Message from Dean Teitelbaum

I’m writing this just as spring break is starting.  Like all of you, I’m sure, there are always many things to get done, but I feel like I can perhaps deal with them in a somewhat more relaxed fashion during this week.  I hope you have a similar experience, or otherwise that you’re able to take this time to visit family and friends, vacation in a warm and sunny place, or just experience being away from the usual routines. 

This copy of COEHS Update will be distributed before Governor Quinn’s budget address, which is scheduled for March 18.  What the Governor outlines in his talk will quite probably have a major impact on the functioning of our College during the next few years.  No doubt there will be a good deal of scrambling after March 18, as we all try to figure out exactly what cuts (if any) are being made and how the University can address them so that they have the least negative impact on faculty, staff and students.  I know I don’t have all the answers – and at this moment I’m not even completely sure what the right questions will be!  The COEHS Executive Council (our two associate deans, director of teacher education, and eight chairs/directors), as well as staff members in the Dean’s Office like Susan Wills, will no doubt be very helpful in figuring out the best way to handle any serious financial issues that we’ll be facing.  At the same time, I very much welcome your input as well.  As things become clearer during the next several weeks/months, please feel free to let me know your thoughts, ideas, etc. on how we can continue to provide the best possible academic programs and work environment in our College.

Also, remember that the Spring 2009 College-wide meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 3:00-4:30, in Wham 105 (Davis Auditorium).  The agenda will include a PowerPoint Presentation about “international activities” in the College that HER Faculty Emeritus Dale Ritzel and I have worked on, as well as any available information about the budget, other College news, and of course “door prizes,” with refreshments and socializing to follow.  I hope you can make it.

Upcoming Events

• CDL “For the Kids Gala”: Friday, March 20, 6:30-9:30, Dunn-Richmond Center
• COEHS Brown Bag Presentation: Thursday, April 2, 12:00-1:00, Wham 219 Conference Room
• Illinois Teacher of the Year Lecture: Thursday, April 2, 3:00-3:50, Wham 105 (Davis Auditorium); reception follows in Wham 219
• Honors Day: Sunday, April 5, 1:00-2:30, Shryock Auditorium
• COEHS “Spring into Health Wellness Fair”: Friday, April 10, 11:30-1:30, Pulliam Gym
• College-wide Meeting: Friday, April 10, 3:00-4:30, Wham 105 (Davis Auditorium)
• College Open House & Ice Cream Social: Wednesday, April 29, noon-5:00, Pulliam Gym
• PhD Graduates Dinner: Wednesday, May 6, 6:00-8:00, Touch of Nature/Friends Room
• College Commencement(s): Friday, May 8, 1:30-3:00 and 4:00-5:30, Shryock Auditorium

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No-Agenda Lunches with the Dean

I had my second “No-Agenda Lunch” on Tuesday, February 24, with a full complement of 8 faculty members joining me.  Similar to the first lunch, the hour sped by so quickly that we ended up continuing our conversation for another half hour.  What I’ve liked about these first two lunches is their cross-departmental nature, really by chance (in terms of who signs up).  Thus, for the first lunch there were 5 academic units represented among the 8 individuals who joined me.  For this second lunch, 6 different units were represented.  I like being able to talk to people from so many of the departments – and I think the participants did as well.

The third “No-Agenda Lunch” is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, from noon to 1:00 p.m., in Wham 109 conference room.  There are a few slots still available; if you’d like to sign up, please contact Carol Reynolds at crenolds@siu.edu or 453-7313.  We’ll continue with the pizza and soda pop/water cuisine.  (The last lunch will be on Thursday, April 23; as of now there are sign-up opportunities available for that one as well.)

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COEHS Scholarship Brown Bag Series

Christie McIntyre explaining research results.

On Wednesday, March 4, two dozen people joined CI faculty members Kelly Glassett, Joyce Killian, Christie McIntyre, John McIntyre, Grant Miller, and Cathy Mogharreban for their presentation/discussion on “Teacher Candidates’ Constructions of Becoming a Teacher.”  The large number in attendance were treated to preliminary findings of a longitudinal study on the extent to which our Teacher Education Program prepares teacher candidates to develop, implement, and make instructional decisions based on pupil assessments.  Embedded within the study is an examination of how teacher candidates develop their ideas of becoming a teacher.  What was particularly interesting about the presentation and follow-up discussion was the focus not just on the initial data collection but on the study’s methodologies and research questions (including the benefits and difficulties of working as such a large team on a qualitative study).  Thanks so much to the group of six presenters for providing us with such a fascinating glimpse of what promises to be a major research project!

