Graduate School F A L L
Fuels of the Future Auburn Researchers Turn Forestry Materials Into Biofuels
Real Estate Development Students Dream Big in Capstone Project Education for All: Prison Education Program Benefits Graduate Students & Inmates A Hole in One: Online Turfgrass Program Offers Quality Instruction, Flexibility
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CONTENTS 4 5 6 7 8 12 15 16 18 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
Message from the Dean Top Rankings Research Highlight: RFID Research Center Serves as Hub for Thought Leadership BGPSA Thinks ‘Community’ for 2014-15 Fuels of the Future: Auburn Researchers Turn Forestry Materials into Biofuels Real Estate Development Students Dream Big in Capstone Project Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Coming to Auburn A Hole in One: Online Turfgrass Program Offers Quality Instruction, Flexibility Education for All: Prison Education Program Benefits Graduate Students & Inmates Alumni Spotlight: Paula Gant ’96 Helps Shape U.S. Energy Policy Prospective Students: Admission Requirements Areas of Study Distance Education Tips for Applying to Graduate School ABM Program & Graduate Certificates Estimated Cost of Attendance The Auburn Community Graduate Education is an Advancement Providing a Home for Student Veterans This Year in the GSC The Gift of Excellence A Guide to Giving Graduate School Staff
Publication Team Editors George Flowers, Dean George Crandell, Associate Dean Chris Anthony, Managing Editor Design, Photo and Production: Office of Communications and Marketing staff Download this Auburn Graduate School publication online at www.grad.auburn.edu/magazine Auburn University Graduate School 106 Hargis Hall, Auburn, AL 36849 Phone (334) 844-4700, Fax (334) 844-4348 Postmaster, please send address changes to 106 Hargis Hall, Auburn, AL 36849-5122. Contents 2014 by the Auburn University Graduate School, all rights reserved.
Message from the Dean
Dr. George Flowers If there is one constant in the world, it’s change. Change is inevitable. But rather than trying to avoid it, we need to be asking ourselves, “Are we ready for it?” Here at Auburn University, our graduate students are uniquely prepared to face a rapidly changing world head-on. In our more than 160 graduate programs, Auburn students are addressing real-world problems while honing their critical thinking and research skills alongside world-class faculty members. As new technology hastens change across the world, Auburn’s graduate students are prepared to take their place as leaders and innovators in the 21st-century knowledge economy. After all, a graduate degree is increasingly necessary to succeed in today’s economy. More jobs requiring a master’s or doctoral degree will open during the next few years than for any other degree, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In this issue of the Graduate School magazine, you will read about Auburn graduate students whose endeavors illustrate how important graduate education, research, and outreach are to Auburn’s mission. Doctoral student Mi Li and his colleagues in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences are researching the best ways to create biofuels, which are cleaner and more sustainable than traditional fossil fuels. A team of Master of Real Estate Development students have designed an award-winning project that, if constructed, would turn part of downtown Atlanta into a vibrant public space. And, finally, engineering students Eliza Banu and Aubrey Beal are doing their part to help rehabilitate inmates through the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project. If you are a prospective student, we hope you see why Auburn is the ideal place for you to take your education or career to the next level. For our alumni and friends, we appreciate your generous support of the Graduate School. Without your help, we could not do all that we do to help nurture inquisitive young scholars on their pathway to becoming tomorrow’s leaders.
George Flowers Dean of the Graduate School
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A WISE INVESTMENT
“
To me, graduate school is the means by which I transfer the skills I learned in my undergraduate program into real-world applications. The purpose of the undergraduate education in science is to learn the basic skills to break down complicated problems into smaller, digestible pieces in order to understand how each part contributes to the whole. With my graduate study, I can work to develop new approaches to breaking down these complex ideas and reconstructing the pieces to discover new explanations. My favorite part of every day is working alongside engineers, clinicians, and scientists in order to solve insightful, multi-disciplinary issues through collaboration, which is the basis of all discovery.
”
Richard Davis, Huntsville, Alabama Doctoral student in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Top Rankings
Auburn is included in a distinctive group of 18 universities designated as land-, sea-, and space-grants and receives many accolades from accrediting agencies and ranking publications. • Auburn has been ranked among the top 50 public universities in the U.S. for more than 21 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. • Auburn was ranked among the 100 Best Colleges and Universities in the U.S. by State, 2014 by TheBestSchools.org. • Auburn was named by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance as one of the top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, 2014. • Auburn was ranked 8th among public colleges with high student satisfaction by BestColleges.com, 2014. • The Raymond J. Harbert College of Business ranked 2nd in “MBAs with the Most Financial Value at Graduation” by U.S. News & World Report, 2014. • The College of Education’s online graduate education program ranked 6th in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Online Programs,” 2014. • The Raymond J. Harbert College of Business’ online graduate business program ranked 12th in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Online Programs,” 2014 edition. • The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s online graduate computer information technology program ranked 14th in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Online Programs,” 2014 edition. • The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s online graduate engineering program ranked 29th in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Online Programs,” 2014 edition. • A comprehensive list is available at www.auburn.edu/rankings. 5
RFID Research Center
Serves as Hub for Thought Leadership
“
Moving to Auburn is
a big step up for the RFID program. With Auburn’s worldclass programs in wireless engineering, apparel studies, and supply chain, among others, industry sponsors are excited for the lab to simultaneously continue to focus on RFID in retail and broaden its scope to other areas within retail and outside
”
retail, such as food safety. Justin Patton
RFID Lab Managing Director
6
Auburn University is now home to one of the world’s leading research centers in the area of radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology. In June 2014, the RFID Research Center moved from the University of Arkansas to Auburn University, opening the door for research collaborations initially involving the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, and the College of Human Sciences. Since its founding at the University of Arkansas in 2005, the RFID Research Center has been at the epicenter of research in RFID, earning national and international recognition for its work. When it opened in June as the RFID Lab at Auburn University, it was reunited with its founder and former director, Harbert College of Business Dean and Wells Fargo Professor Bill Hardgrave. Hardgrave said the lab will serve as a hub for thought leadership involving industryleading companies interested in developing and exploring applications for RFID – the use of wireless systems to transmit data from microchip tags on products to receivers. “We are thrilled to have the RFID Lab at Auburn University,” said Hardgrave, who was instrumental in securing its move to Auburn. “For almost 10 years, it has proven to be the go-to place for RFID research. The opportunity to continue the great work while expanding its scope at Auburn is exciting.” Hardgrave began working with RFID in 2003 while at the University of Arkansas. Walmart’s interest in having suppliers affix RFID tags at the pallet and case level to improve supply chain visibility ignited research efforts that eventually grew into the RFID Research Center. More than 60 industry-leading companies have contributed to the development of the center as a neutral, multidisciplinary research site.
