Reflections Magazine Issue #68 - Fall 2008 | Page 5

Campus News

from the heights
Scholarships Created For Live Training Exercise
Bahamian Students
On SHU Campus
The Bahamian American Cultural Society
(BACS) and Siena Heights University recently
signed a scholarship agreement open to
qualified Bahamian students. The Bahamian
American Cultural Society / Siena Heights
University Heritage Scholarship Program
will offer scholarships to those eligible
Bahamians and Bahamian Americans who
desire to attend Siena Heights on a full-time
basis and who have received the referral
and reference through BACS.
The Bahamian American Cultural Society is a
non-profit civic and cultural group dedicated
to the unity and support through cultural education and supportive relationships of people.
Earlier this year, Siena Heights signed a similar
agreement with the National Association of
Yemeni-Arab Americans organization.

Siena Heights University and local emergency
response agencies conducted training exercises
Aug. 6 to practice their response to a residence
hall high-rise fire on Siena’s Adrian campus
(photos below). The Adrian Fire and Police
departments, ProMedica Health System,
Lenawee Community Ambulance, Lenawee
Sheriff’s Office, emergency management and
many other fire departments throughout
Lenawee County participated in the exercise,
which simulated the response to a residence
hall fire in Ledwidge and Archangelus halls.
“Siena Heights University is so grateful to the
emergency response agencies for giving us
the opportunity to make this campus safer,”
said Cindy Birdwell, director of Public Safety
at Siena Heights. Birdwell said the goal of
the exercise was to simulate as realistically
as possible the conditions of a high-rise fire.
Firefighters and paramedics carried actors
and volunteers playing “injured” and “deceased” victims from the scene to be transported to the area hospitals.
“We want it to be transparent, and if we want
to test our systems, we need to keep it as real
as possible,” Birdwell said. “It is important to
test procedures. You do not want to be working
out glitches during the real thing.”
Last year, Siena Heights partnered with local
emergency response agencies to successfully
conduct a mock shooting drill that garnered
national media recognition.

Palmer Named Vice
President of Enrollment
Management
C. Patrick Palmer was
recently appointed Vice
President of Enrollment
Management at Siena
Heights University. Palmer,
who is currently the Dean
of the Graduate College,
replaces Frank Hribar, who left Siena Heights
to take a similar position at Kettering
University in Flint, Mich.

The Siena Heights Nursing Program is approved
for registered nurses to return to college and
earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
The first class of RN to BSN nursing students
began coursework in August.
Siena Heights has found a new home for its
nursing program – just across the street from
its main campus. President Albert announced
SHU and St. Joseph Academy have agreed on a
five-year lease that will allow nursing classes
to be housed in the middle school facility on
East Siena Heights Drive adjacent to the main
Siena Heights campus (photo below).

“I look forward to the opportunity to facilitate
the growth of the university,” Palmer said.
“Frank has established a wonderful team
in admissions, financial aid and registration
offices. I look forward to working with those
areas to increase the university’s enrollment.”
Palmer, who will continue to be the Dean of
the Graduate College with additional assistance, has prior experience in enrollment
management while at Jackson Community
College. He also was a coach, athletic director,
faculty member and advisor at Siena Heights.
During the Vietnam War he was a Green
Beret in the U.S. Army Special Forces division.
Palmer, and his wife, Carliene, a SHU faculty
member, reside in Tecumseh, Mich.

Siena Heights Receives
Nursing Program Grant
Siena Heights University announced that it
received a $191,593 federal grant towards
the establishment of its Registered Nurse
degree completion program. The grant was
one of only eight projects in Michigan funded
by the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education account.
“This is a great head start to get our nursing
program off the ground,” said Siena Heights
University President Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD.
“When we first announced our plans for a
nursing program, we believed this would be a
benefit not only to the local community, but to
the entire state of Michigan. It’s encouraging
to see Congress recognizes our effo