In preparation for the Higher Learning Commission Peer Review Team visit scheduled from February 29 – March 3, the HLC Steering Committee will hold two Open Forums for members of the campus community. Although a broad overview of the accreditation process will be presented, the forums will be informal and conversational, providing an opportunity for members of the UE family to engage in a dialogue about accreditation process and what to expect during the Peer Review visit. All faculty, staff, and administrators are encouraged to attend.

The final HLC Open Forum will be held today at 4:00 p.m., in Eykamp Hall, Room 252, Ridgway University Center.
 

Distinguished professor of piano Anne Hastings Fiedler will present this week’s faculty recital in Wheeler Concert Hall this evening at 7:30 p.m. Repertory for the recital will consist of two fantasies for piano: Mozart’s Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397, and Aaron Copland’s Piano Fantasy (1957). The concert is free and open to the public.

Outdoor enthusiasts, come to the Venturing Crew Spring open house today at 6:00 p.m. in Room 75, Schroeder School of Business Building! You will learn about upcoming activities this semester including extended outings and non-overnight events. Also, you will have the opportunity to sign up for trips as well as to become a member of Venturing Crew if you are not one already! Please note that all payments for trips must be paid in full and are non-refundable. There will also be more opportunities to sign up for events in the future. New memberships cost $25, and a membership and T-shirt bundle is $30. Without the purchase of a new membership, T-shirts will be for sale for $8. Nalgene water bottles will also be for sale for $9. If you are a Venturing Crew member or anyone who loves the outdoors, we look forward to seeing you at the open house at 6:00 p.m. today! To add to the excitement, there will be ice cream!

Start off the spring semester being organized with less stress and better grades. Attend a time management and study skills workshop held in the Writing Center, Room 153, Clifford Library, today, January 19, at 6:00 p.m. 

All are welcome to join the Newman Club on Monday, January 25, at 5:00 p.m. for its weekly Monday Night Dinner and Discussion. This week we welcome Kimberly Baker who will be discussing the role of women in the Church over the course of history.

Baker is assistant professor of church history at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. Her area of specialty is the theology and spirituality of the early church. She received her PhD in theology from Notre Dame, and her particular research focus is Augustine’s preaching on the life of the Church. Baker's interest in theology first developed during her two-year post-college service experience as a campus minister in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. More recently, she has been involved in cross-cultural mission and learning experiences in Haiti and Calcutta, India. She is co-chair of the planning committee for a leadership conference, “Women of the Church: Strength of the Past. Hope for Tomorrow,” planned for October 7-9, in Ferdinand, Indiana.

Chicken and gnocchi soup is on the menu this week, and we hope that you will join us for this evening of discussion and friends!

Please call/text Kristel at 812-760-8610 for more information!

Welcome back, students! We will be having the first I-House of the semester tonight at 7:00 p.m.! The topic will be the country of Syria, and the presenter is Ahmad Ismail. He is a biology major, and his favorite part about UE is that he has met so many different people. So stop on by and hear what he has to say about Syria! Make sure to mark it on your calendar.

The Honors Program is hosting Nerd Wars trivia night on Tuesday, February 16, at 7:00 p.m., in Eykamp Hall, Ridgway University Center. Teams of five, consisting of students, faculty, administrators, and staff, will battle in a competition of wit while enjoying pizza, popcorn, and soda. The winning student team and the winning faculty/administrator/staff team will receive $25 MasterCard/VISA gift cards.

Registration materials can be picked up in the Powell Honors Lounge or from Jayme Williams in Room 238, Koch Center for Engineering and Science. You can also register online by clicking here.

The entry fee is $5 per person.

Those who are unable to compose a team of five may still register and will be matched to make a team.

The registration deadline is Wednesday, January 27. Any questions can be emailed to Stephen at sl192@evansville.edu or Paige at ph89@evansville.edu.

Please join Scholars for Syria for an opportunity to learn more about the Syrian conflict and its related refugee crisis at a free lecture presented by Dr. Bashar Mourad on Thursday, January 21, at 7:00 p.m. at Aldersgate United Methodist Church. The event is free and open to the public.

