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Suzanne Cornelissen has been selected as a candidate for the NCAA Division II College Women Athlete of the Year for 2005-2006. A total of 12 athletes are on the final ballet, one for each women's sport that is sponsored at the Division II level. If selected, Cornelissen will be the first field hockey player to win the award since it was first presented to Division II athletes in 1987-88. The IUP women's athletic fund will receive $1,000 from American Honda Motor Co. Inc. in honor of Cornelissen's nomination.

Dr. Carmy Carranza, director of the department of Development Studies, was recognized as a semi-finalist in the 2005 National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition Outstanding First-Year Student Advocates competition.

IUP English professor and director of the IUP Writing Center Dr. Ben Rafoth and IUP English professor Dr. Shanti Bruce are co-winners of the 2005 Outstanding Scholarship Award for Best Book from the International Writing Centers Association.  ESL Writers: A Guide for Writing Center Tutors was praised for its timeliness,  relevance, and blend of theoretical and practical advice.

IUP’s Eberly College of Business and Information Technology has been selected for the second year in a row by The Princeton Review for inclusion in its annual "Best Business Schools" publication. IUP is included in the 2006 edition of The Princeton Review's Best 237 Business Schools, 2006 edition. IUP made its debut in the 2005 edition of the guidebook, The Princeton Review’s Best 143 Business Schools, 2005 edition. Faculty at The Eberly College got high marks from students interviewed for the 2005 and 2006 guidebooks: “Though it is not a large program, students appreciate that The Eberly College of Business is not only nice and modern, but the class sizes are just right and the professors … are great.” According to students,” the guidebook continues, “one of the greatest strengths is its faculty. … Our professors are very passionate about their careers, and this passion is displayed in the classroom …” Student comments in the guidebook go on to praise the career center and networking opportunities offered at The Eberly College. Book editors note that surveys indicated that students believe The Eberly College is “teaching-intensive, state-of-the-art technology and is designed with students in mind.”

Dr. Valeri Helterbran (professional studies) was selected as the 2005 Teacher Educator of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators. PAC-TE is dedicated to providing strong advocacy for teacher education within the Commonwealth by promoting quality programs of teacher education; working with professional colleagues who are dedicated to the concept of education for all children and youth; collaborating with professionals who believe that the quality of education depends upon the effectiveness of those who teach; advocating the improvement of teacher performance and teacher education programs; providing opportunities for the individual professional growth of all persons who are concerned with teacher education; and serving various councils and committees of national, state, and local government and professional associations in the ongoing effort to improve the professional status and image of teacher education.

IUP has been chosen by The Princeton Review for inclusion in the exclusive 2006 edition of The Best 361 Colleges. IUP is the only State System of Higher Education university chosen for this prestigious publication. This is the fifth year in a row that IUP has been included in the annual guidebook.

IUP was selected for inclusion in the April 2005 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine in the annual rankings of entrepreneurial programs in colleges and universities throughout the nation. This is the first time that IUP has been included in this survey, now in its third year. IUP was included in the listing of the top 73 colleges and universities in the nation ranked for excellence in "entrepreneurship emphasis.”

Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Communications Group won two awards in the 2004 20th annual national Admissions Marketing Report competition, announced in February 2005.The “Welcome to IUP” video, produced by videographer Bill Hamilton and featuring IUP theater major Brett Mack of Indiana, won a Gold Award in the competition. IUP Magazine, edited by Karen Gresh, IUP director of communications, won an Award of Merit in the competition.

IUP has been included in the 2005 edition of The Unofficial, UnBiased Insider's Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges, 2004 Edition, by Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili. The guidebook, published by Kaplan, uses surveys from current students, recent graduates and college officials to determine which colleges and universities merited inclusion.

The Pennsylvania Business Central named IUP's Eberly College of Business and Information Technology to the “Top 100 Businesses – 2004” list and Eberly Dean Dr. Robert Camp as one of the “Top 100 People – 2004.”  The recognition is designed outstanding businesses and individuals in business, academic, politics, and more for their outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the greater good of the area.   Selections were based on successes and contributions in the boardroom, in the marketplace, and in the communities businesses and individual they serve.   

IUP's Communications Group won 2004 APEX Awards for design and the web. APEX is a national competition for communications professionals. Ron Mabon, university designer, was recognized for his work on the undergraduate student recruitment viewbook--one of the projects for which he earlier in the year received an Admissions Marketing Award. Regan Houser, director of web communications, and students Eve Hrabovsky and Emily Wells, are recognized for Through a Student's Eyes in the "Most Improved Web & Intranet Site category." The most recent award brings to 39 the number of major awards the Communications Group has won: 18 for IUP Magazine and 21 for other projects.
 

