Vice Provost appointed
Kenneth Durgans began his appointment as vice provost for institute diversity at the beginning of the semester. His responsibilities include planning and implementing ways to include diversity as part of the planning process for different programs and departments across the Institute. He will also assist in recruiting minority staff, faculty, and students.
Durgans comes from the position of executive director of diversity development and adjunct professor of advanced educational psychology at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. While there he increased the diversity of the tenure-track faculty by 150 percent. He also speaks on diversity and minority recruitment issues at various organizations.
Herman recipient named
Incoming MBA student Azmat Ahmad has been named a recipient of the Herman Family Fellowship for Women in Entrepreneurship by the Lally School of Management and Technology. She has received this award based on her entrepreneurial spirit, work experience, and academics, as well as other criteria. She will receive a full tuition waiver during her career at RPI, and a stipend of approximately $28,000 for the first two years that she is a teaching assistant. Additionally, she will receive access to the professional women entrepreneur network and career mentoring.
Previous to attending RPI, she worked as a programmer for the Prince Sultan Cardiac Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she designed and implemented personnel and medical databases. She also provided technical support for hospital computers as well as maintained hardware and software.
Students warned
Eddie Knowles, vice president for student life, John Kolb, chief information officer, and G.P. “Bud” Peterson, provost, in a memo sent to students, warned that the Recording Industry Association of America has announced an aggressive campaign to pursue individuals with illegal copyrighted materials. The administrators advised that there can be serious consequences, as the RIAA has demanded up to $150,000 per copyrighted file in lawsuits. They cite that 82 percent of people aged 18 through 29 who share files do not care that they may be copyrighted. Knowles, Kolb, and Peterson also state that students who have an RCS account have agreed to uphold RPI’s policies of acceptable use, which prohibit copyright infringement.
Infirmary accredited
The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care has accredited the Gallagher Health Center, after making sure that the Center meets its strict standards. The Center earned accreditation first in 1996 and then has maintained that accreditation to the present. Only 1300 ambulatory health centers throughout the U.S have earned accreditation by the AAAHC.
