Friday, November 16th

7:05pm

at the Dunkin Donuts Center

RWU School of Continuing Studies

That doesn’t appear to be the case for one teacher who called a future Nobel Prize winner’s dreams of becoming a scientist “quite ridiculous” in a scathing report card.

John Gurdon’s future success was almost nipped in the bud in 1949 when a schoolmaster at elite Eton College wrote on his report card that pursuing science would be a waste of time.

“His work has been far from satisfactory,” the teacher wrote. “If he can’t learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be sheer waste of time, both on his part, and of those who have to teach him.”

The teacher said that the teenage Gurdon had gotten into trouble several times and didn’t listen.

The scientific community could argue it’s a good thing he didn’t.

After starting out studying classics at Oxford, Gurdon switched to zoology. In 1962, he showed that the DNA from specialized cells of frogs, like skin or intestinal cells, could be used to generate new tadpoles — a breakthrough rewarded Monday with the Nobel Prize for Medicine, which he shared with Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka.

Scientists are trying to build on the work of Gurdon and Yamanaka to create replacement tissues for treating diseases like Parkinson’s and diabetes.

James Monteiro – a successful College Unbound student

Investor’s Business Daily analyzed leaders and successful people in all walks of life.  Here are the 10 traits they all had in common:

1  How you think is everything:  Always be positive.  Think success, not failure.  Beware of a negative environment.

2  Decide upon your true dreams and goals:  Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.

3  Take action: Goals are nothing without action.  Don’t be afraid to get started.  Just do it.

4  Never Stop Learning: Go back to school or read books.  Get training and acquire skills.

5  Be persistent and work hard: Success is a marathon, not a sprint.  Never give up.

6  Learn to analyze details:  Get all the facts, all the input.  Learn from your mistakes.

7  Focus your time and money: Don’t let other people or things distract you.

8  Don’t be afraid to innovate; Be different: Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.

9  Deal and communicate with people effectively:  No person is an island.  Learn to understand and motivate others

10  Be honest and dependable; Take responsibility: Otherwise, numbers 1-9 won’t matter.

Read more…

College Unbound supports adult learners and gives them the ability to work full time and go to college full time.

Think you know what the typical college student is like?

Today’s typical college student is no longer an 18-year-old recent high-school graduate who enrolls full-time and has limited work and family obligations. Students today are
older, more diverse and have more work and family obligations to balance.

Turns out that 73 percent of college students aren’t full time students enrolling right after high school.

A few interesting facts:

43% of college students are:

24 years or older
Married
Responsible for legal dependents other than a spouse
Orphans or wards of the court (or were wards of the court until age 18) or
Veterans of the U.S. armed services

36% are older than 25

More than a third of undergraduate students are over age 25.
Over the next 10 years the adult student enrollment in college is
projected to grow faster than for traditional age students.

College Unbound is designed for these adult learners.  CU provides a flexible, affordable and personalized program to help working adults reach their career and personal goals.

Learn More:  Yesterday’s Nontraditional Student is Today’s Traditional Student

From an NPR broadcast: Typical College Students Aren’t Typical Anymore

College Unbound students have an apple cider toast to celebrate a successful and inspiring night of exhibitions.

Congratulations to College Unbound students, many of whom successfully completed the first public exhibition of their work last Monday.  Want to see more pictures of exhibitions?  Check out our video slideshow of exhibition night!

College Unbound wins Innovative and Creative Program Award

College Unbound has been named this year’s recipient of the “Innovative and Creative Program Award-Credit” by the New England Chapter of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA). The award ceremony was part of the regional conference held October 24-26, 2012 Ogunquit, ME.

The nomination for this award was submitted by the former dean of the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Roger Williams University Dr. Robert W. Robertson. Dr. Robertson noted that the program was “worthy of the innovation award as it was designed to assist adult learners in their quest to attain a university degree in a flexible and personalized manner.”

College Unbound is an initiative developed by Dr. Dennis Littky, an award winning educator who saw a need to provide high quality, flexible and practical university degree options to adult students. Dr. Littky promoted this initiative first with Roger Williams University and then with the University of Southern New Hampshire. Initially started as a pilot program, College Unbound now has more than 70 students and its first graduating class was in spring 2012. Most College Unbound students have prior academic credits and real life experiences.

Dr. Littky notes that “the key to helping these students succeed is to provide programs that match their individual needs and programs that are relevant to their specific career interests and goals. We are delighted to receive this award from UPCEA and thank our partners at Roger Williams University and the University of Southern New Hampshire for their ongoing encouragement and support.”

Here’s an overview of the writing process we’ll be using to help students build their writing skills.

The revolution in college learning these days seems to be online learning.  Every course is being put on line – many for free.  The problem is that many of the lecture courses that are not exciting in person are less exciting online.  Yes, there is hybrid learning – but that’s just a little bit of each – the person to person and online – These innovations will not revolutionize college education.  What is needed is a way to engage students in real work and use the technology to help solve the problem.  The idea is to go online to get offline and use your skills and knowledge.

One of the missions of College Unbound is to provide an opportunity to gain a Bachelor’s Degree for adult students who have been unsuccessful in other college settings.

What happens when those unsuccessful first college experiences come with a heavy price tag? A student with an unpaid debt to their first college cannot get an official transcript, and thus cannot enter another college. Many prospective College Unbound student owe only a few hundred dollars – but it’s enough to make sure that they cannot receive financial aid or an official transcript.

Earning a relevant Bachelor’s Degree improves the earning potential, skills and qualities of our workforce. We would be wise to invest in these adult learners, just as they are willing to invest their time and energy in improving themselves.

We are committed to coming up with solutions to help the adults that can’t move forward in college until the debt is paid.

He’s on the list for The Providence Journal’s 12 to Watch in 2012.

And he’s been chosen for Leadership Rhode Island’s 2012 Theta II class.

College Unbound @ Roger Williams University student Michael McCarthy has certainly taken Providence, Rhode Island by storm.

College Unbound congratulates Michael for this well-deserved recognition — We’re proud of the work you do and all of the learning it represents!

Here’s an excerpt from The Providence Journal story:

“Michael McCarthy got caught up in a chaotic Occupy Wall Street protest on the Brooklyn Bridge on Oct. 1 and found himself drawn into the movement.    McCarthy, a freelance animator, Afghan war veteran and social sciences student at College Unbound at Roger Williams University, says he grew up in Newport in the lower strata of the so-called disaffected ’99 percent.’   On Oct. 15, McCarthy joined more than 100 people who launched Occupy Providence in Burnside Park. Though the movement is by definition leaderless, McCarthy has emerged as an oft-quoted member, in print and on the airwaves.  Some have suggested he run for office, but McCarthy says that’s not what he’s about. [...]“  Read the full article here.