UNI CATS awarded Governor’s Volunteer Award
 The University of Northern Iowa’s Connecting Alumni to Students (CATS) program was awarded the Governor’s Volunteer Award.
Established in 1982, the Governor’s Volunteer Award program honors and recognizes the commitment, service and time that hundreds of volunteers across the state contribute each year. CATS, the official student volunteer group of the UNI Alumni Association, continues university traditions and serves as the link between students, administration and alumni.
CATS was recognized with the Governor’s Volunteer Award for its overall commitment to UNI. Throughout the year, members of CATS held One Night—9 Lives Dinners; acted as the Panther Pride Patrol rewarding students for wearing UNI gear; organized Panther Fridays; assisted Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow (STAT) with homecoming events and distribution of the STAT “BEAT” T-shirts; planned the Polar Bare Run; and attended the Association of Student Advancement Programs (ASAP) district conference and network.
“I think CATS is a fabulous program for UNI’s campus and community,” said Samantha Keltner ’08, CATS president at the time of the award, and a senior history major from Ankeny. “There is nothing better than being able to reward students and community members for having pride in our university. In just a year, CATS made a huge impression on campus.”
UNI CATS was also awarded the Outstanding Student Organization Award at the ASAP conference and the UNI Student Leadership Award for Most Outstanding Philanthropy project.
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U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speaks at UNI
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke to a crowd of more than 1,000 people, many aspiring teachers, at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus Friday, April 24. Secretary Duncan’s  presentation underscored UNI President Benjamin Allen’s priorities that UNI be known as a leader in pre-K through 12 issues and enhance the development of the state of Iowa.
Duncan discussed the economic stimulus funding for education and priorities in education reform. His top priorities focus on strong teaching and student learning through student data systems, teacher and administrato r evaluation systems, and indentifying underperforming schools.
Among his ideas for reforming education include recruiting and retaining great teachers. He outlined several possibilities for improving the quality of teaching through mentoring programs, teacher compensation and working with teachers who aren’t getting the job done.
In reference to UNI’s high-quality teacher education program and its 500 students that graduate each year into the profession, he believes that educator preparation programs should reflect the quality of those teachers in each state. Duncan summarized that “a good teacher is someone who is passionate, deeply committed to success and up to a challenge to ensure that every student achieves.”
Duncan closed by saying he regards improving education as the civil rights issue of our generation. “With opportunity, guidance and support, our children can do extraordinary things, no matter where they come from. We have to have the courage to change what is wrong. It should be our job every day to wake up and fight for kids.”
For more information, photos and video of Duncan’s speech at UNI, visit
www.uni.edu/arneduncan. |
