borrowed.

Student Financial Services will be holding information sessions and hands on Master Promissory Note workshops during March and April to assist current Emerson students with the Direct Lending process. Information will be posted on eCommon and at the Student Service Center.

For more information, please read the following fact sheet or visit www.emerson.edu/finaid.

Emerson College: Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Federal Direct Loans

Contact: Michelle Smith, Director of Student Administrative Services, 617- 824-8655

As of February 23, 2010

1. What are Federal Direct Loans (DL)?
   
   Direct Loans are Stafford and PLUS Loans.  They are called “Direct Loans” because the funding for these loans comes directly from the U.S. Treasury. Under the FFEL program, private lenders loaned the money to students and parents for Stafford and PLUS loans. 
   
   
2. Why is Emerson switching to Federal Direct Loans?
   
   Emerson College is switching to the Federal Direct Loan Program beginning for the 2010-2011 academic year. Emerson has been a participant in the Federal Family Educational Loan Program (FFEL) from 1999 through this current academic year. Due to recent changes by Congress made to the FFEL program, coupled with the current economic climate and a significant number of lenders leaving the FFEL program, the College feels this change is in the best interest of our students and their parents.
   
   The Federal Direct Loan program offers a stable source of student loan funding that is not impacted by changes in the economy. The loan funds are provided by the U.S. Treasury, not by private lending institutions.
   
   In addition, loans under the Federal Direct lending are not sold to other lenders. Currently loans under the FFEL program can be sold to other institutions, so students may not be repaying the lender they initially borrowed from
   
   
3. I don’t want to switch lenders. Can I choose to stay with my current Stafford/PLUS lender?
   
   No. If you want a Stafford Loan or a PLUS loan for the 2010-2011 academic year (including summer 2010), you must acquire the loan through the Direct Lending Program. Emerson College’s participation in the Direct Loan program means that all federal loans for Emerson students and parents must be processed through the program.
   
   
4. What do I have to do to obtain a Stafford Loan under the new program?
   
   Initially all students wishing to take a Stafford Loan will have to complete a new Master Promissory Note (MPN). Even if you already completed one with a prior lender, you have to complete a new Direct Loan MPN.
   
   You will receive instructions via email and U.S. Mail from our office on how to complete the MPN process online. You will need your FAFSA PIN to complete the online Direct Loan MPN.
   
   You will be offered a Stafford Loan on your 2010-2011 Emerson College Financial Assistance Award Statement. Once you sign the Financial Assistance Award Statement accepting the loan, the College will process your loan through the Direct Loan program. The funds will disburse to your student account once the semester begins.
   
   
5. What are the interest rates and fees for Direct Loans?
   
   The interest rate and fees are different under the DL than they are under the current FFEL program.  Starting July 1, 2010:
   
   

   Loan Type	Interest Rate for 2010-11	Origination Fees using rebate*
   Subsidized Stafford Loans for Undergraduate Students	4.5%	0.5%
   Subsidized Stafford Loan for Graduate Students	6.8	0.5%
   Unsubsidized Loans for ALL students	6.8	0.5%
   PLUS Loans for Graduate Students and Parents	7.9	2.5%

   
   * Direct Loans offer a .5% rebate on Direct Stafford Loans and a 1.5% rebate on Direct PLUS loans.  The rebate is given to the borrower when the loan is disbursed to lower the upfront fees.  It is contingent on the borrower making their first 12 payments on time.  If the borrower fails to make their first 12 payments on time then the previously rebated amount is added to the principal of the loan.
   
   
6. Do I have to do another entrance interview?
   
   No, if you have borrowed a Stafford or Graduate PLUS in the past, you do not have to complete another Entrance Interview. If you are borrowing for the first time at Emerson, then you will be contacted to complete an Entrance Interview.
   
   
7. What happens to my existing loans from the FFEL program?
   
   Any previous loans you borrowed through the FFEL program will be serviced by the lender/servicer you selected when you signed your original MPN. Many FFEL loans were sold to the Department of Education, so pay close attention to any letters and mailings you may have received.
   
   After graduation you have a choice to make FFEL payments to your previous lender(s) and Direct Loan payments to the Department of Education, or you can consolidate your loans into one payment with the Department of Education. Please visit the Department of Education's website for more information about Loan Consolidation.
   
