The Reporter, June 2015

The Reporter is a publication produced by Western Carolina University featuring news, events, and campus community updates for faculty and staff. The publication began in August of 1970 and continues digitally today. Click on the link in the “Related Materials” field to access recent issues.SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home June 3, 2015 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Chancellor Belcher (right) is given the opportunity to experience the BioNetwork Lab at Asheville- Buncombe Technical Community College. TOP STORIES Annual Leadership tour roams region from Robbinsville to Asheville The second annual Western Carolina University Leadership Regional Tour featured 36 campus leaders traversing the mountainous Western North Carolina region during a weeklong expedition Monday, May 11, through Friday, May 15. The tour allowed campus leaders to not only learn more about the communities WCU serves, but how to build on existing relationships. Each morning, a group of 14 members from the WCU Leadership Academy, and 22 other campus leaders who are either new to WCU or in new positions at the university, climbed aboard a white motor coach from the Cherokee Boys Club and headed out to destinations that spanned from Robbinsville to Asheville. Each day’s tour had a dierent theme on the topics of education, health care, entrepreneurship, economic development, and recreation and tourism. Stops included visiting various levels of schools in Jackson County, the new state-of-the-art Cherokee Indian Hospital that is under construction, a walking tour of downtown Asheville, taking part in a hands-on experiment at the BioNetwork Lab at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, and viewing Fontana Lake aboard a pontoon boat as participants learned the history behind the building of Fontana Dam. Leaders said they came away with a better grasp of how they can make a dierence in Western North Carolina. “We have accomplished one of the main goals of the tour, which is to make new and emerging campus leaders aware of the many opportunities and challenges in our service region,” said WCU Provost Alison Morrison-Shetlar. “I know that the group made connections. I’ve heard people talk about wanting to come back and build partnerships and collaborations with the individuals they have met, which is an intended outcome of the tour. The partners we have met with, particularly in the far western counties, have been happy that WCU continues to arm its commitment to our part of the region, to come out and see what they have to offer, and the opportunities for collaboration.” The Leadership Academy is an initiative WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher announced in his installation address in 2012. It was developed under the direction of the late Provost Angi Brenton and Laura Cruz, director of Coulter Faculty Commons. After trying to emulate what other universities had done with their leadership academies last year, Cruz quickly learned that wasn’t the best t for WCU. So she and her staff developed their own curriculum. “One of the unique things about our academy is it includes faculty and sta,” Cruz said. “A lot of the more renowned academies are for faculty only. We threw out everything and created our own curriculum. It’s unique. I think this year has been a tremendous success. “We did problem-based learning this year. I feel like it worked better than we expected. You get something to think about and learn from. I feel like we’ve really been successful,” she said. During its education tour through Jackson County, the group visited Fairview School, Summit Charter School, Cullowhee Valley School, Jackson County School of Alternatives, Smoky Mountain High School and Southwestern Community College. Participants were able to see the circular pod setup for classrooms at Fairview, the picturesque mountain setting of Summit Charter School in Cashiers and the care students put into growing their own food at Cullowhee Valley. They also listened to SCC President Don Tomas discuss how his school’s relationship with WCU continues to get stronger, making it easier for students to transfer to WCU upon completing their degrees at SCC. But it was the visit to the School of Alternatives, also known as The Hub, that captured the hearts and attention of many leaders as principal Kristopher Reis gave an impassioned view of the shortcomings he and his sta face in educating the county’s troubled youth, such as having to use bottled water for drinking due to an aging infrastructure. “For me, the highlight was the School of Alternatives in Sylva, just the passion that those educators have for children in crisis and need,” WCU Chief of Staff Melissa Wargo said. “And how disheartening it was on one hand that they lacked the facilities and resources to be able to provide a comparable educational environment for those kids. But the passion and energy they brought to their profession – those kids are getting a top-notch education and are not being forgotten in the system.” Tuesday’s trip began with a visit to the $75 million Cherokee Indian Hospital, which features breathtaking mountain views and intricate architectural CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT Campus leaders donned hard hats and safety vests to tour the construction site of the new Cherokee Indian Hospital. details. CEO Casey Cooper said more than 25 meetings were held with members of the community seeking their input on a health care facility. It is scheduled to open in the spring of 2016. After listening to a panel discussion on preventative health care initiatives at the Ginger Lynn Welch Complex in Cherokee, leaders enjoyed an authentic Cherokee lunch with Eastern Band Cherokee elders, who shared their stories. George Brown, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts, had a chance encounter with famed Cherokee artist Edwin George. “Sitting down and having a wonderful lunch with an elder at the Cherokee nation and just letting him share all of his stories with me and looking at his artwork and seeing in his eye that gleam of fun in his storytelling, for me that was really tremendous, having that conversation,” Brown said. Edwin George also provided him with a signed print of his work. Entrepreneurship was Wednesday’s theme as the group headed to Asheville. Participants learned there was an entrepreneur among them as they prepared to take a walking tour led by Kevan Frazier, director of WCU Programs at Biltmore Park. Frazier, a native of Asheville, began doing walking tours