Phase one of the Maverick Activities Center opened in September. The $34.5 million showplace features a 20,000-square-foot weight and fitness room with 80-plus pieces of cardio equipment, three circuit training units and a free weight area. The MAC has 80,400 square feet of new construction, including men’s and women’s health club-style locker rooms, an indoor track, basketball courts, volleyball courts, badminton courts and a computer lab. When workers complete phase two improvements to existing space in February, the building will be approximately 190,000 square feet. Memberships are available for Alumni Association members at $375 per year and for faculty, staff and retirees at $80 a semester. Look for detailed coverage in a future issue of UT Arlington Magazine. For information, visit www.uta.edu/mac.
An online class won a gold medal for Best Practices in Online Distance Learning Programming at the recent meeting of the United States Distance Learning Association. The American Judicial System, taught by criminology and criminal justice Lecturer Caryl Segal, was designed in cooperation with the UT Arlington Center for Distance Education and supported by the UT TeleCampus. Pete Smith, assistant vice president for distance education, says the course is an excellent example of the team approach the University takes toward designing online classes and degrees.
One of the country’s most sought-after jazz drummers joined the Music Department faculty this fall as jazz artist in residence. Adonis Rose, hailed by New Orleans magazine as a “Contemporary Jazz All Star,” will work with the University’s jazz orchestras and ensembles as well as teach jazz history. He has played with some of the world’s most esteemed jazz artists, including nine-time Grammy-winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, three-time Grammy-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves and three-time Grammy-winning jazz/pop entertainer Harry Connick Jr. Rose recently created and played the drum arrangements for Spike Lee’s HBO documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, and his rhythms have been included on more than 30 recordings during the past decade.
Assistant clinical professor Ellen Palmer has received the 2007 Vision Partner Award from the Dallas County Chapter of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, which praised her “pioneering efforts to foster and promote a positive image in nursing.” She has made numerous trips to Haiti as part of a surgical eye team and is a past recipient of the International Mission Volunteer of the Year award. Dr. Palmer, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UT Arlington, has been a faculty member since 1990. She received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs has received the Academic Institution of the Year award from INROADS Dallas-Fort Worth for the third consecutive year. INROADS is a nonprofit organization that places talented minority youth in business and industry and prepares them for leadership. The group selected UT Arlington based on the number of students placed throughout the Metroplex. More than 30 received internships with companies such as Alcon Laboratories, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Citigroup, Frito-Lay, Halliburton, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Nortel Networks, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Verizon.
A joint composting program between UT Arlington and the City of Arlington recently received three awards. The program received the Recycling Alliance Leadership Award for Outstanding Composting Program and the Greater DFW Recycling Leadership Award, both from the Recycling Alliance of Texas. It also received the Environmental Vision Award from the North Texas Corporate Recycling Alliance. The University has been composting since 2003 and, in 2006, received a grant through the city that helped buy equipment to improve the program. In one year, the program diverted 27 tons of waste from a landfill.
Corporate gifts establish Goolsby Academy scholarship, professorship
Alumnus brings crime-solving savvy to reality series
Professors’ book examines fast-paced families
Ceremony also honors men’s track and field teams
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