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College News
November 7, 2008
Duquesne University Honors Manteris with Mind, Heart & Spirit Award
William A. Manteris of Wexford was selected as the sixth of 10 individuals who will receive 2008 Duquesne University Mind Heart & Spirit Awards.
Mind, Heart & Spirit Awards recognize Duquesne alumni who exemplify the pillars of the University’s mission—academic excellence; moral and spiritual values; ecumenism and diversity; service; and world concerns. Manteris was honored for his contributions and accomplishments related to world concerns.
After serving for decades as a Beaver County dentist, Manteris retired and dedicated his time and attention to human rights activism. While earning his degrees from Duquesne, Manteris made trips to Central and Latin America to study economic and human development and to provide dental care to those in need. He has also participated in various medical mission organizations to provide dental care outreach overseas.
Last year, Manteris joined the staff of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh as their Free Health Care Center’s volunteer dental director. He was recognized in May with Catholic Charities’ Caritas Award for Leadership in recognition of his outstanding contributions as volunteer dental director of the health care center.
Manteris earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in 2001 and Master of Arts in Social and Public Policy in 2007 from Duquesne.
Duquesne’s Mind, Heart & Spirit honorees receive tickets to a Steelers game and congratulations on the Jumbtron scoreboard as well as in Steelers Radio Network gameday broadcasts. Manteris will be recognized during the Sunday afternoon game against Indianapolis on Nov. 9 at Heinz Field.
Duquesne University and the Steelers organization have partnered for several years to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of area students and the University’s graduates. The team’s founder, the late Arthur J. Rooney, Sr.; his son, Chairman Dan Rooney; and grandson and President Art Rooney II are all notable Duquesne alumni.
Source: Duquesne University, Pennsylvania
The band Nation Beat will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, in Alumni Hall.
Nation Beat blends the sounds of Northeast Brazil and Southern United States. Loping, sensual percussion rhythms, searing bowed-string melodies, sweetly-soaring slide guitar and heart-tugging vocals are the band's stock in trade.
Nation Beat's live show, which can burst into crowd-wide Carnival style drumming and singing, attracts bluegrass and country music fans, Brazilian music lovers and outdoor festival goers.
At the heart of Nation Beat's CD, "Legends of the Preacher," released by Modiba Productions in 2008, lies original 21st century fusion among thunderous Brazilian maracatu drumming, New Orleans second line rhythms, Appalachian-inspired bluegrass music, funk, rock and country-blues.
NPR's music writer Banning Eyre wrote in his review, "Nation Beat's sound raises provocative questions about how music evolves and changes and moves around the world. But it's best to ignore all that and just enjoy the sweet melodies and driving grooves." Eyre also wrote, "In Nation Beat's music, European, African and Latin sensibilities come together in the spirit of a Friday-night party after a week of hard work."
Nation Beat also will hold a workshop at 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall to educate people about its music and the instruments it uses.
The workshop and concert are free and open to the public.
Source: Quinnipiac University, Connecticut
October 30, 2008
Arizona State University Receives Federal Grant for Equity Assistance Center
The Mary Lou Fulton College of Education has received a federal grant to develop a regional Equity Assistance Center to promote equitable education opportunities for all children and assistance in the areas of civil rights, equity and access, and school reform.
Arizona State University Professors Elizabeth Kozleski and Alfredo Artiles are co-principal investigators of a three-year project supported by $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education Office. The grant was awarded through the Department’s initiatives to support Elementary and Secondary Education under Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The funding is designated to support civil rights training and advisory services for schools and communities to tackle equity and access issues in public education.
There are 10 equity assistance centers in the nation that are funded to ensure that all children, regardless of race, gender or national origin, have equal access to quality education and the opportunity to develop high academic standards in reading, math and other core subject areas. Region IX in the Southwest includes Arizona, California and Nevada.
“The equity assistance centers began in the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education. They have a grand tradition of working on issues of race, class and culture. We are thrilled to be able to do this work,” said Kozleski, an expert in systems change. “The Equity Alliance at ASU will join our other projects, including the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems and Leadscape, the national center that supports principal leadership.”
Key equity issues addressed by equity assistance centers include disparities in student achievement and outcomes based on race, sex, or national origin; limited expectations for minority and female students; increasing violence and racial and sexual harassment in schools; renewed physical segregation among and within school buildings; ability grouping or tracking that isolates students based on race, sex, or national origin; persistence of stereotyping and bias; cultural bias in instructional methods and assessment tools; inadequate bilingual/ELL programs and services and recruitment/retention of highly qualified teachers.
Kozleski and Artiles have spent their careers working to improve inclusive practices in urban school districts as well as to improve culturally responsive practices and reduce the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. Their goal has been to make education equitable for all students by understanding how to provide proactive, rather than reactive, educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students, including those with disabilities.
The Equity Alliance at ASU’s effort to reduce disparities in academic achievement will include providing on-demand professional development; the use of scientifically-based, culturally responsive curricula and instructional practices; and networks of school systems engaged in high-quality work focused on equity work. The goal is to build a local coalition between higher education, preK-12 systems, communities, and families to focus on systemic solutions to civil rights issues and serve as a clearinghouse of expert knowledge for practitioners in the field.
The center will provide technical assistance and training at the request of school boards and other responsible governmental agencies on the preparation, adoption and implementation of plans for the desegregation of public schools in Arizona, California and Nevada, including desegregation based on race, sex and national origin and the development of effective methods of coping with special educational problems occasioned by desegregation.
