It’s Official
President Donald J. Trump signed into law on April 30 the National Memorial to Fallen Educators Act. The same week, the five newest inductees to the National Teachers Hall of Fame completed the induction festivities in Washington, D.C., including a reception with President Trump. All will be in Emporia for official induction ceremonies on June 22.
Arts & Sciences
A blog post on the Discover Nursing website features an interview with Ruben Rodriguez-Negrete Jr., a senior in nursingand president of Emporia Men’s Assembly of Nurses. The article discusses recruiting men for the nursing profession.
Last month, five Pittsburg State students joined ESU biology faculty and students at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preservefor the first-ever “BioBlitz” organized by the ESU Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society. The event involved sampling for as many identifiable species as possible to contribute to the Preserve’s species inventory.
RegisteredNursing.org ranked ESU’s nursing program No. 5 on its list of 2018 Best RN Programs in Kansas.The high rate of students passing the NCLEX-RN exam was a key part of the ranking. At No. 5, ESU is the highest-ranked of public Kansas universities on the list.
Michael Smith, chair of social sciences, joined other Kansas political science professors in a panel discussion of the 2018 electionsfollowing the departure of Gov. Sam Brownback.
Dr. Evandro Camara (Professor of Sociology) received the 2018 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Excellence in Scholarship and Creativity Award.
Three forensic science master’s students helped present a crime scene session for the Emporia Public Safety Citizens Academy.
Congratulations to Dr. Chad Wiley, who received the Mathematical Association of America’s Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematicsaward on April 21, at MAA’s annual Kansas section meeting at Johnson County Community College. It is awarded every year to an outstanding mathematics professor in the state of Kansas.
Information Technology
EdTech, a leading news website and publication with a focus on technology in education and operated by solutions provider CDW, named the blog from ESU’s Information Technology as one of the top 30 higher education/technology blogsof 2018.
Miscellaneous
Carrie Unruh (Senior), Michaela Todd (Junior), and Grayce McAllister (senior) attended the 3rd annual Kansas Student Leadership Forumin Topeka. Gov. Jeff Colyer hosted university students from across Kansas at his home at Cedar Crest to talk about making a difference. The Governor recounted how a “painting the walls” project in Rwanda had a tremendous impact on the community.
After three years, Carmen Leeds is stepping down from the board at Camp Alexander. Brian Denton from Institutional Effectiveness has agreed to join the effort.
Gwen Larson, assistant director for media relations, was elected vice president during the Kansas Association of Public Information Officersconference at Emporia State on May 3 and 4.
Athletics
The MIAA named Emporia State’s Charles Gortzounian the MIAA Men’s TennisFreshman of the Year by a vote of the league coaches. He also earned second-team All-MIAA honors at No. 2 singles for the Hornets.
Emporia State used a late season surge to make the MIAA Tournament and had four softballplayers earn All-MIAA honors. Danielle Sprinkle earned her third All-MIAA honor while Annelise Rockley, Destiny Ojigoh and Kenzie Garvin were named all-conference for the first time as Hornets.
Speaking of softball, the team is in Winona, Minnesota, to play in the 13th NCAA Tournament appearance for ESU. The first game is tomorrow.
Finally, last week’s Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division II National Player of the Week honor went to ESU’s Danielle Sprinkle, who hit .714 and led the Hornets to the MIAA Tournament championship.
ESU track and fieldathletes found success during the 109th Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, picking up another championship and three provisional qualifiers. The men’s 4x400m relay team of Parker Evans, Luke Stenzel, Duke Tibbs, and Taysean Goodwin ran a school record 3:08.69 to capture their first Drake Relays title in the event since 2000.
The MIAA named Taysean Goodwin the MIAA Track Athlete of the Weekafter the Drake Relays.
Three athletes finished with a 1-2-3 sweep of the 400m race at the MIAA Championships at Kearney, Nebraska. Taysean Goodwin took first, Luke Stenzel second and Duke Tibbs third. The men’s team placed third at the championships with the women 11th.
ESU Athletics recognized more than 80 Hornet senior student-athletes and support staff during the annual Senior Awards and Honors Banquet last week. Lati Yeargin, senior women’s track and field, and Justin Marcha, senior football, are the Outstanding Student-Athletes of the Year.
Library & Information Management
Students J.R. Clanton and Rebecka Anderson led a tour of the Westminster (Colorado) Public Library, with Colorado director David Willis providing additional insight into the Front Range Community College Library and the unique relationship between the two libraries.
