University of Southern Indiana: learning and competing at USI.

• Position: Indiana College Guide

University of Southern Indiana gauges excellence in the work of its students and faculty.

* A team of USI accounting students took first place in the 2008 National Student Case Competition, sponsored by the Institute of Management Accountants.

* Students are earning nationally competitive scholarships, honors that attract applicants from universities across the country. Jamie Johnson of Newburgh is a Goldwater Scholar, a program that encourages students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.

* Kelly Evans, of Henderson, Kentucky, and Jessie Kessler, from Charlestown, Indiana, were awarded scholarships for undergraduate study overseas. Evans traveled to Egypt and Kessler has been in Thailand. Evans was one of 6,000 students who applied for the 367 Critical Language Scholarships available and 22 students were selected for the program in Cairo. Kessler received a Freeman Award for Study in Asia.

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* Katie Funke of Evansville was accepted for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Undergraduate Student Research Program and received one of a dozen intern spots at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas for summer 2008. She is a...