Melanie Shipman

Melanie Shipman, a graduate student in the Beeghly College of Education, and Kayleigh Perline, a double major in Psychology and Interpersonal/Organizational Communications, are the student speakers at Youngstown State University’s Spring Commencements Saturday, May 16, in Beeghly Center on the YSU campus.

Commencement ceremonies for undergraduate and graduate students in the Beeghly College of Education, Williamson College of Business Administration and the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics will be at 10 a.m.

Commencement ceremonies for undergraduate and graduate students in the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and the College of Creative Arts and Communication will be at 2:30 p.m.

Shipman, a member of the first cohort of the School Psychology program at YSU, will speak at the morning ceremony. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Middle Childhood Education with a concentration in Math and Social Studies from the University of Toledo and worked 10 years as a seventh-grade math teacher at Grand Valley Middle School in Orwell, Ohio, where she served on the Math Curriculum and Building Leadership teams. She earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 2007 from Liberty University and then decided to go back to school to become a school psychologist, enrolling in the new School Psychology program. She has worked as a graduate assistant with Mary Lou DiPillo, associate dean in the Beeghly College of Education. During her two-year assistantship, she helped organize a reading conference attended by 300 local teachers and university students and helped with the BCOE change from NCATE to CAEP accreditation standards. While a full-time graduate student and graduate assistant, she managed an active home life as a wife and mother of three children and maintained a perfect grade point average. She currently is an intern working for the Trumbull County Educational Service Center.

Kayleigh Perline

Perline, who has made the Dean’s List every semester at YSU, will speak at the afternoon ceremony. Perline is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the Karl W. Dykema Scholarship, the James P. LaLumia Memorial Scholarship, the William H. Farnell Scholarship, the Dr. Kathleen Kougl Scholarship in Communication, the Allen Jones Scholarship in Psychology, and the Albert & Adele Krotzer Scholarship. Perline is involved with Alpha Xi Delta Sorority, Psi Chi, Lambda Pi Eta, Room of Requirement and Phi Kappa Phi. She held leadership positions in Alpha Xi Delta, Psi Chi and Lambda Pi Eta. She studied at the University of Winchester in England during the fall 2013 semester. Perline has volunteered at the Rich Center for Autism, Animal Charity Humane Society, Walk Now for Autism Speaks in Youngstown and in Canton, and Angels for Animals. After graduation, Perline plans to attend Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, to obtain a master’s and EdS in School Psychology. After that, her goal is to work in a school system as the school psychologist.

Eddie Howard

Eddie J. Howard Jr., vice president for Student Affairs at Augusta Technical College in Georgia, has been named associate vice president for Student Experience at Youngstown State University.

Howard, who previously held student affairs leadership positions at Augusta State University, Georgia College and State University, and the University of Louisville, was selected after a national search. The YSU Board of Trustees approved the appointment today.

“Eddie is a talented, experienced student affairs professional who has excelled in a variety of college settings,” YSU President Jim Tressel said. “We welcome Eddie to YSU and look forward to him joining the university’s leadership team.”

Howard will lead the new Division of Student Experience at YSU and will oversee an array of services, policies and initiatives designed to optimize student experiences at the university. Areas of supervision include Campus Recreation, Student Activities/Greek Life, Student Government, Kilcawley Center, Student Conduct, Student Health Clinic, Housing and Residence Life and Ombudsperson.

“I am truly excited about joining the YSU family,” Howard said. “I am dedicated to the success of the whole student and am looking forward to working with my team to make every student’s experience at YSU the best it can be.”

Howard earned a bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts-Theater Arts, with an emphasis in Telecommunications, from Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, in 1993, and a master’s degree in Education-Student Personnel in Higher Education, from the University of Georgia, in 1995.

He started his career as a graduate resident at the University of Georgia from 1993 to 1995 and then moved to the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where he was Greek advisor for a year before becoming assistant director of Services for three years. He went to Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Ga., in 1998, where he served six years as director of Student Activities. He then moved to Augusta State University in Augusta, Ga., in 2004, where he was director of Student Activities for eight years and served as acting assistant vice president for Student Life for six months. In January 2013, he became vice president for Student Affairs at Augusta Technical College in Augusta, Ga., overseeing admissions, financial aid, student records, academic advising, the counseling center, orientation, testing, career services, graduation events and student activities.

