The first round of grants from the Innovation and Re-Investment Fund have been awarded.  The Programs Task Force received 22 proposal submissions with combined funding requests in excess of $1.4 million. 

Nine proposals will receive funding.  Those receiving funding are listed below in alphabetical order by department/area:

Archeology and Art History - Coordinator to expand department’s social media presence and enhance recruitment by outreach to prospective students, alumni, and colleagues $5,000

Center for Adult Education - Increased program offerings in the CAE (e.g., accelerated hybrid degree; learning-in-retirement) managed by an Associate Director $142,000

Enrollment Services - Implementation of Customer Relation Management (CRM) software to coordinate student recruitment $50,000

Health Services Administration - Increase graduate student recruitment in HSA through increased staff support, travel, and marketing $18,928

Honors Program - Enhance student recruitment to Honors program through summer Harlaxton Honors Fellowships $38,000

Neuroscience  - Create neuromarketing laboratory to attract students and generate revenue through neuromarketing services $15,000

Physical Therapy - Increase enrollment in the DPT program through increased faculty and staff support $15,000

Retention (Admissions and Financial Aid) - Increase student retention by creating and supporting Director of Student Retention, student mentors, and advisors $128,000

Theatre - Increase local student visits to campus and exposure to UE through theatre outreach to area high schools $11,435

Congratulations to these receiving funding!  The submission deadline for round two is September 1.  

Greg Rawski has been appointed dean of the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration at the University of Evansville. 

“We’re very excited that Greg Rawski, who has served as interim dean this past year, has agreed to become the Dean of the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration,” says UE president Thomas A. Kazee.  “Greg brings a remarkable level of energy and vision to the position, and I’m confident that we’ll see great things happening in the Schroeder School in the years ahead.”

Rawski earned his Ph.D. and his M.B.A. in international business from the University of Toledo, and his B.A. in business administration from Bluffton University. He came to the University of Evansville in 2005 as an assistant professor of management, later taking on the position of associate dean in the Schroeder School of Business.

While at UE, Rawski has had a strong vision for a successful business program preparing students for their future in a global environment. Well-known for innovative and experiential learning in his classes, Rawski has connected students with regional companies including Toyota Motor Manufacturing and Koch Enterprises. His classes have performed community service projects benefiting 9-11 relief effort, tornado victims, the American Red Cross, and the YMCA. Rawski has been recognized as a Global Scholar, and has received the Exemplary Teacher of the Year award, the Berger Award for scholarship, and the Dean's teaching and research awards.

“It is an honor to serve as the Schroeder Family Dean and continue our momentum,” says Rawski. Recently the Schroeder School’s accounting and finance programs were ranked number 1 in the nation among 500 small universities by Master of Finance Degrees. Our Schroeder school faculty are excellent teachers and our job placement rate is one of the best in the Midwest at 98 percent. Several of our students are starting careers with salaries over $50,000 in the market.”

To learn more about Greg Rawski and the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration at UE, visit www.evansville.edu/majors/business
 

The UE Bookstore will have a Summer Session I buyback on Thursday and Friday, June 18 and 19, during normal store hours for any student wanting to sell back any book regardless if used on this campus. You're welcome to bring in any book for a quote and you'll get cash on the spot. 

The University of Evansville has approved a new undergraduate major in health communication that will enable students to develop communication skills that can be applied specifically to careers in the health field. UE will be one of the few universities that offer an undergraduate major specifically in health communication.

The health communication major will give students the basic knowledge and skills needed to go on to careers in advertising, public relations, journalism and multimedia production specifically in the health field. It will also give students an understanding of areas related to public health and health services where this knowledge can be applied. It will provide practical experience to students through internships with professional organizations in the health field.

Specific areas that health communication majors will be exposed to include:
Provider-patient communication
Heath care organization communication
Risk communication / Crisis communication
Strategic health communication campaigns
New communication technologies (eHealth)

Careers in which expertise in health communication can be applied include:
Patient advocacy
Health care marketing
Public health campaign specialist
Health education specialist
Risk communication specialist
Health publication editor/reporter
Health information manager

Advances in communication technology and the growth of the health industry have created an environment for health communication to become one of the fastest growing areas in the field of communication. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects job growth in areas related to health communication will be faster than average from 2012-2022.

