THIRTY-FIVE FACULTY GRANTED SABBATICAL LEAVE FOR THE 2010-2011 SCHOOL YEAR
Sabbatical leaves have been granted to 35 K-State faculty members during the 2010-2011 school year.
The purpose and length of each leave varies, with some faculty members using the time for research projects in the United States or internationally, to teach at other institutions or for other academic pursuits. Faculty members being granted sabbatical leave include:
Barbara Anderson, associate professor of apparel, textiles and interior design; Philip Barnes, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering; Larry Bowne, associate professor of architecture; Leanne Brazeal, associate professor of communication studies, theatre and dance; Liang-Wu Cai, associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering; Todd Cochrane, professor of mathematics; Cora Cooper, professor of music; Suzanne Dubnicka, associate professor of statistics; Carolyn Ferguson, associate professor of biology; Philip Gayle, associate professor of economics; Keith Gido, associate professor of biology; Albert Hamscher, professor of history; Amy Hubbell, associate professor of modern languages; Angela Hubler, associate professor of women’s studies; Tim Keane, professor of landscape architecture and regional and community planning; Emizet Kisangani, professor of political science; Meena Kumari, associate professor of anatomy and physiology; Robert Linder, professor of history; Ronaldo Maghirang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering; and Jon Mahoney, associate professor of philosophy.
Nancy Morrow, associate professor of art; James Nechols, professor of entomology; James Nelson, associate professor of plant pathology; Hikaru Hanawa Peterson, associate professor of agriculture economics; Jeffery M. Peterson, associate professor of agriculture economics; Angela Powers, professor of journalism and mass communications; Robby, associate professor of computing and information sciences; Dale Schinstock, associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering; Candice Shoemaker, professor of horticulture, forestry and recreation resources; Ann Moran Smit, professor of family studies and human services; Xiaoyan Tang, associate professor of plant pathology; Mark Weiss, professor of anatomy and physiology; Stephen Welch, professor of agronomy; Kimberly With, associate professor of biology; and Naiquin Zhang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering.
DONATION ALLOWS BEACH MUSEUM OF ART TO DIGITIZE COLLECTION
A generous donation is allowing K-State's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art to digitize its entire permanent collection of close to 7,000 artworks. The new digitization project is being funded in memory of Robert K. and Dale J. Weary.
Bill North, the museum's senior curator, and Sarah Price, registrar/collections manager, will be in charge of the digitizing efforts. With the large number of works to be copied, North and Price estimate it will take approximately 1,000 hours of work. In order to accomplish this within a one-year schedule, the museum will hire three part-time students from grant funds to assist the museum staff.
Funds from the Weary Family Foundation grant will be used to purchase a top of the line camera and studio equipment to ensure the highest quality digital images are made.
Once the collection is photographed and processed, all images will be placed in a master file archive that will be easily accessible to staff and make searching for images quick and efficient as numerous requests are made by writers and scholars. The intention is also to make images of the collection available online for students, teachers, and researchers.
This availability of collections is quickly becoming the standard within the museum field.
"Digitizing our collection is a critical aspect for the operation of our museum in the current digital age we are in," North said. "Digitizing will help raise the profile of our museum."
APRIL 14 CENTENNIAL LECTURE TO COVER THE CHALLENGES OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING
Steve Nelson, executive vice president of the American Association of Cereal Chemists International and American Phytopathological Society, will present "The Challenges and Opportunities of Scientific Publication" at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, in Hale Library's Hemisphere Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.
"There are new technologies, new and old challenges and opportunities for a publishing world that will better support scientists," Nelson said. "There are also major potential pitfalls that could take publishing down the wrong road."
This is the third of the six-part Centennial Celebration Lecture Series commemorating the 100th anniversary of K-State's department of grain science and industry.
More information on the Centennial Lecture Series is available at http://www.grains.ksu.edu/centennial.
