"I just talked to a student in my current zoology class who is using the Action Tutoring program. He said the program has helped him so much that he wants to be a tutor next semester," Gaffin added.

Founded in 1942, University College was one of the first academic units in the United States to focus on meeting the special needs of new students.

Since then, many colleges and universities have patterned their programs for new freshman on OU's University College model. For more information on the OU's Action Tutoring program, visit http://uc.ou.edu/action.

Adkins professor selected

Native American art scholar W. Jackson Rushing III recently joined the University of Oklahoma faculty as the Eugene Adkins Presidential Professor of Art History and the Mary Lou Milner Carver Chair in Native American Art in the OU School of Art and Art History.

"The university is honored to have a scholar of Dr. Rushing's national stature join our family," OU President David Boren said.

The Adkins Presidential Professorship was created in tandem with the addition of the Eugene B. Adkins Collection to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art -- one of the largest private collections in the nation of works by the Taos artists, as well as Native American works of art.

The Carver chair was made possible by a $1 million gift from the estate of OU alumna Mary Lou Milner Carver and is part of the new doctoral program focusing on Native American art and art of the American West.

"Jackson Rushing is one the premier scholars in the?field of Native American art history," said Mary Jo Watson, director of the School of Art and Art. "His national and international?recognition provides a significant enhancement for the University of Oklahoma and the School of Art and Art History. Our new doctoral program in Native American art history will benefit from his teaching and scholarly research. We are delighted that he is now part of our faculty."

Rushing was educated at the University of Texas, Austin, where he received his doctorate in art history in 1989. He previously served as the associate dean for graduate studies in arts and humanities at UT-Dallas. He specializes in several areas, including Native American art; modern art; art theory and criticism; and museum studies. He specifically studies the intertwined areas of Native American studies, anthropology and art history.

Rushing is a former Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, Guggenheim Foundation, Howard Foundation at Brown University and National Endowment for the Humanities. From 1995 until 1997, he served as vice president of the Native American Art Studies Association, and in 1996 was interim director of Gallery 210 at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. He also is former director of the College Art Association of America.

He also was the editor of Native American Art in the Twentieth Century (1999) and After the Storm (2001), and has been published in several periodicals.

In addition, he is a lecturer and has shared his expertise with audiences across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.