THE PENDULUM
>' ■ V
NEWS
PAGE 4 11 WEDNESDAY. JULY 28. 2010 ^ ^ g
Elon faculty, staff receives promotions
Clljll ICH^VIIfcjr, «her« we tocus ■■«o«»f
Janae Frazier
Reporter
Several Elon faculty and staff
where promoted while students
enjoyed their summer.
Among the promotinos were
Connie Book, Angela Lewellyn-
Jones, Tim Peeples, Mary Wise
and Peter Felten.
Although all of them have
been at Elon for more than
four years, they expect to face
some challenges with their new
positions. Felten, who has been
at Elon for five years, is the
new assistant provost. Felten’s
challenges involve taking care
of his new responsibilities
while still fulfilling his existing
responsibilities as an associate
professor of history and as the
director of the center for the
advancement of teaching and
learning. He also has to get
accustomed to working with
the writing center and working
effectively with his colleagues.
Wise, who has been at Elon
for 14 years, has been promoted
from assistant vice president for
academic affairs to associate
vice president of academic
affairs. She is also an associate
professor of communications.
One of her new responsibilities
will be to coordinate Southern
“ Association of Colleges and
Schools reviews every 10 years.
Peeples has been at Elon
for 12 years and has been
promoted from associate dean
of Elon College, the college of
arts and sciences, to associate
provost for faculty affairs.
Some of his challenges include
learning about new things such
as national fellowships and
external grants. Peeples said he
is up for the challenges because
he has “the opportunity to work
with excellent people who are
all committed to their work and
to the institution’s mission and
strategic goals, and by the fact
that I love to learn.”
Jones has also been at Elon
for 12 years and has been
promoted to associate dean
of Elon College of Arts and
Sciences. In the past, she was
a full-time faculty member in
the department of sociology
and anthropology, department
chair and also the academic
coordinator for the Civic
Engagement Scholars program.
Some challenges she expects
to face with her promotion are
“a steep learning curve and
helping my family adjust to my
new work schedule.”
Book has been at Elon for 11
years. She was the associate dean
in the school of communications
and an administrative faculty
fellow in the president's office.
She is now an associate provost
for academic affairs.
“1 have so much more to
learn about operations as a
whole at the university and
how those operations Intersect
with the student’s experience,”
Book said. “At the center of my
new position is supporting an
enriching experience for the
students who attend Elon.”
In spite of the excitement of
a promotion, there are things
these faculty members will
miss about their old positions.
The momentum and great
faculty and staff in the school of
communications will be greatly
missed by Book. Jones will miss
working closely with her home
department. Peeples will miss
the great people he will “no
longer work with directly and
on a day-to-day basis.” Luckily
for Felten, he does not have to
miss anything about his old
position because he still holds
those responsibilities. Still,
Felten said he is excited about
getting to work with a lot of
different faculty and learning
new things.
One thing the faculty and
staff shares is a love for Elon.
Book’s favorite thing about Elon
is the community and Elon’s
enthusiasm and commitment
to academics. Jones loves the
strong sense of community
within the “Elon family,” and
also the “commitment to civic
engagement where we focus
on how we can give baclc or be
of use to address social issues
and problems in our local
community as well as abroad,
and a commitment to providing
an excellent educational
experience for our students.
Wise said she likes everything
about Elon and how every day
brings something different. She
“most of the work we do at Elon
reflects a deep commitment
to excellence in education and
enhancing what we do even
further. That commitment and
the work we do is, also, shared.
In much of higher education,
people, departments and
divisions work for and think only
about themselves. Elon works
much more like a democratic
“AT THE CENTER OF MY NEW POSITION IS
SUPPORTING AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE
FOR THE STUDENTS WHO ATTEND ELON”
-CONNIE BOOK
ASSOCIATE PROVOST FOR ACADEMIC
AFFAIRS
boasts it is a great atmosphere
with cooperative people who are
all trying to do the best for the
students.
Peeples’ favorite thing about
Elon is everyone’s commitment
to excellent higher education.
“From the highest-level
conversations about strategic
planning to the most mundane
day-to-day discussions,” he said,
polls, discussing, planning (and)
working together."
Felten loves the students. Fie
strongly believes Elon has great
students who are smart and
committed to doing great things
for the world.
These faculty are all excited
about their new promotions
and are especially excited to
continue working at Elon.
Internships vital to students’ success after Elon
[36 percent of 2010 Elon
graduates reported acquiring job
leads through their internships
88 percent of 2010 Elon
graduates had completed an
1 internship
81 percent of 2010 Elon
graduates reported utilizing career
I services
19 percent of 2010 Elon
I graduates reported acquiring job
1 leads through alumni
17 percent of 2010 Elon
I graduates reported going directly
1 to graduate’ professional school
15 percent of 2010 Elon
I graduates reported they would
be working with a sen/ice
organization.
Edith Veremu
Reporter
As the government continues
to question the legality of unpaid
internships, students have come to the
realization that experience is needed,
especially during this economic
recession. Elon students continue
receiving internships, which fulfill their
Experiential Learning Requirement.
According to the 2010 Cap &Gown survey
by Career Services, 88 percent of the
Class of 2010 completed an internship.
During the past four years, the
percentage of Elon students receiving
internships has increased from 80
percent to the most recent 88 percent,
said Pam Brumbaugh, director of
Experiential Education.