Practicum student Brady Lund worked with ESU’s Special Collections and Archives to create the May Massee Virtual Reality Experienceon its website. This virtual reality explores May’s office and offers interactaction with hotspots that include images from May’s life and career and text that tells her story.
The Oregon Library Association awarded its 2018 Distinguished Service Awardto alumnae Shirley Roberts (1997) for her years of service to the libraries in eastern Oregon and the OLA.
Alumnus Rice Majors (2003) is associate university librarian at University of California, Davis.
Current student Gloria Acosta received a REFORMA Scholarship and will be recognized at the REFORMA Awards Ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the American Library Association Annual Conference.
Facilities
The Facilities Group is busy putting the final touches on a new 1,400 square foot space for the School of Business College Student Advisingin the lower level of Cremer Hall. The area was remodeled using talent from nearly every shop at facilities. Electricians, Welders, Carpenters, Painters, Plumbers, Sign Shop, HVAC Shop, Custodians and our Front Office staff all had a part in creating this new and exciting. Tens of thousands of dollars have been saved by using our typical materials to create office desk, lobby seating and a fabulous reception counter/course flier rack.
The Teachers College
Young scientists used forensic evidence to solve a murder mystery during the CSI 101 Saturday Enrichment Camp on April 28. The event was co-sponsored by the Great Plains Center for Gifted Studies, ESU Forensics Science and The Locard Society.
Sixty Emporia State University students from The Teachers College and three retiring faculty members received special recognition at The Teachers College 34th Annual Honors Banquetheld the evening of May 4. Twenty-two received outstanding student awards and 41 students were honored for achievement of a 3.8 grade point average or higher.
Dr. Paul Bland, Dr. Melissa Reed, and Dr. Amanda Lickteig, all faculty in The Teachers College, completed the QPR Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Programon April 27 and earned QPR Gatekeeper Certificates. QPR stands for Question, Persuade, Refer.
Robert Carlson, a faculty member in The Teachers College BEST (Butler/Emporia Students to Teachers) program, received the Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Facultydesignation from the American Association of Community Colleges during the organization’s annual held in Dallas in late April. Carlson has taught elementary education technology courses in the BEST program since 2004.
Vivian Mosier, current graduate student in art therapy, received Emporia State’s Laurence C. Boylan Scholarship. The scholarship is for distinguished scholarship in graduate study at ESU.
ESU’s Children Inspire Glass Project IIIis under way, under the co-direction of Dr. Carol Russell, early childhood, and Fletch Russell, MFA, in collaboration with Roberta Eichenberg and Patrick Martin, both faculty members in the art department, Dr. Heather Caswell, elementary education, and assistance from Grant Charpentier, Emporia High School art teacher. This project is provided for select children, ages 5-10 in USD 253, to create stories and design creatures to be transformed into glass sculpture.
Candie Campbell (BSE Social Studies, 1996; MA Teaching, Social Science, 2001) was presented with the 2018 Kansas Outstanding History Teacher Awardby the Daughters of the American Revolution in April. Campbell is a history teacher at Ottawa High School in USD 290.
Business
On April 25, we welcomed Canadian Consulate and Senior Trade Commissioner Jérôme Pischella to Emporia State University. Jérôme visited with two classes and held an open forum to discuss trade with Canada.
Congratulations to Dr. Jun Yu and David Szabo on their recent awards. Dr. Yu, associate professor of marketing, received the Outstanding RSO Advisor of the Year, and David, marketing major, was awarded the Champion for Diversity and Inclusion of the Year.
Members of Beta Alpha Psi attended the 2018 Missouri Valley Regional BAP meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, in late March. ESU will be the host chapter for the 2019 meeting, which will be held in Wichita.
Beta Alpha Psi traveled to Phillips 66 for a visit of the facilities in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Phillips 66 personnel talked about internships and careers in finance and accounting-related fields, treated the students to lunch and provided tours of their facilities, which included bowling at the company’s 12-lane bowling alley. Students from ESU who attended (left to right) were Joseph Siverinac, Carolina Taylor, Madison Orrange, Jacob Hubbard, Anthony Sanchez, Tyler Rogers, Jade Dry, Darian Bishop, Wyatt Porter, Minsang Cho and Luke Palmer. Not pictured are Dr. George Durler and James Willingham.
Dr. Joyce Zhou, associate professor of marketing, was invited to become a Reviewer Board Member of the Academy of Business and Retail Management.
