FALL 2013
President’s
INSIDER THINK YOU KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT RMU? HERE ARE SOME SURPRISES DRIVING OUR SUCCESS: RMU Means…Engineering? Western Pennsylvania is home to some of the nation’s most prestigious engineering programs, including Carnegie Mellon, Pitt, and Penn State. That makes it all the more gratifying that the fastest growing major at Robert Morris is engineering. The university is a member of the federally funded National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which includes nine research universities and 40 companies developing cutting-edge manufacturing techniques. Our laboratories are equipped with 3-D printing equipment, and our bachelor’s program in manufacturing engineering is the only one in Pennsylvania accredited by ABET Inc.
Enterprise Systems: Back to the Future In a world of smartphones and tablets, it is surprising to learn that many corporations still rely on mainframe computers. But while most of the world’s financial transactions, for example, are processed on enterprise computing systems, most colleges and universities stopped teaching how to manage these systems 20 years ago. Enter RMU. We revived our enterprise systems courses at the behest of local employers including Highmark and BNY Mellon. IBM has called Robert Morris a model for others to follow and has provided the university with free use of mainframe systems for our students. A Sustainable Education What does it mean for a business to be sustainable? How does an organization balance pursuit of its goals with obligations to future generations? Those questions are tackled each year at the Sustainable Enterprises of the Future Conference, organized by the School of Business. It brings together scholars and industry leaders from all over the world to examine how to get bottom-line results while also producing social worth. And RMU offers a Global Reporting Initiative certified training workshop in partnership with BrownFlynn, to help organizations manage sustainable results.
A Crisis, and a Step Toward a Solution The facts are grim: Suicide is the third leading cause of death in people ages 10 to 24. Mental illness increases the risk of chronic illnesses. Most children and adolescents who need psychiatric care have no access to it. But RMU is doing something about it. The university has received a $923,000 federal grant that will allow RMU to expand its existing Doctor of Nursing Practice program for psychiatric nurse practitioners, who can prescribe medications and provide psychotherapy. Grant funds also will be used to purchase distance-learning technology to allow students who live in rural areas, which are acutely under-served, an opportunity to earn a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner certificate.
Teaching the Teachers Teaching jobs have been scarce in western Pennsylvania for decades, and the problem has been exacerbated in recent years, with so many school district solving budget shortfalls by laying off teachers. RMU has responded with a series of new master’s and certificate programs to help teachers get jobs in the most sought-after disciplines. • Reading Specialist Certification which may be completed as part of our M.Ed. in Literacy
• Certificate of Advanced Study in Online Teaching • An M.Ed. in Special Education that offers applicants special education certification at the pre-K-8 and 7-12 grade levels
• An Autism Spectrum Disorders program for additional endorsement to a teaching certificate
• Our newly minted Principal Certification Program pairs educators who aspire to school leadership positions with experienced principals as mentors.
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 6001 UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD, MOON TOWNSHIP, PA 15108-1189 RMU.EDU/CHANGE A LIFE