Springtime Greetings to you all.
It’s hard to believe that the first quarter of 2007 is now history. I have all my spring mulch in place, thanks to Sue and Lyle for the use of the trailer again, and to Rick Horn who happened to ride by on his bike and stopped to help wheel the black smelly stuff around. Apparently he forgot that I no longer have any input into his salary raise. Four loads was almost too much work for Ginny and me, but we "gotter done". Next year I’ll announce this annual project to a broader range of people so that more of you might have the opportunity to assist. Old Tom Sawyer really had a great idea.
The first three days of April will find a number of us in Athens, GA, attending the ACHE Region 7 Conference. Laura and Dewayne are presenters, and Amanda, Jenni and I are attendees. I will also be attending the annual UCEA conference in Vancouver British Columbia, April 10 – 14, so I will get plenty "professionally developed" this month.
Enrollments in summer term are looking great for the first couple of weeks, and we hope the pace continues for a while. Our summer team has worked extra hard with new and innovative ways of marketing, and we are all hoping it pays off well.
It’s that time of year when I attend lots of award receptions, dinners, and luncheons for deserving faculty and staff across the campuses of WKU. Congratulations to all of you who are honored by these events. It turns out that one of the perks of being a dean is that I get invited to many of these events and there is always great food served. This is also one of the waistline tragedies of being a dean. Actually, it’s not my fault. I have to blame my mom for being a great cook and teaching me to like good food and clean my plate. Did I mention that she was also a great teacher? Ah, another reason I have such a big yard.
March was a truly busy month for everyone in DELO. We really planned and developed a lot of programs in addition to delivering those on the schedule. The summer and fall will provide a host of opportunities for learners of all ages, and I'm excited to be a part of it all.
I would be amiss if I didn’t comment on the great job our conference staff do on a day and night basis. Here's an example of what I see regularly: When I left my office last night the entire place was filled with employer/exhibitors and tons of student job seekers, tables, chairs, equipment, etc. everywhere. When I walked in this morning the entire center had been turned over and all rooms were ready for today's business, it looked like a new place. You folks are impressive.
Enjoy the newsletter and have a great April.
Oops... I almost forgot. We’re going to Iowa to enjoy the grandkids for Easter. This will guarantee that we will have a Happy Easter... hope you do too.
Don S.
Governor Ernie Fletcher came to the Glasgow Campus for the signing of House Bill 468 which could bring 500 jobs to Glasgow. The company would be located next to the Glasgow campus and would employ students from the campus.
During his visit to Glasgow, Governor Ernie Fletcher presented Golda Walbert the state’s Unbridled Spirit Award. This award was established for people who have worked hard to improve their communities. Ms. Walbert has served on the Glasgow Campus Advisory Board since its inception. She also was the spearhead for the fundraiser to establish the library at the Liberty Street location and taught EDU 250 for the Glasgow Campus.
It isn’t often that Glasgow students will make the newspapers in Ecuador, but that is exactly what happened over spring break. Four current Glasgow students and one Glasgow instructor participated in the Study Abroad class that went to Ecuador. The Herald in Ambato, Ecuador, ran an article about "Dialogue in English shared between the children in the fifth year of basic education at the Thomas Cranmer Bilingual Education Center and the delegation of 10 student volunteers from Western Kentucky University."
The course focused on the culture, people, and agriculture of the country. The students enrolled and received credit for this course in Andean Agriculture. Their study included architecture, art galleries and other cultural aspects, lava rocks from an active volcano, local delphinium, gerbera daisy, and rose farms, and milking cows and picking potatoes on a dairy farm.
The instructor, Kristie Guffey, Agriculture instructor at the Glasgow Campus, said, "This international experience was motivating not only to the students but for myself. I have traveled to Ecuador five times and still find the people hospitable and the country breathtaking. Hopefully, more students will travel with us next year during spring break to the equator and back."
Congratulations to our faculty and students in the Associate Degree Nursing program. After a recent visit from their accrediting body, the A.D.N. program has been accredited for another eight years. Keep up the good work!
