SHU Hosts 5th Annual Arts Speak Festival

On May 10, SHU hosted the 5th annual Arts Speak fine arts festival for Lenawee County high school students. This celebration in the arts brought approximately 400 top artists and musicians to campus (left) for a day of workshops and collaborative projects. The day featured a keynote from SHU alum Leslie Love.

SHU Professor Has Article Published

Siena Heights Assistant Professor of Philosophy Jeff Englehardt will have his article titled “Varieties of Multiple Antecedent Cause,” published in the September 2012 journal of Acta Analytica. Acta Analytica is a peer-reviewed, international quarterly. The journal aims to promote a rigorous, argumentative approach in philosophy.

Dinner Theater Event on the “Cutting Edge”

Theatre Siena and the Alumni Office co-hosted SHU alumni and friends on March 31 for an evening of dinner and drama, meat pies and music! This year’s dinner/theater event included a wine & cheese reception with entertainment by Barbershop Voices of Siena, an elegant dinner with dessert speaker Mark DiPietro discussing “Revenge Tragedy and the Theater of Blood: From Penny Dreadful to Broadway”, and the Theatre Siena production of the musical thriller “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

Business Division Awards Honors; Inducts New Members

The Business Administration division had its annual Sigma Beta Delta induction and honor awards ceremony in April. SHU alum Josh Burgett was the guest speaker and was also inducted into SBD. Those students to be honored were: Brittney Rhodes, Isaac Ashong, Kelly Ferguson, Kimberlee Conolly, Kelby Allen, Brett Kuebler, Darrell Gudenau and Mariann Weiss. Students inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta were: Ruben Becerra, Debra Blohm, Kyle Hanson, Christopher Schurr, Isaac Ashong, Nana Ampong, Roselinda Odhiambo, Austin Harper, Ashley Tillotson, Thomas Koomson, Nathaniel Snyder, Adam Schmaltz, Leslie Grob, Kaitlin Ludwig, John Lyszczyk and Derek Henning.

Peeradina Gives Poetry Reading in Pennsylvania

SHU Associate Professor of English Saleem Peeradina was invited to give a poetry reading at Gwynedd-Mercy College in Pennsylvania as part of the celebration of National Poetry Month. A book signing followed the reading. He also participated in a discussion on “Towards Global Community” in the honors class.

Three Siena Heights Professors Retire from the Classroom

Siena Heights celebrated the professional lives of faculty members concluding their full-time careers at SHU on May 3. Siena Heights paid tribute to retiring art faculty members Barbara Cervenka, OP, and Deborah Danielson and English faculty member Daniel McVeigh.

Professor of History Awarded Fellowship

Siena Heights faculty member Dr. Julieanna Frost was awarded a research fellowship at Hamilton College. She spent a month last summer working in its library with its Special Collections on Communal Societies.

SHU’s Bob Conlon Hosts CD Release Party

Siena Heights graphic design faculty member Robert Conlon hosted a release party for his new music CD, “Longing,” May 12 at the Boulevard Market in Tecumseh.

Barbee Attends Seminar at Yale University

SHU English faculty member Dr. Matthew Barbee was chosen to attend a four-day seminar co-sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the Council of Independent Colleges. The seminar on “Slave Narratives” ran from June 10-13 at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., featured Dr. David W. Blight.

SHU Representatives Travel to Vietnam for Curriculum Partnership

Last summer, SHU’s Kelly Cichy, Joy Garrow and Sally Rae traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, for a three-week partnership/workshop with The Olympia Schools. They worked with Olympia’s faculty/students and administration on curriculum development and implementation of content delivery based on some of the American theorists. This was an attempt to best prepare their students for success in college and in life, as many of the attend colleges/universities in the U.S. Seen below are Kelly, Sally, Joy, and Olympia students attending Olympia’s prom.

University Launches “SHU Mobile” Android Cell Phone App

Siena Heights University has ventured into the mobile communications realm, launching a new Android app for smartphone users. The app features in-depth information for a variety of audiences, including current and prospective students, alumni, parents and faculty and staff. The app features categories like campus news, athletic news and events, campus locations and directions using Google Maps and a YouTube feed to view University videos. SHU Mobile is free and can be downloaded on your Android phone at the Google Play Store.

Kusisto Accepted Into Geriatric Nursing Excellence Group

Siena heights Nursing faculty member Kelli Kusisto was accepted as a year-long participant into the University of Minnesota Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing
Excellence. She attended a week-long immersion with other nursing faculty from across the country, sharing integration of geriatric content into baccalaureate nursing education. All faculty have regular interactions electronically across the academic year to share best practices in their courses.

Siena Heights Named a “Great College to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education

Siena Heights University is one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to a new survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The results, released in The Chronicle’s fifth annual report on The Academic Workplace, are based on a survey of more than 46,000 employees at 294 colleges and universities. In all, only 103 of the 294 institutions achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies. In addition, Siena Heights was only one of two institutions in Michigan to be placed on the Honor Roll, with the University of Michigan being the other. Only 42 institutions nationwide earned this special recognition for being “the best of the best.” Those that make the Honor Roll are cited most often across all recognition categories. Siena Heights won honors in five categories this year:

•   Collaborative governance
•   Confidence in senior leadership
•   Respect and appreciation
•   Supervisor or department chair relationship
•   Work/life balance

Great Colleges to Work For is one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country.

