With the summer months, many of us are taking vacations. This is a gentle reminder to update your phone’s voice mail message and e-mail out-of-office-auto-reply, so that fellow employees will know your whereabouts. Thanks!

Robert Young – Father Knows Best

Father’s Day is next Sunday, June 18. Do you have a gift for him yet? University Communications has a great gift you can give him if you share with us your favorite “dad-ism,” i.e., those funny things only dads say.
The first five responses will be posted in next week’s Register and the winners will receive a heather-grey Celebrate Community T-Shirt. E-mail your "dadisms" to Claire Sachse

Here’s a few to jog your memory…

Williams Taken by Pittsburgh in MLB Draft

Early in the season, scouts from several Major League Baseball organizations came to Harley Park to get a look at potential draft choices. One player was USC Upstate starting pitcher Brandon Williams. Williams impressed them and his hard work paid off Wednesday by being drafted in the 29th round of the MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. For the rest of the story …

Becky Berube , development director at Oakbrook Preparatory School and student at the Center of Nonprofit Leadership, recently attended the Association of Fundraising Professionals 2006 International Conference in Atlanta, made possible through a scholarship from American Humanics.

“The conference allowed me to participate with leading fundraising professionals to discuss and learn about issues affecting the development process. I was privileged to hear and meet Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, and chairman and founding president of the Drucker Foundation. American Humanics gave me the opportunity to network with and become a part of AFP – the only association representing the entire fundraising profession,” she writes.

Additionally, Berube says that “as a new fund development officer, new to the independent sector, the first thing I did professionally was enroll in two courses at the Center for Nonprofit Administration at USC Upstate. I cannot adequately summarize how the principles learned and the nonprofit leaders that I met helped get me up to speed in a new career field.”

Criminal justice field study students with some of New York’s finest.

Criminal Justice Field Study Students Return from NYC

Steve Ruegger, assistant professor of criminal justice, recently returned from a trip to New York City with his class of 11 students. This was the second group that Ruegger has taken on field studies from USC Upstate.

The group had official visits with the FBI, ICE (Immigrations Customs Enforcement), the NYC Board of Corrections, the US Coast Guard, and the United Nations (organized tour). They also met with the Deputy Commissioner of Corrections for the City of New York (the DOC is different from the Board of Corrections), and the Center for Court Innovations.

The group had an arranged meeting with a family member of a 9/11 victim at Ground Zero and they were able to speak at length with him about that day and about life after 9/11.

“This trip allows students at USC Upstate to see things that very few other people get to see. Our students go ‘beyond the gates and closed doors’ to see things up close and personal.  Whether it was meeting with senior agents and recruiters for ICE and the FBI, or being able to go into the family meeting area at Ground Zero, our students went places where few have been,” says Ruegger.  

Dr. Prince Receives Women in Communications Award

Dr. Judith S. Prince, Vice Chancellor, USC Upstate in Greenville, received the 2006 Matrix Award as Communicator of the Year from the Greenville Chapter of The Association for Women in Communications at the Ninth Annual Matrix Awards Dinner at the Greenville Marriott on May 23.

Dr. Prince produces the cable television program Upstate that addresses regional issues such as education, economic development, healthcare, population trends, and other issues relevant to those living along the I-85 corridor. Upstate is shown on Channel 14, the educational channel in Greenville, and on Channel 10 on Charter Communications. The program is now being shown three times a week on the SC Channel, an ETV station. To date, 30 Upstate programs have been produced in collaboration with Greenville Technical College.

As chair of the Vision 2025 Education Task Force in Greenville, Dr. Prince prepares an Education Weekly Reader. The publication is available on Greenville Forward’s website at www.greenvilleforward.com under the “education” vision. The weekly reader is widely distributed in Greenville.

In addition to speaking at many organizations in Greenville, including presenting the program on Career Day at the Downtown Greenville Rotary Club, Dr. Prince has had twelve editorials published in The Greenville News. Topics include technology in education, leadership development, and nontraditional students.

University Communications Wins State Awards, Advances to National Competition

Media Women of South Carolina, an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women, held its annual meeting on Tuesday night. Tammy Whaley, director of University Communications, was presented with the 2006 Communicator of Achievement Award for high professional qualifications and achievement in the field of communications. Fifteen other members across the nation received this award (in their individual states) and they will all compete for the National Communicator of Achievement Award at the National Federation of Press Women conference in Denver in early September.

The Office of University Communications also received three first place awards on Tuesday night:

First place for Media Kit: media kit used for the Greenville campus press announcement

First place for Talk Show: set design, concept and promoting community topics on Upstate TV

First Place for Marketing Program or Campaign: Health Education Complex fundraising and event pieces

Internet Changes
As part of University Communication’s ongoing work to decentralize control of internet content, the entire Academics portion of the website, including the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Education, and the Department of Nursing, has been rebuilt. Because of this, individuals may notice that some bookmarks to any web pages inside of Academics may no longer work. The newer web pages should be in place by Monday afternoon. Along with allowing departments to have control over their content, the new web pages will also load faster due to their smaller file sizes. If you encounter any problems due to this upgrade, please let me know.

Tiffany Kemp’s Father’s Day Tribute to a Father She Never Knew
Chances are good that if you watch the Hallmark Channel (Channel 74 on Cable) around Father’s Day, you’ll learn something about one of our students, Tiffany Kemp and her love for her father who died when she was a baby. Read the story about how Tiffany’s father’s day card was “carried” to her father in heaven, and how the Hallmark Cards Company learned her story.

USC Upstate Travel Blog Goes Live
Many of our students are headed oversees for a summer of travel, study and fun. University Communications has set up a travel blog site where students can post their impressions of living abroad. Kristina Cunningham posted the site’s first blog from Magdeburg, Germany. Be sure to check in periodically throughout the summer to keep up with the Upstate globetrotters.

Carolyn Matthews Receives Letter of Commendation from USC Columbia
In a recent letter from Dennis Pruitt, vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students at USC Columbia, Carolyn Matthews was recognized for her significant contributions to student development. Matthews, a financial services accountant here at USC Upstate, was cited by graduates “as a person who significantly contributed to [their] success.” She was also thanked for giving “her time and talent to many students to influence their development.” Pruitt cites literature that correlates student success and persistence with strong relationships between a student and faculty or staff member, writing that “a student’s graduation with high academic achievement may well have been affected by [her] inspiring effort.” Congratulations, Carolyn!  

Hot Off The Press: University Review
The Summer 2006 edition of the University Review has hit the campus and alumni mailboxes. This publication is produced by the Office of University Communications tri-annually and is distributed to more than 15,000 alumni, donors, friends, etc.

This edition has an international flavor! The cover photo by Jane Nodine will transport you to Italy. The stories inside will:

• take you to Ukraine, South Africa and China
• highlight our tennis team with an international roster
• follow a student history buff who’s spending his summer in China, and much more.

Read the online version here!

Highway I-585
The new bridge across the way is in high gear. The project engineer told Mike Bruce on Tuesday that they are well ahead of schedule on the entire project. Photos courtesy of Mike Bruce.