The planned closing of Weinbach and Lincoln Avenue has been delayed and will now begin May 14. The intersection should reopen on May 21. The closure is part of the Weinbach Avenue water main project.

The Newman Center welcomes Fr. Christian Raab today at 5:00 p.m. All are welcome and dinner will be provided!  

Please join us tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Neu Chapel as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

There will be a short program of readings and musical selections, followed by a moment of silence at 7:05 p.m. – the precise moment when Dr. King lost his life in Memphis in 1968.  This event is free and open to the public.  It is being sponsored by the Department of Law, Politics, and Society, the Black Student Union, the Office of the University Chaplain, and the Office of Diversity Initiatives, along with other community partners.  Help us to honor this incredible civil rights leader, reflect on his important legacy, and consider ways that we can continue to work toward his dream of equal rights for all people.

Submitted by: Robert Dion, rd35@evansville.edu 

Can you build the biggest and best tower? Come find out at TKE's newest philanthropy, Teke Towers! Compete solo or with a team of friends against the whole University to see who can create the strongest and tallest tower out of the provided materials. All proceeds will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Teke Towers will take place from 5:00-8:00 p.m. TODAY - April 4 - just across from Chick-fil-A.

Submitted by Kenneth Rusk kr187@evansville.edu

The location of the Andiron Lecture planned for today - Wednesday, April 4 - has been changed to Room 170 (Smythe Lecture Hall), Schroeder School of Business Building. The event begins at 4:00 p.m. with a social gathering with beverage at 3:45 p.m.

The speaker will be Robert Shelby, assistant professor of sociology. His topic will be "Modern American Megachurches – Kaiju Religion?"

Shelby earned his PhD in applied sociology from the University of Louisville. He holds Master of Arts degrees in sociology from Western Illinois University and in communication and culture from Trinity International University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in youth ministry and biblical studies from Trinity International University. He specializes in the sociology of complex organizations, race and ethnic relations, and community organization. His research examines complex organizational structures germane to large Protestant churches. As an applied sociologist, Shelby has conducted program evaluations at prominent multi-sited megachurches. One study determined how “small groups” programming contributed to social cohesion for church attendees at Crossing Church (57th largest church in 2016). Another study consisted of a program process evaluation of a new member program at Southeast Christian Church (10th largest church in 2016).

American megachurches (Protestant Christian Churches with 2,000 attendees) have been compared to for-profit corporations, shopping malls, and even amusement parks. However, other than the dominance of its physical buildings (kaiju) and views on a range of social issues, little is known of its organizational structure. The present research examines the theoretical, empirical, and methodological approach of organizational density dependence theory (i.e., how the density of a population of organizations gains legitimacy, leading to establishment of more of the same, and whether competition curtails growth). Study hypotheses relating to legitimacy and competition effects were mostly unsupported by the findings; megachurch density was a broadly significant predictor. These findings suggest that megachurches operate differently than for-profit businesses. The study results also suggest that modern American megachurches require ongoing research using organizational theories.

For further information, call the series coordinator Annette Parks at 812-488-1070 or the William L. Ridgway College of Arts and Sciences at 812-488-2589.

Submitted by: Cheryl Emmons, ce36@evansville.edu

One of the great promises of Easter is light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overtake the light. In the stillness of the night, all are welcome to offer their prayers this Sunday at 9:30 p.m. in Neu Chapel at this brief, 20 minute "Night Prayer" service complete with silence, candle lighting, music, and readings.

Submitted by Keith Turner kt160@evansville.edu

The Easter celebration is not just a single day on the calendar but rather a 50-day season of celebration. University Worship will be celebrating Easter this Sunday at 11:00 a.m. in Neu Chapel, where we will hear the familiar story of "Doubting Thomas" and consider how "Blind Faith is Not An Option." All are invited to don their Easter outfit once again and worship with the Neu Chapel community! As always, donuts and coffee will be available before and after the worship service.

Submitted by Keith Turner kt160@evansville.edu 

From "Bel and the Dragon" to the "Gospel of Judas," there are many books that are not included in most Bibles. But why? Join our Fireside Chat tonight at 7:00 p.m. on the second floor of Ridgway University Center as we discuss "The Hidden Prophets: Exploring the Lost Books of the Bible." It is sure to be an exciting and engaging conversation! All are welcome and invited to attend!

