 News for Faculty, Staff and Friends of the Worcester State College Community |
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WSC Initiative to Address Nursing Faculty Shortage
Nursing Students and Faculty to
Sleep Outside to Extraordinary Dedication Winners Recognized
North Carolina in the American
Revolution: Faculty Mini-Grants Announced for 2008/2009
Tara Hancock (Alumni Relations) was chosen by the Worcester Business Journal (WBJ) for their 2008 "40 Under Forty." For the last nine years WBJ has sought out nominations for professionals across Central Massachusetts who, "though early in their professional careers, have nonetheless shown every sign that they have what it takes to be leaders within their fields." Tara and four other winners were photographed at Mechanics Hall for the cover of the 40 Under Forty issue. Click here for Tara's published profile.
Fortunata Songora Makene
(Sociology)
presented a paper at the Annual American Sociological
Association (ASA) Conference held at the Sheraton Back Bay/Hynes Convention
Center in Boston on August 4. The paper titled A Glance at What Shapes
Human History: Globalization and
Girls Rights to Education in Tanzania focused on contradictions between
international laws, national
policies and local traditions and cultures in Tanzania.
This paper analyzes what happens as these discourses
get translated into policy on the ground and its consequences to a girl child's
access to education.
During the conference, Professor Makene attended a one day workshop for
new teachers of sociology titled Teachers are Made, Not Born
organized by the ASA section on Teaching and Learning.
Sudha Swaminathan (Physical and
Earth Sciences) received a travel grant from the American Physical Society
Committee on the Status of Women in Physics, to reimburse travel expenses for
one of two women speakers who are invited to WSC to speak on their research in
physics. Dr. Nancy Gulbahce from Northeastern University and Dana Farber
Cancer Institute, and Dr. Sharmila Majumdar from the Department of Radiology at
the University of California at San Francisco have agreed to speak during the
2008 - 2009 academic year.
Adam Zahler
(Theatre/Visual & Performing Arts) directed a new play that was presented at the
world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. The world premiere of
The Patriot Act by Lydia Bruce and Sandy Burns finished its three-week
run on August 25 to sellout houses, accolades from the press, and a Best Actor
nomination for Boston's own Will
Lyman.
Barbara Zang (Communication) presented an invited workshop, Reporting on Disabilities in a Community, for an IREX-sponsored Russian faculty study tour in New York City on June 25. Journalism professors from the University of the Russian Academy of Education in Nizhny Novgorod participated in the workshop to improve their understanding of media coverage of disabilities.
WSC senior nursing students and faculty have pledged to sleep outside in cardboard boxes on September 25-26, in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless in the community. Over 45 students and faculty have committed to spending the night on the lawn of the Student Center. The students will also collect food and money to support local food banks and homeless shelters.
North Carolina in the American Revolution: Professor Haller
Explores Race and Black Freedom
Haller's doctoral work at University of Wisconsin-Madison was in social history and women's history. She looked at the daily life of black and white Southerners for her dissertation. Her 2007-08 mini-grant, Taking Liberties: Household, Race and Black Freedom in Revolutionary North Carolina, has allowed her to transform her dissertation, completed in 2000, into a book. Its also enabled her to buy books on the topic to get back into the academic conversation. There's been a really wonderful flowering of scholarship around this topic, she said. States handled the freeing of slaves in different ways. In Virginia, after the Revolution, for example, if a master wanted to free a slave, he could just do it, Haller said. North Carolina was interesting in this regard, she said. It had greater numbers of slaves in the 1780s and 90s as well as an increase in free blacks in the early 1800s. In 1790, five percent of the black population in North Carolina was free. North Carolina never liberalized its laws to let masters free their slaves, she said. In order to free a slave, a master had to petition the county court and make the case for the deserving slave. Such slaves were often freed for meritorious service. In fact, many of these masters were interested in freeing the mothers of their children. Slavery was inheritable through the mother. If a mother was a slave, her children were slaves. Lots of people just ignored this law, Haller said. The freed slaves don't come into the public records because they were merely set free. The role of religion in slavery adds another dimension to her study. Methodists had circuit riders, who went from church to church, and, at times, offered not only spiritual freedom but physical freedom. They played a concrete role in helping people gain their freedom, Haller said. For a few critical years, Methodists preached that one couldn't be a slaveholder and be a Methodist. Baptists, on the other hand, allowed each individual church to set its own policies on slavery. These churches convened discussions of such topics as How can slavery be a moral institution in North Carolina? During this era, North Carolina had the second largest population of Quakers, who, after 1781, no longer owned slaves. Activists when it came to emancipation, when they found that their freed slaves were rounded up and sold, they went to court to complain. They established schools for freed slaves, sheltered runaways and spoke out against slavery. The Quakers also formed the Society for the Protection of Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage and would sometimes help women who were seeking freedom for their children. These slave women, once they knew that their children would be taken away from them and sold, brought freedom suits in which they would hire a lawyer to try to prove that their children were entitled to freedom. Haller, who has been teaching at Worcester State since January 2005, envisions refreshing her U.S. History online survey course with the material she's been examining for this book. I've been wanting to shake up how I teach it, she said. She also has plans for a book for such a college history course, a collection of articles on women and the Civil War. Such a collection will undoubtedly add to our contemporary understanding of race and gender.
