Rowan Writing Arts Events Update Week of March 5, 2018

A Week with One Beginning and Two Endings
 
Now that March has come in like an emu (Confused? Click here), it brings with it the start of one university program and deadlines for two others:

• Tomorrow – Tuesday, March 6 – is the start of the roughly two-week period during which faculty should complete the Rowan Success Network Starfish Mid-Term Progress Survey for their spring 2018 semester courses. These surveys are helping the Starfish team boost Rowan’s overall retention and graduation rates, especially among students from underserved populations. Let’s all do our best to participate; last fall the CCCA completion rate was 81 percent, as compared to the University’s average of 87 percent. The Provost’s office has once again promised a one-time $500 cash award to every department with a 100 percent response rate. If you have any questions, or need help accessing Starfish or the survey, please contact University Retention Systems Coordinator Lori Ann Getler at getler@rowan.edu.
• The following day – Wednesday, March 7 – is the deadline for regular class withdrawal. If you have students who have missed numerous classes or have fallen woefully behind in assignments, it’s probably good idea to suggest the withdrawal process to them. Regular withdrawal requires the instructor’s signature and results in a grade of W; late withdrawal – available March 8 to April 9 – requires the signatures of the instructor and department chair and results in a grade of WP (passing) or WF (failing). Withdrawal after April 9 requires documentation of unanticipated hardship and goes to the dean. Click here for the official university withdrawal form. Students may find this option worth considering because sometimes, as Shakespeare says, “discretion is the better part of valor.”
• The end of the week – Friday, March 9 (at 4 p.m. to be precise) – is the deadline for undergraduate and graduate student submissions for theDenise Gess Literary Awards. Entries are being accepted in short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry with cash prizes available in each category of $200 for first place, $100 for second place, and $50 for third place. Click here for more information or contact contest coordinator Lisa Jahn-Clough at jahn-clough@rowan.edu for additional details.

 

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​If You Want to Help Fight Cancer, Go Take a Walk!
 
Our fourth-floor department secretary extraordinaire Stephanie Heiser is assembling a Writing Arts team to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life on the evening of Saturday, June 8. Last year, a total of more than 400 Clearview Regional High School students and 500 volunteers from surrounding communities participated for the event sponsored by the Gloucester County chapter of the ACS. Stephanie has named our team the “Walking Warriors,” which fits the event perfectly as teams walk a continuous relay of six hours – 6 p.m. until midnight – signifying the long journey to recovery facing those individuals fighting cancer. Anyone interested in helping can walk, make donations, or sponsor a luminaria to help light the walk into darkness, symbolizing the support you are providing. Click here for more information or click here to join and/or donate. You also can stop and see Stephanie or email her at heisers@rowan.edu.

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Rowan Celebrates Research with a Showcase of Events
 
More than 100 Rowan faculty and staff from all three university campuses will be participating in the inaugural Faculty Research Day on Wednesday, March 28 in the Eynon Ballroom at the Chamberlain Center. The event is designed to “showcase the outstanding research, scholarship, and creative activity” that is taking place at our university. The 101 researchers who will be exhibiting include 10 from the College of Communication and Creative Arts and three from the Writing Arts Department: Megan Atwood, Celeste Del Russo, and Stephen Royek. Atwood will be presenting her two latest young adult novels, “Once Upon A Winter” and “The Devils You Know;” Del Russo will be showcasing effective training techniques for student tutors working at writing centers; while Royek will be displaying his recently published academic article on “Instructor Lore” accompanied by a PowerPoint display.

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Our Campus is One of The Safest in The Nation
 
The National Council for Home Safety and Security has ranked Rowan University as one of the top 100 safest college campuses in the United States. We were 58th on the list, which includes institutions with enrollments of 10,000 or more students. The ranking was compiled using data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Education. A commitment to safety, however, is not something new here at Rowan: The university was the first in the state – in 2011 – to have its law enforcement agency gain accreditation from CALEA, the national Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. and – in 2015 – it was the first department at a New Jersey university to outfit its officers with body cameras.
 

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There’s a Doctor in The House; a Really Good One!
 
Did You Know that Rowan SOM’s own Ashley E. Sam has been named the 2018 National Student Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine? The AACOM presents the award each year to a medical student who “demonstrates superior leadership capabilities, robust research experience, and a strong commitment to community service.” Sam, a resident of Mount Laurel, is the first Rowan SOM student to be selected for the award. In addition to her medical studies, she also serves as a delegate to the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons and has addressed the American Osteopathic Association House of Delegates. One more thing: This impressive young adult also is a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

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​Do you have a new publication, a reading, or any other event of interest coming up? Please let me know so I can let all our colleagues know in the weekly Rowan Writing Arts Events Update newsletter. Stop by my Victoria 521 office or email me at royek@rowan.edu to give me the 4-1-1.
 
 
Stephen A. Royek, M.A.
Instructor, Writing Arts
Rowan University
2015 Rowan Medallion Award winner
     Phone: 856-906-4755
     Victoria Hall, Room 521
     Email: royek@rowan.edu