Week of May 30 - July 3, 2005

Welcome to the Tower Topics E-newsletter for faculty, staff and students at Western. 

Missouri Western State College, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, 271-4200

Click any link for these stories:

Western Announces: No Tuition Increase for 2005-2006!

Western Faculty and Staff Honored

Ready.Set.Go ... Discover College

Points of Pride

News Briefs

Calendar

Ads

Archives

The deadline for all entries is 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, for the next week's issue. Tower Topics will be online weekly during the fall and spring semester.  For more information call 271-5651.

Student Editor:
Katie Johnston 

Staff Advisers:
Kristy Hill and Diane Holtz

Western Announces: No Tuition Increase for 2005-2006!

Western student Kylie Stewart takes her college education seriously for two reasons: she is a first generation college student, and she very much wants to be a teacher. To make this goal a reality, she works at the college library, she plans to make calls to prospective students this summer in the admissions office, and she receives some help from scholarships and her dad. Knowing her tuition at Western will not increase next fall is great news, she said.

Stewart is one of the over 5,100 reasons Western is not increasing tuition for the 2005-06 year – the students. The Board of Regents approved the recommendation not to increase tuition at its Thursday, May 26 meeting.

“Western is committed to ensuring quality education at the best value possible – affordable excellence,” said Dr. James Scanlon, Western’s president.

Western’s in-state tuition per credit hour will remain $146, which is $1,752 for 12 hours. Western’s tuition for out-of-state students will be $267 per hour, which is $3,204 for 12 hours. Across the state, the average tuition increase was about four percent.

“Western is committed to putting our students first,” added Dr. Scanlon. “When Western makes any decision its first consideration is to how it impacts students. The decision not to increase tuition is based on that same rationale.”

“That is really exciting; I am ecstatic. With Western becoming a university, everyone expected tuition to increase,” said Kyler Keith, a recreation/sports management major from St. Joseph.

According to Dr. Scanlon, keeping the same tuition rate again this year will benefit the region by helping keep high quality educational opportunities available to individuals in the area. This will foster economic development and help prepare a workforce for the new knowledge based economy.

Dr. Scanlon noted that 2005-2006 will be the third year in a row that Western students will pay the same core tuition of $146 per credit hour, which means a student who began college in fall 2003 as a freshman will pay the same core tuition rate as a junior.

According to Dr. Scanlon, Western budgets conservatively and continually looks for efficiencies in providing a quality education for our students. In fact 83% of Western’s budget directly supports students and student instruction, among the highest in the state. By doing this, Western is able to provide top-quality education without increasing tuition this year.

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Western Faculty and Staff Honored

Western recently held its 2005 awards program where faculty and staff were given awards for excellence in job performance and years of service.

Presidential citations for staff were given to Elaine Bryant, student services coordinator; Rodema Gnuschke, interlibrary loan supervisor;  Patty Kuechler, administrative assistant for the Western Institute, and Tomie Walker, art director for campus printing services.

The Dr. James V. Mehl Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award was granted to Dr. Michael Cadden, associate professor of English. Dr. Cadden had an extraordinary year of publishing his research, and is developing a national reputation as a scholar in the field of children’s literature. In the past year, he published a book, essays in two professional journals and reference materials in two encyclopedias.

Those faculty honored with the Jesse Lee Myers Excellence in Teaching Awards were Dr. Jason Baker, assistant professor of biology; Dr. Kelly Henry, assistant professor of psychology; Dr. Ann Thorne, associate professor of journalism, and Bonnie Gregory, assistant professor of nursing. The criteria for this award includes outstanding contributions in either scholarly and professional activities, or institutional and community service.

Dr. Baker was honored for his noteworthy record of accomplishment as a teacher-scholar and as a faculty member. His student ratings are above average for his department, school, and the college. Nineteen students have made public presentations with Dr. Baker and he was instrumental in negotiating admission agreements with area medical schools. He has presented at three professional conferences, published four peer- reviewed articles and was co-author of a National Institute of Health grant for $136,000.

Dr. Henry earned the award because she is an innovative and rigorous teacher with very positive student evaluations. She has published five peer-reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, seven separate instructor textbook resource guides/chapters/media, presented 17 papers at regional and national meetings, and sponsored 12 student presentations.

