YSU Slashes Out-Of-State Surcharge For Students in Western Pennsylvania

The cost to attend YSU will be drastically reduced for residents of Western Pennsylvania under a new initiative announced in January.
 

The “Western Pennsylvania Advantage” makes YSU, its quality programs and faculty more accessible and affordable to residents in eight Western Pennsylvania counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Erie, Lawrence, Mercer and Venango. The initiative, which starts in fall semester 2009, slashes the out-of-state surcharge that residents in those eight counties currently pay. The result is a tuition reduction of nearly $2,500 a year.

“This plan will put YSU’s tuition at or below those at other universities in Western Pennsylvania, giving students and their parents more options when considering their educational needs,” YSU President David C. Sweet said. “We also believe that this initiative will further help connect Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, advancing the educational, cultural and technological future of the entire region.”

For more information, contact the YSU Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 330-941-2000 or visit the YSU “Western Pennsylvania Advantage” Web site at www.wpa.ysu.edu.

Master’s in Art Education Program Added

Since earning a bachelor’s degree in art at YSU in 1978, Janie Morris has had her heart set on getting a master’s degree. “I have literally been waiting 30 years,” she said.

With YSU’s new master’s degree in art education, the wait is over.
Morris, an art teacher at Liberty High School, is among eight students enrolled in the new master’s program, which won the approval of the Ohio Board of Regents last summer and was started at YSU this fall semester.

Samuel Adu-Poku, program director and assistant professor of art, said a significant need exists for the program in the Mahoning Valley. “In the first 10 years of employment, art teachers in Ohio need to have 30 credits or a master’s [degree],” he said. “Now, they can hone their skills and keep their jobs, and they don’t have to go all the way to Kent State University to satisfy the state requirements.”

YSU’s enrollment has grown at a faster pace than any other public comprehensive university in Ohio over the past eight years, according to an analysis of enrollment data released by the state.

Since fall semester 2000, YSU’s headcount enrollment has increased from 11,787 to 13,712, a 16.3-percent jump and the highest increase over the period among the state’s 11 public comprehensive universities.

“We have taken seriously the challenge of increasing enrollment and increasing educational attainment levels in the Mahoning Valley,” YSU President David C. Sweet said. “Our success is due to the hard work of many people throughout the university and community.”

Rich Center Students Donate Blankets to Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley

What began as a summer art project for preschool and school-age students at the Rich Center for the Study and Treatment of Autism at YSU culminated in December with a presentation of fleece quilts to residents and staff of the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.

The students, working with nine adolescents with autism who are participating in the center’s Adolescent and Family Transition Program, crafted 80 quilts during the center’s Kids Who Care summer art program.

Georgia Backus, Rich Center director, said the quilt project was funded through a $1,000 grant from the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education. The Rich Center for Autism was one of five schools chosen for the grant out of 49 applications from across the nation. The center’s summer program is made possible by contributions from the Hine Memorial Fund, the Marion G. Resch Foundation, the World Financial Group Foundation and the UPS Foundation.

Established in 1995, the Rich Center is an externally funded unit of YSU, with a primary mission to improve the lives of individuals with autism through innovative educational programs.

YSU Biology Major Named Miss Ohio

Biology major Natasha Vivoda didn’t draw inspiration from the glamorous pageant queens of years gone by or touched-up magazine photos of supermodels when she competed for the title of Miss Ohio USA. She’s just not that kind of girl.
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Instead, Vivoda, a 21-year-old YSU senior from Champion, Ohio, who won the contest in late November, finds inspiration in her biggest fan – her grandfather, aka “Papa John,” who has battled lung cancer, strokes and seizures in recent months.

Her grandfather’s valiant struggles motivated her during the Miss Ohio competition, she said, and he will be on her mind again when she competes against 50 other young women for the title of Miss USA on April 19 in Las Vegas. The contest will be broadcast live nationally by NBC.

“This is my year, and I want to bring home the Miss USA title for him,” said Vivoda, the daughter of Michael and Paula Vivoda Klotz.. 

 Due to the demands that accompany the Miss Ohio USA title and the three-week Miss USA competition, Vivoda said, she’s taking spring semester off. When she returns to the university in fall 2009, she plans to complete her baccalaureate in biology and then to enroll in YSU’s doctorate program in physical therapy.

Accounts of Vivoda’s Miss Ohio USA and Miss USA experiences will be posted at www.missohiousa.com.

YSU Partners with Liberty Schools
YSU and the Beeghly College of Education have entered into a partnership with Liberty Local Schools that aims to expand learning opportunities for YSU student-teachers and for Liberty students in grades K-12.

The agreement, which establishes Liberty as a Professional Development Schools district, is the first of its kind for the Mahoning Valley and for YSU, said Gail Saunders-Smith, an assistant professor of Teacher Education and the program liaison.

Under the plan, participating YSU student-teachers spend two consecutive semesters in the same Liberty school building, the first in a pre-clinical field experience, the second in a student-teacher assignment. Twelve YSU students are beginning the year-long PDS internship program now at Guy Middle School and E.J. Blot Elementary School.

Additionally, the PDS relationship with YSU will make college-credit courses available to Liberty High School students who qualify. Alison Harmon, associate dean of the Beeghly College of Education, said YSU plans to initiate PDS relationships with other school districts once the Liberty program is firmly established.