Faculty Mini-Grants Announced for 2008/2009 The Worcester State College Mini-Grant Program offers faculty
an opportunity to seek college-funding for scholarly research and/or creative
activities. The Mini-Grant Review
Committee consisting of seven faculty and the Associate Vice President for
Academic Affairs as a non voting member, volunteer to review proposals and make
recommendations to the Academic Vice President.
With the mini-grant program entering its eleventh year, this
task has become more and more difficult.
To illustrate the competitive nature of this program, this years
committee was responsible for reviewing 41 quality proposals, requesting over
$194,351 in financial support. From
that initial list, thirty-four mini-grant projects were recommended for approval
enabling 46 faculty members and opportunity to work on individual and/or joint
projects. Through the combined efforts of both the Colleges Offices of
Institutional Advancement, and Academic Affairs as well as the Worcester State
College Foundation this year we are pleased to announce that $100,000 has been
made available to provide financial support for the following projects:
Dr. Latifeh Kormi-Amini, Dr.
Brandi Silver
Neurobiology Lecture Series
Dr. Daron Barnard
Biology Scholar Research Residence: The Use and Assessment of Research Project
Based Laboratories in Biology
Prof. Cynthia Bechtel, Prof.
Deborah Benes, Prof. Mary Ellen Brisbois
Ms. Jillian Parzych, Ms. Katherine Dufresne
Implementation of Personal Digital Assistants in the Clinical setting
Professor Julian Berrian, Dr.
Alta Carroll
Teaching through Community Outreach
Dr. Andrea Bilics
Using Case-Based Instruction to Teach Evidence-Based Practice
Dr. Kelly Boone, Dr. Stephen
Morreale
Anti-Bullying Intervention: Focus on Vocabulary and Pragmatics as Predictors in
Decreasing Bullying
Dr. Alta Carroll
The Recontextualization of American Advertising by Recent Immigrants
Dr. Steven H. Corey, Dr. Lisa
Krissoff Boehm
Book Proposal and Documents/Photographs Research for books,
Providing Interactive Virtual Field Trip Experiences to Students in Introductory
Geoscience Courses
Dr. Patricia S. Donovan, Dr.
Maureen Stefanini, Dr. Laurie Dahlin
Development of the
Dr. Allison L. Dunn
Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide in Regenerating New England Forests:
Quantifying Pools and Constraining Fluxes
Dr. Carlos Fontes
"Blow Guns, Spirits and Satellites"
Dr. Julie Frechette
Becoming the Media: Experiential Learning through Media Analysis,
Professor Suzanne Gainer
National Geographic Photography Workshop in
Dr. Joanne Gallagher, Professor
Catherine McNeil
Improving
Dr. John Goodchild
Studies of Plant Phenols
Dr. Eihab Jaber
Nanotechnology Investigation into the Binding of Surfactant Coatings
Dr. Matthew Johnsen
The Singing Revolution: Music and Social Change
Dr. Frank Lamelas
Measurement of the Index of Refraction Using a Fabry-Perot Technique
Dr. Linda Larrivee, Dr. Emily
Soltano, Dr. Susanna Meyer
Predictors of English Language Development in Internationally
Dr. Emanuel Nneji
To Determine the Modes of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Provisio and their Appropriateness for Community Organizations in
Dr. Steven J. Oliver, Dr.
Randall L. Tracy
Continuing the Galapagos Initiative: A Study-Abroad Program for Undergraduates
in Natural History and Evolution
Dr. Maureen Power
The Development of a Cross Age Community Fellows Program at WSC
Dr. Josna Rege
The Difference that Dispora Makes: Contemporary Womens Writing and Diaspora
Dr. Beth Russell
Reliability Results for the Parenting Interview on Caregiving-Infancy (PICI)
Dr. Beth Russell, Dr. Amy Cota-McKinley
Exploring Best Practice for Teaching Online
Dr. Sudha Swaminathan
Portable Physics: Experiment Kits for the First Year of High School
Dr. Champika K. Soysa
Tsunami 2004: Trauma and Resilience in
Dr. Seth Surgan
Building Process-oriented Methods for Developmental Psychology
Dr. Henry Theriault
Eighth Biennial Conference of the International Association
Professor Marc Wagoner
Ethnic Studies Introduction and Capstone Course Development Workshop
Dr. Karen Woods Weierman
Transatlantic Women Conference at
Dr. Karen Woods Weierman, Dr.
