Media Releases
February 9, 2010
American Studies Association of Japan To Hold Annual Research Conference at UOG in March
The American Studies Association of Japan, one of the largest academic associations for "Americanists" in Japan, will hold its annual research conference outside of Japan. The University of Guam will be the venue for the 2010 conference which will be held March 20 and 21. Approximately 20-35 researchers will convene at the University to present results of research on a wide variety of aspects of American studies, including U.S. culture, politics, foreign policy, language, and education. The keynote address will be delivered by Mr. Koki Kobayashi, Member, House of Representatives of Japan. He is a senior member of the Japanese parliament and one of the senior leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) which took control of the Japanese government last fall. "One reason for the selection of Guam as the first meeting of the association outside of Japan is the growing interest in the realignment of U.S. military forces in the western Pacific among Japanese Americanists and JDP political leaders," said Michael Stoil, assistant professor of political science at UOG. "Additionally, members of the visiting group have expressed interest in learning more about nursing education and the teaching of English as a foreign language at the University of Guam." Scheduled presentations in English at the conference will include a paper on U.S.-Japanese foreign relations by Yukiko Amakawa, Associate Professor, Teikyo University, and a paper on the relationship between U.S. strategic interest in Guam and the principle of self determination by Stoil. The conference is open to the public. To reserve a space, please contact: Michael Stoil, PhDAssistant Professor and CoordinatorPolitical Science ProgramCollege of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences University of Guam671-735-2877 or mstoil@uguam.uog.eduFor more information about the American Studies Association of Japan,visit: http://american-studies.seesaa.net/.
February 9, 2010
POSTER CONTEST
Portrait of a Scientist as a Young Girl
Sponsored by the University of Guam Women and Gender Studies Program
Through a Grant from the American Association of University Women
DEADLINE: Monday March 1, 2010, Received by 5:00 p.m.
Call for Entries: The UOG Women and Gender Studies program invites YOU to get involved in a special project. We are looking for artists to participate in this unique poster contest. The winning posters will be used to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects for women and girls in Guam public schools as well as UOG and GCC.
The competition is open to girls and women in public middle schools and high schools in Guam as well as freshman and sophomore women enrolled at GCC or UOG. The poster design should focus on the positive aspects of STEM subjects for girls and women. Designs might include facts and myths regarding women and girls in STEM fields, foreground local women working in STEM professions, images of girls doing science and having fun and/or the benefits for girls and women who enroll in STEM subjects.
The contest begins on Friday February 5 2010 and continues until Monday March 1, 2010. The competition will be judged on the following criteria
ü Suitability of poster for middle school, high school or college audience
ü Creative and original art work and idea
ü Attractiveness in terms of design and neatness of layout
ü Overall Impact, all graphics are related to the topic and make it easier to understand the poster theme
All submissions received by 5:00 p.m. Monday March 1 will be judged based on the criteria above. In the event of a tie, the UOG WG program faculty will choose the winner.
This is YOUR opportunity to display your creative talent and show the value of science, technology, engineering, and math for the girls and young women of Guam.
February 8, 2010
UOG Spring Enrollment up 3.9%
Highest Spring Enrollment in 10 Years
The University of Guam welcomes 3,424 students to campus for the spring 2010 semester, a 3.9% increase over the prior year and the highest spring enrollment in ten years.
“The spring 2010 enrollment numbers continue a trend of increasing enrollment over multiple years,” said UOG President Robert Underwood. “The quality of our programs and multiple outreach efforts at various levels continue to attract students to campus, including the 154 new freshmen who chose to come to the University of Guam this semester.”
Of the 3,424 students enrolled for spring, 60% are female and 40% are male, showing a slight increase in the number of male students attending the institution.
Februrary 8, 2010
 UOG’s Island Theatre presents its third production of the year, Federica Garcia Lorca’s
classic Spanish tragedy THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA, featuring UOG’s own
Michelle Blas and Michelle Bednarzyk, as well as, student Antoinette Brillantes. The
play runs from March 4-6 and March 10-13 at the Fine Arts Theatre beginning each night
at 8:00pm.