For more information on IE’s new health communication major, visit: www.evansville.edu/majors/communication/healthcommunication.cfm

UE’s new health communications major joins a rich selection of health profession programs offered at the University, including health services administration, physical therapy, physical therapy assistant, and nursing. Another addition will be the Physician Assistant program, slated to begin in 2017. Physician assistants are nationally certified and state-licensed health care professionals who provide direct patient care and work as part of a physician-led team in delivering a broad range of diagnostic, therapeutic, preventative, and health maintenance services. They work in diverse medical and surgical specialties including family and internal medicine, emergency care, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery and sub-surgical specialties, and mental and behavioral health care. PAs work in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, clinics, physicians’ offices, and other health care facilities. For more information about the profession visit www.aapa.org.

The Bureau of Labor projects that the job outlook for physician assistants is very strong. Their estimate is for employment of physician assistants to grow 38 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all occupations. For more information visit www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm.
 

The University of Evansville has been awarded a Ball Brothers Foundation Venture Fund Grant of $22,000 for its newly instituted Neuromarketing Research Center. Through the Neuromarketing Research Center, interdisciplinary student teams serve clients by testing responses to various marketing elements and tactics using leading-edge neuroscience techniques.

“The Neuromarketing Research Center is a great example of the interdisciplinary training that occurs at the University of Evansville,” says UE associate professor of psychology Lora Becker.

UE assistant professor of marketing Atefeh Yazdanparast explains that neuromarketing is a relatively new research discipline that combines neuroscience with marketing.

“This emerging field goes beyond traditional tools of research and focuses on consumers’ reactions to marketing stimuli. We are proud to equip our students with neuromarketing research techniques, a valuable competitive edge in today’s dynamic and highly competitive market.”

The Neuromarketing Center is a part of the University’s successful GAP program.

“In this program,” explains Jill Griffin, executive director of the Institute for Global Enterprise, “undergraduates of all majors obtain real-world experience and build professional confidence while producing real results for actual companies.”

UE vice president of marketing Don Jones adds that “students and their business clients will both benefit from the unique insights delivered through this innovative approach. The Neuromarketing Research Center will facilitate the convergence of the latest ideas from neuroscience applied to the most challenging opportunities for business.”

The program will also offer opportunities for UE faculty and students to engage in neuromarketing research on a global level. Yazdanparast and Becker will kick off this global research with initial work in Australia and China this year.

The Ball Venture Fund was created in 1999 to enable the Ball Brothers Foundation to take an active role in encouraging and supporting creative efforts at Indiana’s independent colleges and universities. The program, administered by the Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI), provides seed money for innovative start-up programs at ICI member institutions.

The GAP Program is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
 

The annual Ohio River Sweep is this Saturday, and you can help! This annual cleanup for the Ohio River and its tributaries brings thousands of volunteers to the riverbanks to collect tons of trash and debris. River Sweep encompasses the entire length of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh, PA to its end in Cairo, IL, including nearly 3,000 miles of shoreline and many tributaries. Find out more at the UE Environmental Management Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/University-of-Evansville-Department-of-Environmental-Management/336316706575810?ref=hl 

The University of Evansville has a number of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) located across campus. They are located as follows:
• Ridgway University Center (main floor near information desk, relocated from Graves Hall)
• Koch Center (second floor near copier)
• Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building, McCurdy Wing (near main entrance)
• Hyde Hall/May Studio Theatre (main floor near elevator)
• Fitness Center lobby (behind main desk)

If you find yourself needing to use one of the campus AEDs, please follow the audible instructions that the machine provides. Also, contacting the Office of Safety and Security for assistance is highly recommended as Safety and Security also carries and AED with them in the Security vehicle. Safety and Security can be reached at its office number of 812-488-2051. Safety and Security’s emergency campus number is 812-471-6911.

Angela Williams, assistant director, Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, was part of the committee to bring nationally syndicated radio host, Tom Joyner, from the Tom Joyner Morning Show to Evansville on June 16 and 17, with The “Meet Every Listener Tour.” UE African American Alumni (UEAAA) members, Ed Lander ’91 (owner of WEOA AM/FM Radio) led the committee and Darin Lander’03 (manager) helped organize this two day community event. The tour included a Community Fair at the Ford Center and networking event at the Evansville African American Museum on June 17. The Community Fair consisted of local non-profit organizations and business w/ info related to job/training opportunities, education, financial literacy, and health and over 20 organizations were represented, including USI and Ivy Tech.