   
8. Do my repayment options change?
   
   The Direct Loan Program offers more repayment options than the FFEL program. Under Direct Lending there are 5 repayment options. Please read more about the options including the new Income-Based Repayment (IBR) and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
   
   
9. How does this affect parent borrowers of Parent PLUS Loans?
   
   Under the Federal Direct PLUS loan program, parents may borrow up to the full cost of their student’s education minus any other financial aid received. Credit checks are required just as they were through the FFEL program.
   
   Parents cannot apply through any lender other than the Department of Education. Applying through multiple lenders will cause unnecessary hits on your parents’ credit report and delay the loan’s processing. Beginning May 1, Direct Parent PLUS loan application instructions will be provided on Emerson’s website.
   
   
10. How does this affect graduate students wishing to borrow Graduate PLUS Loans?
    
    The Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan may be used to borrow up to the full cost of education minus any other financial aid received. Credit checks are required just as they were through the FFEL program.
    
    You cannot apply through any lender other than the Department of Education. Applying through multiple lenders will cause unnecessary hits on your credit report and delay processing of your loan. Beginning May 1, Direct Graduate PLUS loan application instructions will be provided on Emerson’s website.
    
    
11. How can I get more information on Direct Lending?
    
    For more information on the Federal Direct Loan Program, please visit the Department of Education’s website or Emerson's loan information webpages.

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Contact: Andy Tiedemann, 617.824.8541

After 17 Years in Office, Emerson College’s Jacqueline Liebergott Announces She Will Step Down as President in June 2011

After serving 17 years as president and overseeing the creation of a new campus, a 55 percent increase in enrollment, and the creation of major new academic programs, Emerson College's Jacqueline Liebergott announced today that she will step down as the school's president on June 30, 2011.

"Emerson has been at the center of my professional life for nearly four decades," said Liebergott, who came to the College as a faculty member in 1970 and later became an academic dean and vice president. "I've experienced the joy of teaching, the satisfaction that comes from publishing research, and the challenge of administering a complex institution. At every step of the way, I have enjoyed friendship and support from colleagues, Trustees, alumni, parents, students, and so many others. Whatever I may have contributed to Emerson, it has given me so much more."

Liebergott, who has served as president since 1993, told an assembly of students, faculty, staff and Trustees that she reached her decision "with mixed emotions but with a firm belief that it is the right course of action for the College and for me." She said she was announcing her decision at this time to provide ample time for the College to conduct a national search for her successor.

Liebergott assumed the presidency several years after the failure of an ill-conceived plan to move the college from Boston to suburban Lawrence. At the time of her appointment, the institution was financially unstable and faced an uncertain future.

Working with the Board of Trustees and supported by faculty, staff, alumni and city officials, the administration implemented a bold plan to relocate the College from the Back Bay to the Theatre District and create a state-of-the-art campus. The initiatives have restored the College's financial stability as evidenced by the upgrading of its bond rating from junk bond status in 1993 to a Standard and Poors A- investment rating in 2009.

The relocation plan revitalized the neighborhood adjacent to the Boston Common and included the purchase and renovation of four buildings; restoration the historic Cutler Majestic Theatre; and construction of three new buildings, including the Paramount Center on Lower Washington Street, which will open in 2010. All told, the College has invested $450 million in the Theatre District and increased its facilities space from 400,000 square feet to a million square feet.

Plans are underway to build an academic-residential center in Hollywood, California, to house the school's 12-year-old Los Angeles Program, support its burgeoning alumni network, and bolster its West Coast student recruiting efforts.

Beyond bricks and mortar, Emerson under Liebergott's leadership has created two new schools and an institute for liberal arts, nearly doubled the size of its fulltime faculty, and added new programs, including a master of fine arts in media art, a masters in health communication with Tufts Medical School, a masters in publishing, a bachelor of arts in marketing communication, and an undergraduate program in business and entrepreneurial studies.

The new facilities and academic enhancements have led to a nearly four-fold increase in applications for admission, and a 55 percent increase in enrollment. The academic profile of the student body has been improved, and the percentage of students who graduate in four years has increased from 52 percent to 80 percent.

Emerson's efforts have been hailed by city officials, business and civic leaders, and the news media. A 2003 Boston Globe editorial praised "Emerson's Transformation." A 2006 cover story in the Boston Globe Magazine declared that Emerson has come "Out of the Shadows" and taken its rightful place among the many fine colleges and universities in Boston.