as a side business about a year ago. “I had some friends in the hospitality industry who identied a need and brought it to me a little over a year ago,” he said. “I had been giving lectures and talks and tours on Asheville for years.” On Thursday, the group headed west to learn how that part of the region is coping with economic development as it tries to capitalize on tourism. After being welcomed at Stecoah Valley Center by Robbinsville town planner Teresa Garland, Graham County economic development director Andy Cable provided a bus tour of Robbinsville. Following a twisting ride through the mountains to Fontana Village Resort, the participants boarded pontoon boats on Fontana Lake. The day ended near Bryson City as the group walked through the tunnel on the “Road to Nowhere” while listening to a presentation by WCU alumnus L.D. Hyde. Then, it was o to Maggie Valley and Waynesville on Friday as the week concluded with tourism and recreation. The leaders toured Cataloochee Guest Ranch in Maggie Valley and took in a walking tour of Waynesville’s Main Street, led by Buffy Phillips, executive director of the Downtown Waynesville Associate. The week ended with beer tasting at Frog Level Brewing as leaders discussed the burgeoning craft brew industry in WNC. With a second year of the tour completed, Belcher said he sees the value it brings to WCU’s emerging leaders. “I think it helps to keep us grounded as a university in the region that we are serving,” he said. “Being able to see a wide variety of schools in Jackson County is an incredible opportunity. People who have lived here for a number of years saw things that they hadn’t seen, and they thought they knew our county. Getting to go to Cherokee, they have such a wonderful, unique culture within Western North Carolina, but they have specific needs and expectations as well. “To see a burgeoning city like Asheville and some of the challenges they have, some of the hopes and dreams they have, and then some of the really incredible entrepreneurial things they are doing is incredibly important for our university. It’s very easy for people at a university like WCU to become very inwardly focused on what we do on a daily basis, and we have to spend a lot of time doing that. But we’re a public institution and making sure that we stay grounded in the region that we’re designed to serve is paramount if we’re going to fulfill our mission as a public institution,” he said. Jeffrey Ray, dean of the Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology, said the tour was definitely an enlightening experience. “The thing that has opened my eyes is how engrained we are in the dierent aspects of the region, and not just in one or two areas,” Ray said. “It’s been exciting to get out and see dierent kinds of innovations and manufacturing, just the opportunities of development in Western North Carolina. I knew a little bit about it, but it really has opened my eyes to a lot of things, particularly the education and the focus of what’s happening in Jackson County.” For more information on the WCU Leadership Academy, visit wculeadershipacademy.wcu.edu. Participants in the Western Carolina University Leadership Regional Tour take a tour of Waynesville’s downtown business district. By Marlon W. Morgan © 2015 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home June 3, 2015 Email This Post Print This Post Share | ACHIEVEMENTS Dennison completes small business counselor certification Tommy Dennison, business counselor at Western Carolina University’s Small Business and Technology Development Center, has successfully completed the National Development Council’s Economic Development Finance Professional certification program. The nationally recognized program includes three weeklong classes and requires passing a rigorous four- to ve-hour examination following each class. The training focuses on creating opportunities in the following areas: business credit, real estate nance analysis, loan packaging procedures, negotiating and problem-solving skills, and deal structuring techniques. Dennison completed the certication in a cohort with 15 other sta members of the Small Business and Technology Development Center, a statewide business advisory service of the University of North Carolina system administered by N.C. State University and operated in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration. “We are committed to ensuring our counselors are as knowledgeable as possible,” Scott Daugherty, State Director of the SBTDC, said of the certication achievement. “The advanced competencies resulting from the EDFP certication will enhance the SBTDC’s capacity to help small to medium sized businesses secure capital to sustain growth.” Dennison joined WCU’s small business program in 2013. He counsels, trains and provides support to small and midsize businesses with a concentration on the seven westernmost counties in Western North Carolina. The SBTDC provides management counseling and education services to businesses throughout North Carolina from 16 oces across the state. For more information, visit www.sbtdc.org. Tags: Tommy Dennison CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2015 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home June 3, 2015 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Santiago Garcia-Castanon ACHIEVEMENTS Garcia-Castanon wins poetry competition Santiago Garcia-Castanon, professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, won rst prize in the 2015 Lincoln-Marti International Poetry Competition for “Las fronteras del amor” (“The boundaries of love”). Garcia-Castanon is an award-winning poet and novelist in his native Spain and is the author of 14 books, including six poetry collections and two novels. Tags: Santiago Garcia-Castanon CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2015 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home June 3, 2015 Email This Post Print This Post Share | TOP STORIES Human resources students serve as consultants to businesses, organizations During the spring semester, students in the WCU’s master’s degree program in human resources served as pro bono human resources consultants for businesses in the region. They developed and delivered eight projects for various entities, including a nonprot organization, a locally owned small business, and a town government. Their work was part of a human resources consulting course taught by Marie-Line Germain, assistant professor of human resources and leadership. Germain supervised the students’ consulting projects, and was assisted