September 2009 President's Update
Dear Bellarmine Community Members,
This fall, Bellarmine will launch the new Bellarmine
University Center for Regional Environmental Studies. Under the new
Center and Dr. Rob Kingsolver’s leadership, Bellarmine University can
look forward to new degree programs, both intradepartmental and within
appropriate departments; a new sustainability model, Bellarmine Farm;
new campus-wide sustainability activities; new research agendas; and
excellent representation in the region, nation, and world on
sustainability issues. Read more about our new center here.
Also this fall, we launched the School of
Communication, which is preparing students to meet the demand for
excellent, ethical communications across all disciplines. The new
school currently has 200 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled.
Bellarmine Receives National Recognition
U.S. News and World Report has named
Bellarmine University to its 2010 list of America's Best Colleges.
This is the 16th year in a row the magazine has included Bellarmine in
the list. U.S. News and World Report also named Bellarmine a
value leader in higher education on its "Great College/Great Price"
list. The rankings appear in the September issue of the magazine, which
hit newsstands August 20. The magazine ranks Bellarmine 15th in the
southern region of the "Best Universities - Master's" category.
Additionally, Forbes.com named Bellarmine one of
America's Best Colleges for the second year in a row. The
Chronicle of Higher Education also recognized the university as
one of the Great Colleges to Work For in 2009. To read more the U.S.
News and World Report award, click here. To read more about Forbes.com or The
Chronicle of Higher Education, click here.
Record Enrollment
Bellarmine University welcomed 602 new freshmen this
fall, the highest number in the school's history and up from 567 last
fall. The average ACT score has increased by nearly a full point to
24.91 up from 24.02 a year ago.
Distinguished Alumni Awards
Bellarmine graduates are leaders in their fields, from
medicine and technology to civil service and spiritual counseling.
This year, the Bellarmine University Alumni Association will honor
nine of its most distinguished graduates and a former faculty member.
The awards recognize alumni who have distinguished themselves through
professional accomplishments, community service or demonstration of
attitudes consistent with Christian doctrines.
The university will honor the inductees at an awards
dinner Saturday, Sept. 12, 6:15 p.m., in Frazier Hall, which is open
to the public. The cost is $40 per person or a discounted rate of $240
per table of eight. Cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m. View the biographies
and winners here.
Alumni Career Consultant Program
The Alumni Office and the Career Center are teaming up
to offer an Alumni Career Consultant Program. The program recruits
alumni to serve as guest speakers for classes, give career advice to
students, serve as company representatives, participate in the
Alumni-Student Mock Interview Program, and more. To learn more about the
program, please see the Alumni webpage here.
Bellarmine In-house Creative Team Receives Award
Graphic Design USA, a publication for design
professionals, has honored Bellarmine University for its in-house
creative efforts for three original publications from the past year: a
brochure for the music department, the admissions viewbook and the
2008 annual report. The creative team behind the designs includes: Mr.
Brad Craig ('01), Ms. Amber Dunlap and Ms. Katie Kelty ('07).The
magazine chose the winners from more than 4,000 entries. Graphic
Design USA's Inhouse Design Awards Annual is now available in print
and will be online in late August at Graphic Design USA. Congratulations team.
Bellarmine hosted show for artists with disabilities
Bellarmine's McGrath Gallery, Wyatt Center for the
Arts, featured an exhibit from StudioWorks, a program of Zoom Group.
Zoom Group assists adults with developmental disabilities achieve
success in work and artistic expression.
Students’ Harry Barfield Scholarship Award Renewed
The Kentucky Broadcasters Association announced on June
4 the recipients of its 18th annual Harry Barfield Scholarship awards
program.
Three students who received the KBA Harry Barfield
Scholarship in 2008-09 have had their awards renewed for the 2009-10
academic year: Mr. Mark Irons, Western Kentucky University; Mr. Nick
Mattingly, Bellarmine University; and, Mr. Nick Stacy, University of
Kentucky.
The scholarships are awarded through a competitive
application process, which includes academic achievement, the
recommendation of a faculty member, and extracurricular activities.
Congratulations Mr. Mattingly.
New Dean of Graduate Admissions
Last month, Dr. Sara Yount was announced as the new
Dean of Graduate Admissions. All of the university’s graduate
recruiting resources will now be centralized within the Office of
Enrollment Management. Dr. Yount’s main goal is to increase enrollment
in existing graduate programs and also to collaborate across the
university as we plan and implement new graduate programs and schools.
Faculty and Staff News and Achievements
Mrs. Heather Boutell presented at the
National Conference of the National Association of Student Financial
Aid Administrators in San Antonio, TX on July 14. Her session was
entitled, “Training and Development of Staff”, and she co-presented
with other directors from Georgia and Texas.
