The Department of Mathematics at the University of Evansville has launched a new bachelor’s degree in actuarial science.  The program prepares students for a career as an actuary, a top-ranked profession offering high salaries in a low-stress environment.  In addition to specialized courses focused on actuarial science, the program includes course work in mathematics, statistics and data science, computer science, economics, finance, and accounting. Students may enroll in the program beginning in Fall 2019.

“Actuaries are experts at modeling and managing risk,” said Mark Gruenwald, PhD, professor of mathematics and director of actuarial science. “They are highly trained professionals with strong analytical skills and specialized knowledge of math, statistics, and business. Their work provides financial security for insurance companies, multinational corporations, and the government. Not surprisingly, there is a growing demand for individuals with this rare combination of talent and expertise.”

Advancement as an actuary depends on progress in completing a series of challenging exams, the first one to three of which are typically taken before graduation. The new program provides preparation for five of the 10 actuarial exams required to achieve the highest status within the profession, Fellow of the Society of Actuaries

The new program was designed in consultation with graduates of the former program and replaces the existing actuarial track within the applied mathematics program.

“We are proud of the successes of our graduates,” said David Dwyer, PhD, chair of the mathematics department. “Our alumni can be found at the highest levels of the actuarial profession in insurance companies and consulting firms across the country and even abroad. Their input was instrumental in helping us to design a first-class program to prepare our students for the changing demands of the actuarial profession. The changes to our program were so significant that we created an entirely new degree dedicated to actuarial science.”

The new actuarial program adds an advanced course in long-term actuarial modeling along with three new required classes in data science.

“Our alumni tell us that actuaries are increasingly exploiting cutting-edge techniques from the field of data science. One example is machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence,” said Gruenwald. “A few years ago, we established one of the few undergraduate programs in data science. Now we can leverage our data science courses to better serve our actuarial students. In fact, we will encourage all actuarial science majors to complete a minor in statistics and data science, and we anticipate that some will choose to complete a double major in actuarial science and statistics and data science.”

The new program provides course work that exceeds the stated requirements of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) for achieving Advanced Curriculum status.

For more information, to enroll in the actuarial or statistics and data science programs at UE, or to arrange a personal visit with professors Dwyer or Gruenwald, contact the Office of Admission at 833-BeAnAce or email math@evansville.edu.

The University of Evansville will celebrate the holidays with Christmas on Campus on Friday, November 30. The celebration will include photos with Purple Santa, reindeer games, carriage rides, trackless train rides, cookies and hot chocolate, Candlelight Advent Vespers, and the ceremonial lighting of the University’s Christmas tree.

Candlelight Advent Vespers is free and open to the public. The public is welcome to any and all of the other events for only $5 per family. Visit UE's Christmas on Campus webpage at www.evansville.edu/aceschristmas/ to fill out the online registration form and save time during the event.

The complete schedule for Christmas on Campus is as follows:

5:00 p.m.
Check-in
Lobby, Olmsted Administration Hall

5:00 - 6:45 p.m.
Photos with Purple Santa
Ridgway University Center

Christmas Crafts
Ridgway University Center

5:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Reindeer Games and Trackless Train Rides
East Terrace Lawn

Christmas Shopping at UE Bookstore
Stop in for giveaways and 20 percent off the original price of all clothing and gift items to all shoppers during the night!

7:00 p.m.
Candlelight Advent Vespers
Neu Chapel

8:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Carriage Rides
Sesquicentennial Oval

Cookies and Hot Chocolate
Lobby, Olmsted Administration Hall

Roasted Nuts and Kettle Corn
East Terrace Lawn

8:05 p.m.
Lighting of the Christmas Tree and Caroling
Outside Graves Hall

The 1st Annual UE Student Research and Honors Symposium is scheduled for April 3 from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. The event showcases the scholarly activities of students of diverse disciplines across UE’s campus, including the graduating seniors of UE’s Honors Program. Students are invited to apply to participate by submitting an abstract for their papers, posters, and other exhibits. Those students who graduate in December are also welcome to participate. More details and information on how to submit your abstract will follow soon.

Submitted by Johnna Denning-Smith jd184@evansville.edu

Please join us in celebrating Debbie Kassenbrock's 25 years of service to UE and our students! The event is planned for November 30 from 3:00-5:00 p.m. in the Melvin Peterson Gallery.

For questions, contact Stacey Shanks at ext. 2606.