Followed in April by the musical ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN by Robert Fulghum.
For information contact Jim Seymour at jimbo125@aol.com. Come experience live theatre
at UOG’s Island Theatre!
Februrary 5, 2010
UOG Chemistry Titration Competition 2010
The Chemistry Program at the Division of Natural Sciences, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, UOG is organizing its annual Titration Competition for High Schools on March, 9th 2010. The competition will be held at the chemistry laboratory located in the second floor (SC 230) of the Science Building at UOG campus. All the high schools in Guam are invited to participate in this event. Each school will be allowed to send one team. Additional teams from the same school will be considered if space permits. To register, students must complete the application form that is posted on the UOG web site www.uog.edu/chemistry_competition
Rules and guidelines are also posted on the website. Closing date for Registration is 3/1/2010. For more details on this competition, contact Dr. Maika Vuki, 735 2784, mvuki@uguam.uog.edu
February 4, 2010
ATTENTION UOG STUDENTS
What to be a Student Regent Representative?
Interested students may inquire at the Student Life Office for more
information.
Contact: Joan Swaddell, Student Life, EMSS at 735-2271
Angel Petros, IMS, LR at 735-2327.
Qualifications are:
1. Earned 30 semester hours (units) at UOG.
2. Grade Point Average of 2.0 or better.
3. A full-time student at UOG.
4. A minimum of 100 signatures from UOG
students nominating him/her.
5. Must not be a UOG or GovGuam employee.
6. Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent
resident residing in Guam for at least
three (3) years.
7. Must be able to serve a two-year term.
UOG students planning to apply to the School of Education for admission for Fall 2010 must submit their applications by March 15, 2010
Applicants must submit an application for admission to the School of Education via LiveText that includes an ePortfolio demonstrating that s/he has at the point of application met the following requirements:
- Completed a minimum of 54 credit hours
- Maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.7 or higher
- Submitted LiveText electronic Portfolio to include the following:
- Two writing samples
- Three School of Education disposition rubrics to be completed by:
a) Two School of Education faculty
b) One content area faculty
Obtain a LiveText account and attend LiveText tutorial sessions. Tutorial hours for the Spring 2010 semester will be posted at various places throughout the SoE building.
Request/pick up the LiveText instructions on how to submit the SoE application.
Documents to be submitted to June Aguon/SOE-2nd flr./Rm.208/735-2440:
- PRAXIS I Test Scores
- All 3 disposition rubrics
- Optional letters of recommendation
Reserve space for the ‘impromptu essay’ with Carim at 735.2428
Other questions: Contact Dr. Jacqui Cyrus [dr.jcyrus@hotmail.com]
Application deadline: Monday, March 15, 2010
February 03, 2010
FREE WORKSHOP SMALL BUSINESS SAFETY TRAINING
Find It Fix It: A Seminar on Solutions to Workplace Hazards
February 12, 2010
9:00am to 11:00am
UOG Leon Guerrero School of Business & Public Administration Bldg. Rm#131
The Guam Small Business Development Center at the University of Guam offers a free Small Business Safety Training Workshop on Feb. 12. This program is especially designed for small to medium sized businesses, including non-profit organizations, although all size businesses and organizations are welcome.
Participants will learn about low-budget strategies for beefing up their health and safety programs. Learn about OSHA requirements, and how to engage employees in looking out for and addressing potential safety problems before anyone gets hurt.
All attendees will receive a complimentary set of materials relevant to any small business. Industry-specific tip sheets for restaurants and janitorial services will also be available.
The workshop will be presented by Robin Baker, Director of the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California at Berkeley. Ms. Baker has 30 years of experience as an occupational health educator at the University’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. She has developed, managed and evaluated a wide range of educational programs for both employers and employees, including programs designed to help small businesses address their health and safety needs.
To register please contact the Guam SBDC at 735-2590 or email Laurine Sablan at laurine@pacificsbdc.comor Natasha Cruz at natasha@pacificsbdc.com.