He is a member of numerous organizations, including the American College Personnel Association, the National Association of Campus Activities and the Association of Fraternity Advisors.

The YSU Student Nonprofit Leadership Organization Executive Team, from the left, Marcy Angelo, Dina Daltorio, Jena Bushong, and Brittany Housel award Phil Kidd, Youngstown CityScape, associate director, with $1,500 from the Pay It Forward Initiative.

Youngstown State University students in the Student Nonprofit Leadership Organization awarded two $1,500 grants through the Pay It Forward: Strengthening Communities Student-Led Philanthropy Initiative, a program that gives students hands-on experience in philanthropy.

Grants were given to Inspiring Minds of Warren, Ohio, and Youngstown CityScape of Youngstown. Each organization was awarded $1,500.

Inspiring Minds plans to use the funding for its nutrition program. Funds will be used for hands-on lessons in food preparation and healthy lifestyles in their after-school monthly program and through summer programming. Monies will specifically be spent on food/pantry supplies as well as kitchen utensils and equipment.

Youngstown CityScape plans to use the funding to complete beautification landscaping to the Phelps Street staircase leading from the Williamson College of Business Administration into downtown Youngstown. The stairs were replaced in 2014, and by completing the landscaping this could be another catalyst to creating a more open, welcoming environment between downtown and YSU.

The grant awards were distributed at the Pay It Forward Award Ceremony on Tuesday, May 5, at the Williamson College of Business on the Youngstown State University campus.

Pay It Forward helps students learn how to be engaged citizens and to understand the important role philanthropy plays in the health of local communities – while meeting course specific goals. The initiative addresses critical economic needs in the Mahoning Valley while providing an opportunity for students to experience the grant process of soliciting, reviewing, interviewing and awarding funding.

“Through a democratic process, the students reviewed applications from nearly 20 regional nonprofit organizations that met the specific guidelines relating to animal welfare, community revitalization and youth education,” says Laura J. Dewberry, director, YSU Center for Nonprofit Leadership. “The students then subjected each application through a rigorous vetting process, and chose two well-deserving organizations to receive their funding this year.”

This initiative began in 2010 with seed money from Ohio Campus Compact, and the students have sustained this initiative through their own fundraising efforts over the last three years. In total participating students have awarded more than $36,000 to regional nonprofit organizations. Additionally, students in the initiative are required to perform 15 hours of community service.

For more information on Pay It Forward, the YSU Student Nonprofit Leadership Organization or the YSU Center for Nonprofit Leadership, contact Dewberry at 330-941-1870 or LJMcCaskey@ysu.edu.

Jake Kucek with the first place award.

Three students in Youngstown State University’s master’s program in Interdisciplinary Communication took home first place honors at the Eastern Communication Association Convention in Philadelphia.

Students Jake Kucek, Patrick Bascom and Donald D’Alessio created a research poster titled “Rescue Mission Audit.” It placed first out of 22 posters presented at the conference. Posters were judged on application of theory, scope of research and contribution to the field of communication. Kucek presented the poster at the convention.

The poster, a project derived from a graduate course entitled Organizational Communication Research, was a communication audit of the Mahoning Valley Rescue Mission that included a mixed methods research approach to analyze the communication flow of the Rescue Mission.

A free seminar to assist veterans who may be considering starting, developing and growing a small business will be Wednesday, June 24, in Room 3423 of the Williamson College of Business Administration on the campus of Youngstown State University.

The seminar, which runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and includes lunch, is being presented by the YSU Ohio Small Business Development Center, in partnership with the YSU Office of Veteran’s Affairs and Veteran’s Resource Center.

The seminar, open to veterans, active military and their spouses, will cover all aspects of business ownership including basic organization, business planning, marketing and financing options.

To register, visit www.ysu.edu/sbdc-itac. For more details, contact www.pkveisz@ysu.edu.

Youngstown State University holds its annual Reading of the Names ceremony, remembering YSU employees and students who died while on active military duty, at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 20, at Veterans Plaza on the YSU campus.

YSU’s annual Armed Forces Appreciation Luncheon will follow in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. The luncheon, by invitation only, is designed to recognize veterans and active duty service men and women who are YSU employees or YSU students, as well as, family members of YSU employees who have served or are currently serving in the military.

