The University of Idaho is our state’s leader when it comes to education beyond a bachelor’s degree. Our first master’s degrees were created more than 100 years ago, in 1912. We’ve grown into the most robust and developed source for graduate and professional education, providing opportunities that shape the future for students, excelling at research and scholarship, and engaging with our communities – the three major components of a land-grant mission. Today U of I offers a comprehensive portfolio of post-baccalaureate education, including 88 master’s degrees, 32 doctoral degrees, specialist degrees in education, a Juris Doctor in law, and access to a top-rated medical degree. At least five master’s programs are interdisciplinary efforts between three colleges. More than 600 graduate faculty members participate in teaching and in our $109 million research enterprise. To offer just a few quick examples, noteworthy programs include biology, creative writing, nuclear engineering and natural resources. If you’re interested in exploring cutting-edge disciplines past a bachelor’s degree, the University of Idaho has been and remains the best choice. We also lead the state in physician training, through the Idaho WWAMI program. Since 1972, U of I has partnered with the highly regarded University of Washington School of Medicine. In an exciting new initiative, the Idaho WWAMI program’s Project ECHO creates a telehealth education program for healthcare providers, focusing especially on opioid addiction and treatment in rural and underserved communities. Project ECHO’s learning and guided practice model helps connect expert teams with community providers through virtual clinics. In this way, primary care doctors, nurses and other clinicians learn to provide excellent specialty care to patients in their own communities, improving healthcare, and reducing costs. This project can make a real impact on a longstanding need in our communities. This week I was also excited to see our College of Law recognized by U.S. News and World Report’s Best Law Schools list. With locations in Moscow and in Boise, the college excels in offering an affordable, practical education for people interested in the many careers – the practice of law one among them – for which a law degree is great preparation. The U of I College of Law is also serving our communities, partnering last fall with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to open a patent and trademark resource center in Boise. It adds to the many clinics that the College of Law offers, in everything from small business support, to legal aid, to mediation, to economic development. Whether in law or medicine or other critical fields, U of I strives to be the first choice for advanced education, a hub for research and a critical resource for our communities. That tradition of excellence is a foundation for a great future in advanced education. | | Go Vandals! Chuck Staben President | | | Roy Bowman ’63 Pays It Forward for Education When Roy Bowman ’63 graduated from high school, he didn’t think he was college material, and he knew he definitely didn’t have the money for a university education. So Bowman went to work in a lumber camp. Hard-working, organized and responsible, he quickly stood out. Chief Forester Gordon Greenway (forest products, ’38) saw Bowman’s potential and encouraged him to attend the University of Idaho. “He helped me realize my dream of going to college, and I want to help others know they can do it, too,” said Bowman, who graduated with a bachelor’s in elementary education. He decided to pay it forward with a gift annuity with the University of Idaho Foundation and a gift in his will to endow a scholarship for teacher education students. Bowman’s scholarship is part of an initiative in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences to significantly reduce future educators’ student debt. For more information on giving to the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, contact Marta McClintock at 208-310-0973 or martam@uidaho.edu. | | Dean’s TEDx Talk Passes 1 Million Views The College of Education, Health and Human Sciences has made a long-term commitment to breakthrough innovation in teaching, learning, training, research and clinical work. In 2010, Dean Ali Carr-Chellman gave a TEDx talk on innovative ways to engage disengaged learners, particularly boys. Her approach includes using video games to generate interest in academic subjects and change classroom culture. This talk recently surpassed 1 million views, showing the level of interest in EHHS’ nation-leading commitment to innovation. The talk also highlights the impact of the TEDx forum. U of I sponsors the upcoming TedxBoise event. The university is also proud to host the student-organized TEDxUIdaho annual forum. | | U of I Students Seek the Core of an Icon Originally published in the Lewiston Tribune: Since the construction of the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho, a towering whitebark pine snag has been prominently displayed within the educational facility, but little is known about what the tree weathered before it found sanctuary inside the building. A group of undergraduate students is attempting to pin down exactly what the tree endured while alive, and in which era it died. Recently, the students took several core samples they bored from the tree. They'll analyze the samples and compare them to historical data. "The project is to look at the history of the snag and what led to its unfortunate demise," said Mark Kimsey, research assistant professor in the Department of Forestry, Rangeland and Fire Sciences. "We'll also track the climate periods to growth. The tree has been here since the 1970s. The building was built around the snag." The snag was discovered on top of Freezeout Ridge east of Clarkia. It was later moved to its current location, and the college was constructed around the tree as a centerpiece. Read more. | | | | |