UC Irvine Extension Confers 1,086 Certificates and Recognizes Outstanding Student Achievements

IRVINE, Calif. – June 20, 2001 – UC Irvine Extension awarded 1,086 certificates and recognized the outstanding achievements of 6 students and alumni at the 2001 Certificate Awards Ceremony in the Social Science Auditorium on the University of California, Irvine campus. Keynote speaker was Linda Denton, Vice President/Director of People Services at Young & Rubicam.

"We congratulate you for taking charge of your careers and your lives," said Dr. Jane Welgan, Associate Dean of UC Irvine Extension, in conferring the awards.

Speaker Linda Denton, who is an Extension graduate, instructor, and advisor added, "By 1986, I was the Director of Human Resources for a small advertising agency and by 1988, I was the VP of HR for a Finance Company. There, I finally had the opportunity to have an impact on my own staff. I directed many of them to the UCI HR Certificate Program, where they could learn from experienced instructors, gain self-confidence and earn credibility. I hope you will think about the self-confidence and credibility you have gained by completing your chosen programs."

Certificates were awarded in 57 areas. It takes an average of 1 to 2 1/2 years of part-time study to earn a UC Irvine Extension certificate. The top five certificate Programs, based on the number of certificates awarded were: Project Management (310), Marketing (130) Advanced Software Technologies (117), Human Resources Management (95), E-Business (62).

Recipients of an individual award in each category were as follows:

OUTSTANDING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS:
Aida and Charles Kmeid, Design and Digital Arts. Both Aida and Charles Kmeid received a certificate in Design and Digital Arts: Convergent Media. The Kmeids are a creative pair who brainstorm, create, and design together. They just completed their second Design certificates, taking classes together and making the commitment to lifelong learning. From their start with a small personal business web site a few years ago, their passion for all things "web" – has continued to grow. Their exceptional commitment to the web and the convergent design process have made them both stand out in an already creative department.

Kirthana Ramisetti, Arts & Humanities. Kirthana first came to Extension to take an Elements of Creative Writing course. She became so excited about the process of creative writing, that she shifted her life and career aspirations in a new direction. She realized that writing was what she was meant to do. Kirthana has now been accepted a position in a full-time creative writing degree program at prestigious Emerson College and she will be moving to Boston this summer.

Bridget Belden, Business & Management. Belden worked in the marketing department of her company, Lucky Brand Jeans, when she began taking courses at UC Irvine Extension. As a result of her newfound expertise, she was promoted to develop the online presence and the e-business strategy for the company and now holds the title of Director of E-Business. Her company's strategy has been quite successful. Bridget has made presentations to Extension's international students working on Accelerated certificates in E-Business, as she is a local expert in the field. She is a member of the Electronic Commerce Association and that group regards her as an outstanding success story.

Suzanne Pace, Education. Suzanne receiving her certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language at the ceremony. She has overcome great obstacles in her life including grave personal injury. But, she wasn't about to let this stop her from reaching her goals. She made a commitment to personal excellence, showing this dedication in her many classes as she completed her program. We congratulate her for overcoming the odds and as she begins her career as a professional teacher of ESL

Michael Ching, Information Technologies & Engineering. Michael just completed the Advanced Software Technologies Certificate program. He has achieved a 4.0 GPA, which is an outstanding achievement in such a difficult field, but even more impressive considering that Michael is blind. He excelled in hands-on programming and even helped his fellow students in class. He reads his notes and textbooks with the aid of a special software program that converts written text to voice. Visual components play a large role in constructing forms and codes. Michael has to guess what these components look like and his instructors report that he is never wrong. His instructors sing his praises as not only their best student of the year, but one of their best students ever. Partly as a result of Michael's work at Extension, he was accepted into the Computer Science Master's Program at Stanford University.

OUTSTANDING ALMUNI AWARD:
Ann Jones, Business & Management. Ann Jones came to UC Irvine Extension seeking training in investor relations. She successfully completed the Investor Relations Certificate Program in 1999. Since that time, we were proud to welcome her back to Extension, but this time as an instructor and an advisory committee member for that same certificate program. She has played an integral role in supporting the funding and development of Extension's new online investor relations program. In addition, Ann is a member of NIRI – the National Investor Relations Institute and serves on the Board of Directors for the award-winning NIRI Orange County chapter. She is clearly a life-long learner and educator.

UC Irvine Extension is the non-profit, continuing education branch of the University of California, Irvine. It is self-supporting and offers life- and career-enhancing programs in many areas, including over 40 professional certificate programs. To request a UC Irvine Extension catalog, call (949) 824-5414 or visit www.unex.uci.edu.