President's Update – October 5, 2018

Dear Bellarmine Students, Faculty and Staff,

This week—Oct. 3, to be exact—marks the 68th birthday of Bellarmine University. A new video on our website that highlights key moments from the university’s history celebrates this anniversary.

The 18-minute video draws material from In Veritatis Amore, a book about Bellarmine's history published late last year by our own Fr. Clyde Crews, a 1966 Bellarmine graduate and longtime theology professor who now serves as the university's historian. It also features music by jazz pianist Steve Crews, the author’s brother.

Bellarmine, of course, opened as a men’s college on Oct. 3, 1950, under the sponsorship of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville. In 1968, it merged with Ursuline College, a Catholic college for women established by the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville.

I invite you to watch the video here and marvel at how far Bellarmine has come!

Faculty News and Achievements

Bellarmine College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Perry Chang, adjunct instructor in Sociology, was elected chair of the Nominating Committee of the Religious Research Association.

Dr. Dave Robinson, professor of Biology, is broadcasting three times a week on WFMP-LP (106.5 FM). His show, Bench Talk: The Week in Science, covers the latest issues and research in both natural sciences and social sciences.

Dr. Lee Remington, associate professor of Political Science and director of the pre-law program, was the guest speaker for Morehead State University’s Constitution Day program on Sept. 17. Her topic was “The ‘War on Technology’ Is the Only War You Should Be Worried About: Cyber Warfare, Privacy, and Our Fragile Democracy.”

Ms. Megan Burnett, assistant professor and program director of Theatre, served as a guest speaker for the Scottish Society of Louisville on Sept. 25. Her speech, “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” focused on the witches and spirits in Macbeth. Ms. Burnett is also one of several women featured in the October 2018 issue of Today’s Woman Magazine in an article titled “The Real Faces of Cancer.”

Dr. Hoon Choi, assistant professor of Theology, was selected for a four-year term on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics. He has also received a grant through the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning.

College of Health Professions

Ms. Ann Bowling (part-time faculty, Simulation) has been recognized as a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.

Dr. Kathy Hager (associate professor, Nursing) had an article, “President’s Pen,” published in the July-August-September issue of Kentucky Nurse, Vol. 66, No. 3.

Dr. Sonja Bareiss (associate professor, Physical Therapy), Dr. Katie McBee (part-time faculty, Physical Therapy), Ms. Haley Holt (DPT student) and colleagues presented an abstract entitled “Assessment of Core Health Professional Curriculum and Elective Pain Neuroscience on Student Pain Neurophysiology Knowledge” at the International Association for the Study of Pain, World Congress on Pain, in Boston, Sept. 12-16. Drs. Bareiss and McBee also presented the abstract “Prevalence of High Risk Patients and Data Trends in Orebro Change Scores for Musculoskeletal Conditions in a National Outpatient Physical Therapy Setting.”

Dr. Catherine Crandell (associate professor, Physical Therapy), Dr. Beth Quinn (assistant professor, Physical Therapy) and Dr. Christopher Wingard (professor, Physical Therapy), DPT students Reid Imel, Jarek Penney, Kevin Swartz and Jessica Weiss, and colleagues presented a poster entitled “A Physical Assessment Tool to Evaluate Functional Status Compared to ECOG scores in Cancer Outpatients” at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium, Sept. 28-29 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Drs. Crandell, Quinn and Wingard also worked with Imel, Penney, Swartz and Weiss on “Bellarmine Norton Assessment Tool (BNAT): A Contemporary Outcome Measure Used to Track Functional Status in the Cancer Community” for the INAPTA & KPTA 2018 Joint Conference, Sept. 21-22. At the same conference, Drs. Crandell and Wingard worked with DPT students Gwendolyn Casper, Taylor Dauphin, Natalie Schroll, Madelyn Vadney and Kevin Brown to present “Dynamic Functional Testing of the Upper Extremity in Collegiate Dancers Using the Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test: A Pilot Study.”

Dr. Christopher Wingard presented a Research Seminar entitled “Erectile Dysfunction: The Environmental Influences” at the University of Louisville School of Medicine’s Environmental Institute’s Diabetes and Obesity Center Seminar Series, Sept. 15.

Dr. Heather Owens (assistant professor, Nursing) had a manuscript entitled “The Mediating Effect of Sleep Behaviors when Predicting Weight-related Behaviors in Nursing Students” accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Dr. Jessica Hume (assistant professor, Health Services and Senior Living) co-wrote the essay “Learning Communities: More Than Just HIP,” which was published in Transformative Student Experiences in Higher Education, edited by Dr. Michael Strawser of the School of Communication. Over the summer, she researched her pedagogy stipend project, “Integrating Growth Mindset Thinking into English 101 Curriculum.” Dr. Hume also joined the board of the Marc Lehmann Spirt of Service Foundation, which gives awards to compassionate healthcare providers in the city of Louisville.

Dr. Keith Knapp presented “Aging Matters: Human Aging 101” on Sept. 26 at the annual conference of Leading Age—Kentucky, the trade association representing the interests of faith-based and mission-driven senior living providers throughout the Commonwealth.

Annsley Frazier Thornton School of Education

Dr. Kristin Cook and colleagues published "A STEAM investigation: Making giant strides" in Teaching Children Mathematics.

Dr. Amy Lein co-authored a chapter entitled “The Development of a Legacy: Paying It Forward” in the newly published book Asian/American Scholars of Education: 21st Century Pedagogies, Perspectives, and Experiences (Hartlep, Kahlon and Ball, eds).

