President Garrett and Brian Denton, ESU legislative liaison, spent the week of June 20 in Washington D.C. While there they met with the Kansas Congressional delegation about efforts to designate the Memorial to Fallen Educators a national memorial. They visited former Sen. Bob Dole, photo above, as well as embassies and education organizations in the D.C. area. They also were hosts for an alumni dinner that included students doing internships in the nation’s capital. Interviews with Inside Higher Education and The Chronicle of Higher Education resulted in an article about the memorial and a leadership video. For more: http://bit.ly/2a6d9Xw
As the augmented-reality game Pokémon Go spreads across college campuses, Emporia State and President Allison Garrett received a shout out in The Chronicle of Higher Education. President Garrett worked with ESU Marketing and Media Relations to shoot a tongue-in-cheek video about what not to do while playing Pokémon on campus. The video is on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2al7h9v
We congratulate Newman Regional Health in Emporia for being named a Top 50 Critical Access Hospital to Know in the USA, the only Kansas hospital on the list. ESU’s Department of Nursing works closely with Newman, and many of our graduates move to employment with the local hospital.
Liberal Arts & Sciences
Corky’s Summer Nurse Camp was a success for the Department of Nursing with 30 campers age 10 through 12 spending a half day learning about what it’s like to be a nurse. Corky started the day taking selfies with students along with a group photo that included faculty and nursing students who presented the camp.
Dr. Gregory Robison of English, Modern Languages and Journalism recently led a group of students in an exchange program to Colombia, from June 2-July 4.
ESU’s student literary magazine, Quivira, was recently published. Students can get free copies at the EMLJ front desk, Plumb Hall 404. The magazine is student run.
ESU’s national literary magazine, Flint Hills Review, was recently published. A high-impact learning experience, the magazine is student staffed and is advised and managed by Prof. Amy Sage Webb. Copies cost $7, and can be obtained at Plumb Hall 404.
Dr. Kevin Rabas of English, Modern Languages and Journalism participates in the Ad Astra Theatre 24-Hour Theatre Festival on Saturday, (July 30) penning a new 10-minute play (“Baby on Plane”) which will see a full production in the weekend event in Topeka.
Michael Warriner (Biological Sciences M.S. 1997) has accepted the listing and recovery branch chief position at the Austin Ecological Service Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Michael most recently worked at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department where he served as the nongame and rare species program leader, supervising and providing leadership for staff state-wide.
A collaboration of Emporia State art students and the Emporia Police Department is a visual reminder of the relationship between the community and law enforcement. A group of art students at the university with Associate Professor Derek Wilkinson created a mural for the police department — the sole focus of a two-week summer course designed after Police Chief Scott Cronk approached the ESU art department about the project. For more: http://bit.ly/2aFMyw0
Congratulations to ESU alumnus Andrew Rutter (B.S. Biology – Ecology & Biodiversity Concentration; 2013) on his new job! Andrew recently announced that he has accepted a full time wildlife biologist position with the Lake County Forest Preserve District in northern Illinois.
Emporia Police Officer Alec Ford, an alum of our crime and delinquency studies program, was featured in an Emporia Gazette article about community policing. Alec is the son of ESU Police Officer Pat Ford. For more: http://bit.ly/2abRhHn
Adam Tebben, senior nursing student and president of the National Student Nurses’ Association, was in Washington D.C. last month. While there he spoke about to the American Nurses Association. See the video: http://bit.ly/2annFXi
Business
The Community Internship Initiative is a collaboration between ESU School of Business and Career Services, Emporia Main Street and Emporia Main Street member businesses. The focus of this initiative is to develop unique internship experiences for students majoring in business while fostering community engagement with the local business community.
Dr. George Durler, professor and Beta Alpha Psi advisor, will accompany 10 members of Beta Alpha Psi to the national convention in Baltimore, Maryland, Aug. 4 through 6. Beta Alpha Psi is the International Honorary Organization for Financial Information Professionals (including accounting, finance, and information systems).
The Teachers College
Summer Olympiad pulled in a huge crowd. Matt Seimears, Chris Pettit, Dusti Howell and Joe Kern hosted FAN-STEM-I, a two-week “Improving Teacher Quality” Institute in Fredonia, Kansas. The capstone event was working with teachers to host a Summer Science Olympiad in which 59 elementary kids worked through a number of stations including solving a crime scene via chemical reactions.
Joan Brewer, Alvin Peters, Melissa Reed and Connie Phelps attended training to become national field reviewers for the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation recently.
Seven Kansas teachers attended the Flint Hills Writing Project hosted at Emporia State. Over the past three years, 40 educators have participated in FHWP.
Alumni Relations
The Emporia Connection, Emporia State’s black alumni chapter, hosted a reunion in Kansas City on July 15-17. Events featured a performance of “The Master’s Men,” which was written by ESU alum Joyce Todd ‘71. Further, Garnett Wilson ’41 attended and celebrated her 75th class reunion. Finally, in partnership with Emporia State’s School of Library and Information Management, a plaque was presented to honor Geraldine Strader ’57 & ’67, a longtime educator and advocate in KCK.
