All University of Toledo students now have a unique way to showcase their work with a digital portfolio on Seelio.

UT has expanded its partnership with Seelio, an online portfolio company based in Ann Arbor, Mich., to allow all students access to student lifecycle portfolios that enable them to highlight their accomplishments throughout their time at UT while interacting with online communities.

“The University of Toledo prepares students for successful careers with engaging classroom and experiential learning opportunities that can now be easily shared with potential employers,” said Larry Burns, UT vice president for external affairs. “The partnership with Seelio allows us to enhance the student experience and highlight the value of a UT degree.”

“We are thrilled to be rolling out Seelio to the whole UT community,” said Moses Lee, Seelio’s co-founder and CEO. “From day one we’ve wanted to help students show the value of their degree and we’ve been blown away by what we’ve seen already. UT is truly leading the way in helping students capture and showcase the value of experiential learning.”

Last year, UT partnered with Seelio to bring the technology and services to the Jesup Scott Honors College and College of Communication and the Arts for faculty members to incorporate portfolios into their classrooms and for students to have an avenue to demonstrate the work they performed in an experiential learning setting.

After the successful pilot program involving about 1,000 students in the two colleges, it is now being expanded to the entire UT community of more than 20,000 students.

“Our students are having amazingly rich experiences that are not easily captured in just a bullet point. With Seelio, they can showcase their work in creative ways and demonstrate their enhanced undergraduate experiences at UT,” said Dr. Lakeesha Ransom, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College. “Seelio has been a great asset to our students, and it helps them articulate their undergraduate experiences.”

“I shared the link to my Seelio page with an employer and they loved it,” said Caroline Jardine, a junior in the College of Communication and the Arts. “Not only did my Seelio site present my work professionally, but it also gave me an edge over other applicants who might not have had an account. I ended up getting the position and I know that my Seelio helped me!”

Colleges across UT are working with Seelio’s service team to identify new ways to incorporate portfolios into the student experience. The honors college is using Seelio to build communities with Honors Coaching Circles to share academic and co-curricular activities and the College of Communication and the Arts has integrated Seelio into its Project Based Learning Initiative where students collaborate on a 30-minute television production in partnership with WGTE Public Media in Toledo. Other colleges are planning to incorporate Seelio into their co-op and advising programs with individual faculty members who also are integrating the portfolio technology into their courses.

As an enterprise campus with Seelio, UT gains access to data visualization tools, learning management and student information system integrations, a dedicated UT community on Seelio, as well as dedicated service support for portfolio implementation across all colleges.

UT students or faculty who want to get started on Seelio can visit utoledo.seelio.com. UT students and faculty who already have accounts will receive more information from Seelio in their university email.

Media Coverage
Campus Technology (March 2, 2015)
Virtual Strategy Magazine (March 2, 2015)

Donald R. West, the attorney for George Zimmerman, will speak today (Thursday, Feb. 26) at noon in the Law Center McQuade Law Auditorium.

His free, public talk is titled “The National Media in the Zimmerman Trial.”

Zimmerman, the Florida man who claims to have shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin in self-defense, was acquitted of second-degree murder in July 2013. In the weeks and months preceding the not guilty verdict, the national media was acutely focused on Zimmerman and the facts of his case. This intense media presence had real consequences for Zimmerman and his defense.

West will look back on his representation of Zimmerman and examines how media attention affected the trial.

A veteran criminal defense attorney, West has been lead counsel in several high-profile death penalty cases in state and federal courts in Florida and Puerto Rico, and has been designated as learned counsel in death penalty cases in state and federal courts. He is also the former senior litigation counsel for the Federal Defender’s Office and supervisor of its capital defense team.

West holds a bachelor of arts and master of science degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the State University of New York Buffalo Law School.

The lecture is sponsored by the UT College of Law and its chapter of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 24, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 27, 2015)

The University of Toledo’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics will host Saturday Morning Science programs.

The free, public lecture series will cover a diverse range of scientific topics and feature tutorials, demos and hands-on activities.