Peter Meade, Chair of the Emerson Board of Trustees, praised Liebergott's accomplishments as "unprecedented in the history of our college and unsurpassed by any other institution of higher learning." He added, "We will be forever grateful for the remarkable job she has done."

Meade said the Board will undertake an intensive national search "to find a new leader who can build on the solid foundation Jackie has established and take the college to ever greater heights."

Founded in 1880, Emerson is the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts context. It enrolls nearly 4,000 students from 48 states and several dozen countries.

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Contact: Andy Tiedemann, 617.824.8541

EMERSON FACULTY AND STUDENTS PLAY INTEGRAL ROLE IN HOSTING AEJMC NATIONAL CONFERENCE

BOSTON (August 5, 2009) – Nearly 2,000 journalism educators and professionals will convene at Emerson for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC) prestigious annual conference, held through Aug. 4-8. The internationally recognized AEJMC supports education and standards within the field of journalism and mass communication. Faculty and students from Emerson College, the only four-year private college in the United States devoted to communication and the performing arts, have worked closely with the AEJMC on several activities at this year’s conference. The College’s involvement ranges from orchestrating a keynote speaker to using current students as exclusive conference reporters through a partnership with UPI.

“We have collaborated with AEJMC for the past year to plan a dynamic conference that showcases our home city as well as the diverse talents within the Emerson community,” says Janet Kolodzy, associate professor of journalism at Emerson College and a host committee member. “We are excited to help fuel the discourse on the future of journalism, something we all discuss broadly in classrooms and face through our practice daily in this era of digital media.”

On the conference opening night, Carole Simpson, the leader-in-residence at Emerson since January 2007, will offer the keynote address along side her daughter and fellow journalist Dr. Mallika Marshall. For the past 40 years Simpson has been a pioneer among African-American women in the field of journalism. Following her retirement from ABC News in 2006, she joined Emerson as a full-time faculty member. Simpson and Marshall, medical reporter for Boston’s- WBZ-TV, will lead a discussion titled “She Said, She Said… and It’s a Wrap,” around trying to balance career, home life, and the changing nature of journalism within the current economy and media culture.

Concurrent with Emerson’s commitment to cooperative learning, during the course of the conference, a select group of students will have the exclusive opportunity to work directly with visiting UPI editors, making the school’s labs an AEJMC “newsroom.” UPI has been working with the AEJMC to promote UPIU, a platform that bridges the divide between the media industry and the media academia. For the conference, seven Emerson students will work with UPI print and video editors to gain professional newsroom experience and post stories on the UPIU.com and aejmc.org websites. These “real time” reports will allow AEJMC members to learn from a variety of sessions, virtually allowing one to be in more than one place at once.

“We’re excited to be working with these Emerson students in the AEJMC newsroom. It should be a good experience for all of us,” says Marcy Kreiter, managing editor for UPI NewsTrack.

While often recognized as the birthplace of the American Revolution, Emerson Professor Emmanuel “Manny” Paraschos has discovered that Boston is also the birthplace of American Journalism. He has thoroughly researched and published on Boston’s deep journalism’s roots—the first three, and five of the first seven, newspapers in North America were published in Boston—and especially for this conference, has created “The Boston Journalism Trail.” This multi-page booklet will be handed out to the AEJMC conventioneers to showcase the visual “trail” of journalism in the host city. The pamphlet and more on Paraschos’s research can be found on the Web at http://journalism.emerson.edu/journalismtrail.

Finally, Emerson will also provide space for a meeting of the Radio Television Journalism Division (RTVJ) of AEJMC. On Thursday, August 6 broadcast educators from around the world will convene at the Huret Gallery (6th floor, Walker & Tufte) from 6:45 to 9:00 p.m. to discuss the status of broadcast media and tour Emerson’s journalism facilities.

“From administrative staff volunteers and students to professors leading panel discussions, the College has been actively involved in this international event,” says Kolodzy. For a full schedule of events, all under the AEJMC’s 2009 theme of “Survive and Thrive in Journalism and Mass Communication,” visit http://www.aejmc.org/_events/convention/09convention/index.php. A sampling of programs that include Emerson faculty include:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4

• Assoc. Prof. Janet Kolodzy, workshop panelist: Small Programs, Big Opportunities: New Ideas and Practices for Convergent Classes & Curriculum (1 p.m.)

