Editorial
A tip of the cap to the university
November 21, 2014
In lieu of the UW-River Falls College of Business and Economics (CBE) being named a “Top North American Sales School” by the Sales Education Foundation, it’s about time the university received a recognition from the Student Voice on its stellar work in the past several months.
UWRF being named among the top 83 sales universities in the country is quite an honor. CBE has also been actively adding new majors and minors as of late, not to mention the already implemented Center for Innovation and Business Development (CIBD) that was created in the newly renovated River Falls power plant.
The UWRF physics department was recently declared a Top 10 degree producer by the American Physical Society after producing the eighth most physics degrees in the nation between 2010-2012. This is a monumental achievement that physics students were crediting to the department’s professors, which includes physics Chair Jim Madsen, who has played a key role in the IceCube telescope project.
In early October, the university was named in the top 15 percent of U.S. colleges by College Ranking Index (CRI). This may seem like no big deal, but the CRI determines economic value, improvements in earnings and employability of persons who attend each college. The CRI does its homework–and despite being a small university just across of the border of Minnesota–UWRF has made quite a name for itself.
In the past couple of weeks, two UWRF professors have made campus news for notable special achievements: English Professor Steven Luebke published his first novel “Steps of the Sun” after nearly 25 years of hard work and dedication; and journalism Associate Professor Andris Straumanis was just appointed to the advisory council of the recently created Diaspora and Migration Research Center at the University of Latvia.
Straumanis also reminded the Student Voice staff that professors not only have to teach classes to the student body, but are also required to produce creative work or research outside the classroom in an effort to better the university and its colleges and departments. As students, we sometimes forget how dedicated and busy the folks who grade our class work really are. The Student Voice is thankful for all professors who value teaching. Some universities, like the University of Minnesota, value research more than teaching.
We tip our caps to the university for its constant pursuit of amelioration, and we are thankful to attend such a storied and always evolving university.