Academe welcomes news from WSU faculty and staff about research, teaching and service activities. This column recognizes grants, honors, awards, presentations and publications, new appointments, new faculty, sabbaticals, retirements and deaths of current and former colleagues. 

AWARDS/HONORS

Professor Ray Hull, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, was awarded the Dolores, Etta and Sidney Rodenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2013-14 in the College of Health Professions. 

Women's Basketball Assistant Coach Bridgette Gordon has been inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame at its 2014 Induction Banquet and Awards Ceremony. Gordon was a 2007 selection to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and was named the Final Four Most Valuable Player in 1989. She has won many other awards and honors and played internationally following her collegiate career. Gordon will be entering her fifth year as assistant coach at Wichita State and third year as recruiting coordinator. 

Professor Betty Smith-Campbell, chair of the School of Nursing, is a member of the third class of nursing deans to have completed the AACN-Wharton Executive Leadership Program. The competitive program added 30 new nursing leaders along with Smith-Campbell to its pool of 87 graduates. Program participants hail from a diversity of schools nationwide, including nursing programs at large academic health centers, small liberal arts schools, public and private universities, rural and urban-based programs and faith-based institutions. 

Theresa Cooper, clinical educator in the School of Nursing, was accepted into the Faculty Development Collaborative Program in Geriatrics for 2014. 

The School of Nursing’s Mary Koehn, associate professor, and Abbey Lowry, simulation coordinator, successfully passed the exam for certification in simulation and are now Certified Healthcare Simulation Educators (CHSE). The certification process and exam is sponsored by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. 

Pamela O’Neal, communications, public relations and recruitment coordinator at the School of Nursing, was awarded certification in Career and Education Advising from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. 

Susan Parsons, associate professor at the School of Nursing, was appointed to the LaFamilia Senior/Community Center Board of Directors for the April 2014-16 term. 

Peggy Hernandez, assistant professor at the School of Nursing, was awarded a Tilford Fellowship for the 2014-15 academic year. The Tilford Commission at Wichita State is a campus-wide group of faculty, staff, students and administrators dedicated to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in all areas of the campus community. Hernandez’s fellowship will bring an increased focus on diversity awareness, inclusion and the roots of oppression and privilege in the Mental Health Nursing Care course in the undergraduate nursing curriculum. 

Alicia Huckstadt, professor and director of Graduate Nursing Programs at the School of Nursing, was a recipient of the President’s Distinguished Award at the Shocker Pride Celebration. She was also named a 2014 Health Care Hero by the Wichita Business Journal. 

Amy McClintock, administrative specialist at the School of Nursing, received the College of Health Professions Outstanding Classified Staff Award for recognition of exemplary service and outstanding contributions to Wichita State University’s College of Health Professions. 

Stephanie Nicks, clinical educator and clinical education coordinator at the School of Nursing, was a recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award at the Shocker Pride Celebration. 

Elaine Steinke, professor at the School of Nursing, received the inaugural Excellence in Research Award from the College of Health Profession. She also received an Excellence in Research Award from WSU. 

Assistant Professor Karen Countryman-Roswurm, School of Social Work, was chosen by the Wichita Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 program to receive the Pat Ayers Mentoring Award. Countryman-Roswurm was chosen for her work as the executive director for the Center for Combating Human Trafficking, helping hundreds of youth who have been victims of human trafficking and mentoring social work professionals through the degree process. 

Sandra Bibb, newly appointed dean at the College of Health Professions, was recently selected for induction as a fellow of the Academy of Nursing during the Academy’s 2014 Transforming Health, Driving Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. Bibb was selected for induction to the prestigious group for her significant contributions to nursing and research related to population health, with specific emphasis on the study of access to care and use of clinical preventive services in populations with near universal access to care.

Natalie Grant, assistant professor of social work, and Rhonda Lewis, professor of psychology, have been selected to serve as the 2014-15 Service-Learning Faculty Fellows by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. In conjunction with Student Involvement and Campus Life, the Service-Learning Faculty Fellows will be responsible for helping to create a vision for service learning on the campus, developing partnerships with community-based agencies, engaging students and faculty in applied service learning opportunities with community-based agencies and evaluating the impact of the service-learning projects.

For the second-consecutive year, Wichita State women’s basketball head coach Jody Adams has been named the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. This is Adams’ sixth season at the helm of the program.

