Community2Campus (C2C) recently collaborated with the City of Henderson to share information about UNLV academic opportunities with city staff. On April 9 over thirty employees scheduled academic consultations to have one-on-one advising about areas of interest. Some employees expressed an interest in earning a graduate degree, while others sought to complete an undergraduate degree or train in a new field. These academic consultations allowed for individual discussion and advisement regarding financial aid, timelines, resources, and managing the admissions pathway to UNLV.
Many thanks go out to UNLV academic advisors Sal Mora (Academic Success Center), Tracy Johnson (Liberal Arts), John Starkey (Lee Business School), and Allison Diehl (Graduate College) for their time and expertise. The day ushered in many new and meaningful options for City of Henderson employees and their futures.
Are you a non-traditional student looking to go back to college? Whether your educational journey was disrupted by family commitments, military service, finances, or other reasons, Community2Campus can help get you back on track to graduation. C2C can connect you with campus resources including academic advising, credit transfers, tutoring, student groups, financial aid, and scholarships. Contact executive director Liz Baldizan for more information at 702-774-4626 or Elizabeth.Baldizan@unlv.edu.

After 37 years in higher education administration, Dr. Liz Baldizan has decided to retire from UNLV effective Monday, August 31, 2015. 
 
Dr. Baldizan has served UNLV for nearly 20 years and joined the UNLV Division of Educational Outreach (DEO) in September 2009 as Executive Director for Community2Campus, a unit she developed from the ground up and demonstrated her long-held commitment to enhancing the success of adult learners. Dr. Baldizan is recognized across the country for her work and publications in this arena. Most recently she was the lead author for a chapter in a National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) publication: Meaningful Community Partnerships for Adult Learners, “Increasing Adult Learner Persistence and Completion Rates: A Guide for Student Affairs Leaders and Practitioners,” August 2014.
 
Dr. Baldizan reached across campus and into the community to garner broad-based support for adult learners and for UNLV. Her work was in line with UNLV’s efforts to recruit adult learners and increase progression and completion rates. With a one million dollar endowment from the Osher Foundation and other gifts, Dr. Baldizan coordinated re-entry scholarships and, in 2014 alone, 36 scholarships were awarded totaling more than $93,000. She worked to assure that ongoing consultations with students via phone, e-mail, or in person were provided for all scholarship recipients as well as the general public interested in returning to UNLV. 
 
Dr. Baldizan also coordinated an ever-increasing number of self-supporting academic credit classes and some state-supported classes held on UNLV Main and Paradise campuses as well as in venues across the Las Vegas Valley, reaching diverse learners. In 2014, 9,338 UNLV students took these classes, producing 23,689 student credit hours.
 
Dr. Baldizan will be missed at UNLV and specifically at DEO, but she will continue to be active in her scholarly discipline and in the Las Vegas community as she advocates for lifelong learning and UNLV. She is currently a member of the City of Henderson Senior Citizen Advisory Commission and was recently selected as a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of College and Character, a publication sponsored by NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (2015-2018).
 
As we celebrate her many accomplishments, we wish Dr. Baldizan all the best and thank her for dedication and service to lifelong learning.

Sharon Altman, administrative assistant IV/office manager with the UNLV Division of Educational Outreach (DEO), was named UNLV’s Classified Employee of the Year for 2015 at the Classified Staff Awards Luncheon & Ceremony on  June 22. The award recognizes the employee who has exceeded the normal duties of their job. Sharon received a plaque as well as a monetary award.
 
Sharon exceeds all of the standards for her position on a daily basis. She was nominated because of her extraordinary work ethic, her efficiency in performing job duties, her reliability, willingness to help others, and her positive attitude. When presenting her with the award, Sharon’s supervisor, DEO Operations Manager Rochelle Sanchez, noted Sharon is a highly regarded and respected employee.  “Many of the administrative support staff within our division specifically seek her out for guidance and instruction regarding hiring, generating employment contracts, and processing travel,” said Sanchez.
 
Other reasons cited in the nomination highlighted Sharon’s dedication to her job. Over the course of the last several years DEO has experienced many changes -- management of new grants, organizational restructuring, numerous office relocations, and vacant support staff positions. Each change resulted in an increase to Sharon’s workload. Sharon handled all of these changes and challenges with a positive attitude. She is a reliable person who goes the extra mile to complete her job. While on annual leave Sharon has been known to call the office and check her voicemail and email and respond to urgent requests.
 
Sharon has worked for the State of Nevada for a little over 20 years, with 15 of those years at UNLV.
 
Congratulations, Sharon! Thank you for all you do for UNLV and DEO.
 

How did Administrative Assistant IV/Office Manager Sharon Altman take a journey from a clerk trainee to UNLV Classified Employee of the Year? Read about it here.

The UNLV Division of Educational Outreach is featured in "Live and Learn," an article in the new BLVDs magazine. Classes offered by UNLV Continuing Education and OLLI at UNLV are highlighted.

The July/August issue of Outreach Insights is now available. The enewsletter has news about the programs and people within the UNLV Division of Educational Outreach. This issue features a new math readiness course, an update on Summer Term 2015, and an introduction of the new director of Continuing Education.

UNLV President Len Jessup has conferred Emerita status to Dr. Elizabeth Baldizan in recognition of her distinguished service to the university.
 
Baldizan retired August 31, 2015 after serving UNLV for nearly 20 years. She was the executive director of Community2Campus, a unit she developed from the ground up and demonstrated her long-held commitment to enhancing the success of adult learners. Baldizan is nationally recognized for her work and publications in this arena.
 
Dr. Baldizan previously worked in student affairs at the University of New Mexico, Seattle Community Colleges, and UNLV. She also taught at Seattle University and at UNLV in the Department of Educational Leadership. Dr. Baldizan is past president of the Association for Student Judicial Affairs and Board of Director member for NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. She has published and presented on the topic of ethical development. 
 
Dr. Baldizan is currently a member of the City of Henderson Senior Citizen Advisory Commission and was recently selected as a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of College and Character, a publication sponsored by NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (2015-2018).
 
Dr. Baldizan received her Ed.D. in Higher Educational Administration from UNLV, her MA in Education from the University of New Mexico, and her BA in Communications and Environmental Studies from the University of Northern Colorado, Magna Cum Laude.  
 

Cannon Survey Center will host an open house as part of the activities during Research at UNLV Week Oct. 12-16. The open house will be held 1-3 p.m. on Oct. 13. Download the flyer for more information.

The Bernard Osher Foundation has provided additional support to OLLI at UNLV. UNLV today announced the foundation recently made a $1 million grant, the second such endowment for OLLI at UNLV.Read more.

Thanskgiving recess at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will be Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27, 2015. The UNLV Paradise Campus will also be on recess. The Information Desk will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 25 and reopen at 8 a.m. Monday, November 30.