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A new undergraduate exchange program created this month between ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ and Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey, will allow students to study abroad in a part of the world steeped with culture, history and art at a time when academic interest in the Middle East is blossoming.

The 2012 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges names ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ one of the nation's top 25 "Best Buy" private universities. The best buy schools are recognized for the quality of their academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance.

Senior ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Communications student Philip Kimbrough directed the winning film in the 2011 Sprite Refreshing Films contest. His work was shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival earlier this summer.

For the first time since their creations in 2008, incoming Watson and Odyssey Scholars took part this week in a specially designed orientation program that introduces the academically talented students with financial need, or no family history of college, to resources available to them as ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students.

From researching new chemical methods of detecting explosives, to the mathematical modeling on synapses related to epileptic seizures, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students taking part in a summer research program shared their work July 22 in a series of morning presentations that showcased a variety of academic disciplines from across campus.

Forty-one percent of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ alumni in the Class of 2011 had accepted a full-time position by the day they received their diplomas, the highest percentage in five years of students reporting employment at time of graduation, according to initial results from the Cap & Gown survey administered by the Office of Career Services to seniors prior to Commencement.

Sixty-eight students representing several majors have been participating this summer in a domestic summer internship programs in both Los Angeles and New York. While in their respective cities, students take an academic course on Mondays and complete internships the rest of the week. The structures of the nine-week programs vary, but students receive the same general experience, as they live, take classes and do internships in a major American city.

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ professors, students and alumni continue to make news this summer through their research and campus activities. Notable in recent weeks was regional media coverage of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ School of Law's full accreditation from the American Bar Association, regional stories and broadcasts on ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ's new head women's basketball coach, and mention of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Poll by the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ will revise its Teaching Fellows program following recent action by the North Carolina General Assembly to phase out funding for the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program. The new ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ fellows program will recruit outstanding students nationally as well as those from North Carolina who want to pursue careers in education.

Matt Shingledecker '08 has been cast as Roger Davis in the Off-Broadway revival of "Rent," which opens Aug. 11 at New World Stages in New York City.