Earlier this week, CampusLogic welcomed its 10 newest clients to the StudentVerification platform, a cloud-based software that automates the FAFSA verification and C-code resolution processes. One of those 10 new clients is Oakwood University.

"We are pleased that these 10 new customers have adopted our platform to drive better engagement, communication, and document collection across the student financial aid life cycle," said Gregg Scoresby, CampusLogic CEO and founder. "Student self service means happier students and financial aid staff, and we feel great about that."

Oakwood joins a long list of schools that have left behind manual, paper-driven financial aid processes for a sleek, easy-to-use cloud platform that improves the financial aid experience for students and staff. StudentVerification provides a student self-service portal where the entire verification process is managed digitally, facilitating student notifications, document collection, data validation and school communication.

As of this month, customers can also use StudentVerification to manage satisfactory academic progress (SAP) appeals.  

Approximately 20 students participating in the $1.5 million IMARI Grant (from the National Institute of Health) are conducting research this summer at institutions across the country.

IMARI stands for Increasing Minority Admissions to Research Institutions. The focus of the grant is to increase the pool of competitive minority students electing to pursue advanced biomedical research careers, and better prepare a new cadre of young scientists for biomedical research careers. IMARI will provide early academic excellence intervention, advising, mentoring, and increased research participation and competence.

From the Departments of Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Psychology, 20 students in the second grant year have been matched with the intensive research institutions listed for training in their area of interest to conduct research.

University of Cincinnati   

Lydia Briggs

Tinomudaishe Mkorombindo

University of Alabama - Birmingham

Crisol Lopez

University of Texas - San Antonio

Simone Brown

Kaiya Flemons

Amara Hendricks

Loma Linda University

Consuela Abotsi

Karis Arnold

Christina  Miles

Duke University

Lemuel Harkshaw

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Joy Gullo

Kohrissa Joseph

Ruth Munene

Cleveland Clinic

Samantha Harris

Gabriellia McNeil

Johns Hopkins University

Olivia Campbell

Virginia Tech University

Guildalia Dorneus

Mayo Clinic

Ashli Moore

Amal Taylor

The same organization that ranked Huntsville the top city for engineers and the second best place for technology jobs has offered another accolade to the area's growing STEM community.

NerdWallet has named Huntsville the best place for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) grads in the U.S. Nearby Decatur, the only other Alabama city to make the ranking, fell at No. 34 on the list.

Calling Huntsville the "STEM heart of the South," NerdWallet strategy analyst Sreekar Jasthi praised the city's STEM industry, high average STEM salary and low cost of living. The city has 155.65 STEM employees per 1,000 jobs, an average STEM salary of $91,900 and a median rent of $725 for an overall score of 76.39, according to the report.

NerdWallet, which looked at the size of the industry and income for STEM jobs in 354 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas, calculated the ranking using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. Jobs in the computer, math, architecture, engineering, and life/physical/social science fields were analyzed.

Click here to see the report.

The Department of History & Political Science is proud to announce that one of its seniors, Kamesha Laurry, has been accepted into the Walton K-12 Education Reform Program under the United Negro College Fund. With this acceptance, she is currently interning for Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE).

During the New Hire Orientation, the presenter focused on technical and adaptive work, an area that was very familiar to Kamesha because of her studies at Oakwood. The presenter questioned if anyone knew what the definition for each was and how each applied in current job situations. "Being able to share my knowledge around new hires, as a mere intern, was quite satisfying," Kamesha said.

For more than 100 years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been conducting camp meetings. These gatherings are annual convocations for spiritual renewal and fellowship for church members and their guests. Oakwood University's campus has been the host camp meeting venue for the South Central Conference for over 50 years. This year's camp meeting, themed "Come Holy Spirit," will take place June 12-20. Click here for more information. 

Join us in the Blue and Gold End-of-the-Year Challenge by making a gift to the Oakwood Annual Fund by midnight, June 30. Our goal is to increase the annual giving participation rate of our alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff and friends.

Bryant Taylor, D.Min., '87, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, is the new Communication and IT Director for the Southeastern Conference.

He has held pastoral assignments in the Central States, Ohio, and Allegheny West conferences. Bryant is passionate about technology, and is the co-host of Tech Talk, an Internet program on technology. Bryant presents workshops on media and technology, and consults with churches on technology and audio visual ministry. "If it has an on/off button, I either have it, want it, or am on my way to purchase it," he says.

He and his wife, Tara (Best) Taylor, '85, have been married for 24 years.
 

Gina S. Brown, Ph.D., RN, '84, has been appointed as Dean of Howard University's College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences. She comes to Howard University with over 20 years of senior-level academic administrative experience, with an extensive track record of developing new academic programs, securing grants, and enhancing the accreditation process. Dr. Brown graduated from Oakwood with an undergraduate degree in nursing (1984), and a second bachelor's degree in biology (1985). She received her Master of Science degree in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University (1989) and her Ph.D. in Administration from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia (1999).