During my first week as a Hornet, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of you, as well as many community members at a reception sponsored by the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Emporia Main Street. Since arriving in Emporia, I’ve cheered on the Hornets at several basketball games, visited with local media and spent time in Topeka visiting with Governor Brownback and legislators. I will look forward to meeting more of you and touring your areas in the coming weeks. As you can see from all of the great news below, it’s an exciting time to be a Hornet. I’m looking forward to serving you as Emporia State’s 17th president.
Emporia State will have a role in Monday’s Martin Luther King celebration in Emporia. From 10:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., Webb Hall in the Memorial Union is the site for a children’s program. For more: http://bit.ly/1OmCWlG
Online graduate programs are highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report in rankings released yesterday. Online graduate education programs remained the highest-ranked Kansas school at No. 30 on the list. This year, our business programs also picked up accolades. Online graduate business programs were also the top-rated Kansas school at No. 80 and our online MBA program the third-highest Kansas school at No. 110. For more: http://bit.ly/1OO7yAe
More good news we learned this week — The American Library Association (ALA), Committee on Accreditation, granted continued accreditation status to the School of Library and Information Management, Master of Library Science degree program, and scheduled the next accreditation review in seven years. Accreditation is a voluntary system of evaluation of higher education institutions and programs. It assures that higher education institutions and their units, schools, or programs meet appropriate standards of quality and integrity. ALA accredits 63 programs at 58 institutions in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Congratulations to two political science alumni who are pursuing master’s degrees. Matt Parra (B.S. Political Science 2015) has been admitted to K-State's Master's of Public Administration program. Harrison Stone (B.S. History 2012 with political science minor) has been accepted into KU's prestigious Master's of Public Administration program.
This holiday season through First Book, a nonprofit organization providing disadvantaged children with new books, ESU’s School of Library and Information Management, Student Chapter of the American Library Association (SCALA) facilitated book donations to SOS CASA of the Flint Hills. Master of Library Science students Amanda Wahlmeier, Bridgid Reeves, Kayla Kettelson, Samantha Setzer and Rachel Miles with Dr. James Walther, assistant professor, assisted throughout the process including building a donation website.
Congratulations to three Emporia State staff members who continue to strengthen relationships with the Emporia community through completion of the 2015 Leadership Emporia. They are Spencer Allen in Athletic Development, Andrea Landgren in the Memorial Union and Lisa Moritz in the Office of the President.
The Emporia State University Alumni Association hosted an interactive conference call for the Hornets for Higher Education group on December 14. Representative Don Hill and Senator Jeff Longbine provided a session forecast and answered caller questions while ESU Legislative Liaison Brian Denton explained the university’s legislative priorities for the upcoming session. Over 200 people participated in the call.
"Injury of Insult" by Dr. Maire Niamh Johnson, assistant professor of history, has been nominated for the 2015 Michael Adams Prize (Best article in Irish Medieval Studies) by Four Courts Press.
Retired U.S. Army Col. Guy C. Beougher, a 2015 Distinguished Alumnus of Emporia State University, has another honor to his name. Beougher of McLean, Virginia, executive director of operations for the Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Army, was named a 2015 Distinguished Kansan by the Topeka Capital-Journal. The award was announced Dec. 26. For more, see the Capital-Journal story: http://bit.ly/1R2GTjC.
Dr. James H. Walther, assistant professor, School of Library and Information Management, has been appointed co-chair of the American Library Association, Library Instruction Roundtable, Conference Program Committee.
Congratulations to Dr. Marcia K. Schulmeister, associate professor of geology, who has been chosen for a Fulbright Specialist project in Thailand. Marcia’s Fulbright project will focus water resources of the Khorat Plateau of northeastern Thailand and along the Mekong River near the border between Thailand and Laos, the announcement stated. The work will be in cooperation with Khon Kaen University, a Thai university of over 50,000 students. For more: http://bit.ly/1Ob0ycS. Also, here’s a look at an article in Marcia’s hometown newspaper in Illinois: http://bit.ly/1RhWLR7
Mr. Jimmie Taylor, BEST Program alumni, mentor teacher for Emporia State University and fourth-grade teacher at Towanda Intermediate School, recently published a children’s book titled “My Mommy Burnt the Cookies.”
Educator Jaime Escalante, a 1999 inductee of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, will be honored with a postage stamp this year. For more: http://nbcnews.to/1ONPimc
Emporia State student-athletes combined to donate over 1,250 hours of community service from September 1 through December 15 to place fourth among NCAA Division II schools in the fall 2015 NCAA Team Works Competition presented by Helper Helper. Our athletes also ranked 14th among all colleges and universities from Divisions !, II and III, the only Kansas school in the Top 25. For more: http://bit.ly/1mwkOPr
Congratulations to Andrew Coleman (M.S. Biology student; Thesis Advisor= Dr. Lynnette Sievert) and Greg Sievert (Biology Instructor) on their recent publication in Herpetological Review, an international-level peer-reviewed quarterly that publishes articles and notes concerning the study of amphibians and reptiles, as well as book reviews, commentaries, regional and international herpetological society news, and letters from readers directed to the field of herpetology. Their article was about the Western Slender Glass Lizard.
All-American and MIAA Offensive Player of the Year Brent Wilson finished fourth in the Harlon Hill Trophy balloting for the best player in NCAA Division II Football. For more: http://bit.ly/1Z3acsG
Congratulations to Dr. Brian Hollenbeck, who has accepted the department chair position in the Department of Mathematics & Economics. Brian will officially begin the position in early June.
Emporia State's record setting sophomore kicker Austin Morton has been named first-team AP Little All-American. He is the 23rd Hornet to earn AP Little All-America honors and joins Justin Gray in 2004 as the only Emporia State kickers honored. The Little All-America team honors players from NCAA Division II, III and NAIA. For more: http://bit.ly/1OvSqat
Emporia State was well-represented when the Kansas State Department of Education announced its 2016 Kansas Horizon Awards for first-year teachers in the state. Alums receiving the honor were Manuel Espinoza of Walnut Elementary in Emporia, Alissa Miller of Emporia Middle School, Madison Hunter of Galesburg Middle School, Sarah Johnson of Baldwin Junior High School, Lauren Brown of Heatherstone Elementary School in Olathe, Jocelyn Cummings of Mission Trail Middle School in Olathe, Tiffany Lippoldt of Skelly Elementary School in El Dorado and Jenny Waugh of Circle Oil Hill Elementary School in Circle.