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Winona State Earns Highly Established Action Plan Seal
WINONA, Minnesota, Sept. 15 -- Winona State University issued the following news:
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Winona State Earns Highly Established Action Plan Seal
Sep 14, 2026
A commitment to civic engagement is earning national recognition for the work taking place at Winona State University.
The university has received the Highly Established Action Plan Seal for the 2026 election cycle, earning a score of 28.7 out of 32 possible points on the Strengthening American Democracy Action Planning Guide (SADG) Rubric. This achievement places Winona State among 233 campuses nationwide that received the seal for 2026.
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WINONA, Minnesota, Sept. 15 -- Winona State University issued the following news:
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Winona State Earns Highly Established Action Plan Seal
Sep 14, 2026
A commitment to civic engagement is earning national recognition for the work taking place at Winona State University.
The university has received the Highly Established Action Plan Seal for the 2026 election cycle, earning a score of 28.7 out of 32 possible points on the Strengthening American Democracy Action Planning Guide (SADG) Rubric. This achievement places Winona State among 233 campuses nationwide that received the seal for 2026.
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is dedicated to helping colleges and universities increase meaningful, nonpartisan student engagement in democracy. The organization supports campuses through resources, guidance, networking opportunities, and ongoing recognition of civic engagement efforts.
The Democratic Engagement Action Plan Rubric evaluates campuses across eight areas: executive summary, leadership, commitment, landscape, goals, strategy, reporting, and evaluation. The rubric emphasizes both student participation in local, state, and federal elections and broader democratic engagement beyond the ballot box.
"For several years, Winona State has been recognized for its voter registration drives. Student voter turnout has also generally been high," said Matthew Bosworth, Winona State professor and chair of the Department of Political Science, Public Administration, and Ethnic Studies.
Winona State was recognized as a 2024 Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting and previously achieved a 73.8 percent student voter turnout rate in the 2020 election, the highest among Minnesota public state universities.
"It's exciting for Winona State University to continue our legacy of civic participation and commitment to democracy," said Katherine Lind, Winona State professor in the Communication Studies Department and director of the American Democracy Project.
The American Democracy Project Committee at Winona State encourages and enables students to find voter resources, educate others across campus and within their communities, and increase voter participation.
"It is encouraging to see students so enthusiastic about participating in civic life and engaging one another in political discussions." Lind said.
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About the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) is a national, nonpartisan initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) organization. ALL IN strives for a more inclusive democracy, one in which all voices are heard. The organization believes higher education plays an important role in graduating students into active voters and in closing electoral participation gaps that persist across race and age groups.
Through an intentionally designed program that provides structure, support, and recognition, ALL IN strengthens college and university efforts to improve civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation. Ensuring that students are registered to vote and participate in elections is a key component of its work.
Learn more and view the full list of recognized campuses at allinchallenge.org.
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Original text here: https://news.winona.edu/23798/winona-state-earns-highly-established-action-plan-seal/
Winners Announced for 2026 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Sept. 15 -- The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education issued the following news:
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Winners Announced for 2026 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition
Seven finalists pitched their ventures live at the University of Pennsylvania, marking the first time the competition has returned to campus since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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PHILADELPHIA, September 14, 2026--Metaschool AI captured the $40,000 Michael & Lori Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize at the 17th annual Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) today at Penn's
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Sept. 15 -- The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education issued the following news:
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Winners Announced for 2026 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition
Seven finalists pitched their ventures live at the University of Pennsylvania, marking the first time the competition has returned to campus since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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PHILADELPHIA, September 14, 2026--Metaschool AI captured the $40,000 Michael & Lori Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize at the 17th annual Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) today at Penn'sAnnenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
The venture is an accredited online high school keeping Ghanaian students learning year-round through mobile-first instruction during disruptions caused by the country's double-track education system.
Other winners include Unified Track (cofounded by Dustin Bainbridge, a student in Penn GSE's Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership), which won the $25,000 Flexion Prize, and Literacy Tree, which received the $10,000 Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld Prize. Brikap captured the $5,000 EdSales Revenue Machine Audience Choice Prize.
This year marked the first time the Competition Finals have been held at the University of Pennsylvania since the COVID-19 pandemic and the first year the competition was presented in conjunction with Penn GSE's Catalyst Innovation Summit. The two events brought together entrepreneurs, investors, educators, researchers, and education leaders for a day focused on advancing innovation and impact across the education sector.
Before advancing to the Finals, EBPC semifinalists participated in Catapult, Catalyst @ Penn GSE's virtual accelerator, where they strengthened their ventures through self-paced learning, mentorship, and feedback from industry experts.
