1.       SACS Re-accreditation Team Visits UK, Commends Administration, Campus

Twenty-seven academicians from universities across the South spent four days on the University of Kentucky campus in mid-April, evaluating all aspects of UK’s academic, athletic, budgetary and other departments and programs as part of the process of reaffirming UK’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).  The SACS Commission on Colleges team, led by University of Alabama President Emeritus E. Roger Sayers, interviewed nearly 500 students, faculty, administrators and staff during their visit.  In the final session, Sayers presented an oral report, noting commendations for administration and campus aesthetics.  UK Self-Study Director John J. Piecoro Jr. said the preliminary report contained no major surprises or issues that had not surfaced during the University's self-study work.  A "Fix-It" committee is working on the report’s recommendations and suggestions. UK has until Sept. 15 to submit a written response including a plan to bring the institution into compliance with the SACS recommendations.  The Commission on Colleges will vote on UK’s reaffirmation of accreditation at its December meeting.

2.       UK Forms Partnership With Georgetown Hospital for Cancer Treatment Center

Representatives of UK Chandler Medical Center and Georgetown Community Hospital broke ground in mid-April on a new outpatient cancer treatment center for patients in Scott and surrounding counties. Kentucky Clinic Georgetown Cancer Treatment Center, located at 1140 Lexington Road, adjacent to Georgetown Community Hospital, is a collaborative effort of the UK Markey Cancer Center and Georgetown Community Hospital.  The center is targeted to open in winter 2002. UK has collaborated with other community hospitals in Berea, Maysville and Somerset to open cancer treatment centers closer to patients' homes.

3.       Colleges of Law, Medicine Listed in Graduate-School Rankings

UK took another step toward top-20 status with the release of graduate school rankings by U.S. News & World Report.  The publication’s “Best Graduate Schools 2003” ranks the UK College of Law among the top 25 colleges of law at public institutions. U.S. News ranks the UK College of Medicine 43rd among 125 accredited medical schools in the area of primary care, which is determined by the percentage of physicians entering primary-care residencies, averaged over 1999, 2000 and 2001.

4.       College of Education Students Show Strong Performance on Major Test

Of the 267 prospective teachers who completed a UK teacher preparation program, 97 percent passed the required teacher certification exams. The passing rate at UK was among the highest in the Commonwealth, relative to the number of students taking the test. Especially gratifying was that 100 percent of the College of Education's African-American prospective teachers passed the required examinations. The exam is designed to measure subject matter competency and is taken by prospective teachers prior to completion of the program. The exam is required for teachers to earn their certification to teach in Kentucky.

5.       Seven Are Named to College of Engineering Hall of Distinction

Seven new members, including a high official in the Central Intelligence Agency, were inducted in mid-April into the College of Engineering Hall of Distinction.  The 2002 inductees include Russell M. Barnes, retired president of Johnson Controls World Services Inc.; Lt. Gen. John H. Campbell, associate director of Central Intelligence for Military Support, Central Intelligence Agency; William C. Hopkins, retired principal engineer II for Bechtel Corporation and a Bechtel Fellow; Carl N. Kelly, retired senior vice president of  Oracle Services Industries and chairperson of the Virginia State Council for Higher Education; Kenneth H. Kennedy Sr., retired vice president for environment, safety and health services for Monsanto Corporation; Betty Peters Preece, educator and education advocate and a Fellow of the Society of Women Engineers; and James W. Stuckert, chairman and chief executive officer of  Hilliard Lyons Inc. and a member of the Gatton College of Business and Economics Alumni Hall of Fame.

6.       William Kirwan II Is Recognized as Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alum

William E. Kirwan II, president of The Ohio State University and alumnus of the UK College of Arts and Sciences, was presented with the Outstanding Alumni Award from the UK Alumni Association and the College of Arts and Sciences.  Kirwan, the son of UK’s seventh president, will become chancellor of the University System of Maryland in August.

