The Undergraduate Office of Admissions is looking to hire strong student leaders as campus tour guides during summer session I and summer session II (June 10–August 15, 2013). Please help identify outgoing and responsible IUP students who will be on campus this summer.

Please contact Megan McCue, assistant director of Admissions, at 724-357-2756 or mmccue@iup.edu if you have any student referrals.

MyIUP, a new web portal launching later this year, will be the one-stop shop for university students, employees, and staff to access IUP applications, announcements, and information. (You may have read about it in the Penn.) MyIUP will replace URSA and provide single sign-on to:

• course registration and grades;
• student and faculty collaboration tools;
• targeted news;
• integration with favorite web sites;
• social networking features, and more.

With all these features, we want to make sure that they are organized so students and faculty can find them all easily.

That’s where you come in.

Last fall, 60 students completed an online exercise designed to help us better understand how they organize information. The input we received has shaped the design of MyIUP.

For our second round, we’re looking for another 60 students to complete a new exercise.

Just like last time, once the survey closes we will choose one participant at random to win a $50 gift certificate to The Co-op Store. To be eligible for the gift certificate, you must:

• Have not participated in the last round of card-sorting
• Be a current IUP student
• Not work within the Division of Enrollment Management and Communications or IT Services
• Be one of the first 60 students or 60 faculty members to complete the survey
• Complete the entire survey
• Provide your e-mail, name, and contact phone number

The draw will be held once 60 eligible students complete the survey. Winners will be notified soon thereafter.

Last time, we reached 60 participants within 7 hours, so if you want to participate, do it right now!

Ready to go? Follow the link to start the exercise.

Each candidate will give a presentation on the topic “What Is the Role of Financial Aid in Enrollment Management in Higher Education?” Each presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A.

All presentations will take place in the Admissions Suite, room 120 of Sutton Hall, from 9:05–9:35 a.m. each day. These presentations are open to the entire university community.

The agenda and resume for each candidate will be available via IUP Daily in advance of their presentation.

Hope to see you there.

Michael H. Husenits (mhusenit@iup.edu)
Search Committee Chair
Director of Admissions

MyIUP will replace URSA and provide single sign-on to:

• course registration and grades;
• student and faculty collaboration tools;
• targeted news;
• integration with favorite web sites;
• social networking features, and more.

The portal will be a customized version of an Ellucian product called Luminis that several PASSHE schools are using with great success.

MyIUP is a project of the Division of Enrollment Management and Communications. As our next step in design and development, we invite all members of the campus community to share their thoughts on what they'd like to see in a portal. 

Attend the following sessions to offer your ideas!

MyIUP Brainstorming Sessions:

Wednesday, November  14, HUB Monongahela Room

• Students: 12:30–1:45 p.m.— FREE PIZZA!
• Faculty: 8:00–9:00 a.m.

Learn More – Information Session:

Thursday, November 15, HUB Knowlton Room

• Students, faculty, and staff: 10:15–11:45 a.m.

In addition to blood donors, volunteers are needed in advance of the drive to man a table to encourage students and employees to register to give blood. The registration table is in the HUB, in front of the Delaware Room, and volunteers are needed anytime between noon and 6:00 p.m. Thursday, August 30; Friday, August 31; and Tuesday, September 4.

For those who would like to help in a different way, donations of cookies for the canteen (the refreshment station for donors) are welcome. Volunteers to work at the canteen are needed as well.

Last year, blood drives at IUP collected almost 1,000 units of blood, which is estimated to save approximately 2,900 lives.

To help with the September 5 blood drive in any way, please contact Diane Stipcak, Service Learning coordinator, at 724-357-2235.

Update is a newsletter of the vice president for Enrollment Management and Communications, Jim Begany, and provides an overview of where IUP stands with enrollment issues and how the university is communicating with the prospective- and current-student audience.

The first edition covers the decreasing number of available high school students in Pennsylvania, facts on how IUP is retaining the quantity of students while trying to increase the quality of students, and more.

See the first edition of Enrollment Management and Communications Update.

Enid Resenic, director of administrative services, will report directly to Enrollment Management and Communications Vice President James Begany on all admissions functions. Teresa Brownlee, admissions counselor; Mysti Dinger, student services coordinator; and Sherry Kelly, administrative support, will continue to report to Resenic. Chef Al Wutsch, director of the IUP Academy of Culinary Arts, will continue to supervise administrative functions outside of the admissions area.

Resenic and her team will continue to work at the Punxsutawney campus.

“The Academy of Culinary Arts is a very strong program, and the leadership there has done an outstanding job in maintaining a robust enrollment,” Begany said. “This new reporting structure simply offers a new opportunity for the Academy of Culinary Arts to be more intentionally connected to the university in terms of admissions. It also offers the chance for enhanced collaboration and shared resources.”

The Academy of Culinary Arts offers an eighteen-month program that includes an externship. Students complete the program with a Certificate in Culinary Arts. First-year student enrollment typically includes 110 students, with about 200 registered students in the program at any one time.

Upon completion of the program at the academy, students have earned up to 44 undergraduate credits and have advanced standing if they choose to enroll in the undergraduate degree program in Hospitality Management or Nutrition. Students also may continue their studies in the academy’s baking and pastry arts program.