Bay Area Campus saves 53 lives

On Aug. 23, the Bay Area Campus joined forces with the Blood Centers of the Pacific to host a blood drive at the San Jose Learning Center. Workforce Solutions Representative Michael Leinhos coordinated the drive, 20 volunteers registered to donate and 20 pints of blood were collected, enough to help up to 53 patients in the community.

University of Phoenix opens new Knoxville Campus

On Nov. 2, University of Phoenix hosted a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house reception celebrating the grand opening of its new Knoxville Campus. City officials and local community leaders joined University staff, faculty, students and alumni for this special ceremony. “There has been a tremendous demand for educational opportunities for people who work and live in Knoxville,” says Mark Amrein, University of Phoenix Knoxville Campus Director. “University of Phoenix’s learning-centric education model provides students an accessible and convenient way to accomplish their education goals and achieve academic success.” The University’s Knoxville Campus is the sixth location in Tennessee alongside Chattanooga, Clarksville, Memphis, Murfreesbro and Nashville.

Madison Campus collects school supplies for children

In August, employees and faculty members from the Madison Campus held a month-long donation drive for back-to-school items. In total, the campus collected school items to fill more than 200 backpacks for children at the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County.

Pictured above from left: Shelly Klubertanz, Nadia Kaminski, Sara Nachreiner, Danyelle Dougherty, Briana Houilhan, Janelle Raemisch, Brittany Hanson and Jean Sink attend Supply Drive for Boys & Girls Club of Dane County.

August popsicles refresh UOPX students

Academic counselors at the Bay Area Campus kept students refreshed and focused on their education during Help Desk Days, which occured the week of Aug. 29. The team served popsicles and took time to review holiday schedules and policies with students. Enrollment and finance advisors also made themselves available to students during the week’s festivities.

Magda Ramirez, academic counselor, Ginger Toll, enrollment advisor, and Jennifer Czajkowski, academic counselor, prepare to serve popsicles to San Jose Learning Center students.

Madison Campus adopts a squadron

In September, the Madison Campus staff and faculty officially adopted the 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. As the United States prepares to withdraw from Iraq by Jan. 1, 2012, deployed troops are adapting to life without some of the essentials and comforts from home. Many amenites have already been removed from the base including the movie cinema, the fast food restaurants and general stores. Soon, other conveniences will also be gone: the Base Exchange (i.e., the military Wal-Mart), Internet access, phone access and the Postal Service. In response to these events, the Madison Campus sent 16 care packages to service men and women. Upon receiving the gifts, the troops responded with a letter expressing their appreciation.

Pictured above: Jean Sink proudly displays Madison Campus care packages for the Adopt-a-Squadron collection drive.

Hawaii Campus adopts Kalakaua Middle School

On Oct. 9, the Hawaii Campus participated in the annual statewide Adopt-a-School Day event organized by Hawaii Jaycees. The campus adopted Kalakaua Middle School to support education alumni who teach there. Twenty campus staff members, along with family and friends, helped paint the stairs and railings of the school’s portable buildings. Participants enjoyed working together as a team to support the school and make a difference in the community.

Springfield Campus supports the Ozarks Food Harvest

The Springfield Campus staff, students and faculty supported the Ozarks Food Harvest this past fall by collecting high need canned goods and household items. The Ozarks Food Harvest responded quickly to the communities devastated by the massive F5 tornado that ravaged Joplin, Missouri, and surrounding communities. The efforts of the Springfield Campus along with other community initiatives will help the Ozarks Food Harvest replenish its stores for continued support throughout the Ozarks.

From left: Josh Ragsdale, Seth Wilmes, Chris Medlin, Morgan Wright, Dayna Havemann and Kim Renfro.

Remodeled Washington D.C. Campus

University of Phoenix unveiled its newly remodeled and expanded Washington D.C. Campus at a special ribbon-cutting ceremony. Greg Cappelli and Charles “Chas” Edelstein, co-chief executive officers of University of Phoenix’s parent company Apollo Group, joined local officials, business and community leaders, as well as University of Phoenix students, faculty and staff to showcase new investments at the Washington D.C. Campus including recently launched academic programs. The University also pledged its support for local education initiatives in the form of $25,000 donations to the D.C. Public Charter School Board and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.

Pictured above: Apollo CEOs Greg Cappelli and Chas Edelstein, along with local officials, attend ribbon-cutting ceremony for the remodeled Washington D.C. Campus.

Santa Teresa Learning Center hosts seminar for military counselors

Since 2001, two million service members have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. To help local counselors who work with military families to identify and cope with stress, University of Phoenix hosted a seminar on Oct. 1 at the Santa Teresa Learning Center. Sixty-five local professional counselors and University of Phoenix and El Paso Community College students gathered to hear from military post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experts Vencent Meighen and Lawrence Meyer from William Beaumont Army Medical Center. Counselors benefitted from an agenda that covered combat- related PTSD, combat-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) and PTSD/TBI and the military family. Participants learned about the trigger points of stress, short- and long-term strategies to manage it and tips to minimize the impact on families.

“University of Phoenix recognizes the stress of multiple deployments on our service men and women and their families,” said Rebecca Robles, UOPX Campus College Chair, College of Social Sciences. “The University is providing resources to help the El Paso and Southern New Mexico counseling communities address the unique needs of local military families.”

Detroit Campus volunteers in the community

Volunteers from the Detroit Campus were out and about and behind the scenes at two community fingerprinting events in August. First on Aug. 18, the College of Criminal Justice & Security partnered with the Clinton Township Police Department to conduct a free child fingerprinting fair at the Macomb location. This event served more than 30 children in the surrounding community. Additionally, on Aug. 29, the College of Criminal Justice & Security proudly teamed up with the College of Social Sciences to serve the City of Southfield at the Summerfest Festival. Volunteers helped process more than 100 child fingerprints through the event and distributed informational packets on free counseling services available through the Counseling Skills Center.

Pictured above from left: Catherina Castiglione, Michael Taylor, Ebony Taylor and Devin Lee attend fingerprinting event.

Kansas City Campus volunteers support literacy

Krystal Marcum and Christina Gandy of the Kansas City Campus volunteered for The Power of Reading: A Celebration of the Written Word, a collaborative event sponsored by Literacy Kansas City, The Writers Place and Kansas City Public Library. Carolyn Long, KCTV5 anchor, acted as emcee of the event, which took place on Sept. 21 at the home of Lee and Jeremy Smithson. This was the Third Annual Power of Reading event and featured adult learners from Literacy Kansas City sharing personal stories about how learning to read transformed their lives. Local writers Robert Butler, Natasha Ria El-Scari, Brian Shawver and Gabriela Lemmons also read personal stories and original writings, and discussed the power of books and reading in their lives.

Minneapolis/St. Paul hosts blood drive

On Oct. 20, the University of Phoenix Minneapolis/St. Paul Campus hosted Memorial Blood Centers for the annual fall blood drive. Because blood can be broken down into three components (red blood cells, platelets and plasma) the 10 units collected through the drive can be used to save up to 30 lives.