Requests for reasonable accommodations must be made 72 hours in advance. Services are extended to the public on a non-discriminatory basis. The Pacific Islands Small Business Development Center Network is a program supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under a cooperative agreement. SBA does not endorse any products, opinions, or services of any external parties or activities.
For more information visit www.pacificsbdc.com.
The University of Guam is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
This training workshop is partially funded by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), grant # SH-18798-09-60-F-6.
February 02, 2010
February 4, 2010
First International Conference on
CURRENT TRENDS AND CHALLENGES IN EDUCATION
October 22 and 23, 2010
About the Conference:
The University of Guam School of Education is hosting an international conference for educators, teachers, researchers, practitioners and school administrators to share their expertise, experiences, theoretical perspectives and research findings in education The conference focuses on Current Trends and Challenges in Education with the following sub-themes:
1. Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
2. Diversity, Learning Styles, and Special Needs
3. Partnerships, Collaboration, and Networking
4. Distance Education, Blended Learning, and Technology-Mediated
Instruction
5. Dispositions, Values, and Relational Skills
6. Finance, Governance, and Accreditation
7. At-risk Learners, Family Crisis, and School-Based Interventions
8. Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy of Education
Registration Information:
Early Bird (Before August 15, 2010) $150
Registration (After August 15, 2010) $200
Registration at the door $225
Students (on daily basis) $ 50
(Registration fee includes breakfast, lunch, snacks for both days of the conference)
Call for Papers
Proposals due May 30, 2010 (all proposals will be reviewed by two reviewers)
Important Dates: Deadline for submission of proposals: May 30, 2010
Details forthcoming!
February 02, 2010
HANKUK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS STUDY ENGLISH AT UOG
College students from Seoul's Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) will begin a 10-day English language program today at the University of Guam. “This is the fourth consecutive year that Hankuk students have come to UOG to improve their English language skills,” said Rita Edwards, acting director of UOG’s Professional and International Programs.
Today’s group of 50 students marks the second group to study English at UOG in 2010. The first group completed their program on January 28. “UOG and Hankuk University have developed a strong relationship over the years, and the students appreciate the unique experiences they have while on island.”
Hankuk students will hone their English listening and speaking skills both in and out of the classroom, mingling with local college students and the island population in general, as part of a program designed to provide students with memorable and purposeful language learning experiences not available in their native land.
For more information contact redwards@uguam.uog.edu.
February 02, 2010
Former President of Beijing University to Present at UOG
Former president of Beijing University Xu Zhihong will give a presentation on Friday at 2:00 in the IT&E Lecture Hall, School of Business and Public Administration Building on, “China's Higher Education and Today's Beijing University”.
The presentation is thirty minutes long. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions after the presentation. He will tour the campus and make a stop at the Tan Siu Lin Building, which houses the UOG library.
His visit is meant to stimulate interest in the exchange of cultural and educational opportunities for students. He is hosted by Guam Chinese Association.
February 02, 2010
UOG Math Contest : February 2010 Problems Posted
The problems for the February UOG Math contest have been posted at
www.uog.edu/mathematics. Participants must submit their solutions by Feb.
28, 2010. Include "Math Contest" in the subject line, and include your
name, address, school, and grade in the body of the email. The winner of the
January 2010 UOG Math contest is Anran Li, of St. John's School
The contest is open to everyone and will continue through March. The
winners (among high school, college, and university students) will be
announced in April. Submit your solution to Math Contest c/o Division of
Mathematics, WB #4, University of Guam, UOG Station, Mangilao, GU 96923; or
via email to uog_math@yahoo.com
Want to discuss more math?
To give feedback to the participants, we plan to have a session on these
contest problems on either Fri, Mar 5, 3:30-4:30pm or Sat Mar 6, 10-11am at
UOG campus. We will provide the solutions and also discuss variants of the
problems and mathematics behind them. If you would like to attend the
session, please indicate so (and your preferable day) when you submit your
solution. We will let you know the details.
