What is up with the weather? I thought I had gotten away from the snowy cold when we moved from Maine to sunny, temperate, beautiful southwestern Ohio. It seems I was wrong. And if this is how the weather is, then I want our big ole' woodstove back, the one Scott called The Iron Mistress. Even with the cold, or maybe in spite of it, CoLA faculty and staff have really been keeping busy as we greet the end of the second week of classes.
We are excited to host the First Annual College of Liberal Arts Authors' Reception on Monday, Jan 27 from 4 - 5:30 in the Stein Art Galleries. We will honor eleven CoLA faculty who have published a book in 2013. The reception will include a brief reading or overview of their publications by each author, dainty snacks, and an open bar. I look forward to congratulating our productive colleagues!
Speaking of congratulations: Congratulations to Angela Beumer-Johnson, English, who has been named the Ohio Council of Teachers of Language Arts (OCTLA) Outstanding English Language Arts College Educator for 2014. This is a fantastic honor and major accomplishment. Congratulations, Angie!
Next week there will be over 100 first generation Logan County high school students visiting campus for College Readiness Day to view models of college-level writing. Students in our English Language and Literatures department will share multimedia presentations from their English composition courses and answer questions about writing and their perception of college. This is an excellent community engagement and recruitment event. Thank you to undergraduate Jen Kube, English, who will highlight Wright State's First Year Experience peer-mentoring program, Nancy Mack, English, who developed the program, and Leanne Moeller, English, who helped organize everything.
Jackie Bergdahl's, Sociology, graduate research methods class worked this past fall with Nycia Bolds, program coordinator in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Community Engagement, to conduct a survey of non-returning students. This survey will be useful to assess how to diminish the achievement gap at Wright State. What a great example of significant collaboration on important topics. Thank you Jackie and students!
Wright State has hired Copernicus, a marketing and research consulting firm, to help us determine what our brand is and how to market it. Copernicus has been on campus conducting interviews with various constituencies, and they will also reach out to the broader community through focus groups and surveys. This is an important step in Wright State's growth and development. I am happy to say that CoLA is well-represented on the branding Core Committee by Marlese Durr, Sociology, and Jane Dockery, CUPA, and I am a member of the Steering Committee. Marlese and Jane may contact you with information or for your input on this important process. I am looking forward to both the process and the results.
Next week you will receive the CoLA Newsletter instead of the weekly CoLA News so that you can focus on a broader summary of college happenings. The CoLA Newsletter will be in its new online format. Thank you to Jennie Buckwalter, Susan Paul, and Chris Suttle for orchestrating this fun-filled document. The CoLA Newsletter will be published tri-annually from now on (January, May, September) and sent to over 15,000 people including CoLA faculty, staff, retirees, alumni, students, and donors. We hope you like the new format.
