Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Spring Preview

January 2, 2012

Jackie Gratz

Want to know what’s coming up for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s spring 2012 semester?   Attend its Preview of Spring Classes to be held on Thursday, January 19 from 10 a.m. until noon in the Merrick Lecture Hall at Goucher College.  There’s plenty of free parking with a short walk to the Lecture Hall.  At the Preview you’ll see and hear teachers as they give brief presentations of their upcoming courses.  A wide array of courses in the Fine Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences will be offered in spring as well as two book clubs and two film series.   Among the courses are

  • Cosmic Puzzles
  • Russia in Revolution
  • Disease and History
  • Roots of the Blues
  • Jewish Women in the American Labor Movement
  • Physics for Everyday Life
  • Traits of Triumphant Survivors
  • French Wines Demystified
  • and many more

Some of these courses are four-week courses and some are eight-week with all offered during the day.  The spring semester begins on March 5 and ends May 3. View the full list of course offerings.

The Osher Institute offers courses to persons 50 years of age and older, but makes a special offer to Towson University faculty and staff of any age who may join Osher at a reduced rate and take one course each semester without further charge.  If you are reading this blog, you are no doubt still employed and may not have the time to attend even one course.  But please spread the word about the Osher Preview and its upcoming spring semester among the older generations of your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

For more information about the Osher program, visit the Osher website call the office at 410-704-3688.  We’d love to send you a spring 2012 catalog with descriptions of all of the courses being offered and biographical information on the teachers who will teach them.

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Posted by Guest Blogger

Another year, another holiday card

December 21, 2011

Sharyn

Months of brainstorming and planning went into this year’s DECO holiday card and I can truly say that is the best video card we have created to date. You may recall the New Year’s resolution card, or even our attempt to re-create the 12 days of Christmas. And then there is this year’s card. Imagine speed decorating while competing to be named the best decorated unit.

Check out our holiday card which show’s all the amazing decorations and teamwork of the DECO staff!

Now that you’ve seen the video, you may be wondering… who won our contest? While most participated, some really excelled.

  • Honorable mentions. The Center for Professional Studies (CPS), TowsonGlobal, and the Vice President’s office. These units all tried their very best to pull together various holiday themes in their office spaces. CPS included decorations from all of the staff’s cultural backgrounds, TowsonGlobal’s tasteful blue and green Christmas tree was gorgeous, and the Vice President’s office transformed a palm tree into a Christmas tree and surrounded it with Towson paraphernalia.
  • A tie for second. The Center for Applied IT (CAIT), lead by Dawn Bott, and the Regional Economic Studies Institute (RESI), lead by Raquel Frye, had such great concepts the judges couldn’t distinguish between second and third place so it was ruled a tie! These groups really coordinated their themes. CAIT’s winter wonderland and RESI’s snowy village were well thought out and could not be pulled off without the team’s full efforts.
  • And the winners! But, in the end, it was hard to compete with two dedicated decorators from the Administration and Finance team, Anna Orfanidis and Lusine Baghdasarian. Their decorations could rival 34th Street in Hampden!

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Posted by Sharyn Grove

Get “In the Money” with TU in the Community’s New Funder Tool

November 28, 2011

Kelsey

As promised in one of my previous blog posts, there is indeed a new feature on TU in the Community!  The Funder Tool is an exciting new initiative that was launched about a month ago and since then over 25 users have added new profiles.

The purpose of the tool is to increase collaboration across the university and to support faculty and staff efforts in grants and contracts initiatives. In plain English, that means that the tool makes it easier for faculty and staff to gain funding for their projects and research. Users can log into TU in the Community and have a number of funding opportunities at their fingertips. They can also receive emails about opportunities as they become available. The list of grants is by no means exhaustive, but it represents the opportunities that the Development Office and the Office of University Research Services (OURS) find the most relevant to TU faculty and staff members.

The great thing about the Funder Tool is that it contains opportunities for the many interests of Towson University. A user is just as likely to find a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) grant as a grant for the arts. Also, if users maintain contact with OURS and Development, the two offices will have a better idea of what kinds of opportunities to include in the tool.

To begin using this tool, users need to ensure that their profiles are up-to-date and that they include their administrative division/college, as well as their research and professional interests. Once this information is updated, users will be sent emails about opportunities relating to these interests as they are added to the database.

TU in the Community is working with members of Development and OURS to ensure that new opportunities are continually added. To begin taking advantage not only of the Funder Tool, but of TU in the Community in general, log on today!

