We
were proud to learn that Dean A. Hertzler II, a student at IUPUI, was
named by Governor Frank O’Bannon to be a member of the IU Board of
Trustees.
A
native of Westfield, Indiana, Dean is an undergraduate pre-med major studying biology
in the Purdue School of Science at IUPUI. He received his secondary education through home schooling,
overseen by Advanced Training Institute of America. He has also trained with ALERT, the Air Land Emergency Resource
Team, where he learned life-saving skills such as land and underwater
search and rescue. He also knows building
construction and has put his skill to good use renovating an orphanage
in Moscow (Russia) and assisting in the construction of a hospital
in Honduras through an outreach program sponsored by his church, Gray Road
Baptist.
Governor
O’Bannon also reappointed John Walda of Fort Wayne and Frederick
Eichhorn of Hammond to three‑year terms.
Congratulations
also to James T. Morris, chairman and chief executive officer of IWC Resources
Corporation, reelected by IU alumni to a second three-year term. Jim has been a member of our IUPUI Board
of Advisors since 1991.
All
three of these continuing trustees have made excellent contributions to IU’s
success and IUPUI’s growth and development.
We are pleased they will continue to serve.
***
The National
Institutes of Health have given an $856,500 grant to a unique line of
research involving the Indiana University School of Medicine
and the Purdue University School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI.
Associate
Professor of Otolaryngology‑Head and Neck Surgery Mario A. Svirsky,
a biomedical engineer, plans to study how individuals with cochlear implants
understand speech. Assisting with the
research is Professor of Electrical Engineering Mohamed El-Sharkawy, who
is involved in developing the hardware necessary to process acoustic signals in
real time and stimulate patients with auditory implants.
Svirsky,
educated at the University of the Republic (Uruguay) and Tulane University of Louisiana, came
to IUPUI in 1995. El-Sharkawy studied
at Alexandria University (Egypt) and Southern Methodist University
and has been at IUPUI since 1992.
Ultimately,
the research will be a giant step forward in helping those who are profoundly
deaf and wearing implants translate noise into distinct sounds.
***
Meanwhile,
other faculty colleagues are spending some time this summer designing the
building blocks for IUPUI’s next round of innovations in enhancing
undergraduate education at IUPUI.
IUPUI is one of only 30-35 institutions invited to send a team this
month to participate in the Fourth Annual American Association for Higher
Education “Summer Academy:
Organizing for Learning.”
IUPUI’s
team will concentrate on developing mutually reinforcing linkages between
student activities and academics. We hope to develop a model of student life
that is adapted for the urban public university, one in which our students
can better harmonize their vocational, social, civic, and academic lives and
enjoy a rich educational experience in the process.
Our
team includes administrators and staff in our University College, Office of
Student Life and Diversity, and Center for Public Service and Leadership,
as well as two faculty members and an undergraduate student.
***
Students
returning to campus this fall can use the overflow parking lots at Lansing and
New York Streets as usual for the first few weeks of classes, but then
construction begins at that site on the IUPUI Center for Young Children,
the state’s largest single-site, university-based child care center.
When
the building is ready for occupation this time next year, some 240
pre-school-aged children of students, staff, and faculty at IUPUI will be
accommodated. The interior design
calls for a “neighborhood feel.”
Children will be grouped in distinctively designed “houses,” each with a
unique facade, that let out onto indoor play areas. Each “house” will have classrooms, nap areas, and other rooms
appropriate to age and learning level.
The
exterior design picks up on elements of the nearby Ronald McDonald House.
Hands-on learning tailored
to arouse the curiosity of students entering grades 1 through 10 returned to
IUPUI this summer with the Young Scholars Program. Students choose from topics such as “Mysteries
in Science,” where young sleuths used water testing, fingerprinting, and
DNA analysis to answer questions, or “Bulls or Bears – Exploring Wall
Street,” which offers math practice while learning about the stock market.
The
popular Young Scholars Program has been sponsored by the IU School of
Education at IUPUI for more than a decade.
For information about remaining sessions in the program, go to Saturday Scholars and
Young Scholars Programs or call 317-274-6848.
***
During
IUPUI’s Scientist's Apprentice
Camp (July 5-16), students in grades 9-12 work side-by-side with Purdue
School of Science faculty at IUPUI in state-of-the-art-laboratories on
campus. Now in its fourth year, the
experience is designed to interest high school students in careers in
science through hands-on research that culminates in the formal
presentation of a scientific project.
This year, apprentices learned to use scientific instruments to
measure the amount of lead in Indianapolis soil and to test for environmental
contaminants in water.
***
IUPUI
has joined with other urban research-oriented campuses to advance the Great
Cities Universities movement. This
collaboration seeks to highlight the special qualities of community engagement
that make urban campuses so important in higher education today. Representatives of IUPUI and other urban
universities made a presentation on behalf of the Great Cities Universities
at last month’s U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Denver
Mayor Wellington Webb, incoming president of the organization, closed
its 67th annual meeting by saying: “We must acknowledge that the urban
agenda remains a low priority in Congress and in most state legislatures
throughout the nation.”
The
university representatives and mayors met in what was later described as an
“active dialogue” about areas where joining forces could
enhance efforts to obtain funding and provide resources for teacher training,
workforce education, job creation and development, research and technology
transfer, and other contributors to the success of the nation’s cities.
***
Eleven
of 16 specialties of Clarian Health Partners ranked among the top 50
clinical programs in the U.S. News & World Report’s “1999 America’s
Best Hospitals Guide.” Only 188
hospitals in the U.S. scored high enough to be ranked this year.
Clarian,
which includes Methodist Hospitals of Indiana and the IU Medical
Center, received top-50 rankings in cancer; cardiology and heart
surgery; digestive tract disease; ear, nose, and throat care; geriatrics;
gynecology; hormonal disorders; neurology and neurosurgery; respiratory
disorders; rheumatology; and urology.
This
ranking continues the recognition typically extended – prior to the creation of
Clarian Health Partners – to the
faculty and physicians of the IU School of Medicine, University Hospital, and
Riley Hospital for Children.
***
Each
year IUPUI’s Community Learning Network (CLN) provides hundreds of
continuing education courses to more than 16,000 learners in central Indiana.
Certificate programs provide opportunities for enhancing workplace skills
or redirecting career development in such areas as database management,
computer graphics, microcomputer studies, human resource management, travel
careers, and supervision and management.
The Community Learning Network also brings
IUPUI college courses to neighborhoods, businesses, and shopping centers in the
evening and on the weekend. CLN offers
almost 20 distance education courses. In fact, more than 1,700 people
per year enroll in web‑based or video‑based courses.
Currently,
the CLN is among the partners working with Clay Township trustees and
the Legacy Foundation to develop the old Carmel community library for
educational purposes.
***
When
next you hear from me, it will be a new academic year at IUPUI. Meanwhile, we hope you will be enjoying the
remainder of summer, including the August 14-22 RCA Men’s Hardcourt Championships at the
Indianapolis Tennis Center on campus.
Among the top-ranked players expected are Pete Sampras, Patrick Rafter,
Marcelo Rios, and Greg Rusedski,
Gerald L. Bepko
Chancellor