“Moving to Auburn is a big step up for the RFID program,” RFID Lab Managing Director Justin Patton said. “With Auburn’s world-class programs in wireless engineering, apparel studies, and supply chain, among others, industry sponsors are excited for the lab to simultaneously continue to focus on RFID in retail and broaden its scope to other areas within retail and outside retail, such as food safety.” The 13,000-square-foot RFID Lab, located in a converted supermarket a few miles from the heart of campus, includes factory, warehouse, distribution center, and various retail, grocery, and convenience store formats – including mall apparel and highend fashion boutiques. The lab focuses on the quickly changing face of physical retail stores in the modern era of widely available “disruptive technology,” and will facilitate experimentation with future store layout and shopping experience concepts. Patton said the lab’s research broadening interests will also include visual identification technologies and food safety/quality.
BGPSA
Thinks ‘Community’ for 2014-15 Since forming in 1994, Auburn University’s Black Graduate and Professional Student Association (BGPSA) has helped advance the interests of minority students on Auburn’s campus through various academic and social programs. That has typically consisted of networking and social events, panel discussions on graduate school, lectures, and academic programs such as Write Nite, an event where graduate students give each other feedback on writing and research projects. In 2014-15, BGPSA is aiming to get involved more in community service — both on and off campus. This year, the organization plans to visit retirement homes and elementary schools in the Auburn/Loachapoka areas. To help promote intercultural understanding, the group has also focused on participating in events hosted by international student organizations such as the African Student Association and the Indian Student Association. “BGPSA makes an effort to try to understand and be a part of other student organizations that don’t necessarily have individuals that look like us or come from the same background,” says India Napier, BGPSA’s current president. Another recent addition to BGPSA programming is the Juan Gilbert Distinguished Lecturer Series, named in honor of celebrated former Auburn College of Engineering faculty member who personally advised BGPSA until 2010. The goal of the Lecturer Series is to feature well-established, minority scholars who can serve as role models to the black graduate student community. “The speakers so far have done a great job of not only tying in their academic
backgrounds but also their cultural backgrounds and how that has been a part of their growing experience in getting them to where they are now,” Napier says. Working alongside the Graduate School and the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, BGPSA is also planning to launch a minority student recruitment weekend in fall 2014. Directed by 2012-13 BGPSA President April Scott, the recruitment program intends to highlight all the resources available at Auburn that allow minority students to thrive. But, above all, BGPSA serves as a support system to help minority students find their niche and flourish. “I don’t want new students to get here thinking that we’re strictly 100 percent academic because we’re not,” says Leonard Towns-Newby, BGPSA’s current historian and 2013-14 president. “Every aspect of life that they have to deal with in graduate school, we’re here for that.”
“
BGPSA makes an effort
to try to understand and be a part of other student organizations that don’t necessarily have individuals that look like us or come from
”
the same background.
India Napier,
BGPSA’s current president
Want to learn more about BGPSA? Visit www.auburn.edu/bgpsa.
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Fuels of the Future
Auburn Researchers Turn Forestry Materials into Biofuels By Chris Anthony
What will happen if we run out of petroleum or if gas prices soar to $10 a gallon? These are questions doctoral student Mi Li and his colleagues in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences are trying to answer through their research on biofuels and biobased products. Biofuels are produced from biological raw materials, such as wood, grass, or algae. In contrast, traditional fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, and natural gas are formed by geologic processes acting on plant or animal remains over millions of years. By creating and consuming more biofuels, Li says we can become less reliant on finite fossil fuels while embracing a renewable, clean alternative. “We live in the southeast part of the United States, and we have an abundance of resources, especially pine trees,” Li says. “A lot of the leftover products from forestry and agriculture are not being used well. They are just burned, and that’s a really low utilization of natural resources. We can make use of these residuals by turning them into fuels and reducing the demand for petroleum.” Fuels such as ethanol and butanol can be created from biological material, or biomass. The woody biomass that Li studies can be pretreated with chemicals at a high temperature, which breaks down the recalcitrant structure of the biomass and tears apart its three major components — cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin — and improves the accessibility of cellulose to enzymes for hydrolysis, which is a chemical process of decomposition.
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9
“
We live in the southeast
part of the United States, and we have an abundance of resources, especially pine trees. A lot of the leftover products from forestry and agriculture are not being used well. They are just burned, and that’s a really low utilization of natural resources. We can make use of these residuals by turning them into fuels and reducing the
”
demand for petroleum.
10
Mi Li, Doctoral student in School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences
From there, a mixture of enzymes is added that cut down the cellulose into sugars, which can be fermented into fuels or turned into other valuable chemicals. These are called cellulosic biofuels or bioproducts, respectively. However, the pretreatment process doesn’t wash away the lignin and hemicellulose completely. And that is where Li’s particular research interest lies. “My job is to figure out how lignin and hemicellulose affect the interaction between the enzyme and the cellulose,” he says. Li and his faculty advisor published their initial findings in an article, “Distinct Roles of Residual Xylan and Lignin in Limiting Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Organosolv Pretreated Loblolly Pine and Sweetgum” in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. As an accomplished young researcher, Li knows that performing controlled experiments and recording results are only the first part of research. Effectively communicating the results with others, typically through journal publications or presentations at academic conferences, is equally as important. At Auburn, Li has taken full advantage of available resources to hone his communication skills for this part of his research. He is a regular participant in Auburn’s annual Graduate Scholars Forum, where students present their research through oral and poster presentations and compete for cash prizes and awards at Research Week, a campuswide celebration of research and creative scholarship at Auburn University. In fall 2013, Li decided to register for Auburn’s new Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Developed by the University of Queensland in Australia, 3MT challenges graduate students to talk about the significance of their work to a nonspecialist audience in only three minutes.