Phil Burns, Dr. Carey Smitherman
Writing at
Dr. Janice Yee
Social Capital and its Implications
PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT: The 2008 WSC Annual Presidents Report was distributed during the Opening Day meeting on September 2. If you did not receive your copy, please pick one up at the PR and Marketing Office, Room 107A. This informative report highlights key accomplishments of the last fiscal year and features profiles of students, faculty, alumni, and donors. For the first time, the Presidents Report was combined with the Report of Giving and includes the honor roll of donors. Please note that we will no longer mail publications to the homes of faculty and staff, even if other household members are alumni of the College. Therefore, please be sure to take your copy home to share with members of your household who are WSC alums. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. We hope you enjoy the report.
THE INTERSECTION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE and CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT -
The First 2008-2009 CSD/SLD Think
Tank Gathering will be held on
Monday, September 29,
from 9:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the College of the Holy Cross. Schedule:
9:30-10:00 Check in and Continental Breakfast; 10:00-11:00 Welcome and
Introductions- MACC and Campus Updates; 11:00-12:00 Workshop Presentation;
12:00-12:30 Lunch; 12:30-2:00 Resume Workshop, Closing.
Open to ALL Community Service Directors, Service Learning Directors
and any Faculty involved with Service Learning. Location: Room 402 (4th
Floor), Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross,
All PARKING INFORMATION FOR 2008/2009 can be found at
PLANNING AN EVENT THIS YEAR? - Are you thinking about the
following: How to get the media interested?; How to fill those seats?; On
and Off-Campus Press?; The Best Day and Time to hold your event?;
Photography? If so, get your event on our radar! Even if you are just
thinking about holding an event, the Office of Public Relations and
Marketing is here to help guide you through the process of promoting a
successful event. Contact us as soon as possible at 508-929-8018 or
pr@worcester.edu.
Already have an event in the works? Contact us today with the
details. BORDERS
BOOKSTORE EDUCATOR APPRECIATION WEEKEND OCT 3-5 CAMPUS EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS: The college community can now dial 8911 for an on campus emergency. Chief Rosemary Naughton urges use of this number, rather than dialing 911. "The problem with dialing 911," explained Chief Naughton, "is that the call is sent to the State Police - then to Worcester Police, which creates some delay. Then, when officers do respond to an emergency at Worcester State College, they arrive on campus without knowing which location on campus is appropriate. By calling us, we work with local emergency personnel to ensure the most timely response." From a cell phone, dial 508-929-8911.
Administrative Promotions
Jennifer English Mark LaCroix
Joann Reidy
Mandi Scala
Raymond Fontaine (Mail Clerk
II/Purchasing/Central Receiving) Brad Bryan Karen Camargo Stephanie Chalupka Jeffrey Cohen Jeremy DeSilva Meghna Dilip Maria Fung Michael Gesin
Tona Hangen Elizabeth Siler
Robert Smith
Caitlin Stover
John Tahiliani
FACULTY ONE YEAR TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS: Kathryn Baldor
Barry DeCoster Andrea Dottolo
Douglas Frink
Gabriel Katz
Rami Khalaf
Jeffrey Meunier
Raphael Njoroge Eileen Perez Matthew Taylor Jingyu Zhang
FACULTY ONE SEMESTER TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT:
John Goodchild Anne Gathuo Penny Martin JoAnne Maynard Steven Oliver Brandi Silver Maria-Amaryllis Sinossoglou Randall Tracy Andrea Bilics Sue Fan Foo Julie Frechette Kyle Martin Rodney Oudan Margarita Perez Audrey Wright Mary Fowler Francisco Lamelas Emanuel Nneji Carey Smitherman Champika Soysa The College community expresses sincere condolences to Janice St. Germaine (Education) for the loss of her mother, Florence G. Hodgerney of Auburn. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Assembly of God Church. The College community expresses sincere condolences to the
family, friends and former colleagues of Dr. Robert M. Spector
(History/Political Science) who died August 17. Donations in his memory may be
made to the Worcester State Foundation Robert M. Spector Ph.D. Memorial
Scholarship Fund The College community expresses sincere condolences to Carol Donnelly (Education) on the passing of her mother, Loretta (Chisholm) Burns, 97, of Auburn, who died Thursday, August 21, in the UMass-Memorial Medical Center Memorial Campus after a short illness. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the UMass-Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 2795, Worcester, Mass. 01613-9938
**Please
Note - Links to online newspaper articles may no longer be
Dorm on a dime
Community college popular for members of class of '08
Transfusions pumping new life into the Lancers
Rising
tuition on the brain
Worcester State receives nursing grant
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Monday, September 8, 2008
Fri., Sept.12 COMING
UP
Tues., Sept. 23
Wed., Sept. 24
Thurs., Oct. 2
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In
a primary campaign season rife with discussions of race and gender,
Charlotte Haller (History) is examining those issues, albeit
from a different historical vantage point. She is revisiting the paradox of
slavery among women in North Carolina. 