The Campanil-E @ UMass Dartmouth

Health care professionals, with either an associate degree or certificate in an allied health field, may now complete a baccalaureate degree in Medical Laboratory Science – acquiring knowledge, skills, and abilities in the areas of business methods, health care policy and people management. More

UMass Dartmouth scientists successfully implemented a strategy to protect the dwindling yellowtail flounder population without burdening the scallopers.

Scallops, one of the best-managed fisheries in the U.S., produce about $400 million per year at dock-side prices along the East Coast, including $200 million in New Bedford. Several times over the past five years, however, scallopers from New Bedford and other ports were forced to prematurely halt their pursuit of scallops because they exceeded their allocation of yellowtail flounder, a species that is over-fished. This created an economic hardship for hundreds of families. More

UMass Dartmouth faculty and the Campus Store have been working together to reduce the costs of textbook and other class materials. The Campus Store has successfully implemented a new system designed to make the costs of materials transparent to faculty and students so they can make better choices and lessen the cost to students. A book rental program, e-textbooks, and un-bundling of course materials are all strategies implemented by the Campus Store in collaboration with faculty.  Meanwhile, Charlton College of Business Professor D. Steven White was featured this week in a national press conference focusing on the impact of a new federal law designed to lower costs. Our campus store implemented the law three months prior to the July 1 deadline.

UMass Dartmouth has launched a new online master’s program in public policy, the first in the internationally recognized portfolio of UMassOnline, and one that us designed for busy professionals. Meanwhile, one undergraduate student and her faculty mentor are having their research published; another undergraduate is spending her summer on a National Science Foundation-funded internship; and School for Marine Science Dean John Farrington has been much sought after by national and international media covering the BP oil disaster.

And don’t forget to check out upcoming campus events, many of which are free and open to the public.

Public Policy degree program now online

UMass Dartmouth’s highly popular Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) program is now available in a fully online format designed for busy professionals. The online MPP was launched last week by UMassOnline, which provides global marketing, technology support, and other support and services for online learning programs developed by the university’s five campuses. The program is modeled after the highly regarded on-campus Master’s in Public Policy program offered by UMass Dartmouth’s School of Education, Public Policy and Civic Engagement. The new online MPP program was developed, and will be taught by, the same faculty who provide on-campus instruction.

The program was designed for individuals seeking employment in municipal, state, or federal government, non-profit organizations and business, trade, or labor associations.  Theonline MPP program has been tailored for the current generation of working public policy professionals as well as the next generation of public policy leaders. More specifically, the online program is expected to draw learners from the same two primary student groups that have traditionally enrolled in the on-campus program: working professionals interested in career advancement, professional development, or a career change.  It is also meant to attract recent college graduates who want to continue their education at the graduate level in preparation for a career in the field of public policy.

Read more

Check out online programs in environmental policy, sustainability, women’s studies, and one designed to help busy people complete their undergaduate degree.

Green companies make for happy employees, according to student/faculty research

Charlton College of Business Cassie Walsh (’10) and Professor Adam Sulkowski collaborated on a research project indicating that a company’s efforts to protect the environment are more likely to increase employee satisfaction than the company’s financial outlook. The paper, entitled, “A Greener Company Makes for Happier Employees,” has been accepted for publication the Interdisciplinary Environmental Review and concludes, “environmental performance and related communications should be an integral part of human resources management strategies to recruit, motivate, and retain the best talent.”

Cassi Walsh majored in Human Resource Management and particiapated in the Honors Program. Her work is an example of the research opportunities available to undergraduates at a research university.

Student awarded NSF internship at Harvard Forest

Julianne Henry (’11) is spending her summer as a outreach and communications intern at Harvard Forest, an outdoor laboratory and classroom that Harvard University has been operating in Petersham, MA since 1907. The forest is one of 26 long-term ecological research sites around the country funded by the National Science Foundation. Julianne is one of 34 interns chosen from a pool of several hundred candidates.

SMAST Dean sought by media and scientific community for expertise on BP oil spill

School of Marine Sciences and Technology Dean John Farrington, who was part of the shipboard mission that studied the Ixtoc oil spill off the coast of Mexico, has been spending a lot of his time speaking with colleagues around the world and media, including the New York Times and National Public Radio, about the BP oil spill disaster.

Dr. Farrington was one of a group of scientists assembled by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership at Louisiana State University to make recommendations for how scientists can best respond to the Deepwater Horizon spill. Read an interview with Dean Farrington.