Dean Teitelbaum introducing the March 2009 presenters

L to R: CI faculty members Kelly Glassett, Grant Miller, Christie McIntyre, John McIntyre, Cathy Mogharreban, and Joyce Killian.

Our next (sixth) and final Brown Bag for the 2008-2009 year will take place on Thursday, April 2, in the Wham 219 Conference Room, from noon to 1:00 p.m.  Kathy Hytten, currently serving as Interim Chair of the Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education, will speak on “Democratic Education and the Challenge of Globalization.”  As always, all faculty, staff and students are invited to attend; attendees are welcome to bring their lunches; and light refreshments will be provided.

The COEHS Scholarship Brown Bag Series, currently in its second year, has been quite successful, I think, from the perspective of both presenters and attendees.  My only thought for improving it is to have more students (especially doctoral students) at the sessions.  If presenters include a brief discussion of their research questions and methodologies (if the brown bag is about a research project), then the presentations would be of great benefit to students even if the particular focus of study is not of great relevance to them. 

If you would like to be one of the presenters during the 2009-2010 year, you can start letting me know of your interest, a tentative title (which can be changed later), and if you have a preference for semester or day of the week.  We’ll again have three in the fall and three in the spring.  Thanks.

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“For the Kids Gala”

The Child Development Lab (a lab school for students in our Early Childhood Education Program) and the Klassics for Kids program (providing musical programs to young children in the area) are holding the 3rd Annual “For the Kids Gala” on Friday, March 20, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center.  This will be super fun and low-key evening featuring a variety of local wines and beer along with hors d’oeuvres and desserts, with lively music provided by the Swivel Rockers.  Local merchants and friends of the CDL and K4K have donated merchandise, meals, tickets to events, and other items for the silent auction.  Ed Benyas will be the master of ceremonies, so you know it’s sure to be entertaining!  For reservations, contact Julie Moore at the CDL at 453-4221.  Advance reservations are $20 per person.  The cost rises to $25 at the door.  Reservations can be made by cash, check or credit card.  For more information about the CDL, contact its director, Lori Van Horn, at 453-4228 or lori@siu.edu.

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Eta Sigma Gamma Initiation Ceremony &
“Spring Into Health Wellness Fair”

The Alpha Alpha Chapter of Eta Sigma Gamma, the national Health Education honorary, held its annual initiation ceremony and reception on March 3.  Eta Sigma Gamma is open to both undergraduate and graduate students in Health Education who meet the honorary’s GPA requirements.  Presiding over the initiation ceremony were the following chapter officers:  Amy Mathes, President; Chandrika Johnson, Vice-President; Jevonne Bradley, Secretary; Brandye Nobling, Treasurer; and Rana Skaf, Sergeant-at-Arms.  The 2009 Initiation class includes:  Maria Alexandrova, Lisa Callaghan, Florhangely Chacon, Richelle Chapman, Miranda Griffith, Heather Hudson, Lisa Jaquez, Mo’Nique Kirkwood, Matt Moyer, Dawn Null, Mahogany Powers, Anita Sego, Sandra Shaffer, and Dawn Zywiec.  Professor Bobbie Ogletree serves as faculty sponsor.  I was one of a dozen others in attendance at this moving and meaningful ceremony that highlighted the important achievements of our Health Education students.

Eta Sigma Gamma chapter initiates

Speaking of which, the Eta Sigma Gamma honorary will host our first “Spring into Health Wellness Fair” in Pulliam Gymnasium on Friday, April 10, 11:30 am. – 1:30 p.m.  Chapter members conducted a needs assessment in order to design a health fair to meet the needs of members of our College community.  In addition to offering some basic health screenings, the fair will include demonstrations and educational/informational materials.  For more information, please contact Rana Skaf, Eta Sigma Gamma Wellness Fair committee chair, at ranamous@hotmail.com.  Also, for those who participated in the health fair survey, the winning number is 797197!

