URI announces honors and appointments

KINGSTON, R.I.-- November 19, 1999 -- The following honors and appointments involving University of Rhode Island faculty or staff were recently announced:

Peggy Ferguson of North Kingstown, URI assistant director of career services and manager of employer services, recently received two prestigious awards from the New England Association of Cooperative Education and Field Experience at its annual fall conference. The Association honored Ferguson with an award for Outstanding Service as well as an award for Outstanding Service as president of the Association.

Ferguson has worked at URI's Career Services since 1996 as a career advisor and was recently appointed as assistant director. Her duties include managing all employer services and recruitment programs and working with the director in all aspects of planning and growth for Career Services. She received her master's degree in counseling and psychology from Springfield College and bachelor's degree in economics from Fordham University.

Lynn Gaulin of North Attleboro, Mass., URI assistant director of the Office of Internships and Experiential Education, which administers the URIntern Program, was elected to the board of directors of the National Society of Experiential Education. She was elected at the board's annual conference, and will serve a three- year term.

Gaulin has presided as chairwoman for two years at the Internship Special Interest Group, which is comprised of over 250 internship coordinators and directors. She has been with the URI Office of Internships since 1984. Gaulin received her bachelor's degree and a master's degree in adult education from URI, and a master's degree in social work from Boston College.

The National Society of Experiential Education is a leader in articulating experiential education as both an educational philosophy and pedagogical approach. Membership consists of experiential educators, educational institutions higher than kindergarten, and organizations sponsoring internship opportunities.

Francis C. Golet of Richmond, URI professor of Natural Resources Science, has been named the 1999 recipient of the Excellence in College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences Award for the Northeast Region. The award is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The regional award, one of eight given each year, includes a stipend of $2,000 to be used by the recipient for the improvement of teaching at his college or university.

Golet has taught wetland ecology and other wetland courses at URI since 1973. During that time he has supervised more than 60 undergraduate and graduate student independent study projects dealing with wetland and wildlife ecology.

Audrey Tessier of Woonsocket, URI recruiting coordinator for Career Services, was recently recognized by the New England Association of Cooperative Education and Field Experience at their annual fall conference. Tessier has been elected as the organization's incoming president and will begin her duties in January.

Tessier earned a master's degree in instructional technology, a bachelor's degree in industrial technology and graphic arts, and a bachelor's degree in psychology and mathematics from Rhode Island College.

Terry Thomason of Wakefield, director of URI's Labor Research Center, has been selected by the National Academy of Social Insurance to serve on the study panel for Worker's Compensation National Data on Costs and Benefits. The purpose of the study panel is to provide technical guidance to the data project, to help the project identify and gain access to the appropriate data sources, and to maximize the usefulness of the data for a variety of research purposes. The Academy is America's only private, non-profit, non-partisan resource center made up of the nation's leading experts on social insurance.

Thomason joined URI in July of 1999. Thomason is an internationally recognized scholar on workers' compensation and workplace health and safety. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology, master's degree in psychology, and master's degree in industrial relations from the University of Alabama. He earned his doctorate in Industrial Relations at Cornell University.

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For More Information: Jan Sawyer, 401-874-2116