February 02, 2010
MARC Documents Available on Guampedia 
The University of Guam Micronesian Area Research Center and Guampedia have collaborated to post a series of MARC documents on the Guampedia website, an online encyclopedic resource about the history, culture and contemporary issues of Guam.
Several issues of the Guam Recorder from the early 70s and seven lectures given by UOG President Robert A. Underwood have been posted, and are the first of many MARC documents to be shared with a worldwide audience over the web. “This partnership with Guampedia allows people to easily access these specific MARC documents, and we plan to have many more available in the future,” said Dr. John Peterson, Director of the Micronesian Area Research Center.
“For now, we plan to digitize MARC’s most requested historical materials to appear in Guampedia's MARC publications, plus some working papers such as Dr. Alex Kerr's Y Santa Biblia Word List and the soon to come Non Nok Tha Archaeological report. This will give these works a much wider reach,” said Shannon Murphy, Guampedia managing editor.
Among the Guam Recorder articles posted on the Guampedia website are:
· Liberation of Guam, by Paul Carano
· Surrender of Guam, by George J. McMillin
· Diary of a Bishop, by Miguel Angel de Olano
· San Vitores – An Introduction, by Paul Carano
· Mariana de Austria, by Marjorie G. Driver
· Guam – Spanish Overseas Empire, by M. Teresa del Valle, MMB
· The Proas of the Marianas, by Thomas G. McGrath, SJ
· The Manila Galleons, by Richard G. Doty
· Chamorro Tools, by Emilie G. Johnston
The following lectures by UOG President Robert A. Underwood are also posted:
· An Appeal for Recognition of Chamorros as an Indigenous People
· The Changing of the Colonial Guard: What do the Guarded Have to Say?
· The Liberation of Guam Across the Generations
· Thinking Out Loud: Ideas for Crafting a New Federal Territorial Relationship
· Unfinished Business: The Meaning of 1898
February 01, 2010
The White House Summer Internship Program
January 29, 2010
UOG LAB FEATURES NEW SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE
University of Guam biology students now have the opportunity to view a cell magnified at a maximum of 24,000 times thanks to a new $65K scanning electron microscope funded through the National Institutes of Health Research Initiatives for Scientific Enhancement.
"This is the first scanning electron microscope on island," said Dr. Chris Lobban, UOG Biology Professor. "Biology students will use the new microscope in the Biodiversity Photomicroscopy course. Despite the complex nature of the equipment, it is surprisingly easy to operate and generates impressive results that students can use to enhance their research."
The electron microscope enables students and scientists to study small hard objects, such as tiny insects and microscopic shells. The microscope has been used to magnify unicellular organisms called diatoms, which when magnified reveal beautiful patterns and shapes. Diatoms are a type of algae with glass shells and are a helpful tool for scientists to use to monitor environmental conditions and water quality.
The scanning electron microscope complements the research-level light microscopy and the clinical and dissection microscopes already housed in various labs within the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. "The scanning electron microscope will bring student research to a higher level,” added Lobban.
January 26, 2010
Marianas Grazing and Livestock Management Academy
Guam: January 27-29, 2010; 8:00 am - 4:30 pm; Ag & Life Science Bldg. Room 104, U. of Guam & various Field Locations
Saipan: February 3-5, 2010; 8:00 am - 4:30 pm; To Be Determined
To Register:
Guam Grazing and Livestock
Management Workshop Contact:
Dr. Manny Duguies, DVM
671-735-2088
Saipan Grazing and Livestock
Management Workshop Contact:
Dr. Allan Sabaldica
670-433-2576
Lawrence Duponcheel
670-433-0639
Or Direct Inquiries to:
Dr. Mark Thorne
808-887-6183
thornem@hawaii.edu
For more information:
Mark Thorne, PhD
UH-CTAHR State Range Extension Specialist
Kamuela Extension Office
Phone: (808) 887-6183
E-mail: thornem@hawaii.edu
The Marianas Grazing and Livestock Management Academy
is and educational opportunity provided by the University
of Hawaii and the University of the Virgin Islands in
cooperation with the Northern Marianas College and the
University of Guam. It is designed to help livestock
producers and land managers of all levels of experience
become better equipped to manage the animals and resources
under their care. The program will provide classroom
instruction and field experience in sustainable grazing and
livestock management practices. Participants will learn
about:
+ Soils and Soil Management
+ Basic Principles in Forage Production
+ Principles of Grazing Management
+ Grazing Systems and Strategies
+ Weed Control Techniques
+ Basic Animal Health and welfare
+ Factors that affect Beef Quality
and Grass Finish Beef Programs
+ Beef Cattle Genetics
and Principles of Animal Science
+ And More!
