TALK TO THE ANIMALS
Zoo School offers world-class experience
INSIDE:
Spring 2015
Volume 3 > Advanced Automotive Research at Ohio State Issue 2 > OARnet is Taking Ohio Broadband to the Next Frontier > Choose Ohio First Scholar Showcase > OU-Chillicothe & Adena Health System Collaborate to Triage Ohio’s Nursing Shortage
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ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business
This is a quarterly e-newsletter designed to connect Ohio higher education to the business community. In this publication, you will learn about the efforts of the Ohio Board of Regents to move students from the classroom to the workforce; and about research and idea development happening within the University System of Ohio that is benefiting Ohio businesses.
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business
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ou can always tell when spring has arrived – the days get longer, the grass gets greener, and students get busier as they prepare for the end of another school year. For some of those students, their end-ofyear plans include a cap and gown and the search for their first job. Several students looking to enter the workforce already have an advantage, having spent time during their college career in a co-op or internship, or other valuable form of experiential learning.
RED BORDERS
Those experiences are what we like to highlight in ConnectED. In this issue, we’ll learn about the Delaware Area Career Center’s Zoo School, which gives students a daily experience at one of the world’s best zoos. We’ll also see how Ohio University-Chillicothe is providing a steady supply of nurses to southern Ohio and share photos from this year’s Choose Ohio First Scholar Showcase. Enjoy this issue of ConnectED, and let us know about any stories that you’d like to see in a future issue.
John Carey
Chancellor, Ohio Board of Regents
Talk to the Animals Zoo School offers world-class experience
Ohio University-Chillicothe and Adena Health System Collaborate to Triage Ohio’s Nursing Shortage Region has 400,000-plus in need of healthcare
Advanced Automotive Research at Ohio State Nissan donates new electric vehicle charging station to campus OARnet is Taking Ohio Broadband to the Next Frontier A new partnership expands fiber-optic
networks
2015 Choose Ohio First STEMM Scholar Showcase Reception recognizes students in the Choose Ohio First Program
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Delaware Area Career Center Senior Emma Meyung
Talk to the Animals Zoo School offers world-class experience Imagine being interested in a career in computers and getting some of your education at Apple or Microsoft. Or pursuing a career in business or finance and learning from Warren Buffett’s staff at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. That should give you some idea of what it’s like to be a part of the Delaware Area Career Center’s Zoo School, where juniors and seniors from central Ohio high schools are earning college credit while gaining experience at one of the best zoos on the planet, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
Featured Story
The Zoo School program was started during the 2002-2003 school year by the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio. The Delaware Area Career Center (DACC) has run the program for the past 10 years. “The (ESC) started the program by copying a program that existed in Kansas and approaching the zoo,” said Alicia Mowry, public relations supervisor at the DACC. “We have a good relationship with the ESC and it seemed like a good fit for everyone involved to make it a career center program.”
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business Mowry said the program is designed to start training students for careers in biology, zoology, animal science, veterinary medicine, and related studies. Those selected for the program spend half of the school day at the zoo during their junior and senior years, completing a project that they help create each year while earning as many as seven transcripted credits for college. Ideally, students will take the Zoo 1 course during their junior year and progress to the Zoo 2 course in their senior year. Emily Cunningham is in her third year as the Zoo School instructor, and said the program is capped at 25 students in each course. “Currently we have 15 students in our Zoo 2 program, all seniors, and 24 in our Zoo 1 program. In the past, we’ve admitted seniors to the Zoo 1 session, but they graduate and can’t continue on,” Cunningham said. “We give preference to juniors who can complete both years.” Cunningham said students in the Zoo 2 group spend the morning at the zoo and the afternoon at their home school district. The schedule is reversed for the Zoo 1 students.
