Elon Academy documentary shares stories of program success

“Elon Academy: Preparation, Opportunity, Success” includes interviews with scholars, parents, faculty members and more.

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An award-winning documentary about the Elon Academy debuted to the public for the first time Wednesday afternoon during public screenings inside the McEwen building.

“Elon Academy: Preparation, Opportunity, Success,” a 16-minute film that shares the history and purpose of the university’s college access and success program for Alamance County high school students, won an Award of Excellence from the Broadcast Education Association's Festival of Media Arts, an international peer-review competition for faculty creative works.

The video was written and produced by Vic Costello, Don Grady, and Staci Saltz in the School of Communications. The trio worked in cooperation with Deborah Long, director of the Elon Academy, and shot much of the footage during the program’s 2012 residential component on Elon’s campus.

The documentary features stories from students, parents, Elon Academy alumni, Elon University faculty members, civic leaders and those who conceptualized and built the program, including Long and Elon University President Leo M. Lambert.

The academy each year welcomes select high school students in Alamance County who are academically promising with a financial need and/or no family history of college. It includes three consecutive summer residential experiences prior to the sophomore, junior and senior years, as well as year-round Saturday programs for students and families.

“The biggest opportunity that Elon provides by far is simply the creation of the expectation of success,” Lambert says in the film. “They know when they’re invited to be in the program that this is a big mark of confidence in them. It’s an opportunity for them to realistically consider that ‘this could put me on the road to college.’”

The video will be used to tell the Elon Academy story and achievements to prospective scholars and their families. It will also be screened to Elon University students who apply to be mentors in the program, Long said, and a shorter version will be produced to show prospective benefactors about the academy's power to transform lives.

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by Eric Townsend, Staff Last Updated - 3/21/2013

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Samuel T. Gontkovsky, PsyD, named Director of Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Certificate Program at Fielding Graduate University

Posted by Hilary Edwards on Fri, Mar 15, 2013

Gontkovsky brings more than 15 years of professional experience in clinical practice, research, teaching, and administration to his new position at Fielding. He has published more than 75 professional articles, books, book chapters, and book reviews and has given more than 125 presentations at local, state, national, and international conferences.

Gontkovsky serves as a reviewer for numerous journals and professional organizations in the areas of psychology, neuropsychology, medicine, health, and rehabilitation. He is the former president of the Mississippi Psychological Association and former chair of the Education and Training Committee of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association. Gontkovsky presently serves on the Continuing Education Committee of Division 22 of the American Psychological Association and the Ethics Committee of the Nebraska Psychological Association.

-What are your main responsibilities in this position as director of the Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Program here at Fielding (for those that are not familiar with this program/position)?

As listed in my formal job description, principle responsibilities include recruitment, orientation of new students, budget management, program advising, and program oversight.

-What is it about Fielding that interested you the most to apply for this position?

I have had very favorable experiences in the past with individuals affiliated with the Fielding Neuropsychology Program. One of my first supervisors in neuropsychology was also a Fielding faculty member at the time. I have a colleague/friend who completed the Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Certificate at Fielding and spoke very highly of the program. I also hired a Fielding Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Certificate graduate in my prior position as head of the Department of Psychology at The Nebraska Medical Center, and I was very pleased with his work.

-What brought you to the Palo Alto/SF area from –(where were you before?)

I had been in Omaha, Nebraska for about 3½ years prior to coming to California and was the head of the Department of Psychology as well as the Pain Management Program at The Nebraska Medical Center. For several years, I have been looking to move to the San Francisco bay area. I was offered the opportunity to provide administrative neuropsychological consultation to a business here, so I jumped at the chance. I also provide forensic consultation to bay area attorneys.

- You are quite a prolific writer and presenter (numerous journals and professional organizations in the areas of psychology, neuropsychology, medicine, health, and rehabilitation), what are some of you most recent publications and presentations? What are you currently working on?

Below are my five most recent publications, two presently in press.

