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I want to thank the members of the Board who took part in our 187th Commencement on June 10th. Our graduates are indeed the greatest asset that we provide, and our class of 2006 includes more than 4,000 students. We had a nearly full house at both ceremonies.
Hats off to the College of Pharmacy, where 100 percent of our PharmD graduates have accepted high-paying jobs or are heading to pharmacy practice residencies. Ten of the 70 graduates will soon begin residencies while the rest will enter the workforce with an average starting salary of $96,000 a year.
A 10-year project to electronically reconstruct the Midwest’s ancient Native American earthworks – led by DAAP’s John Hancock – premiered June 20th at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The project will now travel the nation, with stops already set in Columbus, Cleveland and Chicago. During its development, the project has been featured in the New York Times, ArchitectureWeek, Archaeology Magazine, Ohio Magazine, the Columbus Dispatch and other outlets.
Laura Morris, a student in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, is one of 40 outstanding research participants from the U.S. attending the Lindau [Lind OH) Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students. This year’s event, which traditionally rotates by discipline, will focus on chemistry and is meeting in Germany.
Timothy Broderick, assistant professor of surgery and medical director for our Center for Surgical Innovation, recently led the first test of a communications platform for mobile telesurgery. In one phase of the test, Dr. Broderick sitting in Seattle, Washington, operated on a simulated patient in Simi Valley, California. You’ll also recall that on June 1 the Center for Surgical Innovation, a $9.5 million teaching and research facility, officially opened. It is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the departments of surgery and biomedical engineering and leading government and industry partners.
In this our co-op centennial year, four of our co-op students are working their magic with internationally acclaimed illusionist David Copperfield in Las Vegas. The students, David Mackey, Susan Retterbush, Bryan Porter and Michael Run, are assisting Copperfield with designs for future logos, future props and illusions as well as a redesign of his museum and warehouse.
The British newspaper, The Guardian, last week did a feature article on UC’s new mobile phone network, which has been launched as our new students began arriving for orientation last week. New students are encouraged to purchase a UC Mobile plan in partnership with UCit and Cincinnati Bell and can receive a free Bearcat cell phone .
Our new UC|21 summer bridge program, called SPARKS for short, starts up on July 23. Eighty-four incoming freshmen have signed on to the six-week program, which provides the new students with a five-week program focusing on writing, math and study skills and allows them to live on campus.
The New York production of the revival of Mary Poppins opens in November. Playing in the starring role of the world’s most famous nanny is CCM alum Ashley Brown, who graduated in 2004 with a BFA in Musical Theater.
Our UC Clermont Campus dedicated its new West Woods Academic Center in May. The two-story addition contains high-tech classrooms, faculty offices and a student lounge study area.
We also have just recently put into service the new Human Resources component of our UC FLEX system, the first major revamping of our technology systems in decades. We are now adjusting to the new system.
I would like to thank Vice President Mitchel Livingston for his leadership of the NCAA Certification Process Self-Study Steering Committee as well as Dean Dan Acosta (who is on vacation today) for preparing the written report that was submitted to NCAA in May. The certification process assures that the NCAA’s commitment to the integrity of intercollegiate athletics is shared and advanced by its member institutions. The self study identified areas that have been improved since the 2002 interim report and took a careful look at governance and commitment to rules’ compliance, academic integrity, equity and student-athlete welfare. A Peer Review Team will be on campus in the fall for an evaluation visit; we expect to receive their report in February 2007.
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