Our graduate commencement exercises last Saturday were standing room only with Room 408 in Plumb Hall used as overflow so friends and family could watch the livestream of the event. The livestreams from both undergraduate and graduate ceremonies are archived here: http://bit.ly/1W02Dkh. And plenty of photos are on our Flickr feed: http://bit.ly/1TG63m8
ESU faculty, staff, students, administrators and donors gathered April 27 to celebrate the Academic Center for Excellence and Success, or ACES, during a ribbon cutting. The center features high-tech study spaces for individuals or groups of students and also brings together multiple services for student success such as tutoring, a Writing Center and the English Language Learner Lab.
The Teachers College
Alex Vuyk (BS '05 - Psychology, MS '10 - Special Education/Gifted) was selected as a recipient of the University of Kansas's School of Education Dissertation of the Year Award for her paper, “Openness to Experience Rather than Over Excitabilites.”
Emporia State's Professional Development School was mentioned in a recent article in the Kansas City Star. The article includes Jackie Euler, elementary education PDS intern. The full article is here: http://bit.ly/1qoyZaw
Connie Phelps and Bo Andersen distributed $25,000 of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and Green City Challenge sets with NXT Intelligent Bricks to 40 schools in the Kansas Gifted LEGO MINDSTORMS Project.
Matt Seimears, Dusti Howell, Chris Pettit and Joseph Kern will be working with 24 teachers from three districts June 20 through 30 at the FAN–STEM-I (Fredonia, Altoona Midway, Neodesha – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics-Initiative) summer institute. This $194,820 grant-funded project aims to improve K-6 grade level teacher quality in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Police & Safety
ESU Police Cpl. Jerrod Schumann escorted a group of ESU Crime and Delinquency Studies students to the Kansas Highway Patrol Training Academy in Salina on May 8. These students experienced four days of law enforcement training similar to what KHP trooper recruits receive.
Athletics
Our baseball team opens play in the NCAA Central Regional Tournament at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The Hornets, ranked No. 8 in the region, will play No. 3-seed Minnesota Duluth at St. Cloud State in Minnesota. For ticket prices and schedule: http://bit.ly/1YyIEH6
Competing in the final regular season meet of the season, the Emporia State track & field teams combined for five provisional qualifiers at the Sam Williams Qualifier on May 14 at Welch Stadium/Witten Track. For more: http://bit.ly/1TiLEHA
Emporia State softball placed four of its six returners on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll for softball this season with two earning MIAA Scholar-Athlete honors. For more: http://bit.ly/1WBOSIz
Over 50 Hornet senior student-athletes and support staff were recognized for their contributions to Emporia State and the Hornet Athletic program during the Emporia State Senior Awards and Honors Banquet on May 4. Brent Wilson, Kelly Moten and Katherine Flott were named the Outstanding Student-Athletes of the Year. For more awards: http://bit.ly/22e1ENf
The Emporia State men's and women's tennis teams combined to have seven players earn some type of All-MIAA recognition for the league coaches. For more: http://bit.ly/1TWkcy7
Liberal Arts & Sciences
Congratulations Adrienn Clark (Political Science, '14) on landing a summer clerkship with the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office! Adrienn was also an Ethnic and Gender Studies minor.
During the 48th annual conference of National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics in San Francisco, Dr. Connie Schrock, professor of mathematics, presented “Using NCSM’s Great Tasks in a Digital Age.” She also was elected to a four-year term on the organization’s board, first as president-elect then as president.
A few days later, 10 students joined Schrock in San Francisco for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual meeting. At that conference, Schrock presented “Strategies to Be Proactive, Not Reactive, with Challenging Students.” The students who attended were Dallas Shafer, Samantha Aeschliman, Angela Smith, Michelle Foster, Darwin Sweetman, Tara Thacker, Montana Loibl, Sarah Jane Clark, Jeana Johnson and Luke Langston. They are pictured with Schrock and NCTM National President, Diane Briars.
Schrock then headed to Barcelona, Spain, where she presented “Ten Skills Teacher Educators Must Provide for Pre-Service Teachers as a Part of the Global Community” to the World Federation Association for Teacher Education.
Three faculty members co-wrote a paper published in the Social Studies journal. “Contested Rights: The Pedagogy and Logistics of Hosting Constitution Day” was written by Amanda Miracle, Michael Smith and Rob Catlett of the ESU faculty with Kevin Anderson of Eastern Illinois University. The article is here: http://bit.ly/1OwAzx1
Congratulations to Ariel Cooley (BA English, Journalism minor) who has accepted a position as a reporter for The Joplin Globe, a daily newspaper in southwest Missouri. Cooley, who graduated Saturday, was editor-in-chief of the Emporia State Bulletin. She begins at the Globe later this month, in time for the newspaper’s coverage of the fifth anniversary of the May 22, 2011, tornado, which killed 158.
We proudly congratulate ESU alumnus Dr. Ching Wen Tseng (M.S. Biology, 1999; Thesis advisor = Dr. Scott Crupper) on the publication of a coauthored manuscript entitled “Increased Susceptibility of Humanized NSG Mice to Panton-Valentine Leukocidin and Staphylococcus aureus Skin Infection.” The article was published in PLOS and can be accessed at http://bit.ly/27ti4Fi
Craig Johnson (Biology B.S. 1993), District Fisheries Biologist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism, instructed the Fisheries Management class on electrofishing sampling at Chase County State Fishing Lake earlier this month.
Alumni Relations
The Alumni Association hosted its Seventh Annual Kansas City Scholarship Golf Scramble on Friday, May 6. Corky Hornet made a special appearance and 810 Sports Radio did a live broadcast. Plus, President Garrett played in the tournament! Proceeds from the tournament benefit ESU students who reside in the KC metro area.
The Alumni Association welcomed all of ESU’s new graduates during the spring commencement ceremonies. Welcome, alumni!
Distance Education
Emporia State University – Kansas City celebrated its 10-year anniversary on April 7 at its 8400 W. 110th St., Suite 150, Overland Park, Kansas 66210 location. The event was attended by current and former ESU employees, alumni and current students, who gave a very special welcome to our new president, Allison Garrett. Thank you for everyone who made the event a huge success!
Business
Chelsie Renee Dieker earned the highest exam score for the Jan/Feb 2016 CPA examination period. Chelsie is a graduate of Emporia State University with a BSB – Accounting Major and an MBA with an accounting concentration. Chelsie is currently with the Wright CPA Group, PA in Emporia.
Facilities
Grounds and Construction Shops helped build obstacles and the race track for the recent Nitty Gritty Dirt Dash, which drew over 250 participants.
Grounds assisted with the recent Arbor Day events by help planting nearly 200 trees and shrubs across campus. ESU retained its designation as a Tree Campus USA.
Shops were delighted to be part of the successful remodeling and open house for the Ross Reservation Classroom Remodeling Project. The open house was held on April 23 with a “game” dinner hosted by the Biology Department.
Six custodial supervisors will be attending a two-day cleaning seminar and demonstration seminar in Newton, Kansas in May.
Facilities continues to work with the State Fire Marshal’s Office to keep the university safe. Environmental Scientist Jon Vopata is in contact with the SFMO and regularly inspects buildings across campus several times every year.