GRANTS

The School of Nursing’s Betty Elder, associate professor, and Debra Pile, assistant professor and coordinator of the Accelerated BSN Program, were awarded a MURPA grant, “Development and Evaluation of a Diet and Exercise Monitoring System for Elementary School Children in grades K-4.”

PRESENTATIONS

The Elliott School of Communication will represent Wichita State at the American Journalism Historians Association’s 33rd Annual Convention Oct. 9-11 in St. Paul, Minn. Director Matthew Cecil and four other scholars will explore “Media Mythology at 40: What Do We Now Know About Watergate Coverage and When Did We Know It?” Associate Professor Lisa Parcell will participate in the panel discussion, “Co-Authorship and Collaboration in Historical Research.” Instructor Ken Ward will present an original research paper, “State Before Self: A Study of Silver and Sectionalism in the Cripple Creek Mining District, 1896-1904.”

Jennifer Rodgers, clinical educator in the School of Nursing, will present her poster entitled “Decreasing Readmits and Hospital Resources with an APRN led Model of Care,” at the Kansas Quality Summit in October. The presentation is about the APRN-led Community Cares program for COPD patients.

Terrie Core, clinical educator, and Debra Pile, assistant professor and coordinator of the Accelerated BSN Program at the School of Nursing, presented, “Best Nursing Practices in the School Environment: Eight Medical Procedures Every School Nurse Should Know,” at the Kansas School Nurse Conference.

School of Nursing Instructor Jolynn Dowling and Clinical Educator and BSN Coordinator Shirley Hazen will present their poster, “Interprofessional Collaboration: Providing Health Services for the Homeless,” at the Kansas Public Health Association’s 71st Annual KPHA fall conference. The will also present a second poster, “Interprofessional Education to Enhance Student Understanding of the Homeless Population,” at the 41st Annual National Conference on Professional Nursing Education and Development Conference.

Professor Elaine Steinke, School of Nursing was selected to present a poster following President Bardo’s presentation, “WSU Transformation: Becoming the Innovation University.”

Two nurse practitioners in the School of Nursing, Alicia Huckstadt, professor and director of graduate nursing programs, and Karen Hayes, assistant professor, presented their 17-year history of design and evaluation of online courses, “Evolution of Interactive Advanced Practice Online Education,” at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Conference, June 17-21, in Nashville, Tenn.

Greg Novacek, director of the Lake Afton Observatory and the Fairmount Center for Science and Mathematics Education, made a public presentation about the Mars Rovers and the MAVEN mission, set to arrive on the red planet in September. His presentation was part of the 2014 Galaxy Forum at the Kansas Cosmosphere, titled “The Moon, Mars and Journeying to the Stars.”

Mathematics and Statistics Department Professor Nickolas Solomey, author of “The Elusive Neutrino” and spokesman of the Fermilab MIPP experiment, was invited to give a public lecture titled “Quarks Matter!,” at the University of Birmingham School of Physics and Astronomy, July 22, in Birmingham, England.

Rocio del Aguila, academic lecturer of Spanish, presented her paper “Inclusion o reclusion: propuestas educativas para el angel del hogar,” in a panel of 19th-century specialists at the XXXII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, May 23, in Chicago. Her paper analyzes the representation of traditional models for women in the presentations of Peruvian writers and educators during the First International Feminine Congress in Buenos Aires 1910.

Jose Enrique Navarro, assistant professor of Spanish, presented his paper, “Sonido y violencia en el Chile pinochetista de Roberto Bolano,” at the 2014 International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, May 22. His paper examines the relationship between sound, silence and violence in two novels that Chilean author Roberto Bolano set in the early stages of the military dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet.

Assistant Professor JJ Pionke, instruction and research services librarian and liaison for Engineering, Health Professions and Sciences, presented her paper, “Preservation in Extreme Environments,” at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association’s 2014 National Conference in Chicago.

PUBLICATIONS

Elaine Steinke, professor at the School of Nursing, co-authored numerous articles for publication over the summer, including: “The CopenHeartSF trial – comprehensive sexual rehabilitation programme for male patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator or ischaemic heart disease and impaired sexual function: protocol of a randomized clinical trial,” in the British Medical Journal Open; “Marital relationship in spouses before and after their partners’ myocardial infarction,” in the Journal of Clinical Nursing (published online before print, Dec. 21, 2013); “20 things you did not know about sex and heart disease,” in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing; and “Sexual counseling for sexual problems in patients with cardiovascular disease (Protocol),” in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014.

