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Learning beyond classrooms
ENGAGE YOUR STRENGTHS | COMMUNITY | FUTURE AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
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Greetings!
As I noted at this week's college luncheon, we have had much to celebrate this semester in University College. We will welcome 26 new Integrative Studies graduates into the ranks of alumni at Friday's Commencement ceremony, and we continue to see growth in other areas. We have had a semester of awards and recognition, growth in enrollments, and we've welcomed new faculty and staff members. We continue to extend learning beyond the typical boundaries with 10 University College Global Engagement Scholars heading to Washington, D.C., this week, and LDRS students heading to Jamaica to help build a house.
I expect spring semester to bring challenges and opportunities as we embark on the new strategic plan. Linda Lyons, an assistant professor of education and University College's new Director of Strategic Connections, will assist us in that endeavor and many others. It's time for us to pause at the end of this semester to take stock of all we have accomplished even as we prepare for what lies ahead. Best wishes for a relaxing holiday season.
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INTS: Custom degrees continue to appeal
 University College will graduate 26 Integrative Studies majors at Friday's Commencement ceremony, nine of whom will graduate with honors. The caliber of students, according to INTS Program Director Shannon Ferketish, continues to impress those who work with them to develop custom degrees that meet their individual interests and goals. The most popular academic areas for this semester's graduates are Leadership Studies, Business Administration, Communication, Sociology, and Human Services. Ferketish noted that degrees combining fields like arts and business, human services and psychology, and chemistry and biology illustrate the unique focus of the bachelor of science program. There are currently approximately 200 Integrative Studies majors.
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Hoerrner honored as National Advocate
 Associate Dean Keisha Hoerrner learned last week that she is one of 10 honorees selected by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition as a 2013 Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate. The award will be conferred in February at the Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in Orlando. Hoerrner will be the third KSU recipient to be given the award since 1990, its inception. Dr. Nancy King and Dean Ralph Rascati are also Advocates.
There were 128 nominees, and Hoerrner is one of only two selected as Advocates from four-year institutions with more than 15,000 students. Hoerrner's selection, which will be highlighted in diverse outlets such as the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Center's E-Source for College Transitions, furthers the reputation of KSU generally -- and University College specifically -- as a national leader in the emerging discipline of first-year studies. "I'm thrilled so many of my colleagues will be in Orlando to share in the celebration," Hoerrner said. More than 10 KSU presentations were accepted for the Annual Conference.
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First-year students showcase service to others
 Betsy Hance wanted to ensure students in her two learning communities -- "Girl Talk" and "Class of 2016" -- not only learned how the courses in the communities related to each other but also utilized knowledge and skills from those courses to create a substantive community service project. The two KSU 1101 sections chose to develop a project to help Haitians, particularly women and girls, in need, and they were quite successful. Students not only collected items such as shoes, shampoos, and books, but they also held bake sales to raise $300 to ship the items on a container vessel to Port au Prince. It was yet another example of first-year students enlarging their concept of community to include the globe. Family members of a staffer in KSU's Institute for Global Initiatives will be responsible for distributing the items in Port au Prince.
Closer to home, Nicoly Myles' KSU 1101 students collected the most canned goods for VKSU's annual "Stuff-the-Bus" food drive. VKSU collected more than 2,300 items to help needy families and individuals in Cobb County during the holiday season. Myles' students included those in the 2012-2013 Early Start Bridge Academy.
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Chair's search continues into spring
The search committee for the Chair of First-Year Programs has completed phone interviews and will be inviting finalists to campus in late January or early February for the final round of interviews. According to Katherine Kinnick, chair of the search committee, 24 candidates have applied to date. Of those, four were selected for phone interviews. The committee, which includes Jim Davis, Stephanie Foote, and Kathy Lynn, will be sending itineraries for on-campus interviews to the finalists and the college in mid-January. Please make plans to attend those interviews to provide feedback to the committee. The successful candidate will start July 1, 2013.
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Faculty finish calendar year with publications
 Lynn Boettler had an article accepted in the online journal Currents in Teaching and Learning. Her article "Motivating Students with Visualization in an Online Environment" should appear in the next edition.
Keisha Hoerrner co-authored a book chapter in Dr. Mary de Chesnay's Sex Trafficking: A Clinical Guide for Nurses. The book, published by Springer, was released this week.
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Access to GaView limited as D2L goes live
Distance Learning Committee Chair Deborah Mixson-Brookshire will be offering additional D2L training sessions in spring, and the committee will be hosting drop-in sessions as the transition to the new learning management system is finalized in January. Before leaving campus in December, the committee wants to ensure student work, grades, and other vital information from fall courses are backed up appropriately. Click here for instructions on downloading content from GaView. If you are working on spring semester courses in D2L during the break and need assistance, click here for training videos and booklets prepared by ITS. Finally, your migrated courses can be found here in D2L. |
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Update on UC's Governing Documents
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Bylaws:
The college's bylaws were amended by a faculty vote Dec. 10, so an updated version now appears on the college website under the "Faculty & Staff" tab.
Strategic Plan for 2012-2017:
The proposed strategic plan was sent out this week for review and will be discussed at the January college meeting.
Tenure & Promotion Guidelines:
Both the departmental and college-level guidelines need to be updated, so the committees will begin work on these documents in early spring semester. If you have suggestions regarding changes to the college guidelines, please contact Meg Murray, chair of the UC T&P Committee.
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| Thrive Honored as NASPA Gold Award Winner
| Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (known as NASPA) recently awarded the Thrive program as the Gold Award Winner for 2012-2013 in the Careers, Academic Support, Service Learning, Community Service, and Related Category area. The award proposal "Helping Students Thrive: A Student and Academic Affairs Program Dedicated to Supporting Students Receiving the HOPE Scholarship" was co-authored by Stephanie Foote, Brian Wooten, Cathy Bradford, and Brian LeDuc.
The award will be given at NASPA's annual conference early next year.
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Holiday Schedule
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KSU will be closed Dec. 22 - Jan. 6 and will re-open for spring semester Jan. 7, 2013.
Final registration also begins Jan. 7, and classes begin Jan. 9.
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