The seven finalists pitched their ventures to a live judging panel as well as an audience of entrepreneurs, investors, and practitioners. Widely regarded as the most prestigious and well-funded competition of its kind, the EBPC has awarded more than $2.5 million in cash and prizes since its founding. Past winners and finalists have gone on to raise more than $250 million in follow-on funding while expanding their reach and impact across education.
"The EBPC recognizes entrepreneurs who are not only identifying important challenges in education but also building thoughtful, scalable, and measurable solutions to address them," said John Gamba, Penn GSE Entrepreneur-in-Residence, who directs the competition. "This year's winners demonstrated the vision, resilience, and commitment required to convert an idea into a sustainable venture with the potential to impact a broad scale of diverse global learners. We are thrilled to celebrate their ingenuity and grit."
The 2026 EBPC prize winners are as follows:
* Metaschool AI captured the $40,000 Michael & Lori Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize.
* Unified Track won the $25,000 Flexion Prize.
* Literacy Tree earned the $10,000 Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld Prize.
* Brikap collected the $5,000 Audience Choice Prize presented by The EdSales Revenue Machine.
"For 17 years, the Milken-Penn GSE EBPC has brought fresh thinking to the challenges and opportunities facing education. The competition reflects an enduring commitment to asking what is possible, supporting new approaches, and creating opportunities for ideas to move from vision to impact. That commitment remains as important as ever," said Michael Golden, Vice Dean of Innovative Programs and Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
The EBPC is made possible through the generous support of the Michael and Lori Milken Family Foundation, Flexion, Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld, and The EdSales Revenue Machine.
The Milken family, several of whom are Penn graduates, embody the Ben Franklin spirit. Through successful educational entrepreneurship--from pre-K services through college education for working adults--as well as investments in educational enterprises, they have demonstrated a commitment to the leaders of tomorrow. In their four decades of philanthropic activities, the Milken family has made innovation in education--as exemplified by the Milken Educator Awards and National Institute for Excellence in Teaching--a cornerstone of their work.
Penn GSE is one of the world's leading schools in education research and practitioner preparation. Penn GSE partners with schools, universities, and communities to expand educational access--especially for those underserved by society--and, through rigorous research and innovative programs, develops new knowledge and transformational teachers and leaders in pursuit of educational opportunity. Follow Penn GSE on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Find more on educationcompetition.org or follow the conversation on LinkedIn: @CatalystPennGSE and #MilkenPennGSE.
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Original text here: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/winners-announced-2026-milken-penn-gse-education-business-plan-competition
University of Arkansas: Seminar - More Than a Mouth - Integrative Biology of Diet-Dependent Phenotypes
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas, Sept. 15 -- The University of Arkansas issued the following news:
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Seminar: More Than a Mouth: Integrative Biology of Diet-Dependent Phenotypes
Sep. 14, 2026
The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center (AIMRC) will host Dr. Nick Levis, an assistant professor of evolutionary biology at the U of A, at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, in BELL 2269. Levis studies how environmental conditions influence development and drive evolutionary changes. In this seminar, he will highlight research on diet-dependent plasticity in nematodes and spadefoot toads, revealing
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FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas, Sept. 15 -- The University of Arkansas issued the following news:
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Seminar: More Than a Mouth: Integrative Biology of Diet-Dependent Phenotypes
Sep. 14, 2026
The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center (AIMRC) will host Dr. Nick Levis, an assistant professor of evolutionary biology at the U of A, at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, in BELL 2269. Levis studies how environmental conditions influence development and drive evolutionary changes. In this seminar, he will highlight research on diet-dependent plasticity in nematodes and spadefoot toads, revealinghow environmental cues shape organisms from genes to whole-animal traits.
Abstract: Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to alter development in response to environmental conditions. In extreme cases, these responses produce alternative phenotypes within a species that differ as dramatically as the phenotypes of separate species. In this seminar, Levis will share his lab's work on two examples of diet-dependent plasticity through the lenses of integration and modularity. In shark-tooth nematodes, he will highlight how genetic and environmental variation can couple--and sometimes decouple--morphology, behavior, performance and other components of the phenotype, and how selection acting on the whole organism can produce different evolutionary outcomes than selection on the mouth alone. Levis will then turn to spadefoot toad tadpoles and describe how comparative and transcriptomic studies reveal reorganization across tissues during the production and evolution of alternative forms. Together, these systems demonstrate that understanding plasticity and development requires connecting environmental cues and molecular mechanisms to organismal phenotypes, fitness and evolution.