Many thanks to LaNeeca Williams from the Office of Diversity and Robert Galbreath, Office of Alumni summer intern, for working at the UE table and attending networking events with Angela. Thanks to the Departments of Admission, Marketing and Adult Education for providing resources. Several volunteers were solicited for upcoming UEAAA events, Admission Interest forms were completed and the Junior Achievement Organization was provided a space at the UE table to recruit UEAAA as volunteers.

Evansville is one of only 40 cities that will be visited by Joyner. Tom Joyner constantly stresses the importance of an education, and the Tom Joyner Foundation has raised more than $60 million to help keep students in colleges and universities. 

Professor Clark Kimberling and his English collaborator, Peter J. C. Moses, have a chapter in the Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference on Fibonacci Numbers and Their Applications, held last summer at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. The chapter is entitled "The Infinite Fibonacci Tree and Other Trees Generated by Rules". Another chapter on Problem Proposals, compiled by Professor Kimberling, appears in the same volume. The proposals are based on fourteen problems posed at the Conference. 

ProRehab and University of Evansville sports residents Jenna Gourlay and Michael Wehrhahn administered the Y Balance Test to professional hockey prospects at the 2015 NHL Combine in Buffalo, New York. The Y Balance Test was developed and extensively researched by Phil Plisky, UE assistant professor of physical therapy and Sports Residency Program director. The Y Balance Test is used test a person’s motor control as well as demonstrate functional symmetry and is used by professional, collegiate, and high school sports teams, US Military, industry, and researchers worldwide.

Emerita professor of creative writing Margaret McMullan wrote "Stepping Into the Fire: Helping A Student Write About Abuse" for the June issue of Teachers & Writers Magazine.

Based in New York, Teachers & Writers Collaborative (T&W) seeks to educate the imagination by offering innovative creative writing programs for students and teachers, and by providing a variety of publications and resources to support learning through the literary arts. T&W programs include writing workshops for students, professional development for teachers and educators, managing the NYS Poetry Out Loud competition, and publishing books and other resources about the teaching of creative writing.

You can read the article here:

http://www.teachersandwritersmagazine.org/stepping-into-the-fire-helping-a-student-write-about-abuse-1388.htm

McMullan retired from teaching at UE in May in order to write full time.

Professor of education Paul Parkison has had an article published in International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Course Design titled "The Impact upon Comprehension and Reading Tasks of Preservice Elementary Teachers Using a Web 2.0 Reading Extension."

Jeff A. Thomas, professor at the University of Southern Indiana, was the co-author.

This study explored the impact of using a Web 2.0 technology to augment and enhance the efficiency of face-to-face meetings and the amount and quality of time students spent out of class working with a reading assignment in an undergraduate science methods course. Treatment subjects (versus control subjects) used a discussion board style site called TitanPad® to respond to a journal prompt after reading an article and before attending a subsequent class to discuss the journal article. Results indicated that significantly more treatment students read the article and perceived that they more substantially contributed to a follow-up discussion. Results also indicated no significant differences between groups in the amount of time spent, between perceptions of being ready to discuss the reading material, and the groups' comprehension of the reading material. One inference was that with no additional time investment, instructors might increase student in-class participation using a Web 2.0 tool.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
www.igi-global.com/article/the-impact-upon-comprehension-and-reading-tasks-of-preservice-elementary-teachers-using-a-web-20-reading-extension/129964

To read a PDF sample of this article, click on the link below.
www.igi-global.com/viewtitlesample.aspx?id=129964 

A total of 11 University of Evansville baseball players will be playing in summer leagues in 2015. The Purple Aces will be represented in eight leagues and nine teams across the United States.

GoPurpleAces.com will be providing weekly updates on the UE players in summer leagues beginning next week.

PLAYER TEAM LEAGUE
RHP Ryan Brady Dodgers St. Louis Metro
RHP Nicholas Eggemeyer Hoptown Hoppers Ohio Valley
RHP Brian Jestice NW Indiana Oilmen Midwest Collegiate
RHP Brent Jurceka Waterloo Bucks Northwoods
C Billy Lipari Lima Locos Great Lakes
INF Stewart Nelson Sedalia Bombers MINK
1B Eric McKibban Terre Haute Rex Prospects
INF Jonathan Ramon Sedalia Bombers MINK
RHP Patrick Schnieders Anchorage Glacier Pilots Alaska
C Travis Tokarek Sedalia Bombers MINK
RHP Jimmy Ward DuPage County Hounds Midwest Collegiate

For all of the latest information on Evansville baseball, log on to GoPurpleAces.com or follow the team’s Twitter account @UEAcesBaseball.
 