Dr. Thorne is described as an “empathetic, motivating, and inquiry-driven teacher leader.” Under her supervision, Western’s yearbook has consistently received All-American ratings in national competitions – including several Best of Show and first place awards against larger and more selective institutions. Dr. Thorne was awarded the Distinguished Advisor Award for yearbook advisors in 2003 by the College Media Advisors organization.

Gregory has been a member of the nursing faculty since 1988, serving as the instructor for many of the beginning level nursing courses. She also functions as a “teacher for teachers,” often helping first-year nursing faculty successfully begin their teaching careers. Gregory was elected president of the local chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. 

The “Western Service Award,” new this year, was given to Julia Schneider, library director, for her outstanding record of community service during the past year.

Additionally, 82 employees were recognized for their years of service.

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Guitar Festival

People from far and wide met at Western's Leah Spratt Hall to kick off the third annual International Guitar Festival. The festival ran from May 25 - May 29 and featured concerts, masterclasses, and a guitar competition.

Ready.Set.Go ... Discover College

When is a good time to start thinking about college? Western's admissions office thinks the answer is middle school. In collaboration with the St. Joseph School District, the office created Ready.Set.Go … Discover College, a program aimed at encouraging middle school students to start thinking about post-secondary education before they start high school.

According to Kim Schank, admissions counselor and coordinator of Ready.Set.Go, the main focus of the program is to inform students of the Missouri core curriculum so that they take the appropriate classes in high school. Beginning in fall 2008, Schank said, all students will be required to have completed the core curriculum if they wish to attend a four-year college or university in Missouri.

Ready.Set.Go began as a pilot program in February 2004 in St. Joseph, but this past school year the program expanded. Schank visited over 30 area schools and made presentations to approximately 3,000 students.

As part of the program, middle schools are given the opportunity to visit Western, receive a campus tour from one of the admissions’ VIPs and have lunch. The middle school students also meet with faculty members who coordinate activities with them and talk to them about various careers in their field of expertise.

The campus visit also includes a simulation game called The Reality Store. Students are given monthly income and draw cards to see if they are married, single, or divorced as well as if they have children. They get to pay their monthly bills such as rent, insurance, transportation, utilities, childcare, personal care, clothing and groceries, and at the end of the game, students are able to see how much money they have left over based on the occupation and monthly income they were given. “It’s like a reality check for them,” said Schank. This year, five middle schools visited Western.

“The Ready.Set.Go…Discover College program has been a huge success,” Schank said. “Those students who visited campus had a great time. We’re looking forward to continuing this program and expanding it in the future.”

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Library Renovation

Renovations are underway in the library of Western's Warren E. Hearnes Center. Wall treatments, new carpeting, and new furniture will all be a part of the library's new look.

Points of Pride

Excellence in our Faculty/Staff

• Dr. Nannette Wolford, associate professor of physical education, attended the Central District Convention in Cheyenne, Wyo. where she received the Merit Award for General Sessions. 

• Dr. David T. McMahan, assistant professor of speech communications, attended the Central States Communication Association for which he served as program planner and as chair of the Communication Education Interest Group.  While at the convention, he was elected as an officer of the Basic Course Interest Group.  Dr. McMahan is also serving as a member of the National Communication Association taskforce for online communication courses.

• Dr. Randye Williams, associate professor of physical education, attended the national convention of American Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in Chicago. While there she was appointed to the National Program Review Committee for a three-year period. This committee controls the accreditation of the NCATE/AAHE programs in health education in the United States.

• Western research center directors have been appointed for the Western Institute:  Dr. Evelyn Brooks, associate professor of nursing, for Health and Wellness; Dr. Shiva Nandan, associate professor of marketing, for Business and Economic Development; Dr. Todd Eckdahl, professor of biology, for Life Sciences; and Dr. Mark Mikkelsen, associate professor of philosophy, for the Arts, Culture and Literacy.

• Dr. Monica Nandan, associate professor of social work, had a paper entitled “Cross -Cultural Perspectives in Thanatology:  Through a Prism of Religious Faiths” accepted for publication in the Gerontology & Geriatric Education Journal, and in the edited title “Aging Education in a Global Context.”