“It's been a steady march through the
years,” Brumbaugh said. “More and more
Elon students are doing internships.”
She credits this rise to workshops and
career fairs designed by Career Services,
as well as Elon's alumni program, which
contributes in finding internships for
students.
Career Services offers seminars and
classes that ensure students are ready
for their internships, as well as helping
them polish their interviewing and
communication skills. Some business
and communications classes even
require students to create or update
their resumes.
“Students can best differentiate
themselves from other applicants by
taking advantage of other opportunities
which will provide practical application
of the skills and theories taught in
their classes,” said Nagatha Tonkins,
director of internships in the School of
Communications.
In addition to Career Services,
students can get help finding internships
in the internship and career offices in the
School of Communications and School
of Business. The Communications
Internship Office releases a weekly list
that includes a list of employers who are
looking for interns.
Elon’s alumni program is another
tool that students use to get internships.
“A lot of our employers are alumni,”
Brumbaugh said. “We have agreat alumni
and parent network.” Brumbaugh added
that Career Services puts students in
touch with alumni within the field of
the student’s internship search.
To the average student, working
during a semester or during the
summer and not being paid isn't ideal,
but for Cedric Pulliam, a junior political
science and international studies major,
interning provides the time management
and professional skills he needs to
become a paralegal. Pulliam said he
used Career Services and networked
with Elon alumni to get an internship
at a law firm in Washington, D.C., as
well as a volunteer position with the
Congressional Black Caucasus PAC.
“Networking is the best tool in the
world to have,” he said. “An Elon alum
guided me through the paralegal routs
and worked hard to get me a secure
internship.”
Brumbaugh and Tonkins agree that
internships may lead to jobs. “Folks
who have done internships are hired
by their company at about a 50 to 60
percent rate,” Brumbaug explained. “A
lot of employers are hiring from their
internship pools and the retention rate
is higher because interns know what
they are getting into. It’s very clear to
me that doing an internship leads to a
job."
The law firm at which Pulliam
is interning has guaranteed him an
internship next summer. He said the
law firm has said that it would like
to have Pulliam work for them next
summer. Furthermore, the firm plans to
pay for Pulliam’s paralegal certification,
which he will begin after graduation, he
added.
“On a scale from one to one hundred,
internships are very important,”
Brumbaugh added. “It brings a lot of
professional wisdom. It is an excellent
way to test the career waters, an excellent
way to become more confident in the
skills that you have and an excellent way
to network and find more leads for your
next internship.”
^ vvasiiiiigion, as next miernsnip.
iMedia program begins second year, reflects on the past
Edith Veremu England, Costa Rica and Panama in Winter Term and “iMedia opens up a whole lot of possibilities
shot documentaries for non-profit organizations. 1 thoueht I had before ” Cnrwin artrtpH “it aives
Edith Veremu
Reporter
For one set of Elon students, graduation marked
the end of the inaugural year of a graduate program.
Thirty-six students in Elon’s Interactive Media
program completed the 12-course program, which
incorporated digital media and communication
courses with individual and group projects.
"It was exciting for all of us to be a part of something
new and experimental—an inaugural class,” said
Neemah Clark, a communications professor. “The
students were very positive, and it was a good
experience for them. It was also a good experience
for the faculty to kind of test the waters.”
Although most of the graduates were
communications majors as undergraduates, other
students were English, art, business and even biology
majors, said Clark. This diverse background allowed
students and faculty to work together on different
projects using skills students acquired in the program,
she added.
For their fly-in projects, students traveled to
England, Costa Rica and Panama in Winter Term and
shot documentaries for non-profit organizations.
Clark called this a “huge bonding experience” where
students worked in teams to serve the public good.
“It was a very moving and good experience,” said
iMedia graduate Brook Corwin. Corwin and his team
produced multimedia for 01 Panama, an organization
that raises awareness about Osteogenesis Imperfecta.
The graduates’ plans are uncertain, said David
Copeland, the program’s director. He said he believes
graduates may pursue professions in fields that will
allow them to put their new skills to work. Such
fields, he said, may be advertising or environmental
studies.
Clark agreed students have a variety of fields
to choose from. She said students may get jobs in
traditional media organizations or be webmasters
with the added skill of web development or work in
PR firms. “A few students have thought about opening
their own businesses,” she added. Corwin, a 2004 UNC
Chapel Hill journalism and history major, is currently
working at a PR firm in Raleigh and said he plans on
developing online courses at UNCG.
iMedia opens up a whole lot of possibilities than
1 thought 1 had before,” Corwin added. “It gives you a
whole new range of skills and was everything I needed
to learn for my career path in public relations.”
Copeland and other professors look forward to the
Class of 2011 of the iMedia program.
“This class sounds really excited to come,” Clark
said. “The students are from different majors.”
Although there are fewer Elon graduates in the
Class of 2011 than in the Class of 2010, other students
come from a range of universities, including the
University of Maine, Miami University and Brigham
Young University. The new class’s overall GPA and
standardized test scores are higher than those of the
inaugural class, said Copeland.
“This program teaches interactivity,” Copeland
said. “It may be used in communications, of course,
but interactivity is used by all sorts of businesses
and professions. Communicating is the key to what
the program is about, but it teaches students the
theoretical and practical aspects of the importance of
the two-way possibilities that exist with today’s media
tools.”