7.       Gatton College, College of Agriculture Unite to Help Agri-businesses

The College of Agriculture and the Gatton College of Business and Economics have joined forces to spur new economic growth in Kentucky’s communities.  Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service and the Kentucky Small Business Development Center will combine resources to help small business and agri-business development.  Initiatives under the new partnership include examining new ways to market products, helping develop alternative enterprises, developing training programs, assisting people in creating business plans, helping build new local infrastructures for agricultural products, and encouraging development of home-based businesses.  The partnership fits well in the university’s “higher purpose” mission in service across the Commonwealth.

8.       Gatton College Wins Re-accreditation from International Group

The UK Gatton College of Business and Economics has achieved reaffirmation of accreditation of its undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.  During the accreditation process, the Gatton College of Business and Economics was visited and evaluated by business school deans and accounting educators who are leaders in management education, applying widely accepted AACSB International accreditation standards adopted by the educational and business community.

9.       UK Awards Elite Undergraduate Research Scholarships to Two Juniors

Two UK students who excel in the chemical and biological sciences have been awarded prestigious Beckman Undergraduate Research Scholarships to pursue research projects of their own design.  The scholarships, each totaling $17,600, will support the research of UK juniors Robin Petroze of Fort Mitchell and Garrett Matthew Sparks of Ashland.  Petroze’s project is titled “Amyloid Precursor Protein and Presenilin-1 Double Mutant Mice as a Model for Alzheimer’s Disease.”  Petroze is a double major in chemistry and biology.  Sparks’ project is titled “The Role of the Sodium/Calcium Exchanger (NCX) in Synaptic Transmission.” A double major in biology and English, Sparks is a Singletary Scholar and a Gaines Fellow.  UK was one of 13 universities nationwide selected for the scholarship program by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.

10.     UK Researcher Wins Grant for Major Nano-sized Metals Project

D. B. Bhattacharyya, Chemical and Materials Engineering, is the principal investigator on a three-year, $345,000 research grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the use of membrane-based nano-sized metals in the destruction of hazardous organics.  This grant marked the first time the EPA solicited proposals for nanotechnology research related to environmental problems.  UK’s project was selected for funding over more than 100 proposals submitted.

11.     Former UK President Dickey Wins Highest Omicron Delta Kappa Award

Former UK President Frank Dickey was presented the Laurel Crowned Circle Award from Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) during its national convention in Lexington last month.  The award is the highest honor ODK, the national collegiate leadership honor society, confers upon its members.  Dickey is only the seventh ODK member to receive the award in the society’s 87-year history.  Also, Dickey and his wife, Betty, have established a new endowed scholarship for graduate students.  They presented the gift during ceremonies commemorating the completion 37 years ago of the College of Education’s Dickey Hall.  Dickey also had served as dean of the college.

12.     Kimberly Anderson Receives Holmes Award Honoring Efforts Benefiting Women

Kimberly Anderson, professor of chemical and materials engineering, received the 2002 Sarah Bennett Holmes Award from the UK Women’s Forum. The award, named after former Dean of Women Sarah Bennett Holmes, is granted annually to a woman working at the university who promotes the growth and well being of other women not only at UK but throughout the Commonwealth. In 1987, Anderson became the first tenure-track female faculty member in the College of Engineering.  Her efforts have included initiating the creation of the Women in Engineering Program, increasing female student enrollment in the college to 20 percent, and resurrecting what has now become the award-winning UK student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers.

13.     Mechanical Engineering Design Team Pitches a Shutout

A baseball-testing machine designed by a team of mechanical engineering seniors shut out 34 other teams from engineering schools across the Midwest to win first place at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Regional Design Competition held last month in Evansville, Ind. The UK team  Chris Delaney, Jennifer Smith, Dock Carter and Karen Ballman  had slightly more than four weeks to research, brainstorm, design, build and test the machine. Their final product is a machine designed to toss 30 baseballs into three different holes in less than two minutes without assistance. Their design has a practical application for baseball manufacturers by helping detect defective baseballs before they are packaged and shipped to buyers.  Engineering schools from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Kentucky fielded teams.  As a regional winner, the UK team will compete in November in New Orleans at the ASME Congress for the national title.