This project is supported by the Outreach and Assistance for Socially
Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers program of the USDA National
Institute of Food and Agriculture, grant #2009-51200-19601
Workshop Presenters
Extension and Research Specialist
Range, Pasture, and Livestock Management
Dr. Mark Thorne, UH Extension Specialist
Dr. Jonathan Deenik, UH Extension Specialist
Dr. Bob Godfrey, UV Animal Scientist
Dr. Allan Sabaldica, NMC Extension
Glen Fukumoto, UH Extension Agent
John Powley, UH Extension Agent
Lawrence Duponcheel, NMC Extension
For more information:
Mark Thorne, PhD
UH-CTAHR State Range Extension Specialist
Kamuela Extension Office
Phone: (808) 887-6183
E-mail: thornem@hawaii.eduloui87
January 14, 2010
Public High School Seniors Take Math and English at UOG
The University of Guam and the Guam Department of Education have collaborated on a Dual Enrollment project where high achieving public high school seniors enroll in math and English courses at UOG.
“Twenty-five students from various public high schools are currently participating in the program and are enrolled in math or English courses at UOG,” said Dr. Julie Ulloa-Heath, Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Services. “We hope to expand the program and provide more high school seniors with the opportunity to earn college credits in the future.”
“The Dual Enrollment program allows high school students to begin earning college credits while still in high school, increases the recruitment of college-ready students to the University of Guam, and prepares students for successful transition to college life,” said UOG President Robert Underwood.
Students had to take UOG’s math and English placement tests and place into college-level courses in order to participate in the program. Students will earn three credits free of charge, which equals about $570 per student.
“We have been working with the Guam Department of Education and the administrators of the public high schools on many shared issues,” said Dr. Helen Whippy, UOG Senior Vice President. “This project has been in the planning stages for several months, and we are pleased to launch it during spring semester 2010.”
The Dual Enrollment program is based on UOG’s existing Advanced High School Program which is available to secondary students who have a 3.0 grade point average and have completed their junior year of high school, among other criteria. The major difference between the two programs is the collaboration and outreach efforts between UOG and GDOE.
“In short, the students benefit tremendously from this program by getting a jump start on their college education free of charge,” said Underwood. “We will make every effort to recruit them as full-time students once they graduate from high school.”
For more information contact:
Dr. Julie Ulloa-Heath at 735-2292
-END-
January 13, 2010
School of Education Research on the At-Risk Student Indicates Family Financial Problems, Sudden Death, and Frequent Moves as Major Stressors
 Research to arrive at the defining indicators that influence the development of antisocial paths in a sample of conflicted youth on Guam was conducted by School of Education professors Dr. Stephen Kane and Dr. Lourdes Ferrer and their graduate students. Kane and Ferrer recently published and presented their study entitled “An Examination of Loss and Embedded Sorrow: A Path Analysis of At-Risk Pacific Island Students” at the 8th Annual International Hawaiian Conference on Education.
The aim of their research has been to measure the prevalence of loss and attachment traumas in a sample of adolescent youth from the island of Guam. The participants were predominantly Chamorro. The studies compared cross cultural patterns of family loss and attachment traumas between western adolescents in the United States mainland and Guam. The studies also investigated stress and patterns of loss between a conflicted Chamorro group identified as having oppositional and conduct characteristics with a comparable sample of non-conflicted Chamorro peers showing no evidence of a history of disruptive behaviors. When compared with their non-conflicted peers, the conflicted group demonstrated more frequencies of loss and attachment traumas in the previous year.