Killebrew, A. E., Smith, M. L., Nevels, R. M., Weiss, N. H., & Gontkovsky, S. T. (in press). Pregnancy among African American adolescent females in the southeastern United States: A review of the literature and an examination of the associations between peer substance use before sex, peer number of children, and parental influence and substance use before sex and history of pregnancy. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse.

Nevels, R. M., Williams, B. E., & Gontkovsky, S. T. (in press). Paroxetine—the antidepressant from hell? Probably not, but caution required. Psychopharmacology Bulletin.

Gontkovsky, S. T. (2012). Auditory/verbal learning and memory deficits among individuals with traumatic spinal cord injuries may be attributable to undocumented traumatic brain injuries. Functional Neurology, Rehabilitation, and Ergonomics, 2(1), 9-16.

Ryan, J. J., Gontkovsky, S. T., Kreiner, D. S., & Tree, H. A. (2012). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition performance in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 34(6), 571-579.

Umfleet, L. G., Ryan, J. J., Gontkovsky, S. T., & Morris, J. (2012). Estimating WAIS-IV indexes: Proration versus linear scaling in a clinical sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 68(4), 390-396.

My current ongoing research projects are looking at accurate identification of the neuropsychological deficits associated with multiple sclerosis, the influence of cognition on the ability of individuals with multiple sclerosis to maintain employment, the differential sensitivity of neurocognitive screening instruments in assessing individuals undergoing inpatient rehabilitation, and the under-recognized drug interactions that may occur with methylphenidate.

-What are you looking forward to now that you are at Fielding? What are you looking forward to contributing to the students and the program in general?

I am working diligently at marketing right now and hoping to increase enrollment in the Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Certificate Program. As I said, I have had great experiences with individuals who have completed the program, and I think many more people could benefit from the training if they only knew about it.

School of Psychology acting dean, Kristine Jacquin, PhD, commented, "The School of Psychology is pleased to have Dr. Gontkovsky join our esteemed faculty as director of the neuropsychology postdoctoral program. Gontkovsky brings valuable experience and training to this position and I am confident he will enhance this already stellar program."

Click here to view: Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Certificate Program Brochure

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Excelsior College Launches Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Program

Excelsior College Launches Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Program

Albany, New York (March 5, 2013) – Excelsior College today announced a new scholarship program for Phi Theta Kappa members transferring from a college academic partner.

Two scholarships will be awarded annually under the new program. A regional scholarship will be awarded to an enrolling student residing within New York State, and a second to a national recipient residing outside state boundaries.

Each recipient will be awarded $1,000, which may be applied to Excelsior College tuition and fees only. This scholarship is in addition to our preferential partnership pricing.

“This scholarship provides another unique opportunity to our community college transfer students,” said Lisa LaVigna, executive director for Outreach and Access at Excelsior College. “We recognize the outstanding academic achievement of Phi Theta Kappa students, and we want to acknowledge and reward them for their commitment to their education. Phi Theta Kappa is widely known and respected. By partnering with them, we are able to increase educational opportunities for students transferring from our community college partner institutions.”

Established in 1918, the mission of Phi Theta Kappa is to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students.

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Elon's undergrad business program retains top national ranking

Bloomberg Businessweek gives the Martha & Spencer Love School of Business a #42 ranking among the nation's top undergraduate programs.

Michael Rodriguez, assistant professor of marketing, works in The Chandler Family Professional Sales Center with students involved in the competitive sales team.

This year's ranking is up one spot from the 2012 rankings. Elon debuted in the Bloomberg Businessweek survey in 2011 at #60. Bloomberg Businessweek identifies the nation's top undergraduate business programs based on nine measures of student satisfaction, a survey of employers and academic quality.

“This ranking is wonderful news to share with our students, parents and alumni for it shows that the Love School of Business competes on a national level with the best universities – and holds its own. In North Carolina only two universities are ahead of us – UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest. On a national basis when one looks at private universities we are ranked in the top 25. This is wonderful company to be in," says Raghu Tadepalli, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

"Credit for this ranking goes to our faculty and staff who provide our students with a wonderful education both inside and outside the classroom. Our graduating students helped us by completing the survey in large numbers and they too deserve thanks for doing so," he said.

