|
Week of April 28 - May 4, 2008 Welcome to the Tower Topics E-newsletter for faculty, staff and students at Western. |
||||||||
|
Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, 816-271- 4200 |
||||||||
|
Click any link for these stories: Computer Science Students Earn First Place Award Students Present Research Findings at National Conference Deans Host Colloquium on Critical Thinking Commencement Ceremonies May 10 Lost & Found: If you have lost any items, please come to SU 228 to claim them. You may be required to describe the item. Click on
Guidelines for Tower Topics: Tower Topics submissions should state time, date, place, sponsor, title of event, name of speaker's and admission fees. Send complete information to the Public Relations and Marketing office (Leah Spratt Hall, Room 106). 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:
|
|
|||||||
|
Computer Science Students Earn First Place Award Four Western students’ web application project earned a first place award in a competition at the national collegiate conference for the Association of Information Technology Professionals in Memphis, Tenn. this month. The students developed Goldpoints, an interactive, Internet-based database application for Western’s biology department. Conference officials also requested the students’ documentation and application on the Goldpoints project so they can use it as model for other contest entrants in the future. Additionally, a Western graduate student earned second place in the Business Intelligence competition and three students received an honorable mention in the Application Development contest. The two faculty members involved in the project, Deborah Becker, instructor of computer science; and Connie Hecker, instructor of computer science, also gave a presentation at the conference regarding the project. Becker said the Goldpoints project began in the fall semester, and was a collaborative effort between undergraduate students in two courses - Internet Scripting and Systems and Analysis - and graduate students in the Software Implementation and Integration course. Students met twice a month with their biology department clients. The scripting wasn’t finished at the semester’s end, so two of the undergraduate students, Mike Stancliff and Tim Coolman, volunteered to continue working on it to complete the project. Becker estimates they worked 20-30 hours a week during the spring semester. “It took them a long time to overcome some of the problems,” she said. “They did very good work.” “We learned a lot in the process,” said Stancliff, a senior computer information systems major from St. Joseph. “I had never done a web project before.” He noted that sometimes the process didn’t always run smoothly between the three classes, but “that’s what it’s like in the real world.” Along with the actual web application, the project included a 67-page user manual, a 140-page report and 80 to 100 pages of code. The great value of the project, Becker says, was that the work was a real project for a real client, as the biology department is using the application to showcase faculty and student awards, presentations and research activities. “A lot of times in the classroom you tell students that the forms and theories are important, but when you put a live customer in front of them saying, ‘Can we do this?’ or ‘Why doesn’t this work?’ that makes them see that all these things are necessary,” Becker said. “It makes them the owners, and they are excited to research and learn.” Stancliff agreed. He wasn’t motivated by the idea of the competition, but rather by their customer. “I want it to be good for the biology department.” She said the project will continue throughout the summer as her students expand Goldpoints with student surveys and evaluations. And it will be part of the coursework in the fall 2008 semester as well. Students who earned the awards at the conference included the following: Stancliff and Coolman, from St. Joseph; Teri Hughes of Smithville, Mo.; all undergraduates, and graduate student Robb Winkie, of Breckenridge, Mo.; earned first place in the Web Application competition for their Goldpoints project. Winkie won second place in the Business Intelligence competition; and Stancliff, Coolman, and James Rafferty of Milton, Iowa, earned an honorable mention in the Application Development competition. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Students Present Research Findings at National Conference Three of Western’s criminal justice and legal studies students’ presented their research findings at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences National Conference last month in Cincinnati. Jennifer Bonnett, Holly Jacobs and Britani Rush have been studying issues involving gender in criminal justice education and the profession since last summer. The team conducted focus groups and surveyed more than 600 criminal justice students across six Missouri campuses, as well as faculty and professionals in their research. Jacobs and Rush presented, “Does Gender Affect Classroom Perception: A Study of Criminal Justice Undergraduate Pedagogy,” on March 13 and Bonnett presented her poster on “Women in the Criminal Justice Field: Working to Get Ahead, But Left Behind,” on March 14. “Undergraduates rarely do research at this level or present at the national conference,” said Dr. Greg Lindsteadt, assistant professor of criminal justice at Western who supervised the students’ work. “They did a lot of work, and it was gratifying to see the professionals and graduate students at the conference treat them like peers.” Lindsteadt also presented on several topics including, “Problems with Pre-Test,” “The Increasing Number of Women in Criminal Justice Education,” and “Release Discretion and Race in Juvenile Detention Facilities.” The Missouri Western Foundation helped fund the students’ trip to the conference. The College of Professional Studies funded the students’ travel to other college campuses for their research. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Deans Host Colloquium on Critical Thinking Critical thinking - an important skill. Current students need it, and it will be essential when they enter the workforce. But Dr. Martin Johnson, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, believes that college students across the country are graduating without sufficient levels of critical thinking skills, and he wants to change that for Western students. Dr. Johnson said there had been a lot of discussion on campus for a long time about improving students’ critical thinking skills, and in 2007, it became an objective in the new strategic plan. The plan calls for the university to “develop and implement teaching and learning strategies that emphasize critical thinking skills, including questioning, interpreting, analyzing, synthesizing, and creative problem solving.” Last week, almost 100 faculty members and administrators gathered for a Deans' Colloquium that focused on critical thinking, hosted by Dr. Johnson and Dr. Steve Estes, dean of the College of Professional Studies. The purpose of the colloquium was to give participants an opportunity to study poster displays of fellow faculty members’ critical thinking initiatives, and to recognize faculty members for their efforts. Twenty students were also recognized as winners of an essay contest on critical thinking. “It starts with faculty stressing the importance of critical thinking in their courses,” said Dr. Johnson. “Hopefully departments are integrating these ideas across the curriculum.” The deans presented the following awards at the colloquium:
