Kudos

* Joanne Blewett, adjunct assistant professor, Geography, was honored by UC for her work community service activities with her dog, Libby. They visit hospitals, nursing homes, etc. Blewett claims all credit for her recognition /award belongs to her award- and prize-winning Dalmatian.

* Kenneth Ghee, Psychology, received a student-nominated Certificate of Appreciation from the UC African American Cultural and Research Center for his recognized support of our students, presented at the Faculty and Staff Appreciation Reception on Feb. 1. Ghee was the faculty keynote speaker for the Jan. 31 Kappa Alpha Psi Black History Month Kick Off Forum on Black Economics.

* Edward Klein, Psychology, and his group recently published an article on the effectiveness of immediate, brief group therapy for people on a waiting list at Central Clinic. The article is Stone, W.N., Klein, E.B., Hicks. M.W., Pritchard, I.L., Johnson, R. & Marciana, K. (2006), and is titled "Assessing the Immediate Treatment Group: The systems impact of an explicitly communicated contract."

* Leonard N. Penix, English and Department of Student Media, was the editor of the online edition of the Cincinnati and Kentucky Post from 2005-06, until his full-time employment by the University of Cincinnati in September. The Web site featuring his designs for The Kentucky Post took second place in the general excellence category in the 2006 Kentucky Newspapers Contest. The contest is sponsored by the Kentucky Press Association, which made the announcement during its recent awards banquet in Louisville.

* "Irresponsible and Undisciplined Opposition: Ben Halpern on the Bergson Group and Jewish Terrorism in Pre-State Palestine,” a peer-reviewed article by Mark Raider, Judaic Studies, was published in October in the major journal in American Jewish history, “American Jewish History." Raider's book-length entry on the history of the Jews of the United States was published in 2006 in the premiere reference work in the field of Jewish studies, “United States of America,” Encyclopaedia Judaica, second ed., vol. 20 (2006): 302-404.

* Tara Stopfel, assistant dean for academic advising, Center for Exploratory Studies, will travel to California State University-Long Beach this spring to do a comprehensive review and assessment of their academic advising system.

She also will be a featured speaker and consultant for the nationally webcast "Advanced Advising Webinar Series," which runs through October. The series is presented by Noel-Levitz, a national consulting firm for student enrollment management and retention. Her topic will be "Strategies for Using Academic Advising to Enhance Retention and Student Engagement." She will be a phone-in consultant for the other 11 "webinar" dates.

Stopfel was asked to be a participating expert in light of her success with CES, which she established from the ground up over the last four years. The Center has become nationally recognized as an exemplary practice for advising programs due to success with student retention and student satisfaction.

"They also asked me to do this because of my experience and perspective in designing student support programs at large, public institutions, as well as smaller four-year, private," Stopfel said. UC staff and faculty will be able to participate in the webinar series at no cost. Interested parties can contact Ned Donnelly at ned.donnelly@uc.edu to register for the series (or selected topics) which will be available on campus.

Get details on the webinar series.