Southern University students part of winning team at engineering competition

(BATON ROUGE) – Four Southern University Electrical Engineering students were part of a three-school team of historically black colleges and universities that placed second in the second annual Lonestar Challenge Design Competition held recently at Texas A&M University.
Southern students Joshua DuBois, Chad Dugas, Ashton Jones and Steffon Wiley, along with students from Tennessee State University and Prairie View A&M University, competed as a team against Texas A&M and the University of Texas in a robotics challenge at College Station.
The challenge required the three teams to design and build a remote-operated and undetectable device that could be used to provide surveillance and reconnaissance information to the Air Force, who sponsored the event. The devices were then put to the test in a simulated hostage situation in an office setting.
The Southern-Prairie View-Tennessee State team finished behind Texas A&M and ahead of last year’s winner, the University of Texas.
“The three days of competition were very exciting and even though the students put in long hours to create a product to meet the design criteria, they became more knowledgeable about engineering design, and they learned a great deal about how to work with others to accomplish a goal,” said Dr. Fred Lacy, associate professor in Southern’s College of Engineering.   
The three HBCUs formed one team because neither school had enough senior capstone design majors for the competition.
The schools also faced other challenges preparing for the competition. The team only met once before the challenge. The HBCU students had to coordinate efforts with teammates in three different states and also had to meet the challenge in considerably less time than the other two schools - about three months compared to nine months by the other schools.
“Needless to say, our students have demonstrated that when they are challenged, they are hard working, innovative and capable of competing with the very best students from two of the top engineering programs in the country,” said Lacy.

Southern University professor to study at Cambridge

(BATON ROUGE, La.) - Southern University’s Jill Bambury is going to Cambridge, England to get her doctoral degree.
The associate professor in the School of Architecture has been awarded the
Cambridge International Scholarship through the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust to
earn her doctoral degree in Architecture from the University of Cambridge.

TSU President Melvin Johnson hosts book reception for Ace Fellow - June 17

(Nashville, Tenn.)—President Melvin N. Johnson hosted a book reception June 17, 2009, for Dr. Peter Nwosu, American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow seconded to Tennessee State University, whose third book has just been released.  

The book titled Beyond Race: A New Vision of Community in America is a non-fiction work about communication, race, and public policy in America, and is designed for the general public, policy makers, students and scholars in a variety of disciplines and professions. Its subject matter focuses on America’s racial dilemma, drawing from the O. J. Simpson case to the culture gap in America, from the rise and fall of the civil rights movement to the dialogue on reparations, from America’s new immigrants to the complexities in building a color-blind society, and from the politics of racial classification to the challenge of spreading American values abroad.

The book can be purchased through the University Bookstore in the Floyd-Payne Student Center, and it will be available for sale during the reception. In addition to the TSU bookstore, it can be purchased at local booksellers.
 
Dr. Nwosu is one of 35 individuals selected in a national competition by the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for U.S. higher education comprising of more than 1,600 university and college presidents, to participate in the 2008-2009 Fellows class as part of the leadership pipeline for higher education. As ACE Fellow, Dr. Nwosu served in President Johnson’s Cabinet, and provided leadership in developing the University’s 2010-2015 strategic plan titled Transforming Tennessee State University (see http://www.tnstate.edu/strategicplan).

He will conclude his ACE program at the end of June, and will return to his home institution, California State University, Northridge.

Jackson State University Department of Facilities and Construction awarded for campus landscaping

 (JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University’s Department of Facilities and Construction Management was recently presented the award for Best Urban Forestry Project by the Mississippi Urban Forest Council (MUFC) and the Mississippi Forestry Commission (MFC). The university was honored for its landscaping, trees and greenery.

Representatives from MUFC and the MFC toured the campus last October when the university participated in the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus USA Program. The program recognizes college and university campuses that:

• Effectively manage their campus trees.
• Develop connectivity with the community beyond campus borders to foster healthy, urban forests.
• Strive to engage their student population utilizing service-learning opportunities centered on campus, community and forestry efforts.

