Fall 2015 Around the College | HHS | SIU

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

Here are some recent events happening in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.

  • The Department of Aviation Technologies is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and recently about 200 friends, faculty, staff and students gathered in the Transportation Education Center to celebrate. There are about 170 on-campus students, and the program is the only Federal Aviation Administration-approved aircraft maintenance technology offering at a public university in the state.

  • Paula Staab-Polk, owner of the Staab-Polk Memorial Home in Chatham, is the college’s 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award winner. She earned her associate degree in mortuary science and funeral service in 1990. She was the first female president of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, and has been an active member on the mortuary science program’s advisory board and the CASA Board of Counselors.

  • The two-time defending national champion Flying Salukis will advance to the National Intercollegiate Flying Association national competition in May at The Ohio State University. The team won the Region VIII title for the eighth time in nine years in October. The nine-time national champions have won three national titles in the last five years.

  • José R. Ruiz, professor of aviation management and flight, received the Captain V.L. Laursen Award on Oct. 9, at the University Aviation Association (UAA) Awards banquet during the 2015 UAA Fall Education Conference. The Captain V.L. Laursen Award is a national award in recognition of teaching excellence and outstanding contributions to aviation education. Ruiz has been highly involved with collegiate aviation for more than 20 years. He was the college’s Teacher of the Year in 2001 and 2009, and earned the E.J. and Mary C. Simon Distinguished Faculty Award in 2012.

  • “The Journal of Dental Hygiene” selected the dental hygiene program to participate in a Transforming Dental Hygiene Education (TDHE) pilot project. This will allow the program to continue development of innovative learning areas and curricula that could serve as transformative models for dental hygiene programs throughout the country.