After the lecture, brief presentations will be made by Road to Mafraq and UE's Scholars for Syria. Light dessert and coffee will be served.

Mourad was born and raised in Syria, graduated from medical school in Damascus University in 1986, and came to the United States in 1989. He trained in internal medicine in Chicago and in nephrology (kidney disease) in Houston at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a member of the Islamic Center of Evansville. Mourad is currently in private practice with Ohio Valley Nephrology in Owensboro. He has lived in this area with his wife Azza and children since 1997.

Road to Mafraq is a not-for-profit organization working to increase access to education and health care for children affected by conflict in the Middle East.

Scholars for Syria is an initiative founded by students and faculty at the University of Evansville. UE currently has 22 Syrian undergraduate students, one of the largest university percentages in the US. Starting in February, this group will be hosting a series of lecture/panel seminars informing the community about Syria: its history, politics, civil war, religion, and refugee crisis. The goal is to educate the community on how to understand the current conflict, help alleviate the suffering of refugees, and better support our UE Syrian students and their families both here and abroad.

For information on Scholars for Syria, call Gail Vignola at 732-239-4139.

There will be an information session on Thursday, January 21, at 6:00 p.m. in Room 250, Schroeder School of Business Building, regarding Gilman Scholarships and other scholarships for study abroad. You must be Pell Grant eligible to apply for the Gilman Scholarship. Questions? Contact bp66@evansville.edu.

The first PT Club meeting of the semester will be today at noon in Room 104, Graves Hall. If you are a new member or haven’t paid your dues for the entire year yet, please bring your $5 to the meeting.

Welcoming a new baby into your family can bring many questions about finances. Being prepared for the expenses of the first few months with your baby, costs for daycare, saving for college, and the overall costs for raising a child can leave parents feeling stressed.

That’s why St. Mary’s Hospital and the University of Evansville’s Institute for Banking and Finance are teaming up to help new parents and parents-to-be learn more about being financially prepared for a family.

The next session will be Wednesday, January 20, 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the St. Mary’s Gift Conference Room. Everyone is welcome. Attendance is free but registration is required. Call Terry Cooper, personal birth consultant, at 812-485-6016 or go online to stmarys.org/classes to reserve your spot.

A free Collegiate Career Expo is planned for Thursday, February 18 in Indianapolis, Indiana, with 130 employers expected to attend. The event is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) at the Downtown Indianapolis Marriott. The University of Evansville will provide bus transportation. There is a $10 deposit required that will be refundable upon attendance. Reserve your seat now (https://www.evansville.edu/careercenter/busReservationForm.cfm).

Fair registration is through UE JobLink (https://evansville-csm.symplicity.com/). Click the Jobs Tab -> CSM Jobs -> Posting #722253.

Find a list of registered employers here: http://cccc-in.org/event-2060555.

Need assistance with your job, internship, co-op, or graduate school search? Please contact the Center for Career Development: career@evansville.edu or 812-488-1083.
 

All individuals who wish to request and use a ladder on campus must be ladder certified by Risk Management. Ladder training will take place tonight at 9:00 p.m. in Room 162 (Harkness Hall), Schroeder School of Business Building. 

Please complete this registration to finalize your participation.

Participants will need to bring a pen or pencil to the training. Participants will watch a video and take a quiz. In order to get certified, participants must pass the quiz with 70 percent of the questions correct.

Feel free to share this link with any UE community member that you feel would benefit from this training.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Calvin Wertman at cw81@evansville.edu.

Apply to be an International Orientation Leader for the 2016-17 school year! The IOLs are a dynamic group of students who work to welcome new international students to UE in August and throughout the year. Develop your leadership skills, share your UE experiences, and meet new UE students from all over the world! We welcome both international students and students from the United States to apply.

Applications are available at the Office of Cultural Engagement and International Services on the second floor of Ridgway University Center in the Student Life Center. To be considered for the position, your application must be turned in by Friday, January 29.

Any questions can be directed to Megan Sicard at ms331@evansville.edu.

Starting Friday, January 15, open swim hours will be 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. during the week, and 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on weekends. 

