From the September/October 2007 issue of e-Momentum
A new scholarship has been set up to memorialize a beloved staff member, John Szarlan, who made a difference in the lives of countless students as a counselor in the Institute for Teaching & Learning and before that the Office of Special Programs (formerly the Department of Counseling Services).
Jennie C. Szarlan established the John T. Szarlan Memorial Student Mentor Award in memory of her son, who died unexpectedly in May. The scholarship will support full-time sophomores, juniors and seniors who demonstrate academic achievement and volunteer as mentors in the First Year Experience program.
The purpose of the scholarship is to carry on Szarlan’s legacy and help the students he was committed to serving, explains friend and colleague Suman Singha, Ph.D., vice provost for academic administration. During his 13-year tenure at UConn, Szarlan, an educational psychologist, guided students toward brighter futures by teaching them effective techniques for studying, preparing for exams, managing time and handling the assorted pressures faced in college.
“The difference John made was in helping students make a successful transition to college,” says Singha. “John was committed to first-year students.”
Szarlan was one of the architects of UConn’s First Year Experience program, which has helped UConn achieve a 93-percent retention rate for freshmen. Among his academic writings, he co-wrote Case Studies for First-Year Experience Students. The book, published in 2003 and still used today, chronicles 100 case studies that demonstrate the academic, personal and social challenges new students cope with.
He also worked with faculty and staff across fields at UConn, teaching them how to modify their instructional techniques so that each student would benefit from their classes regardless of the students’ individual learning styles.
Szarlan was recognized for his work on local and national stages. UConn’s First Year Program honored him with the 1998–99 Outstanding First Year Experience Teacher Award. In 1998, he also was nominated for Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate, a national award sponsored by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.
Mrs. Szarlan says the mentor award will help continue her son’s important work.
“I think it will help students progress with their education and whatever their dreams are to become. John always thought if you study well and the right procedure is put forward, there’s no one who couldn’t reach their dreams,” says Mrs. Szarlan.
Singha adds that the scholarship is a fitting memorial for a champion of both UConn and undergraduates. “John was very, very fond of this institution and its students,” he says.
To support the John T. Szarlan Memorial Student Mentor Award, please contact the UConn Foundation at 860.486.5000.