Guest speaker at the luncheon is Philip Tibbs, son of Howard A. Tibbs, a 1953 alum of Youngstown College who served as a corporal with the Tuskegee Airman in World War II.

Ganesh Kudav, professor of Mechanical Engineering, explains the solar panel wind deflector to YSU President Jim Tressel. The university announced today that Kudav’s design has been awarded a federal patent.

Ganesh Kudav, professor of Mechanical Engineering at Youngstown State University, has been awarded a federal patent for an invention that will help prevent solar panels from being blown off rooftops.

Kudav received the patent along with Yogendra Panta, former YSU assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering.

It is the second patent for YSU in less than a year. Physics Professor Tom Oder received a patent in the fall for a method he devised that improves the performance and reliability of semiconductor devices.

“This invention is another indication of YSU’s continued pursuit of knowledge and excellence and our emergence as a research university,” YSU President Jim Tressel said.

The invention focuses on solar panels that are placed on flat rooftops. In strong winds, the solar panels are at risk of getting blown off the roof, Kudav said. The conventional method to secure the panels is by holding them down with heavy dead weights called ballasts. The ballasts, however, can be expensive, take up considerable space, and their weight can sometimes exceed the structural limits of the roof.

The patent was awarded for designing a device that deflects wind from the solar panels, keeping them in place without weighing them down. Approval of the patent was granted earlier this spring.

“We believe this design helps resolve one of the biggest issues facing the solar panel industry today,” Kudav said. “The design provides a deflector that is versatile, achieves aerodynamic force reduction and is easy to assemble and install. Overall, it makes the installation of roof solar panels safer and more economical.”

For more information on the patent, visit http://patft.uspto.gov/ and search for patent number 9,003,739.

The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees conducts its next quarterly round of meetings on the following schedule. All sessions are in the Board of Trustees Meeting Room on the first floor of Tod Hall:

Thursday, May 28, 11:45 a.m. Lunch, Manchester Room; 12:30 p.m. Academic Quality and Student Success Committee; 1:30 p.m. Collective Bargaining and Negotiations Subcommittee; 2:30 p.m. University Affairs Committee; 3:30 p.m. Institutional Engagement Committee; 4:30 p.m. Trusteeship Committee; 5 p.m., Special Board of Trustees Meeting.

Tuesday, June 2, 11:45 a.m., Lunch, Manchester Room; 12:30 p.m. Investment Subcommittee; 1:30 p.m. Audit Subcommittee; 2:30 p.m. Finance and Facilities Committee; 3:30 p.m. Executive Committee.

Wednesday, June 17, 3 p.m. Board Meeting.

Meagan Healy 

Meagan Healy, a biology major at Youngstown State University with a chemistry minor, is this year’s recipient of the Academic YSU-OEA Union Heritage Scholarship award.

Healy, of LaGrange, Ohio, is employed on campus as a resident assistant at Lyden House. She is president of the YSU Biology Club, secretary of the Residence Hall Association and a member of the Student Conduct Board.

An avid horsewoman, Healy has been showing horses since she was very young, and she hopes to pursue a career in veterinary medicine, specializing in equine sports medicine. She is serving an internship as a veterinary assistant at Cleveland Equine Clinic in Ravenna and expects to graduate in spring 2016.

YSU-OEA is the university’s chapter of the Ohio Education Association and represents YSU faculty. Its $1,000 Heritage Scholarship is awarded to a student who has a personal or family connection to the labor movement and is pursuing educational goals at YSU.

To apply for the scholarship, visit the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships page at the YSU website, www.ysu.edu, or contact the YSU-OEA office at 330-747-1756 for more information.

Youngstown State University last week graduated its first group of students with the new Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology.

Graduates receiving the EdS in School Psychology, the second of two degrees awarded under the three-year program, are: Anna Adams, Canfield; Sarah Brocker, Canfield; Elizabeth Coloutes, Poland, Ohio; Melanie Evans, Ashtabula; Brian Glenn, Youngstown; Stephanie Gordon, Liberty Township; Carl Scott Keller, Willoughby, Ohio; Elizabeth Pugh, Youngstown; and Melanie Shipman, Greene, Ohio.

