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Kudos

Kudos to the University of West Georgia! The school is now a member of the Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (PSAC CESU), a research consortium. Ann McCleary, professor of history and the director of the Center for Public History, wrote the application with assistance from Dr. Tim Schroer, associate professor of history. Dr. Keith Hebert, assistant professor of history, presented the application to the members of research consortium, who voted to accept UWG unanimously. Membership means UWG can bid on research projects funded and supported by federal agencies. The research work supported by the cooperative includes projects in biological, physical, social and cultural sciences, with topics ranging from anthropology to zoology. Member institutions include: Auburn, Duke, the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina, the National Park Service, the Department of Energy, the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Defense, the National Wildlife Foundation and the Southern Forest Research Partnership.

UWG has also been awarded a $13,600 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to fight alcohol abuse, including underage drinking and impaired driving. Through the grant, UWG participates in the Georgia Young Adult Program. The focus is on peer education to promote and bring awareness to highway safety issues including: alcohol education, alcohol abuse prevention, impaired driving, underage drinking, safety belts, speeding and risk reduction. The long-term goal of the program is to create safer, healthier campus environments. The grant runs from Oct. 1, 2010 through Sept. 30, 2011.

Congratulations to Harry Nelson, Budget Manager for the College of Arts and Humanities, who graduated with his Masters’ Degree in music from the University of Georgia in December.

Kudos to Dr. Adel M. Abunawass and Dr. Daniel J. Rocco, both of the Department of Computer Science. Their students presented original research at the Mid-Southeast Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) annual conference in Gatlinburg, Tenn. in November. Femi Osibote and Aris Tzanis presented their paper, "Multiplayer Browser Game using the Greenfoot IDE." Brandon Shrewsbury, Ameen Kazerouni and Clifford Padgett presented a research paper on robotics and artificial intelligence, "Maps Don't Make Themselves But You Don't Have To Either."

Congratulations to Dr. Anja Remshagen, also of the Department of Computer Science, and her students, Brandon Shrewsbury and Kenitra Morrow. They visited Chapel High School in Douglasville for Computer Science Education Week. The aim of the visit was to share with the students the scope and variety of work that computer scientists do. The week was designated to celebrate the birthday of rear Adm. Grace Hopper, the computer science pioneer and U.S. Naval officer, who died in 1992.

"Most young adults are very concerned about the environment, health risks, unemployment and poverty. They want to contribute to the solutions of those problems. But most adolescents are not aware that computing plays a crucial part in solving today’s problems. Computing professionals are needed to drive innovation and support economic growth,” Dr. Remshagen said of the school visit.

Kudos to UWG educators, who made presentations during the annual conference of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers in Omaha, Neb., in November. Drs. Ronald Reigner and John Ponder (the Department of Collaborative Support Intervention), Donna Harkins (Early Childhood Education Department), along with Rachael Robinson (director of the UWG Pre-K) presented their paper: “Pre-K and Kindergarten Children's Awareness and Articulation of Theme in Literature." Drs. Tamra Ogletree, Cathleen Doheny and John Ponder (all of Collaborative Support and Intervention) presented their paper: "Who's On Ferst? An Evaluation of a Birth-through-Five Book Giveaway Program."

Kudos features UWG faculty and staff articles and book publications, conference attendance and presentations, grants, organizational leadership and awards. E-mail your news to the Campus Chronicle editor.

Campus Talk

University Communications and Marketing welcomes April Saunders as Senior Graphic Designer/Creative Director. April brings a wealth of proven performance as a senior graphic designer in developing creative marketing design collateral, implementing brand strategies and managing internal and external marketing teams. Her experience ranges from print, graphic and web design to branding and social networking campaigns and tradeshow/event planning across both B2B sales and consumer channels. April can be reached at aprils@westga.edu.

Please join us in congratulating UCM’s Teresa Pyron, who has been promoted from Publications Specialist Associate to Graphic Designer. She has made solid contributions to the new branding campaign. Teresa also works closely with university faculty and staff to maintain established brand guidelines, which include the design elements, logos, standard colors and typography.

Also send your congratulations to Richard Sears, who had been the controller, on his new job. Sears is now the Assistant Vice President for Finance and Controller, which was effective Jan. 1.

The University of West Georgia have been invited to participate in “The Academic Minute,” a radio project that features college and university professors from around the country talking about their work.

The short segments are offered free to radio stations. The program was developed by WAMC radio in Albany, New York and is supported by Mount Holyoke College.

Professors are asked to e-mail short summaries to WAMC about their topics, to avoid repetition. The radio segments are limited to 1 minute, 40 seconds. That's about 300 words for the average speaker. School and department credits are part of the introductions, therefore professors will be asked to devote their entire time to their topics.

For more information or to participate, contact Katie Britton or Ian Pickus at 1-800-323-9262 or academicminute@wamc.org.

* Campus Talk features UWG faculty and staff announcements. E-mail your news for publication consideration to the Campus Chronicle editor.