Carbondale Calendars and Events
Edwardsville Calendars and Events
East St. Louis Calendars and Events

Salukis know it already but (once again) its official -- SIUC is one of best colleges in the Midwest region.  The Princeton Review, the prestigious education preparation company, released its "2010 Best Colleges: Region by Region" list in July, including SIUC in its "Best Colleges" designation. Colleges named in the "Regional Best" represent only about 25% of the four-year colleges and universities, putting SIUC in the top quarter of universities nation-wide, according to Princeton Review.  The Princeton Review described SIUC as "affordable" and "diverse," noting a "very friendly" campus. Student quotes reflect overall satisfaction with the faculty, whom students describe as "approachable" and having a "genuine interest in their students." Students also noted the economic diversity that is a hallmark of SIUC, and praised the beauty of the campus.

The office of U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) recently announced that $500,000 for the SIUE School of Nursing is included in the federal fiscal year 2010 budget. The proposal recently was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. If enactment of the FY2010 budget takes place, the money will be part of a $5.2 million allocation for health and education projects for the state of Illinois through the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations. The allocation would enhance the regional initiative by providing funding to hire nursing faculty and staff, implement a marketing and recruitment plan and purchase sophisticated patient simulators for the nursing program's foundation courses. The SIUE baccalaureate nursing program will be headed by Marcia Maurer, dean of the SIUE School of Nursing, who points out it will be identical to the program offered on the Edwardsville campus. Since the SIUE School of Nursing is the official home of the program, a BSN would be conferred by SIUE even though a student is taking program classes at SIU Carbondale. The SIUE School of Nursing is a well established program on the Edwardsville campus, recently achieving 10-year reaccreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The regional and national need for qualified, well-trained nurses inspired the School of Nursing in Edwardsville, the official home of the program, to work closely with its sister campus to introduce the regional option.

SIUC will hold summer commencement ceremonies Friday, Aug. 7, through Sunday Aug. 9.
There are 1,381 candidates for bachelor's degrees, 334 candidates for master's degrees, 67 candidates for doctoral degrees and two candidates for law degrees.  Here are the times for the ceremonies:

Friday, Aug. 7
7 p.m. -- Doctoral degree and law degree candidates

Saturday, Aug. 8
8:30 a.m. -- College of Liberal Arts bachelor's degree candidates
11:30 a.m. -- College of Applied Sciences and Arts bachelor's degree candidates
2:30 p.m. -- Master's degree candidates
5:30 p.m. -- College of Business bachelor's degree candidates

Sunday, Aug. 9
Noon -- Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Engineering, Mass Communication and Media Arts, and Science bachelor's degree candidates
3 p.m. -- College of Education and Human Services bachelor's degree candidates

All ceremonies take place at Shyrock Auditorium and are free and open to the public.

The SIUE School of Pharmacy reached an important milestone with its advancement to full accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). ACPE is the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy. The latest announcement marks another significant achievement in the School’s young history. The School has been called a national model for other new schools of pharmacy. “Achieving full accreditation status takes true teamwork, as it occurs when the program is found to have met all ACPE standards and graduated its first class,” SIUE School of Pharmacy Dean Philip Medon said. “Every one of our stakeholders — students, faculty, staff, administrators and preceptors — played a role in this achievement and should be gratified and proud their outstanding work has been recognized.” In a congratulatory letter, Jeffrey W. Wadelin Ph.D., director of the ACPE’s professional degree program, noted the ongoing efforts to improve and expand the program in collaboration with the University, and other partners and stakeholders. In addition to achieving full accreditation status, ACPE also renewed the School’s status as a continuing pharmacy education provider. As a new school, the accreditation is for two years; subsequent accreditations are for six years. As the only downstate Illinois pharmacy doctoral program, the SIUE School of Pharmacy is addressing the growing need for well-trained pharmacists in a career field that is experiencing rapid and dramatic growth. There are currently 320 students enrolled in the SIUE School of Pharmacy.

A partnership between SIUC and Shawnee Community College may pay dividends for one of the most economically disadvantaged areas of the state.  The start of aviation technology classes at Shawnee's Anna Extension Center next month through a dual enrollment agreement with one of SIUC's nationally recognized aviation programs is a critical step in revitalizing the region.  Officials are working on funding opportunities for a proposed $5.6 million aviation maintenance training facility at Cairo Regional Airport. Until then, aviation technology classes will be at the extension center in Anna with lab classes at Southern Illinois Airport, located between Murphysboro and Carbondale.  Once built, the facility will also provide additional classroom space to replace Shawnee's existing extension center in Cairo.

