1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

News from Transy

Maurice Manning selected as judge for National Book Award poetry prize

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky—Maurice Manning, Transylvania University English professor and writer in residence, is one of the judges selecting the 2012 National Book Award poetry prize, presented by the National Book Foundation. The awards will be announced Wednesday, Nov. 14, in New York City. Other National Book Award prizes include fiction, non-fiction and young people’s literature. Manning, on a panel with four other judges, selected five finalists for the poetry prize from 181 submissions. They are: “Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations,” by David Ferry; “Heavenly Bodies,” by Cynthia Huntington; “Fast Animal,” by Tim Seibles, “Night of the Republic,” by Alan Shapiro; and “Meme,” by Susan Wheeler. On Tuesday, Nov. 13, finalists from all categories will give readings at The New School in New York City. Manning, who lives in Washington County, Ky., was named to Transylvania’s faculty in January and began teaching full time in September.  He says he sees good writing coming from good thought, and that is what he hopes to teach his students. “There is a powerful connection between reading and thinking,” he said. “If a student learns how to read with depth and focus, then he or she will most likely start thinking that way, too. And then the student’s own writing will develop and mature.” Manning has published four books on poetry, including his most recent, “The Common Man,” which was one of three finalists for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. His first collection, “Lawrence Booth’s

Read “Maurice Manning selected as judge for National Book Award poetry prize”

Transylvania University’s information technology department wins 2012 AIKCU Technology Award for best new campus application

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

Jason Whitaker, vice president for information technology LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s rollout of Ellucian’s Business Object Reporting Tool won the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities’ (AIKCU) 2012 Technology Award for Best New Campus Application System. The award is given to the university or college that has implemented a major new application or significantly enhanced an existing system that improves operational performance and/or service for all or part of its students, faculty and staff. Jason Whitaker, vice president for information technology, said that Ellucian’s Business Objects Reporting Tools give staff the ability to quickly build their own reports from the campus enterprise system without IT assistance. “The tools are easy to use with a drag and drop interface to build reports and add charts and graphs,” he said. “Users can even schedule reports to run automatically and be sent to their e-mail inbox. These tools have transformed how we access and use data to report and make decisions.” Whitaker said that while any user friendly reporting tool is a plus, his staff went the extra mile to make the rollout work for Transylvania users. “The IT staff met with each administrative office to introduce the software, provide training and help build some of the first reports. As users began building their own reports and learning the tools, IT followed up with advanced training and additional support.” An important part of the process was the IT staff helping to identify institutional

Read “Transylvania University’s information technology department wins 2012 AIKCU Technology Award for best new campus application”

Transylvania named a ‘best value’ by Kiplinger’s

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University is among the top liberal arts colleges in the country that were named a best value by “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.” The university ranked 63rd in the magazine’s annual list of the top 100 liberal arts colleges that combine outstanding quality with affordability. Kiplinger’s assesses quality according to measurable standards, including the percentage of students who are admitted out of those who applied, the test scores of incoming freshmen, the ratio of students to faculty members and the four- and five-year graduation rates. “For most families, college is the second largest investment they make after the purchase of a home,” said Brad Goan, Transylvania’s vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions. “Our students have the confidence that their investments pay them back over and over again throughout the course of their lives. A Transylvania education empowers students and alumni to envision the possibilities in life and provides them with the tools and the confidence to pursue them. That is the lasting value of the Transylvania experience.” Through its Pioneer Pledge, the university makes a high quality liberal arts education affordable for all students who meet Transylvania’s admissions requirements. The Pioneer Pledge includes: Guaranteed graduation in four years A 12-month payment plan A level tuition program, which locks in the tuition rate for four years. Transylvania’s tuition and fees fall below the national average for liberal arts colleges, and the university offers extensive merit-based scholarships and need-based financial

Read “Transylvania named a ‘best value’ by Kiplinger’s”

Expert nutritionist Marion Nestle receives honorary degree from Transylvania University

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Marion Nestle, one of the nation’s top experts on nutrition, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Transylvania University on Tuesday, Oct. 23, in Haggin Auditorium. Nestle was recognized for her distinguished career in the field of nutrition as a teacher, scholar, author, public servant and advocate for enlightened policies on dietary guidance, social and environmental influences on food choice, the politics of food safety and the effects of food industry marketing on children’s diets and health. President R. Owen Williams conferred the degree prior to Nestle’s presentation of the fall 2012 Kenan Lecture, “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.” Nestle talked to the 700-member audience about rising obesity rates in the United States and how they correlate with several changes that have taken place in the food industry and food politics over the past 15-30 years. She cited research that shows the obesity rate in the early 1980s was around 15 percent, and in the early 2000s, that number jumped to 33 percent and is still rising. She said the average American eats between 200-700 more calories per day than they did in the 1980s. Several factors have led to people eating more, Nestle said, including deregulation of agriculture, Wall Street, and food marketing, which have allowed for much cheaper food to be available outside the home and created more pressure on the food companies to raise their profits. “Much of that

Read “Expert nutritionist Marion Nestle receives honorary degree from Transylvania University”

Transylvania’s 2012 entering class is second largest in school history, sets records for diversity; retention rate is highest ever

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University President R. Owen Williams announced today that this year’s entering class of 350 is the second largest in school history, tied last year’s class as the most academically prepared and set school records for geographic and racial/ethnic diversity. Transylvania also set a new school record for freshman to sophomore retention, with 88 percent of last year’s entering class returning this fall. The national average for freshman to sophomore retention rates at private, nonprofit colleges is 79 percent, according to the College Board. Total enrollment is 1,074 students. Transylvania’s high retention rate can be attributed to many factors, including a student/faculty ratio of 11:1 and an average class size of 14, with no classes having more than 35 students and 47 percent of classes having fewer than 10 students. Members of the class of 2016 have an average ACT of 27, a middle 50 percent ACT range of 24-30 and an average GPA of 3.72. Forty-one percent were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class. They include 34 students who took part in either the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program or the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. Geographically, the class is the most diverse in 38 years and includes 99 students from outside Kentucky who make up 28 percent of the class. Ohio led the way in out-of-state students, followed by Tennessee, Indiana and three states in a tie—Florida, Texas and West Virginia. Twelve

Read “Transylvania’s 2012 entering class is second largest in school history, sets records for diversity; retention rate is highest ever”