IUP mathematics professor Dr. Thomas Short has been named a 2004 Fellow of the American Statistical Association, a recognition of outstanding professional contribution to and leadership in the field of statistical science. The designation of Fellow has been a superlative honor in the society for nearly 90 years and less than 60 members worldwide are selected annually for this honor. With his selection, Dr. Short joins scholars and researchers from international organizations like the Food and Drug Association, U. S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Pfizer Inc. and academic institutions including Penn, Duke, UCLA-Center for Health Sciences and the Chinese University at Hong Kong.  Dr. Short also serves as coordinator of the Applied Research Lab at IUP.

Dr. Rita Johnson (food and nutrition) is the 2004 Outstanding Dietitian of Pennsylvania. The award is given by the Pennsylvania Dietetic Association in recognition of long standing and exceptional leadership, service and contributions to the Pennsylvania Dietetic Association and the public. For the past 10 years, Dr. Johnson has coordinated the "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" community food drive as a community service project within one of her dietetics classes. Dr. Johnson is a past recipient of the Keystone Award, the second highest honor of the state Dietetic Association, given in recognition of leadership ability and service. She also is a past recipient of the Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionists Dietetic practice Group's Achievement Award, this group's highest honor.

For the first time, student productions from IUP’s communications media department competed on the international level and received three “Telly” awards for excellence. The Telly Awards competition receives 10,000 entries annually, and past winners include Newhart, Murder, She Wrote, and What Women Want. Entries are judged by advertising and production professionals against a standard of merit.  The awards honor local, regional and cable television programs, as well as film productions.  Commercials or programs that have not appeared on national feed or one of the four major TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX) are eligible. IUP won a silver award (the highest award possible) for Emergence, a student film, and two bronze awards: one for coverage of IUP football and one for the show Adventures in Idiocy.

IUP’s Communications Group won an Award of Merit in the 2003 national competition sponsored by Admissions Marketing Report. The award was for the new admissions recruitment publications package designed by Ron Mabon, director of design and marketing, with photography by Keith Boyer, university photographer. Bruce Dries was the project’s coordinator. IUP’s award is one of seven in the “total recruitment package” category for schools with 10,000-19,000 students.  Other winners in the same category include Cornell, St. John's, Miami University, and Towson. The most recent award brings to 37 the number of major awards the Communications Group has won: 18 for IUP Magazine and 19 for other projects.

IUP has been named one of “The Top 25 Most Connected Campuses” by Forbes.com. The list, released in October 2003, was designed to illustrate the depth and breadth of technology on today’s campus, Princeton Review officials said.  To identify the colleges on the list, The Princeton Review collated responses from more than 100,000 college students, as well as data from campus administrators.  Criteria included the student-computer ratio, wireless access on campus, the breadth of the computer science curriculum and comments from campus students. IUP is in the company of  many “technology colleges” and universities with outstanding reputations for academic excellence and use of technology, including the University of Wisconsin; James Madison University; Seton Hall University; Dartmouth College; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of Texas at Austin and Clemson University.

For the tenth year in a row, IUP has been classified as one of the nation’s top national universities by the 2003 U.S. News & World Report best colleges edition and has again been placed in the third tier among the top colleges and universities in the country -- listed with institutions like Arizona State, Colorado State, Kansas State, Seton Hall and St. John’s University.

IUP was chosen by The Princeton Review for inclusion in the exclusive 2004 edition of The Best 351 Colleges. IUP is the only State System of Higher Education university chosen for this prestigious publication and one of only 27 colleges and universities in Pennsylvania selected for inclusion. The guidebook includes accolades from students about campus life ("IUP offers many student organizations and musical events . . . from an anime club to equestrian team to dance squad to sororities and fraternities. If you have an interest, IUP is a good place to pursue it...") and about academics: "The Robert E. Cook Honors College is what distinguishes Indiana University of Pennsylvania from your typical big-box state university. Reports one honors student, "The Honors College allows students to take interesting discussion-based classes instead of the standard liberal studies freshman classes. These honor classes are never lecture-based, and have made me a much better writer and thinker... "Sums up one undergrad, "IUP might not have ten sets of all the newest equipment, but it does train me in everything I need to know and gives me additional chances to learn outside of the school through its numerous internship and study abroad programs."

IUP is included in the 2004 edition of The Unofficial, UnBiased Insider's Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges, 2004 Edition, by Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili. The guidebook, published by Kaplan, uses surveys from current students, recent graduates and college officials to determine which colleges and universities merited inclusion. IUP is the only school in the State System of Higher Education and one of only 25 Pennsylvania institutions chosen for inclusion in the guidebook.

IUP is one of only 98 schools included in the Princeton Review's 2003 Best in the Mid-Atlantic, a new publication from the Princeton Review that recognizes outstanding schools in the region.