Submitted by Keith Turner kt160@evansville.edu 

The TIAA-CREF representative will be on the UE campus for individual counseling sessions on April 18 and 19. To schedule an appointment, call TIAA-CREF at 1-800-732-8353.

Please note that the meeting location has been changed to Room 153 (Eades Music Room.), Schroeder School of Business Building

Submitted by Lori LeDuc ll138@evansville.edu 

Chi Omega Chi Epsilon is hosting a Giveback night at Q'doba to celebrate its Founder's Day today - April 5 - from 5:00-9:00 p.m. Show this flier when you pay! All proceeds will benefit the Chi Omega National Foundation.

Submitted by Austyn Stierwalt as765@evansville.edu

Want to visit a cool city and interact with students from all over the world? Sign up for the International Club's trip to Indianapolis on April 7!

The $20 price includes transportation, breakfast, one meal in Indianapolis, and activities! Payment is due when you sign up and is non-refundable

Sign-up today - Wednesday, April 5 - at one of the student organization tables on the first floor of Ridgway University Center.

Note: SPOTS ARE LIMITED so sign up soon!

Submitted by Duy Nhan Cao dc179@evansville.edu 

Our graduating creative writing majors will read from their poetry and prose, at the Coffee Hour Senior Reading event held in Eykamp Hall, Room 252, Ridgway University Center at 4:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, April 11.

The faculty will announce the winners of the Virginia Grabill Writing Awards and one selected senior will receive the George Klinger Memorial Prize for the creative writing department. Please join us for a delightful and often moving send-off to our graduating seniors.

The ChangeLab group, Yellow Earth, will be hosting a giveback night at the Buffalo Wild Wings on Pearl Drive from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 a.m.! Stop by for some delicious food! 

Come and join Phi Mu for milkshakes, music, and dancing as we jump, jive, and help the kids at Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. 

Each staff employee and their guest are invited to attend the Staff Appreciation Dinner at the Log Inn on Wednesday, April 11.  The social hour (cash bar and appetizers) begins at 6:00 p.m. and the dinner will begin at 7:00 p.m. Please join Dr. Kazee in the presentation of staff service awards and for the presentation of the Staff Employee of The Year Award.

Please RSVP to the Office of Human Resources no later than Wednesday, April 4. Feel free to contact Lori LeDuc at ext. 2943 if you have any questions.

PurplePalooza is back again! Join SAB on Friday, April 13 from 7:00-11:00 p.m. for an evening full of inflatables, rock climbing, food trucks, a professional beatboxer, UE student musicians, raffle prizes, customizable license plates, and so much more. Free for all UE students and Evansville community members. Come help celebrate UE’s Annual Day of Giving and Greek Week as well as kick off Bike Race weekend with SAB at this event.

Submitted by Megan King mk225@evansville.edu

Come join us on April 8 for an inspired afternoon full of art and food in the Memorial Plaza from 3:00-6:00 p.m.!

Submitted by Lily Renfro lr156@evansville.edu

On Friday, April 6 from 7:00-10:00 p.m., you can enjoy milkshakes as we dance the night away to help the kids! A ticket grants you admission to the Sock Hop and a milkshake with opportunity to purchase additional shakes.

Submitted by Kelly Nixon kn94@evansville.edu

The topic of the Scholars for Syria's 2018 Spring Speaker Series lecture today - Thursday, April 5 - will be "Immigration and Syria: Foundations and Consequences of the American Ethnic Hierarchy." The lecture begins at 6:00 p.m. in Room 162 in the Schroeder School of Business Building. The event is free and open to the public. The speaker will be UE assistant professor of sociology Rob Shelby.

Shelby will present the idea that Syrian refugees, like many minority groups before, encounter prejudice and discrimination as widespread negative perceptions persist in American social consciousness. Shelby earned his PhD from the University of Louisville in applied sociology, his graduate degrees in sociology from Western Illinois University and communications from Trinity International University. He earned his undergraduate degree in youth ministry and biblical studies from Trinity International University.

The audience will be invited to engage in conversation with Shelby and UE Syrian students in attendance at the lecture.

For more information on the speaker series, contact 812-488-2218.

This week is National Public Health Week and the Public Health Student Association (PHSA) is celebrating! A table will be set up in Ridgway University Center on Friday, April 6 from 11:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. Representatives from the AIDS Resource Group will be there to give information about HIV/AIDS, and members of PHSA will be there to discuss other public health issues that are relevant and important to ensure the health of our populations. So please join us!

