 Elon Law Recommended for Provisional Approval
The Accreditation Committee of the American Bar Association has recommended provisional approval for Elon University School of Law, and a final decision will be made June 6-8. The Accreditation Committee's recommendation came during its April 18 meeting in Portland, Ore., and will be passed along for a final decision by the ABA's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The Council will meet June 6-8 in Seattle, Wash. Read more.
Grant Supports Environmental Research at Pacific Lutheran University
 With a $90,000 grant, the Environmental Studies Program at Pacific Lutheran University intends to provide students and faculty members with more opportunities for research and creative projects. The program received the funding from the Wiancko Charitable Foundation in early December. The program’s faculty determined the money would support annual student-faculty research and creative projects, a mini-grant program, and provide for a faculty workshop in May and a summer research retreat. Read more.
University of Evansville President Stephen Jennings Elected to Chair ICI Board of Directors
The Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) this month elected University of Evansville President Stephen Jennings as chair of its Board of Directors, for a one-year term beginning July 1. Thirty-one independent colleges and universities in Indiana comprise the ICI, including the University of Evansville, the University of Notre Dame, Butler University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Valparaiso, and Depauw University. Jennings’ appointment, which occurred at the board’s spring meeting, is “a great honor,” he said. Read more.
Chronicle Story Highlights North Central Professor
In its April 25, 2008 issue the Chronicle of Higher Education profiled “The Mathematics of Square Dancing” at North Central College. In an article titled “A Course in Combinatorial Choreography” writer Paula Wasley examines how associate professor of mathematics David J. Schmitz uses square dancing to illustrate “math in motion.” Read more (Note that the Chronicle site requires a subscription or an online pass).
Ithaca College To Formally Dedicate Sustainable Home For School Of Business
 The new “green” home of the Ithaca College School of Business will be formally dedicated on Thursday, April 24, as the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise. The name represents the support provided by Mrs. Park for the construction of the building—which will serve as a model of sustainability in action—as well as the school’s commitment to becoming a leader in producing business graduates who not only achieve financial and professional success, but also promote social justice and environmental stewardship. Read more.
Hamline Launches School of Business
Hamline University—Minnesota’s first university—is proud to announce the formation of the Hamline University School of Business. The school will offer premier programs in business administration, nonprofit management, and public administration, as well as a host of new, comprehensive undergraduate programs. Read more.
Valparaiso to Offer Doctor of Nursing Practice
The Valparaiso University College of Nursing is revising its advanced degree programs and will begin offering a doctor of nursing practice, a degree that will prepare nurses for the highest level of nursing practice and leadership. Dr. Janet Brown, dean of the College of Nursing, said offering the DNP puts Valparaiso at the forefront of a new national movement in nursing education. Read more.
 Ithaca College Selects Thomas R. Rochon as Eighth President
The Ithaca College Board of Trustees has announced the unanimous selection of Thomas R. Rochon as the eighth president in the institution’s 116-year history. Rochon, who has served since 2003 as executive vice president and chief academic officer for the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, will officially begin his duties in Ithaca on July 1, 2008. He succeeds Peggy R. Williams, who will be retiring after 11 years as Ithaca’s president. Read more.
Smaller Schools Can Benefit from Foundation Dollars, Too
 The decision of Harvard University, and other institutions such as Northwestern University with substantial endowments and national or international “brand names,” to utilize more endowment income to keep their educations affordable for students from low- and middle-income families is to be applauded. Read more of North Central College President Hal Wilde's article.
 ANAC Graduate Programs Improve Their US News Rankings
Law, pharmacy and physical therapy are rising stars at Associated New American Colleges. Read more.
 Pacific Lutheran Center for Public Service Receives Silver Spoon Award
PLU’s Center for Public Service was among five organizations to be awarded a Silver Spoon Award by the Emergency Food Network on March 18.
Given annually, the award honors the volunteers and organizations that are key to ending hunger in Pierce County. This is the first time PLU received the award. Read more.
 BusinessWeek Calls Elon's MBA Program One of the Nation's Best
The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business is featured as one of the nation's top programs in “The Best B-School,” a new book from BusinessWeek.
The book spotlights Elon's part-time MBA program for its range of resources such as an integrated curriculum, executive speakers and hands-on learning opportunities. Read more.
InsideHigherEd.com Puts Belmont in Top 2 of Its NCAA Bracket
 Teams standings determined by athletes' academic performance InsideHigherEd.com—an online source for news, opinion and jobs for all of higher education—released today its own picks for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Bracket and selected Belmont University to make it all the way to the Championship Game. InsideHigherEd.com based its selections in each round by awarding wins to the team with the strongest academic performance using the athletes’ academic standing, enrollment continuity and graduation rates as key factors. Belmont finished this tournament bracket second, behind only Davidson, outscoring such academic power players as Duke, Xavier and Cornell along the way. Read more.