IUP is included in the 2003 edition of The Unofficial, UnBiased Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges by Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili. The guidebook, published by Kaplan, uses surveys from current students, recent graduates and college officials to determine which colleges and universities merited inclusion. The authors recognize that IUP "offers its students the best of both worlds: As the University likes to say, it's big and it's small at the same time. IUP provides a strong, well-rounded education, combining a comprehensive core Liberal Studies curriculum with a wide variety of majors and minors in several undergraduate schools."

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania athletic program finished in 18^th place among all NCAA Division II schools in the 2003 competition for the Directors’ Cup, a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today. A total of 215 schools on the Division II level earned points toward the Directors’ Cup, easily placing IUP among the top 10 percent in the nation.  IUP had a total of 408 points, a score based on how teams fared in NCAA postseason play. This marks the third time in the past four years that IUP was ranked in the final top 20, with its highest finish being seventh in 1999-00.  Last year, the IUP athletic program was 10^th. 

IUP was chosen by The Princeton Review for inclusion in the exclusive 2003 edition of The Best 345 Colleges. IUP is the only public university in a group of 27 Pennsylvania colleges and universities chosen for this prestigious publication. The guidebook includes accolades from students about IUP’s “thought-provoking Honors College,” its “small class sizes” with “professors who are “knowledgeable in their fields,” “enthusiastic about teaching,” and “very willing to spend extra time with students when necessary.” 

For the ninth year in a row, IUP has been classified as one of the nation’s top national universities by the 2002 U.S. News & World Report best colleges edition and has again been placed in the third tier among the top 175 colleges and universities in the country -- listed with institutions like Arizona State, Clemson, Colorado State, Kansas State, Seton Hall and St. John’s University.

In addition to the distinction of being recognized as a Center of
Excellence in Information Assurance, IUP is recognized as one of only 12 Training Centers for Information Assurance in the nation - the ONLY Pennsylvania school -- in recognition of the work done in mapping the curriculum. In April 2002, IUP received a CGS/Sloan "planning" grant from the Council of Graduate Schools to help begin the development for the Sloan Professional Master's Initiative in Science and Mathematics-Security Engineering Technology, the first of its kind in the United States. IUP is in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories for this program.
                                                                                                           Indiana University of Pennsylvania has long been considered a shining star in the region’s crown. Now it’s been recognized as a "gem." The November issue of Careers and Colleges magazine has included IUP in the article "Great Schools at a Great Price," praising the University as "a gem of a school." The "Great Schools at a Great Price" includes only 15 colleges in the nation, and IUP is the only school from Pennsylvania in the listing. IUP is listed with schools like the University of Massachusetts (Amherst); Hiram College in Ohio; the University of Washington (Seattle) and the University of California (Los Angeles). The article describes IUP "as a gem of a school just outside of Pittsburgh that offers solid academics and a cultural smorgasbord—lecture series, concerts, and speakers. Of special note are the school’s Robert Cook Honors College, geared toward honing the writing and analytical skills of advanced students."

IUP was chosen by The Princeton Review for inclusion in the exclusive The Best 331 Colleges, 2001 Edition. The guidebook includes IUP the category "Professors Bring Material To Life" and the editors classify IUP as "an inexpensive, career-oriented rural school with small class sizes and a thought-provoking Honors College," with "instructors who really challenge you, are knowledgeable in their fields, enthusiastic about teaching and very willing to spend extra time with students when necessary." The editors also note that students judge IUP as having "a great undergraduate program," where you "get a bang for your buck here."

IUP's Robert E. Cook Honors College is featured in Cool Colleges for the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming and Just Plain Different by Donald Asher. Included in the chapter "Colleges Where Scholarship is Valued," the author praises the Honors College as a place that takes "kids, bright as all heck but not necessarily worldly, and gives them every advantage that education can bestow on those thirsty for the benefit...it is designed, right down to the magazines on the tables and the wallpaper on the walls, to foster a life of intellectualism and culture. This is a residential immersion program (with) an innovative core curriculum being a cross-disciplinary approach to 'Great Questions.'" The guidebook editor also notes that "you can be in the Honors College and pursue any major the university offers...This was the most genuine and unpretentious place I visited."

In October 2000, IUP was selected for inclusion in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine’s annual "100 Best Buys in Public Colleges and Universities," ranked 65th by the survey.

In 2000, the University has been selected for inclusion in The Princeton Review’s "The Best 331 Colleges." IUP is the only public university in a group of 24 Pennsylvania colleges and universities chosen for this prestigious publication.

This national guidebook selects "the cream of the crop"—fewer than 10 percent of all colleges in the nation, the editors explain. Selection for the publication is heavily weighted on the results of anonymous student surveys in addition to statistical data provided by a college or university, and feedback from alumni, counselors and prospective students who visit the campus.