“Zoo School has given me the opportunity to confirm what I want to do during and after college.” -Megan Jackman Senior
“In a typical day, they’ll take two academic classes here, zoology and statistics, and we alternate those so they’ll have one of those on any given day,” Cunningham said. “It’s very much like regular school. But after that first hour or so, our program is unique. Students are on their own to do their research projects. They’ll go out into the zoo, collect their data, and manage their project. We don’t expect the juniors to know how to do this coming in, so we walk them through a pilot thesis. Once that is completed, they start their project in November and it continues for the rest of the school year. The seniors are a little different – college-level chemistry replaces the stats class and they have their project all year.” Student projects cover a wide range of topics, from animal enrichment to marine biology and water quality monitoring in the zoo’s aquarium. “Some students select a project based on their favorite animal, others pick based on the weather because they know they’ll be working through the winter and some choose to work with the indoor animals,” Cunningham said. “We often stress to the students that they are very lucky to have this opportunity.” The opportunity has proven to be extremely valuable for some of this year’s seniors. Megan Jackman, Nick Langlois, and Emma Meyung are all completing their second year of Zoo School, and are well prepared for the next step along their career path. “Zoo School has given me the opportunity to confirm what I want to do during and after college,” said Jackman, who plans on studying biology at the University of
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Central Florida after graduation. “I’ve always wanted to be a zookeeper, and to be able to test out this career at such a young age is amazing. I’ve gained so many friends and mentors through this experience.” Langlois’ Zoo School experience has helped him lay a solid foundation for what he hopes will be a career in wildlife conservation. He said he most likely will attend Otterbein University in the fall to major in zoo and conservation science. From there, he may pursue master’s and doctorate degrees. “In my first year of Zoo School, I performed my own research studies on the behavior of some of the zoo’s animals. This year, I am working as an intern for (the zoo’s) Asia Quest (area),” Langlois said. “This program has really helped me explore my interests, and the hands-on take really provides a more enriching educational experience than I would get from a more traditional system.” Meyung, who plans to attend The Ohio State University to major in zoology after graduation, said her Zoo School experience alone could help her with future internships and jobs.
“This program has really helped me explore my interests, and the hands-on take really provides a more enriching educational experience than I would get from a more traditional system.” -Nick Langlois Featured Story
Senior
“Working hand-in-hand with keepers and other staff here at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, I have a greater understanding of the work environment and the communication needed among staff to complete some of the common, daily demands of the job,” said Meyung, who chose to study orangutans for both of her projects. “I love that Zoo School has given me the opportunity to conduct a study that could actually mean something and change the way we care for the orangutans here.” Returning to the Columbus Zoo as an employee at some point isn’t out of the question for Zoo School graduates. Tiffany Dollins, animal programs specialist at the zoo, was a student during Zoo School’s first year.
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business
“The program allowed us to work independently and around the zoo,” Dollins said. “This method greatly prepared me for college (at Ohio State). It was a unique experience to work with real data and zookeepers during my high school experience, and to see my research make an impact at the end of the project.” Dollins, who graduated from Ohio State in 2007 with a degree in agriculture and a concentration in natural resources, said Zoo School helped in her decision to pursue a career in the zoological field. “Prior to being a Zoo School student, I believed one of the only careers for me would be in veterinary medicine,” she said. “The programs helped open my eyes to other possibilities within the zoo.” Today, as an animal program specialist, Dollins works with everything from penguins and cheetahs to armadillos and dingoes, conducting educational programs in and around Columbus, appearing on local news broadcasts promoting the zoo, and even assisting the zoo’s most famous face – Jack Hanna – with his television appearances around the country. Students past and present agree that being enrolled in Zoo School is well worth the effort, though it requires a strong work ethic, a dedication to and passion for animals, a commitment to completing the workload … and one more thing. “It helps to be a fan of khaki and polo shirts, because that’s the required uniform,” Langlois said. To learn more about Zoo School, visit https://www.delawareareacc.org/high-school/students/ programs-study/zoo-detail.
IN THIS STORY
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLUMBUS ZOO AND AQUARIUM, PLEASE VISIT
COLUMBUSZOO.ORG
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DELAWARE AREA CAREER CENTER, PLEASE VISIT
DELAWAREAREACC.ORG
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PACCAR Medical Education Center ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business
Chillicothe Campus
Ohio University-Chillicothe and Adena Health System Collaborate to Triage Ohio’s Nursing Shortage Adena Health System, a medical services provider tracing its roots to a small brick house in Chillicothe, continues to expand its reach throughout southern Ohio. It now serves patients in 12 counties and employs more than 2,500 people at three hospitals and five regional clinics, making it one of the region’s largest employers. Providing high-quality healthcare for more than 400,000 people throughout the region requires a steady influx of trained nurses, but Adena faces the same challenge as other medical service providers nationwide—nurses are in critically short supply. According to data from the Center on Education and the Workforce, the United States will face a shortfall of 193,000 nursing professionals by the year 2020. Ohio’s own nursing shortage is driven by a number of factors – a large percentage of older nurses reaching retirement age, an aging population in general, and an increase in patients obtaining health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. To help address the local nursing shortage, and to create new paths to well-paying jobs in a region that has struggled economically, Adena worked with state, federal, and local officials to open the state-of-the-art PACCAR Medical Education Center in 2008. Initially partnering with Wright State University, PACCAR has rapidly become the primary hub of medical education in the region. More recently, the nearby Chillicothe regional campus of Ohio University (OU-C) has become the primary higher education partner offering classes at PACCAR, beginning with an accelerated nursing curriculum designed for students who already have a degree in a different field, but are looking to change careers.