All nine already earned Master’s of Education in Intervention Services degrees in 2013 following their first year of coursework. The EdS in School Psychology is earned after an additional year of coursework, plus 251 hours of practical and field experience and a 1,400-hour supervised internship at an Ohio school district.

Richard VanVoorhis, program director, said all nine degree candidates achieved passing scores in the School Psychology Praxis test earlier this year to become eligible for licensure in Ohio as school psychologists.

“They are already finding success in the school psychology job market, and many have been offered positions in the field for the next academic school year,” he said. “Certainly, we are filling a critical need, not only in the Mahoning Valley region, but throughout the state of Ohio.”

YSU’s School Psychology program is housed in the Beeghly College of Education through the Department of Counseling, Special Education, and School Psychology.  The program has a current enrollment of 33 graduate candidates.

YSU created the program in 2012 to address a critical shortage in school psychologists locally and across the nation. The program is one of only nine school psychology programs in the state, and the EdS degree is the first ever degree at that level to be offered at YSU.

Carmen Moradian

Ashley Orr

Youngstown State University students Carmen Moradian of Boardman and Ashley Orr of Columbiana have been selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad this summer.

Moradian, a senior at YSU studying biology pre-med, will study at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. Orr, a senior mathematics major, will study at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom.

They are among more than a thousand undergraduate students from 332 colleges and universities across the United States selected to receive the scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Gilman scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply towards their study abroad or internship program costs. The program aims to diversify the students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go.

The scholarship program is administered by the Institute of International Education. The full list of students who have been selected to receive Gilman Scholarships, including students’ home state, university and host country, is available at www.iie.org/gilman.

Dedicating one of two American Elms outside the YSU Veterans Resource Center are, from left, Larry Tooker, YSU President Jim Tressel, Lynn Hoffman, Veterans Affairs coordinator Rick Willliams and Dan Burns. Tooker, Hoffman and Burns represent the Men’s Garden Club of Youngstown.

Youngstown State University today celebrated its sixth consecutive year as a Tree Campus USA by dedicating two newly planted American Elm trees outside the rear entrance of YSU’s new Veterans Resource Center on the YSU campus.

The trees were dedicated in recognition of the Men’s Garden Club of Youngstown, which donated and planted them as part of its American Elm Project. “The American Elm is such a magnificent shade tree,” said Larry Tooker, a garden club member and YSU retiree who proposed the Veterans Resource Center as a planting site. “We think it’s important to bring this majestic tree back to the landscape of American cities.”

YSU, which has nearly 2,000 trees on its campus with an estimated value of $2.2 million, first received Tree Campus USA status from the Arbor Day Foundation in 2009 and must reapply annually. YSU is one of just 245 campuses nationwide to achieve Tree Campus USA status. The program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals.

“Planting these beloved American Elm trees is a great way to celebrate National Arbor Day and to call attention to the fact that YSU works hard to preserve its trees and green spaces for future generations of students,” said Catherine Cala, chair of YSU’s Campus Beautification Working Group and director of Alumni Engagement.

Garden clubs and other groups nationwide are participating in an effort to plant disease-resistant American Elms in cities, such as Youngstown, where the elm tree population was decimated by Dutch Elm disease. The Men’s Garden Club of Youngstown has planted American Elms at nine other public property locations around Mahoning and Trumbull Counties, Tooker said, and has a 15-tree test plot in a Mill Creek MetroParks nature preserve.

Tooker played a role in establishing gardens at Mill Creek MetroParks when he served as park horticulturist from 1970-1982. He later spent more than 25 years with YSU’s Grounds Department, working with Student Government volunteers in 2007 to refurbish the Pollock House gardens. Tooker has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Michigan State University.

YSU’s Veterans Resource Center opened last fall to provide expanded services for military veterans and active military making the transition to student life at the university. The $1.3 million building is being paid for entirely by private donations through an ongoing fundraising campaign.

The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs Committee today approved the appointment of three individuals to fill leadership positions in the Division of Academic Affairs:

Michael Reagle

Michael Reagle has been appointed associate vice president for Student Success. He will oversee services and initiatives related to student retention, completion and success. Reagle comes to YSU after 14 years as associate vice president for Campus Life at Eastern Kentucky University. He previously was dean of Students at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, and associate dean of Students at California Baptist College in Riverside Calif. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Seton Hall University, a master’s degree in College Counseling and Student Personnel Administration from the University of Delaware and a doctor of Education in Institutional Management from Pepperdine University.