Not surprisingly, he found it challenging. After all, it’s not easy to condense years of research and work into only a few minutes. However, he was able to relate his technical research in a way that non-experts could understand. “That’s very important because you need more people to care about what you are doing, and you can’t just use a lot of jargon,” he says. “That won’t help.” After much practice and careful thought, Li was able to make a presentation that earned a spot in the 3MT finals, which featured only the top 10 competitors. Li says his participation in these competitions helped make him a better overall researcher. “These were very good experiences, and I improved a lot through these activities,” he says. That improvement
is seen in the awards that he has earned. In 2014, he received one of Auburn’s Outstanding International Graduate Student Awards and was also nominated for the Merriwether Fellowship and the Outstanding Graduate Student Awards. A native of Wuhu in the Anhui province of China, Li earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from China’s Northeast Forestry University. When looking for a doctoral program, he was impressed with Auburn’s academic reputation as well as the collaboration between students and faculty in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
After enrolling at Auburn in fall 2010, Li quickly found that Auburn, with its quiet campus and many research facilities, was the perfect place to pursue his studies. “We have a very good research environment here,” he says. More importantly, though, he was able to establish a close relationship with faculty members, especially his faculty advisor, Maobing Tu. “To me, the most important part of my advisor is that he’s always available,” Li says. “He’s always available when you have issues in your research and you get frustrated and struggled. That’s very important.” After earning his doctorate, Li would ultimately like to continue his research on biofuels and biobased products while working in a faculty position within academia. After all, research and development on biofuels and bioproducts continues to be a major area of growth in the U.S., and Li and his colleagues know that their methods offer some clear advantages. For instance, most ethanol in the U.S. is produced using starch-based materials such as corn. But by producing ethanol or butanol from the biomass from trees or grasses, that corn can be put to other uses. “We can feed the corn to people or animals,” Li says. “For trees, there’s no competition for food.” And, of course, it’s cleaner than traditional fossil fuels because it doesn’t add extra carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. When carbon dioxide is released from burning ethanol, the crops planted to produce biofuels capture that carbon dioxide and synthesize it. Compared to gasoline, the production and use of biofuels could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 86 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center. “It’s sustainable and will keep our environment cleaner than what we’re using right now,” Li says. “And plus, it addresses our national needs for fossil energy independence.” 11
Real Estate Development Students Dream Big in Capstone Project Imagine a vibrant public square with a large outdoor television screen, a largescale work-play environment that mixes office space, self-storage, 300 hotel rooms, retail, a posh 60,000-square-foot fitness center, and upscale family and student housing within bustling midtown Atlanta. The hypothetical three-phase project is dubbed Piazza Midtown, which if constructed, would be an ambitious 3.1 million-square-foot, 8.4-acre, $481.8 million mixed-use development at the corner of Atlanta’s 17th and Spring streets near Woodruff Park, Georgia Tech, and Atlantic Station. Complete with 3-D blueprints, thorough financial models and zoning regulations, four Harbert College of Business Master of Real Estate Development students, handed their proposal to investors from the Daniel Corp., who could one day develop the property — and were given the theoretical job for what one day could become the “Metropolitan Center Midtown Atlanta project.” The team of McClain Towery, Kurt O’Brien, Robert Ferrara, and Reggie Love was awarded Best Capstone Project by a team of industry professionals. Judging the projects were Daniel Corp. Senior Vice President John Gunderson, Daniel Corp. Vice President John Zintak, Daniel Corp. Senior Vice President Steve Baile, JHP Architecture Vice President and AIA J. Mark Wolfe, Auburn University School of Architecture Head David Hinson, and Onion Flats partner Tim McDonald. The Capstone is the pinnacle of the twoyear MRED program and gives students the opportunity to design potential real-life real estate projects. In spring 2014, 15 MRED students were divided into four teams, completed the Capstone Project, and made presentations before actual investor-judges 12
and graduated from the program on May 2. “This is a simulated professional request for proposal,” says Michael Robinson, director of the Master of Real Estate Program jointly offered by the Harbert College of Business and the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. “It has everything from what are your qualifications to capital stacks, complete with building design and site sections. It’s a comprehensive project in which students have to use all of the knowledge and skills gained in the program to be able to execute the request for proposal. These proposals to a developer
“
The reason why our proposal
works is we were really cued in on our financial numbers and making sure that they were correct and
”
doing our research on those and
building the accurate model.
— Robert Ferrara
are intended to assess the development potential and the value of the property.” Why did the ‘Piazza’ team stand out above the others among Daniel Corp. representatives? Attention to detail and a team that displayed diverse professional talents. “The reason why our proposal works is we were really cued in on our financial numbers and making sure that they were correct and doing our research on those and building the accurate model,” says Ferrara, senior vice president of underwriting for OB Management in Orlando, Fla., whose team also proposed storage space, a hotel, and conference center at the location.
By Joe McAdory
Towery, who founded Towery Development in Nashville, says, “We were lucky to have a team with complementary strengths from various backgrounds and experience.” “Robert Ferrara is a real estate finance expert,” he says. “Kurt O'Brien is a selfstorage veteran with expertise in market analysis, deal structure, joint ventures, and virtually every other component of real estate development related to self-storage. Reggie Love has an architecture background, which helped with the renderings of our concept. My background is in civil engineering with a focus on land design, development, permitting, and construction.” Demographics for the location also played a role in the proposal. “It (Midtown) is a young, happening spot — that’s what we cued in on,” Ferrara adds. “That’s why we did a high-end fitness center. We even proposed tenants for it — a company out of Miami called Equinox. We also wanted to create an atmosphere of a piazza — a large TV … the idea that people could go hang out there. Imagine watching the World Cup with 2,000 other people in the middle of a piazza in Midtown.” Though the estimated cost was $481.8 million for all three phases, the group showed judges how the mixed-use development would pay for itself over time, via tenants, with comprehensive financial spreadsheets. The group estimates that Piazza Midtown would generate between $35 million and $37 million in annual revenue during its first seven years of existence. “The greatest challenge on this project was by far the sheer size of the mixeduse development, particularly in the very large Atlanta market, which was
The team of McClain Towery, Kurt O’Brien, Robert Ferrara, and Reggie Love was awarded Best Capstone Project by a team of industry professionals.
Site Plan
For more information about the Executive Master of Real Estate Development Program, visit http://mred.auburn.edu. 13
uncharted territory for us,” Towery says. “A project of this magnitude is in an entirely different league; most components are different in some way as a result.” What do students get out of the project? “You’re going through the whole phase essentially of getting a project ready,” Ferrara says. “Even though this was a large project and is something that I personally am not going to be able to go do tomorrow, being able to go through these processes — you can use the same processes on a small development by finding out your permitting, your zoning, building your models, putting together a full presentation because you’re essentially going to have to make a presentation to investors on any project that you do. It refines your skills.” Towery adds: “Seeing the site, knowing its realities, understanding the site, and building constraints created a comprehensive real world experience for all of us. This final project completed our exposure to virtually every project type throughout the program.” This year’s Capstone Project was the program’s third-such assignment in three years. Previous projects included theoretical construction plans for downtown Boston’s Big Dig in 2012 and plans for a progressive-care retirement facility at the Reynolds Plantation in central Georgia. “All of our Capstone courses have been on real projects made to real developers and/or property owners,” Robinson adds. “These are actual projects that are ready to go in the design and implementation phases. Developers are looking for some additional ideas. They (developers) will use some of the ideas, either from each team or the best project proposal. There are different proposals for financing and for publicprivate partnerships. They (developers) got to see a lot of different ideas.”
A WISE INVESTMENT
“
Auburn University has provided me with the opportunities
to evolve as an individual, scholar, and leader. I feel confident in my interpersonal skills to manage interdisciplinary teams, I am capable of conducting research, and I have the leadership capacity to work alongside my peers — all of which I owe to my graduate degree in landscape architecture. While my undergraduate degree challenged my view of global issues and entrusted a social responsibility within me, the graduate program has enabled me to become an innovative and resourceful designer. As a result, I am positive that I have a successful, professional, and fulfilling
”
career ahead of me. All of this I owe to my investment and time in graduate school at Auburn University.