ANAC Scores Third Consecutive Award in International Education
This marks the third year in a row that an Associated New American College has garnered the esteemed Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization. This year Valparaiso University has won the prestigious award. Arcadia University in Glenside, PA, and Elon University in Elon, NC, were honored with the award in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Read more.
Simmons School of Management Makes "Global Top 100" List for Educating Students in Corporate Social Responsibility
The Simmons School of Management in Boston is one of the top 100 business schools in the world in the integration of social and environmental issues into its MBA program, according to the Aspen Institute’s 2007-2008 edition of “Beyond Grey Pinstripes,” a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools. The Simmons School of Management was ranked 32 on the Institute’s Global Top 100 Schools. Read more.
Simmons College, Boston, New ANAC Home
 Simmons College will house the national office of the Associated New American Colleges (ANAC). Beginning Nov. 1, the new office will be located at Simmons College, Main College Building, 300 The Fenway in Boston. ANAC Executive Director Lynette Robinson, former vice chancellor and deputy secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, may be contacted at 617-521-2025, or by email.
It is the first time the ANAC will reside on the campus of one of its member institutions. The ANAC serves a combined total of more than 80,000 students nationwide.
“I am delighted we will become the new national headquarters for this progressive consortium of distinguished colleges and universities that are leading the way in the integration of liberal arts with professional studies and civic engagement,” said Simmons College President Susan Scrimshaw. Read more.
New American Colleges and Universities Receive National Recognition
When it comes to undergraduate education, ANAC schools represent the highest quality among the 574 comprehensive master’s level institutions in the United States according to the U.S. News & World Report. In the 2008 edition of America's Best Colleges, 19 out of 21 members of the Associated New American Colleges were ranked among the top 25 master’s level institutions in their respective regions and another was listed as a Best Liberal Arts College; of those, nine were identified as "Great Schools, Great Prices,” seven were cited for "Programs to Look For" — programs that are most likely to lead to student success. Four - Elon, Drury, Valparaiso and Wagner - were recognized for outstanding First Year Programs. Two, Belmont and The Sage Colleges, were recognized for graduating students with the least amount of debt. Valparaiso was cited as having one of the best undergraduate engineering programs in the country.
 Ten ANAC institutions were also recognized in the 2008 Princeton Review’s 388 Best Colleges, which uses student surveys to rate institutions on a number of dimensions. Of the ten ANAC institutions mentioned, several were cited as the best in a category: Valparaiso - best college library category; Elon - schools that “run like butter;” Drury, Hampton and Westminster - Best Value; and Wagner and Elon - most beautiful campus. In Princeton Review’s 2008 Best Colleges by Region, 18 ANAC institutions were featured.
The continued acknowledgment of ANAC members in national publications is tangible evidence of the effectiveness of the New American College model, which offers students the academic breadth and depth found in "national universities" and the experience of working closely with faculty dedicated to excellent teaching and scholarly accomplishment found in many liberal arts colleges. ANAC institutions have been leaders in integrating knowledge and practice in order to prepare students to be global citizens and informed leaders and it is significant that they are now being recognized as such.
Students Earn Awards at Westminster and Valparaiso
Westminster College’s student flight team traveled to the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) national competition in Ohio in May and took home one of the most prestigious awards of the competition—The Loening Trophy.
The Loening Trophy is presented each year to the outstanding all around collegiate aviation program in the nation. The award has been presented annually since 1929 to the program that displays outstanding competition performance, aviation safety and active participation in aviation in its local community.
Three Valparaiso University engineering students have received prestigious awards from Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. Valparaiso’s College of Engineering was one of only two engineering schools in the United States to have students win multiple Tau Beta Pi Fellowships and win a Tau Beta Pi Scholarship. Read more.
Evansville Professor Wins Guggenheim
William Baer, professor of English at the University of Evansville and the Melvin M. Peterson endowed chair in English literature, has won a prestigious 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship Award. Baer, who has been an English faculty member at UE since 1989, was honored this January as the Melvin M. Peterson endowed chair in English literature. He teaches creative writing, cinema and world cultures at UE. Baer will receive $40,000 to work in spring 2008 to translate the sonnets of the Portuguese poet Manuel Bocage (1765-1805).
Walbert is NASPA President, Gets Pillar of Profession Award
 Dr. Jan Walbert, Arcadia’s Vice President for Student Affairs, assumed presidential leadership April 3 of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), an 11,000 member organization serving campus administrators in Student Affairs in the United States and abroad. As President, she will provide leadership of the Association through March 2008.
In addition, Walbert also was awarded the NASPA Foundation’s Pillar of the Profession Award, in recognition of her extraordinary service and distinction within student affairs and higher education. Read more on Walbert.
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