FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Robin Gurien, training & career development coordinator, Human Resource Services, (319) 273-3536
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Note to editors/news directors: A 200 dpi JPEG photo of Robin Gurien is available via the Internet at: http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/gurien.jpeg
. If you need higher resolution or have other photo needs, please call the Office of University Marketing and Public Relations contact listed above.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Employee career and professional development is the focus of a new staff member in the University of Northern Iowa's Human Resource Services office.
Robin A. Gurien has begun work as training and career development coordinator at UNI. She will facilitate campus-wide and department-specific training, devising methods to track employees' career development participation, and build workshops aimed at helping employees develop their career paths.
Employee career development is not a new concept to UNI, where, until 1998, various elements of employee training and professional development had been provided. With staffing changes, a focused program was temporarily suspended, according to Gurien.
"The timing is perfect to revitalize and extend previous programs,” she said. “With UNI committing part of its strategic plan to employee development, the stage is set to make UNI a `flagship' for career development in higher education."
Gurien comes to UNI from Virginia, where she taught courses in communication at Mary Washington College. In addition, she has provided training and workshops to organizations including Goodwill Industries, FBI Academy, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Virginia Women's Network of the Academic Council on Higher Education.
She earned a Ph.D. in communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1997.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Cheryl Smith, program associate, Iowa Space Grant Consortium, UNI College of Natural Sciences, (319) 273-6809
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The second-period 8th grade earth science class at Fredericksburg Junior High School won the Space Week Science Challenge, a contest open to all K-12 Iowa classrooms. The announcement was made Oct. 26, at the Iowa Science Teachers Conference in Des Moines.
As winners, the 17 students, taught by Stacey Newbrough, will receive a Meade ETX Astro telescope and a trip to the Challenger Learning Center at the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines. Teachers at Fredericksburg Junior High have won an inservice training session from the Extension--Science, Engineering and Technology team and curriculum materials.
Contestants listened to special editions of the Earth and Sky radio program broadcast by WHO Radio (1040 AM) during Space Week, Oct. 4-10. Topics included rocket science, space travel and star gazing. Then they took a quiz based on the content of the radio programs and supporting activities. With a classroom average score of 94 percent, Newbrough's class had the best score on the quiz.
The contest was sponsored by the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, a NASA-supported organization aimed at increasing interest in aerospace education and research, WHO Radio and the Earth and Sky radio program. Academic members of the Consortium are the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and Drake University.
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