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Individuals with autism spectrum disorder sometimes have a difficult time with social interaction and building relationships. The Autism Society of Greater Akron wanted to help those on the spectrum socialize with others freely and make friends by creating an adult social club. The club was then made possible with two ������ affiliates and Wendy Cline, a support specialist and licensed social worker at the Autism Society of Greater Akron.

������ has named Margaret (Peggy) Shadduck, Ph.D., of Richardson, Texas, as its new vice president for Regional Campuses and dean of the College of Applied and Technical Studies. Shadduck was selected following a national search.

When the order came in the spring of 2020 to go remote, faculty and students in ������ Ashtabula’s nursing program were concerned. How would they stay connected in a remote environment? How would the students stay engaged? Enter “The Net,” a virtual community for nursing students, faculty and nursing support staff at ������ Ashtabula. 

������ President Todd Diacon recently notified 23 ������ staff members that they are the 2020 recipients of the President’s Award of Distinction. The award was created as a recognition program to reward staff members who have demonstrated outstanding achievements, service, leadership and dedication to ������ in advancing the university’s strategic priorities and core values.

Dane Paris, a junior biology pre-med student in ������’s Honors College, has already left his mark at ������ despite facing challenges along the way. His outstanding leadership has not gone unnoticed, and he credits the support he has gotten through ������ for his growth and successes. 

The ������ Board of Trustees ratified the university’s Fiscal Year 2020 Efficiency Report and Master Recommendations report, which showed an effectiveness and efficiency savings for Fiscal Year 2020 of $31,286,881. The savings is $6.2 million more than originally estimated.

A year before Timothy Griffin graduated from ������ at Tuscarawas in 2017 with an Associate of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology degree and a certificate in computer-aided design for manufacturing, a single phone call would launch his career and have him designing life-saving firetrucks before he graduated.

������ has announced the recipients of the 2020 Outstanding Research and Scholarship Awards (ORSA). Sponsored by the University Research Council and the Division of Research and Sponsored Programs, this award honors ������’s exceptional researchers and scholars.

������ has announced the recipients of the New Faculty Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award. These awards recognize the hard work and dedication of faculty who have been at ������ for 10 years or less and are sponsored by the University Research Council.

������ is marking the promotions and tenure of 135 faculty members during the 2019-2020 academic year.

������ has inducted 53 employees into its 20-Year Club Service Awards Program for 2020.

������ alumna 1st Lt. Ashley White-Stump is featured along with other American heroes in the new National Museum of the United States Army, which just recently opened in Virginia.

������’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA Kent) Chapter, along with two School of Media and Journalism (MDJ) alumnae, earned national recognition at the 2020 PRSSA Annual International Conference. Public relations alumna Jill Golden, won the highest individual award, the National Gold Key award, and alumna Carrie Kandes, APR, earned the Teahan Professional Adviser award.

������ will recognize the accomplishments of its Fall Class of 2020 graduates with a virtual commencement recognition ceremony. Students, faculty, staff, parents and friends are invited to tune into the virtual ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 11 a.m.

While it's no secret that many college students drink alcohol, how COVID-19 affected these behaviors and patterns is the focus of recent research published in the journal Addictive Behaviors by the collaboration of William Lechner from the Department of Psychological Sciences and Deric Kenne from the College of Public Health. The pair sought to study the effects that a major stressor such as the pandemic could have on addictive behaviors and how vulnerabilities such as anxiety and depression played a part in the coping process of college students. 

In preparation for honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, ������’s Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee is requesting that university divisions, departments and student organizations submit programming, activities and events (scheduled Jan. 25-Jan. 31, 2021) to the MLK Events Calendar by Friday, Dec. 4, 2020.

Through multiple organizations and collaborations on and off campus, ������ ended 2019 as a more sustainable campus. Those who contributed to sustainable efforts worked hard to reduce the university’s carbon footprint leading to the university being honored as a finalist for the 2020 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Campus Sustainability Achievement Award  along with the 2019 Keep Ohio Beautiful award for Colleges and Universities.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, MMPI, is a standardized psychometric test that was first published by the University of Minnesota Press in 1943 and quickly became the gold standard for assessing psychopathology. ������ has played a key role throughout the history of this test and a ������ faculty member led the revision for the recently published and updated 2020 MMPI-3. 

A true milestone in the concept of international education, the American Academy celebrated its first  in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, this year. The American Academy is a dual-enrollment program jointly operated by ������ and the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná. Fourteen of the students who first enrolled in the program when it launched in July 2018 were the first to graduate.

Alumna Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet has a long history at ������, graduating from the university three times before working for ������. In August, she added a new feather to her cap when The Poetry Box published her first complete collection of poetry, “Just the Girls: A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies; A Drift of Honeybees” with the help of two other alumnae.