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    • November 20, 2006

The Harbinger

November 20, 2006

Hiram receives $1 million grant for entrepreneurship

 
Hiram College has received a $1 million, five-year grant as part of the Northeast Ohio College Entrepreneurship Program supported by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation of Hudson and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Missouri.

Hiram will match half the grant, which is funded equally by the two foundations.

“Exposing all students to entrepreneurial thinking will provide the spark to help them transform a passion into a new venture,” said Deborah H. Hoover, president-elect of the Morgan Foundation.

Hoover said that program will operate over the next five years as a pilot project and the knowledge gained from implementation at Hiram and four other Northeast Ohio colleges to receive grants – Baldwin-Wallace, Lake Erie, Oberlin, and Wooster – will be disseminated across the country.

“The project is off to an extremely promising start, and we look forward to working closely with the institutions as the programs are launched,” Hoover said. “The Burton D. Morgan Foundation is excited to expand the Kauffman Foundation’s recent focus on cross-campus entrepreneurship education to include liberal arts colleges in our region.”

Judith Cone, the Kauffman Foundation’s vice president of entrepreneurship said: “The Kauffman Foundation is pleased to collaborate with the Burton D. Morgan Foundation…. Through the Kauffman Campuses Initiative, hundreds of thousands of students will learn that entrepreneurship can be applied to any discipline by combining their passion and resources to seize an opportunity and create sustainable enterprises.”

In April, Northeast Ohio liberal arts institutions were invited to apply for a planning grant. Hiram was one of nine colleges awarded a $10,000 planning grant. Eight institutions submitted proposals and made presentations. Five received grants. The Hiram entrepreneurship program is called E-Integration@Hiram and will include:

• Faculty development – Providing faculty with the knowledge and skills to make entrepreneurship a part of their teaching and advising.

• Curriculum development – Revising current courses to integrate aspects of entrepreneurship, develop new interdisciplinary and/or entrepreneurship-specific courses and develop a minor course of study in entrepreneurship.

• Entrepreneurship activities across campus – Providing complementary activities and resources such as E-networking, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, enterprise development competition, an on-campus E-incubator, and an E-Venture Capital Fund – with all of these pieces intended to make entrepreneurship an integrated part of the Hiram educational experience.

Hiram College believes passionately in the tradition of liberal arts education. At the same time, a panel of college presenters told a panel of grant judges, Hiram believes students in today’s increasingly competitive world also need skills that lead directly to success in their chosen professions or graduate studies.

Some have argued that career preparation and the liberal arts are incompatible. To the contrary, the skills taught and nurtured in Hiram’s liberal arts environment – critical thinking, curiosity, ethical awareness, ability to write and speak clearly, ability to draw and synthesize knowledge from diverse sources and apply it to diverse uses, insight into the human experience and a life-long love of learning – are the same skills needed to succeed in the job market or to pursue advance studies.

Hiram’s grant request was led by Stephen L. Zabor, professor of economics and environmental studies and coordinator of the Center for the Study of Nature and Society, Interim Dean of the College Katherine Feather and Kay Molkentin, director of corporate and foundation relations.

Commendable performances from computer science students at regional competition

On November 11, two teams of Hiram College computer science students attended a regional programming contest at Ashland University and held simultaneously at three other regional sites: Sheridan Institute of Technology, Ontario; the University of Cincinnati; the University of Michigan – Dearborn.

Hosted by the Association of Computing Machinery, the competition pitted against each other 116 teams from 64 colleges and universities from western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, eastern Ontario, and Indiana. Each team had five hours to solve eight problems. Teams were judged on the number of correct solutions, with ties broken by the time taken to submit the problems and penalties for incorrect submissions.

Team one from Hiram, dubbed “HiRAM” and staffed by Cory Boatright, Daniel Klinzing, and Joseph Moeller, solved two problems and placed 37^th in the competition. Team two, named “HiROM” and staffed by Cody Baker, Brian Clark, and Rebecca Fischer, also solved two problems and placed 41^st.