Professor Elaine Steinke and Victoria Mosack, associate professor in the School of Nursing, along with Twyla Hill, professor and graduate coordinator in the Sociology Department, co-authored “Cardiac comorbidities and sexual activity predict sexual self-perception and adjustment,” in Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing.

Dinorah Azpuru, associate professor in the Political Science Department, published an article, “Beyond the Blame Game: Visualizing the Complexity of the Border Crisis,” in the Aug. 16 edition of Americas Quarterly. The article analyzes the causes of the migration of unaccompanied minors to the U.S. The article can be read at americasquarterly.org/content/beyond-blame-game-visualizing-complexity-border-crisis.

Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs Regents Distinguished Professor Ken Kriz, Associate Professor Arwiphawee Srithongrung and the faculty of the school’s Kansas Public Finance Center, have published the online version of their article on state fiscal policy, “The Impact of Subnational Fiscal Policies on Economic Growth: A Dynamic Analysis Approach,” in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, one of the top publications in the field.

William Vanderburgh, associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and executive director of the Office for Faculty Development and Student Success, recently published “On the Interpretive Role of Theories of Gravity and ‘Ugly’ Solutions to the Total Evidence for Dark Matter,” in Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, and “Putting a New Spin on Galaxies: Horace W. Babcock, the Andromeda Nebula, and the Dark Matter Revolution,” in the Journal for the History of Astronomy. Vanderburgh also co-authored an article with Martin Ratcliffe, adjunct lecturer in Honors and director of professional development at Sky-Skan, a planetarium company: “Ask me about ISON: The Risks and Rewards of Teaching an Interdisciplinary Honors Course on a Scientific Event as it Unfolds in Real Time,” in Honors in Practice.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

The Elliott School has appointed five new faculty members this fall. Instructors Taylor Dietterich, Michelle Dreiling, Samuel Maurer, Madeline McCullough and Ken Ward will teach public speaking, integrated marketing communications and media writing classes. Maurer is also assistant director of debate. All except Maurer, who comes to WSU from Emporia State, are recent ESC master’s graduates.

The Center for Community Support and Research has named Teresa Strausz as the center’s community engagement and learning coordinator. She will work with WSU academic departments to identify students interested in gaining experience and professional development through CCSR’s projects and services. The center also appointed Sonja  Armbruster as director of Public Health Initiatives over the summer. 

Jim Pulliam was named associate vice president and chief information officer for Wichita State. He brings nearly 30 years of information technology experience in aerospace, municipal government and academia.

The Office of Cooperative Education and Internships has appointed Brian Austin as the manager of employer relations; he was previously the engineering employer relations and coordinator. Austin will lead the co-op team in developing and maintaining relationships with employers for the purpose of creating co-op and internship opportunities for liberal arts and sciences, business and engineering majors. Additionally, Kim Kufahl, previously the office’s marketing manager, was named assistant director of marketing and strategic communication. She will oversee communications strategy, develop branding and create messaging to promote the Office of Cooperative Education to students, employers and the university.

Cindy Claycomb, former interim dean of the W. Frank Barton School of Business, has been named director of the newly formed WSU Ventures, which supports the university’s mission to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver by protecting and licensing WSU inventions, connecting industry with WSU researchers and linking WSU researchers and technologies with start-up potential to investors and entrepreneurs. Claycomb will also serve as assistant to President John Bardo, with responsibility for strategic planning.

Tony Vizzini has been promoted to provost and senior vice president at Wichita State, with responsibilities for student life, recruiting, admissions, financial aid and career services added to his existing responsibilities for teaching, faculty hiring and promotion and all other academic activities.

Wade Robinson, formerly vice president for Campus Life and University Relations, has been appointed to vice president for Student Engagement to increase the quality of student experiences, enhance out-of-classroom learning and increase student retention. His new position will be part of the new provost and senior vice president’s office.

Lou Heldman is taking a new position, vice president of Strategic Communications (formerly University Relations), responsible for university communications and marketing, and will serve on the president’s executive team. Heldman has previously led the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Elliott School of Communication.

Gina Crabtree, registrar, will also serve as director of Enrollment Services, adding responsibility for admissions and financial aid to improve recruitment and the registration processes. Her new position will be part of the new provost and senior vice president’s office.

Connie Dietz, formerly director of Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning, has been appointed executive director of career development in the new provost and senior vice president’s office, bringing together departments that help students and alumni connect with employers. 

