Elizabethtown College News 
Back to top 5/7/2008 College launches citizen journalism site Elizabethtown College has launched a citizen journalism site where anyone – campus community members as well as residents  of local communities – may add content.“We-town (www.we-town.com) is a site where anyone can add content, whether it be text, pictures, podcasts and more,” said Kirsten Johnson, assistant professor of communications. “It was launched for the community-at-large, meaning both students and community members can access it and contribute material. In essence, anyone can be a journalist.” The project is a collaborative effort by the Departments of Communications, Computer Science, and Information and Technology Services (ITS). It was designed by faculty members and students in the Department of Communications, with technical assistance provided by ITS. We-town was made possible through a Collaborative Interdisciplinary Scholarship Program (CISP) grant administered by the College’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Created through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, CISP offers financial support for interdisciplinary scholarship projects undertaken jointly by teams of faculty, students and professional staff. “The site does not generate revenue, and is indeed purely a tool to facilitate community storytelling,” added Johnson, who may be contacted with questions at johnsonka@etown.edu. Back to top 5/1/2008 Elizabethtown participates in national climate survey A national climate survey administered at 23 college campuses, including Elizabethtown College, indicates that  college students and faculty want more focus on personal and social responsibility.The survey, titled The Personal and Social Responsibility Institutional Inventory (PSRII), examines perceptions of how well campus environments encourage five dimensions of personal and social responsibility: striving for excellence; cultivating personal and academic integrity; contributing to a larger community; taking seriously the perspectives of others; and developing competence in ethical and moral reasoning. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) recently released initial findings from PSRII as part of its initiative, Core Commitments: Educating Students for Personal and Social Responsibility. Data was collected across all the campuses that comprise the Core Commitments Leadership Consortium, which includes Pennsylvania’s Elizabethtown and Allegheny colleges. “What people are saying at Elizabethtown mirrors what’s being said at the 22 other institutions in the Consortium,” said Dean of Student Marianne Calenda, who also serves as co-chair of the College’s Core Commitments Project. “Our students, faculty and staff agree issues of social and personal responsibility are important aspects of the college learning experience. But the survey results also suggest we could do more to meet students’ expectations in these areas.” Institutions in the Leadership Consortium will use their own individual findings to spur campus dialogue and action. The data and dialogues about them will inform the development of programs and practices that expand, deepen and assess the education for personal and social responsibility they are providing to their undergraduate students. Elizabethtown entered into the Core Commitments Project because of its alignment with the College’s strategic vision, which expresses a commitment to provide an education with a focus an international and cross-cultural perspective, and on preparing students for purposeful lives and meaningful work. “We are, therefore, particularly interested in students’ perceptions on how our learning community supports discussions about controversial issues and multiple points of view, and how we as a community encourage integrity, respect and honesty,” Calenda said. “Programmatically, we will look very intentionally at our first-year experience,” Calenda said. “We’ve also undertaken a project to create a developmental model for global education.” Back to top 4/21/2008 Woodrow Wilson Foundation president to deliver commencement address Art Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, will address Elizabethtown College’s Class of 2008 at this year’s  Commencement. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m., May 17, in The Dell. Rain location is Thompson Gymnasium. Additional information on the day's events is available at the Commencement website. Graduates will number 517, with 27 students earning a master’s degree in occupational therapy. In addition, 31 members of the College’s Class of 1958 will mark the 50th anniversary of their graduation as they receive medallions during the ceremony. Levine will receive an honorary Doctor of Education. He is the sixth president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Before his appointment at the Foundation, he was president and professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Levine also previously served as chair of the higher education program, chair of the Institute for Educational Management and senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Levine is the author of dozens of articles and reviews. His most recent book is “When Hope and Fear Collide: A Portrait of Today’s College Student” (with Jeanette S. Cureton). Among other volumes are “Beating the Odds: How the Poor Get to College” (with Jana Nidiffer), “Higher Learning in America,” “Shaping Higher Education’s Future” and “When Dreams and Heroes Died: A Portrait of Today’s College Students.” Much of Levine’s research and writing in recent years has focused on increasing access to higher education and improving equity in schools. His opinion editorials appear in such publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Levine has received numerous honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Carnegie Fellowship, as well as the American Council on Education’s “Book of the Year” award (for “Reform of Undergraduate Education”), the Educational Press Association’s “Annual Award” for writing (three times) and 17 honorary degrees. In 1998 Change magazine listed him as “One of the Most Outstanding Leaders in the Academic Community.” He currently sits on the boards of Blackboard, Inc.; DePaul University; and All Kinds of Minds and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Back to top 4/15/2008 Elizabethtown celebrates scholarship, creative arts Elizabethtown College’s first Scholarship and Creative Arts Day (SCAD) on April 22 featured presentations by students and a keynote address -- "Start on  Earth Day: Do More with Less" -- by Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author and inventor. SCAD is a day of no classes set aside to celebrate and promote the scholarship and art that is occurring on campus. It is intended to unite the Elizabethtown campus and community by supporting students across the disciplines. More than 200 students submitted abstracts for oral presentations, posters or performances. The entire day’s schedule of activities -- as well as profiles of student presenters -- is available at the website for the College’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (www.etown.edu/CETL). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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