Submitted by Stacey Shanks ss581@evansville.edu

The University of Evansville Department of Art and the University of Evansville Friends of Art are pleased to announce their Holiday Art and Craft Sale. The sale will be held in the Melvin Peterson Gallery on Thursday, November 29 from 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. This a perfect opportunity to find unusual holiday gifts made by local artists, crafts people and our very own UE Family! Friends of Art volunteers and gallery staff will be on site to handle the sales.

Submitted by Brooksie Smith bs267@evansville.edu

The UE Jazz Ensemble I will present the concert, Basically Basie, on Tuesday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Wheeler Concert Hall. The concert is free and open to the public and will feature music solely from the Basie library.

Tickets are available for both preferred seating and a post-concert reception. The fee to attend the reception is $25.

You may contact the Department of Music office at 812-488-2754 or at www.uealumnionline.com/basie for more information.

All proceeds benefit the UE Department of Music. Come out to hear this nostalgic music and support the talented UE musicians.

Submitted by Timothy Zifer tz3@evansville.edu 

UE students, staff, administrators and faculty are invited to participate in the Rotary Club of Evansville's 5th Annual 2018 Rotary Santa Run. The event will take place at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 1 at the Buffalo Trace Council Center.

The Rotary Santa Run is a perfect way to run into the holiday season. The holidays will be here before you know it! The proceeds from this year’s event benefit the United Methodist Youth Home, to assist with the build of a new home for the at-risk girl’s residential program, which will allow them to open and operate the semi-independent living program in the current residential group home. 

Santa suits for the first 800 registrants are included.

In addition, a “spirited costume contest” will be held for children ages 1-9, teenagers from 10 to 18 and adults from 19 +.  Teams and families are encouraged to participate in this festive contest.  Prizes will be awarded.

5K Timed Run and 1-mile Family Fun Walk

Cost $ 25

Special discount rate of $5 with code: 5offcollege2018

Register online at:  www.SantaRunEvv.com.

Good from November 19–26.

Submitted by Cathy Renner cr107@evansville.edu 

Residence hall students - do you need a place to stay this winter? The residence life office has limited winter housing available. Only students participating in official University functions or with approved reasons will be considered for winter housing.

Winter housing is located on the fourth floor of Morton Residence Hall. Students will not have access to their permanent rooms during winter break. Approvals are subject to room availability. Students are charged a flat fee of $400 for winter housing.

Students seeking winter housing must submit a Winter Housing Request Form by noon on Reading and Study Day, available through this link - www.surveymonkey.com/r/WinterHousing.

Students who live in Village housing can stay in their apartment or house at no additional cost but we do ask that you let us know when you will be on campus by filling out this form - www.surveymonkey.com/r/villagewinterhousing.

Submitted by Brian Conner bc32@evansville.edu

Two ES 103 courses (Fundamentals of Environmental Science) are now open for this coming spring semester 2019. This is a gen ed course for non-science majors. The course introduces problems related to societal, economic, and political environmental impacts. Courses will be offered MWF at 1:00 p.m. or TuTh at 1:15 p.m. Further questions can be directed to Professor Noah Gordon at ng62@evansville.edu.

Submitted by Noah Gordon ng62@evansville.edu

Please consider donating new gloves, mittens, socks, hats, or scarves for community children grades K-12 this season. These items can be placed on the tree in the Graves Hall lobby from now until December 14. The Center for Family, School and Community Partnerships will then distribute them to EVSC schools. Thank you.

Submitted by Karen Doss kd56@evansville.edu 

With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, it is important to enter your work hours into Web Advisor by Saturday night at midnight, November 24. Supervisors will have until noon on Monday, November 26 to approve all time cards. If you have any questions, please contact Gloria Spencer at ext. 2159 or email gs55@evansville.edu.

Each year the Wall Street Journal and the Times Higher Education of London (THE) conduct a survey of student engagement at colleges and universities around the world. Results from the survey are trusted by governments and universities to help identify areas of success and areas that need improvement in teaching and learning.

Undergraduate students over 18 years old at UE are invited to complete the Times Higher Education U.S. Student Survey and enter to win one of four $5,000 cash prizes, courtesy of THE. The answers students give on this survey are anonymous, and participation is completely voluntary. The University of Evansville will not have access to your identity but we will get a summary of student responses which will be helpful as we examine ways to make the student experience even better.