Submitted by Su Jin Jeong sj117@evansville.edu 

UE will be sending a delegation to the National Affiliation of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) Conference on May 25-28 at the University of Arizona, Tempe. The deadline to submit an application to attend has been extended to 11:59 on Wednesday, April 4. The cost of attending is free. You can find the application here.

This event will have thousands of delegates from all over the country and the world in attendance. Needless to say, this conference would allow for unique experiences to learn, travel, network, grow as a person, and bring back new and exciting information that could be used to improve our own university.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Josh Baty at jb621@evansville.edu.

Submitted by Josh Baty jb621@evansville.edu

Two international students from Taiwan, Yen-Chun (Ryan) Luan and Jou-Hsin (Ariel) Ting, are visiting UE for a 4-week exchange experience. They will attend one of the first year DPT courses, PT421/521 Patient Management I: Musculoskeletal with DPT class 2020. In addition, they will complete a total of 60 hours of clinical observation in two local clinical sites. They will also work with student volunteers in Ace Care and ACErcise during their stay. Both Yen-Chun and Jou-Hsin are seniors from National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. UE will be the last rotation of their clinical training before they graduate with a bachelor degree in physical therapy in June 2018. They will have a presentation on clinical experience in Taiwan at 11:30 a.m., April 19 in Cokes lecture hall (Room 126), Hyde Hall. Please join us for the presentation.

Submitted by Jennifer Simon js698@evansville.edu 

This Friday - April 6 - is the last day to drop a class for this spring with a "W". NO EXCEPTIONS.

Drop slips are available in the registrar's office and you must have all required signatures. Please note - if you are dropping below 12 credit hours you must also obtain stamps from the financial aid office and student accounts.

Do not wait until the last minute as advisors may not be readily available due to SOAR on Friday.

If you have any questions, contact the registrar's office.

Submitted by Teresa Haller th227@evansville.edu

The 2018-2019 tuition remission forms are now available in the Office of Human Resources. You may also access the forms on the Human Resources page on MyUE at https://bit.ly/2GiJr0i, under the benefits tab.

Please contact the Office of Human Resources at ext. 2943 if you have any questions.

Submitted by Lori LeDuc LL138@evansville.edu

The Columbia Sportswear Company has invited all University of Evansville employees to shop at their exclusive employee store from March 30-April 22. The invitation, which is required to shop, is located on MyUE Human Resources Department  https://bit.ly/2GcdKph  under Employee Discounts. The store hours and address can be found on the invitation. Happy shopping!

Submitted by Lori LeDuc ll138@evansville.edu 

The Master of Public Health program is accepting applications for fall admission. Students may enroll on either a full-time or part-time basis, with a full-time student taking two years to complete the program. Total credit hours required for the master's degree is 44. If you would like more information, contact Payal Patel-Dovlatabadi at pp42@evansville.edu.

Submitted by Payal Patel-Dovlatabadi pp42@evansville.edu

During the period of March 28 through April 11, benefit-eligible employees may enroll or make changes in the University’s health, life, long term disability, and dental insurance, and ACES flexible spending account benefit plans. It is the only chance for benefit-eligible employees to enroll or make changes until the next open enrollment period unless you have a qualifying change in status.

Please review the documents in the Open Enrollment section of the MyUE portal at: https://bit.ly/2GcdKph, beginning with the open enrollment memo, for important announcements, reminders, and changes which will occur June 1 to the University’s benefits. 

We will once again utilize an on-line enrollment process, eliminating all paper enrollment forms for health, life, dental, and long term disability insurance, as well as the ACES flexible spending account. This will ensure the accuracy of your enrollment elections and maintain records electronically regarding your current and future participation.

Enrollment/changes to your TIAA and Emeriti VEBA Trust retirement plan salary deferrals will continue to be processed on paper forms available in the Office of Human Resources. Therefore, you do not need to re-enroll in the TIAA or Emeriti retirement plans.  ALL benefit eligible employees (including those who do not want to make any changes to their current coverage) must enter their elections by April 11. 

Please review the open enrollment memo and On-Line Benefit Enrollment Documents on the HR Area of the MyUE portal, which should answer many of the questions you might have about this system.   

Please contact the Office of Human Resources at ext. 2943 with any questions. 

