Team Player

Peggy McCann Honored with 2013 Eileen Rice Award
for Outstanding Teaching

By Doug Goodnough

When Peggy McCann arrived on the Siena Heights campus in fall 2006, she meant business. The business of sports, that is.

McCann, an associate professor of Sport Management, was honored last spring with the Eileen Rice Award for Out-
standing Teaching, which is selected by previous winners and students. She said she was “shocked” when she learned about the award and called the moment “emotional” when she heard her name announced as the winner.

“It wasn’t anything I was expecting,” said the soft-spoken McCann of the award. “You have to share this award, because you can’t say that you did it all yourself.”

McCann’s “team” approach has worked well in the Sport Management program, which prepares students for careers in the business of sport – including college, professional and recreational. The Illinois native was a former four-sport standout high school athlete who was inducted into her school’s hall of fame as a bowler. McCann realized early that she wanted to carve out a career in an area she is passionate about. The teaching part came later.

“While I was at Michigan State (completing her PhD), I found out I love to teach,” McCann said. “I wanted to get a position in a teaching college.”

And she wanted to stay in Michigan. She heard from a friend about an open faculty position at Siena Heights, and hand-delivered her application to Adrian to check out the campus.

Center Stage—College for Professional Studies News

Editor’s Note: “Center Stage” is a new feature in this issue that highlights news of interest from around our College for Professional Studies degree completion centers statewide and online program.

Battle Creek

Scott Rubley ’09 was recently featured in the Battle Creek Enquirer newspaper for an unusual achievement: He has never missed a day of school (kindergarten through college) or a day of work. Rubley, who received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from SHU’s Kellogg Community College center, told the newspaper his “get up and go” positive attitude as well as his family upbringing probably contributed to his feat. Rubley is currently employed with the Sturgis Bank and Trust in Climax, Mich.

Benton Harbor

Paget Mangold was recently promoted to assistant director of SHU’s Lake Michigan College Center. Mangold earned her associate’s degree from Lake Michigan College, her bachelor’s degree from SHU and her master’s degree from Aquinas College. Before her promotion, she was an advisor in the SHU@LMC Center. Mangold was previously employed in various student service capacities at LMC for 14 years before joining SHU. She’s a member of the Race Relations Council of Southwest Michigan, United Methodist Women, the Staff/Parish Relations Committee and the Stevensville United Methodist Church. She also teaches pre-school Sunday school at SUMC as well as developmental writing and keyboarding classes at LMC.

From the Heights—Fall 2013 Campus News

SHU Welcomes Largest Freshman Class in History

This fall Siena Heights welcomed the largest freshman class in the institution’s history (photo above). A total of 311
full-time freshmen began classes Aug. 26 on the Adrian campus, according to SHU Vice President of Enrollment Management George Wolf. “The largest freshman class in the University’s history is further evidence that Siena Heights continues to develop itself as a highly valued college choice,” Wolf said. “This large class continues the planned growth and development of Siena Heights University to offer an affordable and flexible high-quality education.” The University also experienced record enrollment this fall in its degree completion centers, which include locations in Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Jackson, Lansing, Monroe, Southfield and online.

Dr. Sue Idczak Honored with IU Alumni Award

Siena Heights Director of Nursing Dr. Sue Idczak was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University School of Nursing. The award honored her national recognition for “significant professional and academic contributions to the field of nursing.” She also was recently published in “Reflections on Nursing Leadership,” a peer reviewed international online nursing journal. The article was titled “Fall Into Presence.”

Siena Heights Names New Graduate College Dean

Siena Heights University named Dr. Linda Sandel Pettit, Ed.D., as its new dean of the Graduate College on July 8. Pettit most recently served as assistant professor of Counselor Education and the program director for the graduate Counseling program at SHU. In her new role as dean, Pettit is responsible for leading Master of Arts programs in leadership, teacher education and counseling and for exploring opportunities to expand the University’s graduate offerings. Pettit, a licensed psychologist, has a doctorate in counseling psychology from West Virginia University, a master’s degree in counselor education from Siena Heights and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University. Before joining SHU in 2011, her career spanned psychological counseling, life coaching, international speaking and training, consulting, teaching in higher education and public relations management. She has worked in hospital, community agency, private practice, business and academic settings.