Of the 116 teams competing, 91 solved at least one problem, only 45 solved at least two problems, and only 27 solved more than two problems.

In an email, Professor of Computer Science Ellen Walker wrote, “Most of the teams above Hiram in the rankings came from large universities with graduate programs. The overall winner was University of Toronto and second place went to Carnegie Mellon.  Both teams solved all eight problems within the five-hour period.”

She continued, “I’ve been working with Hiram teams for this contest for about nine years, and these teams’ placements are the highest that I remember.”

Pictured (left to right):  Joseph Moeller, Cory Boatright, Daniel Klinzing. Seated: Rebecca Fischer, Brian Klinzing. 

Professor Mark Taylor presents physics research

On November 16, Associate Professor of Physics Mark Taylor delivered a presentation at John Carroll University in University Heights. His talk was titled “The Physics of Polymer Chains and Pearl Necklaces.”

In other news from the Department of Physics, Professor Taylor and senior physics major Greg Petersen attended the fall meeting of the Ohio Section of the American Physical Society held in Orrville, Ohio, over fall weekend. Taylor gave a talk on his recent research at Hiram titled, “Solvation Potentials for Polymers in Solution.”

Quick facts from the AICUO

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO) published its 2006-07 Counselor’s Guide. Here are some of the quick facts included:

Percentage of Ohio undergraduates (2004-05): Independent 33%; Public 67%

Percentage of Ohio bachelor’s degrees awarded: Independent 34%; Public 66%

Graduation rates:

• 4 years or less (cohort entering 1999): Independent 53%; Public 29%
• 5 years or less: Independent 63%; Public 49%
• 6 years or less: Independent 65%; Public 55%
  

Tuition and fees (2006-07):

• Lowest: $7,650 (Franklin University)
• Highest: $36,050 (Kenyon College)
• Average: $20,131
• Hiram tuition (for first-year students): $23,510 + $670 fees = $24,380
• Number of schools below the average: 25
• Number of schools above the average: 5
  

Financial aid (2004-05):

• Percentage receiving: 89%
• Hiram: 99%
• Average received: $13,758
• Hiram (for first-year students): $20,882

Dining Services hours for Thanksgiving Break

Below are the hours of operation for Miller Dining Hall, the Hiram Café, and the KC Café during Thanksgiving Break.

* If you are on campus for Thanksgiving Day, please sign up at the KC Café for your Thanksgiving meals. Sign up sheets will be available on Monday, November 20. Meals will be available for pickup on Wednesday, November 22, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the KC Café.

Bookstore hours during break

The bookstore will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22, for the Thanksgiving Break. The store will re-open at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, November 27.

Welcome to the Hiram College Community!!

Amberly Hyden – Administrative Assistant, Department of English

Kathy Luschek – Associate Director, Garfield Institute

 Harbinger on hiatus

Due to Thanksgiving Break, the Harbinger will not be published on November 27. The weekly campus newsletter will return December 4. On behalf of the Office of College Relations, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving Break.

This Week at Hiram

Monday, November 20

• FINAL EXAMS

Tuesday, November 21

• FINAL EXAMS

Wednesday, November 22

• Thanksgiving Break

• Men’s basketball v. CWRU
  7:30 p.m., Price Gymnasium

Thursday, November 23

• THANKSGIVING
• NO CLASSES/OFFICESCLOSED

Friday, November 24

• Thanksgiving Break
• NO CLASSES/OFFICES CLOSED

Saturday, November 25

• Thanksgiving Break
• Women’s basketball @ Ursuline Tournament (v. Carlow, Pennsylvania)
  3 p.m., Pepper Pike, Ohio
  

Sunday, November 26

• Thanksgiving Break
• Women’s basketball @ Ursuline Tournament (v. TBA)
  TBA, Pepper Pike, Ohio

Terrier Athletics

http://www.hiram.edu/athletics/index.html.

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