Mike Hripko

Mike Hripko has been appointed associate vice president for Research. He will provide leadership and strategic direction for advancing scholarship, research, grant activity and technology transfer at the university. A native of Youngstown, Hripko is deputy director for Workforce and Educational Outreach at America Makes in Youngstown. He previously was director of STEM Research and Technology-based Economic Development at YSU and also spent more than 30 years at Delphi Corp. in a variety of roles, including manager of Product Management and Pricing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Dayton, a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Iowa and a master’s of Business Administration degree from Kent State University.

Sal Sanders

Sal Sanders has been appointed dean of the College of Graduate Studies. Sanders is an associate professor in the Department of Health Professions at YSU and has been associate dean of Graduate Studies at YSU since 2013. He came to YSU in 1999 as instructional technology specialist and has served in a variety of roles since, including interim director of Media and Academic Computing, director of Distance Learning in the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services and interim director of the master of Respiratory Care Program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Allied Health from YSU, a master’s degree in Technical Education from the University of Akron and a doctorate in Secondary Education from the University of Akron.

Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel today unveiled a new administrative organization that will allow the university to operate more efficiently and effectively on behalf of students and the community and will reduce top managerial costs by nearly $1 million.

The YSU Board of Trustees’ University Affairs Committee approved the reorganization today. Trustees vote on final approval at their regular quarterly meeting June 17.

“It is vital for any institution, especially one the size and complexity of a university, to have in place an administrative framework that provides the opportunity for the university to reach its full potential,” said Tressel, who became YSU’s ninth president on July 1, 2014. “We believe that this reorganization does just that, and will result in improvements across all segments of the university, as well as significant savings.”

Under the reorganization plan, which has been in the works for several months, the university will consist of four major administrative units: the Office of the President, the Division of Academic Affairs, the Division of Finance and Business Operations and the Division of Legal Affairs and Human Resources.

• President Tressel’s office will oversee the divisions of Enrollment Planning and Management, led by Associate Vice President Gary Swegan; Inclusion and Multicultural Affairs, led by Executive Director Sylvia J. Imler; Student Experience, led by Associate Vice President Eddie J. Howard Jr.; and University Relations, led by Associate Vice President Shannon Tirone.

• Martin Abraham, provost and vice president, will lead the Division of Academic Affairs, which consists of the eight colleges, including the new Honors College, and all other academic-related units. Academic Affairs also includes the new Division of Student Success, led by Associate Vice President Michael Reagle, whose appointment was approved by the board committee today. The board committee also approved the appointments of Sal Sanders as the new dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Mike Hripko as the new associate vice president for Research, both in the Division of Academic Affairs.

• The Division of Finance and Business Operations, which includes budget planning, treasury operations, bursar’s office, controller’s office, facilities, maintenance, support services, bookstore operations and information technology services, will be led by Neal McNally, vice president.

• The Division of Legal Affairs and Human Resources, which includes the general counsel’s office, human resources and intercollegiate athletics, will be led by Holly Jacobs, vice president and general counsel.

Among the administrative positions eliminated under the reorganization are two vice presidents and four executive directors. Net savings in administrative salary and benefits will be $939,582.

Tressel said the university’s leadership team has also identified four major areas of focus: creating a culture of community on campus, ensuring the success of all students, developing programs and activities that impact the region, and promoting a campus environment that provides for the discovery of knowledge.

“We look forward to putting into place the final pieces of this leadership structure that we believe will allow the university to continue to flourish in the months and years ahead,” Tressel said.

The president also said that the new plan will result in a handful of relocations on campus, most of which will take place over the summer months:

• The Office of Career Services is moving from Jones Hall to Kilcawley Center.
• The Division of Inclusion and Multicultural Affairs, as well as the Office of Student Diversity and Programs, will move to Jones Hall.
• The new Division of Student Experience will be in Kilcawley Center.
• The new Division of Student Success will be in Jones Hall.
• The Division of Enrollment Planning and Management will move from the first floor of Tod Hall to the second floor.
• The Office of Research will be located on the third floor of Tod Hall.
• The Office of Marketing and Communications, as part of an effort to improve the university’s website and layout design capabilities, will expand into the north end of the first floor of Tod Hall. Earlier this year, Alumni Engagement and University Events moved to the first floor of Tod Hall.