14.     Two UK Professors Awarded ACE Fellowships

UK professors Lori S. Gonzalez, College of Allied Health Professions, and Deneese L. Jones, College of Education and The Graduate School, have received American Council on Education (ACE) fellowships for academic year 2002-2003.  The prestigious fellowships will assign Gonzalez and Jones to other institutions, where they will observe first-hand the operations of those organizations.  The ACE program, which builds the leadership abilities of its participants, selects its Fellows based on academic credentials, potential for administrative leadership, recommendations by colleagues, overall qualifications and interviews. Gonzalez and Jones join 19 other UK faculty who have been ACE Fellows since 1970.

15.     New Student Information System Allows 24/7 Access

A new Web-based student information system allows students to access their UK records from any location, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The new webUK allows students at UK and Lexington Community College to monitor class schedules, grades, transcripts, address, bills and other information. Since its launch, the site has averaged more than 2,000 hits per day.

16.     Pharmacy Professor Receives the 2001 Lyons Service Award

Thomas S. Foster received the Lyons Award for Outstanding Service, given jointly each year by the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration and the Department of Political Science to persons providing service to the campus, community and state.  Foster, professor of pharmacy and anesthesiology in the Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine at the UK Chandler Medical Center, said he was “awestruck” upon learning he was to receive the award.  His nominator noted Foster has served for 15 years as chairman of the Medical Institutional Review Board (IRB), during which time the board has developed “a reputation of being one of the premier IRB programs in the nation.” He helped establish a Quality Improvement Program to improve the university’s overall conduct of research with humans.  His zeal for music and athletics has led to advancements of concert band music and youth soccer in Lexington.  For more than 20 years he has been a leader in promoting safe and effective use of drug therapy across Kentucky.

17.     UK Increases Life Insurance Benefit for Employees

President Todd announced in mid-April that UK employees’ basic life insurance benefit will increase from $7,500 to $10,000 for all regular full-time employees on July 1, 2002.  The recommendation to increase the coverage was presented to Todd in the 2001-2002 Employee Benefits Committee Annual Report.

18.     CYFERnet Web Site Wins Four-star Rating From Tufts’ WebGuide

CYFERnet, the Web site for a national network of land grant university faculty and county Extension educators working to support community-based educational programs for children, youth, parents and families, recently received an overall four-star rating by Tufts University's Child and Family WebGuide.  UK is the lead university for determining content for the program. Tufts gave the Web site five stars in the categories of content, authority and ease of use.  The Web site offers a section just for kids, where they can explore virtual caves, get craft project ideas and learn about the ecosystem.  Adults can find experts on youth, children, parent/family and community issues. The site also provides a way to locate funding and grant writing opportunities.

19.     Four Organizations Recognized as Partners for Excellence

Four UK organizations received the Partners for Excellence Award at the annual UK Honors and Recognition Awards program. They are Delta Tau Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Phi Omega and the UK student chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants. The Partners for Excellence Award, given by the UK Student Development Council, honors UK organizations that have contributed time, effort and money for the betterment of the university and/or the Lexington community.

20.     Significant Activities of Students

Tracy Kershaw, journalism and telecommunications, placed fourth nationally in what is considered the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism.  Kershaw’s profile of Kentucky author and UK writer-in-residence Bobbie Ann Mason was honored in the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s 42nd annual Journalism Awards Program.  Kershaw will intern this summer at the Tampa Tribune.

Cindy Ledford, communication, won first prize for the top student paper at the Southern Speech Communication Association Undergraduate Honors Conference held in Winston-Salem, in early April. 