“Our attendees range anywhere from middle school, high school, undergrads to retirees, some of whom have been coming for eight consecutive years,” said Dr. Joseph Schmidt, UT associate professor of chemistry and program co-organizer. “We get between 100 and 120 people showing up almost every time.”

All programs will start at 9:30 a.m. and take place in Wolfe Hall Room 1205 on UT’s Main Campus. Free parking is available in area 13 and the west parking ramp.

Upcoming topics and speakers include:

•  Feb. 21: “Computable Numbers: Algorithms and Complexity From Ancient Iraq to Modern Particle Physics” with Dr. Paul Hewitt, associate professor in the UT Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

•  Feb. 28: “Improving Water Quality for Maumee Bay — Restoring Ecosystems for Health and Fun!” with Dr. Daryl Dwyer, associate professor in the UT Department of Environmental Sciences and director of the Stranahan Arboretum.

For more information and a full schedule of programs, visit facebook.com/SaturdayMorningScience.

Media Coverage
The Independent Collegian (March 4, 2015)

The Catholic Student Association at The University of Toledo is collecting prom dresses to give to students in Toledo Public Schools.

“The idea came to me while I was still in high school,” said Grisoranyel Barrios, a UT sophomore majoring in political science and social work. “After all of my dances, I would donate my dresses, no matter how much I loved them. I always figured some girl would give it another amazing night out. After all, it was just going to sit in my closet for years because the likelihood of me wearing it again was close to none.”

Dresses and accessories can be dropped off Friday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Corpus Christi University Parish, 2955 Dorr St.

Alternate drop-off or pick-up times can be scheduled with Barrios for those who can’t come on this day.

“I know how difficult it was to try to find a dress that would be nice enough for prom and was affordable for my mom to purchase,” Barrios said.

Toledo Public School students can pick out a prom dress Sunday, March 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium.

Cash donations also will be accepted.

“All the donations we collect from this event will be donated to the Daughter Project, which is a local organization that rescues young girls from sex-trafficking situations,” Barrios said.

For more information or to schedule an alternate drop-off or pick-up time, contact Barrios at grisoranyel.barrios@rockets.utoledo.edu.

The Confucius Institute invites the UT campus and Toledo community to celebrate the Chinese New Year with fun and educational activities Tuesday, Feb. 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium.

Highlighted performances will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. and feature tea art, an interactive demonstration of the Chinese martial art Taiji, Chinese opera, Chinese abacus calculation, and music by Chinese and Western instrumental ensembles.

Those who attend can engage in several activities: art projects, including making Chinese bracelets, painting paper lanterns, and paper cutting and folding; making dumplings; and bamboo dancing.

There also will be an Asian flea market to check out, as well as an information session on studying abroad in China.

Free T-shirts and lucky bracelets for people who were born in the year of the year of the sheep/goat/ram (1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015) will be available; proof of birth date required.

The Chinese New Year is the longest and most important holiday celebration in the Chinese calendar. In China, the New Year is a time of family reunion. Family members gather at each other’s homes for visits, shared meals and to renew ties.

The Confucius Institute serves northwest Ohio by providing education in Chinese language and culture, and supports the development of China-related scholarly research and academic programs. It also offers opportunities for cultural exchanges between China and the United States.

For more information about the Chinese New Year celebration, call the Confucius Institute at 419.530.7750.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ MEETINGS

THE FOLLOWING MEETING HAS BEEN POSTPONED
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Radisson Hotel, Faculty Club Room
12:00 Noon Board of Trustees Meeting
The University of Toledo Board of Trustees will be meeting with Owens Community College Board of Trustees for lunch. Discussion topic — Collaborative Brainstorming: The Future of Workforce Development in Northwest Ohio

THE FOLLOWING MEETINGS HAVE BEEN ADDED
Friday, February 20, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
Radisson Hotel, Faculty Club Room
10:45 a.m. Board of Trustees Meetings
Upon convening each of these meetings, the Board will enter Executive Session
to discuss the employment of a public employee.

Any questions may be directed to the University Communications Office by calling (419) 530-7832 or via email at jonathan.strunk@utoledo.edu.