Folks bearing bingo cards may be trekking across the Youngstown State University campus this summer as part of Mahoning Valley Bingo.

The activity is sponsored by the Mahoning Cultural Collaborative, made up of local non-profit institutions that are field trip destinations for local schools. Squares on the bingo card include museum visits, hands-on activities, outdoor experiences, science exploration, as well as fun with books, art and music.

Participating sites on the YSU campus include the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, Melnick Medical Museum, Ward Beecher Planetarium, Smith Mineral Museum and the McDonough Museum of Art.

Completed cards should be dropped off at a participating site for the chance to win prizes.  Deadline for entry is Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7, 2015.  A drawing from all completed bingo cards will be done at Oh Wow’s Silly Science Sunday in September.

Bingo cards at any of the MCC sites or at www.mahoningculture.org.

Fourth and fifth graders who need help with their writing skills are eligible to participate in a free, online summer writing camp June 15 to July 17 presented by the Beeghly College of Education at Youngstown State University.

Sung Hee Lee, an assistant professor in Special Education, said participants will improve their writing skills by creating stories online through a kid-friendly website.

Enrollment is open to pupils who will enter fourth and fifth grade in the fall, who receive IEP service and who have basic keyboarding skills. Children who live in rural, suburban and urban neighborhoods in the Youngstown or Pittsburgh area may apply.

The curriculum is completely online and features multiple levels of engagement. Participants are required to participate in at least eight online sessions and to write at least four stories.

For more information, contact Lee at shlee@ysu.edu or visit YSU’s Special Education website.

The public can get a sneak preview of Youngstown State University’s newest innovation space, Launch Lab, from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 13.

The event is part of Northeast Ohio Hour of Making, when sites across NEO will be opening their doors to the public. The Hour of Making is part of the National Week of Making and showcases regional “maker” activities that are empowering students, faculty and the broader public to imagine, innovate and bring ideas to life.

Launch Lab is a collaboration between the YSU College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and the YSU College of Creative arts and Communication. Using cutting edge technologies, Launch Lab users are able to scan 3D objects, create digital models, and print them as working, physical objects.

The lab is housed in the Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., in Youngstown, on the YSU campus. Guests should enter through the main entrance of the Butler Institute and follow the signs to the Launch Lab event. Parking is available across the street in the Wick Avenue deck.

Michael Glonek, left, APAS president, and Ed Villone, APAS vice president and president-elect, with the Positive Image Award.

The Youngstown Association of Professional and Administrative Staff has received the 2014-15 Ohio Education Association Positive Image Award.

Among the activities cited for the award is APAS securing a $500 grant on behalf of the local Boys and Girls Club this past year. APAS worked with the Boys and Girls Club to determine how best to leverage the money to fund two separate projects. A portion of the funds were used to purchase seeds, plants and equipment necessary to maintain a garden. Other funds were used to create the APAS Library Corner at the Boys and Girls Club.

The APAS union also developed a news release, which was sent out to a media list of local newspaper and broadcast outlets. The primary print publication in the area, the Youngstown Vindicator, ran a story about the projects on June 16, 2014. The article appeared in both the print and online versions of the newspaper.

YSU APAS remains committed to a variety of causes through donations to the United Way, Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and more. The union is currently raising money to create an APAS union scholarship to help YSU students fund their educations.

For more information, contact Mollie Hartup at mahartup@ysu.edu or 330-941-3086.

Organizers of the Summer Festival of the Arts and Lit Youngstown announce a public literary art project as a component of the Summer Festival of the Arts, July 11 and 12 at and around YSU.

Literary submissions of 50 words of ekphrastic writing—writing that is inspired by any work of art—will be solicited. Writers may view images of accepted Summer Festival of the Arts artists at www.ysu.edu/sfa for inspiration, or submit writing on any artwork. Submission guidelines are available at LitYoungstown.wordpress.com. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, June 21.

Entries will be screened by Lit Youngstown staff and then juried by a guest judge. The winning submission will be printed on a reusable, sustainable tote bag, which will be distributed to the public at the Summer Festival of the Arts.

