Presidential evaluation and tobacco-free move top Dec. 5 board agenda
The annual evaluation of Western Michigan University President John M. Dunn, a move to make WMU tobacco free and new apartment rental rates for 2014-15 are all on the agenda when the WMU Board of Trustees meets next in formal session Thursday, Dec. 5.
Convening at 1 p.m. in Rooms 157-159 of the Bernhard Center, trustees also will act on a recommendation to revise the University’s capital outlay priority list that is annually submitted to the state. The revision will list the renovation or addition of a College of Aviation classroom building as a priority.
The board also is expected to consider acquisition of downtown Kalamazoo property adjacent to property already owned by the University. The downtown property is intended for future expansion needs or to be held as an investment, and no projects involving the property are planned.
Other items on the agenda include reports on personnel issues and program changes as well as information on gifts and grants received during September and October. In addition, recommendations for program changes, a lease agreement and a liquor license will be heard, and 2014 meeting dates for the board will be set.
U-M professor to examine Parfit’s ‘On What Matters’ in WMU talk
A landmark two-volume book on moral philosophy by luminary Oxford University philosopher Derek Parfit will be under the microscope next month when a noted University of Michigan professor visits Western Michigan University.
Dr. Peter Railton, the John Stephenson Perrin Professor at U-M, will speak at 5:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, in Room 2020 of the Fetzer Center. His presentation, titled “Climbing the Meta-Ethical Mountain,” is part of the WMU Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Fall 2013 Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.
Railton also holds the title of Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at U-M in recognition of his outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. He served as president of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association from 2011-12 and is well known for his work in the philosophy of science and his more recent work in ethics and meta-ethics.
Railton has a particular interest in questions about the nature of objectivity, value, norms and explanation. His areas of recent research also include aesthetics, moral psychology and action theory. He has become famous for giving special attention to the philosophical implications of emerging research in psychology and evolutionary biology.
Railton will present a response to Parfit’s “On What Matters,” which represents a watershed in moral theory and has produced extensive commentary. In part, Railton will respond to Parfit’s criticism of naturalistic approaches to the foundations of morality.
Railton’s appearance is co-sponsored by the WMU Department of Philosophy.
WMU honorary accounting and finance chapter earns ‘Superior Status’
Western Michigan University’s Gamma Rho chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an international honorary accounting and finance organization, has earned Superior Status, a designation the group has received for 30 of the last 35 years.
“Achieving Superior Status demonstrates the level of commitment the members of Beta Alpha Psi have toward improving themselves professionally and ethically and in service to others,” says Dawn Mason, instructor of accountancy and faculty advisor to the group.
To achieve Superior Status, the chapter was required to complete 12 professional service hours and 12 community service hours per member. Superior Status indicates the highest level of involvement by members of a chapter. The members of the Gamma Rho chapter regularly exceed the required hours.
Throughout the past year, members of the WMU chapter participated in numerous service activities, including working with Strides Against Breast Cancer, the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission and Habitat for Humanity. Members also partnered with the Haworth College of Business Career Center to host resume workshops and interview training specific to business and finance students.
Looking to the future, the Gamma Rho chapter plans to continue working on projects as well as improving communication with alumni. The chapter members are also preparing to compete in this year’s regional “Best Practices,” competition, which recognizes the top performing Beta Alpha Psi chapters in the areas of leadership, strategic planning and collaboration.
“I am so proud that this Gamma Rho chapter is never content to rest on past accomplishments, but is continuously striving to improve and expand its impact to both members and non-members alike,” says Mason. “I consider myself lucky to work with these special students.”
Beta Alpha Psi encourages and gives recognition to scholastic and professional excellence. Its efforts include promoting the study and practice of accounting, finance and information systems; providing opportunities for self-development, service and association among members and practicing professionals; and encouraging a sense of ethical, social and public responsibility.
WMU’s SAMPI office lands two NSF grants to boost teaching of science
Western Michigan University’s Science and Mathematics Program Improvement unit has received two grants totaling $529,000 from the National Science Foundation to enhance teaching and help retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics–the STEM disciplines.
The grants will fund two portions of a common project called Automated Analysis of Constructed Responses III. Prior work under the common project also was funded by the NSF.
WMU will be part of a team consisting of faculty from six universities across the country carrying out research intended to assist science, technology, engineering and mathematics faculty in understanding and responding to student thinking and misconceptions regarding major concepts covered in their undergraduate coursework. WMU’s Science and Mathematics Program Improvement will serve as external evaluators for the project.
Michigan State University is the lead institution. In addition to WMU and MSU, partners include the University of Southern Florida, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Maine and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. WMU’s Science and Mathematics Program Improvement is entirely grant funded, and the two grants will give a big boost to SAMPI’s bottom line.
