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A new era of innovation and creativity
Our campus life at Miami University gets so busy, with classes and research and community activities and special events. I try to return often to a central focus – moving Miami into an era of innovation and creativity. We need to create knowledge and foster an entrepreneurial mindset, where risk is encouraged and failure is part of learning. We will always nurture our traditional strengths. Let’s build on those strengths for a stronger Miami.
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Three things I want you to know ...Our commencement speaker has had a really good year: You may have seen Brandon Brooks the week before the Super Bowl, pulling up his Philadelphia Eagles jersey to reveal a Miami T-shirt. Brandon is a loyal Miami alumnus, an NFL Pro Bowler, and now a Super Bowl champion. We will proudly welcome him back to Oxford May 19 when he will speak to graduates and families at our 179th spring commencement. Brandon has never stopped his education. He is pursuing an MBA and learning Spanish. And he has been transparent in his battles with anxiety. We all can learn from Brandon and be proud to call him a member of the Miami family. Miami Alumni Connect provides meaningful connections: Linking nearly 220,000 alumni with Miami students for mentorship, advising and other resources is the goal of the new service from the the Alumni Association. The service was launched late last year and now includes more than 2,700 alumni and more than 200 students. Specialized software that helps schedule networking calls and networking meetings makes this a more personal service than LinkedIn, walking students through a process to make it less intimidating. Check it out at https://connect.miamialum.org/. Expanded Career Center Services starting this fall: Preparing students for productive careers has long been a hallmark of a Miami education. Our graduates get good jobs and an outstanding return on their investment in Miami. Yet our career services will increase starting this fall for the class of 2022 and future classes, in conjunction with the new career services fee. We will enhance intensive advising, internships, job shadowing and company mentorships, increasing student participation for the requirements of flexible and dynamic workplace and graduate programs, and building on the liberal arts and Miami Plan foundation. We’ll be partners with students as they start considering their careers the minute they step on campus. Let’s continue to make this a differentiator for Miami.
Now let's meet a few members of our Miami family
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Faculty - Tammy KernodleTammy Kernodle specializes in African-American music from the 19th century to the present, and she’s written about women and music-making, but the self-described “failed classical pianist” still likes to sit down once in a while and just play the piano.
“It’s a release for me,” says Kernodle, the Virginia native who’s been at Miami since 1997. “It’s not necessarily my work, but I try to keep up my skills. It’s not uncommon in class for me to sit at a piano and demonstrate.”
When she listens to music, Kernodle has her favorites – Ray Charles and the Raelettes, Billy Preston, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. She started playing piano at three years old, and “the radio was always playing” when she was growing up.
Like many Miami faculty, Kernodle has built a national profile. She will soon become president of the Society for American Music. From 2012-16, she helped construct the “Musical Crossroads” exhibit for the new National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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Student - Britt CaseyBritt Casey is going places – fast. The Miami sophomore marketing major started racing go-karts at nine years old and signed his first racing contract at 16. As he builds his own racing career, he’s melding lessons from Miami to build his own personal brand.
“It’s all about marketing in racing,” said Casey, who hails from Barrington, Ill. “You don’t get to the top without knowing a lot about marketing.” His experience in marketing is evident through his relationship with TRUMPF, the German laser and machine-tool technology giant.
Casey races about 20 times a year and is usually still at a racetrack on off weekends, most recently in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series. In late January, he raced at the iconic Daytona International Speedway – and won, marking the first victory for the Audi RS3 LMS race car in North America. He followed that with a televised shout-out to Miami (1:05 in this video).
“You take this kid and put him in this crazy loud, hot, hyper-sensitive environment, you give him one job, and all of a sudden, everything clicks,” Casey said of himself.
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Staff - Scott SportsmanFrom his computer screen in the Campus Avenue Building, Scott Sportsman can tell you which applicants have the best chance of succeeding at Miami, which first-year students need extra support, and which juniors and seniors are laying the groundwork for a successful career. He is senior director of research and analytics in Miami’s Enrollment Management and Student Success (EMSS) division, and a key driver of Miami’s focus on data and analytics.
This month, Sportsman is concentrating on yield, getting accepted students to come to Miami. Once they get here, he and his team focus on factors that determine success, such as a student’s “engagement value” in campus life. Using those data, Miami can provide services to at-risk students so they’ll stay and succeed.
“Miami has really high retention and graduation rates, but are the students satisfied? Are they leaving here happy? There’s more to student success than just getting a degree,” Sportsman said. “If we’re going to increase our graduation rates, we have to do it in these little pockets of students. It’s through data and analytics that we identify those little pockets.”
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