Colleges and universities across the United States can be recognized as a Tree Campus USA college by meeting stringent standards developed to promote healthy trees and student involvement.

Wayne Goodwin, assistant vice president for facilities and construction management, said the campus landscaping has been admired by the surrounding community as well as by students, faculty and staff.

“This award will encourage members of our Site Care Division who maintain the university’s grounds and landscaping,” he said. “JSU will continue to have one of the premiere campus grounds in Mississippi.”

Bowie State gets new Admissions director

(Bowie, Md.) - Lonnie R. Morris Jr. brings new energy and leadership to Bowie State University as director of admissions. He will provide strategic leadership to both the undergraduate and graduate admissions operations. A leader in the areas of college admissions, enrollment management, and institutional effectiveness, Morris is a trendsetter in urban higher education. 
He joins Bowie State during an upswing in student enrollment which rose to 5,483 in fall 2008 while new transfer enrollment increased more than 10 percent from fall 2007 to fall 2008 and new graduate enrollment, over 25 percent.  University officials project an increase in transfer, graduate and continuing education students entering the institution this fall.
Morris plans to use his leadership experience to advance the admissions process. He previously served as vice president of enrollment management at Holy Names University in Oakland California, director of admissions at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee and director of admissions for Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida. He has experience working with programs of widely-recognized agencies such as the National Organization of Concerned Black Men, the College Bound Foundation, TRIO programs, the Black College Network and Sylvan Learning Systems.
“I plan to combine my passions for outreach and volunteerism with my leadership initiatives to take the admissions process at Bowie State to a new level,” said Morris, who holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in organization development from Johns Hopkins University.
The assistant vice president for enrollment management, Don Kiah, oversees the division which encompasses the admissions office. He commented, “We are excited about our admissions team, having worked to assemble a group of people with innovative ideas and both traditional and nontraditional experience in admissions. Our new admissions director has the right mix of leadership experience and abilities to help us achieve the goals we have set.”

Pathway to Greatness Rolls into Jefferson City - June 18

(Jefferson City, MO) -Lincoln University Foundation President Victor Pasley will finish a 1400-mile fundraising bicycle tour in Jefferson City on Thursday, June 18.  Pasley, who began the Pathway to Greatness 1866-2009 tour on April 25 in Rochester, New York, is scheduled to arrive at the North Jefferson City Pavilion at 10 a.m.  Local cyclists are welcome to join Pasley as he rides the final miles to the Lincoln University campus.  Pasley is expected to reach the finish line at the entrance to Lincoln University along Lafayette Street at approximately 10:30 a.m.  A celebration, including music, presentations and refreshments will begin at 11 a.m. at Scruggs University Center (819 Chestnut Street).  Informational booths will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  
A cycling enthusiast, Pasley decided the tour would be an exciting way to raise $1 million to fund scholarships for Lincoln University students.  The 1968 graduate of Lincoln University says he and his wife Pamela have been longtime supporters of their alma mater, but were looking for something to make a bigger impact.  

 Since leaving Rochester, Pasley has been hosted by alumni in cities along the tour route.  His first stop was May 2 in Cleveland.  From there he traveled to Detroit (May 16); Chicago (May 30); Indianapolis (June 6) and St. Louis (June 13). 

Events in those cities included cycling and spinning events, as well as health fairs.  

SC State students to travel to China during International Study Abroad Program - June 18

(Orangeburg, S.C.)-The Great Wall of China, The Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an, and The Forbidden City are just a few of the landmarks that 10 SC State students can expect to see when they travel to China on June 18, 2009 as part of an international study abroad program.
In fall 2008, SC State University’s Department of Business Administration was awarded a Business and International Education grant (BIE) by the U.S. Department of Education, which supports international study abroad opportunities for students. The BIE grant supports 90 percent of the travel costs to China.
Students were selected to travel to the international country based on the completion of a dead-line driven application process, grade point average (GPA), and a written essay on why they were interested in participating in the international study abroad program. 
“This trip to China is a great opportunity in which our students will be exposed to an environment which is different from ours,” said Dr. David Jamison, associate professor of Marketing, and International Business Minor advisor, who will be accompanying the students on their trip. “Things have developed so rapidly in China over the last decade.  It will be interesting for our students to see the businesses who have become major players in the economy and how they are evolving,” he continued.