Maria Hines, Pelham, Alabama Master’s student in Landscape Architecture
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Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Coming to Auburn Opening in 2015, Auburn’s new branch campus of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, or VCOM, will offer a state-of-the-art medical education facility to the east Alabama community. VCOM began construction on the new campus located at the Auburn Research Park in February 2014. The more than 90,000-square-foot, four-story building is situated on 15 acres and is adjacent to Auburn University. VCOM’s new academic facility in Auburn will have classrooms, small-group learning rooms, laboratories, and a technology center. “Our goals for a new branch campus are to provide state-of-the-art medical education and research and train students to practice medicine in areas with the most need,” said VCOM Chairman John Rocovich. VCOM is fully accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, COCA, of the American
Osteopathic Association, the only accrediting agency for pre-doctoral osteopathic medical education, and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. VCOM now has the final accreditation approval by COCA to go forward with full licensure with the State of Alabama and to begin recruiting students. VCOM has collaborative research programs with Auburn University and clinical programs for the current VCOM students training in hospitals within Alabama. “Auburn’s collaboration with VCOM will have a significant and positive impact on health sciences research on our campus,” said John Mason, Auburn University’s vice president for research and economic development. “We are pleased to work with them to advance healthcare in Alabama and the Southeast.”
Graduates earn the doctor of osteopathic medicine, or D.O., degree rather than the doctor of medicine degree, or M.D. The basic curriculum for both degrees is essentially the same, however osteopathic medicine focuses more on a whole patient approach through therapeutic techniques, emphasizes the prevention of illness through healthier lifestyles and adds osteopathic manipulation to standard medical care. Osteopathic manipulation involves hands-on techniques to alleviate pain and restore function associated with muscle and skeletal injuries.
Interested in applying? Students who are interested in applying to the VCOM−Auburn campus can go to
www.vcom.edu/admissions to find out more about the application process.
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PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT
A Hole in One
Online Turfgrass Program Offers Quality Instruction, Flexibility
16
“
Auburn is positioned to be a leader in this area. It is the only online program of its kind offered from an institution in this climatic zone.
Auburn University is now one of only two universities in the United States to offer a master’s degree in turfgrass management completely online. The 32-credit-hour, non-thesis program is geared toward working professionals and allows them the flexibility to balance their careers and families while attaining an advanced degree. Auburn joins Pennsylvania State University in offering the nation’s only online turfgrass management programs. While Pennsylvania State’s curriculum tends to focus on cool season grasses, Auburn’s focuses on the warm season grasses typically found in the southeastern United States. “Auburn is positioned to be a leader in this area,” says Elizabeth Guertal, the program’s lead faculty member. “It is the only online program of its kind offered from an institution in this climatic zone.” Areas of emphasis in the curriculum include entomology, weed science, and soil fertility, in addition to other topics. Guertal says the program is perfectly suited for professionals who oversee golf courses and
— Elizabeth Guertal
”
athletic fields, agriculture science teachers, sod farmers, and those working in other related fields. Students in the online program study under the tutelage of faculty members who specialize in areas such as weed control, turf pathology, turf entomology, turfgrass maintenance, and sports field maintenance. In addition to the instruction students receive online, they also participate in a capstone research project. Guertal says the project is usually completed at the student’s place of employment. For instance, a golf course superintendent’s capstone project may consist of herbicide trial evaluations at the golf course. While the online turfgrass management program offers students the practical knowledge needed to succeed in their jobs, Guertal says it can also give its students an advantage in moving up the career ladder. “Alumni of Auburn’s traditional turfgrass management program are highly successful in their field,” says Paul Patterson, associate dean for instruction in Auburn’s College of Agriculture. “This online program has opened the same doors of opportunity to more students.”
17
Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project 18
Education for All Prison Education Program Benefits Graduate Students It was an average Tuesday in Elmore, Ala., when Eliza Banu, a mechanical engineering graduate student, arrived at Elmore Correctional Facility, a men's medium-minimum security facility. A graduate teaching assistant at Auburn with pure enthusiasm for educating, she was there to teach her first solo course, "Introduction to Engineering and Mechanics Concepts," to inmates. Aubrey Beal, an electrical and computer engineering graduate student, had never instructed his own class before he pulled up to Easterling Correctional Facility in Clio, Ala., to teach an "Introduction to Vocational Electronics" class to more than 20 students. Nearly 80 inmates signed up to take his class at the medium security men's prison — an overwhelming response. Banu and Beal were the first Auburn engineering students to participate in the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, or APAEP, a grant-supported outreach initiative that has brought education and creativity to several of the state's prisons since it was established in 2003. Administered by the College of Human Sciences, APAEP offers prisoners 14-week courses in poetry, creative writing, literature, performance, Alabama history, drawing, and photography. For the first time, engineering was added to the slate in spring 2013. "We decided to open a university-wide search for graduate students to teach in our program," says Kyes Stevens, director of APAEP. "We were originally looking for only one student, but both Eliza and Aubrey applied from engineering, and there was no way we could not accept them both."
& Inmates By Morgan Stashick
Passion for Education Stevens knew Banu was the perfect fit to teach for APAEP when her response to instructing in a men's facility was "Oh, that's OK. I just love teaching." "And that was that," Stevens says. "Both of these students have such heart and passion for education and teaching." Banu's passion for education — seen in her commitment to every one of her students at both Auburn and Elmore Correctional — is undeniable as she describes why she applied to teach a course with APAEP. "I wanted to do this because I believe in the power of education," she says. "I believe in the power of reading and being informed. I believe in second chances. I knew this was something I wanted to participate in." Having already assisted graduate-level labs and courses in Auburn's Department of Mechanical Engineering, Banu had an idea of how to run a class. This time, though, she started her introduction of engineering concepts at the beginning, explaining the various fields and disciplines of engineering, and describing to her students what an engineer generally does. "I talk about how a main part of being an engineer is being able to work in a team, because the students had to do a lot of group projects," she says. "We talked about what it means to be a member of a team; how each person has his own role and has to help other members to fulfill the team's goal." In lessons about vectors, velocity, acceleration, forces, and equilibrium, Banu put the students' lesson on teamwork to the test as they constructed bridges made of straws and built towers made of pasta to demonstrate engineering design. "I think they enjoyed the competition," she says. 19
Many of Banu's students are in trade school through the prison, but as she explains, the students' levels of experience vary in the same way they would in any other classroom. Every student's prior knowledge and experiences differ from the student next to them in some way, with some students even having a background in engineering. One student showed Banu his CAD drawings he made in trade school. "They've made amazing progress," Banu says. "It puts a big smile on my face. I have students who are learning and getting excited about understanding something." The Art of Teaching Beal saw the call for graduate students to teach in APAEP posted on a friend's Facebook page. Though he didn't think courses outside of the arts would be accepted, he wrote a proposal for an electronics course and sent it to Stevens. "Kyes said my class needed to be accessible," Beal says. "It's difficult because my students have diverse educational backgrounds. Some people have graduated high school and some have a GED, while others have taken a semester or two of community college." After meeting his students, Beal developed a course to introduce science using a fun, question-and-answer approach while utilizing electronics problems and demonstrations as examples. For many students, this was their first science class. "I reinforced remedial mathematics by sneaking topics into the electronics problems, so they had a motivation to add, subtract, use exponents, and understand algebra," he says. "I have talked to the students about the fundamentals, as well as the advantages of using the binary number system in machines and circuits." But Beal quickly learned that making concepts accessible did not necessarily mean making them easy. "At first, I made the mistake of making the problems too easy, thinking that it would make the material more accessible. Students had to read for them and find them, but the answers were there," he explains. "There wasn't a whole 20
lot of critical thinking; it was basically whether they could fish through the material, and give me an answer on an assignment easily." Beal was not getting thorough homework submissions, although the assignments were easy. He began reading about adult education and found that the material does not need to be easy. If it is, it is less challenging and less valuable to the students. "Part of making it accessible was helping them to formulate a good question," he says. "I'd say, 'Let's reword your question so you get more out of your answer.' Your answer can only be as good as your question." Because of the varying educational backgrounds, Beal was often challenged with explaining concepts in different
trade school and take a math class because he saw the practical applications of math. Banu recalls another student who could hardly wait to solve the next problem or attend the next class. "He would just understand everything," she says. "He would take the assignment I gave the class that was written for two weeks, and I would tell them to do only half of it, and he would do the whole thing. He wanted more work." Students have asked Banu if there is going to be a part two of her class. "I was surprised!" she says. "It took them a long time to get used to the math and learn to focus on the concepts, so now that we have taken that barrier away and they are comfortable with the material, it's a huge victory for them."
