Among the best

Two national publications, U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review, have included Shippensburg University in their rankings of top universities. In America’s Best Colleges 2008, Ship tied for 57th among all institutions in the North region. “Shippensburg University has a long history of being ranked by U.S. News for its high quality education and this year is no exception,” said President Bill Ruud.

The Best Northeastern Colleges 2008 includes Shippensburg in its listing of 222 outstanding colleges and universities in the northeast. The Princeton Review gathers information from and about each institution in fifteen areas. They also surveyed 62,000 students for this edition.

Tuition approved

The new tuition rate for full-time resident undergraduate students attending a PASSHE university is $5,177 for two semesters—the lowest rate among all four-year colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. This represents a 2.75 percent increase that comes to $139 for most students. In addition, the Board of Governors approved a $50-a-year increase in the tuition technology fee – a fee used to directly benefit student learning. Other new tuition rates approved were $166 for resident graduate tuition, $266 for nonresident graduate tuition. Full-time nonresident undergraduate tuition will range from $7,766 to $12,944, depending on a variety of factors.

Merits Attention

The student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management earned a Merit Award from the national organization in recognition of its outstanding activities and programs. The annual award program recognizes student chapters in areas of chapter support to the professional development of members, support of SHRM, the profession, and professional operation of the chapter. Last year the chapter received an Honorable Mention Merit Citation.

BOG

Senior Joseph M. Pelzer, Student Association president, is one of three students serving on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Joe is majoring in human resources management. As a member of the 20-member board, the student representatives enjoy full voting rights.

Oh grant us…

The Computing Research Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in Computing awarded a research grant to Professor Carol Wellington, chair of the computer science department, and two stu-dents, junior Sarah Joseph and sophomore Logan Kennedy. The trio will investigate how tools can help agile software development practices to be adopted by large or distributed teams. Included in their work is the creation of desktop widgets to disseminate information, evaluating their usefulness, investigating intra-team communication strategies, posting progress reports on a website.

Dixon Business

The Dixon University Center will see a lot of SU business students this academic year. New to the center is the business (BSBA) degree completion program where professionals with an associate’s degree can earn their degree in two years. There is the Advanced Studies in Business that meets the needs of professionals who wish to earn an MBA but lack the necessary pre-requisites. Capping the business offerings is the MBA program. Other new SU programs at Dixon include the Social Work (BSW) degree completion program, Advanced Studies in Counseling, and the master’s in school counseling. For more information, visit www.ship.edu/extended or call 717-477-1502.

Say hello to…

Christina M. Sax, Ph.D., who is the new dean of extended studies, comes to us from the University of Maryland University College where she held a number of administrative posts including interim associate provost, interim senior associate dean for the School of Undergraduate Studies, and assistant dean for Social, Behavioral, Natural, and Mathematical Sciences.

She earned her doctorate in human genetics from the Medical College of Virginia. Her bachelor of science degree in microbiology is from the University of Rochester.

Tracy Schoolcraft, Ph.D., is the associate provost and dean of graduate studies, a position she held as interim for the past two years. Prior to her administrative appointment, she was the chair of the chemistry department.

She earned her doctorate in physical chemistry from Penn State and her bachelor of science degree in chemistry from George Washington University.

Marian Schultz, D.Ed., is the dean of library and multimedia services in addition to dean of the School of Academic Programs and Services. She earned her doctorate in adult education from Penn State, her master’s in public administration from Ship, and her undergraduate degree in history from Alfred University.