The Catholic Library World Editorial Committee
selected Dr. Paul Pearson’s article, “Thomas Merton,
Archivist,” as the winner of the 2010 John Brubaker Memorial Award.
The award recognizes the best article in the previous volume of CLW.
College of Arts and Sciences
Congratulations should be given to Joann Lau
and David Robinson on the publication of their
paper, Sequence and In Silico Characterization of the Tomato
Polgalacturonase (PG) Promoter and Terminator Regions, in the Plant
Molecular Biology Reporter.
Gov. Steve Beshear has appointed Dr. Gail
Ritchie Henson, of Louisville to the Kentucky Community and
Technical College System Board of Regents to serve for term expiring
July 21, 2015.
Congratulations to Dr. Kyle Barnett,
assistant professor of communication, for the publication of his
chapter "The Recording Industry's Role in Media History," in Convergence
Media History, edited by Janet Staiger and Sabine Hake
(Routledge Press 2009). Dr. Barnett has carved out a distinctive niche
in broadcast history research related to the recording industry.
Dr. Matisa Wilbon was named as the new
Director of the Brown Scholars Leadership Program last month. A
member of our Sociology/Psychology Department, Dr. Wilbon is committed
to student leadership and service – two critical components of the
program.
Ms. Christine Hutchins, instructor of
Mandarin Chinese and part-time adjunct faculty to the Department of
Global Languages and Cultures, was invited in July to serve on an
advisory board to Yale University Digital Publishing as it develops a
multimedia college level textbook in Mandarin Chinese called
"Encounters" http://www.encounterschinese.com/
Mrs. Gabriele Bosley has been invited
to speak at the following: Cross-cultural Learning at the 2010 APAIE
(Asian Pacific Association of International Educators); 4-hour
workshop presenter on Intercultural Intervention at the 2009 AMPEI
(Asociacion Mexicana Para La Education National); Developing Global
Perspectives through Local Encounters: High Impact Learning through
Targeted Intervention Abroad, at the 2009 CIEE Conference in Istanbul,
Turkey; Intervening in Learning Abroad: Three Concrete Examples” at
the FORUM on Education Abroad 2009 Annual Conference, Portland OR; and
“Intervention for Intercultural Learning (T)here: Combining
Technology and On-Site Instruction” presenter at the FORUM on
Education Abroad 2009 Annual Conference.
Congratulations Mr. David Kirk for
winning ISEP Ambassador of the Year for 2008-2009 of Edinburgh Napier
University. David was an exchange student at Bellarmine University,
Kentucky from 2007 to 2008, where he participated in a learning
experience that matured him and provided him with a well-rounded
character.
Although there were many creative contributions from
many of the ISEP Student Ambassadors, David was chosen as Ambassador
of the Year for his exceptional commitment and enthusiasm in helping
the ISEP students on campus and his dedication to promoting ISEP to
students at his home university.
School of Education
Education faculty members, Dr. Adam Renner
and Ms. Sonya Burton led a group to
Jamaica June 1-10, as part of their IDC 301 class, "Education for
Liberation or Domination?" Students who took the IDC class completed
the field experience in Jamaica. These students, the faculty, and
others helped continue a 12-year partnership with one school and one
children's home (which houses children with various physical and
cognitive disabilities) in the Montego Bay area.
Dr. Kevin Thomas presented at the
National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) held in Washington,
DC from June 28 to July 1. Dr. Thomas presented a paper, entitled
"Weblogs Used as Online Discussion Boards in Secondary Classrooms."
He also led a roundtable discussion regarding his research findings
and the potential applications of weblogs in the classroom.
Dr. Mary Goral's book "Transformational
Teaching: Waldorf-inspired Methods in the Public School" is now out
and available through Steiner Books. Her book signing was held on
July 22 at Foxhollow Farm Center.
Congratulations to all the new parents
Mr. Doug Wampler and his partner,
Janine Grover, welcomed new Daphne Ray Wampler on Monday May 18th at
5:55 p.m. The baby weighed 9 lbs., 4 oz. Both mother and baby are
healthy and happy. Congratulations!
Mrs. Shawna Ropp and her husband Scott
are the proud parents of Naomi Evelyn Ropp, born Wednesday, July 1.
Weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and standing 19 inches tall, Naomi was
born under the sign of the crab, ensuring she will be loving,
intuitive, imaginative and sympathetic. Mother and baby are doing fine.
Ms. Dawn Hodges welcomed Braden Phi Ho
into the world on Friday, July 31. The baby weighed 7lbs, 12ozs and
was 20.5 inches long.Mother and baby are at home and are doing well.