By Ashley Barker abarker@scbiznews.com Published Feb. 24, 2014

The InfiLaw System is committed to buying the Charleston School of Law even if it faces questions from the community and a review by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.

InfiLaw a consortium of independent law schools including the Charlotte School of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law and Arizona Summit Law School agreed last July to provide management services for the school. By the end of August, InfiLaw had signed an agreement expressing its intent to purchase the Charleston School of Law.

The move was met with backlash from the schools students and alumni about the reputation of the system, which has commonly been called a diploma mill. But InfiLaw spokeswoman Kathy Heldman said that charge gets leveled at almost all for-profit education institutions.

It is unfortunate, and untrue for InfiLaw schools, Heldman said in a statement. InfiLaw schools would not succeed or retain accreditation if they did not graduate students who could pass the bar and get jobs.

In response to community members asking whether the system would increase enrollment, Heldman said it wouldnt be practical to recruit more students than the employer market could support.

InfiLaw provides its schools access to capital for acquiring or building new facilities and supporting academic programs. Its schools remain independently operated and governed by their own boards, administrations and faculties, according to Heldman. She added that InfiLaw would work with Charlestons leaders to preserve the schools culture.

We believe that we can provide Charleston and its students with the financial resources and expertise to enhance their legal education and to move the school forward into the future a future that is changing quickly, Heldman said.

The sale is in limbo as InfiLaw waits for a decision from the states Commission on Higher Education about its application for a license to operate the school. Since InfiLaw already operates three other American Bar Association-accredited law schools, its leaders believe it will receive the license and approval from the ABA to transfer ownership.

Julie Carullo, deputy director of the commission, said an external review team completed an investigation in Charleston during the week of Feb. 10. The team which consists of Charles Arberg, of the Federal Judicial Center; Rhesa Rudolph, of the Florida Commission for Independent Education; and Robert Wells, of the South Carolina Bar Association will submit its findings to the commission, which is expected to reach a decision in May or June.

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School of Law sale awaits license from state agency

Saginaw Valley State University honored six of its leading graduates and one student about to graduate during an Alumni Celebration in Curtiss Halls banquet rooms.

The SVSU Alumni Association selected five alumni one from each college to receive the Distinguished Alumni awards. The association also has selected recipients of the Young Alumni Award and Future Alumni Award, given to outstanding individuals who recently graduated or who soon will earn their degrees.

Individuals honored include:

Scott Carmona, the distinguished alumnus for the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, who earned his bachelors degree in 1981. He is the owner and chief executive officer of Sunrise National Distributors, a national distributor of automotive aftermarket products. He serves on SVSUs board of control and foundation board.

Catherine Gatewood, the distinguished alumna for the College of Education, who earned her bachelors degree in secondary education/history in 1995. She has spent her career in education, serving today as vice president of academic affairs for Bay College in Escanaba. Prior to joining Bay College, she served as vice president of academic and student affairs for Anoka Technical College in Anoka, Minn. She began her career teaching American history at Meridian High School.

Pamela Forbus, the distinguished alumna for the College of Business and Management, who earned her bachelor of business administration in 1987. Since 2007, Forbus has led a team of more than 30 strategy, analytics and market insight professionals who have an influence on the growth agenda at Frito-Lay. After earning her SVSU degree, she began a 12-year account service and planning career in the advertising agency industry with Y&R, Chiat/Day, WB Doner and Campbell-Ewald.

Dawn Klida, the distinguished alumna for the College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences, who earned her bachelors degree in psychology in 1990. In 1997, she was a founding partner in the law firm Skinner, Wilderboer & Klida. In 2010, she was appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to the 74th District Court, where she is the presiding sobriety court judge. She also is a member of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

Janice Penney, the distinguished alumna for the Crystal M. Lange College of Health and Human Services, who earned a bachelors degree in nursing in 1986 and a masters degree in nursing in 1995. Penney was recently named chief nursing officer of MidMichigan Health and vice president and chief nursing officer of MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland. Throughout her career, she has held many leadership roles, including serving as the strategic business unit leader for cardiovascular services and nursing director at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland.

Jamie Jager, the Young Alumni Award recipient, who earned her bachelors degree in English in 2011. Following graduation, she worked at a local nonprofit organization for two years before joining Saginaws New Hope Valley Assisted Living as the deputy director in late 2013. She was a member of SVSUs Roberts Fellowship, a leadership development program, in 2010.

Jadrianna Sobczak is SVSUs Future Alumni Award winner. Expected to graduate in May with a bachelors in exercise science, Sobczak has immersed herself in the college experience. Last spring, she traveled to Guangzhou, China, where she worked in a hospital on the campus of Jinan University, learning the differences between the health care systems of the United States and China. A native of Bad Axe, Sobczak also serves as a peer adviser, assisting fellow students with their academic pursuits.