|
||||||||
|
Eggs and Issues |
||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
| Dr. Scanlon was the presenter at the last Eggs and Issues of the semester April 23. During his presentation, "The Missouri Challenge," Dr. Scanlon spoke about the importance of an educated population to the region and the state's economic and social development, and described how Missouri lags behind neighboring states in college enrollment and in the percentage of residents with college degrees. He also said that Missouri ranks 46th in state spending per capita on higher education. Eggs and Issues will broadcast May 11-22 on MWTV, which is channel 39 on St. Joseph Cablevision and channel 97 in Atchison, Kan. It will air at 7:30 p.m. on Sundays and at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. | ||||||||
|
Commencement Ceremonies May 10 Western will hold its commencement ceremonies at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. May 10 in the Looney Complex. President Dr. James Scanlon, who is retiring June 30, will be the featured speaker at each ceremony. Other events include an ROTC commissioning ceremony at 1 p.m. May 9 at the Blum Union, room 218, and a pinning ceremony for nursing graduates at 8:30 a.m. May 10 in the Fulkerson Center. Receptions will follow the commissioning and pinning. The Alumni Association will host a free reception for graduates and their families after each commencement ceremony on the lawn west of the Looney Complex. Graduates from the following departments will take part in the 11 a.m. ceremony: biology, business, chemistry, computer science/mathematics/physics, economics, engineering technology, nursing and psychology. Graduates in the 3 p.m. ceremony include: art, communication studies, criminal justice/legal studies, education, English/foreign languages/journalism, government/social work/sociology, health/physical education/recreation, history/philosophy/geography, music, bachelor of interdisciplinary studies and bachelor of science in technology 2+2. Dr. Scanlon became Western’s third president in March 2001. Under his leadership, Western has earned national recognition for its commitment to continuing quality and its mission of applied learning. In 2005, the Missouri General Assembly and the governor designated Western a university, and just this past year Western began offering master’s degree programs. Dr. Scanlon has focused on making Western the model of the new American regional university, serving the needs not only of students but of the community as well. Prior to arriving at Western, Dr. Scanlon had served in higher education for 30 years, including administrative positions at Youngstown State University in Ohio, Clarion University in Pennsylvania and Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. He earned his doctorate in English from Brown University and his bachelor of arts in English from Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y. |
||||||||
|
Student Athlete Awards
Baseball
Softball
Tennis
Men's Golf
|
||||||||
|
SGA Awards
ASA Garage Sale The women of Alpha Sigma Alpha are hosting a Garage Sale from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. May 2 in the Blum Union parking lot. Gently used clothing and accessories will be available for purchase, along with much much more. Proceeds will go to benefit the chapter and the S. June Smith Center, which supports children with developmental needs through education, therapeutic services and family-centered programming. Retirement Reception All faculty and staff are invited to attend a reception to celebrate Dr. Scanlon's retirement April 28 in the Potter Hall Theatre. Light refreshments will be served beginning at 1:30 p.m. followed by a program featuring a performance by the University's Steel Drum Band and remarks by Dr. Brenda Blessing, president of the faculty senate; Dan Eckhoff, president of the staff association; and Jason Horn '95, president of the alumni association. The event will conclude by 3 p.m. Free Webinar The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State invites everyone to attend a free webinar from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. May 7 in Spratt 201on understanding the needs of Arabic speaking students. Attendees will hear from three institutions that envisioned and implemented collaborative training projects that prepared their faculty and staff to better understand and respond to the specific needs of Arabic speaking students. Presenters will share key lessons learned and project implementation strategies. Lions Club Pancake Days The 55th annual Lions Club Pancake Days will be May 9-11 at the National Guard Armory at Woodbine and Faraon. Advance tickets are available for $5 from Jay Summers. For tickets email Summers at summers@missouriwestern.edu. Retiree and Staff Award Ceremony At 3 p.m. April 29 in Potter Hall Theatre, Western will recognize both this year’s retirees and recipients of several important university awards. The awards include the Jesse Lee Myers Excellence in Teaching Awards, the Dr. James V. Mehl Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award, the Faculty Excellence in Teaching of Critical Thinking Award, the Presidential Citation Awards, and the James J. Scanlon Service-Leader Award. Please join colleagues from across the university in recognizing our retirees and award recipients on April 29. A reception will follow the ceremony in the lobby of Potter Hall. Student Governor Western sophomore Dillon L. Harp of Chillicothe, Mo., was sworn in April 24 as student governor on Western’s Board of Governors. Harp is a history major. He is actively involved in the Student Government Association and Future Business Leaders of America. Harp was appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt earlier this month and confirmed by the Senate today, one day after his confirmation hearing before the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee. His term as student governor will end Dec. 31, 2009. Harp succeeds Harold Callaway III, who served two years as student governor. |
||||||||
|
Monday, April 28
Tuesday, April 29
Wednesday, April 30
Friday, May 2
|
||||||||
|
For Sale: Sears heavy duty treadmill. Barely used. Contact johnsond@missouriwestern.edu. |
||||||||
|
Wanted: Your want ads! You
are welcome to submit ads to the Western ADvantage each week.
|
||||||||
