/PUBLIC.GIF)
Date: 5/9/00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kenneth Bleile, associate professor and head, Department of Communicative Disorders, (319) 273- 2577
Gwenne Culpepper, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – U.S. News and World Report, famous for its annual college and university rankings, recently listed the University of Northern Iowa's graduate-level speech pathology program among the top 25 in the country. In addition to rating colleges and universities, the magazine also rates specific graduate programs, including those in fine arts, law, business administration and medicine.
U.S. News and World Report evaluated 111 speech pathology programs, giving each a grade between1 and 5, with 5 being the top score. UNI received a 3.0, tying with CUNY-Queens College, Oklahoma State University, University of Northern Carolina-Greensboro, University of South Florida and University of Nevada-Reno.
The rankings compared all speech pathology programs, including those offering a doctoral degree. UNI offers a master's. “When our program is compared to grad programs in which the master's is the highest degree offered, we place among the top ten in the country,” explains Ken Bleile, head of UNI's Department of Communicative Disorders.
The speech pathology program at UNI has 100 undergraduate students and 60 graduate students. Bleile notes that the program's students tend to have the highest graduate exam scores within the university, and score above the national mean on the board exams. Ninety-nine percent of UNI's program graduates find employment in their preferred area upon graduation. “It's just an excellent program,” says Bliele.
“We have excellent faculty, and we receive excellent support from the university.”
UNI's audiology program also was ranked very highly, placing among the top 50 percent when
compared to all audiology programs in the country, and19th in the country when compared to grad programs in which the master's is the highest degree offered.”
The university's music program fared well, too, coming in at 73rd among the top 100 programs nationwide.
The rankings are available via the Web, at www.usnews.com. Northern Iowa's speech pathology and audiology program rankings are listed under the rankings for top medical schools, category “health professions.”
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marilou Kratzenstein, professor of organ, UNI School of Music, (319) 273-2442 or (319) 273-2024
Vicki Grimes, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Finding common ground for worship experiences in a diverse society is the goal of “Church Music 2000: Creating a New Vision,” a conference for church musicians and lay persons, sponsored by the University of Northern Iowa School of Music, from Thursday to Saturday, June 8 to 10.
Nine presenters from throughout the nation will address the topics of reaching out to people with various musical tastes, bridging a generation gap in worship styles, bringing a global perspective to worship experience, and finding ways to preserve a musical heritage while responding to cultural changes.
“Despite the perceived crisis in churches today,” says UNI music professor Marilou Kratzenstein, conference director, “this is a wonderful time for church music and church musicians. In our rapidly expanding world, the avenues for worship are far greater than we knew.”
Thursday and Friday sessions will be held at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, the only major performing arts center to open in the Midwest this year. In addition to state-of-the-art acoustics, the center features a Wolff tracker organ, built specifically for the Jebe Organ Hall and dedicated on April 14.
A festive worship service designed by Dr. Raymond Egan, organist and choirmaster at St. John's Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church, Cedar Falls. Saturday morning sessions, lead by Dr. John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin College and Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Mich., will meet at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Falls.
Other presenters include: Sharon Anway, private music instructor, performing musician, composer and choir director at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Cedar Falls; Bruce Bengston, a 1964 graduate of UNI, where he received the Purple and Old Gold Award for conspicuous achievement in music, and later, the Alumni Service Award from the UNI Alumni Association, who has successfully pursued double careers in music and business, of Reading, Penn.; David Cherwien, director of music ministries at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Minneapolis.
Also, Rev. John Haugen, campus pastor/director of St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center at UNI; Rev. Eugene Phillips, musician/songwriter in Waterloo, and director of the newly-formed gospel group “The Living Testimony Chorale; and, Carol Teare, director of music at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
A banquet celebrating Kratzenstein's 25 years at UNI, is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 9. It will be followed by an 8 p.m. multimedia musical dramatization, “Words of Albert Schweitzer and Music of Bach.” Directing the presentation will be Donald Rierson, director of opera and music theatre at UNI. His interest in Bach's organ music and Schweitzer's philosophy of “reverence for all life” began during his doctoral work at Florida State University.
Registration by Thursday, May 18, results in a $10 reduction in the regular conference fees of $89, ($39 for students). One-day registration is $59, $49 if registered by May 18. Registration includes all conference sessions, services, handouts, recitals, refreshments and a champagne reception. A celebration banquet at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 9, is $18.
Additional support is provided by UNI Continuing Education, and a gift from the Noma Rupprich Jebe Fund.
For more information, contact Kratzenstein at 319-273-2442.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
John Baker, UNI School of Music, (319) 273-2173 or (319) 273-2024
Vicki Grimes, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The new Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus will host practices and performances of the “2000 Summer Symphonic Band Camp,” June 18 to 23.
“This resident camp, sponsored by the UNI School of Music, is designed to enhance the artistic and social growth of young musicians from junior, middle and high schools,” says John L. Baker, UNI director of bands and primary conductor of the summer camp. “As a highlight, students will participate in one of the first events to take place in the new performing arts center by rehearsing in the Davis Recital Hall and performing on the main stage of the Great Hall.”
Students going into grades 7 through 12 during the 2000-2001 academic year, with at least one year of band experience and their band director's permission, are eligible to attend. Camp instruction includes band rehearsals, concerts, music theory, sectional and master classes, and electives. Optional private lessons are available.
Students will be housed and take their meals in a supervised residence hall on campus. Supervised recreational and informational activities are also scheduled. Lunch-only tickets are available for commuting students.
Baker has been recognized on two occasions with the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor and the National Band Association's Citation of Excellence. During the summer of 1998, he was a guest conductor in Brisbane, Australia.
Dwayne Johnson, band director at Holmes Junior High School, Cedar Falls, will be guest conductor for the camp's middle-school concert band. Johnson brings to the camp more than 27 years of music education experience, including positions in Monticello and Sumner junior high schools.
A non-refundable registration deposit of $50 is required by Friday, May 19. Camp fees are $175 for tuition, $120 for housing and meals, and $30 for a lunch-only ticket.
For more information about the camp program, call Baker at (319) 273-2173. For more information about registration, call Duane McDonald, director of UNI Conferences and Visitor Services, at (319) 273-6899.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lyle Bowlin, UNI faculty adviser for Beta Gamma Sigma honor society (319) 236-8123
Vicki Grimes, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa—Thirty-one students in the University of Northern Iowa School of Business Administration were recently inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma national honor society for students in business programs,
(Student's name), a (Classification), was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma national honor society, during a ceremony in the John Deere auditorium of UNI's Curris Business Building. Willis Greer, UNI professor and dean of the College of Business Administration, was the guest speaker at the induction ceremony.
“Eligible members,” said Lyle Bowlin, faculty adviser for the society, “are business majors in the top seven percent of the junior class, the top 10 percent of the senior class, or the top 20 percent of the M.B.A. full-time students.”
Beta Gamma Sigma national honor society is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.
###
Note: to obtain a listing of the students, please contact the Office of Public Relations at (319)273-2761.
Back to the news release directory.