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Saginaw Valley State University bestows alumni awards

BRISTOL, Tenn. King University was born of conflict and conflict again reared its head in recent months. Now officials, faculty, students and alumni of the private, Presbyterian school are reaching out to find common ground and move forward.

The school was established after the Civil War when Presbyterians who supported the Confederacy found themselves without a church college in the region. Local minister and landowner James King donated land and the school opened in 1867.

Present-day King boasts 14 years of record enrollment, multiple satellite campuses in other parts of Tennessee and Virginia and the most athletic and cultural arts offerings in the schools history.

But with the growth came dissension. Some professors were sent packing, students took to the school sidewalks and alumni to social media to call for the firing of President Greg Jordan the overseer of those accomplishments and the school for nearly two decades. After months of controversy, Jordan resigned Feb. 14.

All seemed dissatisfied with the direction of the college away from liberal arts and more toward business and away from Bristol into big cities in Tennessee. Many complained that the school operated like a dictatorship and students and faculty had no involvement in and little knowledge about changes.

One week after Jordans resignation, and with the arrival of longtime Board of Trustees member Richard Ray as interim president, the mood on the Bristol, Tenn., campus last week was optimistic, according to students and two academic deans.

If I can say one thing about all this controversy, I think it has made King as strong as it has been in many years, said Student Government Association President Andre Latimore.

What went right?

The Jordan administration lasted 18 years and according to Board of Trustees member Marcia Porter, he left King in better shape than when he arrived.

King University is the institution it is today, with expanding campuses, additional programs and multiple learning platforms due to his vision, leadership and business acumen, Porter said in a statement announcing Jordans departure.

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King University looking to put conflicts behind, move forward

Posted: Saturday, February 22, 2014 7:14 pm

Donald Lloyd II honored Coker Award by FMU School of Business FMU Release Morning News

FLORENCE -- Donald H. Lloyd II is the recipient of the2014 Morgan B. Coker Outstanding Alumnus award presented by the Francis Marion University School of Business.

The award was presented to Lloyd at the School of Businesses annual alumni awards breakfast on Friday, Feb. 21 at the FMU Performing Arts Center.

Lloyd, a 2006 MBA graduate of the School of Business at FMU, is currently the Administrator of Christus St. Patrick Hospital in Lake Charles, La. Previously he served in a variety of roles with the Marion Regional Hospital, Marion Regional Healthcare and the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. Lloyd was CEO of the Marion Hospital.

Lloyd is a 1983 graduate of Lander University.

Besides his outstanding career in medical administration, Lloyd was cited for his personal generosity in giving back to the FMU School of Business.

The Coker Award is given annually by the faculty of the School of Business.

2014 SCNow. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted in Education, Local on Saturday, February 22, 2014 7:14 pm.

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Donald Lloyd II honored Coker Award by FMU School of Business

Hanover The dean of Dartmouths Geisel School of Medicine has pulled back on a decision to halt admissions to a dual-degree program following uproar among students, faculty and alumni.

Geisel Dean Wiley Chip Souba announced Thursday that the school would continue to recruit and admit students to its M.D.-Ph.D. program. The change-in-course comes after Souba told the school last week that admissions were being paused because of cost concerns while Geisel studied how it fits into the schools overall strategic goal of sustainability and excellence.

Souba said he reconsidered his decision after meeting with students and faculty over the past two weeks. His announcement followed a Thursday morning meeting with the programs director, Jim Gorham, and M.D.-Ph.D. students.

This is good news for our students, the program and for Geisel, Souba said in an e-mail Thursday to faculty and students. This solution reflects input from our students and faculty, and focuses our constructive energy on the overarching goal of building a strong and sustainable medical school.

Currently, there are 25 students enrolled in Geisels program. The school would admit two more students this year and two next year, Souba said. However, the school still is reviewing the program. A group of faculty and current M.D.-Ph.D. students will look at how Dartmouths peer institutions approach their programs, identify additional funding sources and come forward with recommendations that can ensure a sustainable and excellent future for the program, Souba said.

Such programs are designed for s tudents who want to become research physicians, and graduates often go on to become faculty members at medical schools, universities and research institutes.

Proponents of M.D.-Ph.D. programs say the students serve as bridges between clinicians and scientists and help bring the latest research out of the lab and into medical practice. But they can be expensive to run and some say that, while there are many long-term benefits, the short-term costs make them difficult to offer.

Dartmouth heavily subsidizes the students educational expenses, spending more than $1 million annually to cover tuition, fees and stipends for M.D.-Ph.D. students. Meanwhile, the medical school is trying to close a $13 million budget gap. Other medical schools, including the University of Vermont, have c urtailed M.D.-Ph.D. programs as federal funding dries up.

