Dr. Jerry Polinard

Dr. Jerry Polinard, Department of Political Science chair and professor, attended a meeting between the Pre-Law Advisors National Council (PLANC), of which he is a member, and the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), March 2-5, in Philadelphia. This is an annual meeting to coordinate law school admission policies with recommendations from the national council.

In addition, Polinard attended the fall meeting of the Pre-Law Advisors National Council (PLANC) in Miami, Fla., Oct 5-8, in his capacity as co-editor of the pre-law advisors' national newsletter. The PLANC meeting was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Pre-Law Advisors (SAPLA), where he also made a presentation about UTPA's Law School Preparation Institute (LSPI) as part of a panel addressing pre-law advising of underrepresented populations.

Also, Polinard was part of a State Bar of Texas delegation to Costa Rica during the last week of November. For the past three years, the State Bar has been working with the national bar of Costa Rica to help establish some law-related education programs in the Costa Rica school system. The delegation visited several schools to observe the developing programs.

Dr. Bobby Guinn, professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, and Dr. Vern Vincent, professor emeritus in the Department of Computer Information Systems and Quantitative Methods, published the research article, “The Influence of Grades on Teaching Effectiveness Ratings at a Hispanic-Serving Institution,” in the October issue of the refereed Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. In addition, Guinn and Vincent also presented a paper, “Leisure-Time Physical Activity Influences Among Female Mexican Americans,” to the research section of the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance 83rd Annual Convention held in Fort Worth in December 2006.

Dr. William Beverely, assistant professor in social work, was an invited quest speaker at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UNAL) in Monterrey, México School of Social Work cultural event held in conjunction with the Third International Colloquium in August 2006. His presentation was titled “Social Work Ethics and the Law in the U.S. of America.” The theme of the international conference was “Politicas Sociales y Sectoriales” and was internationally well attended by various Latin American countries.

Dr. Noe Ramirez, associate professor, and Raul H. Solis, professor, from the Department of Social Work presented papers at the Third International Colloquium August 2006, which was sponsored by the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UNAL) in Monterrey, México. Ramirez’s paper was titled “Trabajo Social y Politicas Sociales en Los Estados Unidos,” while Solis’ presentation was titled “La Politca de Los Estados Unidos Con Mexico: Puerta Abierta, Puerta Cerrada.” Both presentations were selected for publication as publisher proceedings.

Dr. Martha Tevis

Dr. Martha May Tevis, professor of education, was invited to deliver the annual William E. Drake Lecture at a combined meeting of The Educational Foundations Society and the Society of the Philosophy and History of Education in San Antonio on Septemeber 2006. The title of her lecture was “George I. Sanchez: The Pioneer in Mexican American Rights.” The George I. Sanchez College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin was named in honor of Sanchez (1906-1972) in recognition of his contributions to and leadership in equity for Mexican-Americans. Tevis is completing a biography of Sanchez, who was a member of Tevis' dissertation committee.