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TALENT SEARCH PROGRAM WINS FEDERAL GRANT
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $422,832 TRIO Talent Search Program grant to continue the University's Educational Talent Search program. The project offers outreach and assistance to low-income and potential first-generation college students in preparing for college.
Started in 1991, the Educational Talent Search, which is part of UA’s Academic Achievement Programs, currently serves 1,025 middle and high school students in the Akron Public Schools. The program provides academic, career and financial aid counseling; tutoring; exposure to college campuses; and assistance in preparing for college entrance examinations and in completing college admission and financial aid applications.
According to Nanci Self, who coordinates the Educational Talent Search program, the efforts made at UA complement what is being done by school guidance counselors.
“We work closely with area schools to encourage students in middle and high school to pursue a degree in higher education,” Self says. “The program provides workshops and activities to prepare students for college and then helps students through the admissions process.”
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RETIREES TO MEET
“Imagining Akron” will be the topic when David Lieberth, Akron’s deputy mayor for administration and chief of staff to Mayor Donald Plusquellic, is the guest speaker for the next meeting of the Association of The University of Akron Retirees.
The Oct. 9 luncheon will be held at the Martin University Center, Knight Rooms, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lieberth’s message will be especially significant as he will be addressing the issues of bonding the University community with the Akron community in the 21st century.
Those attending may bring lunch or order a box lunch from the Martin Center. Lunches must be ordered in advance — contact Ellen Dietrick at ext. 7243, or ellen1@uakron.edu by Oct. 7. Cost is $6, payable at the door. If you order and do not attend, you are responsible for payment.
Plan to join your retiree friends at the monthly luncheon series featuring campus and community leaders. Guests are welcome.
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ZIPFIT EXPANDS HOURS AND REDUCES FEES
ZIPfit, the personalized exercise program for faculty and staff, now offers extended hours and a reduced-rate semester fee.
The new hours are Monday and Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 7 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.; and Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Fees are $30 per month, or $72 for three months.
Described by one participant as a “health club on campus,” ZIPfit features cardiovascular equipment, including treadmills, bikes, rowers and stair climbers; exercise mats, balls, bands and rollers; and free weights, benches and a weight machine.
ZIPfit begins with a computerized fitness assessment, from which a personalized “exercise prescription” is developed by a certified fitness instructor. Graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of Sport Science and Wellness Education gain experience by working as ZIPfit personal trainers, assisting and advising participants during their workouts and charting progress. Every 90 days, the fitness assessment is repeated.
“ZIPfit can accommodate almost any fitness goal,” says Rachelle Kappler, the program’s director. “Whether you want to lose weight, get more energy, or just burn off some stress, this is an ideal place to do it.”
For more information, call ext. 6524, send an e-mail to kappler@uakron.edu , or visit the ZIPfit Web site at www.uakron.edu/avs/zipfit .
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INAUGURAL MEETING FOR NEOSA COMES TO CAMPUS
The University of Akron will help launch the Northeast Ohio Software Association’s Akron-Canton chapter by hosting the group’s inaugural meeting on Sept. 27 from 7 to 9 a.m. at Martin University Center.
The meeting is being co-sponsored by UA’s Division of Information and Instructional Technologies, Libraries and Institutional Planning, and The Bothwell Group of Westlake, a sales training and management company.
Thomas Gaylord, UA’s vice president for information and instructional technologies, libraries and institutional planning, is the featured speaker for the event. “The Miracle of Akron: Wireless Technology on the University Campus” is the title for his talk.
As the University’s chief information officer, Gaylord has spearheaded UA's recent wireless technology initiatives and PeopleSoft implementation. He also serves as a member of technology advisory committees for organizations such as Cisco Systems, WebCT and the Mayor’s Technology Task Force for the city of Akron.
NEOSA is a private, industry trade association formed in 1998. Members are area businesses with information technology operations and individuals involved in IT. The Akron-Canton chapter will focus on the application of technology to solve business problems.
NEOSA is a member of Ohio’s IT Alliance, a statewide network of partnering organizations located in six major metropolitan regions of the state. Collectively, each organization works together to improve Ohio’s IT industry and to keep the state competitive in today’s new economy.
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CONSTANCE BOUCHARD NAMED DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
Medieval historian Constance Bouchard has been named a distinguished professor of history at The University of Akron. Candidates for this honor must be a professor at the University for at least five years and excel in teaching and in scholarly activity or artistic performance at a level significantly beyond the expectations for the rank of professor.
Bouchard, who joined UA in 1990, has penned several scholarly books and articles. In April, the Ohio Academy of History awarded her its Outstanding Publication Award for her book, “Those of My Blood,” which focuses on medieval family structure.
She has received several other awards and honors as well, including a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for Independent Research, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and the 1997 University of Akron Outstanding Researcher Award. In 2001, Bouchard was one of the youngest members to be elected as a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. Nationally, only 2 to 3 percent of the academy’s members are elected “fellows” of this prestigious organization.
Stephen Harp, chair of UA’s Department of History, says Bouchard is one of a handful of leading scholars of medieval history in the United States.
“Connie Bouchard is an exciting teacher at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” Harp says. “Her publications are very impressive, both qualitatively, in redefining her field, and quantitatively, as she is extremely prolific. I am proud to call her my colleague.”
Before joining UA, Bouchard held teaching posts at the University of Chicago, the University of California-San Diego and Oberlin College. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Chicago.
This year, Bouchard will be a fellow at the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. Her latest book, “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted,” explores the tension between opposites in 12th century thought and will be published by the end of the year.
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WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION TO MEET
“Women’s Awareness: Personal Safety Tips That Every Woman Needs to Know” will be presented by Capt. Dennis MacFarland of University Police when UA’s chapter of Women in Higher Education meets for a brown bag luncheon on Oct. 8 at noon in the Gardner Student Center, Trustees Room.
Serving as officers for the 2002-03 academic year are president, Linda Marx, Office of International Programs; president-elect, Joyce Lott, Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies; vice president, Kate Clark, School of Communication; past president, Marcia Main, Engineering Cooperative Education Program; secretary, Peggy Lemmon, University Honors Program; treasurer, Mae Schreiber, University Libraries; membership chair, Cherie Madarash-Hill, University Libraries; and Web, Nettie Riddick, Resource Analysis and Budgeting.
Membership to The University of Akron Women in Higher Education is open to all past and present UA employees and their spouses. This includes faculty, staff, administrators, graduate and undergraduate students who have a concern about women’s issues in higher education and who support the stated goals, objectives and purposes of the organization.
The annual membership dues of $10 are used to provide book scholarships to women students. Dues are waived for student members. Meetings are typically held monthly at noon on campus. Additional information is available at www.uakron.edu/whed .
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STUDENT DESIGNERS HONORED
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) has honored UA’s Interior Design Program and its student chapter with two prestigious national awards — the Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year and the Student Chapter Newsletter of the Year. John Vollmer, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences, is the chapter adviser.
The UA chapter was recognized, in part, for its many programs during 2001-2002 that benefited the Akron community as well as its student members. The interior design students participated in such activities as the Good Samaritan Hunger Center’s Soup for the City program and in the Christmas in April program that provides much-needed home maintenance projects for the elderly and disadvantaged. The chapter also sponsored a student career day and a student trip to NeoCon South in Atlanta, a professional interior design trade show.
ASID recognized the chapter’s newsletter for its ability to reach students with important and useful information relevant to their continuing careers in interior design.
Part of UA’s School of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Interior Design Program has approximately 80 undergraduate majors as well as an advisory board composed of nine professionals who work in the fields of interior design and construction.
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