������Ƶ

Hundreds of ������Ƶ students will be involved in activities during CELEBRATE! 2011, a weeklong celebration of student achievements in academics and the arts that begins April 26 and runs through May 2. Programs include seminars, art exhibitions, plays, a film festival, dance and music performances.

In the new issue of the Magazine of ������Ƶ, President Leo M. Lambert outlines plans for eight major construction projects as part of the ������Ƶ Commitment strategic plan. More than 1,284 new residence hall spaces will be built over the next three years as part of a transformation of the residential experience. Other projects include a new retail building, including the campus bookstore, on Williamson Avenue; the Gerald L. Francis building on Haggard Avenue for graduate programs in physical therapy and physician assistant studies; a new multi-faith center in the Academic Village; and new facilities for Phoenix athletics.

������Ƶ senior Tracy Schell wanted to stay on campus last summer to prepare for her final year of study, but she needed a paid internship to do so. That’s when she visited Career Services. Now, with her own Commencement just weeks away, Schell not only has work experience on her resume because of the visit - she has a job lined up with one of the region’s largest employers.

Last year’s iMedia graduates, the first from the program, have landed in an array of positions with organizations across the nation. Of the 32 graduates who responded to a survey from Career Services, 31 are employed full-time in a position directly related to their career aspirations.

Student leaders from a variety of academic disciplines were honored April 28 at the annual Omicron Delta Kappa awards ceremony in Whitley Auditorium, an annual ceremony that coincides with CELEBRATE! week. ODK recognizes students who have provided outstanding leadership in their junior or senior years, and who have maintained high academic performance.

Work by ������Ƶ students and professors took center stage Wednesday in the opening hours of SURF 2011 with a new morning format for the annual event that recognizes faculty and undergraduate research. Twenty-two professors took part in third annual "Celebration of Faculty Scholarship" in McKinnon Hall, where they shared work in a poster presentation side-by-side with students who had been accepted to display findings of their own endeavors.

For the second year in a row, ������Ƶ has been named one of the nation’s most “environmentally responsible green colleges” by the Princeton Review, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council. The annual ranking profiles schools that “demonstrate notable commitments to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.

������Ƶ trustees gathered with Phoenix athletics fans and many other friends of the university to dedicate Alumni Field House on April 16. The 30,000-square-foot facility at the north end of Rhodes Stadium in the North Athletics Complex serves as the headquarters for ������Ƶ’s sports programs.

������Ƶ will devote its annual spring Convocation for Honors on April 7, 2011, to an in-depth examination of five great problems facing humanity. Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, will moderate a panel discussion titled "We can be better: Courageous voices confront our greatest challenges." Distinguished panelists will explore tough choices that must be made to respond to threats to our democracy, economies, public education, the environment and civil stability around the world.