In the Spotlight: June 15, 2016
Kudos to these faculty, staff and students
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- NAU’s First Year Learning Initiative is highlighted in the new book The Undergraduate Experience: Focusing Institutions on What Matters Most. The authors recognize the program in the chapter “Learning Matters” citing its “comprehensive approach toward recognizing and valuing the complexity of learning.” Through the FYLI development process, course coordinators collaboratively reshape their courses focusing on three main areas: socializing students for excellence, design and coordination.
A Hot Topics Cafe held at the W.A. Franke College of Business. Andrea Houchard, director of NAU’s Philosophy in the Public Interest, was recently recognized as a Civic Engagement Leader by the League of Women Voters of Greater Verde Valley. The award recognizes outstanding work in encouraging informed and active participation in community and government, which exemplifies the purpose of the League of Women Voters. Philosophy in the Public Interest offers community programs including Hot Topics Cafés, discussions about current events, monthly screenings of independent films and documentaries and Sedona Salons.
- Meghan Warren, associate professor in physical therapy, was awarded a fellowship with the Center on Health Services Training and Research, a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary center designed to advance health services and health policy research in physical therapy. Warren also was awarded $14,000 from the American Physical Therapy Association to analyze the functional limitation reporting, FLR, from the national database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Warren’s research will focus on examining the completeness of the FLR and the ability to measure change in function from an initial physical therapy examination to discharge.
- Kimberly Mitchell, associate professor of visual communication, and John Gialanella, lecturer of visual communication, were awarded a $15,000 AIGA Innovate Grant for the development of a design-thinking board game. Located in a fictional, but familiar world, where regions inhabited by millions of people are devastated by both natural and made-made disasters, three teams of two players each must design solutions to meet a stream of challenges. Teamwork, creativity, communication and empathy are required to solve each challenge and will earn each team “Design Cred.” The team with the highest level of Design Cred at the end of the game is the winner.
CSAC’s textbook scholarship recipients are Matt Bloomfield, Noreen Parrish and Gabe Gurrola. Not pictured: Jennifer Offutt. NAU’s Classified Staff Advisory Council awarded four textbook scholarships to NAU staff members currently working towards undergraduate degrees. This year’s recipients are Matt Bloomfield, Facility Services Grounds, Noreen Parrish, Extended Campuses, Gabe Gurrola, General Maintenance Lead, and Jennifer Offutt, College of Education/Education Leadership. The funds were collected from CSAC’s split-the-pot raffle at the annual mixer.
- James Wilce and Janina Fenigsen from the Department of Anthropology have guest edited a special issue of Ethos titled “Emotion Pedagogies” published in the Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology.
- Martin D. Sommerness, professor of journalism, participated in the seventh quadrennial Pre-Law Advisers National Conference June 6-10 in Chicago.
Paeton Keller represents Team USA in the Compound Bow competition. Members of NAU Archery contributed to the success of Team USA at the FISU World Archery University Championships. Paeton Keller and David McNealy were part of the USA Compound Team that took home bronze. Keller also received a bronze in the Individual Compound Bow competition.