During their trip, the students will tour five cities in China:  Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, Yuangshou, and Shanghai.  They will meet business managers and entrepreneurs within each city to learn about business practices, major clientele, production processes, and marketing activities. They will also learn about the economic conditions in China and how they compare to the United States.

The students are scheduled to return on Monday, June 29, 2009.

Southern partners with IBM for cloud computing technology

BATON ROUGE – Two graduates of Southern University are helping the institution take its technology into the clouds. Dexter Henderson and Elmer Corbin, with technology giant IBM, officially launched the Cloud Computing initiative at Southern on Tuesday morning.
The so-called “Cloud,” they said, will establish the Baton Rouge campus as one of the leaders in education in Louisiana and among historically black colleges and universities across the nation. 

“This is a historic moment at Southern University,” said Henderson, vice president of Systems and Technology Development at IBM. “What we’re putting in place here is a leap over anything that we have instituted at any other HBCU.” 

Corbin and Henderson presented Southern with a $40,000 check Tuesday which they said will be used to train SU personnel on Cloud systems and to set the groundwork for the new technology on the campus.  

Cloud computing is a system in which jobs are assigned to an array of connections, software and service accessed over the Internet. The network of connections and servers is collectively known as “The Cloud.” Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Users are able to access the cloud with technology such as iPhones, Blackberrys or laptops, essentially reaching into the cloud for resources as they need them. 

Corbin, IBM’s director of systems development and university alliances, said the cloud will give Southern students the ability to link to information available at other colleges and universities in the U.S. and around the world. Eventually, other historically black colleges will be included in the cloud.

“There will be one giant cloud for HBCUs here and around the world,” Corbin said. 

Jackson State granted $1 million to study levee strengthening

(JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to study levee strengthening under full-scale overtopping conditions. The research project is the first of its kind.
“This is a major research project and it involves innovations in levee strengthening systems during full-scale, unstudied conditions for the first time,” said Farshad Amini, professor and chair of Jackson State’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and principal investigator on the project.
  The research project aims to determine the effectiveness of three innovative levee strengthening systems during full-scale overtopping conditions simulating waves or combined wave and storm surge. The simulations will evaluate the articulating concrete block system, the roller compacted concrete system and the use of anchored high-performance turf reinforcement mats.  The researchers expect the project will help establish disaster resilient communities throughout the country.

Best-selling author Terry McMillian to speak at South Carolina’s spring commencement - May 8

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – This year’s Spring Commencement Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 8, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on the campus of SC State. Nearly 500 graduates are expected to receive degrees.

The keynote address will be given by international best-selling author, Terry McMillian.

“We are very excited that Terry McMillan will serve as our 2009 spring commencement speaker,” said Dr. George E. Cooper, president. “As evidenced by her work, she will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience during her address to the 2009 class.”
Since her breakout novel “Waiting to Exhale” surged onto The New York Times bestseller list, critics and readers alike have been captivated by her irreverent, often-hilarious take on the issues faced by contemporary African-American women. With several of her bestsellers, including Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and Disappearing Acts made into hit movies, McMillian has made her mark on both the literary world and in Hollywood.
In 2002, McMillan won an NAACP Image Award and an Essence Award. She released her first non-fiction effort in 2006 under the title, “It’s Okay if You’re Clueless, and 23 More Tips for the College Bound”. Her most recent work of fiction is “The Interruption of Everything”. McMillan is currently at work on her next book and is also working on a signature household line.
For more information, call Erica S. Prioleau, director of University Relations and Marketing at (803) 533-3617 or esprioleau@scsu.edu.