Early Alert System for students rolls out today
As of today, ASU's Wilson Advising Center, University College, begins implementation of a campus-wide Early Alert program to provide faculty, staff and students with a method to refer students who may benefit from various campus support services. The goal of this program is to provide a way for the ASU community to alert campus officials about students who may be experiencing academic or personal difficulties. For example, students may be referred to the system by faculty for tutorial or other learning support services. Students who utilize support opportunities like tutoring tend to have a higher graduation rate. As part of the annual notification to students, students and faculty need to be aware that some basic academic information about students, student class schedules, and academic performance may be shared with university officials in order to best support individual academic progress. Students who choose to opt out of Early Alert must visit the Office of the Registrar with picture identification and make a formal request to opt out of the service. Students should be aware that many programs, organizations, and activities require participation in the Early Alert program, and that opting out of the system and program is not an option if students wish to continue with the given association, organization, or program. For additional information on Early Alert, contact Jill Simons, director, Academic Retention Services, Wilson Advising Center, University College, ext. 3001.

Dr. Lonnie R. Williams serves as panel member
Dr. Lonnie R. Williams, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, recently participated in a panel presentation as a result of a peer-reviewed paper with Dr. Robert Mock, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and Cledis Stuart, Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, at the National Symposium on Student Retention in Buffalo, N.Y. The panel discussion, "Student African American Brotherhood and Brother-2-Brother: Retaining Black Males in Higher Education," focused on the team's research on retention and completion rates for African American males being lower than their counterparts. The panel discussed the research findings from their three institutions and the programs on their campuses in making a difference in the retention and completion rates of black males. This was the fifth annual symposium sponsored by the University of Oklahoma's Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE). The CRSDE is a diverse consortium of 600 two-year and four-year institutions with a common goal: achieving the highest possible level of student success through sharing data, knowledge and innovation. The CSRDE is best known for its annual retention studies which provide executives at two-year and four-year institutions with access to timely, comprehensive, comparative benchmarking data on retention and graduation rates.

McCoy publishes article in quarterly newsletter
Helen J. McCoy, Facilities Management custodial coordinator, has recently published an article in the July-September 2009 issue of The FM Voice (Vol. 7, Issue 3), the quarterly newsletter of Facilities Management. McCoy's article, "Recycling at Arkansas State University," details recent recycling achievements, such as Facilities Management's receipt of an Eco-Logo-certified products award for converting to the use of  recycled bathroom paper products. Eco-Logo certifies the world's most sustainable, environmentally friendly green products. McCoy's article also lists the materials recycled at ASU, including corrugated cardboard, white paper, copy paper, junk mail, pastel paper, ruled notebook paper, printer scrap and/or slick paper used to make pamphlets or programs, and newsprint. Aluminum beverage cans and #1 and #2 plastics are also recycled at ASU. ASU's Facilities Management had a goal to increase recycling from 90,000 pounds of material in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, to at least 120,000 lbs in the 2008-2009 fiscal year. That goal was exceeded, as the 2008-09 fiscal year saw 239,000 pounds of recycling material collected, not counting pallets and ink cartridges in that total. For details, e-mail Helen J. McCoy, read McCoy's article or call ext. 2066 for a complete list of various recycling bins and their locations.

College of Business hosts healthcare reform conference
Reminder: The Center for Economic Education, the College of Business, the College of Nursing and Health Professions, and the Delta Center for Economic Development will be hosting a Making Healthcare Reform Work conference at the Convocation Center, 217 Olympic Drive, on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.. Registration is free, and lunch will be provided. The deadline for RSVPs is today, Monday, Oct. 12. Reservations can be made by contacting Tara Watson, ext. 3000.
  
Back to the top