1,000 Signed Petition

But when Souba attempted to put a pause on admitting new students to the program, the decision outraged many at the college and even outside groups.

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Protests Prompt Geisel to Continue Dual M.D.-PhD. Program

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Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. Marcia Hern, Ed.D., CNS, RN, dean and professor, University of Louisville School of Nursing, has been selected as one of 100 Alumni Transformers in Nursing & Healthcare by The Ohio State University College of Nursing during its Centennial year. This recognition commemorates alumni of the college who have deeply impacted the profession of nursing and the health care system. Since completing their education at the college, these alumni have excelled in their respective fields and succeeded in living out the mission of the college: Transforming health, transforming lives.

Prior to her appointment as UofL nursing school dean, Hern served as dean of Texas Womans University College of Nursing from 2004-2007. She has held a number of other leadership positions throughout her career, including department chair, parent child, University of Cincinnati College of Nursing from 1999-2004; executive director, community outreach and development, University of Cincinnati College of Nursing; and director of nursing at Childrens Medical Center in Cincinnati.

Hern serves on the University Medical Center (UMC), Inc. advisory board and sits on the UMC Quality and Patient Safety committee. She also has served on the Prebyterian Hospital of Denton Texas governing board of trustees.

UofLs nursing school dean is chair of the Curriculum Redesign Task Force for the Kentucky Nursing Consortium Committee. She also is a member of the Kentucky Team for Nursing Education Capacity, Kentucky Hospital Association CNOs and Dean and the Kentucky Institute of Medicine.

Hern has taken part in the Leadership Louisville class of 2013, and was involved in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Inaugural Wharton Executive Leadership Program in 2012. She has attended the HERS Institute Leadership for Women at the University of Denver in 2010, and was a Helene Fuld Fellow of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Leadership for Academic Nursing Program.

In honor of the OSU nursing colleges 100 year anniversary, Hern will be among the outstanding alumni transformers recognized at the Centennial Gala on March 29 at The Ohio Union in Columbus, Ohio. Special recognition will be given to each 100 Alumni Transformers as attendees hear about the notable achievements they have made. Find this press release on-line.

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UofL Nursing School Dean Named Ohio State Alumni Transformer in Nursing & Healthcare

To the Editor:

As alumni of the Geisel M.D.-Ph.D. Dual Degree Program, we feel compelled to respond to a decision made by Dean Chip Souba of the Geisel School of Medicine to suspend admission to a program that aims to train future leaders and physician-scientists.

Objective performance measures demonstrate that the M.D.-Ph.D. Program is a strong asset for Geisel and Dartmouth. Geisels M.D.-Ph.D. students are highly productive in research, with graduating students co-authoring over a dozen publications on average in the biomedical sciences. Students have consistently served as bridges between clinicians and scientists, enhanced student diversity at Geisel, contributed to the community at large, and consistently matched at outstanding research-track residency programs, devoting their careers to academic medicine.

More specifically, in the past several years, Geisels M.D.-Ph.D. students independently secured nearly $1 million in training grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, which overshadows projected savings of $150,000 that would result from suspending admission this year. We publicly question the wisdom of the dean unilaterally suspending this program, particularly when the Geisel Faculty Council reviewed the Program in 2013 and concluded its review with a unanimous declaration of support.

As noted by the dean in his email to the Geisel community, Dartmouth has applied (unsuccessfully) to the National Institutes of Health for Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) status. In our last application cycle, however, the most prominent criticism leveled was the lack of institutional support for the program. It is reasonable that the NIH was concerned that a program should struggle for its existence due to a lack of support from its host institution.

Many of us are now in further training, or are faculty, at other institutions. Nevertheless, we deeply care about Geisels future and worry that this decision will call into question Geisels commitment to academic medicine and translational research. We express our grave concern that this decision will undermine the vision of making Geisel a top-20 institution by the end of this decade. It is unfortunate that Geisels ranking position has actually deteriorated over the past few years. The suspension of admissions for the dual degree program will further erode Geisels ranking.

We remind Dean Souba that, while financial responsibility is important, Geisel is not merely the sum of numbers on a budgetary sheet; rather, its value lies in its students, faculty and staff, and their many contributions to medicine and to humanity. Despite financial hardships, the success of top medical schools depends on their abilities to intelligently invest toward their missions. A medical school that loses its human capital cannot maintain its financial viability.

Samuel F. Bakhoum, M.D., Ph.D.

Sholeen Nett, M.D., Ph.D.