ways to meet everyone's needs. Then, Beal started giving his students the hard problems. "I thought I was making it less accessible, but they weren't coming to class to learn something easy," he says. "I almost underestimated the students." Pushing the limits more and proving what he found to be true, Beal gave his students a hard take-home test — one student scored better than he did. "I was so proud," he says.
In Beal's classroom, huge strides have been made with his students, and the vocational electronics class is the highlight of their week. "They really look forward to coming to class and learning more, and they come with a lot of great questions," Beal says. Beal's students are hoping for a follow-up course as well, in addition to the same course repeated again so their friends who could not enroll can have the same opportunity they had. "There was a high demand for this class, and I think it's because it's from Auburn University. Auburn's name seemed to carry weight, and they appreciated that it was from Auburn," Beal says. "We have a positive reputation, and it added a lot of value to the material." Stevens hopes to find funds to support more engineering courses taught by the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project to offer more graduate students the same opportunity as Banu and Beal. "Teaching with APAEP has transformed the lives of graduate students, as well as the students they educate," she says. "We want to make this teaching opportunity available for other gifted graduate students."
The Appreciation of Knowledge As Banu and Beal describe their teaching experiences in their respective facilities, you would not know that their students were state prisoners unless you asked. Both spoke of their hard-working, excited, and eager students with smiles on their faces as they talked about their successes. "It is so important to teach in prisons, specifically because you are enabling graduate students to teach in an atypical setting," Stevens says. "Prison students don't take [APAEP] classes for granted. They see education as a mechanism to turn their lives around." Sometimes, APAEP truly does ignite a spark for learning. One of Banu's students let her know that he hated trigonometry and math. But, through her class, he was challenged and is now eager to go back to
For more information on the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, visit www.humsci.auburn.edu/apaep.
A WISE INVESTMENT
Top 15 countries represented by international student population:
“
A graduate school is not only a place to research, but it is also a place where I can start my professional life. Auburn University – with its most relaxing and beautiful campus, highly equipped laboratories, and professional and helpful faculty members – provided me the best opportunity to start my professional career as a research scientist.
”
Hamid Ghaednia, Tehran, Iran Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering
1. China 2. India 3. Turkey 4. Bangladesh 5. Iran 6. South Korea (Republic of Korea) 7. Nepal 8. Saudi Arabia 9. Nigeria 10. Taiwan 11. Canada 12. Spain 13. Vietnam 14. Cameroon 15. Eypt Fall 2013 data
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Paula Gant ’96
Helps Shape U.S. Energy Policy Q: What do you do in your role at the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy?
All across the world, Auburn University graduates are doing their part to confront realworld challenges and positively influence society. Paula Gant, a 1996 graduate with a doctorate in economics, is no exception. Gant is the deputy assistant secretary of energy for oil and natural gas in the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Fossil Energy, in which Gant works, oversees research and development of technologies intended to make fossil energy cleaner, safer, and more sustainable. Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Gant served as senior vice president for policy and planning at the American Gas Association and worked at Duke Energy Corporation. She has also held faculty positions at Louisiana State University and the University of Louisville.
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Our work delivers research findings and policies that will enable the nation to continue to benefit from our domestic abundant natural gas and oil resources for decades to come.
Q: How did your graduate education at Auburn University help prepare you for this job? Our R&D portfolio is targeted to produce outcomes that increase the productive efficiency of oil and natural gas production while reducing potential negative impacts on air, fresh water, and local communities. My doctoral work provided me with a rich experience — stretching and strengthening my analytical capabilities, teaching me how to ask questions, and providing me with frameworks for solving problems.
Q: Energy-related topics can be very polarizing in public policy discussions. What are some of the major challenges that you face in this regard? The newly understood abundance of U.S. natural gas supplies – found in “shale” formations – coupled with rapid development of the resource – has drawn a lot of attention to production practices such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. These techniques applied to shale rock were pioneered by this office in the late 1970s, and then continually refined by private industry. These investments have led to the U.S. being the number one producer of natural gas – a great thing for our economy and energy security.
Q: Having worked in academia, the private sector, and now the public sector, you have a breadth of experience that many PhD – holders never get. What kind of opportunities are out there in the private and public sectors for PhD – holders? The world is full of interesting challenges that require intellect and persistence to tackle — so I recommend following your strengths and seeking a broad set of practical experiences.
Q: Why should today’s students consider earning a graduate degree, especially from Auburn? The arduous process of completing a graduate education prepares the mind and builds stamina needed to successfully manage and succeed in complex systems.
Q: You earned your bachelor’s degree from McNeese University in Louisiana. Why did you choose to come to Auburn? The faculty at the Department of Economics was a big draw for me.
Q: What are some of your favorite memories of Auburn? Professors like Robert Ekelund, Richard Ault, Andy Barnett, John Jackson, and Randy Beard fired my imagination, taught me to think, and surrounded me with support. They became family to me.