MISCELLANEOUS

The Office of Academic Affairs has announced five new emeriti faculty: Professor Emeritus Ronald Christ, School of Art and Design; Professor Emerita Sylvia Coats, School of Music; Professor Emerita Dorothy Crum, School of Music; Professor Emeritus Edward Flentje, Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs; and Professor Emerita of Theatre Betty Monroe, School of Performing Arts.

Michael Birzer, professor and director of the School of Community Affairs, was a guest on NPR’s “All Sides with Ann Fisher” for a discussion on the militarization of the American police stemming from the unrest in Ferguson, Mo. The program was broadcast from Columbus, Ohio, and a recording can be found at wosu.org/2012/allsides/militarization-police-forces. Birzer was also interviewed by local NPR affiliate KMUW about his new book, “Racial Profiling: They Stopped me Because I’m ----,” a report on two years of field research talking with minority citizens about their experiences with racial profiling. That story can be found at kmuw.org/post/wsu-professor-presents-research-racial-profiling.

Barbara Morrison, associate professor, and Janice Riordan, distinguished professor in Maternal and Child Health in the School of Nursing, are hosting a new call-in radio show at 8 p.m. EST, Wednesday evenings on I Heart radio. It can also be accessed at bbmglobalnetwork.com.

Professor Emeritus Edward Flentje, Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs, was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article titled “Democrats stir up gubernatorial races, including in GOP-rich Kansas,” published July 28, about Governor Sam Brownback’s fiscal policies in Kansas. Read the article at www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-midterm-governor-elections-kansas-20140728-story.html#page=1.

IN MEMORIAM

Douglas Randy Brown, 73, was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, television news anchor and senior fellow at Wichita State University at the time of his death, July 23, 2014. Locally, Brown spent more than 20 years at The Wichita Eagle, working as the editor of the editorial and executive sports pages. He was the senior editor, managing editor and “Live at Five” anchor at KAKE-TV, as well as a favorite instructor at WSU’s Elliott School of Communication since 2001. In 1973, Brown was on a team of reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting working at the Omaha Sun. He earned a degree in journalism and secondary education from the University of North Texas. He formed a partnership with the Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government, serving as its executive director, and he consistently pushed for open government and worked to improve Kansas’s open records laws. Survivors include: wife, Linda Parks; two sons, Chris and Chad; and a daughter, Keisha. 

Professor Kathryn Griffith, former chair of Wichita State’s Political Science Department, died July 31, 2014. She completed her undergraduate studies at Wichita University (now WSU) in 1947 while working as a car hop at a local drive-in. As an undergraduate, she impressed her political science professor, Harry Corbin, who later became university president. In addition to her intellect, he recognized Griffith’s unique administrative skills and appointed her as budget director where she earned a reputation as a prudent allocator of the university’s resources. She was employed by the university from Nov. 11, 1949, until her retirement Aug. 17, 1993. In the early 1960s Griffith played a key role in lobbying for admission to the State University System. In 1967, she took a leave of absence and acquired her doctorate in political science at University of Chicago, with an emphasis on political theory, and worked under the mentorship of the internationally renowned Leo Strauss. She completed her doctoral course work and comprehensive examinations in a record two-and-a-half years, a feat unheard of at the time. Griffith then returned to the newly named Wichita State University and joined the Political Science Department as its political theorist, serving five years as department chair. Her major work — a biography of jurist Learned Hand — was viewed by the scholarly community as a significant contribution. During her 35 years of service, Griffith was highly respected as a rigorous professor with tough grading standards. Good students held her in the highest esteem, as exemplified by honor students such as Scott Stucky, who later earned a Juris Doctor degree at Harvard Law School and currently serves as a Judge on the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. Of Griffith, Judge Stucky said: “Professor Griffith thoroughly mastered her subject, was a demanding task master, challenged us to think critically and it resulted in an unmatched learning experience.” 

Everett Johnson, 78, former chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Wichita State, died July 22, 2014. Johnson earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1963. After he retired from teaching at WSU in 2000, Johnson was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives, District 77, where he served two terms. He chose not to run again after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Survivors include: wife, Marsha Meyers; two children, Will Johnson (Jennifer) of Tucson and Cathy O’Gorman (Mike) of Augusta. Memorials have been established care of the First Baptist Church, 1501 State St., Augusta, KS, 67010, Gerald Falley Acct. No. 282558, and the Persecuted Christians Assembly of God, 1544 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO, 65802.