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New opportunities in the future
ENGAGE YOUR STRENGTHS | COMMUNITY | FUTURE AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
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The consolidation planning process provides University College -- along with all of the entities on two campuses -- the opportunity to reassess current programs and develop new ones. The Operational Working Groups are tasked with prioritizing "form" over "function," so it will be several months before the Consolidation Implementation Committee decides the structure of the college. Thank you for continuing to focus on our core values as we look forward to the new opportunities provided by the "new U"!
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KSU team accepted to LC Institute
 Learning Communities Director Cathy Bradford will lead a team of colleagues to the national Learning Communities Institute, July 14-18. Bradford and Assistant LC Director Hilliary Steiner wrote the accepted application and selected the team members who will travel to Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wa.
Team members include Sarah Holliday from SPSU, Kathy Alday (Student Life), Patty Cordona (English), Carolee Larsen, Jennifer Purcell, Gail Scott (Psychology) and Tom Pusateri (CETL). The team will spend the week working with consultants to enhance learning communities for students as well as faculty.
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Staffing changes in the Dean's suite
 The newest administrative staff member in the college in Kelsey Gulledge, who began working in the Dean's suite Feb. 17. Gulledge, who is a alumna of KSU with a degree in communication, is joining the suite team as an Administrative Assistant III. She is working 30 hours a week.
While University College is saying hello to Gulledge, we are saying goodbye to Sandra Pugh, who has accepted an Administrative Specialist V position in the Dean's suite of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Pugh's last day is Feb. 28. The search will begin immediately for Pugh's replacement. In the interim, however, the suite will no longer open at 7:30 a.m. but will open at 8 a.m. |
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Conversation Partners hits spring high
The Conversation Partners Program continues to break participation records with more than 240 spring semester partners. The program, which is administered by David Schmidt in the ESL Study & Tutorial Center in University Studies, provides non-native English speakers with the opportunity to enhance their language skills while feeling more connected to the KSU campus through consistent dialogue with native speakers. The partners who are native English speakers learn more about their partner's culture and interest in studying at KSU.
Schmidt reported 246 participants from 32 countries this semester, the largest spring program. Last fall, there were 244 participants from 39 countries.
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Surviving zombies joins fall offerings
Linda Johnston, executive director of the Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics and Character, will be offering her popular "Crisis Leadership and Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse" graduate course as an undergraduate special topics course this fall. The LDRS 4490 is one of several new Leadership Studies courses on the fall schedule, another illustration of the growing popularity of the certificate program.
The special topics course description explains the link between zombies and crisis leadership: "Through the popular culture vehicle of zombies, the students are evaluating their own leadership abilities in a time of crisis, as well as the philosophical and biological ethics of life, death and the other."
Leadership Studies Coordinator Debbie Smith placed 25 LDRS courses on the schedule for fall, a record for the relatively new program. There are eight LDRS courses offered during summer semester.
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Foote publishes her work on DEEP learning
 Stephanie Foote, director of the First-Year Studies graduate program, is lead author on both a journal article and a book chapter exploring DEEP learning. Both were recently accepted for publication. "Assessing deep learning: Using a portfolio to evaluate gains in critical inquiry among first-year students" will appear in the next issue of Assessment Update, and "Think DEEP: A critical inquiry program for first-year students" will appear in Foundations for Critical Thinking when it is published in 2015.
Earlier this month Foote conducted a half-day workshop on active and collaborative teaching and learning for faculty at Athens Technical College. The workshop was part of a faculty development series ATC is offering to promote its QEP, which is "Athens Technical College First-Year Experience Initiative Success: Dream It. Be It." Foote hosted a cohort from Athens Tech at KSU last semester to learn more about KSU's nationally recognized first-year initiatives. |
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College well represented on OWGs
Multiple faculty and staff members were selected to serve on Operational Working Groups, providing University College with many voices in the consolidation process. Stephanie Foote (RPG), Natasha Habers (Faculty Awards), Lauren Lallende (Greek Life), Jennifer Purcell (Community Engagement) and Hillary Steiner (Tenure and Promotion) are members of one of the working groups. Both Nancy King and Robert Jordan are members of the Advising, Mentoring and Tutoring OWG.
Cathy Bradford is serving on both the First-Year Programs and the Retention, Progression and Graduation OWGs. Ruth Goldfine, Kathy Lynn and Linda Lyons are also on the First-Year Programs OWG, which I co-chair. Lyons is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion OWG as well. Ken Hill is a member of two OWGs, Honors College and International Programs.
Deborah Mixson-Brookshire is serving on the Technology Enhanced Education subcommittee of the Distance Education OWG. Judy Craven is on a leadership-focused subcommittee of the Student Life OWG. |
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Annual award portfolios due in March
The Faculty Development and Awards Committee will be securing nominations for the annual teaching, research, and service awards next month. Award portfolios are due to the university's committee March 17, according to the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning website.
Mary Green, Alison Hedrick, Ree Howard and Carolee Larsen are the college's FDAC members. Please contact one of your departmental representatives if you have questions about the awards criteria or portfolio requirements.
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Pathways to Peace hosts three events 
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The American Democracy Project -- in collaboration with the Coles College of Business, the Peace Studies Program and the President's Office -- is hosting three events with Pathways to Peace lecturer Dr. John Hunter. The March 4 workshop is limited to K-12 educators, but the Feb. 25 and March 5 events are open to all attendees.
 Feb. 25 - 12:30 p.m. Leadership RoomScreening of "World Peace and Other Fourth-Grade Achievements," a documentary noting the work of Dr. Hunter and his creation of the World Peace Game. Contact Prof. Tom Pynn here for more information. March 5 - 2 p.m.
PR 1000The 4th Annual Pathways to Peace series features Dr. Hunter giving the keynote address. Tickets are free but are required for the lecture. Click here to reserve a ticket. |
Naidu awarded CETL travel grant 
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Pinder Naidu will be co-presenting with Tonya Jones at the National Association of Developmental Educators' conference next month in Dallas, TX, and part of her travel will be funded by a $1,000 CETL grant.
Naidu and Jones will be presenting their research on "Integrating developmental students into college algebra with support: A pilot study of the co-requisite model." This research supports KSU's efforts to transform remediation courses as part of the Complete College Georgia initiative.
KSU's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning provides numerous grants to faculty to support teaching and research efforts, including Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
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