FALL 2008
What's new along Appian Way
Bubbles and Electricity Field-Tested by Eager Students
Two Science Out of the Box inquiry science units were field-tested in Kids on Campus courses this summer: Bubble Festival (grades 1 to 3) and Electricity (grades 4 to 6). These field tests will be analyzed and used to develop Science Out of the Box curriculum for Winchester and Keene elementary schools.
The College received a $20,000 Bank of America Charitable Foundation grant to develop the enrichment program, which engages elementary school students in direct experiments that enhance essential concepts and principles in science.
Forum Addresses Alcohol Use and Drinking Age
This summer, 129 college and university chancellors and presidents signed the Amethyst Initiative, which calls for an exploration of the consequences of current alcohol policies, including the mandated minimum drinking age of 21, and invites new ideas on how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use.
– President Helen Giles-Gee
John McCardell, president emeritus of Middlebury College and organizer of the Amethyst Initiative, came to campus on September 30 to join KSC political science professor Chuck Weed in a well-attended forum, "Why 21? Is It Time to Debate the Minimum Drinking Age?"
McCardell is also founder of Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit organization founded to stimulate public discussion about the presence of alcohol in American culture and to consider policies encouraging young adults to make mature decisions about the place of alcohol in their lives (www.chooseresponsibility.org). For more information on the Amethyst Initiative, visit www.amethystinitiative.org.
Family-Style Dinner Kicks Off Centennial Year
Gino Vallante and Sodexho dining services threw a fabulous party on September 9, when 2,310 students, faculty, and staff enjoyed lasagna, Caesar salad, and a spread of delicious desserts at Keene State's Centennial opening dinner. During the event, President Helen Giles-Gee visited with students and staff and cut a birthday cake to mark the beginning of the College's centennial celebration.
Dottie Morris Appointed Interim Chief Officer for Diversity and Multiculturalism
The chief officer, who reports directly to the president, will recommend institutional practices and policies that foster a welcoming and inclusive campus community and advance the College's goals for diversity and multiculturalism. Dr. Morris's office is located in Hale Building.
Robinson Named Vice President for Student Affairs
The vice president for student affairs serves on the president's cabinet. Dr. Robinson supervises Admissions, Athletics, Campus Safety, Residential Life and Dining, the Student Center, the Counseling Center, the Center for Health and Wellness, Disability Services, the Student Development Office, and the Judicial Office.
Treadwell Named Dean of
Professional and Graduate Studies
Frink and Castriotta Appointed Directors
Provost Emile Netzhammer has announced the appointment of Helen Frink as director of the Honors Program. Dr. Frink just completed her term as chair of modern languages and was recognized in 2008 as a distinguished scholar.
He also announced that Sue Castriotta will serve as interim director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) while the College conducts the search for a director in the fall semester.
Sustainable Product Design and Innovation:
KSC's Newest Major
A new baccalaureate program in Sustainable Product Design and Innovation (SPDI), pending final approval from the University System of New Hampshire, will be offered in the fall of 2009. The new major is in the School of Professional and Graduate Studies.
The new four-year, preprofessional SPDI curriculum draws on five disciplines – art, management, mathematics, safety, and industrial/product design – to integrate the social and scientific aspects of sustainability into the current Product Design and Development option in Technology Studies.
"We know that innovation happens at the boundaries between disciplines," says Lisa Hix, principal faculty member for the new SPDI program. "Courses in the arts and safety help with ergonomic design; math and management courses help students understand the economic implications of a new product."
Students are eager for engagement in the new "lean and green" global economy. "Young people want to do something about environmental issues. More and more students are choosing projects that reflect safety or environmental concerns," says Hix. "They are ‘tinker-thinkers.' They're asking, ‘How can we fix this?'"
With the Monadnock region's historic manufacturing base refocusing on high-tech and precision production, businesses are having trouble finding trained employees. "Manufacturing has taken on a new focus and demands more creativity," says John Pappalardo, chair of Keene State's Management Department. "Students are realizing that they need to understand how things are made – we don't live in a virtual world."
Vincent Receives KSC Alumni Association
2008 Distinguished Teacher Award
Dr. Paul Vincent, professor of Holocaust studies, received the 2008 Distinguished Teacher Award from the Keene State College Alumni Association at the New Student Convocation ceremony on August 24.
For 37 years, the Distinguished Teacher Award has been presented to a faculty member of extraordinary professionalism and dedication. Colleagues and students who nominated Dr. Vincent describe him as a "master teacher" both in the classroom and through his work with the biennial Holocaust Studies Summer Institute at the College. "Professor Vincent believes that students have the power to make a difference in the world," one of his students wrote in support of his nomination.
Dr. Vincent has taught at Keene State since 1985, when he arrived as director of the Mason Library. He served as director of the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies from 1998 to 2007. In 2007, he was awarded a Pinchas and Mark Wisen Fellowship to pursue a research project, "The United States and the Crisis of Nazi Racial Policy, 1938-1941," during a five-month residency at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Kahn Honored for Community Service
Holocaust Denial in the Courtroom
Professor Christopher Browning presented the 11th Annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture, "Holocaust Denial in the Courtroom: The Historian as Expert Witness," on September 22.
Professor Browning is the Frank Porter Graham Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is known for his scholarship, including his book Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, and for his role as an expert witness in the libel defense of Professor Deborah Lipstadt, author of Denying the Holocaust, who was sued by Holocaust denier David Irving in the late 1990s.
Browning is currently working on a case study of the slave labor camps in Starachowice in central Poland, using testimony of more than 250 survivors.
Owls' Costa Rican Trip: Soccer and Service
Keene State's men's soccer team traveled this summer to Costa Rica, where they played four games during their nine-day trip. Although team bonding was high on the agenda, the Owls also used the trip to gauge their conditioning and focus as they prepared for their season opener.
The Owls also performed community service with their visit to a local center that housed 86 fatherless children who ranged in age from 10 months to 10 years old. "All these kids wanted was to be held, loved, and played with," coach Ron Butcher said. "My players were tremendous. For all we did on the trip, I will never forget those hours."
Many of the athletes came home with a list of skills to work on to have a successful season. But they also returned with more. "As much as it was a soccer trip, it was also about visiting another country and learning about their culture," said Butcher. "It was a trip of a lifetime for many of these players."
KSC Physical Plant Department Honored
The Keene State College Physical Plant Department was formally recognized at the Granite State Quality Council (GSQC) 2008 Conference in Manchester on June 25. The department received a plaque and a letter of recognition from Governor John Lynch. Only one other organization in the state was recognized in 2008.
The GSQC recognizes New Hampshire organizations for performance excellence using criteria established in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
Governor John Lynch joined the GSQC in congratulating Keene State with a letter stating, "[they] have recognized the need to identify and strive for best practices in support of better serving their customers, developing an engaged and skilled workforce, and ultimately in support of strengthening the New Hampshire economy."
Translation: Physical Plant does a fabulous job of taking care of our beautiful campus!
Early Sprouts Program Receives
Surgeon General’s Champion Award
The Early Sprouts program, led by Health Science Professor Karrie Kalich, is a 24-week nutrition and gardening curriculum for preschoolers that originated at Keene State in 2006. Dr. Kalich worked with KSC students and faculty from the Nutrition and Education Departments to implement a program that engages preschool children and their families in a unique, healthy lifestyle-learning program centered on a working vegetable garden.
The Rose Byrne Child Development Center is one of six Head Start centers in southern New Hampshire that has adopted the Early Sprouts program.