Bicycle Friendly
The League of American Bicyclists, now in its fifth year, recognized Emporia State University with a Bronze Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) award, joining more than 150 visionary colleges and universities from across the country. With the announcement of 51 new and renewing BFUs today from 25 states, ESU joins a cutting-edge group of colleges and universities across the United States transforming their campuses and the communities around them. There are now 164 BFUs in 44 states and Washington, D.C.
And the Winner Is…
Emporia State University received the highest number of votes by percentage of students enrolled to win the initial “Don’t Text #Just Drive” fall contest among seven Kansas universities. In all, nearly 35,000 pledge votes were cast by students, alumni and supporters of each university, all taking the pledge not to text while driving. Those votes account for one-third of the universities’ student populations. Emporia State’s 3,749 pledge votes counted as 63.68 percent of the total student population, the highest percentage among the seven universities.
Teacher of the Year
And Emporia State alumnus, Jason Sickel, vocal music instructor at Blue Valley North High School, was named the 2017 Kansas Teacher of the Year by the Kansas State Department of Education on November 19. Jason graduated from ESU in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in music education.
Athletics
Emporia State outside hitter Josie Williams and libero Allie Maloney were both named Second-Team All-MIAA to highlight a total of five volleyball Hornets that earned some type of all-league honor. A trio of seniors earned recognition from the league coaches. Middle hitters Shayla Cotman and Danika Burton along with defensive specialist Kelly Holden were all named Honorable Mention All-MIAA.
Members of the ESU softball and men’s and women’s tennis teams spent an afternoon packing food for Food for Students, a local organization that works to provide resources for Emporia schoolchildren who are food insecure.
The Student Athlete Advisory Committee has submitted its work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the NCAA Division II Award of Excellence. Events around the September 17, 2016, football game centered on Zane, an 8-year-old boy with Duchene muscular dystrophy, who dreams of being a police officer. The entry included a highlight video from the day.
Library & Information Management
Congratulations to Tracie M. Kreighbaum, candidate for the degree Doctor of Philosophy, Library and Information Management, who defended her dissertation in a public presentation on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Her dissertation was titled “Walking a Tightrope without a Net: Exploring How Rural Homeless Adults Use Information to Solve Problems While Residents at a Northern Midwest Rural Homeless Shelter.”
Arts & Sciences
Congratulations to Dr. Lynnette Sievert, professor in biological sciences, who was elected president-elect during the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Kansas Herpetological Society, held at Rockhurst University in Kansas City on November 5, 2016. Also elected during the business meeting were alumni Daren Riedle, bachelor’s graduate, as treasurer, and Kelley Tuel, master’s graduate, as secretary. Alumnus Eric Kessler, master’s graduate, is the current KHS president.
Also during the KHS meeting, Greg Sievert, clinical instructor in biological sciences, received the Alan H. Kamb Grant of $300 to work on Kansas snakes. Greg also served as the meeting photographer and took the annual photo.
Congratulations to Gary Ziek, professor of music, whose work was reviewed in the October issue of International Trumpet Guild Journal. Ziek’s three most recent arrangements of music by Geoges Bizet, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky were featured.
Alumna Diana Acevedo (MS Biology 2012) was featured in an article in Dos Mundos, a bilinqual publication in Kansas City. The article tells the journey of Acevedo, a native Colombian, to obtain an education. She currently is a doctoral student at KU Medical Center.
Student Affairs
Congratulations to Belinda Schlesener, leader of ESU TOPS, in coordinating the presentation and cooking demonstration by Zonya Foco and Krista Sanderson of Eat Real America. The theme of the November 16 event was “Eat Real Food.” Belinda’s planning expertise and leadership along with sponsor contributions from ESU and the Emporia community made this event possible.
Congratulations to Julie Cayton, assistant director of Student Support Services, who was inducted as president-elect of the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska (MKN) Chapter of the Educational Opportunity Association during the regional conference November 13-16 in St. Louis. Kristi Bolen, director of TRiO programs, was inducted as past-president of the MKN chapter, and Shanna Eggers, director of Educational Talent Search, will serve as finance committee chair for the regional association.
Student Success
ESU’s new First Generation Advisory Council is working hard to reach other first-generation students. Efforts include sharing “First Generation Success Stories” on campus followed by outreach to Emporia High School AVID students. The council also hosted a game night for current ESU first-generation students.
The Teachers College
Connie Phelps, gifted program director and professor, was elected to the Future Problem Solving Program International Board of Advisors for Education and Global Issues expertise.
More than 100 K-16 teachers from across the state attended the initial Flint Hills Writing Project (FHWP) Writing Conference held in Topeka November 6-7. The conference featured visits to the Brown v. Board of Education Historical Site and the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. FHWP’s co-directors are Dr. Heather Caswell, assistant professor, and Dr. Roger Caswell, executive director of the Jones Institute for Educational Excellence, where the FHWP is housed at ESU.
Ashley Beason Manes (MS, Gifted, 2010) successfully defended her dissertation at the University of Arkansas recently.
Alex Vuyk (BS, Psychology, 2005; MS, Gifted, 2010) completed her internship at Orange County Children’s Hospital which completed Ph.D. requirements at the University of Kansas. She has now returned to Ascension, Paraguay.
In a research article “An analysis of instructional design and technology departments” published recently in the journal Educational Technology Research and Development, Emporia State was listed as one of three institutions receiving more than two design/practice awards during this past decade. ESU’s Instructional Design and Technology Department received 10 awards from AECT from 2005-2014.
Admissions
During the fall semester, ESU Undergraduate Admissions hosted many prospective students on campus. Along with our daily visitors, we had 31 schools bring buses full of over 1,000 students. We also held four Black and Gold days with over 600 students and guests in attendance.