Their results indicated that conflicted at-risk adolescents are likely to have had a collection of attachment traumas in the previous year to include:
· -family financial problems
· -a death in the family (sudden)
· -the family moves frequently
According to Kane, “what is becoming increasingly clearer is that the path to antisocial involvement of these troubled youth on Guam is shaped by a compromise of their basic needs for material and geographical coherence and the preservation of loving, supportive relationships in their families.”
These losses and traumas are likewise beyond the control of the adolescent. There is nothing or very little he can do to restore or repair the loss of love and the relationship that death brings, or the livelihood of family prosperity or the resolution of the up-rootedness caused by his family’s requirement to move. These challenges are beyond the adolescent’s grasp, his physical means, and the level of his capacity to organize a fruitful plan for resolution. All of these are considered to be defining factors implicated in the development of antisocial paths.
Kane says sorrow lies at the root of these attachment traumas. “While it is recommended that these troubled youth continue to receive the appropriate therapeutic interventions of anger and behavior management, our research is cautiously pointing out that it may not necessarily be the modification of his anger which disrupts his path to antisocial involvement, it may be the re-connection of his tears in response to the vagaries of loss in his family,” says Kane.
Dr. Elizabeth Hawthorne, Dean of the School of Education stated “we all know that Guam like other places is experiencing unacceptable high school drop-out rates. The research our faculty and students are doing—like this work on the roots and treatment of disruptive behaviors in adolescents will help keep students in schools and on the road to a productive and fulfilling life.”
Dr. Kane and co-author Dr. Lourdes Ferrer also presented their research at the Asia Conference on Education last October in Osaka, Japan. Their graduate student researchers in these studies have included: Vera De Oro, Carmen Garrido, Lauren Biggin, Maribeth Johnston-Camacho, and Lani Leon Guerro, all of whom received their masters in counseling from UOG’s School of Education.
-END-
January 8, 2010
Coral Reef Biodiversity as a Management Tool
 Dr. Alexander Kerr, a 1997 EPA STAR Fellow, received his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale University. He is an Associate Professor of Marine Biology at The Marine Laboratory, University of Guam.
“20% of the world’s coral reefs have been effectively destroyed” according to The Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2004. In addition, the report predicts that 24% of the world’s reefs are under imminent risk of collapse. Coastal development, global climate change, overfishing, and runoff from pollution have all contributed to the decline. But why should we care?
Coral reefs provide an abundance of “ecosystem services.” They are sources of food and medicine for humans, they protect shorelines from storms, and they provide economic benefits from tourism. From a global ecosystem perspective, coral reefs display some of the planet’s highest biodiversity.
Reef biodiversity surveys often find that up to 50% of the species are poorly to completely unknown to taxonomists, the scientists who name and catalogue species and their interrelationships. Dr. Kerr’s goal is expanding our taxonomic understanding of coral reef fauna. His research group has produced phylogenetic trees for Scleractinia (stony corals) and Holothuroidea (Sea Cucumbers) showing the evolutionary relationships of species with common ancestors. Identifying these species and creating an accurate “family tree” is important for reef resource managers. Reef biodiversity, as a measure of ecosystem health, depends on managers having an accurate census of corals and their associated organisms. To make informed decisions for reef protection, resource managers need to understand the role of organisms in the food chain related to the reef. For example, the presence or absence of particular species might trigger fisheries management decisions. Dr. Kerr and his team are working with local reef managers in the Micronesian islands of the tropical Pacific to design management plans based on a sound understanding of biodiversity.
 Dr. Kerr can be contacted at: alexander.kerr@aya.yale.edu
To read more about Dr. Kerr’s EPA STAR fellowship research: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/6495/report/0
For information about his current research: http://www.guammarinelab.com/alexkerr.html
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/events/news/2009/12_29_09_feature.html
January 6, 2010
 Guam Procurement Technical Assistance Center Offers
Federal Contractor Certification Program
The Procurement Technical Assistance Center housed at the University of Guam will offer a new Federal Contractor Certification Program beginning this year. An orientation session will be held on January 15 at 9:00 - 11:00 a.m in Room 129, School of Business and Public Administration building.