“A huge percentage of students drop out of science majors after their first year,” says Dr. Mary Anne Sydlik, SAMPI director and head of WMU’s evaluation team. “STEM undergrads struggle, for a number of reasons, which in turn can lead to low grades and the impulse to transfer into non-STEM majors.”
Part of the problem is that the multiple-choice tests used in large classes do not always reflect whether a student fully understands the underlying concepts represented in individual questions. Faculty using multiple-choice questions do not get the feedback on student thinking, particularly misconceptions, needed to support students’ mastery of the subject. The NSF-funded initiative is designed to allow faculty to use an automated system that analyzes students’ written answers to questions and then provides a report documenting where the class as a whole needs more assistance with difficult topics or concepts.
The project has two main goals. One is to continue creating and validating questions for use in introductory biology, chemistry, chemical engineering and statistics courses and to develop a web portal to analyze students’ written answers to homework, quizzes and test questions. The second goal is to form discipline-based learning communities for biology, chemistry, statistics and engineering faculty interested in new methods of assessment and using automated analysis to inform their teaching. The research team will determine the extent to which participation in the faculty learning community impacts a sustained adoption of the new assessment tools and changes in how participating faculty address student difficulties and misconceptions.
WMU Science and Mathematics Program Improvement will work closely with project team members as they develop and implement the effort. SAMPI’s evaluation work will focus on documenting the initiative’s impact on the project team and participating faculty, whether the project is carried out as intended, the strengths and limitations of the initiative, and the project’s potential impact on prevailing models of undergraduate STEM education.
Higher ed and work force development is Sichel series topic
Release #1314; Nov. 26, 2013–Contact Teresa Ventimiglia (269) 387-8424
KALAMAZOO– A nationally recognized expert on developing human capital will explore the problems facing higher education and meeting the personnel needs of employers when she speaks at Western Michigan University Wednesday, Dec. 4, as part of the Werner Sichel Lecture Series.
Dr. Nancy Folbre, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will speak at 3 p.m. in Room 2028 of Brown Hall. Her speech, “The Once (But no Longer) Golden Age of Human Capital,” is free and open to the public.
Folbre has been a weekly contributor to the New York Times “Economix” blog since 2009 and is a staff economist for the Center for Popular Economics. Her current research focuses on the interface between feminist theory and political economy.
She is a 1998 recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Five-Year Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Award, and the author of “Saving State U: Why We Must Fix Public Higher Education.” Folbre has been a consultant to the United Nations Human Development Office. She has also been a visiting scholar at the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics. She is the author of numerous professional articles and book chapters.
Folbre earned her doctorate in economics from the University of Massachusetts, a master’s degree in Latin American Studies and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, both from the University of Texas.
The Werner Sichel Series is organized by the WMU Department of Economics and named in honor of longtime WMU economics professor Dr. Werner Sichel, who retied in 2004. The series is annually cosponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
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WMU sales and marketing students win ‘Rookie of the Year’ honors
Release #1314-134; Nov. 26, 2013–Contact: Cindy Wagner, (269) 387-5928
KALAMAZOO–A team of two Western Michigan University students earned the Rookie of the Year award at this year’s International Collegiate Sales Competition, a tournament-style series of role-play challenges hosted by Florida State University.
Seniors Cody Schievink, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Lauren Steele, of Livonia, Mich., both sales and business marketing majors, were each awarded $250 for being named the top rookies.
“Knowing that we were competing against some of the top sales programs in the nation made the motivation that much stronger,” says Steele. “At times it was nerve-wracking, but knowing that WMU has such a good program, we were confident we would perform well.”
“I am so grateful that I had an opportunity to represent WMU,” says Schievink. “Western and the sales program along with the Sales and Business Marketing Association have given me so many opportunities to be successful as a student and as a young professional. It was great to be able to put the hard work in and give back to the University by competing the best I possibly could.”
Teams participated in four rounds of challenges, such as business-to-consumer and business-to-business selling. In each round, they sought to meet specific role-play requirements as well as goals ranging from getting a second appointment to making a sale. But judges scored teams on their presentation, communication skills, approach to the challenge, overcoming objections and gaining commitment.
“Lauren and Cody worked incredibly hard preparing for the competition and it showed,” says Dr. Steve Newell, professor of marketing and faculty advisor to the team. “They represent the high quality students in the sales and business marketing program. We’re excited about competing again next year.”
The WMU sales and business marketing program is one of the largest and most recognized sales programs in the country. Its intensive sales-focused curriculum prepares students with adaptive, relationship-focused selling skills that lead them to success at many of the country’s top firms. The program has been named a “Top University Sales Program” by the Sales Education Foundation since 2007 and is rated the No. 2 program in the country by Education-Portal.com.