Partha S. Mohapatra, decision sciences doctoral student, and Matthew T. Springer, English, received the 2002 Carol S. Adelstein Outstanding Student Awards, presented by UK’s Disability Resource Center to students with disabilities who have inspired the university community through academic achievement, leadership, extracurricular activities or social and personal qualities.

Receiving the 2002 Charles T. Wethington Jr. Fellowship, a one-time, $20,000 fellowship given by The Graduate School and the Research and Graduate Studies Office at UK to seniors who have excelled academically and have shown leadership in academic and community roles, are Kelly N. Cummings, French/economics;  Phillip Elswick, chemical engineering; Beau A. Gibson, music performance; Collin D. Moore, chemical engineering; Brant C. Sachleben, biology; Kevin W. Sexton, biology; and Richard P. Stoss, biology.  The fellowship, funded by the UK Athletic Association, is designed to help outstanding students continue post-baccalaureate education at UK.

Receiving the 2002 Otis A. Singletary Fellowship, a one-time, $12,000 award given by The Graduate School and the Research and Graduate Studies Office at UK to honor seniors who have excelled academically and shown leadership in academic and community roles, are: James A. Carter, mechanical engineering; Emily K. Fritts, journalism/political science; Jaclyn N. Inman, plant and soil sciences; Korri L. Miller, English; and Robert Wagner, philosophy/classics.  The fellowship is intended to help recipients continue post-baccalaureate education at UK.

Recipients of the 2002 Oswald Research and Creativity Awards, given by UK Undergraduate Studies to honor academic excellence and to stimulate creative work by undergraduates students, are:  Lindsey T. Allen, economics/marketing; Lacresha Berry, theater; Remona M. Edenfield, Biology; Matthew Gearhardt, agricultural economics; Benjamin P. Hall, art education; Joshua Ives, architecture; Holly Goddard Jones, English; Robert T. Keisling, English; Brian D. Knox, biology/chemistry; Laura J. Marschner, classics/Japanese Studies; Katie Ritter, biology; Lindsey M. Stoughton, architecture; and Casey E. Wilford, biology. 

Recipients of the 2002 Maurice A. Clay Award, given by the Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society to students for exceptional extracurricular leadership in and service to their university and colleges while maintaining a strong academic record, are Jaquelene V. Bradley, social work;  David W. Gooding, architecture; Sarah Harvieux, physical therapy; Cristy Honaker, family and consumer sciences education; Anthony H. Koch, agricultural economics; Neila-Susan Lawson, nursing; Susan Calhoon-Phelps, accounting/finance; Courtney Reynolds, history; and Alecia K. Whitaker, theater.

Receiving the 2002 UK Student Development Council Scholarship, given by the council to deserving students of outstanding merit who will be attending UK next year, are: Christine M. Bohannon, chemical engineering; Timothy S. Dixon, political science; Gregory S. Parks, clinical psychology; Debra J. Flores, pharmacy; Michael K. Harrington, management/finance; Ila R. McEntire, English; Susan Odom, chemistry/physics; Gregory S. Parks, clinical psychology; Michael L. Schneider II, civil engineering; Azadeh Shirazi, medicine; and Scott W. Sloan, journalism/political science. The scholarship, funded by students through the Senior Challenge, is awarded by students to students.

Receiving the Raymond Betts Crystal Award, given by the UK Honors Program to students for outstanding service to the Honors Program and the university community at large, is Courtney D. Stoll, chemical engineering.

Receiving the Diachun Award, given by the UK Honors Program to a graduating honors student for outstanding research and talent in independent projects and for holding high promise for professional development in graduate school, is Laura J. Marschner, classics/Japanese studies.

Receiving the Spirit Award, given by UK African-American Student Affairs, honors students who have not only excelled academically but who have contributed to the quality of student life at UK through scholarship, leadership and human services, are Ricky Pack Jr., political science, and Jessica Persley, journalism/political science.

