September 13, 2002

Dear Colleagues,

As we begin our fourth year as a University Transportation Center at Assumption College, there have been a few changes. Dr. Charles Estus has retired after serving as Director of the UTC since 1999 and after 32 years of teaching Sociology here at Assumption College. I am sure that you join me in wishing him the best in his well-deserved retirement on Cape Cod! I will continue to carry on as the Interim Director during our final year of this grant program. Mona Heffernan will continue to serve as our very able Administrative Assistant and Nicholas Stabile, a freshman here at Assumption, will be our research assistant.

Our task has been to support the development and dissemination of education and science curricula incorporating the relationship between transportation and the environment and this will continue during the coming year. During the previous three years we have given a total of 26 awards to various educational and environmental groups. These awards have provided the means by which educators and researchers could either enhance or develop new curricula or further their research interests with transportation and the environment as their focus. Take time to view a description and the results of these grants under "Research" on the homepage. Some of the curricula designed have national implications which can and are being used in many parts of the country. We are offering an opportunity for you to explore curricular resources, to create partnerships with others, and to link with both public and private organizations concerned with the issues related to our Center's theme.

The "Call for Proposals" schedule has been revised to align with our abbreviated year. Please read the new "Call for Proposals" posted on the homepage. This will explain the timeline and expectations. Application for awards should be in the form of a letter describing the project and its applicability for teaching science. For further details, please contact the Center's director.

As Dr. Estus has said in his Director's address, "the University Transportation Center's mission depends upon the creation of a network of teachers and partners throughout the region that may become an educational model for the Nation. Let us know what you are doing, what you would like to do and how we might assist you in those goals." Share your ideas and projects with other educators, transportation experts and environmental specialists by linking with us here at the Center. We can provide national exposure for your web pages, curriculum projects and program brochures by linking up with the Center's website. As an educator, I have personally enjoyed the many projects and curricula presented by the first 19 grant recipients. A website curriculum design by a third grade teacher has been used by many other third grade teachers across the country and road water run-off data gathering by elementary students and high school students has provided proof of ecological damage by transportation vehicles and has been sent to the EPA to be included in a larger study. These are just two of the results from the projects presented.

For further information about the grant program or about the UTC, please contact Dr. Kathleen Livingstone, SSJ, (508) 767-7585 or Mona Heffernan, (508) 767-7586. We look forward to hearing from you.

Back to Director's Updates

Dr. Kathleen Livingstone, SSJ