NIUSI/NCCRESt/LeadScape Project Coordinator Elaine Mulligan said, “I think it will really increase our visibility, and we’ll be seen as a leading resource for providing help to schools with issues regarding access to quality education. This fits right in with ASU’s philosophy of being a New American University and being at the forefront as a positive force in our mission for fairness in education and progress.”
Source: Arizona State University
Missouri State University has signed a contract to purchase the former Willow Brook Foods facility. The purchase will largely complete the initial footprint for the university’s IDEA Commons initiative.
Missouri State has agreed to purchase the Willow Brook Foods property at 405 N. Jefferson Ave. for $1,975,000. The 121,224-square-foot facility is located on 3.5 acres and includes approximately 161 parking spaces. Missouri State and Willow Brook hope to close on the sale within 6-9 months, but no later than June 30, 2009.
The university anticipates renovating the building as funds become available. One of the anticipated tenants will be the technology and construction management department. Other academic departments, including those from the arts, also are likely prospects.
“This is a very good purchase for the university in terms of the type of space, the location and the price,” said Missouri State President Michael T. Nietzel.
“This purchase fits with our overall philosophy of renovating existing facilities, it provides wide open spaces for several of our growing programs, and it helps complete the initial footprint for the IDEA Commons.
“Since the building was insured for $5 million and since the land is worth at least another $1 million, we feel like we got a good price for the facility.”
Nietzel said the funding for the purchase would come from the university’s one-time reserves, which currently stand at about $50 million.
About a month ago, the university purchased five properties from the City of Springfield to accelerate its development of the IDEA Commons in the city’s downtown area. IDEA Commons is Missouri State’s vision and commitment to create a new type of urban research park that is blended with residential, retail and entertainment facilities, and supported by various university programs. This unique project will bring together Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship and Arts (IDEA), by expanding on the success of the Jordan Valley Innovation Center and the expanding presence of the art and design department in Brick City.
IDEA Commons is a geographic area in downtown Springfield that will include locations for spin-off commercialization of technologies and university programs that will create an environment to generate creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for the benefit of the Springfield region. IDEA Commons is an example of how the university continues to be engaged in promoting the community’s livability and economic success.
Source: Missouri State University
George Mason University Chemistry Professor Abul Hussam was named an Outstanding American by Choice by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Hussam was recognized by Jonathan Scharfen, USCIS Acting Director, at a naturalization ceremony held on Mason's Fairfax Campus on October 21.
"Through his accomplishments, Dr. Hussam has made an outstanding contribution to humanity. His work here at Mason has made a difference for thousands of people in his native country and beyond, and I congratulate him on this further recognition of his achievements," says Mason President Alan Merten.
Hussam received the 2007 Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability Gold Award of $1 million from the National Academy of Engineering. The award recognized his innovative solution for removing arsenic from drinking water in developing countries. Hussam, a native of Bangladesh, developed the Sono Filter, an inexpensive household water treatment system, after discovering that the water in his own village was tainted with arsenic. The filter uses no electricity and is safe for the environment. He and his brothers have been manufacturing and distributing the filters in Bangladesh for about five years, and more than 30,000 of the filters are currently in use in households, schools and businesses throughout the country.
Hussam was also cited by TIME magazine as a Global Hero of the Environment for 2007.
Source: George Mason University, Virginia
What’s in a name? Plenty, if you’re trying to communicate what you studied in school to a potential employer.
The School of General Studies has changed its name to the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (IS).
Dr. George Fair, dean of the renamed school, says the change is about more than semantics.
“Our students are seeking a customized education that crosses traditional university degree-track boundaries,” said Fair. “Our new name better reflects our mission and purpose, and communicates it better to students, employers and other members of the University community.”
Interdisciplinary Studies includes Gender Studies, the Teacher Certification Program, Interdisciplinary Studies degree programs, the Academic Bridge Program and more. The school serves students with a wide range of career goals and prepares them with portable skills for a variety of industries.
Alumna Debrah Landa, General Studies ’79, is fully in favor of the change.
“I’ve been waiting for this day,” said Landa. “The name sounds more academic to me; it better describes the well-rounded nature of the education students receive with the school.”
The school helped Landa to realize her educational goals. Landa attended another college earlier in her life, but personal circumstances interrupted her studies.
When UT Dallas began to offer undergraduate degrees in 1975, she came to campus to learn whether her previous coursework would be accepted. The then-school of General Studies accepted her transfer hours, and after completing remaining coursework, she graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree.
“The program gave me an opportunity to discover what I was good at by exposing me to many areas of study,” said Landa. “I discovered I was good at marketing.”
Landa’s UT Dallas education has supported careers in real estate, public relations and radio. She is now part owner of the Artist’s Showplace gallery in Dallas.
The Interdisciplinary Studies name will be phased in, replacing the School of General Studies title on student, faculty and alumni materials.
“We’re excited about this change,” said Fair. “It brings a new energy to the school, energy that the school’s faculty and staff will use to serve the hundreds of students in our classes each semester.”
Source: The University of Texas at Dallas
Wentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth) offers a Bachelor of Science in Management through the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Management. The BS Management has been developed to prepare students for a range of business management career options, and students acquire the various managerial and analytical skills necessary to successfully administer human, natural, and technological resources within an organization. The curriculum covers finance, marketing, operations, organizational behavior, economics, and business law. Classroom studies are complemented by practical hands-on lab work and two required co-op work ... [more]