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
General Admission Requirements Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework from each school previously attended GRE or GMAT (if required by program of interest) Complete the online application. Application fee: $60 for domestic students, $70 for international students Three letters of recommendation (to be sent to your department)
Graduate Education: A Wise Investment An Auburn University graduate degree can help you achieve your goals for the future. Alumni with graduate degrees stand out to potential employers and exhibit the advantage of a global education. Nationally, the projected number of job openings increases with the level of education, as does the level of potential earnings. In the state of Alabama, where many graduates choose to remain after graduation, the projected earnings reflect the national forecasts.
Additional Requirements for International Students TOEFL Scores: 550 on the paper TOEFL (pBT), 213 on the computer TOEFL (cBT), and 79 on the internet TOEFL (iBT)–minimum of 16 in each section, or a 6.5 Overall Band Score on the IELTS Proof of ability to finance graduate studies, if accepted All documents and fees should be submitted at least 45 days (domestic students) or 90 days (international students) prior to the desired date of enrollment.
Resources for International Students
Office of International Programs International Orientation Document processing International Student English Center Free English language tutoring for enrolled international students International Student Organizations Social support Airport pickup for new students
Apply Online at grad.auburn.edu Admissions to any graduate degree program is granted by the dean of the Graduate School upon the recommendation of the department of proposed study. Deadlines are listed in the Auburn University Bulletin (www.auburn. edu/bulletin). However, most academic units make admission decisions several months in advance. Thus, applicants should check with the department to which they seek admission to determine when materials should be submitted.
Contact Us Auburn University Graduate School 106 Hargis Hall Auburn, AL 36849-5122 334-844-4700 fax 334-844-4348 e-mail: gradadm@auburn.edu
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PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
Areas of Study College of Agriculture
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
School of Nursing
Agricultural Economics (Interdepartmental)
Aerospace Engineering
Agronomy and Soils
Biosystems Engineering (Interdepartmental)
Nursing (Nurse Educator and Primary Care Practitioner options)
Animal Sciences
Chemical Engineering
Harrison School of Pharmacy
Applied Economics (Interdepartmental)
Civil Engineering
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Biosystems Engineering (Interdepartmental)
Computer Science and Software Engineering
Entomology
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Food Science
Materials Engineering
Horticulture
Mechanical Engineering
Plant Pathology
Polymer and Fiber Engineering
Poultry Science
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences
Rural Sociology (Interdepartmental)
College of Architecture, Design and Construction
Applied Economics (Interdepartmental)
Building Construction
Natural Resources
Community Planning
Wildlife Sciences
Integrated Design and Construction
College of Human Sciences
Industrial Design Landscape Architecture Real Estate Development (Interdepartmental)
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business Accountancy Business Administration (with Executive and Physicians MBA options)
Forestry
Consumer and Design Sciences Human Development and Family Studies Marriage and Family Therapy Nutrition
College of Liberal Arts Applied Economics (Interdepartmental) Audiology
Management
Clinical Psychology
Management Information Systems
Communication
Real Estate Development (Interdepartmental)
Communication Disorders
Curriculum and Teaching Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology
Economics English History Psychology
Kinesiology
Public Administration
Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling/School Psychology
Rural Sociology (Interdepartmental)
*Visit the Graduate School website for detailed program listings for the College of Education. 24
College of Sciences and Mathematics Biological Sciences Chemistry Geography Geology Mathematics Physics Statistics
College of Veterinary Medicine Biomedical Sciences *Professional program also available
Hotel and Restaurant Management
Finance
College of Education
*Professional program also available
Public Administration and Public Policy Sociology Spanish Technical and Professional Communication
For an extensive list of specific programs or program advisor contact information, please scan the QR code or visit the Graduate School website at www.grad.auburn.edu.
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
Distance Education Auburn University is committed to addressing the needs of the modern student. The educational opportunities you will find through the Distance Education program meet the same exacting standards as do on-campus offerings. Courses are carefully designed by Auburn faculty with the aid of distance education professionals who assist in the development of instructional materials, academic resources, technical support systems, telecommunications, and student services. In addition to the opportunities listed below, numerous Independent Learning and Professional Development courses are offered through Distance Education. Auburn offers nearly 50 distance learning programs, with many consistently ranked in the top 10 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Distance learning programs are offered in these colleges: • College of Agriculture • College of Architecture, Design and Construction • Raymond J. Harbert College of Business • College of Education • Samuel Ginn College of Engineering • College of Human Sciences http://auburn.edu/online
Tips For Applying To Graduate School Letters of Recommendation Select writers who know you well, who can comment on your potential as a researcher and a scholar. Choose writers who can also speak to your goals, your motivation, and your commitment to graduate study. Even better, if possible, select individuals who are known to the people at the institution where you are applying.
Personal Statements
Convince your audience that you have what it takes to succeed in graduate school. Provide evidence that you are motivated and eager to learn. Show that you are familiar with the program to which you are applying and that you are a good fit. Proofread: typographical errors and grammatical mistakes can undermine your best efforts.
General Advice
Take the GRE early, in case you want to take it again. If possible, gain undergraduate research experience. Apply as early as possible, and confirm your department’s priority deadline.
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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
Graduate Certificates
ABM program
Auburn University offers a variety of graduate certificates for working professionals who want to enrich their personal knowledge, educators who aim to enhance their teaching credentials, as well as students considering the possibility of a graduate degree. Graduate certificate programs consist of a minimum of nine and a maximum of 21 hours of graduate-level course work. Auburn offers certificates for the following programs:
The Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's program offers outstanding Auburn students the opportunity to earn both the bachelor’s and the master’s degrees in less time and at less cost than usual. It does so by allowing these exceptional students to count up to nine hours (in a 30-hour master’s program) or 12 hours (in a 36-hour master’s program) to count toward both degrees.
• Accountancy
• Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
• Adult Education
• Agronomy and Soils
• Adult Education and English Language Teaching
• Apparel Merchandising, Design, and Production Management
• Archival Studies
• Biosystems Engineering
• Automotive Manufacturing Systems
• Community Planning
• Brewing Sciences
• Consumer and Design Sciences
• College/University Teaching
• Fisheries
• Communication
• Geography
• Community Music
• Horticulture
• Construction Management
• Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Construction Management, Executive Integrated Processes Certificate
• Materials Engineering
• Construction Management, Executive Technical Certificate
• Nutrition, Dietetics
• Educational Leadership
• Nutrition, Hotel Restaurant Management emphasis
• Elections Administration
• Poultry Science
• Extension Educator
• Public Administration
Current ABM programs
• Information Systems Management • Global Hospitality and Retailing
Other programs are currently under development.
• Medicinal Chemistry • Movement Skills Analysis • Non-profit Organizations and Community Governance • Nursing Education • Occupational Safety and Ergonomics • Program Evaluation • Public History • Public Horticulture • Rehabilitation Leadership and Management • Teaching English as a Second Language/Foreign Language • Technical Communication • Transition Specialist To learn more about Auburn’s certificate programs, visit http://grad.auburn.edu/certificates
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http://grad.auburn.edu/abm
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
Estimated Cost of Attendance 2014-15 Academic Year - Fall & Spring Semesters
Room/board, books/supplies, personal, and transportation amounts from this expense budget are estimates. These amounts will vary depending on where you live and your personal spending habits.