All submissions will be displayed at the Lit Youngstown booth during the Summer Festival of the Arts. A real-time Powerpoint presentation of the statements will be projected on the back wall of the tent. Several readings and performances will take place throughout the two-day event. In addition, Lit Youngstown volunteers will lead ekphrastic freewriting tours to artists’ booths where participants will freewrite, using local art as inspiration. There will also be a raffle to win an original sculpture bird bath created by metal sculptor Tony Armeni. Tickets cost $3.00 or two for $5.00.

“There has been a tradition of the literary arts at the festival, with readings of all kinds, Lit Youngstown co-director Karen Schubert said. “We’re stoked to build on that and give participants an opportunity to share their work with us or create new work.”

Lit Youngstown is a non-profit Literary Arts Center founded in 2015 in Youngstown, Ohio, which celebrates award-winning poets, fiction and non-fiction writers and journalists, as well as presses, programs and publications. Their programs and events are focused on many aspects of the literary arts: honing craft; publishing; performing; and engaging with literature. Classes taught by skilled writers and scholars are offered each spring, summer and fall, for writers and readers of all ages and experience levels.

The Summer Festival of the Arts, presented by Youngstown State University, is in its 17th year of celebrating the fine and performing arts, local culture and community collaboration, and occurs yearly at and around the University. The event is a part of a weekend of special events including the Downtown Jazz Concert, a Gospel concert, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Summerfest and this year, an unveiling of an original Abraham Lincoln portrait at the Mahoning County Courthouse.

For more information, call 330-941-2307 or email Lori Factor at lafactor@ysu.edu.

YSU students participating in the 2015 Nonprofit Leadership Summer Honors Internship Program are, left to right, front row, Jordan Wolfe, Leah Ferraro, Savannah Taylor, Marcy Angelo, Joey DeLisio; back row, Karli Rupert, Lindsey Farran, Jena Bushong, Eric Haughey, Kendal Malsch. They are pictured at the Habitat for Humanity work site in Salem, Ohio.

Ten Youngstown State University students are working internships across the region this summer as part of the 2015 Nonprofit Leadership Summer Honors Internship Program.

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership at YSU, housed in the Williamson College of Business Administration, was awarded a $50,020 grant from the Raymond John Wean Foundation to implement the program, which offers full-time, 12-week paid internships to 10 YSU students with career-related work experience in a nonprofit or public sector organization.

The program runs through Aug. 7. The internships are co-funded by the participating organizations.

The following students and organizations were selected:

• Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley hired Joey DeLisio, an undergraduate senior with a Communication Studies major, for the Marketing/Special Events/Fundraising Intern position.
• Habitat for Humanity of Northern Columbiana County hired Savannah Taylor, an undergraduate senior studying Business Administration and Nonprofit Leadership, for the Community Revitalization Intern position.
• Homes for Kids of Ohio hired Leah Ferraro, an undergraduate senior studying Marketing Management, for the Marketing Intern position.
• Junior Achievement hired Marcy Angelo, an undergraduate senior studying Business Administration and Nonprofit Leadership, for the I Can Save Program Intern position.
• Mahoning Valley Historical Society hired Kendal Malsch, a graduate student studying Teacher Education, for the Education Program Intern position.
• Mercy Health Foundation hired Lindsey Farran, an undergraduate senior studying Business Administration, for the Special Event/Marketing Intern position.
• Oh Wow! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology hired Jena Bushong, an undergraduate senior studying Accounting, for the Special Event/Accounting Intern position.
• United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley hired Karli Rupert, a graduate student studying Social Work, for the Community School Initiative Intern position.
• Youngstown Area Jewish Federation hired Eric Haughey, an undergraduate senior studying Accounting, for the Accounting Intern position.
• YSU Center for Urban & Regional Studies hired Jordan Wolfe, an undergraduate Political Science major, for the Economic Development Intern position.

“This program aims to provide meaningful, career-related experience to YSU students, which in turn fosters and develops their leadership skills to serve as effective leaders in the public and nonprofit employment sectors upon graduation,” said Laura Dewberry, director, YSU Center for Nonprofit Leadership. “This program also benefits the selected host organizations by building capacity over a 12-week period as students work on projects that help increase the impact made in the organizations’ important community work, thus, helping to achieve organizational excellence.”

For more information, contact Dewberry at 330-941-1870 or LJMcCaskey@ysu.edu.