Biography: Levis holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of North Carolina, an M.S. in biology from Western Kentucky University and a B.S. in zoology from Miami University. Prior to coming to the U of A, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University. Levis' research examines the ecological, evolutionary and developmental (eco-evo-devo) causes and consequences of environmentally induced phenotypes. Using shark-tooth nematodes and spadefoot toad tadpoles as model organisms, the Levis Lab employs a variety of tools, ranging from functional genetics to mesocosm communities, to understand if, when and how environmentally contingent development affects diversity and adaptation within and between generations.
This event is supported by NIGMS of the National Institutes of Health under award number 2P20GM139768. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Pizza and beverages will be served. Please contact Kimberley Fuller, fullerk@uark.edu, for more information.
For those unable to attend in person, this seminar will also be available via Zoom.
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Original text here: https://news.uark.edu/articles/82842/seminar-more-than-a-mouth-integrative-biology-of-diet-dependent-phenotypes
UMW Earns National Recognition for Value, Future Readiness and Student Wellness
FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 15 -- The University of Mary Washington issued the following news:
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UMW Earns National Recognition for Value, Future Readiness and Student Wellness
September 14, 2026 By Sarah Hertz Mahoney
The University of Mary Washington continues to earn national recognition this fall, with new rankings from Washington Monthly, TIME, Forbes and Niche highlighting UMW's value, student experience and preparation for life after college.
In its 2026 College Guide, Washington Monthly, known for rankings that emphasize colleges' contributions to students and the public good,
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FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, Sept. 15 -- The University of Mary Washington issued the following news:
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UMW Earns National Recognition for Value, Future Readiness and Student Wellness
September 14, 2026 By Sarah Hertz Mahoney
The University of Mary Washington continues to earn national recognition this fall, with new rankings from Washington Monthly, TIME, Forbes and Niche highlighting UMW's value, student experience and preparation for life after college.
In its 2026 College Guide, Washington Monthly, known for rankings that emphasize colleges' contributions to students and the public good,ranked UMW No. 90 among its "Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars" in the Southeast, up from No. 97 last year. The ranking measures how well institutions help students attain affordable degrees that lead to successful careers while serving students across income levels. The rankings weigh access, affordability, student outcomes and community service equally.
TIME, the national news publication, also included UMW among 500 institutions in its inaugural America's Best Colleges list, produced in partnership with global data and rankings company Statista. UMW placed No. 416 among colleges recognized nationwide, one of 12 Virginia institutions to make the list. The ranking draws on federal data to evaluate schools based on student outcomes, learning environment and attractiveness -- with student outcomes carrying the greatest weight.
Forbes, the national business publication, named UMW among 500 institutions in its 2027 America's Top Colleges ranking, placing Mary Washington No. 297 nationwide. The ranking focuses on educational and career outcomes, evaluating colleges based on measures like alumni earnings, student debt, graduation and retention rates, return on investment, academic success and alumni achievement.
Niche, a college search and rankings platform that combines data with student and alumni reviews, awarded UMW an A+ for Future Readiness and an A for Student Wellness in its 2027 rankings. Both measures are new this year with over 1,900 schools evaluated.
UMW's A+ for Future Readiness places it in the 99.2th national percentile, or top 2.5% of colleges. Mary Washington earned particularly strong marks for future-focused career services and access to AI and emerging-technology curriculum. The grade considers career services, curriculum, high-impact practices, work experience, emerging-technology coursework and instructional spending, with the quality of career services carrying the most weight.
The A for Student Wellness places UMW in the 97th national percentile, roughly among the top 10% of colleges receiving a grade. The measure considers access to counseling, crisis care, recreation and student organizations, with UMW earning top marks for individual counseling, exercise and nutrition, a 24/7 crisis line and emergency care pathway.
The latest accolades add to a growing list of national recognition for UMW this year. The Princeton Review named UMW among its Best 392 Colleges for 2027, with UMW Theatre rising to No. 12 nationally. The Fiske Guide to Colleges featured UMW among the nation's "best and most interesting" institutions. And Money awarded UMW four out of five stars in its 2026 Best Colleges in America list, up from 3.5 stars last year.
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Explore more on UMW's National (https://www.umw.edu/about/national-rankings/) Rankings webpage.
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Original text here: https://www.umw.edu/news/2026/09/14/umw-earns-national-recognition-for-value-future-readiness-and-student-wellness/
Point Park University's Jennifer Schaupp Selected for Fulbright Specialist Roster
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, Sept. 15 -- Point Park University issued the following news:
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Point Park University's Jennifer Schaupp Selected for Fulbright Specialist Roster
Monday, September 14, 2026
Jennifer Schaupp, Ph.D., a part-time professor at Point Park University, has been selected to join the Fulbright Specialist Roster for a three-year term. The Roster is a U.S. Department of State program that connects American academics and professionals with institutions worldwide.
