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I'm A Hornet from Interim President Jackie Vietti

Oct. 7, 2015 None
  • Presidential finalists are on campus this week. Dr. Allison Garrett visited yesterday and today. Dr. Petra Roter visits tomorrow and Friday. During their visits, both met with students, faculty, staff and the Emporia community. Next step? Interviews with the Kansas Board of Regents with an announcement, we hope, by early November.

  • This past Saturday nearly 400 Kansas schoolchildren, teachers, librarians and parents came to Emporia State for the 63rd William Allen White Children’s Book Awards. Our two winning authors, W.H. Beck and M.H. Herlong, met with the students and autographed books. Other events included our Education Theatre Company’s original short scenes based on the two books, craft projects and a pep rally. For more, see The Emporia Gazette (http://bit.ly/1MeaB3P) and KVOE (http://bit.ly/1Lyoyeb) coverage.

  • Dr. Ellen Hansen, chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and professor of geography, has been elected president-elect of the Board of Directors of the Society of Woman Geographers. She will serve one year as president-elect, one year as president and one year as past-president of the board. The society, founded in 1925, is based in Washington D.C. More information can be found at www.iswg.org.

  • A station in the School of Business is the first to offer SkyPrinting in color! SkyPrint from Information Technology has been on campus for two years. With the system, students can send their print jobs to a cloud then print them at any station on campus. These stations are in the Memorial Union, White Library and each academic building. Now, the station in Cremer Hall will offer color printing. The project will be evaluated and possible expansion to other high-traffic areas.

  • Our fall enrollment numbers were among the strongest for Regent four-year institutions. Our headcount was down slightly (20 students). At the same time, our students are enrolling in more hours so they can graduate on time, and graduate student enrollment hit an all-time high with 2,230 students. For more: http://bit.ly/1OirWKD

  • Congratulations to Dr. Joyce Thierer, associate professor of history, who won the 2015 Santa Fe Trails Association Educator Award for outstanding teaching about the Santa Fe Trail.

  • Brent Wilson set the Emporia State career record for touchdown passes, and the Hornet defense held Lindenwood to just 289 yards of total offense in a 20-13 road win in St. Charles, Missouri, on Saturday. The win sets up a top 25 match up this coming Saturday in Welch Stadium between the Hornets and Pittsburg State. For more: http://bit.ly/1j9WmC1

  • This month the Office of International Education has planned two Kansas culture field trips that are open to all Emporia State students. The first trip on Saturday will be a tour of the Kansas City area including several museums and a jazz and blues festival. The second on Oct. 16 will be a tour of the Topeka area.

  • Emporia State University hosted Family and Friends Weekend on Sept. 26-27. Campus events included the Blaufuss Family 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk as well as the Buzz Around event that featured programs housed in WAW Library, Science Hall, and Cremer Hall.  The weekend also included Hornet football, the annual Football Traditions fundraiser, the inaugural Thank a Giver event and the Walk for Emporia. 

  • Speaking of Family Day Sept. 26, 35 students from two 2+2 distant site partnership programs came to campus to enjoy a cookout at The Teachers College, take a tour of the campus and watch the Hornets play football with their fellow student cohort members, faculty and academic advisors.

  • Can the Bods is a food drive competition between Emporia State and Washburn! Donate to help students at Emporia State. Use the link to find out how to help stock Corky’s Cupboard: http://www.emporia.edu/pantry/

  • Social sciences in the news — Faculty members Chris Lovett and Michael Smith were both quoted in newspapers recently. Chris was interviewed for an article in the Emporia Gazette about isolationism and William Allen White (http://bit.ly/1JPi6b3). Michael was quoted in an article on the front page of the Wichita Eagle’s Sunday edition (Sept. 27) regarding proof of citizenship voting laws and their impact on turnout (http://bit.ly/1JPi9Ud). The Eagle article was co-written by Kelsey Ryan, an Emporia State alum and former Bulletin editor. Michael also appeared This Week in Kansas on Sunday, Oct. 4. The show, which airs on KAKE-TV in Wichita, discussed voting concerns.

  • Sen. Jerry Moran’s effort to make the Memorial to Fallen Educators a national memorial brought additional media attention to campus. Crews from both KSNT (http://bit.ly/1M8bZ83) and WIBW (http://bit.ly/1QV6usH) in Topeka came down for interviews with Carol Strickland, executive director of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, and Dr. Ken Weaver, dean of The Teachers College.