K-STATE'S GUIDE TO PERSONAL SUCCESS PROGRAM LOOKING FOR MENTORS TO HELP FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS STAY ON TRACK
K-State's Guide to Personal Success -- or GPS -- program is looking for 1,000 faculty, staff and graduate students to mentor students through their first year of college.
Now in its second year, the GPS program is designed to increase the retention of first-year students by connecting them to a GPS guide, who has knowledge of university resources and cab help them betteracclimate to campus. The intention this year is to open the program to all first-year students.
Each guide could be matched with three or four mentees. Guides will meet with their mentees individually and/or in small groups at least three times during the fall semester, and these meetings are flexible to the schedules of guides and students. Guides also will be asked to attend a GPS Program Workshop and a kick-off reception.
More information will be available at three upcoming sessions: The sessions, to be conducted using a come-and-go format, will be:
* 12-2 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, Room 212, K-State Student Union;
* 2-3 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, Room 213, Union; and
* 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, April 22, Big 12 Room, Union
Those interested in becoming a GPS guide can contact Sarah Buchanan at 785-532-6541 or gps@k-state.edu.
ENTREPRENEUR TOBY RUSH TO DELIVER KEYNOTE FOR K-STATE'S SPOTLIGHT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The application of intellectual property to start-up companies will be the topic of the keynote address at K-State's seventh annual Spotlight on Intellectual Property, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, April 16, in the K-State Alumni Center Ballroom.
Toby Rush, president and chief executive officer of Rush Tracking Systems based in Lenexa, received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from K-State in 1998. In 2003, he co-founded Rush Tracking Systems as a consulting firm to help companies purchase and install radio frequency identification systems. Soon after, Wal-Mart announced that it would begin using the technology to track its inventory. Rush Tracking Systems played into the trend and eventually turned to the niche market of warehousing and logistics.
Rush has achieved national recognition as an expert in mobile and wireless technologies. His experience in delivering mobile enterprise solutions in challenging and dynamic environments, and his expertise in mobile and wireless computing, has led to consulting engagements with numerous Fortune 500 companies including Compaq's IPAQ Mobile Solutions Group, Smith International Inc. and Microsoft.
He was selected as one of the top 10 entrepreneurs for the charter class of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation's PIPELINE program in 2006. With the recent sale of Rush Tracking Systems to a private equity firm, he becomes the first PIPELINE innovator to successfully grow and sell a company. He also was named as a finalist for the Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2007.
The Spotlight on Intellectual Property recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of K-State inventors, patent-holders and other creators of intellectual property.
The cost of the luncheon is $15 for students and $20 for all others. To make luncheon reservations please call 785-532-5720 or e-mail tech.transfer@k-state.edu before the Monday, April 12, deadline.
K-STATE DIETETICS PROGRAMS EARN CONTINUING ACCREDITATION FROM COMMISSION ON ACCREDITATION FOR DIETETICS EDUCATION
The Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education has reaccredited both of K-State's programs in dietetics for another 10 years.
The commission is the American Dietetic Association's accrediting agency for education programs preparing students for careers as registered dietitians or dietetic technicians, registered.
The accreditation process for K-State included submission of an eligibility study, a self-study completed by K-State's two dietetics programs and a site visit by a commission-appointed team of dietitians. All of the information collected was then submitted to the commission's board of directors, which granted the reaccreditation.
K-State offers both a didactic program in dietetics and a coordinated program.
The didactic program provides the necessary course work to meet the academic requirements of the American Dietetic Association, said Betsy Barrett, program coordinator and associate professor of hospitality management and dietetics at K-State. Barrett said graduates of K-State's didactic program are qualified to apply for admission into a Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education-approved postbaccalaureate dietetic internship. Completion of both the degree program and the internship are mandatory before the graduate can sit for the national credentialing examination to earn the Registered Dietitian credential.
K-State's coordinated program in dietetics combines the didactic curriculum with the required 1,200 hours of supervised practice as part of the Bachelor of Science degree, according to Roni Schwartz, program coordinator and instructor of hospitality management and dietetics.
For accreditation, both K-State programs had to show they met the eligibility requirements and accreditation standards set to ensure quality.