1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Transylvania accounting students offer free tax service to those with incomes of $50,000 or less

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University accounting students will assist taxpayers with an income of $50,000 or less in the preparation of Internal Revenue Service income tax forms 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ and the Kentucky form 740. The service is free. All forms will be filed electronically. They cannot prepare Schedule C forms. Student volunteers will be available each Wednesday in February (6, 13, 20 and 27) from 3-5:30 p.m. at Transylvania’s Cowgill Center for Business, Economics and Education on Third Street. This is a popular program and taxpayers will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. Transylvania accounting students, who have completed an income tax preparation training program, will work under the supervision of accounting professors to aid taxpayers. Individuals interested in this free service should bring with them all of the necessary information including: their W2s, 1099s (interest income), state and federal tax returns from last year, the IRS forms received in the mail and the birthdates and social security numbers for any dependents. Transylvania has offered this free program to the Lexington community for more than 30 years. For more information, contact Stephanie Coriale at (859) 233-8104.

Kathy J. Susman, campus counselor, appointed to state psychology board

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Kathy J. Susman, campus counselor at Transylvania University, has been appointed by Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear to serve a four-year term on the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology. The board, which is composed of eight psychologists and one citizen at large, examines and licenses candidates for entry into the profession of psychology. It also conducts formal hearings and prosecutes any violations of Kentucky’s laws and regulations concerning the practice of psychology. Susman is a certified psychologist with autonomous functioning who has been at Transylvania since 2010. She has a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Marshall University and a master’s in public administration from the University of Kentucky. She has provided behavioral health services and administration of public mental health programs for over 20 years.

Junior invited to Washington, D.C. by the White House Office of Public Engagement

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Junior Michael Case knew he would have to miss two days of classes the week before finals, but when you’re personally invited to the White House by the Office of Public Engagement, you figure out how to make it work. Case, a political science and international affairs double major and president of Transylvania University’s College Democrats, received an invitation to tour the White House and attend an issues briefing about averting the fiscal cliff. He was selected after gaining the attention of the Obama campaign leadership in Kentucky for organizing a trip to go to Cincinnati and go door to door for President Obama’s re-election campaign. “I did not realize how much Kentucky has to lose in the budget debates,” said Case. “Kentucky is one of those states that collects more from the federal government than it pays in. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid contribute 23.6 billion dollars to our state’s economy, annually.” While in Washington, Case had breakfast at The Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank, and listened to presentations about the fiscal cliff and how it should be handled. He heard briefings about how Kentuckians would be impacted if no agreement is reached before December 31, including one by Jon Carson, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Case worked alongside other Kentuckians to formulate a plan of action for motivating fellow Kentuckians to contact their representatives in Congress before the end of

Transylvania partners with the University of Kentucky for a new pre-engineering program for Transylvania students

Deans Jagger and Walz playfully display a giant slide rule, now an old-fashioned symbol of engineering, that was used as a demonstration model to teach Transylvania science students how to use normal slide rules to perform calculations. Slide rules were used by engineers before calculators became smaller and cheaper. LEXINGTON, Ky.—To prepare students who want to work in an engineering field, Transylvania University has announced a new partnership with the University of Kentucky. Transylvania students can now take up to six courses at the University of Kentucky College of Engineering as part of their undergraduate work and be fully prepared to enter a master’s or doctoral engineering program upon graduation. “This innovative partnership between Transylvania and the UK College of Engineering provides our students an extraordinary opportunity,” said Kathleen Jagger, Transylvania’s interim vice president and dean of the college. “The liberal arts promotes the critical reading, imaginative thinking and engagement with big ideas that will serve engineers well in their future careers. Taking foundational engineering courses alongside liberal arts courses will engage students more purposefully in the future they see for themselves and prepare them optimally for graduate studies in engineering.” This new partnership with UK allows the students to remain on Transylvania’s campus for their entire four-year undergraduate career. Previously, the only option was a 3-2 arrangement, where students earn a B.A. in physics or liberal studies from Transylvania in three years, then a B.S. in engineering from UK

The Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship works to improve diplomacy; center moving to Transylvania University

Portrait of Henry Clay by Matthew Harris Jouett LEXINGTON, Ky.—Many would agree that if the country ever needed a good compromiser, now is the time. The Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship hopes to improve the climate for political negotiation in the future through its prestigious summer Student Congress, which promotes the ideals of enlightened compromise and civil discourse that Clay championed throughout his distinguished political career in the 19th century. Historically, the center has brought top college students from across the nation to Lexington for its one-week academic immersion into Clay’s principles of debate, diplomacy, communication and beneficial compromise. Beginning in 2014, the program will instead bring outstanding high school students from all around Kentucky to participate in the event. By educating these potential leaders, the center aims to have a positive impact on the nation’s public conversation. The center’s core mission is to promote the ideals of statesmanship that Henry Clay exhibited in his public life from 1806 until his death in 1852. Clay was Secretary of State under President John Quincy Adams, a senator and representative (Speaker of the House for six congresses) from Kentucky and a three-time presidential candidate. His skill at diplomacy earned him the title of the Great Compromiser. A recently signed agreement between the center, Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky makes Transylvania the primary location for the center and the Student Congress. “We are thrilled to be working in association with the