At Point Park, Schaupp teaches creative writing, theatre and communication courses. Her scholarship and creative
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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, Sept. 15 -- Point Park University issued the following news:
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Point Park University's Jennifer Schaupp Selected for Fulbright Specialist Roster
Monday, September 14, 2026
Jennifer Schaupp, Ph.D., a part-time professor at Point Park University, has been selected to join the Fulbright Specialist Roster for a three-year term. The Roster is a U.S. Department of State program that connects American academics and professionals with institutions worldwide.
At Point Park, Schaupp teaches creative writing, theatre and communication courses. Her scholarship and creativework focus on multicultural engagement, community partnerships and global connections.
"My scholarship, teaching and artistry hover around multicultural ideals and connections, so it seemed natural to me to apply for an opportunity that encourages international exchanges for mutual support and growth," Schaupp said. "I also love to travel and experience new places and cultures and have not done much since the pandemic. Most of my recent international connections developed over Zoom, so it would be wonderful to connect with people in person."
Throughout her career, Schaupp has cultivated international and intercultural partnerships through teaching, community engagement and educational innovation. Her work has connected her with colleagues and multicultural communities in Pittsburgh and far beyond the Steel City, while also creating pathways for students to engage with these diverse cultures and perspectives.
"I have made so many global connections through my doctoral research, Point Park's Social Impact Grant, the Hello Neighbor program and other initiatives that the Fulbright feels like the culmination of my experiences meeting, thinking and collaborating with people from Brazil, Turkey, Bhutan and more," she said.
Schaupp hopes the Fulbright experience will create new opportunities for international collaboration for both herself and her students.
"I have always wanted to connect my students with students from other countries, almost like pen pals meet artistic collaborators," she said. "My hope is that I could do that through a Fulbright project that aligns with my expertise."
The Fulbright Specialist Roster is part of Fulbright programs that are administered by the U.S. Department of State. It pairs U.S. academics and professionals with host institutions abroad for short-term projects. Specialists share their expertise through activities such as teaching, curriculum development, strategic planning and institutional collaboration. The program promotes mutual understanding and strengthens educational and cultural connections between the United States and partner countries.
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Original text here: https://www.pointpark.edu/news/jennifer-schaupp-fulbright-specialist-roster
Graduate Student Appointed, Current Members Reappointed to SOU Board
ASHLAND, Oregon, Sept. 15 -- Southern Oregon University issued the following news:
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Graduate student appointed, current members reappointed to SOU Board
September 14, 2026
(Ashland, Ore.) -- Southern Oregon University student Karen Lucia Lopez Villanueva, a Master of Business Administration candidate from Guanajuato, Mexico, has been appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek and confirmed Thursday by the Oregon Senate to serve on the university's Board of Trustees. Current board members Brent Barry and Iris Maria Chavez were each appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate to serve second
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ASHLAND, Oregon, Sept. 15 -- Southern Oregon University issued the following news:
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Graduate student appointed, current members reappointed to SOU Board
September 14, 2026
(Ashland, Ore.) -- Southern Oregon University student Karen Lucia Lopez Villanueva, a Master of Business Administration candidate from Guanajuato, Mexico, has been appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek and confirmed Thursday by the Oregon Senate to serve on the university's Board of Trustees. Current board members Brent Barry and Iris Maria Chavez were each appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate to serve secondterms on the SOU Board.
Lopez Villanueva will finish the unexpired term of Rose Harwood as the board's graduate student member. That term expires June 30, 2027, and Villanueva was also appointed to her own two-year term on the board, beginning next July 1.
Barry and Chavez were reappointed to their second four-year terms that will begin next July 1 and run through June 20, 2030. Barry was appointed to his initial term in June 2022, and Chavez was first appointed in September 2022 to complete an unexpired four-year term on the board.
"I am delighted to welcome Karen Lucia Lopez Villanueva - an accomplished graduate student, violinist and financial professional - to the board, as Brent Barry and Iris Maria Chavez continue their invaluable leadership on the SOU board," Chair Sheila Clough said. "I am deeply grateful for their service and shared commitment to bringing lasting vitality to SOU's future and to ensure that our students thrive."
Lopez Villanueva is pursuing dual MBA concentrations in business analytics and accounting at SOU. She earned her bachelor's degree in public accounting from SOU's sister university, the Universidad de Guanajuato, and has professional experience in public and corporate accounting, and in fiscal compliance.