Adam Southall has been accepted to the University of Kentucky’s physical therapy program beginning Fall 2007. Adam has worked as a student worker in the Resource Room and now is devoted entirely to biology tutoring. He will graduate in May with a degree in Biology. "Adam is a great person and a wonderful tutor," stated James McCaslin, Adam’s supervisor. "We’ll miss him terribly, but we are so proud of his accomplishments. We wish him the best."
The Glasgow Regional Center Chapter of the Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society has taken advantage of the university’s new version of Blackboard to increase access for our working and commuting students. Gamma Beta Phi was the first student organization in the university to launch an organization site in Blackboard. Students now have the freedom to be involved in the Society regardless of potential scheduling conflicts. "The students recognize that we respect their hectic schedules. I hope that they will become more involved in the Society with this new freedom," stated James McCaslin, WKU–Glasgow Assistant Director and staff co–sponsor for the Society.
Adrian Arroyave and Aline Decker were guest speakers in Ms. Fina Simpson’s Spanish 101 class and in Ms. Bonita Phelps’ Spanish 102 class. Adrian and Aline are both international students from Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. Adrian and Aline spoke of their upbringing in Columbia and Uruguay (respectively), their experiences here in the United States both inside and outside of the classroom, and of the importance of learning languages. Each guest speaker gave a short presentation and then answered questions from the students in the classes. It was a great opportunity for the students at WKU–Glasgow to interact with students from different cultures.
Dr. Marilyn Brookman, Gracie Lartey, Neil Bradley, Richie Taylor and Charlotte Dixon met on March 7 to discuss the new Environmental Health Science and Public Health Education degrees being offered at WKU Owensboro beginning this fall.
Dr. Sam Evans, Dr. Wayne Rickard, Jena Beth Frances and Scott Hawkins from the Daviess County Board of Education, Lynn Hines, Dr. Toby Daniels, Dr. Marilyn Brookman, and Tom Shelton, Daviess County Superintendent met on March 8th to discuss the possibility of a new cohort Masters Degree of Education to be offered at WKU–O.
On March 23, Owensboro hosted "Project Learning Tree", a professional development seminar for Elementary Education majors. They learned how to act out the water cycle ...having a lot of fun in the process!!
The Messenger–Inquirer newspaper in Owensboro sponsors an annual Academic All Stars Program for area high school seniors. Outstanding students are nominated by the Apollo, Daviess County, Hancock County, McLean County, Ohio County, Owensboro Catholic, Owensboro City, and Trinity High Schools in seven categories of Art, English, Foreign Languages, Journalism, Math, Science, and Social Studies. All nominees receive a recognition plaque, and one winner is chosen in each category for a $500 scholarship. Judges for the April 26 event were: Dr. Anne Federlein, President of Kentucky Wesleyan College; Sister Vivian Bowles, President of Brescia University; Dr. Marilyn Brookman, Executive Director of the Western Kentucky University Owensboro Regional Campus; and Dr. Jackie Addington, President of Owensboro Community and Technical College. Also pictured is Dan Heckel, Editor of the Messenger–Inquirer. (Picture courtesy of Gary Emord–Netzley.)
Pictured below are scenes from our Informational Open House held this month. We estimated about 100 potential students attended.
Ann Case received the Elizabethtown/Ft. Knox Outstanding Part–time Faculty award for the 2006–2007 academic year from Dean Don Swoboda. Ann teaches English courses for teacher education majors. She was nominated by a number of students who have taken her courses, all citing the extraordinary support and encouragement she provides for her students. Ann is highly regarded by faculty, staff, students, and the community at large.
Our unit hosted the annual luncheon for Elizabethtown Community and Technical College leaders in March. The luncheon provides an opportunity for WKU and ECTC to discuss collaborative activities and update each other on new developments with each college.
Pictured below are scenes from the annual Elizabethtown/Ft. Knox Faculty Dinner held in March at the Regional Postsecondary Education Center.