Drs. David Paige and Grant Smith had their manuscript, “Academic Vocabulary and Reading Fluency: Unlikely Bedfellows in the Quest for Textual Meaning,” accepted for publication in a special edition of Education Sciences (Rasinski and Rupley, eds.).

Dr. Mike Vetter has been appointed chair of the committee that will select the 2018 -19 College Personnel Association of Kentucky (CPAK) Hall of Fame Gallery of Outstanding Educators and Professionals. This committee seeks to honor student affairs colleagues in the Commonwealth who have served their respective institutions, the state, region and national associations through their leadership. These individuals will be recognized at CPAK’s annual meeting in January 2019.

Dr. Dottie Willis presented “The Super Power of (Ap) Positive Literacy Experiences” at the Kentucky Writing Project Conference on School-wide Literacy held at the University of Louisville on Sept. 8. She also delivered the keynote address at the KWP Conference and presented the Louisville Writing Project 2018 Patronus Award to Congressman John Yarmuth in recognition of his commitment to literacy education at the state and national levels.

W. Fielding Rubel School of Business

Ms. Christy Burge, instructor of Accounting, hosted the Accounting Meet & Greet networking event on Aug. 28. Eighty-two students and 14 accounting firms participated, including the Big 4 and leading regional firms.

Dr. Alisha Harper, chair of the departments of Accounting and Business Administration, and members of the Department of Accounting, hosted the 2018 Accounting Alumni and Student Awards Luncheon in Frazier Hall on Sept. 20. The Alumnus of the Year honor was awarded to John Pieper ’78. In addition, over $50,000 in scholarships was awarded to deserving Bellarmine accounting students.

Dr. Sharon Kerrick, dean of the Rubel School, founded the community program “VetStart” in 2012 to help military veterans start and/or expand their businesses. She remains on the committee that just admitted seven new participants for Fall 2018. She hosted with the Rubel School of Business and Entrepreneurship Resource event with Access Ventures as the keynote. In September, Dr. Kerrick was a judge for the Kentucky Women’s Business Center’s annual business plan competition. She is a commissioner appointed by the mayor for the Louisville Water Company and participates in monthly board meetings as well as public forums. She presented a workshop to more than 100 employees at Mercer HR organization. She is a board member and Trustee for Beargrass Christian Church’s Endowment and was re-elected to serve as secretary for the group. She was also one of three invited panelists for Metro Government Louisville Forward.

Dr. Elizabeth Payne, Endowed Chair of Accounting, became a member of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. In September, she continued her service as vice president of Professional Development for Financial Executives International, and on BU’s strategic planning committee and the President’s Resource Management committee.

Dr. Joe Thornton, assistant professor of Management, was named to the editorial board for the Global Journal of Management and Marketing.

School of Communication

Dr. Shawn Apostel and MAC student Lauren Pieper Coffey had a chapter, “Domestic & International Travel & Exposure,” published in Transformative Student Experiences in Higher Education: Meeting the Needs of the 21st Century Student, a collection edited by Dr. Michael Strawser.

Dr. Michael LaRocco published an article, “Larry Ceballos as Busby Berkeley: The Credit Dispute in Footlight Parade and the Branding of ‘Buzz,’” in the journal Film History. The article was the culmination of several years of archival research, based heavily on holdings at the Warner Bros. Archives in Los Angeles. Dr. LaRocco is now the faculty adviser for the Bellarmine Cinema Association.

Dr. Rain Liu and colleagues published the chapter “Transformative intercultural communication programs that promote student integration” in Dr. Michael Strawser’s book Transformative Student Experiences. Dr. Liu and colleagues published the article "Diffusion Size and Structural Virality: The Effects of Message and Network Features on Spreading Health Information on Twitter" in Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 89. Dr. Liu also worked with the Louisville Health Advisory Board to promote Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Training during National Suicide Prevention Week.

Ms. Stacie Shain published a book chapter, “Student-Led, Client-Driven Firms,” in Transformative Student Experiences in Higher Education, edited by Dr. Michael Strawser. Ms. Shain was chosen for the inaugural class of Greater Clark County Schools (Indiana) Distinguished Alumni, sponsored by the Greater Clark County Schools Educational Foundation. She will be the first inductee from Charlestown High School and will join a distinguished alumnus from Jeffersonville High School and a distinguished alumnus from New Washington High School for the induction ceremony on Nov. 14.

Dr. Michael Strawser published an edited collection titled Transformative Student Experiences in Higher Education: Meeting the Needs of the 21st Century Student and Modern Workplace. Contributors included many Bellarmine faculty, staff and communication graduate students. He and MAC student Grace Lee co-wrote a chapter for the volume titled 21st Century Higher Education. Dr. Strawser also published a chapter in The Handbook of Communication Training. His chapter is titled, “Online Training Tools in an Interconnected World.” Finally, Dr. Strawser published an article in the Voice Tribune on Next Generation Philanthropy with MAC graduate Molly Melia and presented at the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference.

Staff News and Achievements

Mr. Eric Satterly, CIO and vice provost for Information Technology, delivered a keynote address on “Leveraging IT to Drive Innovation” at the Louisville CIO Series meeting on Sept. 19. The Louisville CIO Series is an event for Louisville IT executives who meet four times a year to discuss timely technology issues to promote growth in the community.

Dr. Jim Breslin, dean of Student Success, along with three colleagues from the U.S. and Canada, published the article “Students as Colleagues: A New Paradigm for Understanding Student Leaders” in Academic Support in The Learning Assistance Review, the peer-reviewed journal of the National College Learning Center Association. Dr. Breslin and a colleague from Berry College in Georgia published the chapter “Transformative Learning in the First-Year Experience: Transforming Learners outside the Classroom” in Transformative Student Experiences in Higher Education.