University Welcomes Largest Class in School's History

The Scranton Record, September 2001 Page 7
University of Success Graduates
Begin College Studies
Nine high school students from a
University of Scranton-sponsored mentoring
and development program have
begun college studies this fall – six of
them at the University.
These students are the first full graduating
class of the University of Success, a
program that encourages students of average
academic potential to complete high
school and gain entry into a college or
university.
In 2000, the University of Success
gained national recognition when the
Hearst Foundation awarded a $100,000
endowment to The University of
Scranton to provide scholarship funding
for University of Success students to continue
their education at the University.
The Un i versity of Success provides academic,
social and cultural opportunities to
help students who are typically underre
p resented in higher education. St u d e n t s
enter the program in seventh grade and
continue until their high school graduation.
“This program has given me the confidence
to pursue my dream to be a journalist,”
said University of Success graduate
JoAnn Dongchane.
Of Thai and Laotian descent,
Dongchane graduated from Scranton
High School and will pursue a degree in
communications at the University.
“This program helped me remain focused
on my goals,” Ms. Dongchane added.
Agreement Renewed between
Scranton/Slovakia universities
A five-year-old agreement between
The University of Scranton and Trnavska
Univerzita in Trnava, Slovakia, has been
renewed for an additional three years,
providing further opportunities for
teacher and student exchanges, as well as
for teaching, scholarship and research.
This new agreement encourages expanded
activities across all academic disciplines
at both universities to advance
globalization efforts in the 21st century.
J.A. Panuska, S.J., President Emeritus
of the University, traveled to Slovakia in
May to sign the renewal to the original
agreement he helped forge in 1995. His
efforts enabled the development of a
four-year health-management education
partnership between both universities.
Earlier this ye a r, four faculty members
f rom Trnavska Un i ve rzita visited T h e
Un i versity of Scranton and other parts of
the U.S. as part of the exchange pro g r a m .
This month, Daniel West, Ph.D., Associate
Professor of Health Administration and
Human Re s o u rces, will travel to Tr n a v s k a
Un i ve rzita to chair an accreditation committee
and site-visit team whose members
include representatives from universities
in France, Germany and Italy.
According to Dr. West, the accreditation
process will take a highly unusual
“ Eve ryone in this program is ve ry support i ve .
We have the same outlook and goals.”
Her fellow University of Success classmates
echoed her sentiments.
“They encourage you to keep going,”
said Maritza Guzman, a graduate of West
Scranton High School. “They encourage
you to perform, to do your best.”
When fellow classmate Dan Mo d row of
Fo rty Fo rt suffered an injury in the 9th grade
that ended his hopes for a wrestling scholars
h i p, he found support from his Un i ve r s i t y
of Success peers and program staff.
“They told me that my future was in
college, in becoming a teacher. That’s
what is important,” said Mr. Modrow, a
Wyoming Valley West graduate who
began studies at the University this fall to
become a special education teacher.
Other 2001 Un i versity of Success graduates
are Tony Ba rdzilouskas, Go u l d s b o ro ,
No rth Pocono High School; De s i ree Esgro ,
Carbondale, Lakeland High School; Pr i s c i l l a
Faria, Clarks Summit, Abington He i g h t s
High School; Logan McCloe, Scranton,
Scranton High School; and Te r re n c e
Walton, Peckville, Valley Vi ew High School.
Each year a new group of students are
selected for the Un i versity of Success program.
They begin the program during the
summer between their seventh and eighth
grades with a two-week stay on the
Un i ve r s i t y’s campus. The students then meet
monthly throughout their high school ye a r s .
approach of applying North American and
Western European accreditation standards
to an institute of higher learning in
Eastern Europe.
M
FPO
75%
Professor JUDr. Peter Blaho, CSC.,
Rector of Trnavska Univerzita, and
J. A. Panuska, S.J., President
Emeritus of The University of
Scranton, renew an agreement
between the two universities.
Thomas E. Ba k e r, Associate Pro f e s s o r,
Sociology and Criminal Justice, had two art icles
published in a recent issue of Law and
Order: “ Bu r g l a ry Mapping: 2001 Cy b e r s p a c e
Od y s s e y” and “Hunting Serial Mu rd e re r s :
Understanding and Ap p rehending America’s
Most Da n g e rous Cr i m i n a l s . ”
John R. Conway, P h . D., Associate
Pro f e s s o r, Bi o l o g y, had his re v i ews of thre e
books, Ea r s, Eye s and No s e, in the BodyWo rk s
Series, published in the Ju l y / August issue of
Science Books & Films (Vol 37, No. 4: 174).
Frank X.J. Ho m e r, Ph . D ., Professor of
Hi s t o ry and Di rector of the Pre-Law Ad v i s o ry
Program, served as a guest faculty member in
a Law School Preparation Institute held at the
Un i versity of Texas Pan American (UTPA) in
Edinburg, Texas, 13 – 16 August. Dr. Ho m e r
was invited to conduct classes dealing with
p reparation for the LSAT, a subject on which
he has conducted numerous workshops ove r
the past two decades at The Un i versity of
Scranton and elsew h e re. The Institute at
U T PA is part of a program established by the
Un i versity of Texas system to increase the
number of students from pre d o m i n a n t l y
minority campuses applying to law school. Dr.