SHU’s McNair Program Receives Funding for Five More Years

Siena Heights University announced it has received funding for the U.S. Department of Education’s Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. Dr. Patricia Wallace, Ph.D., director of SHU’s McNair Scholars Program, said Siena Heights has been funded for five years. The institution will receive $246,000 in grant money per year. “This grant prepares low-income, first-generation and minority students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities,” said Dr. Wallace of SHU’s McNair Program, which has been on the SHU Adrian campus since 1992. “We are excited to continue helping students go on to graduate school!” Siena Heights’ McNair Program enables scholars from both SHU and Adrian College to receive a yearly stipend, attend graduate school fairs, visit graduate school programs, prepare for and take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and complete admissions and financial aid applications for graduate school. In addition, students are assigned faculty mentors to help with research projects.

SHU Admissions and Nursing Announce New Direct Admit Program

Siena Heights University recently announced a new SHU Nursing Direct Admit program for those high school students who are interested in a career in nursing. SHU has established admission criteria for students to directly enter the SHU Nursing Program. Students who have an ACT score of 24 or higher and a B grade or above in high school science courses will be considered for the Direct Admit program. Students will also need to complete a successful drug screening and background check before admission to the nursing major. “Siena Nursing facilitates students to develop excellent clinical reasoning skills through application and analysis of nursing knowledge,” said SHU Director of Nursing Dr. Sue Idczak. “A high school graduate with an ACT of 24 or higher is typically a good critical thinker. I know high school students have many choices of where to attend nursing school.”

“The state of Michigan is fortunate to have excellent nursing education opportunities. Siena Nursing wants to direct admit students who are good thinkers! With an ACT of 24 or higher, a student can have a seat in the Siena Nursing program if he or she earns As and Bs here at Siena.” In addition, SHU Nursing is a second admit program, meaning students must apply at the start of their sophomore year of college to be accepted into the nursing program. Students must have a minimum cumulative 3.0 grade point average in all courses and a grade of an A or a B in all science courses to be considered for an automatic seat under the new direct admit program. Once admitted, students will be required to complete five semesters of nursing coursework before earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

SHU and Lourdes Share Jamaican Service Trip

Five students from Siena Heights University and five students from Lourdes University discovered together how fortunate they are. While on a service trip last May to St. John Bosco School, high in the mountains of central Jamaica, they got a first-hand peak at real poverty. Bosco is a school and home for 160 Jamaican boys, and all have histories of abuse, neglect or delinquency. Most are brought there by the courts, and, according to Mercy Sister Susan Frazer, the administrator, “This is their last stop before prison.” She emphasizes the need for the boys to develop both self-discipline and sufficient job skills to find work once they leave Bosco—usually at 17 or 18.

To this end, older students have the opportunity to learn a trade, and, at Bosco, can master the skills of cooking, butchering or catering. As part of their program, the young cooks in training prepared and served supper to the volunteers each night. During the week, volunteers were engaged in a variety of tasks, including tutoring and reading or writing with the boys. They also organized and played games with them on the play field. They learned that the little pouch in each boy’s T-shirt, always tucked into his khaki shorts, was a sort of locker in which he kept treasures—a comb, a toothbrush, maybe a letter or two, a pencil. This was their only insurance against theft—one of the common reasons boys are brought to Bosco.

Student volunteers from Siena Heights included Alan Marine and Deqorrie Whitman (above), Eric Gilbert, Aubrey Crosby and Andy Switzer. Joining the volunteers were Mercy Sister Pat Schnapp from SHU, Rachel Duff Anderson, Franciscan Sister Barbara Vano and Lourdes basketball coach Andre Smith. Sister Pat noted that the 9-day trip provides both an immersion experience in a different culture and an opportunity to be of service in a concrete way.

“It’s a win-win,” she says, “and we always get much more than we give.” Siena volunteer Aubrey Crosby said, “It was a great trip. Bosco gives those boys a home and a future.” But what the volunteers most enjoyed was the warm response to their friendship and interest in these troubled and needy boys. Would they go back again? “In a heartbeat,” said one.

Gray Receives Honorary Doctorate from SHU

Former Siena Heights Board of Trustee member Gary Gray received an honorary doctorate during SHU’s annual Fall Academic Convocation on Sept. 6 in St. Dominic Chapel. As a practicing physical therapist, Gray’s concern for the physical well-being of his patients led him to be an innovator. He developed a variety of pieces of equipment for rehabilitation and training that are used by thousands of clinicians every day. These innovations earned him the title “The Father of Function” in the physical therapy profession. He has presented seminars for more than 20 years, helping clinicians attend to a three-dimensional approach to treatment of mind, body, spirit as well as the three dimensions through which motion occurs.

The American Physical Therapy Association presented him with the John Maley Lectureship Award, honoring individuals who have “made a recognized and significant contribution to physical therapy in the area of clinical practice” and “has acknowledged skills in the organization and presentation of written or oral communication.” He has founded the Gray Institute to produce and distribute information related to Applied Functional Science. Gray’s contributions to the local community have been many and have had a focus on children. In addition to his support of youth basketball, he hosts the “Hot Rock” and “Girls of Summer” camps. He has been instrumental in the 3D-PT camps in conjunction with the Christian Family Centre and with the “Free to Play” initiative.