President’s Welcome

Rio Students Hit High Note
Few at Rio dreamed as Grande as
the Department of Music during
the 2011-12 academic year. And
the result was a marvelous new
recording studio that produced the
departments first CD.
The 14-song album “Original songs
by Rio Grande Students” features an
eclectic mix of genres ranging from
Rock/Blues to Hip Hop, Gospel to
Jazz, Folk to Techno and even Celtic.
“It works somehow because each of
the kids puts so much into it,” Rio
professor Scott Michal said. “The
8 | Dream Grande
issues of how to make a song better
are the same no matter what style
you do. … It’s really, really cool.
Our original idea was to use it as a
demo to hand out to prospective Rio
Grande students, and I’ve actually
just about run out already.”
The widespread popularity also
extended into the corporate realm, as
Parma Records picked up the album
for its licensing program. That means
Rio students Clay Webb, Logan
Black, Shelby Merry, Nathan Wood,
Naveen Sharma, Robert Fulton,
Thomas Burnett and Pearce Michal
Performing Arts
The Rio Grande tradition of exemplary
stage productions continued with
“Prince Madog,” a tale of the fabled
Welsh legend that claims the prince
sailed to North America 300 years
before Christopher Columbus.
Professor Jack Hart, Ph.D.,
wrote the play and performed as
the Bard of Wales. Rio Director
could all be in line for their first royalty
checks if their songs get purchased.
The department has continued to
produce two more storytelling CDs,
one theater musical CD and is
wrapping up a fifth CD, all since May.
“This is what these kids dream of
doing, and now they’ve got the
opportunity to do it right here at
Rio Grande,” Michal said. “There
is nothing like it anywhere in the
country, where it’s really focused on the
entrepreneurial side of what it takes to
be a musician, singer-songwriter.”
of Cultural Advancement Greg Miller, Ph.D., produced
and Lucy Hannah directed. Hannah, a former exchange
student, served as the Davis intern at the Madog Center
for Welsh Studies.
“It was a fascinating production with interesting and
unique characters that I think area residents really
enjoyed seeing come to life,” Miller said. “The audience
was treated to Welsh royalty, sailors, townspeople, pig
farmers and even an assassin.”
Saving the world from the perils of
evil sounds like the plot of a summer
blockbuster, primetime sitcom or
a child’s dream. But that’s exactly
what Rio Grande’s new Software
Engineering for National Security
Enterprise (RIO SENSE) program
prepares students for.
The program was designed by
veterans of the national security
and intelligence fields to build on
the current computer science and
technology curriculum. The highly
competitive program provides
students instruction and hands on
learning in intelligence community
fundamentals; collection,
analysis and dissemination of
data; and software development.
Courses focus on Unix/Linux
environments, Python and Java
Rio Enhances Hospitality Education
Hospitality management nationwide
will be shaped by the latest addition
to Rio Grande’s Emerson E. Evans
School of Business: the Bob Evans
Hospitality Management Program.
“This is a one-of-a-kind program
with national potential,” said Steve
Davis, CEO and chairman of Bob
Evans Farms and a board member
of JobsOhio.
The innovative new managementtraining
program offers accredited
Bachelor’s and Associate Degrees
through Rio Grande with the
opportunity to work full-time for
Bob Evans Farms. Students will
graduate the program prepared
to excel at the highest levels of
hospitality with an advanced
knowledge and skill sets gained in
the classroom. They also will have a
programming, website design,
database administration, and
package management.
“There are so few opportunities for
students in Ohio to learn about the
skills necessary to succeed in the
national security and intelligence
fields. I know because I was a kid
that grew up here,” said Sean Lane,
BTS Software Solutions president
and a former Rio student. “The RIO
SENSE program provides unique
technical training that can launch
a student right into a career in the
national security sector.”
Summer internships with security
clearance processing at the Gallipolis
office of BTS are available to
RIO SENSE students. Jobs at the
company, both in Gallipolis and
resume featuring extensive real-world
experience with one of the service
industry’s leaders in true hospitality.
The program also allows students to
earn academic credit for courses in
the Bob Evans’ training program – a
feature that makes the cost of the
degree even more affordable.
“We want to help build and reinforce
the understanding of restaurant
management as an important career
field in a growing industry,” said
Bob Evans Farms Executive Vice
President of Human Resources Joe
Eulberg, who also serves
on the university Board of
Trustees at Rio Grande.
Ohio currently features
524,000 jobs in hospitality,
generating $16 billion
its corporate offices in Baltimore,
Maryland, are available to top RIO
SENSE graduates.
“We’re thrilled to partner with BTS
Software Solutions to bring an
interactive education in intelligence
technologies to Ohio,” Rio President
Barbara Gellman-Danley said.
“The program allows our students
to not only learn about these
cutting edge concepts, but also gain
access to a growth industry that
is hiring and improving the local
economy. In addition, the program
reinforces the goals and objectives
of Ohio’s leadership and our 10-year
strategic plan for the university and
community college, also known as
the Decade of Dreams.”
in sales. And hospitality jobs are
expected to increase more than five
percent in 10 years.
Bob Evans Farms also brings
national employment opportunities
to Rio graduates with more than
40,000 employed nationwide.
The program launched this fall
with only current Bob Evans
employees eligible. Enrollment
opens to non-employees beginning
in the fall of 2013.
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