Graduation will be here very soon. If you still need a cap and gown and/or graduation announcements, please stop by the UE Bookstore to allow yourself time to get everything by graduation. Contact the bookstore for questions.

Submitted by Doug Gustwiller dg57@evansville.edu 

Please return all materials for the 2018-19 Hartig Scholarship to the Office of Financial Aid by May 1. The decision will be announced by July 2.

If you have questions, contact the Office of Financial Aid at 812-488-2364 or financialaid@evansville.edu.

Submitted by Trisha Hawkes th187@evansville.edu 

Completed applications and recommendation letters for the 2018-19 Kahn Scholarship should be returned by April 15. Questions may be directed to the Office of Financial Aid at 812-488-2364, 800-424-8634 or financialaid@evansville.edu.

Submitted by Trisha Hawkes th187@evansville.edu 

Applications for the 2018-19 Margery Florence Kahn Scholarship are now available.

It was the desire of the donor, Margery Florence Kahn, that her scholarship be awarded to "dedicated and conscientious students who exhibit a true passion for their chosen fields of study, and who, in the opinion of the members of the University of Evansville faculty, are likely to bring the same enthusiasm into the performance of their jobs or the practice of the professions which they will pursue following graduation."

All University of Evansville full-time undergraduate students who will be juniors or seniors in 2018-19 may apply. An essay of about 300 words must accompany the application, along with two to five faculty recommendation letters.

Applications are available from the Office of Financial Aid (Olmsted Hall 116).

Completed applications and recommendation letters should be returned to the Office of Financial Aid by April 15.

You may also request application materials by e-mailing financialaid@evansville.edu.

Questions may be directed to the Office of Financial Aid via e-mail or by phone at 812-488-2364.

Submitted by Trisha Hawkes th187@evansville.edu

If you are seeking financial aid for summer courses at UE, please complete a summer financial aid application and return to the Office of Financial Aid (Olmsted 116). The application will allow our office to determine the types of aid for which you may be eligible.

Work-Study
On-campus jobs are available for continuing UE students during the summer. You do not need to be eligible for need-based Federal Work-Study during the academic year in order to apply. You may also apply regardless of your enrollment in summer courses. Applications are available within the Student Employment area of WebAdvisor.

Submitted by Amy Sowders as560@evansville.edu

Philanthropy Week at the University of Evansville is a time when we come together as a campus community to celebrate the gift of philanthropy. It is an opportunity for students to learn why alumni remain true and loyal and donate to the University to fund student scholarships, faculty research, technology and facility upgrades. We will also celebrate the generous donors who make it possible for many students to attend UE.

Submitted by Cameron James Cool cc253@evansville.edu

Applications are now being accepted for this year’s Dr. Marvin E. Hartig Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is dedicated to the loving memory of Hartig, dean of Evansville College’s Evening College in 1967, and administrator for the Center for Advanced Study, director of the Evansville chapter of the American Institute of Banking (AIB), and the international student advisor. In 1974, Hartig was appointed dean of academic services. He retired in 1984 after serving his alma mater for 35 years and passed away in 2007.

This scholarship is awarded each year to a deserving sophomore. Preference will be given to a student working while being enrolled as a full-time student.

International students are encouraged to apply.

Applicants must submit the following to be considered:

1. Completed application
 
2. In a one page, single spaced, 12 point Verdana font essay, please answer all of these questions:
•What have you learned about yourself as a UE student?
•What do you do for fun when not studying or working?
•Name a special attribute or accomplishment that sets you apart.
•You have done a lot in your short life.  In what areas do you think you can improve?
•What are your scholastic and career goals?
•How did you finance your freshman year and how will you finance your sophomore year?
•Why are you a good candidate to receive this scholarship?
•What have you learned about Dr. Hartig, how does he influence or inspire you, and how will you preserve his legacy as recipient of this scholarship?

Please return all materials to the Office of Financial Aid by May 1. Decision will be announced by July 2.

If you have questions, contact Trisha Hawkes, administrative assistant to the Office of Financial Aid, at financialaid@evansville.edu or 812-488-2364.

Submitted by Trisha Hawkes th187@evansville.edu

Applications for the 2018-19 Margery Florence Kahn Scholarship are now available.

It was the desire of the donor, Margery Florence Kahn, that her scholarship be awarded to "dedicated and conscientious students who exhibit a true passion for their chosen fields of study, and who, in the opinion of the members of the University of Evansville faculty, are likely to bring the same enthusiasm into the performance of their jobs or the practice of the professions which they will pursue following graduation."

