University of Alabama names new vice president for student affairs
Tuscaloosa News – March 30
The University of Alabama has named the University of Iowa dean of students as its new vice president for student affairs beginning in June. The hire of David Grady, the associate vice president and dean of students at Iowa, was announced Monday. He will join UA’s administration June 15. “His leadership will be invaluable in our continuing efforts to provide our students with the best collegiate experience possible,” UA President Judy Bonner said in prepared comments. Grady will replace interim Vice President Steven Hood, who has served in the role since July 2014, when former vice president Mark Nelson left the office to become dean of the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences.
The Daily Iowan – March 30
Crimson White – March 31
MBA program named in top 60
Crimson White – March 31
U.S. News & World Report has recently come out with their top 2016 college rankings, and among them is The University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business, which was ranked No. 58, increasing 16 spots from last year’s list. Among the factors that go into the rankings each year are standardized test scores, such as the GMAT or GRE, and percent of graduates employed after completion of the program. Tut Wilson, director of recruiting and admissions for the MBA program, said the average starting salary of graduates and national recognition are other aspects that contribute to the ranking. “One aspect of the MBA program that was true when I graduated and continues to ring true years later is how committed the Manderson Graduate School of Business is to providing a personal touch,” he said.
UA colleges to present President’s Faculty Award
Crimson White – March 31
The University of Alabama will present the President’s Faculty Research Award as a part of its first ever Faculty Research Day. Thirteen faculty members from different colleges across campus will be presented with the award Wednesday, April 8. Carl A. Pinkert, vice president for Research and Economic Development at the University, said recognition faculty members receive for their research is crucial. “I think recognition of faculty members across all colleges and disciplines is very important to all of our university missions,” Pinkert said. “With President Bonner’s encouragement, this award program promises to raise awareness of the diversity and breadth of research efforts across our campus.” The event, open to UA faculty, will be held in the Bryant Conference Center from 4 to 5:45 p.m. Kim Bissell, associate dean for research and professor of journalism, is one of 13 faculty members selected for the award. “Research is what informs what we do as teachers,” she said. “If I am teaching a graduate-level course in media effects or teaching a Ph.D. seminar in health communication, it seems appropriate that I be a scholar in that particular area. By doing research in a specific area, I am informed about the latest findings, the latest studies, etc., and that allows me to be a better instructor in the classroom.”
What’s causing U.S. Steel’s cutbacks?
Birmingham Business Journal – March 30
Steel manufacturing in the U.S., and in Alabama, has seen its ups and downs in the last few decades, as the import/export battle with foreign markets continues. Steelmakers with a local presence, such as U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) and Nucor Steel (NYSE: NUE), have been warning investors of an economic downturn as a result of overproduction in China, but some economists believe the strength of the U.S. dollar could be contributing to the overcapacity of cheap steel flooding the global market, along with a major decline in crude oil prices. Ahmad Ijaz, an economist at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, said in an interview with the Birmingham Business Journal that the U.S. was faced with a similar situation in 1990s, when steel was at an overcapacity. “The steel industry is very cyclical and goes through this every five or 10 years,” Ijaz said. “There was an overcapacity of steel in the 1990s and it worked itself out. It depends a lot of construction, automobile production and things like that.”
Panelists discuss issues for Alabama’s school system
Crimson White – March 31
This week’s topic for The University of Alabama’s Honors College’s town hall meeting was “Making the Grade: Reforming Alabama’s Education,” a discussion about the main challenges in Alabama’s school system. Panelist Peter Hlebowitsh, dean of The University of Alabama College of Education, said he believed one of the major issues for Alabama’s schools was reading. “The pathway to school success is reading,” he said. Hlebowitsh said he believes students at the University should question what impact they can make and what they can do as a college to improve the reading scores in the state of Alabama. “If our college can get in there and improve the reading in Alabama, we can get past one huge challenge that our Alabama school systems are
currently facing,” he said. Hlebowitsh said 80 percent of incarcerated individuals are high school dropouts, many of whom are illiterate. He said he believes that if literacy improves in Alabama, this can even impact the state’s incarceration and drop-out rates.