"To be selected for this guidebook, to be in the company of institutions like California Institute of Technology, Yale, the University of Chicago, Dartmouth College—reflects a much more accurate picture of our university as a mature, doctoral institution focused on educating tomorrow’s leaders," said IUP President Dr. Lawrence K. Pettit.

"It is especially satisfying to have IUP included in the section titled "Professors Bring Material to Life," and see in our entry that students describe IUP faculty as persons who 'really challenge you,' 'really care,' are 'knowledgeable in their fields,' 'enthusiastic about teaching' and 'very willing to spend extra time with students when necessary.' This type of faculty mentoring and teaching is what IUP is all about," he said. 

Other comments from students reflect a feeling "the campus feels safe;" that it is "beautiful" and "easy to get around." Students described both IUP’s athletic facilities and computer facilities as "great."

The following accolades relate to the most recent accreditations received by colleges, departments or programs at IUP:
[a complete listing of IUP's accreditations is also available]

June 2004 -- IUP’s Environmental Health Science Program is the only accredited program of its type in Pennsylvania, and only one of 27 schools in the nation to have an accredited program of this type. Dr. Thomas Simmons, biology, is director of IUP’s Environmental Health Science Program. IUP’s Environmental Health Science Program, founded in 1978 and operated out of the IUP biology department, grants program graduates a bachelor of science degree in environmental health. The program teaches students to identify, manage and evaluate environmental factors that pose potential harm to human and ecological health. According to Simmons, the six-year accreditation means that the program meets certain standards of the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council. The accreditation will allow the program the opportunity to apply for grants from the National Environmental Health Association Program.

January 2004 -- IUP’s doctoral program in clinical psychology has earned reaccreditation from the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Accreditation. The review included consideration of the program’s most recent self-study report, a report from an American Psychological Association review team visit to IUP and the program’s response to the site visit report. The program was first accredited in 1987.  IUP’s clinical psychology doctoral program is one of eight doctoral programs at IUP and is part of the College of Natural Science and Mathematics. The program follows a practitioner or applied model of training of clinical psychologists.  Students receive extensive supervision in the development of skills in interpersonal relations, psychological assessment, psychotherapy, community outreach, program evaluation and a solid grounding in the scientific knowledge base of psychology. Approximately 12 to15 students graduate annually from the IUP program, and there are currently 53 graduate students enrolled in the program.  IUP’s program was recognized by the accreditation report as “one of the few Psy.D. programs that provides substantial support to their students” and the accreditation report offered a special commendation for this focus on student support, as well as for IUP’s relationships between faculty and students and diversity in the program faculty.

The Eberly College of Business and Information Technology at IUP has achieved accreditation of its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in business administration from AACSB International—the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB International is one of higher education’s most prestigious and rigorous accrediting bodies, stressing academic excellence and a commitment to continuous improvement. Fewer than one-third of the business schools in the United States and several selected schools internationally have earned AACSB International accreditation.

IUP's Center for Economic Education has been awarded a three-year affiliation status (2002-2005) by the National Council on Economic Education based upon the Council’s accreditation review of the IUP chapter. The Center is one of a dozen such nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations throughout the state that are also affiliated with Economics Pennsylvania. The main goal of the Center is to improve the economic literacy of the population by better training and equipping teachers in K-12 classrooms in Indiana and Westmoreland counties. It is directed by Dr. James Jozefowicz, IUP professor of economics.  The Center is involved in a number of concepts that support the National Council’s mission of continually improved economics education through teacher training, consulting services, research and materials development—all of which factored in its renewing the accreditation. 

The Board of Commissions on Collegiate Nursing Education recently awarded accreditation to IUP’s undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. The Board accredits nursing programs to protect the public by ensuring that program graduates meet requirements for safety and professionalism.

IUP's Athletic Training Education program was recently awarded initial accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).The new accreditation, effective through another on-site review scheduled for the 2006-07 academic year, makes the IUP program one of only 130 such programs in the country and helps preparations for an expected increase in enrollment. In the last 10 years, IUP has graduated and certified more than 75 athletic trainers.The IUP program requires that students get 800 hours of comprehensive experience working with surgeons and in other college, high school and sports medicine centers as well as with the IUP athletic teams. All graduates of the IUP program are eligible to take the athletic trainer certification examination. The first such class had a 100 percent passing rate on that examination to match the program's current 100 percent placement of its graduates.

IUP’s undergraduate dietetics program received unconditional accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Dietetic Education for the American Dietetic Association. In order to receive the accreditation, the program had to meet basic standards of education in five categories: goals, resources, faculty, curriculum and outcome. The IUP program was found to be in full compliance with all standards. The accreditation must be reviewed every 10 years. The requirement for undergraduate accreditation was just recently implemented. However, the IUP graduate dietetics program has been accredited since 1997.