September 2010

Good News: SRU graduate gets student affairs award for work at Penn State

Chris Rizzo, who earned a masters degree in student personnel from Slippery Rock University in 1990, was among those honored at the Penn State Student Affairs Development Day when he received the John W. Beatty Outstanding Chief Student Affairs Officer Award.

Academic Affairs announces personnel, program changes

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – There are new dean assignments, new department alignments and new department chairs along with plans to re-examine the entire liberal arts curriculum within Slippery Rock University’s Academic Affairs Division as the 2010-11 academic year opens.

Good News: SRU graduate earns Air Force brigadier general rank

U.S. Air Force Col. Kevin Jacobsen, a 1980 Slippery Rock University political science graduate, has been promoted to brigadier general and given command of the Air Force Office of Special Investigation at Joint Base Andrews-NAF, Maryland.

Good News: SRU graduate earns promotion at Ohio newspaper

Ryan Oswald, a 2001 Slippery Rock University business administration graduate, has been named advertising director for The Delaware Gazette and Sunbury News in Delaware, Ohio.

Good News: May graduate joins Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Tyson Johnston, a May Slippery Rock University graduate, has been named the new conservation information assistant for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s Natural Heritage Program. He starts Sept. 22.

Good News: Retired SRU professors teach in China

John Nichols, retired Slippery Rock University professor emeritus of history, and Alison McNeal, who retired from the English department in June, didn’t stay retired for long. The husband-and-wife team accepted a call to teach this year at Nanjing University in China, an SRU partner institution.

Good News: SRU graduate takes reins at Pa. Bureau of Boating and Access

Laurel Anders, a 1995 Slippery Rock University graduate, has been appointed director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's Bureau of Boating and Access. She will oversee the administration of boating regulations and direct boating safety education, water rescue and boating access programs. Pennsylvania has more than 350,000 registered boats.

Summer construction work improves campus

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University had one of its most productive construction seasons on record this summer. Work got under way on the new $38-million University Union on the site of the former Dodds Hall and workers constructed new campus pedestrian ramps and walkways, laid black top, repurposed Morrow Field House racquetball courts into classrooms and continued with the Vincent Science Hall renovation.

SRU opens year with 37 new faculty

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University opens its 2010 fall semester with 37 new faculty. The newesst members of the University community come from across the U.S. and around the world bringing with them teaching and research skills, new cultures and new ideas.

President welcomes new faculty, sets agenda for 2010-11

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University President Robert Smith welcomed new faculty and offered his view of the coming academic year and the future of higher education as part of the annual Academic Assembly.

Good News: Double SRU graduate earns new post at emsCharts Inc.

Lindsey Kelley, a 2000 and 2008 Slippery Rock University graduate, is the new director of business development for Pittsburgh-based emsCharts Inc.

Good News: SRU education graduate leads St. Mary County, Md., school

Kelly Courtney, a 1993 Slippery Rock University secondary education graduate and a National Board Certified Teacher, has been named principal at Lettie Marshall Dent Elementary School in St. Mary County, Md.

Good News: SRU professional writing graduate aids Butler County commissioners

Amy Wilson, a 2007 Slippery Rock University graduate, has been named confidential administrative assistant to the chair of the Butler County board of commissioners.

Good News: SRU graduate earns doctorate after 51 years of study

For Mary Lou Bitnar, a 1963 Slippery Rock University education graduate, timing is everything. It took her 51 years after graduating from high school to earn her doctorate of education.

Exercise science majors research infomercial abdominal equipment

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - You've seen the ads. Get rid of that belly fat; give yourself a flat stomach; use our abdominal trainer and you too will have steel abs. SLippery Rock University exercise science majors researched the product claims of abdominal workout machines and found the vast majority of them to be bogus, like trying to achieve fitness by slowing a pill.

President's Commission on LGBTQI seeks to educate entire campus community

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Education. Education. Education. - is the goal of the SLippery Rock University President's Commission for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and Intersex Issues.

Good News: SRU graduate, now blind, creates art for others to see

Lynda Lambert, a 1989 Slippery Rock University art graduate, is in the spotlight as one of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh’s emerging and established artists – a special achievement, in part, because the artist is blind.

Good News: SRU’s Meixner takes assistant’s baton for River City Brass

Brian Meixner, assistant professor of music at Slippery Rock University, has been appointed assistant conductor for the 28-piece River City Brass, a brass band based in Pittsburgh and heard annually by an estimated 100,000 audience members.

Good News: SRU graduate heads Hoffman Homes in Gettysburg

GETTYSBURG - C. Mitchell Snider, a 1978 Slippery Rock University physical education graduate has been named executive director of Hoffman Homes by the company’s board of directors.