Conferences
Taylor Worley, Emporia campus SLIM alumna and Youth Services Librarian at the Springfield Public Library, will attend the Leadership Institute of the Oregon Library Associationin Pendleton, Oregon, next week, after receiving the OLA Leadership Development Scholarship.
These SLIM alumni and students participated in the Oregon Library Association Conferencein April:
- Conference Committee – Liz Paulus; Lori Wamsley; Jane Corry; Michele Burke; Shirley Roberts.
- Poster sessions: Sarah-Lynda Johnson; Robert Kohl; Julie Morris; Katie Patterson; Robert Kohl; Barbara Fischer.
- Session presentations:
- Annie Sprague- “Illuminating Advice for Your Community-Wide Reading Program”;
- Lori Wamsley and Meggie Wright – “Textbook Affordability and Innovative Pedagogy: Open Educational Resources in Oregon”;
- Kristy Kemper-Hodge and Heidi Weisel – “Maximizing Partnerships: Uniting to Build One Bright Future for Your Community”;
- Colleen Sanders – “The Complete Constellation: Library Instruction for First Year Students”;
- Carson Mischel – “A Bright Future for Every Kindergartner: Hosting a Ready, Set, Kindergarten Program at Your Library”;
- Dottie Ormes – “Oregon History at Your Fingertips: Highlights from Oregon Digital Collections”;
- Mark Richardson – “This One’s for the Fans: Building and Improving Access to Fandom Collections in the Library”;
- Erin Wells and Aaron Novinger – “Small and Rural Libraries Creating the Future”;
- Roberta Richards – “What IF…? Intellectual Freedom Training Resources for Library Staff”;
- Karen Muller – “Standards: Who Needs Them?”; also, “Growing Into Management”;
- Kathy Street and Erin Wells – “A Day in the Life of a Rural Librarian”;
- Mary Derr – “Using Virtual and Augmented Reality in a Real Library World”;
- Lori Wamsley – “Turning Lemons into Lemonade: An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry (AI)”;
- Toan Lam-Sullivan – “Just Ask: Using the Tools Provided by the Harwood Institute to Turn Outward”;
- Sandra Carson-FitzGerald – “But We Aren’t Scientists! Get Your Hands on STEAM Programs for Kids and Teens.”
Publications
Mark Brenneman, current graduate student in art therapy, wrote a feature article, “The Creation of Hope: My journey through the darkness of mental illness,” about the Creations of Hope Gallery (909 N. Kansas Ave, Topeka) in the May 2018 edition of the Topeka Health & Wellness Magazine.
Presentations
Dr. Darla Mallein, Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, recently attended the where she presented a poster session, “Eureka: Mining the Library of Congress’ Goldmine of Primary Sources” at the National Council for History Educationconference in San Antonio, Texas. As a reviewer for the Midwest Region Teaching with Primary Sources, Darla also participated in a workshop on the Library of Congress grant program and shared helpful tips on how to write a successful grant proposal. All expenses for the trip were covered by the Midwest Region Teaching with Primary Sources.
Dr. Connie Schrock, mathematics, presented at conferences in the Washington, D.C., area in late April:
- “NCSM’s It’s TIME: Coaching,” April 21, 2018, at Association of State Supervisors of Mathematicsin Alexandria, Virginia.
- “The M in Stem,” April 24, 2018, as the Luncheon Speaker at NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education’s annual conferencein Washington D.C.
- “NCSM: Framing the Future of Mathematics Education on a 50-Year Foundation of Leadership,” April 24, 2018, at NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education’s annual conference in Washington D.C.
- “Re-Thinking Acceleration Practices,” April 25, 2018, at NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education’s annual conference in Washington D.C.
- “Leveraging Technology into Modeling Tasks to Enhance Learning,” April 26, 2018, at National Council of Teachers of Mathematicsannual meeting in Washington D.C.
Current student, Lynne Stahl (SLIM Oregon 2017), will present her poster at the ACRL-Women and Gender Studies Session at the American Library Association Annual Conferencein June.
Current SLIM students Rachel Feldman and Jaime Bogdash presented lightning talks at the Northwest Archivists Conferencein April. Jaime also received a $500 scholarship from NWA.
Dr. Nancy Smith (Elementary Education, Early Childhood, and Special Education) and Dr. Marvin Harrell (Mathematics) presented an invited workshop, “Developing Number Sense in Grades K-2 with Math Games,” at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematicsmeeting in Washington, DC.,
Dr. Christopher Stone, assistant professor of management, recently gave two presentations at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in Chicago. Both presentations were focused on military veteran transition and employment.