Danser named FAU Police Chief
After 14 years with the police department at FAU, Acting Police Chief Dolores “Dee” Danser no longer has to act. On July 9, Danser was named FAU Police Chief. She will command 40 officers and 50 employees on FAU’s seven campuses.
Danser began her career at FAU in 1990 as a patrol office after serving with several New Jersey law enforcement agencies. She has moved up through the ranks going from patrol office all the way to police chief. In April, Danser was awarded the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award for female officers who achieve the rank of major, commander or above (see UP 31, May 20).
FAU brings in pro to help with med school program
At the end of June FAU announced that they would be working with the University of Miami and Boca Raton Community Hospital to allow UM medical students to do clinical training in Palm Beach County. On July 13, FAU named Dr. Michael Friedland to assist in the development of this program. FAU, UM and BRCH will be working for two years starting this fall.
Friedland was named senior associate dean of biomedical science. One of his tasks will be to work closely with UM and BRCH to hopefully extend their partnership to four years.
Before coming to FAU Friedland served as dean of West Virginia University’s Health Sciences Center. At West Virginia he essentially had the same job he’s being asked to do now – develop a health sciences program by working with physicians and hospitals in the community.
Friedland received his MD at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in 1967 and his first faculty position was at Brown where he helped develop a medicine education program. He has also been dean at the clinical campus in Binghamton, NY, Texas A&M, and the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
For more information on the FAU/UM/BRCH medical school partnership, contact Kevin Petrovsky at 561/297-3001.
It’s official: FAU’s College of Nursing receives accreditation for 10 years
Dr. Anne Boykin, dean of the College of Nursing, told FAU media relations that “we indeed have a renowned program of excellence in nursing education. This is true because of the commitment and dedication of faculty and staff and because of the excellent students we attract.” Her statement was a reaction to the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education of American Association of Colleges granting FAU’s nursing program full accreditation. What that means is that FAU’s nursing program is not only up to standard but doesn’t need to be monitored year after year. In fact, FAU’s nursing program won’t need to be reviewed for another 10 years. Also, the accreditation came with no recommendations, which means FAU’s nursing program has no obvious flaws.
The college of nursing offers degrees at the baccalaureate, master’s, post master’s, and doctoral level. In May, the College of Nursing began an accelerated degree program designed so that students can earn their degree in one calendar year. Beginning back in January 2004 at the Treasure Coast campus, the professional phase of the baccalaureate program allows registered nurses to complete their degree either online or in the classroom.
For more information on FAU’s nursing program, visit the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at www.fau.edu/nursing.
Scientists from around the globe to meet in Boca
From July 27 through Aug. 1 the 7th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology will take place at FAU’s Boca campus. ICVM is held every three to four years and is expected to draw more than 500 scientists from 30 countries. They will discuss research on vertebrates from fish to dinosaurs and how they compare to humans.
During the conference there will be lectures, symposia and workshops. Scientists will work to resolve many questions about the skull, spine, and evolution. All this is useful in modern medicine as answers can help bring about improved dental prosthetics, soft tissue reconstruction and treat osteoarthritis.
The ICVM-7 is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation, FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and the Division in Research in Graduate Studies.
Disabled students prove capable of landing internships
This summer the Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities interviewed 1,500 students nationwide for summer internships. Twenty of those students were from FAU, and to understand just how limited the internships are only six of the 20 students from FAU were given internships.
The WRP is an employment project co-sponsored by the US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and the U.S. Department of Defense. Many of the internships available were with the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Census Bureau. The project’s goal is to provide job opportunities in the public and private sectors for qualified college students with disabilities.
According to a 1998 study in the Chartbook on Work and Disability of the 17.2 million people with a work disability between 16-64, only about 30 percent of them are in the work force. Of the 155.3 million people of that same age range who aren’t disabled, about 82 percent of them are in the work force.
The WRP’s summer internship program is trying to change all of that. So is FAU. FAU’s Office of Students with Disabilities teamed up with the Career Development Center to better prepare disabled students in getting jobs. Two areas that employers say disabled students tend to have difficulty with are written communication and interview skills. The OSD, to allow students to participate in the summer internship program, required students to participate in at least one preparation workshop in resume writing skills, job search skill, or interview skills. Students were given a choice between the workshops or meeting with a CDC advisor.
For more information on the program of the Office of Students with Disabilities, contact James Walborn at 561/297-3880.