1 Comment | Community Outreach, TU Faculty & Staff | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Kelsey Beckett

Video: Meet Our Team – Jeff Beeson

November 23, 2011

Allie

Jeff Beeson is the Director of the Center for Professional Studies (CPS) within the Division of Economic and Community Outreach at Towson University. As Director, he is responsible for managing a dynamic team dedicated to meeting the diverse educational and consultation needs of clients regardless of their location. Prior to coming to Towson, Jeff was the Director of the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program for the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR), and prior to that he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning at DLLR. Jeff has also worked for the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and as an aid for Senator Barbara Mikulski. Jeff is a graduate of Towson University earning his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and his Master’s degree in Social Sciences. To hear more about Jeff’s background and vision for the Center for Professional Studies watch the interview.

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Posted by Allie Pyzik

What is the Center for GIS Doing for GIS Day 2011?

November 14, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy Monn

The Center for GIS (CGIS) will be taking part in GIS Day this Wednesday, November 16, 2011.  CGIS employees, along with Community College of Baltimore County students, will travel to Lutherville Laboratory Elementary School this year for GIS Day.  The event, organized by Eric Cromwell (Coordinator of Elementary Science for Baltimore County Public Schools), will involve approximately 120 fourth grade students.  The students will be divided into groups and each group will complete a Global Positioning System (GPS) quiz consisting of multiple choice questions that have numerical answers (e.g. Abraham Lincoln was the [fill in the blank] President of the United States.).  All of the possible answers will correspond to marked locations on a field at the school.  Once the groups have completed the quiz, each will be provided with a Garmin e-Trex GPS unit and asked to walk to the locations marked with their answers while the GPS unit tracks their route.  Each group will then map the routes using Google Earth and if the group answered the questions correctly their route will appear as a star.

In addition to the event at the Elementary School, CGIS staff will also attend two events. For the past several years, CGIS has attended the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) GIS Day event located at the SHA building in Baltimore.  At this event, CGIS staff will manage a booth and provide information on current projects and initiatives that CGIS is involved in.  If you will be attending SHA’s GIS Day event stop by CGIS’ booth and see what we are up to! Also, CGIS will attend Central Pennsylvania’s GIS Day celebration that will feature an exhibit hall, geo-challenge, genius bar, workshop, demonstrations and plenty of networking.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

Education Meets the Workforce Strikes Again!

November 3, 2011

Jenn

Our most recent Education Meets the Workforce video focuses on Kristina Riera, a student intern for the Center for Applied IT (CAIT). Kristina manages all aspects of the banner advertising program on the State Department of Assessment and Taxation (SDAT) website. Kristina is a student in Towson University’s College of Business and Economics with concentrations in e-business and marketing.  This position gives her real world experience in these areas.  Watch the video to find out more about Kristina and her position at CAIT.

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Posted by Jenn Lake

TowsonGlobal’s Business Plan Competition Returns

November 2, 2011
http://tuoutreach.com/author/clayhickson/

Clay

The time has arrived! TowsonGlobal’s Business Plan Competition is back for a second year.   The inaugural competition brought entries from a diverse group of entrepreneurs with interesting business concepts.  All had the same goal in mind—success.  And this second annual event promises to be even more inspiring, helping stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship across the region.

While the basic format of the competition remains the same, a few changes have been made to help better prepare entrants and to make the competition more interactive. For this second competition, interested participants are invited to attend free workshops which focus on the basics of a business plan, including:

  • writing an effective executive summary,
  • conducting useful market analysis,
  • and developing realistic financial projections.

The five chosen finalists will attend a required boot camp to help prepare for their final presentations.  Also, this time, presentations will be made both in private and at a public forum.  After which, the winner will be announced at a networking reception.

Business Plan Competition Workshop #1 (October 2011)

Timeline & Process:

  • October 19, 2011 — Business Plan + Executive Summary Workshop
  • October 26, 2011 — Market Analysis Workshop
  • November 10, 2011 — Financial Projections Workshop
  • February 6, 2012 — Executive Summaries Due (3-5 pages)
  • February 20, 2012 — Finalists (5) selected and notified to submit business plans
  • February 27, 2012 — Presentation boot camp for finalists
  • March 27, 2012 — Deadline for finalists’ submissions of business plans and PowerPoint presentations
  • May 2, 2012—Finalists present in front of judges, winner selected

We hope that participants will get as much of the competition as the first group did.  Lisa Drouillard of My Hopeful Journey, one of two 2011 winners, commented, “The business plan competition helped me to think of my business in a more tangible way and not just as a concept.”  The other winner, Ben Walsh of Pure Bang Games, added that participation “strengthened our ties to other early stage startups, and most importantly, Towson University.”