Thanks in advance for taking ten minutes to complete this short survey. The survey is now open. Click on the link to begin the survey:

https://the-us-2019.student-survey.streetbees.com

The Fitness Center will be open on Thanksgiving week:

• Monday and Tuesday, November 19 and 20: 6:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 22: 8:00 a.m.-noon
• Thursday through Sunday, November 22-25: Closed

Submitted by Lori Adams la87@evansville.edu

UE has partnered with Aurora to give back to families in need with the Adopt-a-Family event. You can sign up as a group or as an individual. There are individuals and families still left to be sponsored. Families consist anywhere between 2-5 people. Each individual asks for 3 items with prices generally ranging from $20-$60 dollars total. Some items may cost over $60 and others may be well under $20. The deadline to sign up is November 26. There are only a small number of families who still need to be adopted, so if you want to participate you need to sign up fast! To sign up or for more information, you can email Karyssa Vasquez at kv54@evansville.edu. This is a great cause and a good way to help give back to the community!

A limited number of dark gray T-shirts from the Armistice Day Centenary 5K are available for $5, with all proceeds benefitting UE VETS! Available in sizes small, medium, large, and XL. Help support a great student organization!

Stop by the Department of Law, Politics, and Society (Room 50 in the Schroeder School of Business Building) to pick up your shirts while supplies last.

Submitted by Mari Plikuhn mp168@evansville.edu

The Honorary Degree Committee looks forward to receiving your recommendations for honorary degrees to be conferred at the May 2019 Commencement. We need your help in selecting accomplished individuals to receive one of our university’s highest honors. Nominations may be made on the basis of individual service to the University or individual achievement that exemplifies the University’s mission. Recently selected persons have excelled in a variety of areas - law, medicine, education, business, literature, politics, and entertainment. The committee will forward nominations to President Pietruszkiewicz so he can make his recommendations to the faculty for their approval. Please email the following information to Robert Dion, committee chairperson, at rd35@evansville.edu, by Monday, November 26: Your name, the name of your nominee, the rationale for your nomination, biographical information on the nominee, and contact information for the nominee. Thank you in advance for your ideas.

Submitted by Robert Dion rd35@evansville.edu

There will be no Catholic Mass on Campus this Sunday due to Thanksgiving Break. 

Submitted by Sam Wallisch sw265@evansville.edu

If you are seeking financial aid to help pay for Winter Intersession courses at UE, please submit the Winter Intersession Application to the Office of Financial Aid by November 21. Our office will help you examine your options for aid, which in most cases is limited to loans.

Submitted by Amy Sowders as560@evansville.edu

The Catholic Mass planned for today - Tuesday, November 20 - has been CANCELLED!

Submitted by Michaela Kunkler mk305@evansville.edu

Associate professor of archaeology Jennie Ebeling presented at the annual meetings of the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Society of Biblical Literature and for the Biblical Archaeology Society's Bible and Archaeology Fest in Denver the past week. For ASOR, she co-authored a paper on the basalt artifact industry at Jezreel with Jezreel field director Ian Cipin, presented "Circles on Plans: New Insights into Iron Age Ovens" in a session honoring a colleague at Emory University, and presented a poster on her analysis of stone artifacts from Hazor with colleagues from the University of Haifa, Israel. For SBL, she was invited to present in the session "Women's Economic Roles in the Biblical World" and for BAS she gave a popular lecture on the history of women in biblical archaeology.

Richard Maass, assistant professor of political science, presented research from his forthcoming book, Annexation: How Democracy and Xenophobia Limited U.S. Territorial Expansion, at the annual conference of the International Studies Association-Midwest this past Friday in St. Louis. 

In the final match of the regular season, the University of Evansville volleyball team put forth another great effort, but Drake was able to clinch the match in five sets on Saturday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Leading the Purple Aces (10-21, 4-14 MVC) was Rachel Tam, who had 20 kills. Alondra Vazquez finished the night with 14 while Mildrelis Rodriguez checked in with 11. Rodriguez anchored the defense with 20 digs while Vazquez posted 19.  Tam had 17 digs while Allana McInnis and Olivia Goldstein notched 13 and 11, respectively. McInnis led UE with 47 assists. Drake (20-13, 8-10 MVC) saw Cathryn Cheek post 18 kills and 17 digs.

Drake was fast out of the gate, jumping out to a 5-1 advantage in game one. They added to it, leading by as many as eight points at 13-5. That is when Olivia Goldstein led UE on a rally. She had two service aces in a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to a pair. Evansville’s rally continued as Allana McInnis added an ace of her own to tie it at 15-15. Senior Mildrelis Rodriguez notched her fifth kill of the set to put the Aces in front at 19-15 in what was a 14-2 run. Drake never gave up as they knotted the score at 23-23 before finishing with a 25-23 win.

