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Summer of '08
Posted by Elizabeth Protas on 7/25/2008 11:22:23 AM

Good morning,  

Our planning for the 40th Anniversary Gala Night of Memories and Magic is going strong.  Save the date postcards (November 15th) have gone out to alumni, our Advisory Council, former faculty, and our special supporters.  It will be a wonderful way to commemorate this important milestone for the school. 
We also have many other important activities in the school and I would like to share some recent happenings and achievements with you.

PEOPLE 

• Dr. Vicki Freeman, Chairwoman of the UTMB School of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, received the prestigious Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award for 2008.  The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation was established in 1950 by Minnie Stevens Piper and her husband who wanted to invest a part of their oil fortune in higher education.  The purpose of the award is to honor professors for their dedication to the teaching profession and their outstanding academic, scientific, and scholarly achievement. Dr. Freeman was nominated for her long list of achievements and her standing at the University.
• Dr. Freeman was also selected as a Marie Hall Scholar by the UTMB Academy of Master Teachers, one of five outstanding UTMB faculty recognized.
• Dr. Richard R. Rahr is the 2008 recipient of the Academy of Master Teachers (AMT) Lifetime Achievement Award. The AMT Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals who are recognized by their colleagues to have made long-standing, significant and high quality contributions to the educational missions of their respective UTMB schools.
• We congratulate Dr. Bruce Niebuhr, Associate Professor Physician Assistant Studies, for his induction into the Academy of Master Teachers on June 26th.   Also Dr. Niebuhr has been appointed to be Director of the Office of Distance Learning for UTMB.
• Lauren Reynolds, Physician Assistant student, was recognized at the Osler Orations on July 11th for receiving the John and Mary Ann Stobo Oslerian Medicine Student Award.  This award rotates through each of the 4 schools.  She was the only person outside of the School of Medicine who was recognized at the Orations. 
• Bethany Degray, Physical Therapy student, received a Mary MacMillan Scholarship from the American Physical Therapy Association.
• Dr. Micah Drummond, Research Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy received a Research Endowment award from the American College of Sports Medicine.
• We bid a fond farewell to Phyllis Jendrusch who was a wonderful asset to our Office of Student Affairs for 20 years.  Phyllis is moving with her husband Larry to San Antonio
• Lodie Massey, the INDS Coordinator in the Office of Academic Affairs, was selected to be director of synergy for the entire campus.  Unfortunately, that means that we will lose her in SAHS.  

GROWTH

Clinical Practice: Our FSRDP was approved by the Office of General Council and forwarded to the UT Board of Regents for approval.

Scholarly Research: w During the review of the graduate school, we became aware that our Rehabilitation Sciences Ph.D. program is ranked 8th in a group of Kinesiology, exercise science, and Rehabilitation programs.  These rankings are used by the graduate school for its programs and are based on faculty scholarly productivity.  Although we have among the smallest faculty numbers, we have the highest citations.  We are very proud of Dr. Ken Ottenbacher and the rehabilitation sciences faculty for their accomplishments since the program began in 2000.  I also think that UTMB's support for the Center for Rehabilitation Sciences facilitated this achievement.
Link to index: Chronicle of Higher Ed: Top Research Universities Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index

• Dr.  Blake Rasmussen, Department of Physical Therapy, received a 1 percentile on the competitive renewal of his R01.  This is about the best score you can get on an NIH grant so we are confident he will be funded.  Congratulations Dr. Rasmussen!
• Dr. Barbara Doucet, Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy, and Dr. Janna McGaugh, Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy, received pilot funding from UTMB’s Pepper Center to conduct research on two common problems associated with aging, stroke and hip fracture.

EDUCATION  

• Our request to change the name of the school to the UTMB School of Health Professions was approved by Dr. Shine and will go before the August Board of Regents for approval effective 1-1-09.
• We are establishing academic residency positions in all 5 of our professional areas to attract people into academic careers. This program is specifically targeted to address our faculty shortages.
• We have established new graduate stipend positions to support the collaborative program in Clinical Sciences and the dual enrollment program in OT/PT and the PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences.
• A new site in Dallas for the WebCLS distance program has been approved by the Council of Deans. 
• The CLS Program will hold its annual graduation and awards banquet July 21st. 
• Chairs Council finalized outcomes of the 2007-08 Strategic Priorities.

FINANCE 

Thanks to increasing revenues and your great financial stewardship the school began operating with a positive YTD in May and has maintained and improved that margin since.  Forecasts suggest we will end the year roughly $500,000 ahead of budget!

QUALITY and SERVICE

The Special Events Committee selected Linda Vosburg and Dr. Jennifer Ellison for STAR Awards in May.  Stay tuned for our July STARS.

COMMUNITY

• Dr. Gretchen Stone was a member of the interdisciplinary team in International Health Preclinical Preceptorship, June 2 – 27, 2008, in Mulukuku, Nicaragua.  The team saw over 2,000 patients while there. 
• Dr. Carolyn Utsey and physical therapy students participated in the Rainbow Connection Camp at Camp for All, geared toward children with cancer or blood disorders and their siblings.   (check with Carolyn on name)
• Dr. Vicki Freeman attended the AACE Ed-Media World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications in Vienna, Austria and came back with some innovative ideas about “an instructor in your pocket” that can deliver distance learning through cell phones.  According to Dr. Freeman, cell phones are readily available in the African countries the CLS faculty have been visiting.  

As we head into the start of another busy fall semester, I hope your remaining summer days continue to be safe and enjoyable.

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