The University of Toledo’s Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women will host its 7th Annual Celebrity Wait Night from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, at The Pinnacle, 1772 Indian Wood Circle in Maumee. More than 400 people are expected to attend this dinner featuring celebrity waiters from around the community and a silent auction.

Throughout the evening local celebrities will wait on the tables and collect tips to benefit the center. Some of this year’s servers include:

•  John Barrett, interim provost for UT
•  Jeff Cole, senior director of corporate communications for Dana Holding Corp. and UT Board of Trustees member
•  Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, professor emeritus in the UT College of Medicine and UT Board of Trustees member
•  Tricia Cullop, UT Women’s Basketball Coach

“The Eberly Center is one of the oldest women’s centers in the country and continues to not only serve UT, but the surrounding community,” said Dr. Shanda Gore, UT associate vice president of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement, and director of the center. “The Eberly Center is an integral part of UT’s community engagement. The proceeds from this event will help continue to support the welcoming, inclusive environment that is the Eberly Center.”

All donations benefit the Eberly Center’s initiatives, including its signature programs the Women’s Success Series and Kate’s Closet. This program is designed to guide women on their journeys of personal and professional development, by engaging them to identify career paths, determine educational next-steps, navigate proactively in today’s economy, and prepare themselves for a successful future.

For more information contact Outreach Manager, Emily Kizer at 734.834.0136 or the Eberly Center at 419.530.8570.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (Feb. 13, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 22, 2015)

Three physicians at The University of Toledo Medical Center are starting a monthly clinic with comprehensive men’s health care.

The clinic, which will begin Tuesday, Feb. 17, will be held from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month in the Urology Clinic of the Medical Pavilion at UTMC.

It is run by four UT Health specialists: Dr. Ajay Singla, urologist; Dr. Rajesh Gupta, cardiologist; Dr. Juan Jaume, endocrionologist; and Marc Crisenberry, a nurse practitioner in urology.

The collaboration among the different specialists offers an experience that is unique to the northwest Ohio area. Though similar clinics are becoming more popular across the country, this will be the first one in this region.

“We want our community to have a comprehensive care model dealing with men’s health,” Singla said.

The clinic’s emphasis is on common conditions like benign enlargement of the prostate, andropause, infertility, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, permanent sterilization, varicocele, sexual dysfunction, Peyronie’s disease and incontinence.

Many of these conditions affect a man’s quality of life and are often associated with other diseases such as hypertension, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. They also can occur due to the treatment of diseases like cancer.

“If we treat the patient as a whole and deal with all the issues, it will provide better health care,” Singla said. “That’s the whole idea — to bring everyone together so a patient can see all the specialists at the same time rather than having different appointments.”

Some of the services they provide include fertility preservation/sperm retrieval, male fertility testing, vasectomies, penile prostheses, penile ultrasounds and dopplers, Peyronie’s treatment, sling procedures and artificial sphincter implants for incontinence, varicocelectomies, vasectomy reversals, testosterone replacement therapy, BPH treatment, non-surgical treatment for erectile dysfunction, and Botox therapy and neuromodulation for overactive bladder.

To make an appointment for the clinic, call 419.383.4360.

Compassion is key at The University of Toledo’s 13th annual Jewish-Christian- Muslim Dialogue.

The Rev. James Bacik will give a talk, “Karen Armstrong and Pope Francis on Compassion: Theological Perspectives and Practical Strategies,” at this year’s event at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 in the Student Union Ingman Room.

Following the talk, reflections will be given by Rabbi Evan Rubin, leader of the congregation Etz Chayim, and Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, UT professor emeritus of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery and UT Board of Trustees member.

“The dialogue between Judaism, Christianity and Islam is a family dialogue,” said Dr. Jeanine Diller, director of UT’s Center for Religious Understanding. “These three religions all claim descent from Abraham in some way, and they all have as their ultimate concern the God of Abraham. These historical and theological linkages give them a lot to say to each other, and sometimes they disagree, sometimes they agree. This annual dialogue is a venue for that conversation.”

Each year for the past 12 years, members of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths on campus and in the community gather to talk about a topic of mutual interest, Diller said. The faiths take turns on a keynote speaker — this year being the Christian faith’s turn. After the keynote talk and reflections, attendees are invited to break into religiously diverse groups to share thoughts on the evening.