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“Roughly 30 percent of our workforce received their primary nursing degree from OU-C.” - JUDITH HENSON, ADENA HEALTH SYSTEM’S CHIEF NURSING OFFICER
Ohio University - Chillicothe Campus
“An accelerated student can earn a degree in as little as a year and a half (including summer classes), depending on the number of pre-nursing classes the student has completed in their previous degree,” said Judith Henson, Adena Health System’s chief nursing officer. A new Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program, which typically takes four years to complete, will graduate its first class in the spring of 2016. The partnership has been beneficial to both Adena and OU-C, and in turn has had a positive impact on the local workforce and economy. Many OU-C nursing students complete internships at Adena facilities and are later hired after graduation. “Roughly 30 percent of our workforce received their primary nursing degree from OU-C,” Henson said. “Our previous partnership with WSU and current partnership with OU-C have helped us avoid a shortage.” The symbiotic relationship between OU-C and Adena goes both ways. “Many Adena employees, specifically nurses, also serve as clinical instructors to the OU-C students,” Henson said. Martin Tuck, OU-C dean, said, “Most of our students that get a degree in the region want to stay in the region. That’s one of the reasons they come here.” Tuck added that many students entering the OU-C nursing program are older than 25, married, and have deep roots in southern Ohio. The ties between OU-C and Adena continue to deepen, as well, as OU-C students in a growing number of career fields – including health administration and information technology – participate in internships at Adena facilities. “We’re rowing the boat in the same direction,” Tuck said. “Adena helps us provide a great educational product to our students, and then our graduates go on to work for their organization.” ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2
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Advanced Automotive Research at Ohio State
Nissan donates new electric vehicle charging station to campus As automotive technology continues to evolve, Ohio is making advancements in electric vehicle ownership and manufacturing. Ohio is a leader in the automotive industry, ranking fourth in vehicle assembly and second in overall output of automotive parts . However, when it comes to electric vehicle output, Ohio has plenty of room to grow. The Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research (CAR) is one of the nation’s prominent research centers for safe and sustainable mobility with a focus on environmental safety. CAR offers state-of-the-art facilities for students, faculty, research staff, and industry partners. One of these industry partners, Clean Fuels Ohio, helped unveil a new charging station for central Ohio. The charging station is a brand new, level-three direct current (DC) fast charger for electric vehicle charging, donated by Nissan North America. The DC fast charging station delivers 480 volts at 400 amps, offering a quick recharge. This will allow consumers to put an approximately 80 percent charge in a vehicle in less than 25 minutes, and depending on the vehicle, a full charge could be attainable in approximately 30 minutes. The unveiling event included speakers from Nissan, CAR, and Clean Fuels Ohio, along with a plug-in electric vehicle demo, and a Nissan LEAF ride ‘n’ drive.
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2
ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business
“We are very pleased that Nissan chose the Center for Automotive Research in which to locate the region’s first direct current fast charger in the Nissan EV Advantage Program,” said Giorgio Rizzoni, director, Center for Automotive Research. “Its installation enhances the existing charging facilities, allowing us to serve even more electric vehicle users.”
Pictured left to right: Cynthia Maves, Electric Vehicle Business Manager, Nissan North America; Erin Miller, City of Columbus Green Steward; Giorgio Rizzoni, Director, The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research; and Sam Spofforth, Executive Director, Clean Fuels Ohio
Giorgio Rizzoni delivers a thank you message to Nissan North America and speaks about CAR’s dedication to innovation.