TowsonGlobal is looking forward to seeing the exciting, innovative concepts that will be brought to the competition.  For more details on the competition, visit TowsonGlobal’s Business Plan Competition page or email us at info@towsonglobal.com .

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Posted by Clay Hickson

Towson Students Win Maryland Cyber Challenge and Scholarships

October 27, 2011

Kelsey

Cyber attacks continue to be a serious and growing threat to our nation’s governments and businesses. In turn, it has become a growing workforce need, especially in the Maryland-D.C. region.  The Maryland Cyber Challenge and Conference hopes to mitigate these threats and develop high school and college students with an interest in computers into cyber security experts. This year’s Conference was held October 21 and 22 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Eight college teams competed in the Cyber Challenge, held on Saturday October 22, but in the end it was TOWSON UNIVERSITY that took home First Place!

However, the road to victory was not an easy one. As Professor Michael O’Leary, team advisor, explains, “the competition between UMCP, UMBC and Towson was extremely close – when the scoreboard was turned off, each of the three teams had roughly 35,000 points, with Towson first and UMCP and UMBC tied and just 300 points behind.”

After two online qualifying competitions and the all-day event on Saturday, Towson University came out ahead. The members of TU’s team are Andrea Mobley (Captain), Brian Cather, Jonathan Fragale, Dustin Hanks, Dennis Hayden, and Roberto Melendez.

In addition to the pride of winning, each student received a $5,000 scholarship from the National Security Administration and will be offered a summer internship with SAIC, a science and engineering firm. These two fantastic prizes will help expand the student’s knowledge and experience in the growing Cyber Security field.

Image credit: jscreationzs

Team captain Andrea Mobley said of the win, “I think our win over two graduate teams (one of which is a University of Maryland team) and the rest of our competitors (Capitol College, University of Maryland Graduate students, University of Maryland Undergraduate students, Goucher, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Maryland University College, and a group of collective students) keeps Towson University on the radar for the national competition in February and for employers looking to hire security professionals.”

Be sure to read the Baltimore Sun article to learn more about the event!

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Posted by Kelsey Beckett

Video: Meet the Team Video with Erin Neuslein

October 25, 2011

Daraius

I have had the great pleasure of working with Erin Nueslein the last 10 years. She has worked in a variety of capacities from project manager for RESI’s contract with the Department of Human Resources to Associate Director of RESI.  In each of these positions she has acquired skills and experience that will help her tackle the new challenges in the role as Director of DECO’s Administration and Finance unit. Watch the interview to learn more about Erin’s role as Director.

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Posted by Daraius Irani

Guest Blogger: 2011 CUMU Conference focus on “Creating Tomorrow’s Future Today”

October 17, 2011

Nicole Schiraldi

Towson University is home to the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) Headquarters where I work as the Program Coordinator.  Members of CUMU use the power of their campuses in education, research, and service to enhance the communities in which they are located. Institutions located in metropolitan areas often do not fit the common definition of more traditional colleges and universities. With Bobbie Laur out of the office on maternity leave, I was left to fend for myself at the 17th Annual Conference.  The theme “Creating Tomorrow’s Future Today” focused on urban development and community engagement. This year’s host university location, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), served as the perfect backdrop for a conference.


View From Nicole's Hotel Room

The conference agenda was full of exciting speakers and sessions, but I’d like to share my top 3 conference moments:

  1. Networking.  I have some of the most impressive university presidents in the country on my speed dial.  How many people can say that?  I met many incredibly influential people and networked all day and all night.
  2. Meeting the 2012 Superbowl Chairperson.  Indy is home to the 2012 Superbowl and the Bowl Chairperson, Allison Melangton, was our Opening Plenary speaker.  I am now following their blog and stories of community engagement – some of which are incredibly inspiring.
  3. Visiting the NCAA Hall of Fame.  Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, and former ACE Fellow, was gracious enough to host our conference guests at the NCAA Hall of Fame for a casual dinner and tour.  The Hall of Fame showcases some of the best athletes in college sports.  My favorite part? The quote they live by, “There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and almost all of us will be going pro in something other than sports.”

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Posted by Guest Blogger

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