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May 18, 2009-August 24, 2009
The 2008 Benedictine University Football Media Guide, produced by Dave Beyer (sports information director) with assistance from Corinne Vargas and Phil Brozynski (Marketing and Communications), placed second in the nation in the annual contest sponsored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The CoSIDA publications contest features entries from NCAA Division III, NAIA and junior colleges from across the nation. 
On June 18, the Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) department hosted James G. S. Clawson, author of "Level Three Leadership," as the featured speaker of their final 2008-2009 faculty professional development program. This event was developed by Sharon Borowicz (M.B.A. and M.S.A. program), Theresa Smallwood (M.B.A. program) and Susan Stackley (M.B.A. program). Clawson is a professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. More than 60 faculty and students from Benedictine's M.B.A., M.S.A., M.S.M.I.S., M.S.M.O.B. and Ph.D.O.D. attended the presentation. The M.B.A. department hosts three faculty professional development opportunities each academic year to help full-time and adjunct faculty in the M.B.A., M.S.A. and M.S.M.I.S. programs hone their pedagogical skills and stay informed of new theories and research in the field of leadership and business administration.
Maria de la Camara (College of Liberal Arts), Kevin Doyle (M.B.A.), Chris Fletcher (Theology), Pat Flynn (Philosophy), Jean-Marie Kauth (Writing), Tim Marin (Chemistry), Al Martin (Biology), Don Taylor (Provost) and Allison Wilson (Biology) attended the Third Annual Benedictine Pedagogy Conference at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. on May 28-30. As part of a Benedictine University panel on welcoming new members to our community, Kauth and Flynn presented on "The Person in Community: Writing Colloquium" and its Benedictine aspects, Wilson and Doyle presented on "New Faculty Mentoring Program" and how mission and identity affect faculty, and Doyle and Fletcher presented on "Module in First M.B.A. Course Addresses Benedictine Values."
Frank Corso (Education) has been named the University's supervisor for seven Benedictine students who will be doing their pre-clinical experience at St. Ethelreda Catholic Elementary School in Chicago during the Fall 2009 semester. These students will be paired with James Pelech, Ovid Wong and MeShelda Jackson (Education) to provide academic support to students and observe the co-teaching model that has taken place over the past two years between Benedictine faculty and St. Ethelreda faculty.
Kevin Doyle (M.B.A.) and Jean-Marie Kauth (Language and Literature) organized and presented a caucus session on "How to Make Green Matter on Campus" at the Academy of Management annual meeting in Chicago on August 10. They reported on Benedictine's experience with "Years for the Environment," and shared with faculty from St. Louis University, Berea College and Farleigh Dickinson University the special challenges and opportunities of "greening a campus."
Cheryl Heinz (Biology) presented a paper entitled, "Native Butterfly with Native and Introduced Hosts in a Suburban Area: Early Explorations" at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Albuquerque, New Mexico, August 3-7. Heinz, along with undergraduate students, have been looking at variation in leaf chemistry and female butterfly responses to leaves and chemical extracts of the leaves, as well as the relative distribution of wild carrot and golden alexanders within DuPage County.
Joan Henehan (Student Success Center) and Sandra Gill (College of Business) conducted the Freshman Leadership Conference on August 12. The Freshman Leadership Conference is intended to enhance student success, encourage student involvement in campus activities and promote networking among new students. Student Senate leaders, including Ayat Abuakar, Sean McGirr, Regina Oseteo, Lori Puchalski, Mustaba Rashid and Sabrina Sanchez, also participated in the program and shared their experiences as student leaders. More than 30 incoming freshman students explored leadership opportunities in Student Government, Residence Life, Athletics, the Disney Summer Leadership Program and student clubs. Participants connected in team building and conflict resolution exercises, and discussed time management tips for academic success in the coming year.
Ted Hogan (Public Health) wrote a chapter on "Emergency Management in Higher Education: Current Practices and Conversations" which received a favorable review by Debra Griffin, Program Manager for Homeland Security, Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Volume six, Issue one, Article five, 2009.
Joyce Jeewek (Education) is the new co-president elect of the local Prairie Area Reading Council (PARC) and participated in the leadership conference for the Illinois Reading Council from July 8-10. PARC's membership drive idea won first place of all Illinois state reading councils and also received a membership grant for the 2009-2010 school year. As a Benedictine University faculty member, Jeewek continues to serve as a university liaison for PARC who will be hosting children's author Steven Layne at Benedictine University on Wednesday, October 14 with the sponsorship of the Benedictine University Education members of Kappa Delta Pi.