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5

• Assoc. Prof. Janet Kolodzy, co-moderator of panel: “(Ad?)Ventures in Online Journalism: New Ideas, New Ways of Doing Business” (11:45a.m.)
• Assoc. Prof. Melinda Robins, discussant for Intl. Communication Div. research session : Beyond the Visual and Written Message: A New Dialog in Media Identities & Representations (10 a.m.)
• Leader-in-Residence Carole Simpson (with Daughter WBZ-TV medical reporter Mallika Marshall) She Said... She Said - And It's a Wrap: Navigating Today's Changing Media Landscape (6:45 p.m.)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6

• Asst. Prof. Mark Leccese, paper presentation: Civic/Citizen Journalism and the Political Realm (8:15 a.m.)
• Assoc. Prof. Jerry Lanson & Asst. Prof. Paul Niwa, panel participants: “Should the Changing Means of Delivering News Redefine Reporting, Commentary, and Opinion?” panel (6 p.m.)
• Emerson hosts RTVJ division meeting (6:45 p.m.)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

• Asst. Paul Niwa, paper presentation Sourcing Within Ethnic Media (8:15 a.m.)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

• Asst. Paul Niwa, paper presentation Source Diversity within Hyperlocal Reporting (11:45 a.m.)

About the AEJMC
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is a non-profit, educational association of journalism and mass communication faculty, administrators, students and media professionals. Dedicated to promoting the highest standards for education, the Association provides an abundance of resources for news, research and career opportunities, including a multicultural network of practitioners from every discipline of journalism and mass communication.

Founded in Chicago in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. Today, the Association has some 3,600 members around the world. AEJMC conventions attract more than half these members each year to various destinations throughout the United States and Canada.

For more info about the AEJMC annual conference, you can look for live updates on:

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Contact: Andy Tiedemann, 617.824.8541

Robert J. Orchard named Emerson College’s Executive Director for the Arts

BOSTON (July 29, 2009) – Emerson College President Jacqueline W. Liebergott announced today that acclaimed theatrical producer Robert J. Orchard will become Emerson’s first executive director for the arts.

He will also hold the Stephen G. Langley Chair in Theater Management and Production in the Department of Performing Arts. The chair was established by Emerson alumnus Stephen Langley, who was director of the theater management program at Brooklyn College and author of the field’s primary text, Theater Management and Production.

Orchard celebrated his 30th year with the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) this past June after serving as founding managing director for 21 years and subsequently as executive director of the A.R.T. and the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, and director of the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard University. He announced his intention to retire from these roles earlier this year. Orchard will join Emerson on October 1.

“Rob has tremendous vision and exciting ideas about the ways in which Emerson can expand our already many great contributions to the performing arts and to the cultural vitality of Boston,” said President Liebergott. “We are honored that he has decided to join our community.”

In his new role, Orchard will develop long-term plans for professional performing arts programs that will take place within Emerson College’s venues in downtown Boston, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre and the Paramount Center, which remains under construction but will open in a limited way in January 2010.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to bring Rob Orchard into the Emerson family,” said Ted Cutler ’51, chair of Emerson’s Boston Arts Committee and a trustee emeritus. “The future Paramount Center, combined with the existing venue at the Majestic, will establish exciting new possibilities for the performing arts at Emerson in Boston. Rob’s background and abilities fit perfectly with our goals for the future.”

The Majestic Theatre is named in honor of Joan and Ted Cutler.

“For more than 35 years, Rob Orchard has been one of the most successful and respected managing directors in the American theater, first at Yale Rep and then at the American Repertory Theatre,” said Emerson College’s Dean for the School of the Arts Grafton Nunes. “Emerson is truly fortunate to benefit from his management brilliance and passionate commitment to theatrical art, creating a merger of high-level presentation and creative production that will galvanize the cultural life of this great city and enrich the education of Emerson’s students.”

Located on Boston Common in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson is the only four-year private college in the United States devoted to communication and the performing arts. With 3,000 undergraduates and 900 graduate students from across the United States and 40 countries, Emerson is teaching the next generation of leaders in communication and the arts. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 60 student organizations and performance groups, 15 NCAA teams, student publications, honor societies, television stations including the Emerson Channel, and WERS-FM, Boston’s award-winning noncommercial radio station.

The College is internationally known for its study and internship programs in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., the Netherlands, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic.

“I’m drawn to Emerson because of the quality of the faculty and students and its focus on arts, communication, and innovation,” Orchard said. “Now, with the pending opening of the Paramount Center, coupled with the restoration of the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Emerson has provided yet another gift to the community: a range of major public performance venues unmatched by any organization in the area. The challenge will be to create public programs for these theaters that enhance the local cultural landscape and extend Emerson’s already distinguished record nationally and internationally.”

