July 17, 2008
Vol. 19, No. 2
In this issue:
It's Official: Carnegie Mellon is Reaccredited
Carnegie Mellon recently received official notice that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has approved Carnegie Mellon's reaccreditation. The university achieved the best possible outcome, with the next reaccreditation process scheduled in 10 years. The commission also gave the university special commendation for the quality of its self-study process and report.
"This outcome is a great tribute to the quality of teaching, commitment to students and dedication to continuous improvement that we see every day in the classrooms, labs and studios at this university. It is a tribute to the hard work of the faculty and administration at every college and campus," said President Jared L. Cohon. "Participation in this American tradition of peer-reviewed accreditation is a time-consuming but important public commitment for Carnegie Mellon. I am very pleased with the results this time, and grateful to the many, many people who contributed to the success of this process this year."
MSCHE assesses institutions on 14 standards, covering everything from administrative practices to faculty and curriculum. Carnegie Mellon chose to focus its self-study on standards relating to planning, resource allocation,
and institutional assessment; general education; and assessment of student learning outcomes. The Middle States Self-Study steering committee was co-chaired by Dean of Libraries Gloriana St. Clair and Director of Planning Russ O'Lare, with the assistance and involvement of hundreds of individuals. Carnegie Mellon has been accredited since 1921.
For more on the reaccreditation process, visit http://www.cmu.edu/middlestates/about/index.html.
New Research Center to Improve Mobile Device Technologies
The newly established Mobility Research Center, launched through the university's CyLab initiative, will conduct research to improve hardware and software technology for mobile devices, including studies of how people work, play, shop and collaborate, and how new applications and services can change their lives. "This anywhere-anytime computing capability has prompted a need for increased emphasis on how all this novel mobile technology will benefit consumers," said
Martin Griss, a co-director of the new Mobility Research Center and associate dean for research at Carnegie Mellon's campus in Silicon Valley. Griss said the center will link existing research, education and entrepreneurship programs at the west coast campus to the university's ongoing research in Pittsburgh.
"There's really no limit to what can be accomplished," said
Priya Narasimhan, a co-director of the Mobility Research Center and an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. "This new center will engage both industry and academia in improving next generation mobile technology." To complement this new research center, the university's Information Networking Institute has launched a new master's degree program in mobility that will educate and train students in this emerging field.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/July/july11_mobilityresearch.shtml
Professor Mitchell Small Presents CO2 Research in Australia
Environmental Engineering Professor
Mitchell J. Small is scheduled to speak about his research to more than 100 Australian scientists July 29 at the Cooperative Research Center for Greenhouse Gas Technologies in Canberra City, Australia. Small will discuss how to detect costly leaks at sites where carbon dioxide is buried deep beneath the earth's surface. Small, who is collaborating with researchers from the National Energy Technology Lab and West Virginia University, has a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop methods for detecting leaks that might occur, their location and size. These methods are essential for verifying that CO2 is being safely sequestered at a site. Small noted that the Australians are the furthest along in developing CO2 sequestration sites for full-scale testing, and are eager to collaborate in developing advanced monitoring technologies to assure that the CO2 that is pumped underground does not return to the atmosphere.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/July/july10_mitchellsmall.shtml
News Briefs
- This year's "Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research" is being held in honor of Randy Pausch at 10 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 17 at the North Park Boathouse in Allison Park. A group from Carnegie Mellon will be participating in the walk and invites the entire campus community, families and friends to join them. To register or support Randy's team, visit http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=277595 and click on "Pausch's People."
- An overview of the 2008 orientation for first-year students will be held from 1 to 2 p.m., Friday, July 25, in the Dowd Room, University Center. Staff from the Office of Orientation will be available to talk about the schedule of events and answer questions. This year's program runs Aug. 17 - 24. For more: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/orientation/
Personal Mention
- Carnegie Mellon's Director of Athletics Susan Bassett has named Josh Centor assistant director of athletics, effective Aug. 11. Centor's main responsibilities will be to manage financial operations and data analysis, oversee the annual budget and the NCAA rules compliance, and assist with revenue generation, alumni cultivation and strategic planning for athletic communications. Centor comes to Carnegie Mellon after working for the NCAA as coordinator of new media communications. Centor is a 2004 graduate of Brandeis University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics with a minor in international business, and played four years of varsity baseball. He is currently a candidate for a master's degree in applied communication at Indiana University.
- Four graduate students have been named 2008 - 2009 Dowd ICES Fellowship recipients. They are Yixuan Chen of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Christine Costello of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nilay Inoglu of Chemical Engineering and Yong-Tae Kim of Mechanical Engineering. The fellows were selected based on the innovative nature of their projects. This fall, the new and outgoing fellows will present their research projects to the Carnegie Institute of Technology community and to Philip and Marsha Dowd at the Dowd Fellowship Symposium. For more: http://www.ices.cmu.edu/newsitem.asp?NewsID=539
- Sophomore engineering major Diane Mattingly was named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association's All-Academic team. To qualify for the team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met the NCAA Division III championship standard in their respective event. Mattingly qualified in the 800-meter run with a school-record time of 2:13.58.
- Three employees will join University Advancement on July 21. New Major Gifts Officer Paul Homick has worked as an attorney with a Pittsburgh law firm and in development as the president of The Saint Benedict Education Foundation in Rome, Italy. Melinda Hungerman Johnson, a new Andrew Carnegie Society gift officer, received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Carnegie Mellon and most recently served as the manager of corporate and association relations for the National Building Museum. Heidi Opdyke, new associate director of internal communications and managing editor of the Piper, was formerly a copy editor and paginator for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and a visiting and guest lecturer on news editing at the University of Illinois, where she earned a master's degree in journalism.
- Engineering and Public Policy Professor Jon Peha will present his paper "Bringing Broadband to Unserved Communities" at a forum, entitled "Investing in America's Infrastructure: From Bridges to Broadband," July 25 at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Peha will also participate in a roundtable discussion exploring how to make better use and share the benefits of wireless technologies.
Calendar Highlights