The WKU Elizabethtown/Ft. Knox Regional Center sponsors "Newspapers in the Classroom" for Ms. Sally Leonard’s first grade class at Lincoln Trail Elementary School this year. Students in Ms. Leonard’s class made this "thank you WKU" poster for providing this educational opportunity for their class. The poster is displayed at the WKU Elizabethtown reception area in the Central Regional Postsecondary Education Center.
Dr. Ron Stephens made a brief presentation to the class in March and presented Ms. Leonard with a "Big Red" bag. As a WKU grad, she was pleased to get the bag in which she will carry student work. The first graders are shown trying out their brand new Big Red megaphones. The megaphones were placed in "time out" as Dr. Stephens departed the school grounds.
Tim Gott, Director of WKU’s new Math and Science Academy, gave a presentation about the new program to the Hardin County AM Rotary Club. The Academy opens this fall for 120 of top junior and senior high school students from across Kentucky. The students will live in Schneider Hall, which has been renovated especially for this program. The goal of the Academy is to enable Kentucky’s exceptional young scientists and mathematicians to learn in an environment which offers advanced educational opportunities, preparing them for leadership roles in Kentucky. Instead of spending their junior and senior years in traditional high schools, the students will take courses offered by WKU. At the end of two years, they will be high school graduates and will have earned 60 college credit hours. Tim’s program generated a lot of interest with members.
Dean Swoboda, Amanda McGaughey, Dewayne Neeley, Jennifer Perry, and Laura Ricke attended the Association of Continuing Higher Education Region 7 Spring Conference in Athens, GA, April 1 – 3. The Conference theme was From Marginalized to Mainstream: The Impact of Lifelong Learning and featured continuing educators across the Southeast speaking on topics such as: access, impact, collaboration, flexibility and creativity.
During the conference, Laura and Dewayne presented a concurrent session entitled Dual Credit: More than a Program, A Series of Partnerships. They outlined WKU’s Dual Credit model of internal and external partnerships that have contributed to its phenomenal growth since coming under the administration of DELO in 2005. WKU’s Dual Credit Program served over 700 students in 19 high schools with 29 course offerings in 2006–07.
Cohort Programs is once again partnering with the Department of Physical Education to deliver an online Master of Science in Physical Education (Teacher Education Option). This 100% online program is designed to assist physical education teachers who have both professional and personal responsibilities that make it difficult to earn a degree in the traditional classroom setting. Students will earn their MSPE in less than two years. The new cohort will begin in Fall 2007. This will be the third cohort to participate in this program. We would also like to congratulate the first MSPE cohort, which will be graduating next month.
For more information, please contact Scott Blake at scott.blake@wku.edu or (270) 745–2710.
Sue Parrigin, Carroll Knicely Conference Center Manager, and Derek Olive, Conference Center Coordinator, attended the annual ACCED–I Conference (Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors – International) in Baltimore. Both agreed the conference was very beneficial for networking purposes and as an opportunity to learn from experts in the field.
The Carroll Knicely Conference Center hosted the WKU Career Services Center 2007 Spring Job Fair on March 28th. More than 125 companies, agencies, school systems, facilities and graduate programs were represented at the Fair and over 450 students and alumni were in attendance.
The photos below were provided by the WKU Career Services Center.
The Kentucky Motorcycle Program promotes motorcycle safety by establishing several rider training courses:
These courses are conducted March through November at various locations throughout the state. DELO’s Continuing Education Department sponsors programs monthly which take place at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center.
A Basic Rider Course was recently held on March 30 – April 1 at the Knicely Center. Ten participants (9 men and 1 woman) learned straight–line riding, turning, shifting and stopping, cornering, swerving and emergency braking in addition to the different types of motorcycles, their controls, and how they operate. One significant feature of the Basic Rider Course is that participants don’t have to provide their own bikes... Motorcycles and helmets are furnished to all students!
For more information about the motorcycle training courses, visit the Continuing Education website.