Before 1979, he was managing director of the Yale Repertory Theatre and School of Drama, where he also served as associate professor and co-chairman of the Theatre Administration Program.

At the A.R.T. he has produced more than 200 works, including new plays by Nobel prize winners Dario Fo and Derek Walcott; composers Philip Glass, Rinde Eckert, John Moran, David Byrne, Liz Swados, Galt MacDermot, Paul Dresher, and Richard Peaslee; and playwrights Jules Feiffer, Carlos Fuentes, Robert Brustein, Marsha Norman, Christopher Durang, Milan Kundera, Arthur Kopit, Karen Finley, Larry Gelbart, David Henry Hwang, Susan Sontag, Charles Mee, David Mamet, Anna Deavere Smith, David Rabe, Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel, Steve Martin, Sam Shepard, and Lisa Krone.

He has also worked with many of the world’s most respected directors including: Andrei Serban, Robert Brustein, Peter Sellars, David Wheeler, Joanne Akalaitis, Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman, Anne Bogart, Tina Landau, David Gordon, Francesca Zambello, Marcus Stern, Scott Zigler, Robert Woodruff, Kate Whoriskey, Jonathan Miller, Janos Szasz, Chen Shi-Zeng, Dominique Serand, and Martha Clarke, among many others.

In addition, he has overseen tours of A.R.T. productions to major festivals in Edinburgh, Avignon, Belgrade, Paris, Madrid, Jerusalem, Venice, São Paulo, Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, Moscow, and Hong Kong, among others. Under his leadership, A.R.T. has performed in 81 cities in 22 states, and worldwide in 21 cities in 16 countries on four continents. A number of A.R.T. premieres have also enjoyed an extended life on Broadway.

For nearly 25 years, Orchard has been active facilitating exchanges, leading seminars, and advising on public policy with theater professionals and government officials in Russia and Eastern Europe. He served as the architect for the A.R.T. Institute and its relationship with the Moscow Art Theatre School.

Under his leadership the A.R.T. has garnered many of the nation’s most distinguished awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, and in May 2003 it was named one of the top three theaters in the country by Time magazine.

Orchard has served as chairman of both the Theatre and the Opera/Musical Theatre Panels at the National Endowment for the Arts, on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Arts Alliance, the national advocacy association for the performing and visual arts, and as a trustee of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for the American professional theatre and publisher of American Theatre magazine. In addition, he has served on the Board of the Cambridge Multi-Cultural Arts Center and as president of the Massachusetts Cultural Education Collaborative. In 2000, Orchard received the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence.

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Contact: Andy Tiedemann, 617.824.8541

Emerson College reaches agreements with Massachusetts; New York

Emerson College announced today that students who obtained loans from three financial institutions designated as "preferred lenders" between 2004 and 2006 will receive a payment under agreements (known as "Assurances of Discontinuance") reached by the College with the Attorneys General of Massachusetts and New York.

The payments, which range from $25 to $833 depending on the amount borrowed, will total $780,000, be made to approximately 4,000 students, and have already been processed. Students who have graduated will be mailed a check, while continuing students will receive tuition credit.

The students receiving payments were recipients of federal Stafford loans from Citizens Bank and Chase during the 2004–2005, 2005–2006, and 2006–2007 academic years, and recipients of private loans from Education Finance Partners (EFP) during the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 academic years.

Vice President for Communications Andy Tiedemann said the College's acceptance of the agreements "does not constitute an admission by Emerson of any fact or noncompliance with any state or federal law, rule, or regulation." He noted that the College cooperated fully in the investigations and has implemented all of the program changes that the Attorneys General have recommended, including adoption of a strict code of conduct governing the activities of its student financial aid staff.

The agreements result from an investigation into Emerson's past administration of its student loan programs between 2004 and 2006.

"We are committed to helping students and parents meet the costs associated with pursuing higher education in a forthright and ethical manner by providing them with factual information and access to a full range of federal, state, and institutional financial aid programs," Tiedemann said. "We no longer recommend specific lenders. Our goal continues to be guiding families through the financial aid process and helping students obtain financial assistance under the most favorable terms available to them."

Emerson College has made answers to frequently asked questions about the agreements available on the Office of Public Affairs website.

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