A Look at This Year's Accomplishments for McMicken

Another school year passed, bringing achievements and new challenges with it. The McMicken College of Arts and Sciences recognizes more than 30 departments and programs for representing the college so well.

Many regional and national conferences were held on campus or in Cincinnati within six different departments. Bringing outside audiences to campus not only shows them what a great university UC is, it also allows them to see how great Cincinnati is.

Speaking of getting the McMicken name out there, college faculty published hundreds of essays and dozens of books throughout the year. Prestigious awards were received by faculty in the areas of research, teaching, and professional awards and fellowships. More than 20 faculty members were presented awards at the national level.

The journalism program moved out to be a stand-alone department, and the Catholic studies program moved in. Certificates have been proposed for approval including: cyber security, film, media and visual studies, Arabic studies, medical humanities, bioethics, and European studies at the graduate level. Top national rankings remained intact with the Classics Department at No. 6 and paleontology at No. 7.

This past year also brought many firsts and improvements within McMicken. Maymester was developed despite the university just beginning semesters last August. Two task forces were created with one focusing on internationalization and the other on diversity. Both student and staff advisory boards were created to assist with students’ needs and bolster staff recognition and support. Partnerships with local high schools and area corporations were strengthened to increase the number of confirmed students and improve the path from high school to college. A new college skills course was implemented for sophomores to increase retention.

A new STEM undergraduate research award was proposed and will be given for the 2013-14 school year. STEM fields also plan to launch a graduate-undergraduate student peer mentoring program in the summer of 2014.

After celebrating the accomplishments throughout this past year (including conquering semester conversion), it’s time to focus on overcoming obstacles and achieving greater things throughout the upcoming year.