Applications to become an RA for the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters are available in the Office of Residence Life and online.

Information sessions will be held in Room 172, Schroeder School of Business Building, at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20, Thursday, January 21, and Tuesday, January 26. Contact Betsy Whited at ew156@evansville.edu with any questions you have!

The University of Evansville, in pursuit of excellence in service, wishes to recognize a non-faculty employee displaying records of achievement as a leader. Leadership may be demonstrated in any of the following areas: service to the University, service to students, job performance, and attitude toward fellow employees. To be eligible, an employee must be a full-time member of administration or staff. Nominations for the February IMPACT Employee of the Month are due no later than Wednesday, January 20. To nominate someone, please go to acelink.evansville.edu/tools/employeeaward.

We are looking for outgoing, energetic students interested in becoming Orientation Leaders! If you love meeting new people and are passionate about UE, pick up an application packet January 12-25, during business hours in the Office of the Dean of Students, Ridgway University Center. Completed applications will be due back to the same office by 4:00 p.m. on January 25. Questions can be referred to Karen Martin at km306@evansville.edu or 812-488-2500.

Rami Malek ’03 received the Critics Choice award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series on Sunday night. Malek appears in the USA Network series, Mr. Robot. The show also earned a Critics Choice award, being named Best Drama Series. 

The College of Engineering and Computer Science received Professional Engineer exam results from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. The PE exam passing rate for UE civil engineering alumni was 90 percent (9/10) on the October 2015 PE exam, while the national average was 66%.

Over the past 10 years, UE civil engineering alumni have exceeded the national passing rate on the PE exam by about 20%.

Passing the PE exam is a requirement for professional licensure as an engineer in all 50 states. Professional licensure protects the public by enforcing standards that restrict practice to qualified individuals who have met specific qualifications in education, work experience, and exams. In the United States, licensure for the engineering profession is regulated by state law.

Riding a 13-game home winning streak, the University of Evansville Men’s Basketball team plays host to Loyola at 8:00 p.m. today in a game that will be carried live on the CBS Sports Network.

A superb defensive effort saw the Purple Aces hold the Redbirds to just 30.7 percent shooting as UE earned its first win at Redbird Arena since 2011, winning 66-55 on Friday evening. The Aces are now 5-1 in MVC play and 16-3 overall, it is the first 5-1 league start since 1999 when Evansville won six of its first seven games.

D.J. Balentine hit all 10 free throw attempts on his way to 25 points while Egidijus Mockevicius moved past Jerry Sloan into second on the all-time UE list with 20 rebounds. UE was outscored by a 33-8 margin in points off turnovers and second-chance points, but the difference came in shooting as UE hit 22 shots in 44 attempts, Illinois State hit one more shot in 31 more tries (23/75).

For the first time since joining the MVC, the Aces have won three games in a row by double figures. The last time UE won three league games in a row by a double digit margin came in the MCC in 1992-93. In that streak, UE defeated Loyola (108-70), Detroit (82-58), and La Salle (63-41).

The defending CBI champion Loyola are currently 8-10 on the season and 1-5 in the Valley. On Saturday at UNI, the Ramblers earned their first league win of the season, taking down the Panthers by a final of 51-41. Milton Doyle is the top scorer for the Ramblers, checking in at 11.3 points per game; he also leads the team with 60 assists. Next up is Montel James at 11.1 PPG; James was the leader in the win at UNI, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds and now has a team-best 6.5 caroms per game this season.

On January 24, a pep rally will be held prior to the University of Evansville Men’s Basketball game at Indiana State as the Purple Aces go for the season sweep against the Sycamores. Open to the first 200 fans to register with the UE alumni office, the cost is $20 and includes a game ticket, pep rally buffet, and drinks (lemonade and tea). There will also be a cash bar. Just a three minute walk to the Hulman Center, the pregame event will be held at the Indiana Theater, which is located at 683 Ohio Street in Terre Haute. It will run from 1:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. ET with a program starting at 2:45 p.m. The game against the Sycamores is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. ET. Fans can register at the link above by January 20. For more information, contact alumni@evansville.edu or call 812-488-2586.