The only other North Carolina undergraduate business schools ranked in the top 50 were the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (#10) and Wake Forest University (#18).

Elon's #42 undergraduate ranking follows a #1 national ranking by Bloomberg Businessweek of Elon's part-time MBA program.

In developing the Best Undergraduate Business Schools ranking, Bloomberg Businessweek used surveys of both senior business majors and employers, median starting salaries for graduates, and the number of alumni each program sends to top MBA programs. A calculation of academic quality is also included in the methodology, combining average SAT scores, student-faculty ratios, class size in core business courses, the percentage of students with internships, and the number of hours devoted to class work. This year, 145 undergraduate business programs participated in the ranking.

The student survey score counts for 30 percent of the final ranking and Elon students praised the school for innovative academic programs, internship support, dedicated faculty and state-of-the-art facilities.

“We have unusually small class sizes so you get plenty of opportunities to engage with professors personally and with other classmates. The administration makes a strong effort to help you secure internship opportunities and jobs after college,” wrote one student.

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business is accredited by AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an honor achieved by less than five percent of business schools in the world.

The Love School includes 1,347 students who study in the departments of accounting, economics, finance, management, and marketing and entrepreneurship. The Love School includes a prestigious Business Fellows program, the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center, the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the William Garrard Reed Finance Center, and an Executive Education program.

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by Katie DeGraff, Staff Last Updated - 3/20/2013

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Excelsior College Launches Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Program

Excelsior College Launches Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Program

Albany, New York (March 5, 2013) – Excelsior College today announced a new scholarship program for Phi Theta Kappa members transferring from a college academic partner.

Two scholarships will be awarded annually under the new program. A regional scholarship will be awarded to an enrolling student residing within New York State, and a second to a national recipient residing outside state boundaries.

Each recipient will be awarded $1,000, which may be applied to Excelsior College tuition and fees only. This scholarship is in addition to our preferential partnership pricing.

“This scholarship provides another unique opportunity to our community college transfer students,” said Lisa LaVigna, executive director for Outreach and Access at Excelsior College. “We recognize the outstanding academic achievement of Phi Theta Kappa students, and we want to acknowledge and reward them for their commitment to their education. Phi Theta Kappa is widely known and respected. By partnering with them, we are able to increase educational opportunities for students transferring from our community college partner institutions.”

Established in 1918, the mission of Phi Theta Kappa is to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students.

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Memoirist and Fiction Writer Peter Trachtenberg to Speak at Flagler College Writers in Residence program

September 12, 2011

Nationally-renowned writer Peter Trachtenberg will visit Flagler College on Oct. 3 as the first event of the college's 2011-2012 Writers in Residence Program. Trachtenberg will give a public reading in the Gamache-Koger Room at 6 p.m.

Trachtenberg is the author of "The Book of Calamities: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning" (Little, Brown 2008), a book that combines reportage, memoir and moral philosophy. The work won the 2009 Phi Beta Kappa Ralph Waldo Emerson Award for works that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity.

"Trachtenberg ... rais[es] complex questions about justice, malice, compassion, blame, self-pity, personal responsibility, faith, and doubt ..." writes O: The Oprah Magazine. "The artistry and humor of his writing, the pain of his mercilessly self-punishing insights, the relentlessness of his guilty misanthropy ... all give Trachtenberg a solid claim to being a genuine American Dostoevsky," writes The Washington Post.

Trachtenberg's fiction, essays and reportage have appeared in The New Yorker, Harpers, Bomb, A Public Space, Bidoun, O: The Oprah Magazine and The New York Times Travel Magazine. He has performed his monologues at Dixon Place, PS 122 and The Kitchen, and broadcast commentaries on NPR's "All Things Considered."

The reading will be held in the Gamache-Koger Room at the Ringhaver Student Center at 50 Sevilla St. in St. Augustine. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters available upon request.

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Peace Corps partners with Elon for new program

The Peace Corps Prep Program will help students gain additional skills and knowledge necessary for international service.

