Accolades

Urban Commissioned to Write about History of Education Society

Dr. Wayne Urban

Dr. Wayne Urban, College of Education professor and associate director of the Education Policy Center, has been commissioned to write the history of the History of Education Society (HES).

The HES Board of Directors has invited Urban to present a portion of his research at the 2010 annual conference in Boston. This work will be published in the History of Education Quarterly.

“The 50th anniversary of the History of Education Society in 2010 presents the opportunity to review a half century of scholarly activity by historians studying the nation’s and the world’s schools, universities and other educational institutions. The vitality of historians of education and their work has been constant since 1960, though the institutional support for their efforts has waxed and waned,” said Urban.

“In a contemporary period of seeming diffidence to the history of education from school people, from many nonhistorians on the faculty in schools and colleges of education, and by many if not most students in education, a study of a scholarly field that has grown significantly in both the quantity and quality of its efforts should provide some counterbalance to the situation.”

The History of Education Society is an international scholarly society which has a wide range of purposes including promoting and improving the teaching of the history of education in all colleges and universities and promoting and improving library and museum facilities. The society also encourages scholarly research in the history of education and cooperation among specialists.

Glaze Awarded CCIM Designation

Grayson Glaze

Grayson Glaze, executive director of the Alabama Center for Real Estate at UA, has been awarded the Certified Commercial Investment Member designation by the CCIM Institute, one of the leading commercial real estate associations in the world.

Glaze was among the group of commercial real estate professionals who earned the designation by passing the institute’s comprehensive examination, the final element in the designation process.

The CCIM designation is awarded to commercial real estate professionals upon successful completion of a graduate-level education curriculum and presentation of a portfolio of qualifying industry experience. The curriculum addresses financial analysis, market analysis, user decision analysis and investment analysis. CCIMs are recognized experts in commercial real estate brokerage, leasing, asset management, valuation and investment analysis.

The CCIM business network encompasses 1,000 markets throughout North America, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. Of the estimated 150,000 commercial real estate practitioners in North America, more than 9,500 currently hold the CCIM designation.

CCIM designees include professionals who work in brokerage, investment and development, the corporate environment, property management, appraisal and related segments of commercial real estate. An additional 9,500 professionals are pursuing the designation as institute candidates.

The Chicago-based CCIM Institute is an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors® and is the governing body of the largest commercial real estate network in the world.

Nicole Jordan Crowned Miss UA 2009

Nicole Jordan

Nicole Jordan, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., double majoring in nursing and musical theater, has been selected Miss UA for 2009. Jordan will represent the University at the Miss Alabama Pageant in June at Samford University. She is a member of several UA honor societies, and she recently was selected as a delegate to the Presidential Inaugural Conference in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the UA National Alumni Association, the Miss UA Program remains the largest and one of the most competitive Miss Alabama/Miss America preliminary programs in the Southeast. The winner receives a full-tuition scholarship for her year of service, book scholarships and numerous other gifts from area businesses, alumni and Alabama fans.

Shared Sustainability Goals Spark Productive Partnership

Stroll through the UA Arboretum, and you’ll see repeated evidence of Mary Jo Modica’s passion for sustainability, from solar panels powering the laboratory to the roof of live plants that caps a small outbuilding. But the project that’s brought her the greatest personal satisfaction is a leaf-composting program that took root in the fall of 2007 – not only an ecological triumph, but also a testament to the power of collaboration across UA departments.

“Something that I have always tried to convince people of is the importance of not sending leaves to the landfill. They are a tremendous source of nutrients that need not be wasted,” said Modica, a horticulturist with the department of biological sciences. “To have the opportunity to save the huge volume of leaves from campus has been a wonderful project.”

A little more than a year ago, the arboretum staff and landscape and grounds maintenance teamed up to launch a leaf-recycling effort, wherein grounds workers began ferrying fallen leaves to a compost area at the arboretum rather than to a trash heap. They’re augmented with grass clippings, produce scraps and other green material; heat and microorganisms gradually break them down into nutrientrich fertilizer. The only hitch: In the coldest months, Modica found, it was hard to scrape together enough green matter to generate the heat level needed for optimal decomposition.

Enter Kristina Hopton-Jones, UA food service administrator. Strongly interested in creating sustainable dining operations, Hopton-Jones had previously approached Margaret Purcell of financial affairs grants about any grant opportunity involving food service.

Purcell engineered the inter-departmental connections that ultimately resulted in regular deliveries of preconsumer produce scraps to the arboretum, ensuring a steady supply of green matter for the compost pile.

“The most valuable thing to me has been the UA connection,” Hopton-Jones said. “Our overarching goal is the university at large, not just food service.” She named Joe Brown, assistant professor in New College and the department of biological sciences, as an important source of advice and expertise for the project, as well as a liaison with students who wish to help.

University Dining now funnels roughly 6,000 pounds of fruit and vegetable flotsam per week to the Arboretum, which Modica said has allowed the compost to thrive – generating as much material as they need (and then some) to nourish the arboretum soil. Chalk one up for teamwork at its best.