by graduate student Lisa Phillips and Alex Hall, who graduated from the program in the fall of 2014. Projects included work on job descriptions, performance appraisals, and a grievance policy, and the development, execution and analysis of an employee satisfaction survey for Green Opportunities, a nonprot located in Asheville; the creation of an employee handbook, job descriptions and an employment contract for MS Lean, a small landscaping business also in Asheville; and a citywide compensation analysis study for the town of Canton, which was coordinated by Hall. Kendra Penland, interim executive director of Green Opportunities, said she appreciated the value of the consulting work performed for her organization, which does not have an in-house human resource function. “The WCU students’ analysis and recommendations were professional, thoughtful and very intentional. The quality and scope of the work produced by the WCU graduate students were invaluable at a critical time for our organization, currently in transition,” Penland said. The team’s helpfulness and eectiveness also was commented upon by MS Lean owner Stephen Smith, who said: “Dr. Germain and her students were great. The work really left me speechless; an unbelievable degree of quality and dedication. A tremendous amount of eort went into this project. I’m forever grateful.” Seth Hendler-Voss, the town manager of Canton, said the consulting team helped the town execute a pay study to make it more competitive in the regional market. “The students, under the guidance of a volunteer human resources professional, were able to compile and analyze a tremendous amount of data in short order and ultimately produced a tangible new pay plan that we hope to enact. Looking beyond compensation, the students challenged us to consider other measures that may increase retention and employee satisfaction. The partnership with WCU gave Canton a professional-grade product at no cost and exemplifies the university’s commitment to serving as a relevant resource to surrounding communities.” This spring, the College of Education and Allied Professions awarded program alumnus Alex Hall the “Peak Performer” award in recognition of his continued engagement with the program, including the pro bono consulting work he facilitated throughout his enrollment at WCU. Since 2011, graduate students in WCU’s master’s degree program in human resources have provided pro bono consulting on 69 projects for 41 nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and local governments in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. For more information about the program, contact Germain at 305-962-8668 or at mgermain@wcu.edu. Special to The Reporter CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2015 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home June 3, 2015 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Phillip Kneller ACHIEVEMENTS Kneller receives 2015 environmental health education award Phillip Kneller, associate professor of environmental health, will be presented with the 2015 Jack B. Hatlen Award at the annual meeting of the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, July 13. Kneller received notice of the award in a recent letter from the organization which read, in part, “This award is given to individuals in recognition of their contributions to AEHAP and of their long-standing commitment to promoting excellence in environmental health education. Over the years, your commitment to AEHAP has been immeasurable. We appreciate all you do for us, students and the field of environmental health.” Kneller was nominated by WCU colleagues Burton Ogle, Tracy Zontek and Brian Byrd, and was selected by the organization’s board of directors. The organization’s meeting takes place in concert with the National Environmental Health Association Conference in Orlando. To learn more about the award, the organization or WCU’s environmental health program, reach Kneller at 828-227-2654 or pkneller@wcu.edu. Tags: Phillip Kneller CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2015 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home June 3, 2015 Email This Post Print This Post Share | “25 Three Vases” by Lee Budahl ACHIEVEMENTS Retired professor’s ‘fool-the-eye works’ to be shown in Wisconsin Paintings done by retired Western Carolina University professor Lee Budahl will be presented by the Wisconsin Union Directorate Art Committee at the Wisconsin Union Galleries’ Gallery 1308 in Madison, Wisconsin, Friday, June 12 through Tuesday, July 28. “The paintings are in the trompe l’oeil (fool-the-eye) mode, which attempts to deceive the viewer into believing that a painted image is actually a three-dimensional object,” Budahl said. “This type of painting has existed from ancient Rome until today, when ‘shadows’ often appear at the edges of photos printed in magazines and advertisements.” Budahl, who taught art at Western Carolina from 1972 to 2004, will be present at the exhibit’s opening reception on June 12, from 6 – 8 p.m. In 2010, Budahl self-published a novel, “The Wars of the Littendahl Men,” and in 2011 wrote and drew a graphic novel for WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center called “Capt. Orr’s Badge.” CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2015 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home June 3, 2015 Email This Post Print This Post Share | NOTEWORTHY NEWS Right Path participants donate Cherokee language CD, workbook to museum Members of the 2011-12 class of the Right Path Adult Leadership Program recently presented a Cherokee language CD and companion workbook to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. The Right Path Program is part of the Western North Carolina Leadership Initiative, which is administered through Western Carolina University’s Coulter Faculty Commons. The 12-month program provides leadership training taught through the prism of Cherokee culture. The Right Path group’s language project, titled “Second Language Learning,” is an expansion of a 2012 group project to translate and record phrases commonly used by 18- to 40-year-old Cherokee people. The goal of the recent project was to help individuals learn the Cherokee language within their personal time constraints and to learn phrases popular with young adults. Copies of the CD and workbook have been distributed across 10 Cherokee communities. Jeremy Wilson, a member of the 2011-12 Right Path cohort, thanked Cherokee language speakers Nannie Hornbuckle and Sally Smoker and WCU Cherokee language faculty member