Good News: SRU graduate gets head coaching post at new Maryland school

Rob Healy, a 2003 Slippery Rock University health and physical education graduate, has been named head coach of the varsity girls basketball program at the newly created Oakdale High School in Ijamsville, Md.

Good News: ’60 Rock graduate earns Hall of Fame honors

Thomas Dolde, a 1960 Slippery Rock University physical education graduate, has been named to the Connellsville Area School Hall of Fame. He graduated from Connellsville in 1956, taught and coached at the district for 42 years.

SRU improves retention, diversity; sets 2010 enrollment record

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - At Slippery Rock University, numbers are at record levels. More students, higher retention, greater diversity and incoming freshman who ranked higher in their high school graduation class.

Commission on Women meets; launches comprehensive agenda

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University's President's Commission on the Status of Women gathered Wednesday for the first time this semester and the year's agenda is already jammed packed, said Traci Zillifro, assistant professor of physical education and committee co-chair.

Geology majors earn honors for rifting research in Canada

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Geologists who want to learn more about how continents moved in the past drill a steel cylinder into the ground and examine the extracted material, like pushing a straw into a cake. Two Slippery Rock University geology majors have been honored for their award-winning geology research with Michael Zieg, SRU associate professor of geology, which focused on continental movement, called "rifting," in Ontario, Canada.

Good News: Former SRU coach earns Bethel Park High athletic honor

Laurel Heilman, a member of the 1981 class at Bethel Park High School, a 1986 Slippery Rock University sport management graduate and head women’s basketball coach at The Rock from 2000-2010 will be inducted into her high school’s Athletic Hall of Fame this evening.

Good News: SRU graduate earns chemistry fellowship at South Dakota State

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Brandon Scott, a May Slippery Rock University chemistry graduate, is one of four South Dakota State University graduates students to receive a federal fellowship that will allow them to pursue doctorates in chemistry or biochemistry.

Good News: SRU gets $13,000 to aid fight against alcohol abuse

HARRISBURG – Slippery Rock University will receive nearly $13,000 as its share of nearly $1 million being awarded to 72 organizations across the commonwealth by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The grant will support initiatives aimed at preventing underage and dangerous drinking.

Good News: SRU graduate earns Purchase Line hall of fame spot

The late Elaine Peles McMullen, a 1960 Slippery Rock University physical education graduate, was posthumously inducted into the Purchase Line High School Alumni Hall of Fame last weekend.

Good News: Two SRU students earn Red Cross ‘Heroes Breakfast’ salute

Erik Bergh, a Slippery Rock University criminal justice major from Butler, and Maria Pezzuti, an SRU elementary education major from Chicora, were among those honored this morning by the American Red Cross of Southwestern Pennsylvania at a “Heroes Breakfast” for their work as lifeguards.

SRU’s Summer School enrollment sets credit-hour record

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Summer enrollment for 2010 at Slippery Rock University generated a record 20,643 credit hours this year, according to Eliott Baker, executive director of academic records, summer school and graduate studies.

Civil War history comes to life at SRU’s Old Stone House

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Old Stone House, administered by Slippery Rock University, will open its doors to celebrate the history of the American Civil War with a special Sept. 18-19 weekend re-enactment.

SRU AmeriCorps members schedule National Public Lands Day service

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – More than two dozen members of Slippery Rock University’s AmericCorps Program will lend a hand Sept. 25 assisting with trail maintenance at the nearby Jennings Environmental Education Center as part of National Public Lands Day.

Campus Family Campaign begins Sept. 14

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Tracy Allison, Slippery Rock University Annual Fund manager, describes the situation as urgent. “Families are struggling to find a way to pay for college,” she said. “We know for a fact that some students will be unable to come to or continue school without assistance. The immediate need for private support has never been greater.”

SRU’s Friends and Family Weekend offers fun, Slippery Rock VillageFest

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – More than 2,500 family members and friends are expected on the Slippery Rock University campus Sept 17-18 to participate in the University’s annual Family and Friends Weekend and join in the festivities offered by Slippery Rock’s VillageFest.

America's Got Talent

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Colleen Gray, Slippery Rock University associate professor of music and voice coach, thinks Jackie Evancho, the 10-year-old Pittsburgh singer with an operatic voice who is one of the four finalists on NBC’s popular “America’s Got Talent,” may well come away the winner.

New Athletic Coaches

SRU student creates code for Google

Author Stephen Chbosky lectures

West Central Loop closes Monday for Student Union construction

Rock to host Power of 32 community visioning event

Staff changes bring new opportunities

AmeriCorps members pland daffodils

SRU AmeriCorps hosts regional service-learning workshop

SRU-SGA Child Care Program earns five-year NAEYC accreditation

SRU's Empty Bowls Project puts focus on local, world hunger issues

Students say 'fore' to disc golf

Ailey II dances way into SRU's Performing Arts Series