It may be summer but there is till a lot happening at UMass Dartmouth. We accepted the first major scholarship gift at our new law school, 20,000 people came to campus for our annual Freedom Festival concert and fireworks, Arnie the Corsair made the rounds at the festival, and our faculty and students reported on recent research and service missions to Haiti and Pakistan. Also, be sure to check our calender listings for upcoming events.

A 19-member group of UMass Dartmouth faculty, students and alumni traveled to Haiti to serve in health clinics and help rebuild houses in the Port Au Prince area.

The group worked closely with Partners In Development, one of the most active relief organizations in Haiti. Nursing student Myriam Jeannis, who was born in Haiti, reported: “Two thirds of the group work in the clinic and one third work in construction. The nurses and nursing students are working in a clinic that has seen at least 27,000  Haitian patients since the earthquake. We have seen cases that range from non-emergency to serious emergency. Our patients are mostly people from the tent villages who were displaced after the earthquake.”

Nursing Professor Jeanne Leffers noted that the group included students and alumni from the colleges of nursing, engineering, arts and sciences, visual and performing arts and business. “The UMD students were outstanding,” she said.

UMass Lowell alumnus  and former UMass Trustee Charles J. Hoff (’66) has donated $210,000 to support UMass graduates who want to attend UMass Law and pursue public interest-related law. Mr. Hoff made the gift on July 1, the same day that the school officially accepted a $23 million donation of  facility, land, and cash assets from the former Southern New England School of Law. “I firmly believe that education is the key to upward mobility and quality of life, especially for individuals who hail from a modest upbringing,” Mr. Hoff said in making his example-setting gift. “The establishment of UMass Law this year is another major milestone in the evolution of the Commonwealth’s world class university.” Read more.

The University’s annual Freedom Festival, sponsored by the Bristol County Savings Bank, attracted 20,000 people for a huge picnic, concert by Santa Mamba and Entrain, an exciting fireworks display, and a visit from Arnie the Corsair. View photos of the festival and Arnie’s visit.

Two of our professors — Brian Williams (History) and Adam Sulkowski (Business) — made headlines with their visit to Pakistan’s Swat Valley, thought to be the hideout of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. Reporter Steve Urbon’s June 25 article in the Standard-Times of New Bedford on the adventure can be found here.

More news

More events

The following is a list of selected upcoming UMass Dartmouth events. For complete daily, weekly, and monthly event listings, please visit the online calendar.

July 2

Freedom Festival concert and fireworks

July 12

Sustainability camp for grades 6-8

Ongong

Professional & Continuing Education summer registration

UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts students, alumni and faculty enjoyed an award-winning year in a variety of artistic endeavors this year.

Martha Grover (MFA ‘08) received the Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist 2010 People’s Choice Award.

Jodi Stevens, who received her Master’s in Fine Arts this spring, was one of two winners of the Creative Promise Awards for Student Excellence from the Surface Design Association.

CVPA’s jewelry/metals students excelled at the International Precious Metals Institute New England Design Competition this spring.

Music Professor Royal Hartigan received a $9,690 fellowship from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation to continue his research on traditional percussion and sound in the Philippines.

Art History Professor Anna Dempsey has been awarded a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities-Winterthur Fellowship to continue her research into design history and modern/contemporary art.  Read more.

UMass Dartmouth alumnus Jeffrey Schoonover ( BS Physics, ‘94; MS Physics ‘99), who teaches science at Portsmouth (RI) High School, has been selected by President Obama to receive the prestigious 2010 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.  A resident of Somerset, MA, he will be among 103 teachers from around the country who will receive their awards in Washington later this year. Schoonover was nominated for the award due to his leadership in establishing the Physics First science curriculum at his school. Read more.

UMass Dartmouth Mechanical Engineering Professor Peter Friedman will spend 2011 on Capitol Hill working on national energy policy issues under a congressional fellowship awarded by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Dr. Friedman said he wants to use his time in Washington to make a contribution to “a rational science-based energy policy that not only addresses the near-term shortages, but also moves toward long-term sustainability…Although until now we have managed to maintain a sufficient energy supply, going forward without a rational science-based energy policy will likely lead to diminishing supplies, worsening trade imbalances, a dangerous dependence on unstable governments, detrimental environmental impacts and adverse geopolitical factors.” Read more.

The National Science Foundation has awarded $200,000 to UMass Dartmouth to acquire a cutting-edge supercomputer to advance research across the campus. This supercomputer will harness the power of graphical processing units — the same processing units existing in every computer and game machine –  to tackle challenging problems in astrophysics, applied mathematics, oceanography, and materials science. “This new supercomputer will boost the computing capability of researchers at UMass Dartmouth enormously,” said Dr. Robert Fisher of the Physics Department, the principal investigator on the grant. Read more.