• Dr. Shiva Nandan, associate professor of marketing, had his article, “An Exploration of the Brand Identity-Brand Image Linkage:  A Communications Perspective,” published in the Journal of Brand Management. 

• Bob Long, assistant professor of music and jazz director, was invited to be the featured artist at the Central High School “Night of Jazz.”

• Dr. Melissa Daggett, assistant professor of biology; Dr. Todd Eckdahl, professor of biology; and their research students, Aaron Bunker, Sara Freel, Steven Hart and Bart Phillips, presented their work at the national meeting of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in San Diego.

• At the Central States Communication Association, Lora Cohn, instructor of speech, participated in two panels: “Heart Matters: Teaching Diverse Students,” and “The Community as an Instructional Resource.”  Both were competitively selected.  Cohn was a respondent to a panel titled “Student Papers in Communication Education.”  She was on the local accommodations committee for the conference and was elected secretary of the media studies interest group.

• Evan Noynaert, assistant professor of computer science, presented a paper entitled “Plagiarism Detection Software” at the 38^th Annual Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

• Dr. Chris Godfrey, professor of physics, presented a computer science, mathematics, and physics colloquium on “Reality Just Doesn’t Add Up.”

• Deborah Becker, instructor of computer science, and Connie Hecker, instructor of computer science, along with five students, attended the Association of Information Technology Professionals Conference in Atlanta. 

• Kent Pickett, assistant professor of computer science, and the students in his CSC 435 class, An Introduction to Digital Animation Development and Production, presented “The Art, Science, and Production of Computerized Feature Animation and Gaming” at a computer science, mathematics and physics colloquium.

• Dr. Reza Hamzaee, professor of economics, recently gave a number of presentations. He spoke on “A World-Class Banking Model” at an Iranian conference held by the Iranian Association of Certified Accountants, to bank executive and CPAs from all over Iran. He led three workshops on “Pricing Decision,” “Investment Appraisal,” and “Decision Making under Risk & Uncertainty” to candidates of London’s Charter Accountancy examinations, held by the Confederation of International Management Accountants. Dr. Hamzaee held two full-day workshops on “The World Economics Trend, and its Implications for Iran’s Economy,” and “Financial Engineering” to Ghadeer Investment Company, the biggest investment company in Iran, and additional three full-day workshops on “Financial Engineering,” “New Banking Business Model” and “Risk Management” to the CEO and the upper managerial staff of the Bank of Industry and Mining in Tehran, Iran.

• Dr. Mike Cadden, associate professor of English, presented “Multiple Targets: The Implied and Conflicting Audiences of Rascha, Munsch, and Bouchard,” at the Biennial Conference on Modern Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature, held in Nashville, Tenn.

• Dr. Susie Hennessy, associate professor of French, directed Foreign Language Day on campus where 85 students were hosted from area high schools for language and culture competitions and placement testing.  She also participated in Career Day at Spring Garden Middle School, addressing over 150 students on the topic of careers with foreign languages.

• Dr. Monica Nandan, associate professor of social work, and social work student Joan Beck presented a workshop entitled “In the current Socio-Eco-Political Climate, is the Glass Half-Empty or Half-Full for Helping Professionals?” at the state conference of the National Association of Social Workers – Missouri chapter, at Lake Ozark, Mo.

• Dr. Jimm MacGregor, assistant professor of history, presented the paper “Saints with Swords:  The Appropriation of Eastern Saints by Western Knights” at the 40^th Annual Medieval Congress at Western Michigan University.

• Joanne Katz, professor of legal studies, presented “Compensatory Litigation” at the second Annual Native American Day on campus. Katz also gave a poster presentation at the Applied Learning Poster Session on campus entitled “Expanding Knowledge Base to Enhance Student Research.”

• Ellen Kisker, director of nontraditional student services, was invited to Barry Birr’s morning radio program at KFEQ 680 to field calls on opportunities for nontraditional students to attend Western. 

• Ellen Kisker, director of nontraditional student services, worked with the Ambassadors and Dixie Ham of the athletics department, to coordinate the “Tailgate Night at the Ritz” at the Civic Arena.  Over $12,600 was raised for non-traditional student scholarships. 

