Worcester, MA- Dr. Thomas R. Plough, president of Assumption College, is pleased to announced that the leadership for the College's University Transportation Center (UTC)-the Center for Transportation and Environmental Education for the Twenty-First Century-is now in place. The UTC is only the second one in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the first one in the country to develop an education and science curricula that incorporates transportation and the environment for use in the training of future K-12 teachers. The mission of the UTC will be carried by creating a variety of regional partnerships with both public and private organizations among the first of which are The Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor and the Worcester Historical Museum.
Serving as director of the UTC will be Professor Charles Estus, Sr., Ph.D. from Holden, MA. Dr. Estus has served the College in a great variety of capacities during his three-decade tenure. He is a member of the Sociology and Anthropology Department, where he also served two terms as department chairperson. One of his primary areas of study has been Worcester's Swedish community. He is the director and one of the founders of the successful Community Studies Program at the College. His term as President of the faculty senate has just expired.
Currently, he is engaged in the study of the role of water and surface transportation in the use of the Blackstone River's watershed in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts and its impact of the natural and built environments. The project will include one of the UTC's initial conferences and will contribute to understanding the impact of transportation on the natural, economic and social environments. It will thus lay the foundation for the Center's future impact on transportation issues in the region. Dr. Charles Estus will be serving as the UTC's first Director. He will be responsible for both the overall direction and the day-to-day operations of the UTC.
Dr. Estus will be assisted in leading the UTC by Sister Kathleen Livingstone SSJ, Ed.D., who has been appointed as its Associate Director. Sister Livingstone has a doctorate in science education from Boston University, and extensive experience as a K-12 science teacher. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Boston University, Worcester State College, and Assumption College, and has served as a member of the Board of Directors, as a County Director, and as President of the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers. She will focus on the education and technology transfer programs of the Center, including establishing projects for students, working with the Education Department and other College faculty, and serving as a liaison to the Worcester Public Schools and other school systems. Sister Livingstone resides in Worcester, MA.
This federally-funded Center will be the only university transportation center in the country that seeks, through programs of education, research and technology transfer, to develop an education and science curricula that incorporate transportation and the environment for use in the training of future K-12 teachers as well as programs that incorporate these themes in inservice teacher training. The Center will be appropriately housed in the new Science and Technology facility to be constructed on the Assumption College campus.
Dr. Plough remarked, "I am delighted that Sister Kathleen will be joining the College in this capacity and that Prof. Estus has assumed this new responsibility and look forward to the successful development of the College's Center under their direction."
As one of the first responsibilities of the new leadership, two advisory boards, one in the area of education and one concerning research, will be formed. The members of the advisory boards come from across the country and all will bring expertise and experience in making this Center the premiere educational, research, and technology institute that it will be.
Members of the Advisory Board include:
David Driscoll, Commissioner, Education for the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts
Kathleen Daniel, Office of Environment and Planning, Federal
Highway Administration
David Forsberg, Executive Director of the Worcester Business
Development Cooperation
Orville Harrold, President, Providence and Worcester Railroad
Richard Foley, Secretary/Treasurer Truck Drivers and Helpers
Local #170
Dr. Anthony Schweller, Chair, Environmental Studies Department,
St. Cloud State University
Thomas Hoover, City Manager, City of Worcester,
Deborah Cary, Director, Massachusetts Audubon Society Broad Meadow
Brook
Michael Creasey, Executive Director of the Blackstone River Valley
National Heritage Corridor Commission
For a complete list of Board Members and/or a copy of the four-year strategic plan for the Center for Transportation and Environmental Education for the Twenty First Century, please contact Heidi Macora.
-30-, City Manager, City of Worcester,
Deborah Cary, Director, Massachusetts Audubon Society Broad
Meadow Brook
Michael Creasey, Executive Director of the Blackstone River
Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission
For a complete list of Board Members and/or a copy of the four-year strategic plan for the Center for Transportation and Environmental Education for the Twenty First Century, please contact Heidi Macora.
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