Heath Hiudt, UNLV Sommelier Academy instructor and sommelier at the Cosmopolitan’s upscale STK restaurant, will lead a two-day excursion to California wine country August 22-23.
A quick morning plane ride will whisk you from Las Vegas’ scorching summer heat to northern California where average August highs are 83°F and nighttime lows average 55°F. Napa’s climate and soil combine to create one of the world’s premiere wine production regions. Hiudt will take the group to several of his favorite vineyards and wineries. Participants will see wine production from start to finish from an insider’s point of view and get to sample local wines. Dinner and overnight in Napa will re-energize you for a second day of winery tours and the return voyage home.
Registration includes round trip airfare from Las Vegas to Sacramento, ground transportation, one night stay (double occupancy) at the Chablis Inn, one group dinner, and 4-5 guided winery tours. For additional details about The Napa Experience!, call 702-895-5224 or email charlee.zingraf@unlv.edu.

The April/May 2013 issue of Outreach Insights is now available. The enewsletter features the latest news about the people, programs, and courses of the UNLV Division of Educational Outreach.

The UNLV Office of Online Education is now a unit in the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. Please click here to visit Online Education's website: http://online.unlv.edu/

Over the course of 20 years, UNLV’s Paralegal Certificate program evolved from a startup six-weekend course into a nationally-recognized curriculum and online support system utilized by prominent universities around the country. At the June paralegal graduation celebration, program founder Dan Barber was recognized by the Division of Educational Outreach for 20 years of vision and leadership for this thriving program.
Ann Tate, Emeritus Program Coordinator, worked with Dan during the earlier years of the program and outlined his achievements during the ceremony. According to Tate, the key to the program’s success has been Dan’s ability to continue evolving the coursework and delivery methods based on ongoing feedback from the legal community, especially feedback from paralegals themselves.
When UNLV first offered a paralegal certificate in 1993, Dan flew to Las Vegas to teach every other weekend from Colorado where he worked as a paralegal. Weekend-only courses led to evening classes aimed at students working full time jobs. As demand increased, daytime classes were added. Dan saw early on how the Internet could be used for student support; he initially utilized external servers to host paralegal content because the university did not have resources internally. Now, paralegal students have the option to take their entire coursework online with a dedicated instructor assigned to facilitate their progress. Leading universities including Duke, Rice, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and University of Miami utilize his curriculum and online content in their own programs; some even offer the program as an upper level undergraduate course.
Dan’s work with UNLV Continuing Education is not limited to the paralegal program these days. Dan is also the driving force behind Continuing Education’s Medical Assistant Certificate and the Legal Secretary Certificate programs. Thanks to Dan’s vision and leadership, students in these fields also have opportunities to pursue high-quality, skill-based training in preparation for new careers.
After 20 years, Barber’s passion for the paralegal program is still strong. While he is no longer the primary instructor, he guest teaches certain sessions and at the graduation it was clear he had strong connections with the students. According to Tate, “For Dan, it has always been about his commitment to the students. This is by far the program that makes a difference in people’s lives.” Current certificate program coordinator Norm Kunselman adds, “Dan is a true professional who has a passion for providing lifelong learning opportunities for adults. He gets immense satisfaction from learning about the successes of students once they complete the Paralegal Certificate program.”
On behalf of Continuing Education and the many students whose lives he has helped transformed over 20 years, we extend our thanks and congratulations to Dan Barber for a job well done.

The UNLV Public Lands Institute hosted an International Protected Area Exchange (IPAX) symposium June 18, 2013, with approximately 35 people attending the event at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Click the link below to read the full article.

Volunteers from OLLI at UNLV represented their program as well as the National Network at AARP’s Life@50+ conference, which was held May 30-June 1 in Las Vegas. The conference drew more than 8,000 participants from New York and Virginia, down to Texas and New Orleans, and throughout California. In addition to chatting up locals about the benefits of the OLLI at UNLV experience, they also encouraged hundreds of visitors that stopped by the table to contact their local OLLI office. Maps with each OLLI represented and bookmarks with the National Resource Center website will hopefully steer a few prospective members your way. “The opportunity to partner with the National office to showcase the benefits of our program on this scale is fantastic,” said Dr. Peg Rees, Director of OLLI at UNLV and Vice Provost of Educational Outreach. “Our goal was to have every attendee at the conference buzzing about their local OLLI, whether they live here in Las Vegas or are visiting from across the country.” OLLI at UNLV would like to thank the national office for allowing us to represent our amazing network and for all their support coordinating our AARP experience.