All University of Evansville full-time undergraduate students who will be juniors or seniors in 2018-19 may apply. An essay of about 300 words must accompany the application, along with two to five faculty recommendation letters.

Applications are available from the Office of Financial Aid (Olmsted Hall 116). Completed applications and recommendation letters should be returned to the Office of Financial Aid by April 15.

You may also request application materials by e-mailing financialaid@evansville.edu.

Questions may be directed to the Office of Financial Aid via e-mail or by phone at 812-488-2364.

Submitted by Trisha Hawkes th187@evansville.edu 

The Schroeder School of Business seniors placed at the 93rd percentile on the Major Field Test (MFT). Over 500+ business programs take the MFT nationally. Schroeder accounting students scored at the 99th percentile on the accounting section of the exam. Schroeder is ranked #4 nationally among small private universities by the 2018 US News & World Report.

After a strong season at the charity stripe, the University of Evansville women's basketball team was recognized at the Women's Final Four in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday night as the NCAA statistical champion for free-throw shooting percentage.

The Purple Aces led the nation, knocking-down 82.0% of their attempts from the free throw line. With the mark, Evansville set both its program record and the Missouri Valley Conference record for free-throw percentage by a team in a single season.

For their efforts, the Aces were recognized in an on-court ceremony during Friday night's NCAA Women's Final Four contests.

Along with leading the nation in free throw shooting percentage, Evansville also boasted seven student-athletes who finished the season shooting above 80% from the charity stripe, led by junior Kerri Gasper who hit a team-best 92.3% of her attempts at the free throw line this season.

Chief financial officers and enrollment management officers from NAC&U gathered at Belmont University in March to discuss tuition trends and other issues in higher education, share challenges and best practices, and move forward with collaborations that will bring greater value to their students.

Following presentations from guest speakers Matt Hamill from NACUBO and Bill Hall and Brad Griesbach of Applied Policy Research, CFOs and EMOs spent an afternoon discussing various issues during roundtable sessions. On the last morning the groups sought to advance the conversation on facilitating graduate school admissions for NAC&U undergraduates who meet admission requirements.

The EMO group elected Shane Davidson, vice president of enrollment management at the University of Evansville, as the new group chair. Dr. Davidson succeeds Bill Bisset, vice president of enrollment management at Manhattan College, who served as the inaugural chair of the EMO group.

North Central College in Naperville, IL, will host the CFO-EMO meeting in March 2019.

Math seniors Keenen Cates, Zeyu Zhang, and Calvin Dailey, and Pengcheng Xiao, assistant professor of mathematics, have had a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Data Science. This study is an extension work based on math senior seminar project under the supervision of Xiao.

The paper is titled" Can Emoticons be used to predict sentiment? " Getting a machine to understand the meaning of language is a largely important goal to a wide variety of fields, from advertising to entertainment. This work focuses on YouTube comments from the top two hundred trending videos as a source of user text data. Previous Sentiment Analysis Models focus on using hand-labelled data or predetermined lexicons. The goal is to train a model to label comment sentiment with emoticons by training on other user-generated comments containing emoticons. Naive Bayes and Recurrent Neural Network models are both investigated and implemented in this study, and the validation accuracies for Naive Bayes model and Recurrent Neural Network model are found to be .548 and .812.

Congratulations and best wishes to our wonderful math seniors!

The annual Phi Sigma Iota initiation ceremony will be held Sunday, April 8 at 2:00 p.m. in Eykamp Hall, Rooms 253 and 254, Ridgway University Center. Phi Sigma Iota, the international foreign language honor society, was founded in 1922 at Allegheny College and recognizes outstanding ability in the fields of foreign languages, literature and cultures. The University of Evansville has inducted 176 members since it established the Epsilon Beta Chapter in 2000. This year’s initiates include Rachel Haller and Lauren Perry. Conducting the initiation ceremony will be PSI members Jennifer Riedford and Tatiana Czajkowski and faculty advisor Cindy Crowe. Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Ignacio Benítez from Uruguay will be the featured speaker. This event is open to the public and free of charge.

Lucinda Jane Crowe cc109@evansville.edu

Professor Tiffany Griffith has been asked by the National Endowment for the Arts to serve again as an expert reader of Icelandic for this year’s NEA translation fellowships.