Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Phyllis Noah, Communications Coordinator
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu or pnoah@shawnee.edu
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

            Shawnee State University President Rita Rice Morris has found a way to do what every university president in the nation dreams of doing — she has found a way to clone herself.
            When she delivers her State of the University Address on Wednesday, Sept. 15, she will sit with the audience calmly while her “Avatar Rita” gives the introduction portion of her speech.
            “Avatar Rita,” as she is affectionately called by President Morris, is a miniature digital characterization of the president created by Greg Lyons, Shawnee State University Chair of the Fine, Digital, and Performing Arts Department, and his team of students in SSU’s Motion Capture Studio.
            “Every State of the University Address contains a list of university accomplishments,” Dr. Morris explained. “I could think of no better way to kick-off this discussion than to have an actual demonstration of one of the biggest accomplishments in the past year at Shawnee State – and that’s the addition of Motion Capture.”
            SSU’s Motion Capture Studio is one of only a handful like it in the country and is part of the University’s Gaming and Digital Simulation programs – and an Immersive Technology and Arts Center being established. The Studio allows students to “capture” movement by digitally recording movement of objects – and people – and then creating a 3D representation that is used for animation.
            In the case of Avatar Rita, she will deliver a one-minute and 25-second introduction to the audience.
            “We’ve had a lot of fun doing this,” Lyons said. “It’s not every day that a faculty member gets the opportunity to ‘build his president.’ This has been a good experience – and portfolio piece – for my students who interned with me over the summer and will give our program some good exposure. It’s sometimes difficult for people to envision what it is we’re doing over here. This will show them at least one application.”
            As if the Avatar introduction isn’t different enough, President Morris has decided to “go in a new direction” with this year’s speech – which she actually refuses to call an address.
            “The State of the University Address is a long tradition in higher education,” she said. “As with many of our traditions, it is being challenged in the 21st century. People don’t want to listen to speeches anymore. They don’t have time. Gone are the days when we could gather up nearly everyone and sit and talk. We have new communication methods, and we have an incredible amount of information coming at us – often all at once. I wanted this presentation to be in a format that would be portable. My goal is to get as much information to as many people who care about Shawnee State as possible – and, I want to give them that information in ways that they find easy to digest.”
            With an undergraduate degree in speech communication and a master’s in speech communication education, Dr. Morris says that she understands the challenges of breaking through the “clutter” to get a message heard.
            The message she is sending with this year’s address – presentation – is that the University has entered a new era and she and her team are ready to lead the way.