Elon President Leo M. Lambert formalizes a partnership with the Peace Corps as (from left) Steve Moore, Alison Morrison-Shetlar, and Chris Gilson observe.

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Elon University has partnered with the Peace Corps to introduce an academic and service program that even better prepares students for careers in international development.

The partnership was formalized in a Friday morning signing ceremony between Elon University President Leo M. Lambert and Peace Corps representative Chris Gilson. The university is just the sixth school in the nation to host the Peace Corps Prep Program, organizers said.

“At the core of an Elon education is the idea that we are preparing global citizens to work for the common good,” Lambert said after the Feb. 22 signing in the Williams Conference Room inside Powell building. “This new program just embodies that ideal … and we are delighted to deepen our long-standing partnership with the Peace Corps.”

Students taking part in the program will be required to complete courses in environmental science, food security, green design, global awareness and foreign language as well as 100 hours of volunteer service into their degree plans.

Although participation in Peace Corps Prep doesn't guarantee that applicants will be accepted as volunteers, officials said, the specialized curriculum and experience should make them strong candidates for service. There are currently 14 Elon University graduates serving as Peace Corps volunteers worldwide. Since Peace Corps was established in 1961, nearly 100 Elon alumni have served as volunteers.

Elon University President Leo M. Lambert, left, with Chris Gilson, a representative for the Peace Corps

“Elon has been a leading producer of Peace Corps volunteers over the years relative to other schools in the country of its size,” Gilson said. “This is an opportunity to provide students who have an interest in becoming Peace Corps volunteers with a means to work toward that objective.”

In attendance at the ceremony were Provost Steven House, Associate Provost Tim Peeples, and Alison Morrison-Shetlar, dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences.

Also present and seated next to Lambert was Steve Moore in the Department of Environmental Studies, the faculty member who led the charge to create the Peace Corps partnership.

More than 210,000 Americans have volunteered through the Peace Corps, in 139 host countries, dating to its founding. Today, just over 8,000 volunteers are working with local communities in 76 host countries in agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health and youth in development.

Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment and the agency’s mission is to promote world peace and friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries.

“Elon University encourages its students to make a difference by becoming global leaders through community service and international study,” said Acting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet. “Elon couldn’t be a better fit for the Peace Corps Prep program. We are thrilled to welcome them as a partner as they continue to encourage their students to consider Peace Corps service.”

For more information about the program, contact Steve Moore in the Department of Environmental Studies at smoore24@elon.edu.

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by Eric Townsend, Staff Last Updated - 2/22/2013

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Memoirist and Fiction Writer Peter Trachtenberg to Speak at Flagler College Writers in Residence program

September 12, 2011

Nationally-renowned writer Peter Trachtenberg will visit Flagler College on Oct. 3 as the first event of the college's 2011-2012 Writers in Residence Program. Trachtenberg will give a public reading in the Gamache-Koger Room at 6 p.m.

Trachtenberg is the author of "The Book of Calamities: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning" (Little, Brown 2008), a book that combines reportage, memoir and moral philosophy. The work won the 2009 Phi Beta Kappa Ralph Waldo Emerson Award for works that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity.

"Trachtenberg ... rais[es] complex questions about justice, malice, compassion, blame, self-pity, personal responsibility, faith, and doubt ..." writes O: The Oprah Magazine. "The artistry and humor of his writing, the pain of his mercilessly self-punishing insights, the relentlessness of his guilty misanthropy ... all give Trachtenberg a solid claim to being a genuine American Dostoevsky," writes The Washington Post.

Trachtenberg's fiction, essays and reportage have appeared in The New Yorker, Harpers, Bomb, A Public Space, Bidoun, O: The Oprah Magazine and The New York Times Travel Magazine. He has performed his monologues at Dixon Place, PS 122 and The Kitchen, and broadcast commentaries on NPR's "All Things Considered."

The reading will be held in the Gamache-Koger Room at the Ringhaver Student Center at 50 Sevilla St. in St. Augustine. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters available upon request.

View the original article here

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