AL Resident
Non-Resident
Tuition & Fees
$10,194
$27,366
Room & Board
$12,178
$12,178
Books & Supplies
$1,200
$1,200
Personal
$2,728
$2,728
Transportation
$2,858
$2,858
TOTAL COST
$29,158.00
$46,330.00
(9 hours)
(9 hours)
Fees Student Services Fee
$804
Auditing Fee
$477 (resident) $1,431 (non-resident)
GRA/GTA Enrollment Fee
$549
International Student Fee
$130
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business Fee
$200 per credit hour
Professional Tuition & Fees AL Resident
Non-Resident
Architecture
$14,520
$31,704
Pharmacy
$20,760
$37,932
Veterinary Medicine
$18,194
$43,366
(9 hours)
(9 hours)
Professional Books & Supplies Architecture
$5,150
Pharmacy
$4,040
Veterinary Medicine
$3,329
There are no additional charges for credit hours above nine for graduate students. For more information, visit http://grad.auburn.edu/tuition
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THIS IS AUBURN. For southern charm with collegiate vigor, consider Auburn. This diamond on the eastern Alabama plains has a population of just under 58,000 and is home to Auburn University. On football Saturdays, when die-hard fans arrive in droves to cheer their beloved Tigers, Auburn swells to the state’s fifth-most-populous city. And as Auburn’s largest employer, the university also plays a starring role in the local economy. With mild winters and hot summers, the city offers no shortage of outdoor recreation opportunities. Find a nice hiking trail in the 696-acre Chewacla State Park before cooling off with an afternoon swim. Take a stroll through the Donald E. Davis Arboretum, located on the Auburn University campus. Golfers can head to nearby Grand National golf course and wend their way through the state along the beautiful Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. “Once you have been there, you just want to come back,” says John Cannon, president of SunBelt Golf Corp., which manages the trail.* *Source: Best Places to Live 2009 by Luke Mullins, U.S. News & World Report, June 8, 2009
BEST PLACES TO LIVE By U.S. News & World Report, 2009.
Charlotte 5 hours
Nashville 5 hours
Birmingham 2 hours
Atlanta 1.5 hours
AUBURN
Orange Beach New Orleans 4 hours 5 hours
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Orlando 7.5 hours
GRADUATE EDUCATION IS AN ADVANCEMENT Having an Advanced Degree means Higher Pay and Prosperity Average Annual Earnings of Adults 25 or Older in the United States during 2011
All
$48,900 $126,300
Professional degree Doctoral degree
$108,300
Master’s degree
$77,100 $61,700
Bachelor’s degree Associate’s degree
$43,100
Some college, no degree
$39,600
High school diploma or GED Some high school, no diploma Less than 9th grade
$35,000 $24,700 $21,800 SREB Factbook 2013, p. 69
Holders of Advanced Degrees will be in High Demand in the Next 5 Years Projected Increase of Job Openings by Education or Training in the United States From 2010 until 2020
Total
14%
(5.5 million annual openings)
Master's Degree
22%
Doctoral or Professional Degree
20%
Associate’s Degree
18%
Some college, no degree
18%
Postsecondary Vocational Certificate
17%
Bachelor’s Degree
16%
Less than high school High School diploma or equivalent
14% 12%
SREB Factbook 2013, p. 70
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Providing a Home For Student Veterans “They served us,
now it is our time to serve them.” –Johnny Green
Auburn University Veterans Resource Center 217 Foy Hall Auburn, AL 36849 (334) 844-8167 veterans@auburn.edu http://www.auburn.edu/veterans
Auburn University has a proud history of serving those who have served our country in the United States military. It’s why Auburn was recently named to G.I. Jobs magazine’s list of Military Friendly Schools “for being among the top 15 percent of schools nationwide that deliver the best experience for military students.” To give back to student veterans, Auburn offers tuition support for out-of-state veterans and has established a state-of-the-art Veterans Resource Center. The center assists with certifying students for their Veterans Affairs educational benefits and helps with registration issues regarding deployment and return to school. It provides information on a range of issues of interest to veterans such as local housing, academic support and advising, admissions, career services, disability resources, and counseling services. One of its most important functions is to connect veteran students with a VA Campus representative. In 2012, the center moved from its original office in Haley Center to a newly remodeled office with student support service space in Foy Hall. Auburn also participates in a national student veteran mentoring program called Peer Advisors for Veteran Education. “This new location and the resources that will be available to our veteran students demonstrate that Auburn University is serious about providing support for its veteran students. They served us, now it is our time to serve them,” center director Johnny Green says.
A WISE INVESTMENT
“
Continuing education is not only investing in my future, but investing in my community and making a bigger effort to improve the lives of individuals that I come in contact with on a daily basis. Graduate education at Auburn University has provided me with the tools necessary to enhance my career, the knowledge to enhance my profession, and the skills to enhance the lives of others. When your job transforms into a career that you are passionate about, you should strive to sculpt your knowledge learned in an undergraduate program into a masterful tool necessary to build upon that passion for yourself and others. 30
”
Asha Dickerson, Montgomery, Alabama Doctoral student in Counselor Education
This Year in the GSC
The Graduate Student Council (GSC) is the only student-led organization representing the entirety of Auburn's graduate student population. The GSC serves as a liaison for graduate students to communicate with university administration and the Student Government Association, as well as provides both social and research showcase opportunities for a diverse graduate student body. The GSC is an advocate for graduate students on multiple issues, including health insurance, housing, and funding for academicrelated travel. Last year the GSC partnered with the Graduate School in bringing the Three Minute Thesis competition to Auburn.
Leonard D. TownsNewby, President Leonard D. TownsNewby is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership, & Technology. A native of Atlanta, Ga., he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morehouse College and a master’s degree in education from Clark-Atlanta University. Leonard is currently a graduate assistant for Auburn University’s Center for Governmental Services and the Math and Science Partnership. Leonard is an FYS instructor, a graduate ambassador, and holds positions with the AU BGPSA, AU NAACP, and National Holmes Scholars. He is more than elated to be given the opportunity to serve as the 2014-15 GSC president and looks forward to continuing and enhancing the Graduate Student Council traditions here at Auburn that are conducive to maximized learning, productivity, and success.