Receiving the Outstanding Student Awards, which recognize an exceptional student from each class who excels in and out of the classroom, are Courtney Reynolds, history senior; Marsha L. Bush, agriculture biotechnology junior; Ryan C. Schoonover, English/integrated strategic communication sophomore; and Loren Novelli, international economics freshman.  The award is given by the UK Student Activities Board.

John E. Reese Jr., sociology, received the Darrell A. VanMeter Service Award, given by the Office of Student Activities to students who have a “Good Samaritan approach” and are dedicated to serving others in the community.  

Receiving the Rosemary Pond Leadership Award, given by the UK Office of Residence Life to honor students active with the residence life office who have excelled in leadership positions, are Adam L. Evans, education counseling, and Cheryl Edge, national resources conservation and management.

Receiving the Robert A. Clay Resident Adviser Scholarship, given by the UK Office of Residence Life to a student who has excelled on the job and in the classroom, is Amanda G. Morgerson, marketing.

21.     Significant Faculty and Staff Activities

Michael Bandy, UK Police, was one of the recipients of the first Police Community Relations Awards given by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission to recognize diplomacy skills.

Jose Bicudo, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, made the presentation “Manure Odor Management and Control” in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in late March. The presentation was sponsored by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and by the Department of Civil Engineering at University of Manitoba.

Ethel Bright, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, will serve a one-year term as the director of the Federal Resource Center (FRC) for Special Education at the Academy for Education Development in Washington, D.C.  The FRC supports a nationwide technical assistance network to respond to the needs of students with disabilities, especially students from under-represented populations.

Paula Burdette, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, has published an article in the journal Assessment for Effective Intervention (Winter 2001) titled “Alternative Assessment: Early Highlights and Pitfalls of Reporting.”

James Cobb and John Kiefer, Kentucky Geological Survey, served as co-chairs of a joint meeting of the Geological Society of America southeastern and north-central sections in Lexington in early April.  

Dewayne Ingram, Horticulture, received a grant of $1,732,000 from the Kentucky Horticultural Council to conduct research and Extension programs on new crop opportunities for Kentucky farmers.

John Kiefer, Kentucky Geological Survey, is the new chairman of the southeastern section of the Geological Society of America. His term will be for the 2003–04 fiscal year.

Andrew Klapper, Computer Science, has been awarded a University Research Professorship for the 2002-2003 year. Dr. Klapper’s research will provide tools for a variety of applications in communications and computing. 

Harold Kleinert, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, published an article in the journal Assessment for Effective Intervention titled “An Introduction to Alternative Assessment.”

Richard Labunski, Journalism and Telecommunications, has been awarded a Mellon Research Fellowship from the Virginia Historical Society to support work on his fifth book, which deals with James Madison and the Bill of Rights. 

Rhonda Lee, Chemical Engineering, Paducah, has received a NASA Faculty Fellowship for summer 2002.  She will work at the Goddard Space Institute in Greenbelt, Md., on the Hubble Telescope camera solder joint fatigue test program.

Beth Rous, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, has been elected to serve a four-year leadership term with the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division of Early Childhood.

Kathy Sheppard-Jones, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, has co-authored an article for the Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling titled “Investigating Postsecondary Staff Knowledge of Students with Disabilities Using a Web-based Survey.”

Edward Woolery, Geological Sciences, received a gift of software valued at $216,500 from Seismic Micro-Technology in Houston, Texas. The software will enable Woolery and his colleagues in the seismology and geophysics research program at the Kentucky Geological Survey and the UK Department of Geological Sciences to model subsurface geologic behavior from seismic images that are generated for petroleum exploration, groundwater investigations and other research.

Jun Zhang, Computer Science, has received a $172,361 grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Advanced Computational Infrastructure and Research for his project titled “Algorithms: New Concept and Parallel Algorithms for Robust Preconditioning in Large Scale Parallel Matrix Computation.”