SAU promotes Kee to development job
MAGNOLIA -- Josh Kee has been promoted to assistant vice president for development at Southern Arkansas University, a position responsible for the school's overall development activities.
Kee, formerly director of major gifts at SAU, will have a salary of $70,507 for the 2014-15 school year, a university spokesman said in an email.
Kee said in a news release that he plans to continue a donor-centered approach to fundraising, which seeks to connect a donor's interest with an institutional opportunity.
UAMS records top pass rate for nurses
Nursing students in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' baccalaureate degree program have recorded the highest average pass rate of any Arkansas nursing college on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.
The 94.7 percent average pass rate also exceeded the national average pass rate of 82.5 percent, according to data from the state Board of Nursing. Students took the exam from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014. Of the 96 UAMS students who took the exam required for the nursing license during this period, 91 received a passing grade for licensure.
The UAMS pass rate has been on a three-year upward trend: 90.3 percent in 2012, 90.8 percent in 2013 and now 94.7 percent. Officials attribute the improvement in part to increased resources -- including a Senior Capstone Course for students about to graduate, a predictor exam and additional consultation with faculty.
The extra resources came about after the college's pass rate dropped to 74 percent in 2011 -- the only time in the past 12 years it was lower than 87 percent -- and a discussion among college staff members of how they could help the students.
European lecturer to speak at college
Dorian Jano, executive director with the Albanian Institute of Public Affairs and Lecturer of European Studies at University Marin Barleti in Tirana, Albania, will be a guest professor at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock from Aug. 16-Sept. 14.
Jano's visit is part of a new faculty exchange program between the Clinton School and the University Marin Barleti.
He was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair by the European Commission. The three-year project for the academic position is "EU Enlargement and its Impact on the Western Balkans," with its inaugural lecture at the Clinton School.
While at the Clinton School, Jano will give a number of presentations on European politics, focusing primarily on the Europeanization and European Union integration of the Western Balkan states.
A public program has been scheduled at the Clinton School for noon Aug. 29. Other programs have been scheduled at Philander Smith College in Little Rock and at two Conway schools, the University of Central Arkansas and Hendrix College.
Jano, 34, received his doctorate in Political Studies from the University of Milan. He also holds a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Research and Studies on Eastern Europe from the University of Bologna, and a bachelor's degree in Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Metro on 08/06/2014