Fr. Michael Komechak, O.S.B. (Benedictine Art Collection) celebrated his Golden Jubilee on Saturday, May 30 with an 11:00 a.m. Mass at the St. Procopius Abbey Church.
James Pelech (Education) has been named president of the Board of Specified Jurisdiction at St. Ethelreda Catholic Elementary School in Chicago. Ovid Wong, Frank Corso and MeShelda Jackson (Education) have been named members on the board. The Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Catholic Schools requires each Catholic school to create a Board of Specified Jurisdiction that includes members of the community, business professionals, alumni and representatives from colleges and universities. The requirement is part of the archdiocese's "Genesis" program, an initiative to assist the schools with clear direction to become more vital and viable for increasing enrollment.
Niina Ronkainen (Chemistry) presented a poster titled "Teaching Chemistry in Context" at the Gordon Research Conference, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, in Waterville, Maine on June 23. Gordon Research Conferences are international, selective and usually attended by a group of about 130 top researchers in the field. The presentation described a teaching approach that Ronkainen has been using in her General Chemistry and Chemical Analysis courses at Benedictine University. Ronkainen also attended a Materials Science and Nanotechnology Workshop at Beloit College in Beloit, Wis. on July 12-17. The five-day workshop that was funded by the National Science Foundation focused on a chemical view of materials science, the nanoworld and how to incorporate these topics into the core chemistry curriculum. It also included a number of hands-on activities for the 20 participants including lectures, applications of commercial high technology materials and laboratory experiments related to nanotechnology. Additionally, Ronkainen presented a poster titled "Reintroducing Scientific Discovery into Chemistry Laboratory Courses" at the Gordon Research Conference, Visualization In Science and Education, in Oxford, United Kingdom on July 29. The presentation described a pedagogy approach that Ronkainen has been using in the development of new experiments for her Chemical Analysis labs at Benedictine University. The meeting was co-sponsored and organized by the National Science Foundation and Gordon Research Conferences. In order to emphasize and integrate the multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approaches to Visualization in Science and Education, the presenters and participants included an international group of 135 physical scientists, cognitive scientists and psychologists, science educators, science policy makers and National Science Foundation staff members. Ronkainen was also invited as a member of the 2011 General Chemistry Committee by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Examinations Institute. For 70 years, the Examinations Institute which is a part of the Chemical Education Division of the ACS has been establishing ways to measure learning in the chemistry classroom. The committee will write new assessment and practice materials and study guides for use in General Chemistry courses.
Fannie Rushing (History) received the 2009 Sister Mary Clemente Davlin, O.P. Diversity Leadership Award at Dominican University during the university's convocation on August 31 in the Lund Auditorium in River Forest. Rushing's academic work has focused on the history and culture of African people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rushing also organized a movement to record the vanishing histories of African-Americans by gathering oral history tapes, music recordings and archives. She was honored with the HistoryMakers Award in 2004. The HistoryMakers is a national non-profit oral history archive dedicated to preserving African-American history as the missing link in American history.
Ram Tenkasi (Organization Development) was a keynote speaker along with Robert Greene of Arizona State University and James O'Connell of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University at the Arizona State University Summer Institute on "Innovations in Implementation and Health Informatics" hosted by Arizona State University's Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy. Tenkasi's presentation was titled, "The role of contextualization in the effective implementation of health care change."
Martin Tracey (Philosophy) wrote a chapter on the moral thought of Albert the Great that has been accepted for publication in an anthology edited by Irven Resnick and titled, "The Universal Doctor: Albertus Magnus on Theology, Philosophy and the Sciences." The anthology is scheduled for publication by Brill Press in 2010.
Lu Zhang (M.B.A.) has been chosen as a member of the selection committee that will select China's top 10 New Class Elite Leaders in celebration of the 30th anniversary of China's reform and open-door policy. "New Class Elite Leaders," as coined by the Chinese Government, refers to rising business and entrepreneur stars from the private sector and multinational companies that manage in excess of $1.5 trillion in capital and play crucial roles in China's development. This landmark event is sponsored by China Business Focus, Australia Daily, International Daily News (United States), The Mirror Newspaper (Hong Kong) and Global Business Connection (China). The selection committee is composed of 12 members and is co-chaired by Bob Hawk, the former Prime Minister of Australia, and Zhang Huaixi, former Deputy Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
John Zigmond (Moser Colleges of Adult and Professional Studies) and James Pelech (School of Education) hosted a regional meeting of the National Association for Alternative Certification. The meeting, which was held at Benedictine University on June 15-16, focused on recruiting, selecting, preparing and supporting candidates and marketing the program. The association advocates a standards and research-based approach to alternate routes to teacher certification.
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