Facilities
Mark Runge returned from the Association of University Architects Conference held on the campus of University of Washington in Seattle. Runge chaired the case study committee that oversaw the review and selection of papers and presentations made during the conference.
All the “temporary” mobile units at the compound area have now been demolished and removed from the site. Work will begin to clean up the image of the storage compound. Work progresses on the north end of campus with the direction of the campus master plan.
Athletics
The MIAA will live stream its Football Media Day on Tuesday. The free stream will begin at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2. Emporia State’s Coach Garin Higgins, wide receiver Mitchell Foote and lineback Kole Schankie will appear at noon. For more, including a link to the stream: http://bit.ly/2atFdAM
Track athlete Duke Tibbs ran the first race on the new Zola Witten Track in Welch Stadium. The race against KSNT sports reporter Zaldy Doyungan was televised on the sports cast July 14. Duke also serves as president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and portrays Dominic Database in videos for Information Technology: http://bit.ly/2aebr4P
Emporia State softball pitcher Eryn Stockman had a rather unusual week for the Fourth of July. The senior to be spent June 27 through July 5 in the Czech Republic with USA Athletes, International as part of Prague Softball Week. For more: http://bit.ly/2aqFlRj
Former Hornet Josh Honeycutt saw his dream of reaching Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics come up short on Thursday at the US Olympic Trials. He placed 16th in the field of 24 in the qualifying round of the men's triple jump in Eugene, Oregon. For more: http://bit.ly/2a9aLfC
A pair of Emporia State basketball players will be continuing their playing careers as professionals in Europe. Lady Hornet Sandra Ngoie will be playing with the Saarlopuis Royals in Germany while Hornet Terrence Moore will be playing with FOG Naestved in Denmark. For more: http://bit.ly/2au2XY5
Library & Information Management
Alum Dustin Fife (MLS 2013) was featured as a Mover and Shaker 2016 in an issue of Library Journal. Dustin was recognized as a tech leader. For more: http://bit.ly/2a8x1JB
Administration
Lisa Moritz was featured in The Emporia Gazette after sharing her songwriting talents during a Sundays on the Porch event at the William Allen White State Historic Site. Lisa is associate affirmative action officer and Title IX deputy coordinator for the general counsel and executive coordinator in the president’s office. For more: http://bit.ly/2a8xZFu
People
- Nicki Duncan is our new Scholarship & Student Resource Coordinator in the financial aid office.
- Madeleine Bock is the new director of Albert Taylor Hall. She replaces Indy Dambro who retired after 41 years with the university.
- Ryan O’Meara is ESU’s new art director in Marketing and Media Relations.
Publications
- Dr. Mohammed Sajedur Rahman, assistant professor of information systems in the School of Business; Myung Ko; John Warren; and Darrell Carpenter had their article “Healthcare Technology Self-Efficacy (HTSE) and Its Influence on Individual Attitude: An Empirical Study” published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior (2016), 58, pp 12–24.
- Congratulations to Dr. Steven Lovett, assistant professor and co-director of the Koch Center for Leadership & Ethics, who authored the textbook, “Applied Business Ethics: An Exploration of the Use and Impact of Ethical Practices in the Workplace,” published by Kendall Hunt (2016). Dr. Lovett also had his article “The Employee-Lawyer: A Candid Reflection on the True Roles and Responsibilities of In-House Counsel” published in the Journal of Law & Commerce 34, 1:113159.
- Greg Sievert (Biology Instructor) and Andrew Coleman (M.S. Biology student; Thesis Advisor= Dr. Lynnette Sievert) were published in Herpetological Review. The article about the four-toed salamander came from a specimen collected during a spring break field trip to the Ouachita Mountains with the Spring 2013 ESU Herpetology class. This record expands the previously known distribution of this species (prior to this record, these salamanders were only known from the coastal plain of Oklahoma).
Presentations
- Dr. William Clamurro of English, Modern Languages and Journalism presented a paper titled “De la sátira a la aporía del discurso ideológico-imperial: La hora de todos de Quevedo” read at the XIX Congreso of the Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas, in Münster, Germany, July 11 through 16.
- Biology faculty and students participated in the Joint Meetings of the American Elasmobranch Society, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Herpetologists’ League, and Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (New Orleans July 6 – 10, 2016). Dr. David Edds along with co-authors Dr. David Gillette (M.S. 2002), Bibhuti Jha, and Bhogendra Mishra presented “Assessing fish community change in Nepal.” Andrew Coleman (M.S. 2016) and Dr. Lynnette Sievert presented “Sound production in the Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum).” Justine Becker (M.S. 2016) and Dr. R. Brent Thomas presented “Male response to female chemical signals in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta).” Also in attendance were Dr. Erika Martin and graduate student Bill Blair.