News, Notes and Quotables
newsnotes
CNN Anchor to Give Commencement Address Reporter Suzanne Malveaux will serve as keynote speaker for the University’s Spring Commencement on May 9. Malveaux is a White House correspondent for CNN and primary substitute anchor for “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” Based in the Washington, D.C., bureau, Malveaux joined the network in May 2002. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She received a 1996 Emmy Award and was named one of “America’s Most Powerful Players Under 40” by Black Enterprise magazine, one of Ebony’s “Outstanding Women in Marketing and Communications” and the National Black MBA’ s “2004 Communicator of the Year.” The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. at the Erie Civic Center, 809 French St.
Suzanne Malveaux
Nursing School Takes Top Honors Gannon University’s Villa Maria School of Nursing received a letter of commendation from the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing after its students recorded the highest percentage of first-time pass rate success on the NCLEX-RN in Pennsylvania for the October 2007 to September 2008 cycle. The NCLEXRN, or National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, is a required licensing exam for the profession. A total of 45 nursing graduates from the December 2007 and May 2008 graduating classes took the NCLEXRN exam. Ninety-eight percent of nursing students passed the exam on their first attempt.
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gannon magazine
spring 2009
The Villa Maria School of Nursing begins preparing its students with standardized testing when they are freshmen. Professional nursing preparation includes an NCLEX Success Program across the curriculum that enhances test-taking skills as well as the acquisition of nursing knowledge.
Gannon Mom Rockets Into Space The mother of a Gannon University student blasted into space on Nov. 14, 2008 as part of the crew of STS-126, a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Heidemarie Martha Stefanyshyn-Piper was one of seven crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and performed three spacewalks as the lead astronaut. Her son, Michael A. Piper, is a sophomore chemical engineering major at Gannon and is a member of the men’s water polo and swimming and diving teams. Stefanyshyn-Piper visited campus in February, speaking with students, faculty, staff and the local community during her visit. Prior to the shuttle launch, Michael gave his mother a Gannon University water polo T-shirt signed by all team members, seen here aboard the space shuttle.
“We are extremely proud to have received this honor and wish to congratulate and thank the students and faculty who made it possible,” said Patricia Marshall, undergraduate nursing programs director and assistant professor of nursing at Gannon. “This success is a combination of dedicated faculty members and students who are motivated for—and invested in —excellence.”
Courtesy of NASA