She is also an accomplished violinist who earned a second-place medal at the 16th Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival in 2024, performing with Siskiyou Violins at Vienna, Austria's renowned Musikverein concert hall.
Lopez Villanueva is an active member of her communities in both Ashland and Guanajuato. She served previously in Guanajuato as secretary of the board for the student branch of the Mexican Institute of Public Accountants, representing the nine-state, central-western region of Mexico. She currently serves as a board member for the Ashland Amigo Club, supporting initiatives that strengthen cultural connections and community engagement in southern Oregon. She is also a graduate assistant to the dean of SOU's College of Natural and Social Sciences, where she supports the administration and leads critical research on sustainable investment strategies that help to inform institutional endowment practices.
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Original text here: https://news.sou.edu/2026/09/graduate-student-appointed-current-members-reappointed-to-sou-board/
FIU: Chemists Uncover How Unthinkable Reactions Occur in Unimaginable Conditions
MIAMI, Florida, Sept. 15 (TNSjou) -- Florida International University, a component of the public university system in Florida, issued the following news:
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Chemists uncover how unthinkable reactions occur in unimaginable conditions
By JoAnn Adkins
September 14, 2026
Before there was Earth, there was chemistry.
In the unimaginable cold, dark clouds where stars and planets are born, carbon molecules assemble into more complex forms -- starting a chemical journey that could eventually deliver some of life's basic ingredients to young planets. There's only one problem -- these molecules need
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MIAMI, Florida, Sept. 15 (TNSjou) -- Florida International University, a component of the public university system in Florida, issued the following news:
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Chemists uncover how unthinkable reactions occur in unimaginable conditions
By JoAnn Adkins
September 14, 2026
Before there was Earth, there was chemistry.
In the unimaginable cold, dark clouds where stars and planets are born, carbon molecules assemble into more complex forms -- starting a chemical journey that could eventually deliver some of life's basic ingredients to young planets. There's only one problem -- these molecules needheat to form. At least that's what scientists have long believed. But new research from FIU chemist Alexander Mebel reveals such chemistry can actually happen at temperatures nearing absolute zero, which is -460 degrees Fahrenheit.
On Earth, these complex carbon molecules are usually associated with extremely hot temperatures, like those associated with combustion. It has long been presumed that heat is necessary for these molecules to assemble in space. But when astronomers detected one of these molecules last year, it was found in the cold, dark region known as Taurus Molecular Cloud-1. This region, where solar systems begin, is anything but hot. Temperatures there hover around -443 degrees. Mebel's research, published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, offers a possible answer as to how these molecules formed there and could improve understanding of how worlds like Earth can form.
Mebel and collaborator Ralf Kaiser of the University of Hawaii at Manoa studied phenalene, the complex carbon molecule recently discovered in Taurus Molecular Cloud-1. They explored new possibilities to find some way phenalene could form that did not require heat. Using computer modeling, they discovered a series of chemical reactions that can actually happen without heat to form phenalene.
Phenalene belongs to a large family of carbon molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Scientists believe these molecules hold a significant amount of the carbon found in space, but detecting individual PAHs has been difficult. The discovery of phenalene gives scientists another piece of evidence that these complex molecules can exist -- and form -- in extremely cold regions of space.
Gravity pulls together gas and dust within these clouds to form stars. Material left around a young star can eventually come together to form planets. Molecules already present in the cloud can become part of those new worlds. Mebel's findings suggest some of that complex carbon chemistry can get its start even earlier, in the extreme cold before planets exist.
Scientists have found more evidence of that connection much closer to home. PAHs have been discovered in samples collected from asteroids and returned to Earth. Some appear to have formed in very cold environments.
And the story may not end with planets.
Scientists are investigating whether PAHs and other carbon molecules may have helped create the conditions that allowed more complicated organic molecules to form before life began.
One place that chemistry can happen is on tiny pieces of cosmic dust.
"The surface of cosmic dust particles are believed to serve as 'molecular factories'" that help form more complex organic molecules," Mebel said.
Some of those molecules are considered building blocks of life. They can become trapped in asteroids and other objects and later be carried to young planets through impacts.
That doesn't mean phenalene created life. Far from it. But learning how molecules like phenalene can form in the freezing darkness of space helps scientists trace a much bigger chemical journey -- from simple molecules, to stars and planets, and to the increasingly complex chemistry that can make worlds like Earth possible.
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Original text here: https://news.fiu.edu/2026/chemists-uncover-how-unthinkable-reactions-occur-in-unimaginable-conditions
