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

As the fall 2009 semester gets under way, returning and first-time SIUC students have a new way to navigate through any potential admissions, financial aid and bursar issues.  “RapidReg” is a resource for helping undergraduate and graduate students resolve any registration and financial aid issues they might have. The Web site, http://admissions.siu.edu/rapidreg/, also contains information for students on claiming their network ID, along with a registration tutorial, and information on University Web mail. “RapidReg” is available by telephone at (618)536-4405.  Inquires by telephone can be made from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Thursday, Aug. 27, excluding weekends. Extended admissions office walk-in service hours from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. begin Monday, Aug. 17, and continue through Thursday, Aug. 27, excluding weekends. Students can also stop in between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22, for assistance.  The Graduate School is also offering expanded hours through graduate admission and graduate registration starting Monday, Aug. 17, through Thursday, Aug. 27. The services are available Monday through Thursday until 6 p.m. The Graduate School Admission Office is at (618)536-7791, and the Graduate School Registration Office is at (618)453-2969.

SIUE has been cited by its peers and reported in U.S.News & World Report as a school “firmly focused on improving the job they’re doing today.” The listing in the magazine’s Best Colleges of 2010 issue recently hit newsstands. In addition, for the fifth consecutive year, SIUE is in the senior capstone experience category, among 17 universities — including Yale, Harvard, MIT and Princeton — for its comprehensive program measuring the competency of graduating seniors. At SIUE, the program is called Senior Assignment and is required curriculum for all seniors to demonstrate their degree of general education knowledge, as well as knowledge within their disciplines prior to graduation. Also, according to the publication, SIUE is among the top 15 public universities in the Midwest-Master’s category for the third consecutive year and also in the top one-third of all public and private Midwestern universities. Overall scores are based on academic preparedness of students, graduation rates, faculty characteristics and the reputation of SIUE in higher education. 

SIUC is now providing even more resources to help first-year students connect to the campus community, establish academic and social networks, grow academically, create lasting friendships and strengthen their professional and personal skills.  The Saluki First Year initiative is designed to make sure students reach their full potential and participate more actively in their first year at the University.  Kicking off the new academic year right, all Saluki freshmen get a free copy of Harlan Cohen’s insightful bestseller, “The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College.” The book comes with a bookmark giving information about the Saluki First Year program.  The University is making a significant commitment to Saluki First Year. Chancellor Samuel Goldman has pledged $400,000 in funding annually for the next three years.  To find out more about First Year Experience at SIUC call (618)453-1828, check out the Web site at www.firstyear.siuc.edu.

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, (R-Collinsville,) recently presented grants totaling roughly $598,000 to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville programs that stimulate the economy, help local businesses improve processes and become more efficient, and provide retraining and jobs for dislocated workers. The grants totaled $360,000 for the National Corn-to-Ethanol-Research Center and $238,000 for the Southwest Illinois Advanced Manufacturing (SIAM) Center. SIAM is a partnership between the SIUE School of Engineering and Lewis and Clark Community College. From a podium in the lobby of the SIUE Engineering Building, Shimkus talked about the relevance of both programs.

SIUC's success in providing educational opportunities to members of the nation’s military and veterans continues to receive recognition.  G.I. Jobs magazine has named the University as a “Military Friendly School for 2010.” According to the magazine, the list honors the top 15 percent of more than 7,000 colleges, universities and trades schools in the nation “which are doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students.”  This is the University’s fourth honor in recent years for the help and educational opportunities it provides to military personnel. In December, the Military Advanced Education magazine listed the University as one of the nation’s 2008 top 20 military friendly colleges and universities. The magazine also honored the University on two other occasions for being in the top 40.  Each college appoints a director to oversee the day-to-day academic matters.   More information on veterans services offered at SIUC is available at http://www.veterans.siuc.edu/. More information on the University’s Office of Military Programs is available at http://omp.siuc.edu/.

With the start of the new school year, plans are in place at SIUC to respond to the H1N1 flu virus.  Todd Sigler, chair of the All-Hazards Response and Recovery Committee and director of SIUC’s Department of Public Safety, said the University is closely following guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and continues to work with the Jackson County Health Department.  In addition, health department officials and medical staff at SIUC’s Student Health Center are planning for a mass immunization program when the H1N1 vaccine becomes available later this fall. The vaccination program will require two Hand-sanitizing stations were installed during the spring semester and posters were distributed encouraging everyone to employ “The Three Cs — Clean, Cover, Contain,” were distributed throughout campus.  For more information on the H1N1 virus, contact the Student Health Center at (618)453-3311 or visit http://shc.siuc.edu/health%20pages/Resource_page.htm.

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.

Allison Joseph, director of the master of fine arts creative writing program at SIUC, is the inaugural recipient of the Aquarius Press Legacy Award.  As the first award recipient, Joseph receives a $500 cash award and an issue of “Reverie: Midwest African American Literature” dedicated to her work. The award is part of the press’ 10th anniversary celebration, set for Oct. 3 in Detroit, Mich.  The award spotlights “a woman writer of color from the Midwest who has yet to gain high exposure and who is also actively involved in providing opportunities for other writers.”  Joseph is an award-winning writer with six collections of poetry to her credit, and poems published in dozens of journals and magazines. She is also editor of the “Crab Orchard Review,” a nationally recognized literary journal honored by the Illinois Arts Council, and she is the founder of the Young Writers Workshop for high school students, held annually at SIUC.  For more information about the creative writing program or the Department of English at SIUC, visit http://english.siuc.edu.

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.

Anthony Fleege is the new director of the Mortuary Science and Funeral Service Program at SIUC.  Fleege, a faculty member in the program for a decade, assumed his new position this month. The MSFS program is part of the School of Allied Health in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.  Fleege, of Carterville, is a three-degree graduate of SIUC. He earned his MBA in 1999, his Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management in 1997 and his associate degree in applied sciences in 1995 at the University.  The bachelor’s degree program typically has an enrollment of 60-75 students, according to Fleege.  Initially an associate degree program, MSFS transitioned to a bachelor’s degree program in 1996.

Dale Buchanan “Buck” Hales has joined the faculty at the SIU School of Medicine in Carbondale as professor and chair of the physiology department and a member of the research team at the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute at SIU.  Previously, he was on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Rush University Medical School in Chicago.  His research interests include the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in hormonal carcinogenesis, with an emphasis on ovarian cancer, and immune-endocrine-environmental control of male reproductive function and regulation of mitochondrial steroidogenesis and steroidogenic enzyme gene expression.  He has received 15 research grants, primarily from the National Institutes of Health.

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.

The Saluki Football team will make four television appearances in 2009.  The Oct. 3 game at Western Illinois will be part of the Missouri Valley Football Conference regional package and will air on FS Midwest and Fox College Sports. Additional clearances will be announced at a later date.  Mediacom Cable will televise three games -- road contests at Northern Iowa (Oct. 17) and Indiana State (Oct. 31), plus the final home game at McAndrew Stadium when SIU hosts Missouri State on Nov. 14.