September 2009

War Eagle, and welcome to
eCommons, the
electronic version of
Auburn Commons.

Here's a look at what is happening this month:

Auburn University has achieved its highest enrollment in history this fall, and its freshman class boasts the top ACT score of any previous class, according to numbers released by Auburn's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

Enrollment is 24,602 among all students groups -- undergraduates, graduate students and those enrolled in professional schools -- which is up from 24,530 in fall 2008.

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Auburn University awarded $4.9 million grant for bioenergy research

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Auburn University a $4.9 million grant to develop new production systems to collect woody biomass from pine plantations for making bioenergy.

Auburn's Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts will lead the project, "High Tonnage Forest Biomass Production Systems from Southern Pine Energy Plantations," as part of a consortium that includes central Alabama company Corley Land Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and companies from the U.S. and Canada.

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Ben Tom "B.T." Roberts of Mobile (pictured left) was nominated to complete the term of the late John C.H. "Jack" Miller Jr. on the Auburn University Board of Trustees.

If confirmed by the Alabama Senate, Roberts will represent Choctaw, Clarke, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Washington and Wilcox counties on the Auburn Board through May 10, 2012.

Randy Campbell of Shoal Creek (pictured right) was unanimously selected by the Auburn University Trustee Selection Committee to fill the District 6 position on the Auburn Board of Trustees currently held by Paul Spina of Pelham. His nomination also requires confirmation by the Alabama Senate.

Read more about Roberts | Read more about Campbell

Auburn University's College of Sciences and Mathematics, in collaboration with the Alabama Department of Education, has been awarded $600,000 from NASA to produce modules in the varying science focus areas of global climate change. The program, "Bringing Global Climate Change Education to Alabama Classrooms," will partner with the Alabama Science in Motion, or ASIM, program to effectively train teachers and educate students in grades 9-12 about the changing planet.

Steve Ricks, director of the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative, said the partnership with Auburn University will allow Alabama's teachers and their students to experience first-hand how scientists investigate global change. Teachers and students will gain unique insight into the science behind one of the most prevalent scientific issues of our time – the environment and its effect on our lives.

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Auburn University became one of the first universities to have its own social networking Web site with the launch of "Auburn Family," a site designed to inform and connect current and prospective students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents and fans.

The site, which can be accessed at http://family.auburn.edu, allows users to manage their personal profile, upload Auburn-related photos, blogs and videos, set status updates and communicate with other members via their "comments wall" or direct messaging. The network also features current news stories about Auburn University from students' perspectives.

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The Auburn University Marching Band, which has entertained football fans for more than a century, is boasting its largest membership in history this fall with 380 members, up from a record 372 in 2006.

"We had a great recruiting year," Marching Band director Corey Spurlin said. "We also have some great people returning."

Spurlin said 398 students attended the preseason camp this August. The camp, open to any student who registers, involves both a playing audition and a marching evaluation before members are selected.

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Auburn researchers: Fish wastewater an ideal way to grow plants

Teach a man to raise fish - and grow plants - and you'll help feed his family and fellow citizens for a lifetime. That's a new twist being applied to the age-old proverb at Auburn University, where researchers are combining fish farming and horticulture to help Alabama farmers find new income streams.

Jesse Chappell, associate professor in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures and specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, is working with Professor Jeff Sibley of the Department of Horticulture on the use of fish greenhouse wastewater to fertilize plants in an adjacent greenhouse.

Click here to go to Newsmakers

The Office of Communications and Marketing has teamed up with the Office of International Education to create a new, more informative Web site that highlights Auburn's international accomplishments. The site, which can be viewed at http://www.auburn.edu/main/
international.html, provides feature profiles of faculty, students and alumni who travel and work abroad as well as a number of resources for international students studying on campus.

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