UA students walk for suicide prevention
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 30
Moved by the loss of their loved ones, University of Alabama students tried to erase the stigma of one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., mental illness. WVUA’s Priscilla Estrada has the story. “Look at the crowd we have here. It is clearly a cause that people are passionate about.” That cause is mental health. “I firmly believe that this is an incredible cause to be a part of. I think it’s extremely important to erase the stigma that is associated with mental health.” Hundreds came together to participate in an awareness walk to help spread the resources The University of Alabama Counseling Center offers relating to mental health and suicide prevention. Many also shared their stories on why the walk was so important to them.
BFA art displayed in Cultural Arts Center
Crimson White – March 31
With spring graduation just a few weeks away, many seniors at The University of Alabama are focused on moving on to a job or graduate school. A handful of art students have had the opportunity to practice what they’ll be doing after they walk across that stage. A faculty jury selected seven Bachelor’s of Fine Arts students to exhibit work in the UA gallery of the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center from March 6 to April 3. Ali Hval, a senior majoring in studio art, is one of the students with work in the show. She said BFA students submitted a selection of works to a group of faculty members to apply to be in the show. “They kinda see what works with what,” she said. “We ended up with a lot of red in our show for some reason. We’re all women artists so I’m sure that says something.” Hval said she and the other selected students got together in the space to curate the show and figure out how the pieces were going to fit together.
Miss Alabama Serves Day
Digital Journal – March 30
As a part of “Miss America Serves”— a national day of volunteer service presented by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals— Miss Alabama contestants will join together to work on three projects on April 18th . This combined effort will raise funds for the children’s hospitals in Birmingham and Mobile, while addressing the unique needs of communities across Alabama. … In Tuscaloosa, titleholders will be working with Temporary Emergency Services of Tuscaloosa. Since 1945, TES has helped individuals and families in crisis situations by providing financial and other temporary assistance. TES offers many services including clothing, food assistance, and help with utilities to those in need. “On Miss America Serves Day, Miss Alabama contestants will be helping sort donations to TES”, said Payton Edberg, Miss University of Alabama. “I am excited for the opportunity to serve the community that has become my home in yet another way, and I know the other women of the Miss Alabama organization will benefit from this experience as well, since many of them were here when the tornadoes hit Tuscaloosa in 2011, and witnessed how TES was first on the scene to help the many in need”, she concluded.
FoxNebraska.com – March 30
Ashley McWaters made jump from investment to teaching
Crimson White – March 31
Ashley McWaters didn’t always know she wanted to be a teacher. Her undergraduate degree was in art history, and she directed an art gallery in her home town of Memphis before starting an investor relations job on Wall Street in New York City after working as a temp. When she was in her late 20s she began to consider teaching, then decided instead to enroll in graduate school. McWaters earned her master’s degree in English from The University of Memphis and her MFA in poetry here at the University. She has been teaching at Alabama since 2002, when she started the MFA program. She graduated two years later and started teaching full-time that fall. … McWaters was appointed undergraduate coordinator for creative writing because she said the department felt undergraduate students weren’t getting enough attention, as creative writing is offered only as a minor at Alabama and not as a major. Through her efforts, the minor program has grown to 220 students from the 60 or 70 when she started. … It’s been said Ashley and Scott McWaters are the power couple of the English department at the University. The married couple shares the same job at the same institution. … “We had the exact same start date,” Ashley McWaters said. “Everything is the same, our retirement, everything is like a mirror.”
Scott McWaters acts as ‘utility player’ in English department
Crimson White – March 31
Growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Scott McWaters said he never thought he would live in the South. But his passion for basketball changed everything.McWaters, now an instructor in the English department at the University, said he originally wanted to be a basketball coach, so he pursued a basketball scholarship at LaGrange College in Georgia his freshman year of college. Before long, he said he developed an interest in literature thanks to authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau and transferred to The University of Alabama to study English. After graduating, he earned a master’s degree in creative writing from The University of Memphis. He has taught a variety of classes at The University of Alabama since 2002.“I see it as a positive to teach a variety of things, and that’s probably what I’ve done the most of over the past decade,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunity to teach world literature, American literature, British literature, specialty stuff like Cormac McCarthy or William Blake. That’s been really fun – it keeps the job exciting.”