Libraries & Archives
An exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston includes material from the ESU Archives. The exhibit, “Make Way for Ducklings,” honors the late illustrator Robert McCloskey who wrote the classic book in 1941. His illustrations are part of the May Massee Collection at ESU. An article by the Associated Press about the exhibit is being published across the country.
Business
Congratulations to Ed Eilert, (BA, Business Administration; MA, Business Education). He has been named one of Ingram’s Most Powerful Business Leaders in Greater Kansas City. Ed is also a Business Alliance board member.
Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Muldoon, assistant professor, management, for being placed on two editorial boards: The Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies is published by SAGE Publications quarterly to advance the knowledge and practice of leadership and organizations, and the Journal of Management History, Emerald Group Publishing, is an interdisciplinary journal and publishes research using diverse methodologies and theoretical approaches.
The School of Business hosted the Kansas International Trade Coordinating Council’s (KITCC) annual meeting this month. For 25 years, Dr. Raffaele De Vito served as the chair of KITCC and now currently serves as chair emeritus. KITCC is accepting nominations through January 27, 2017, for the Governor’s Exporter of the Year award.
Congratulations to the Capitol Federal scholars who were celebrated during the annual luncheon on Wednesday, November 9, at the Sauder Alumni Center, photo above. Over the years, the Capitol Federal Foundation has given Emporia State more than $750,000 in support of the Capitol Federal Scholars program.
Publications
Dr. Katherine Daily O’Meara, assistant professor in English, Modern Languages and Journalism, recently published an article, “Providing Sustained Support for Teachers and Students in the L2 Writing Classroom Using Writing Fellow Tutors” in The Journal of Response to Writing, 2.2 (2016).
Dr. Kevin Rabas, professor and chair in EMLJ, recently published two poems: “Pool, Ring” in Dunes Review, 20.2 (2016): 33; and “Man of Steel” in Archaeopteryx, 3 (2016): 23.
Max McCoy, professor in EMLJ, will publish “Twain’s Mysterious Stranger” in The New Territory quarterly magazine.
Dr. Sungwoong Lee, assistant professor in the Department of Instructional Design and Technology in The Teachers College, co-authored “Evaluating Teaching Competency in a 3D eLearning Environment Using a Small-scale Bayesian Network,” in the Quarterly Review of Distance Education, (Vol. 17, No. 6, pp 61-74).
Presentations
Dr. Rachel Spaulding, assistant professor in English, Modern Languages and Journalism, presented “The Folly of Luis Soler y Las Balsas: Eighteenth Century Spanish Racism” at Rocky Mountain Modern Languages Association on October 5, 2016 – October 9, 2016
Dr. Kevin Rabas, professor and chair in EMLJ, presented “Get Out and Write About Art: Ekphrastic Writing” at Kansas Association of Teachers of English on October 21, 2016
Dr. Kevin Kienholz, professor in EMLJ, presented “Revising Program Assessments for Kansas Licensure Standards” at Kansas Association of Teachers of English on October 21, 2016
Dr. Katherine O’Meara, assistant professor in EMLJ, presented “Articulating L2 Writing Expertise on the Academic Job Market: An SSLW Institute” at the 2016 Symposium on Second Language Writing on October 19, 2016 – October 22, 2016
Dr. Dan Colson, assistant professor in EMLJ, presented “Guilty as Charged: Legal Truth and (In)Justice in Making a Murderer” at South Central Modern Language Association on November 4, 2016 – November 6, 2016
Dr. Dan Colson presented “Online Teaching and the Ideology of Colorblindness” at Midwest Modern Language Association on November 9, 2016 – November 11, 2016
Greg Sievert and Andrew Coleman (M.S. 2016) presented a poster titled “Efficacy of Three Artificial Cover Materials in Herpetological Surveys of Prairie Habitats” at the Kansas Herpetological Society annual meeting.
Andrew Coleman and Dr. Lynnette Sievert presented a poster titled “Sound production in the Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)” at the Kansas Herpetological Society annual meeting.
Julie Cayton presented at the Educational Opportunity Association regional conference in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 13-16. Her presentation, “Hope, Habits, Happiness: Leading a Life of Intention” focused on how we can assist students to increase their commitment and effort by helping them see a connection between the future they hope for and the behaviors and habits they currently demonstrate.
Co-directors of the Flint Hills Writing Project (FHWP) Dr. Heather Caswell, assistant professor in the department of Elementary Education / Early Childhood / Special Education, and Dr. Roger Caswell, executive director of the Jones Institute for Educational Excellence, presented “Engaging Partnerships: Advanced Institute, National Parks, and Public Libraries” at the National Writing Project Fall Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 17.
Dr. Heather Caswell and Dr. Roger Caswell presented “Teaching for Social Justice in the English Language Arts Classroom” alongside two public school teachers who are part of the FHWP’s leadership team. The presentation was at the National Conference of Teachers of English conference November 18-20 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Dan Stiffler, associate professor and chair of the department, Dr. Nancy Albrecht, professor, and Dr. John Morton, associate professor, all of the Department of School Leadership / Middle and Secondary Teacher Education presented at the World Conference on E-Learning held in Washington, DC November 14-16. The presentation, “E-Learning for Ed-Leaders at Emporia State University,” described ESU’s unique, student-centered online practicum courses offered through the educational administration master’s program.
Dr. Amanda Lickteig, associate professor in the Department of School Leadership / Middle and Secondary Teacher Education, moderated a discussion “Utilizing New Literacies as Bridge Texts” at the National Council of Teachers of English Conference November 17-20 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.