Bacik, the keynote speaker, is a Toledo diocesan priest who formerly served as pastor of Corpus Christi University Parish and is a visiting adjunct professor at Lourdes University in Sylvania. He earned his doctorate of theology from the University of Oxford and has published 10 books and numerous articles, including Contemporary Theologians, Catholic Spirituality: Its History and Challenge, A Light Unto My Path: Crafting Effective Homilies, and his latest book, Humble Confidence: Spiritual and Pastoral Guidance From Rahner.

“Compassion is a wonderful topic for the three religious traditions,” he said. “There are great examples of compassion existing in other communities and how they portray compassion in their own communities.”

Bacik said he will focus on the work of 2008 Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) prize recipient Karen Armstrong, who initiated the Charter for Compassion — a commitment to work to establish and sustain cultures of compassion locally and globally through diverse initiatives. Toledo joined the movement last year.

Bacik will tie Armstrong’s work to the teachings of Pope Francis, who implements compassion into his homilies and daily practices. He cited when the pope kissed and prayed over the man with neurofibromatosis in 2013 as an example he will share. Pope Francis has spoke of the church as a field hospital during battle, which cares for the wounded, Bacik said.

Prior to the free, public event, a student “Compassion in Action” reception will offer free hors d’oeuvres and an opportunity for students to share stories about compassion in their own lives. A compassion box also will be available for students to walk out of the event with a kind task to do.

Free dessert will be available during the dialogue.

Attendees are invited to bring canned or boxed food donations for the UT Student Food Pantry that opened in October and serves UT students in need.

“I hope students will walk away with a deep and specific understanding about the value all three of these traditions place on compassion,” Diller said. “I hope they meet and converse with people from each of these traditions, too, and that they can ask hard questions and talk honestly together. I hope we all come away inspired to work shoulder to shoulder on the massive problems our world faces.”

This event is made possible by donations from the Jewish Federation, Corpus Christi University Parish, Toledo Campus Ministry, the Foundation of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Toledo Community Foundation, and UT’s College of Languages, Literature and Social Sciences.

Visitor parking will be available in lot 13 or the west ramp; vehicles will not be ticketed during the event.

For more information, email cfru@utoledo.edu or call 419.530.6187.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 7, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 17, 2015)

The University of Toledo will host two open forums for each presidential candidate during their campus visits the last two weeks of February.

Forums for Dr. Michele Wheatly, professor and senior adviser to the president at West Virginia University, will be held:

•  Thursday, Feb. 19, from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. in University Hall’s Doermann Theater on Main Campus; and
•  Friday, Feb. 20, from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m. in Collier Building Room 1000B on Health Science Campus.

Forums for Dr. Christopher Howard, president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, will be held:

•  Monday, Feb. 23, from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. in University Hall’s Doermann Theater on Main Campus; and
•  Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m. in Collier Building Room 1000A on Health Science Campus.

Forums for Dr. Sharon Gaber, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas, will be held:

•  Thursday, Feb. 26, from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. in University Hall’s Doermann Theater on Main Campus; and
•  Friday, Feb. 27, from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m. in Collier Building Room 1000B on Health Science Campus.

All forums will provide members of the University community the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates, and the finalists will open each event with a short presentation. Each conversation will be streamed live at video.utoledo.edu.

In addition to the open forums, candidates will meet in smaller groups with faculty and student leadership, as well as college deans, senior administrators, community members and University supporters.

Wheatly

Howard

Gaber

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 6, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 7, 2015)
The Plain Dealer (Feb. 13, 2015)
FOX 19 Cleveland (Feb. 13, 2015)
Morning Journal (Feb. 13, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 15, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 20, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 20, 2015)
13 ABC (Feb. 20, 2015)
Insurance News (Feb. 20, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 21, 2015)
NBC 24 (Feb. 22, 2015)
WBNS 10 (Feb. 23, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 23, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 24, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 24, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 25, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 26, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 27, 2015)
The Blade (Feb. 28, 2015)