• Western hosted the 2005 Missouri section of the Mathematical Association of America. The following faculty gave presentations: Dr. Kevin Anderson, assistant professor of mathematics; Dr. Darell Johnson, assistant professor of physics; Dr. Ken Lee, professor of mathematics; Dr. Don Vestal, associate professor of mathematics; and Dr. Sharon Vestal, assistant professor of mathematics. Dr. Jeff Poet, assistant professor of mathematics and chair of the Missouri Mathematical Association of America, served as organizer of the three-day MAA event.  Jerry Wilkerson, professor emeritus of mathematics, gave a planetarium show, and R.E. Moore, director of the developmental math program, showcased software which is used in the developmental mathematics program.

• Mark Hamilton, instructor of English, and student Melony Schmidt co-hosted the second annual Native America Day.  Close to 300 students, faculty, staff and community members helped celebrate this day to recognize the first citizens of the continent.  Special Native American guests included Gayl Edmunds, Jimmy Dick, Raquel Burnett and the voice and works of Leonard Peltier.  Western students prepared questions and participated in the afternoon sessions.  The guests also visited many classrooms, performed at Head Start, and stayed to interact with the audience in the Kemper Recital Hall.  A two-hour video is part of the Library’s Special Collections.

Excellence in our Students

• Adam Kling and Kathrin Carpenter, both business majors, were among the top five winners in the 2005 Student Writing Contest sponsored by the Association for Business Communication.  The contest required the students to write three documents in response to a case involving poor customer service.  Kling place second and Carpenter placed fourth.  Kling will be recognized at the presidential luncheon at the annual convention of the Association for Business Communication in New Orleans in October.  Kling and Carol Roever, associate professor of general business, have been asked to participate in a panel at the convention to talk about the writing contest.

• Shannon Swanson and Megan Campbell recently had work accepted into the American Institute of Graphic Arts Student Group Exhibition. The exhibition was held in the Staples Gallery at Wichita State University.

• Biology students Amanda Benefield, Aaron Bunker, Sara Freel, Willie Gilbert, Steven Hart, and Bart Phillips presented their research at the Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society district convention at Reis Biological Station at St. Louis University.  Hart won first place in the oral presentation competition and Freel won first place in the poster competition. Both will have their travel expenses paid to the Tri-Beta national convention next spring at Florida Institute of Technology.

• Ten student papers were competitively selected for the Central States Communication Association Convention. Eight of these students submitted papers from courses taken in either COM 338 Survey of Rhetorical Theory or COM 320 Communication Research. Two of the student papers submitted were from the COM 104 Honors Communication course: “Clothing and the Perception of Personality Traits,” Kim Bunten; “Summary of College Freshmen Stress Level and Gender,” Melissa Jackson; “The Generation Gap and Gender Differences in the Work Place,” Hannorah Hannah; “Just How Influential is Rush Limbaugh,” Amanda Stapleton; “Television Media Coverage and Presidential Character: Bush vs. Kerry,” Megan Bone and Randall Siddens; “Summary of Roman Women and Their Role in Roman Society,” Melissa Jackson; “Gender and its Relationship to Service Standards: Preferential Differences in Buying Behavior,” Danielle Shoemaker; “Weak Approach = Weak Retail Sales: The Effects of Oral Communication Apprehension on Meeting Sales Goals,” Amy D. Hankins; “Communication Effectiveness in the Workplace: The Effectiveness of Communication within Organizational Hierarchies,” Crystal Hickey.

• Fifty-four students participated in the Calculus Bee, which is taken in two parts, a written component and the countdown round.  Brandon Crosser won first place, Therese Hand took second place, and Jason Briscoe took third place.  As a result of the Calculus Bee, and through Western Achievement, three high school students from Central - Jalal Vargha, Jonathan Theile, and Katie Bibeus were awarded $1,000 scholarships for fall 2005.

• The PED 382 class (Elementary School Physical Education) planned and set up the parochial elementary school track meet.  There were over 320 children that participated in individual running events and relay teams.  Also, the Rhythms and Creative Movement for Elementary School class planned, set up and ran the St. Patrick’s School field day for kindergarten through third grades.