Writing on behalf of the alumni of the Geisel School of Medicine M.D.-Ph.D. Program

Continue reading here:
Letter: Preserve Geisels M.D.-Ph.D. Program

The College of Charleston's Faculty Senate opposes legislation to merge the school with the Medical University of South Carolina. The statement came last night in aresolutionpassed quickly and unanimously during a special meeting.

Drafting of the 'Charleston University' bill (H.4632) for the merger of College of Charleston and the Medical University of South Carolina appears not to have carefully considered and involved study of the following critical issues, the resolution states.

The cost to expand existing programs and create new research capacities and administrative structures, and the source of funds

Impacts of the change in mission and identity on student recruitment, alumni engagement, and faculty retention

Impacts of the change in mission on student learning and educational opportunities

Impacts on resource reallocation and student enrollment for existing research universities in the state

Impacts on funding and productivity from losing designation as a PUI (primarily undergraduate institution) among granting sources

Constraints on space for further expansion on the Charleston peninsula

Implications of an altered mission for faculty whose training and expertise are in undergraduate and targeted graduate instruction

Charleston Reps. Leon Stavrinakas (D) and Jim Merrill (R) introduced the bill in House. Charleston Sen. Larry Grooms filed a Senate version of the bill.

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CofC Faculty Senate unanimously opposes merger

Keep Geisels M.D.-Ph.D. Program

To the Editor:

As alumni of the Geisel M.D.-Ph.D. Dual Degree Program, we feel compelled to respond to a decision made by Dean Chip Souba of the Geisel School of Medicine to suspend admission to a program that aims to train future leaders and physician-scientists.

Objective performance measures demonstrate that the M.D.-Ph.D. Program is a strong asset for Geisel and Dartmouth. Geisels M.D.-Ph.D. students are highly productive in research, with graduating students co-authoring over a dozen publications on average in the biomedical sciences. Students have consistently served as bridges between clinicians and scientists, enhanced student diversity at Geisel, contributed to the community at large, and consistently matched at outstanding research-track residency programs, devoting their careers to academic medicine.

More specifically, in the past several years, Geisels M.D.-Ph.D. students independently secured nearly $1 million in training grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, which overshadows projected savings of $150,000 that would result from suspending admission this year. We publicly question the wisdom of the dean unilaterally suspending this program, particularly when the Geisel Faculty Council reviewed the Program in 2013 and concluded its review with a unanimous declaration of support.

As noted by the dean in his email to the Geisel community, Dartmouth has applied (unsuccessfully) to the National Institutes of Health for Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) status. In our last application cycle, however, the most prominent criticism leveled was the lack of institutional support for the program. It is reasonable that the NIH was concerned that a program should struggle for its existence due to a lack of support from its host institution.

Many of us are now in further training, or are faculty, at other institutions. Nevertheless, we deeply care about Geisels future and worry that this decision will call into question Geisels commitment to academic medicine and translational research. We express our grave concern that this decision will undermine the vision of making Geisel a top-20 institution by the end of this decade. It is unfortunate that Geisels ranking position has actually deteriorated over the past few years. The suspension of admissions for the dual degree program will further erode Geisels ranking.

We remind Dean Souba that, while financial responsibility is important, Geisel is not merely the sum of numbers on a budgetary sheet; rather, its value lies in its students, faculty and staff, and their many contributions to medicine and to humanity. Despite financial hardships, the success of top medical schools depends on their abilities to intelligently invest toward their missions. A medical school that loses its human capital cannot maintain its financial viability.

Samuel F. Bakhoum, M.D., Ph.D.

Sholeen Nett, M.D., Ph.D.

See the rest here:
Letter: Preserve Geisels MD-PhD Program

Written by: [emailprotected] on August 29, 2011.

Successful website will allow Rebels to meet new people

A successful college dating website opened up registration to 350 schools nationwide, including UNLV, on Aug. 17.

While free to use, datemyschool.com is open only to students and alumni with .edu email addresses, making it unique from other dating websites. It offers privacy features that are unlike other websites and allows users to customize who is allowed to discover them. It also blocks users from Google searches.

The website was launched by Balazs Alexa and Jean Meyer, two graduate students from Columbia University, in November 2010.

Inspiration to create the site came when women from the medical school complained to them about having trouble meeting men from the business school. The website was initially open only to a few schools in New York and other northeast areas, but the level of success prompted them to expand.

[Datemyschool.com is] nothing compared to other social networks because its only about new people, Alexa said in regard to the idea that the service is following the same model as Facebook.

Balazs and Meyer said that their network is the reverse of a typical social network because users meet people they may not know, but can trust.

The dating website is set to expand to more schools in the future, but Alexa maintains it will never affect a users experience.

You can make it as exclusive as you want for yourself, he said.

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Online dating comes to UNLV