Homer also participated, along with seve r a l
other veteran pre-law advisors, in a session on
“ Pre-Law Advising and the Political Scientist”
at the annual meeting of the American
Political Science Association on 29 August in
San Francisco, Calif.
William J. Pa rente, Ph. D., Professor of
Political Science, delive red a paper on the
“ Relationship of Un i versity En d owments and
Minority En ro l l m e n t s” at the 20th Annual
Meeting of the Conference on Mu l t i c u l t u r a l
Affairs of the Association of Jesuit Colleges
and Un i versities, St. Pe t e r’s College, Je r s e y
C i t y, N.J., on 15 Ju n e .
Michael Si m m o n s ,Study Ab road Ad v i s o r
at the Un i ve r s i t y, will be beginning his fourt h
and final year as a member of the Na t i o n a l
Ad v i s o ry Board of Arcadia Un i ve r s i t y’s Center
for Education Ab road (formerly Be a ve r
College). Since becoming a member of the
b o a rd, Mr. Simmons has traveled to Scotland
and Italy to evaluate study-abroad pro g r a m s
s p o n s o red by Arcadia Un i ve r s i t y.
Ro b e rt P. Sa d owski, Ph . D . ,Professor of
Communication, has elected to return to fulltime
teaching and re s e a rch after serving as
d e p a rtment chair for nearly 12 years. He will
be a Visiting Professor in the De p a rtment of
Communication at The Un i versity of Mi c h i g a n -
Flint for the 2001-2002 academic ye a r.
Joe Vinson, Ph . D ., Professor of Chemistry,
had the paper; “Determination of Qu a n t i t y
and Quality of Polyphenol Antioxidants in
Foods and Be verages,” published in Vo l u m e
335 of Methods in En z y m o l o g y. Co-authors
a re John Proch, Clarks Green, and Pr a t i m a
Bose, Justus.
Ma r g a rete Zalon, Ph . D . ,Professor of
Nursing, participated in a radio talk show program
and was interv i ewed by the Ph i l a d e l p h i a
In q u i rer on the nursing shortage. Dr. Za l o n
also spoke at the Nurse Millennium Ma rc h
held in Philadelphia in Ma y, and gave a pre s e ntation
entitled “Professionally Sp e a k i n g :
Protecting and Enhancing Your Pr a c t i c e” at
Nursing Sp e c t ru m’s Career Ex p o.
New St a f f
The following is a list of full-time staff
h i red at the Un i versity in June and July 2001.
Christopher Budano , Director of Student
Programming, Office of Student Life
and Leadership
Lisa Bu rns, Clinical Education Coord i n a t o r,
Occupational T h e r a p y
Marc Dwyer, Custodian
Rebekah Fe r g u s o n, Admissions Counselor
Adrienne Hamson , Admissions Counselor
Lisa Jones, Admissions Counselor
Laura Ke l l y, Accounts Re c e i vable Re p re s e n t a t i ev
Donald McCall, Assistant Help Desk
Coordinator, IR Customer Service
Marlene McDonough , Custodian,
Brennan Hall
Robert Samuels , Custodian,
Recreation Complex
Michelle Stemrich , Custodian, Mc Da d e
Center for Literary and Pe rforming Art s
Jody Tighe, Public Safety Officer
Jennifer Valtos, Area Coordinator,
Residence Life
Edward Wahesh, Area Coordinator,
Residence Life
Robert Weaver, Adjunct Librarian
Pr o fessor Receives Third Fulbright Fe l l o w s h i p
Linda Ledford - Mi l l e , rPh.D.,
Professor of
Fo reign Languages and Literatures, has
re c e i ved her third Fu l b r i g h t
Fe l l ow s h i , pthis
one to teach in
Mozambique, Africa. In 1990, she
re c e i ved a Senior Fu l b r i g h t
Fe l l owship to lecture on comparat
i ve literature at San Carlos
Un i versity in Guatemala City, N
Guatemala. She re c e i ved her first FPO
Fulbright Fe l owship for graduate 42%
study and re s e a rch to Rio de Ja n e i ro ,
Brazil, as a graduate student in 1979. Linda Le d f o r d -
“To receive one Fulbright M i l l e r, Ph.D.
Fellowship is quite an honor,”
said Dr. Ledford-Miller. “To receive three
is extraordinary good fortune.”
“The Fulbright program enables one
person to educate others about a culture
and people from a part of the world that
they would have not noticed otherwise,”
said Dr. Ledford Miller. “The ripple effect
is astonishing. What I learn, I
will bring back and share with
my students and colleagues.”
Dr. Ledford-Miller will spend
12 months teaching American
literature at the Eduardo
Mondlane University in
Maputo, Mozambique. She will
also serve as a consultant on
curricular reform for British and
American literature.
A member of the University’s
Foreign Languages and
Literatures Department since 1985, Dr.
Ledford-Miller teaches Spanish and
Portuguese language and literature classes,
as well as classes in modern and contemporary
prose of the Americas.