• Social work student Joan Beck and Dr. Monica Nandan, associate professor of social work, presented a workshop entitled “In the current Socio-Eco-Political climate, is the Glass Half-Empty or Half-Full for Helping Professionals?” at the state conference of the National Association of Social Workers – Missouri Chapter, at Lake Ozark, Mo.

• Fred Cline and Brandon Crosser gave presentations at the Missouri Section of the Mathematics Association of America at Western.

• Student Melony Schmidt and Mark Hamilton, instructor of English, co-hosted the second annual Native America Day.  Close to 300 students, faculty, staff and community members helped celebrate this day to recognize the first citizens of the continent.  Special Native American guests included Gayl Edmunds, Jimmy Dick, Raquel Burnett and the voice and works of Leonard Peltier.  Western students prepared questions and participated in the afternoon sessions.  The guests also visited many classrooms, performed for the kids at Head Start, and stayed to interact with the audience in the Kemper Recital Hall.  A two-hour video is part of the Library’s Special Collections.

• Western hosted the 2005 Meeting of the Missouri Section of the Mathematical Association of America.  Eighty-four students from 15 colleges participated in the Collegiate Mathematics Competition, the 10^th annual competition and largest to date.  Western had four teams in the competition.  Team A:  Brandon Crosser, Barry Korthanke, and Bob Smith; Team B: Therese Hand, Whitney Lowrey, and Amy Pankau; Team C: Laureen Catron, Fred Cline, and Mike Mitchell; Team D: Jason Briscoe, Sarah Cool, and Rylan Sampson.  Team A placed 11^th and Team B placed 13^th.

Excellence in our Programs

• Western was a featured institution in a national Noel-Levitz teleconference.  Approximately 188 colleges and universities participated in the discussion of challenges and programs for student advisement. Dr. Judy Grimes, dean of student services, facilitated this for Western.

• The department of music produced the first music department Collage Concert at the Missouri Theatre. Performances by all areas and most ensembles within the department were created to showcase the wide range of music studied and performed.

• The Extreme Percussion Show presented two performances in the Thompson E. Potter Fine Arts Theater to full audiences both nights. The percussion society, sponsored by Dr. Dennis Rogers, professor of music, produced the show with assistance from students Andrew Ewing and Brian Burlingame.

• The Center for Academic Support provided 2,876 hours of tutoring, study groups and supplemental instruction during the 2004-2005 school year.  This included 3,334 visits to the center or to the online writing tutor.  The greatest number of hours in one category was spent on math (1,109).  There were 142 online writing visits, a significant increase over last year.

• Donna Shirley, retired NASA manager for the Mission to Mars, and Bill Duncan, President of the Kansas City Life Sciences Institute, have agreed to serve on the Western Institute Research Advisory Council.

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• Griffon Eye Productions is looking for film submissions for the second annual Griffon International Film Festival. Entries will be accepted from college students, nonstudents, and junior students (grades K-12) until Sept. 2. The three categories are super-short narrative (zero-10 minutes), short form narrative (10-30 minutes), and long form narrative (30-plus minutes). All submissions must be made online at www.missouriwestern.edu/griff. For more information, contact Deny Staggs at 816-271-4441 or e-mail him at dstaggs@missouriwestern.edu. 

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Monday, May 30

• Memorial Day (campus closed)

Tuesday, May 31

• First day of classes for 1st four-week summer session and for eight-week summer session

Wednesday, June 1

• Last day to register or add classes

• Final grades due for intercession classes

Thursday, June 9

• GED, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fred Eder Hall, 208

Saturday, June 11

• Praxis, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

• ACT, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Thursday, June 23

• Final exams for 1st four-week summer session

• Late registration for 2nd four-week summer session

Monday, June 27

• First day of classes for 2nd four-week summer session

Wednesday, June 29

• Grades due for 1st four-week summer session

Thursday, June 30

• ACT Residual, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Fred Eder Hall, 208

Monday, July 4

• Independence Day

• Library closed

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• Remember to send us your ads! Send your submissions to publicrelations@missouriwestern.edu 

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