Alondra Vazquez had four kills to push the Aces to a 4-4 tie in game two, but the Bulldogs came back with a 6-1 run to go up 10-5. Rodriguez notched an ace to cut the deficit to a pair (12-10) before the Bulldogs pushed back again, scoring eight in a row to go up 20-10. While Evansville was able to cut into the DU lead, the Bulldogs won by a score of 25-18.

Rodriguez registered her second service ace of the evening to give the Purple Aces a 2-0 lead in game three and Rachel Tam added a pair of kills to push the gap to 7-3. A pair of block assists by Tam and Rocio Fortuny extended the lead before the Aces won by a 25-15 final. Kerra Cornist added a solo block in the win.

UE kept its momentum going, reeling off the first three points in the fourth frame before the Bulldogs tied it up at 7-7. Evansville wrestled the lead back to 19-14, but Drake did not relent as they score the next six tallies to go up 20-19. Kills by Fortuny and Rodriguez pushed the Aces to five in a row and a 25-21 victory to force a game five.

The Aces got off to another good start in the fifth stanza when two Tam kills and an ace by Elena Redmond gave the team at 4-1 edge. Drake stormed back to tie it up for the first time at 6-6.  Their rally continued as they went up by a score of 11-7. Both teams left it all on the floor and that continued when Evansville posted the next three to make it an 11-10 game. In the end, the Bulldogs were able to fend off the challenge and take the match with a 15-13 triumph in the fifth set.

Prior to the match, the Aces recognized a senior class that included Olivia Goldstein, Mildrelis Rodriguez, Rocio Fortuny, Joselyn Coronel, Elizabeth Giller and Gabriela dos Santos.

For the second time in four games as a member of the Purple Aces, Shea Feehan scored 20 points to lead the University of Evansville to an 85-63 win over Texas Southern on Sunday inside the Ford Center.

Feehan, who scored 14 of those in the first half, was 7-12 from the floor and 5-8 from outside. Noah Frederking recorded 16 points while Shamar Givance and John Hall posted nine apiece. Hall grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds as the Aces (2-2) outrebounded the Tigers (1-4) by a 47-43 tally.

"We really worked hard to get our guys actively engaged on each side of the ball. Our defense definitely looked better today," Aces head coach Walter McCarty said.  "Our pace was so much better in the second half. We did not play with as much tempo in the first half. I thought Shamar (Givance), Jawaun (Newton) and Shea were really able to push the ball today. "

Evansville was credited with 16 assists on the day while draining 10 triples as a team. UE shot 46.9% and held TSU to 32.4% for the game.

Texas Southern grabbed a 5-0 lead out of the gate before the Aces got it in gear, posting the next 13 points to go up 13-5 at the 13:24 mark. Shea Feehan scored the first eight points for the Aces, finishing the first half with a team-best 14.  Included in that tally was a pair of triples.

The Tigers got within a pair at 13-11 before the Aces extended the lead with a late rally in the first 20 minutes. Up 29-24 with 2:16 remaining, Evansville went on a 7-2 stretch to take a 35-26 lead into the break. Noah Frederking and Marty Hill each had field goals in the final stretch.

It was Feehan serving as the hero once again early in the second half. A pair of TSU baskets cut the Aces lead to five when Feehan knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the day. Three days after setting his career mark with 26 points, Noah Frederking added five in a row to push the lead to 13 (45-32), the largest of the day. 

Frederking nailed another three with 8:02 remaining in the game that made it a 58-39 contest before the advantage reached 24 in the final minute before Evansville finished the day with an 85-63 win.

"I think we did a good job of attacking the rim today, that was a big point of emphasis for us. We executed our game plan very well," senior Marty Hill said after the game. He finished with eight points and five boards. 

K.J. Riley had seven points, six rebounds and four assists today. He explained the pace of the team today, which went from scoring 35 in the first half to adding 50 in the final 20 minutes.

"Our game plan was to play with more of a pace today," he said. "I felt like we did that today, especially in the second half."

Leading Texas Southern was Jalyn Patterson, who had 26 points and 7 rebounds. 

Next up for the Aces is a game at Ball State on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CT. The next home game is on November 28 against Wyoming. Tip is at 6:00 p.m.