YSU Will Participate in Voluntary System of Accountability

YSU and Ohio’s 12 other public universities are now part of the Voluntary System of Accountability, a national program that allows the public to compare data from more than 300 colleges and universities nationwide.

Enrollment in VSA is called for in the University System of Ohio’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education. “It’s a win for prospective students, families, legislators, policymakers, college faculty and staff who — for the first time —will be able to review data on price, financial aid, degree programs, retention and graduation rates, campus safety, student satisfaction and student learning outcomes in a standardized format that enables valid comparisons to be made between schools across Ohio and the nation,” said Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents.
YSU’s portrait and those of the more than 300 other colleges and universities in the program are available at VSA’s Web site: www.collegeportraits.org.

Heading up YSU’s participation in VSA are Tom Maraffa, interim executive director of institutional research; Sharon Stringer, director of assessment; Julia Gergits, coordinator of general education; Bege Bowers, associate provost; and Steve Taraszewski, senior research analyst.

Professor Is Co-Discoverer of Galaxy Collisions

John Feldmeier, YSU assistant professor of astronomy, is part of a team of astronomers that discovered a high-speed collision between two galaxies in the nearby Virgo cluster.

The team, led by Jeffrey Kenney, professor and chair of astronomy at Yale University, found evidence that high-speed collisions between large elliptical galaxies may prevent new stars from forming. The findings were published in a November 2008 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Feldmeier, who joined YSU’s faculty in 2006, said the study indicates that the giant elliptical galaxy M86, in the heart of the Virgo cluster, has interacted with another galaxy in the Virgo cluster, NGC 4438. The two galaxies are connected by tendrils of ionized hydrogen. The researchers believe the study shows high-speed galaxy collisions are a plausible explanation to what process turns off star formation in the biggest galaxies.
Read more about Feldmeier and his research at: http://www.as.ysu.edu/~jjfeldmeier

STUDENT SUCCESS

YSU’s yo* Magazine Wins National Press Prize

The yo*, a special magazine published by YSU’s student newspaper, was awarded the Best in Show prize by the Associated Collegiate Press at its Fall 2008 Convention in Kansas City. The magazine placed first in the feature/special audience college magazine category.

The award–winning spring 2008 issue featured work by Cristina Cala, Chelsea Pflugh, Britta Snowberger, Richard Boccia, Brian Cetina, Sarah Sole, Ashley Tate, Cheryl Thompson, Emmalee Torisk and Tony Lucente.  Sarah Sole, editor of The Jambar, and Richard Boccia, managing editor of The Jambar, are this year’s editors.

Alyssa Lenhoff, director of journalism, said she and other journalism faculty are trying to find permanent funding for printing of the yo*. Previous issues have been published with funds provided by the YSU Student Government Association.

Math students present research at national conference
Three YSU mathematics students presented their research results at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America in January in Washington, D.C.

John W. Hoffman of Poland, W. Ryan Livingston of Hubbard and Jared M. Ruiz of Girard called their presentation “A Note of Covering Systems of Congruences: Variations on a 2002 AIME Problem.”

It was the latest in a string of accomplishments for the mathematics trio. Last summer, the three were selected to participate in an eight-week research experience for undergraduate students operated by the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics at YSU. Funded by the J. Douglas & Barbara Faires Endowment Fund, the team worked under the direction of Jacek Fabrykowski, YSU professor of mathematics and statistics; Ruiz received summer support from the University of Akron’s McNair Scholar Program.

Ruiz, Livingston and Hoffman also attended the Annual Summer Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America and Pi Mu Epsilon in Madison, Wis., in late July and made presentations.

Sophomore Awarded Scholarship for Semester Study in Thailand

Brian Haughey, a sophomore political science major from Austintown, has been awarded a $5,000 Freeman-Asia Scholarship to help fund his study abroad this semester at Rangsit University in Bangkok, Thailand. 

A son of Deborah and Michael Gaia and David Haughey, Brian left for Thailand on New Year’s Eve and will return home in April. The second-oldest of four brothers, Haughey has a 3.9 grade point average at YSU.

“He’s a go-getter. When he sets his mind on something, he gets it done,” Michael Gaia said.

 Haughey is among the last to receive a scholarship from the Freeman-Asia Scholarship program, which has supported more than 4,000 American undergraduates studying abroad in East Asia or Southeast Asia since it was founded in 2001. The Institute of International Education, which co-funded the scholarships with the Freeman Foundation, has suspended the program.

Nursing students participate in ‘Drive-Thru’ flu shot clinic

YSU nursing students got some hands on experience in how immunizations might be administered in the case of a community disaster when they participated in a Drive-Thru Flu Shot Clinic sponsored by the Mahoning County Board of Health.

Sue Rendano, nursing instructor, said the setting gave students a chance to observe, participate and evaluate the role that nurses play in community disasters or emergencies in which mass numbers of citizens must be immunized, she said.

Rendano said the clinic focused on the “social isolation” of the clients – the clients remained in their cars, answering a few questions regarding the flu vaccine before the shots were administered. “Overall, the response from the public was positive as well as most appreciative,” she said.
The clinic was approved by the Ohio Department of Health as a full scale infrastructure exercise. The Mahoning County Emergency Management Team had a command post on site; state health officials observed the clinic and performed a post–clinic evaluation.