The June/July 2013 issue of Outreach Insights is available. Read about the learning activities and opportunities at UNLV's Division of Educational Outreach.

Continuing Education Director Meni Sarris discusses taking our professional development courses and programs beyond Las Vegas in this article in Nevada Business Magazine.http://www.nevadabusiness.com/2013/08/creating-new-opportunities-execut…

PLI summer beach hosts Efren Gomez and Suheir Nasereddin gained some useful insights into the challenges of volunteer beach cleanup events at Lake Mead National Recreation Area over the summer. Starting in May, Efren and Suheir worked as bilingual event coordinators facilitating beach cleanup events and informational outreach sessions. One of their key assignments for the summer was to quantify and qualify the effects of speaking Spanish with respect to visitors' participation.
The summer outreach program was a collaboration between the National Park Service’s (NPS) Lake Mead National Recreation Area and UNLV’s Public Lands Institute. Efren and Suheir supported summer volunteer programs in cooperation with Chris Pietrofeso and Bryan Goodwin of the NPS volunteer office. Together, they facilitated opportunities for visitors to learn about and participate in volunteer programs at the park. Events included impromptu beach clean-ups and volunteer program information booths at local businesses.
It is always a challenge in a recreational setting to get site visitors to take a break from planned activities to participate in a volunteer event. At Lake Mead, NPS personnel felt there was an additional roadblock to volunteer participation caused by a language barrier between park service representatives and Hispanic visitors. Consequently, PLI and NPS set a goal this year to increase volunteerism among the Hispanic community.
During this summer’s events Efren and Suheir conducted an observational study of the cultural and contextual factors that influence participation in Hispanic visitors. The summer was an ongoing learning experience, but one that yielded valuable data for moving volunteer programs forward in future years.
A summer’s worth of observation and data collection demonstrated that members of the Hispanic community seemed more receptive and interested in impromptu beach clean-ups when they felt related either physically, culturally, or linguistically with a park representative. Simply having representatives who spoke Spanish led to a significant increase in participation rates from last year to this year. Additionally, Hispanic families were more prone to volunteer for a beach clean up as a whole family. In other demographic groups it was far more likely for just a few family members (like kids and/or teenagers) to volunteer for a project. Efren and Suheir noted parents’ endorsement of a program was associated with higher participation in young Hispanics. Observation showed Hispanic parents attached an educational value to the programs, explaining why they encouraged their kids to be part of them.
Understanding the factors that contribute to Hispanic families' decisions to participate in land stewardship and environmental protection programs is essential for the future of volunteer programs at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This study provides a starting point for designing programs more closely aligned with the cultural mores of the Spanish-speaking community.

Mrs. Salena Aragon’s class of 22 second grade junior Runnin’ Rebels at H.T. Jaramillo Community School in Belen, NM knows as much about UNLV as many incoming freshmen. They’ve learned the fight song, follow Rebel athletics, and can pinpoint Las Vegas on a map. Past students have even made a point of visiting the campus during a vacation.
Jaramillo Community School is the sole New Mexico school participating in the No Excuses University (NEU) network of schools. NEU provides a framework for improving school outcomes based on the belief that all children, even those living in poverty and English Language Learners, can succeed in school and aspire to college. Administrators, teachers, and staff use NEU methodology to positively transform the culture of their schools.
This is the fourth year in a row Mrs. Aragon’s second graders have represented UNLV. The class uses UNLV as a springboard for discussions and projects centered on college readiness, high academic standards, and goal setting. Community2Campus, Admissions and Recruitment, and University Communications put together a university “care package” for the junior Runnin’ Rebels. This year’s box of goodies included university pennants, stickers, backpacks, pencils, and coloring books among other items generously provided from across campus.
In a note to Community2Campus Executive Director, Dr. Liz Baldizan, Mrs. Aragon expressed her gratitude toward UNLV, writing, “Every year my junior Runnin’ Rebels have enjoyed being a part of your school. The students have loved learning about different colleges, hearing their fight songs, finding their locations, but most of all learning that college is an option for them. The students are leaving confident that no matter what, college is attainable for them. It is awesome to see.”
Connecting with the community and inspiring students of all ages to pursue their goals is one of the things staff in the Division of Educational Outreach does best. Kudos to everyone who participated on this project!