Clean Fuels Ohio helped link Nissan with CAR as an ideal location for the DC Fast Charging, thanks in part to its proximity to high-traffic areas. CAR already offers free Level 1 and Level 2 EV chargers, and it has seven other electric vehicle charging stations, which have standard connectors and can each charge a vehicle in approximately four to eight hours, with the new DC Fast Chargers providing an even faster charging option for the public. Charging times and availability are both important details when in comes to owning an electric vehicle. In Ohio, there are currently 111 charging stations and 117 charging outlets statewide. This equates to 104,242 people per charging station and lands Ohio 38th on the list of the ratio of population to charging station. This highlights the need for partnerships such as the one with Clean Fuels Ohio, which works to promote electric vehicle usage and infrastructure across the state by engaging stakeholders through its Drive Electric Ohio initiative. “We’re excited to play a role in the growing infrastructure for electric vehicles. It’s an evolving market, and Ohio is in the unique position to spur EV growth in the region”, said Sam Spofforth, executive director of Clean Fuels Ohio.
For more information regarding CAR, visit car.osu.edu. And for more information about Clean Fuels Ohio, visit www.cleanfuelsohio.org.
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OARnet is Taking Ohio Broadband to the Next Frontier The Ohio Academic Resource Network (OARnet) is partnering with Connecticut-based telecommunications company Frontier Communications to combine their respective fiberoptic networks in order to provide more and improved broadband services to Ohio education and government organizations. Frontier Senior Vice President Dave Davidson described the new partnership as “a major milestone for our company.” The collaboration combines OARnet’s 1,850-mile fiber network with the 4,800 miles of fiber that Frontier already maintains in Ohio. Together, the newly enlarged network will allow for the expansion of services to more of the state’s K-12, higher education, and government entities, especially in rural areas. “We believe statewide broadband availability, particularly in underserved regions, is vital to the future of Ohio’s governmental infrastructure, as well as providing 21st century technology to enhance Ohio’s K-12 and university systems,” said Stu Davis, state chief information officer. OARnet is part of the Ohio Technology Consortium (OH-TECH), an umbrella organization for the state’s technology infrastructure and a division of the Ohio Board of Regents. OARnet was established in 1987 to deliver technology-based solutions that reduce costs and increase productivity through networking and other technology services to the state’s education, healthcare, public broadcasting, and government communities. The new agreement with Frontier follows a recent expansion of the state’s broadband backbone run by OARnet; that expansion boosted network speeds from 10 Gigabits to 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps). The network will benefit research capabilities and job-creating assets across Ohio’s medical, higher education, manufacturing, and engineering corridors for years to come. ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2
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2015 STEMM SCHOLAR SHOWCASE Columbus State Community College hosted the 2015 Choose Ohio First Scholar Showcase on Monday, April 20.The annual event featured nearly 200 science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) scholars from colleges and universities around the state. Attendees heard remarks from Secretary of State Jon Husted, who created the Choose Ohio First scholarship while serving in the Ohio House of Representatives, and Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor John Carey, who commended the Choose Ohio First program and said an additional $750,000 has been proposed in the state budget to
keep the program going. The Chancellor and Secretary of State took time before and after the program to speak with students about their Choose Ohio First experience and current projects within their fields. Choose Ohio First supports the increased success of students in the STEMM fields, and makes substantive improvements to the pipeline of STEMM students and STEMM educators. It is one component of the Ohio Innovation Partnership designed to strengthen and reconstruct Ohio’s economy in industry sectors critical to Ohio’s economic success.
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A special thank you to all of those who contributed stories and articles: Talk to Animals Alicia Mowry
Emily Cunningham
Delaware Area Career Center
Delaware Area Career Center
Tiffany Dollins
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
Emma Mayung Nick Langlois Megan Jackman Zoo School Student
Zoo School Student
Zoo School Student
Ohio University-Chillicothe and Adena Health System Collaborate to Triage Ohio’s Nursing Shortage Martin Tuck Jack Jeffery Judith Henson Ohio University-Chillicothe
Ohio University-Chillicothe
Adena Health Systems
Cindi Remy Adena Health Systems
Advanced Automotive Research at Ohio State Holly Henley Tia Garcia The Ohio State University
Clean Fuels Ohio
OARnet is Taking Ohio Broadband to the Next Frontier Jamie Able OH-TECH
2015 Choose Ohio First STEMM Scholar Showcase Briana Hervet Ohio Board of Regents
Featured Story
Thank you for reading ConnectED. We appreciate any suggestions or ideas to improve this newsletter. We welcome story ideas, links to articles of interest, and news releases. Please send story ideas to Jeff Robinson at jrobinson@regents.state.oh.us. ConnectED: Connecting Higher Education to Business | Volume 3 Issue 2