University of Evansville senior Kevin Kaczmarski was named a Baseball America Second Team All-American and a D1Baseball Second Team All-American on Thursday afternoon.

This is the third All-American honor this week for Kaczmarski who also received the honor from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Wednesday. Kaczmarski was recognized as a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American in May.

On Tuesday, Kaczmarski was selected by the New York Mets in the 9th round (269th pick overall) in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday.

The UE outfielder leads all Division I baseball players in batting average (.465), triples (nine), and triples per game (0.20). He is also second in the nation in on-base percentage (.543), second in slugging percentage (.746), fifth in runs batted in per game (1.24), 20th in doubles per game (0.21) and 25th in total bases (138).

A Cary, Ill. native, Kaczmarski led the Purple Aces this season in batting average (.465), hits (86), doubles (19), triples (nine), home runs (five), runs batted in (57), total bases (138), slugging percentage (.746), on-base percentage (.543), stolen bases (13), and fielding percentage (1.000).

His .465 batting average is the highest in single season program history. Kaczmarski’s nine triples are second most for a Purple Ace and his 86 hits are eighth highest.

Kaczmarski was the Missouri Valley Conference’s Joe Carter Player of the Year this season, the first Purple Ace in program history to receive the honor. He was also named First Team All-Conference, and selected to the MVC All-Defensive Team this spring. A three-time MVC Player of the Week this season, Kaczmarski was also named NCBWA National Hitter of the Week (Apr. 28). He is on the Dick Howser Trophy Watch List, a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist, ABCA / Rawlings All-Midwest Region First Team, and one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.

In his career, Kaczmarski finished his time at UE second in doubles (66) and triples (22), fourth in runs batted in (171), fifth in batting average (.352), sixth in runs (169), and seventh in at-bats (841).

For all of the latest information on Evansville baseball, log on to GoPurpleAces.com or follow the team’s Twitter account @UEAcesBaseball. 

– University of Evansville senior Kevin Kaczmarski was recognized as a 2015 ABCA / Rawlings Second-Team All-American on Saturday morning.

This was the fifth All-American honor of the week, and sixth this season, for Kaczmarski. He also received the First Team honor from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Wednesday. Kaczmarski was also selected as a Baseball America Second Team All-American and a D1Baseball Second Team All-American on Thursday afternoon, as well as a Senior CLASS Award All-American on Friday. He was honored as a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American in May.

On Tuesday, Kaczmarski was selected by the New York Mets in the 9th round (269th pick overall) in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday.

The UE outfielder leads all Division I baseball players in batting average (.465), triples (nine), and triples per game (0.20). He is also second in the nation in on-base percentage (.543), second in slugging percentage (.746), fifth in runs batted in per game (1.24), 20th in doubles per game (0.21) and 25th in total bases (138).

A Cary, Ill. native, Kaczmarski led the Purple Aces this season in batting average (.465), hits (86), doubles (19), triples (nine), home runs (five), runs batted in (57), total bases (138), slugging percentage (.746), on-base percentage (.543), stolen bases (13), and fielding percentage (1.000).

His .465 batting average is the highest in single season program history. Kaczmarski’s nine triples are second most for a Purple Ace and his 86 hits are eighth highest.

Kaczmarski was the Missouri Valley Conference’s Joe Carter Player of the Year this season, the first Purple Ace in program history to receive the honor. He was also named First Team All-Conference, and selected to the MVC All-Defensive Team this spring. A three-time MVC Player of the Week this season, Kaczmarski was also named NCBWA National Hitter of the Week (Apr. 28). He is a Dick Howser Trophy Watch List Semifinalist, a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist, and ABCA / Rawlings All-Midwest Region First Team.

In his career, Kaczmarski finished his time at UE second in doubles (66) and triples (22), fourth in runs batted in (171), fifth in batting average (.352), sixth in runs (169), and seventh in at-bats (841).

For all of the latest information on Evansville baseball, log on to GoPurpleAces.com or follow the team’s Twitter account @UEAcesBaseball.