The Federal Contractor Certification is a training program for business owners intended to help them understand Federal Contracting, respond intelligently to solicitations and perform successfully once a contract has been won. The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) and the Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE), with the assistance of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) created the Federal Contractor Certification program. CVE will issue certifications to Veteran-Owned businesses (trainee) that successfully complete the requirements; APTAC will confer certification to other categories of participants.
The pilot program started on July 29, 2009 and at this time consists of only one level 1; there are 3 additional levels under development that will address advanced contracting processes. Level 1 certification covers the basic understanding of federal contracting and includes 10 unique topics. Each DAU module requires successful completion with a 100% pass rate on the end-of-course test, participants will receive credits for each module they pass.
To participate in the training program, interested business owners must: register with a counselor at the Guam PTAC. The PTAC counselor will interview the owner to determine eligibility for the program, which includes federal registrations. Once registered, owners will take required course modules at their own pace, and present completion certificates to their PTAC counselor. When all topics in the level have been completed participants will be eligible to take the comprehensive level exam. There will be a minimum number of questions from each topic that require to be passed in order to pass the overall exam. Those passing the exam will be presented with a lapel pin, logo and certification to advertise their capability.
The PTAC personnel are required to complete all training modules, prior to monitoring the program to guarantee familiarity with the material and to provide guidance and assistance to the small businesses. The counselors will keep a register of the small businesses participating in the program, keep tabs on their progress and administer the test. The PTAC counselors will evaluate the ability of the business owner to participate in the program. Additional information can be found at www.vetbiz.gov under “Federal Contractor Certification” or call Therese Agustin at 735-2552.
January 5, 2010
UOG Student Interns with U.S. Marshals Service, District of Guam
University of Guam senior John Vega is the first U.S. Marshals Service Centralized Student Career Experience Program (CSCEP) intern selected to serve in the District of Guam.
“The University of Guam became a CSCEP participant in 2007 after UOG Professor Ron McNinch completed the U.S. Marshals Service required training,” said Tanya Muna, Deputy U.S. Marshal, District of Guam. “Since then, I have been actively recruiting at the University of Guam and describing my experience as a Deputy U.S. Marshal to students who are interested in this career field.”
Vega, a Criminal Justice major, is slated to graduate in 2010. “He is an excellent student,” said McNinch. “He has had his eye on this internship since he was a freshman. He has demonstrated leadership skills within the criminal justice program and is a great role model among his peers.”
CSCEP is a cooperative education program that prepares undergraduate students for Deputy U.S. Marshal (DUSM) positions. It is a 16-week work-study program for college students pursuing degrees in criminal justice, political science, psychology, public administration, sociology, or social sciences with a concentration in one of the majors listed. CSCEP allows students to apply classroom experience to the real world, and offers work experience in the public sector. Students who successfully complete the program may be noncompetitively converted to a DUSM position. Eligible students must be at least 20 years of age, juniors or seniors, and carry a 3.0 GPA, among other criteria. The application process begins at UOG with Professor McNinch, who collects applications and forwards them to the Washington D.C. office for review.
“I am very excited to work for the U.S. Marshals Service,” said Vega. “I thank the University of Guam and Professor Ron McNinch for giving me this opportunity. UOG students who are interested in law enforcement should consider applying for the CSCEP Program. I am experiencing so much. It will definitely prepare anyone who wants to become a Deputy U.S. Marshal.”
“We want to have as many interns as Washington D.C. will allow,” added Muna. “John is the first, but I am confident he won’t be the last.” According to Muna, there are less than 10 US marshals from Guam across the nation.
Upon successful completion of the program, Vega may be assigned to any one of the 94 U.S. Marshals Service district offices across the United States.
For more information contact
Tanya Muna, Deputy Marshal, U.S. Marshals Service at 473-9104
Dr. Ron McNinch at 735-2573
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