India Napier, Vice-President India Napier is a doctoral student and research assistant in the Biomedical Sciences Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Her research is focused on developing a contraceptive vaccine as a low-cost alternative to reducing the overpopulation of cats. She obtained her BA in biology from Boston University in Massachusetts and received her MS in Biomedical Sciences (with a specialization in male reproductive
In addition, GSC streamlined its constitution and meetings and hosted its first graduate student football tailgate. This year the GSC hopes to strengthen its bonds among various graduate student organizations to create new opportunities to improve Auburn's graduate student experience and improve communication between the GSC Executive Board and the GSC senators who represent Auburn's various graduate programs. The GSC organizes or assists with a variety of events to engage and entertain graduate students. One of these events is the GSC colloquium series where students gather to learn about a variety of topics involving campus life or academia over a pizza lunch. The GSC also runs the Graduate Scholars Forum, where
all graduate students are invited to present their research by poster or oral exhibition and are critiqued and scored competitively by faculty judges. Top presentations advance to Research Week where undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty share their research with a universitywide audience. At the end of the spring semester, graduate students are honored with a special luncheon and awards ceremony that accompany Graduate Student Appreciation Week events. If you would like more information about joining the GSC, either as a senator or a participant, please contact Brandon Fincher, GSC administrative vice president, at finchrb@ auburn.edu. More information can be found at www.auburn.edu/gsc. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuburnUniversityGSC.
toxicology) from AU’s CVM. India also serves as the president of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association.
is named. He came to Auburn in 2009 in hopes of getting his PhD. While at Auburn, he has been a GSC senator, served on the Academic Honesty Committee, served on the Special Lectures Committee, and served as parliamentarian for the GSC. He is honored to serve the graduate student community at Auburn University and hopes to be able to promote better communication both within the GSC as well as throughout the graduate student community.
Tolulope Morawo, Vice President of Student Affairs Tolulope Morawo is a doctoral student in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in biology from Nigeria, received a master’s degree in entomology from Auburn and continued to a PhD program in the same field. His research has focused on parasitic wasps and their behavioral responses to host-related plant volatiles. He is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and has received many awards for his research presentations. As GSC vice president of student affairs and chair of the Welfare and Continuous Improvement Committee, he will continue to advocate for a better learning, working, and living experience for graduate students at Auburn. He enjoys teaching entomology and plays various sports for leisure.
James Hammer, Secretary
James Hammer is a doctoral candidate doing research in combinatorics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He specializes in Factor Pair Latin Squares, a generalization of Sudoku, as well as graph domination, which can be used in modeling networks. James is originally from Reading, Pa., which is the town that the Reading Railroad in Monopoly
Jon Sedlaczek, Treasurer Jon Sedlaczek is a doctoral student in Auburn’s Department of History. His focus is on modern European history, with an emphasis on the early 20th century and World War I. Jon also serves as an officer of the Auburn chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor fraternity. He hails from Louisville, Ky., and previously attended the University of Kentucky, where he received bachelor’s degrees in history, political science, and psychology.
Brandon Fincher, Administrative Vice President Brandon Fincher is a doctoral student in public administration/ public policy in Auburn's Political Science Department. He is a native of Woodland, Ala., and is researching intergovernmental relations and elections administration. He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Auburn and a master of public administration degree from Jacksonville State University. 31
The Gift of Excellence A WISE INVESTMENT
“
Emily and I are thrilled to be able to provide a fellowship to the Auburn University Graduate School. We were fortunate to be the recipients of assistance from our families and scholarships and hope that our fellowship makes at least a small difference in each recipient’s life. Auburn is an extraordinary place in all respects, and we look forward to continuing to support it.
”
Benton Cantey, Fort Worth, Texas, Donor who established the Emily and Benton Cantey Annual Fellowship
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Auburn University recognizes the importance of graduate education in developing the leaders of tomorrow. As President Jay Gogue recently said, “Graduate-level academic credentials have replaced the bachelor’s degree in today’s knowledge economy.” The enhancement of graduate education is prominent in Auburn’s Strategic Plan, and we are making great strides to offer the best possible programs to our students. One way you can support this effort is by supporting these outstanding scholars. We seek your partnership in providing fellowships to deserving graduate students. Your two-year commitment of $10,000 per annum will provide a monthly stipend to one master’s or PhD student. Auburn is committed to the success of these students, and with your contribution, we will provide tuition remission to alleviate the financial burden of tuition. That means that for deserving graduate students, $20,000 of support can leverage nearly $50,000 of financial aid.
A Guide to Giving Your loyal and steadfast support makes the most impact. Here's how you can make planned and annual gifts to the Auburn University Foundation, leaving a legacy for the future.
Name the Foundation in Your Will Endow a Fund in Honor of a Loved One Make a Gift of Stock
Set up an Automatic Recurring Gift to the Graduate School Gift Fund
Give $1,000 in One Fiscal Year to create an Annual Graduate Award
Ask Your Employer About a Matching Gift Program to Double Your Impact
Make Auburn University Foundation Your Life Insurance Beneficiary
Here's how to Give: By Check
Securely Online
Credit/Debit Charges
Contact Us
Payable to "Auburn University Foundation" (ATTN: Hank Galbreath) 106A Hargis Hall Auburn, AL 36849
Visit auburn.edu/giving
Call and give with a credit card over the phone 334-844-1431
Email: hank.galbreath@auburn.edu Phone: 334-844-1431
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Graduate School Staff
George Flowers Dean
34
George Crandell Associate Dean
Chris Anthony Communication Specialist chris.anthony@auburn.edu
Minnie Bryant Receptionist/Admissions Processing gradadm@auburn.edu
Penny Christopher Residency Advisor/ Admissions Processing pzc0003@auburn.edu
Hank Galbreath Director of Development galbrdh@auburn.edu
Justin Gilbert Residency Advisor/ Admissions Officer gilbeju@auburn.edu
Clint Lovelace Recruiting, Academic Evaluator of Theses and Dissertations jcl0014@auburn.edu
Jennifer Lovelace Domestic Admissions Processing jml0006@auburn.edu
Theresa Morgan Director of Graduate Admissions morgatk@auburn.edu
Megan Owens Information Technology Specialist mno0003@auburn.edu
Sherry Ray Director of Matriculation (Last names M-Z) raysher@auburn.edu
Sarah Razavi Insurance Coordinator insurance@auburn.edu
Julie Reece Executive Assistant/ Business Manager reeceju@auburn.edu
Donna Ryan Matriculation and Program Specialist; Academic Evaluator of Theses dct0002@auburn.edu
Christy Tanner Development Coordinator cmt0007@auburn.edu
Julia Thompson Information Technology Specialist jjt0013@auburn.edu
Leonard Vining Special Projects Coordinator vininjl@auburn.edu
THE AUBURN CREED I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn. Therefore, I believe in work, hard work. I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully. I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which I cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow men. I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body, and a spirit that is not afraid, and in clean sports that develop these qualities. I believe in obedience to law because it protects the rights of all. I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all. I believe in my country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is my own home, and that I can best serve that country by “doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God.” And because Auburn men and women believe in these things, I believe in Auburn and love it.
– George Petrie
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Research Week 2015
Research and Creative Scholarship www.auburn.edu/researchweek In partnership with Auburn University Montgomery, Auburn University Libraries, and Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University.
Š August 2014. Auburn University Office of Communications and Marketing. Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.