  • The 2015 Hornet Heritage family was recognized during Family and Friends Weekend. The award recognizes a multi-generational family of Hornets, and this year’s recipient is the Holub-Vajnar-Tajchman family. Their family consists of at least 24 people who have earned 28 degrees from Emporia State University along with eight former students and a current student. 

  • Emporia State University’s Homecoming musical has become an annual tradition. This year, ESU Theatre will present “South Pacific” as the 2015 Homecoming scholarship musical. Featuring one of the most beloved scores of the musical stage, “South Pacific” is based upon the Pulitzer-prize winning “Tales of the South Pacific” by James A. Michener. The musical was also awarded a Pulitzer in 1950. For more: http://bit.ly/1WwxOku

  • The Emporia Connection, Emporia State University’s Black Alumni Chapter, gathered on campus for a reunion during Family and Friends weekend.  Among the attendees was Garnett Wilson ’41, a 96-year-old former teacher and resident of Kansas City, Missouri, who was proud to be back in Emporia to celebrate her “74th class reunion.”    

  • On Sept. 24 the Office of International Education hosted a day of activities on the field behind the student recreation center. International and domestic students participated in games, won prizes and enjoyed the picnic-style foods.

  • The Emporia State Lady Hornets will begin the 2015-16 season ranked No. 1 in the nation in at least one national poll. They are joined by fellow MIAA member Fort Hays State in the top five. For more: http://bit.ly/1RrnlUA

  • A ribbon cutting was held Sept. 23 to dedicate the Phillips 66 Professional Development Suite in the School of Business. This space will serve over 900 business students who, with faculty and employers, can use the space to conduct interviews and other professional development activities both face to face and via video capabilities. For more: http://bit.ly/1Lk8OLt

  • International visitors! Anja Baumann and Peder Trolle, members of Gifted Children Denmark, visited The Teachers College on Wednesday, Sept. 30 to study teacher training in Kansas schools.

  • The Office of International Education is encouraging undergraduate students interested in studying abroad in China to take advantage of the Chinese Government Scholarship for one academic year studies in Chinese culture and language. Application deadline is mid-April 2016. More details available at the OIE.

  • The Alumni Association’s Board of Directors met on Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Sauder Alumni Center. They continue to move forward on projects that align to the university’s strategic plan by engaging alumni to meet institutional priorities. 

  • Jessica Stallings, associate professor of art therapy, has been named a co-principal investigator for the American Art Therapy Association Research Committee’s Autism Project. This will be a large multi-site, multi-year study.

  • ESU Building Services is testing a new “green” cleaning product using ozone technology. In place of harsh chemicals, they will be working with modified water, a H3O product that will actively clean and sanitize surfaces. This is a safe and environmentally friendly process that will remove the majority of all the chemicals that we have on hand at this time. Upon the successful completion of this test we hope to expand quickly across campus.

  • Biology students and faculty were busy at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Kansas Ornithological Society at Emporia State on Oct. 2 through 4. Eric Wilson (grad student in biology, Bill Jensen lab) was co-recipient of the student presentation award, which is considerable given the quality and quantity of papers presented at the meeting. There were 18 oral presentations, representing four Kansas universities, which is a recent record for the number of contributed presentations at this Society’s annual meeting.  New faculty member, Dr. Alexis Powell, also contributed a presentation from work he began at the University of Minnesota.  The scientific and social sessions were held in Room 72 and the Schmidt Museum of Natural History, respectively, in Breukelman Science Hall. The banquet was held in the Skyline Room of the Memorial Union, where attendees were treated to a wonderful keynote presentation by critically acclaimed wildlife photographer Noppadol Paothong (http://www.nopnatureimages.com/). Drs. Powell and Jensen led local field trips for the Society on Oct. 4.  Ben Kerbs (undergrad, ESU biology / Stephens Herbarium), Jean Schulenberg (curator, Stephens Herbarium) and Wilson assisted Drs. Jensen and Powell on the local committee.

  • Emporia State volleyball swept the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Missouri, to end the tour around Missouri this weekend. For more: http://bit.ly/1VzMaDR. To follow all the fall sports (cross country, football, soccer and volleyball), go to www.esuhornets.com.

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