A research scientist at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield has been awarded a three-year national grant from Tinnitus Research Consortium to study noise exposure and the development of tinnitus.  The total budget for the grant is $291,606.  Jeremy G. Turner, assistant professor of surgery, is the principal investigator for the project.  The research will study the effects of aging and noise exposure on the development of tinnitus, a continuous ringing in the ears, which affects nearly 10 percent of the population.  Turner's research goal is to determine why some people, exposed to tinnitus causing factors such as trauma or old age, develop tinnitus and some do not.  Turner is using his previous research and development of a tinnitus measuring system to study how age in rats correlates to tinnitus development in a controlled environment. The results of this research project may lead to a better understanding of why tinnitus often emerges in middle to old age.

When you’re enjoying those blueberries on your cereal in November from Argentina, or you’ve been eating asparagus from Peru during these summer days, you can probably thank the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC)/International Trade Center (ITC) at SIUE and its associates, including the state of Illinois. By the same token, some businesses in South America have benefited from companies in the St. Louis region that are sending goods south of the border. Thanks again to the SBDC/ITC, which coordinated travel earlier this year for some local shippers, farmers and manufacturers who went south for a trade mission. The SBDC/ITC, along with the state, has been helping pave the way for exporting and importing for the past 25 years under the auspices of the SIUE School of Business. With the guidance of ITC Director Silvia Torres and her staff, the University’s trade program has made a large contribution to economic growth throughout the Southern Illinois region and in other parts of the state. The Illinois SBDC/ITC can be reached by calling (618)650-2452, or by e-mail: International-Trade-Center@siue.edu, or visit the Web site: www.siue.edu/ITC.

Jyotsna Kapur, an associate professor in cinema studies and sociology at SIUC, is a Fulbright award recipient.  Kapur will be at The Xavier Institute of Communications in Mumbai, India. She will also lecture at other universities during her six-month stay.  The lectures will be on Hollywood's re-imagining of childhood and the relationship between children's cinema, media and consumer-driven culture since the 1980s.  The lectures will be based on Kapur's 2005 book, "Coining for Capital: Movies, Marketing and the Transformation of Childhood."  During her six-month stay in India, Kapur will also complete a collaborative digital video co-production involving three SIUC cinema and photography students and students from Xavier Institute of Communications. Nicholas Nylen, Jonathan Klemke and Danielle Williamson started working with Kapur and other faculty members on the independent study project last year.

When the SIU School of Dental Medicine in Alton recently added an elevator to one of its buildings on campus, special attention was paid to preserving the building's historical integrity. It was this attention to detail that caught the attention of the Alton Historical Commission, which requested that the SIU School of Dental Medicine and its dean, Ann Boyle, receive special recognition at an Alton city council meeting. The School received a certificate of excellence at a recent council meeting. The commission and the council honored the School for its commitment to maintaining the building's integrity, while meeting requirements for renovation projects to public structures that enhanced accessibility for individuals with disabilities, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

An SIUC graduate recently earned one of the nation's top awards for broadcast journalism.  Andrew Tanielian, a reporter with WICS-TV in Springfield, received the 2009 National Edward R. Murrow Award for writing in the small market television category. The awards, presented by Radio-Television News Directors Association, honor excellence in electronic journalism, according to the RTNDA Web site.  Tanielian is a two-degree SIUC graduate, earning bachelor's degrees in 2006 in both radio-television and political science. He earned a master's degree in public affairs reporting in 2007 from the University of Illinois Springfield.

Associate Professor Michael A. Burgener is the new chair in SIUC's Department of Aviation Technologies.  The aviation technologies program enters its 45th year this fall. The program started in September 1965.  Burgener has been with the University since August 2002. Prior to that he served as program coordinator in aircraft maintenance technology at Trident Technical College in Charleston, S.C. His experience also includes work with Piedmont Airlines, and as an aircraft ground support equipment mechanic with the U.S. Air Force.  Burgener replaces assistant professor John D. Cotter, who served as interim chair. The department has about 115 students.

The work of Laurie Rice, assistant professor of political science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, will be featured in a prestigious state publication. Visits and Votes: The Geographic Spread of Campaign Visits' Effects in the 2008 Presidential Primaries, written by Rice and Dan Prengel, a graduate from SIUE with a bachelor's in political science, will appear in the Illinois Political Science Review. Prengel has been accepted to a Ph.D. program at Purdue University, which he will begin this fall.

Single-game tickets for all five Saluki Football home games are now available. Tickets can be purchased in person at the SIU Ticket Office or online through Ticketmaster.com.  Ticket prices are $20 for adults on the reserved side, $17 for adults on the general admission side and $10 for youth. All adult tickets will be $20 for the Oct. 10 Homecoming game against Illinois State and the Oct. 24 Family Weekend contest versus Youngstown State.  For more information call 1-877-SALUKIS.