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Southern Illinois Physical Education And Health Conference

The 5th Annual Southern Illinois Physical Education and Health Conference took place on Friday, March 6.  Co-sponsored by our Department of Kinesiology and the Illinois Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - and organized so well by Kinesiology faculty member Tony Calabrese - the conference drew about 150 K-12 teachers and coaches, as well as students from our College and from John A. Logan College.  Sessions took place from 8:30 to 2:50 on such topics as “Self Defense for Middle and High School Students,” “Adding Academic Content to Activity Stations,” “Sanity in Seconds – Tension Tamers for Work” (a session that perhaps many of us could benefit from!), “Making Practice More Effective and Efficient: A Coaching Science,” “Help Me I’m Lost! – An Orienteering Workshop,” and many others.  Congratulations to Tony, Elaine Blinde (Kinesiology Department Chair) and the many presenters for another very successful conference!

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AERA Meeting

As I mentioned last year, the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AREA) is not necessarily the most important conference for our faculty and staff to attend.  There are more specialized professional association meetings that are of greater interest and value to many of you and, after all, not everyone in our College does research that is related to educational settings.  Still, AERA is probably the most prestigious research meeting that involves such a broad range of scholars, from so many different areas of inquiry.  (The listing below includes scholars from eight different units on campus.)  This is the great strength of AERA and the appeal of its annual meetings, that is, so many are included within its tent.  Of course, for those who attend AERA meetings, it is one of the detriments as well, because it’s so large, with so many sessions, taking place across several different large hotels, this year in San Diego during the week of April 13.  It’s not exactly a cozy get-together.  Unlike many other professional meetings, if you don’t make plans ahead of time to see people, you might never bump into them.

As you may know, one of our own, former Interim Dean of the College and current Interim Associate Provost of Academic Affairs, Patti Elmore (EPSE), serves as editor of the organization’s primary journal, Educational Researcher.  Marla Mallette (CI) serves as associate editor and Rhonda Kowalchuk (EPSE) and Frackson Mumba (CI) are editorial advisor board members. 

In addition, below is a listing of all those from SIUC (not just our College) who are listed on the AERA meeting program this year, although I realize not everyone will be making the trip to San Diego for  the conference.  (For example, co-authors might be presenting instead.)  I only listed those sessions that are open to the public.  With apologies in advance for the inevitable errors and omissions:

Barbara Bickel (School of Art and Design):

• Symposium participant, Finding Our Place in the Cosmos:  Art Making as Spiritual Inquiry in Education, Mon, Apr 13, 2:15-3:45, Convention Center/Ballroom 6F (with Sally Gradle)
• Chair for symposium, Sound, Text, and Poetics in Arts-Based Research, Tue, Apr 14, 8:15-10:15, Marriott/Warner Center

Ronald Caffey (Black American Studies):

• Paper discussion, The Impact of Institutional Characteristics on 6-Year Graduation Rates of African American College Students, Mon, Apr 13, 2:15-2:55, Marriott/Marriott Hall Salon 4
• Paper presentation, A Sense of Home: The Impact of Church Participation on African American College Students, Mon, Apr 13, 4:05-6:05, Convention Center/Room 16B (with Saran Donahoo)
• Paper discussion, What is Spirituality?, Wed, Apr 15, 1:15-1:55, Marriott/Marriott Hall Salon 4 (with Saran Donahoo)

Vivien Mweene Chabalengula (CI):

• Paper presentation, Inquiry Levels and Skills in Zambian High School Chemistry Course, Thu, Apr 16, 2:15-3:45, Omni/Gaslamp 4 (with Frackson Mumba)

Saran Donahoo (EAHE):

• Paper presentation, A Sense of Home: The Impact of Church Participation on African American College Students, Mon, Apr 13, 4:05-6:05, Convention Center/Room 16B (with Ronald Caffey)
• Paper discussion, What is Spirituality?, Wed, Apr 15, 1:15-1:55, Marriott/Marriott Hall Salon 4 (with Ronald Caffey)

Paula Echeverri (CI):

• Paper presentation, A National Survey of Professional Development Schools, Thu, Apr 16, 8:15-9:45, Convention Center/Room 9 (with John McIntyre)

Patti Elmore (EPSE/Provost’s Office):

• Participant, Journal Talks – Session 2, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Ballroom 6A (with Marla Mallette)
• Participant, How to Get Published: Guidance From Emerging and Senior Scholars, Thu, Apr 16, 8:00-12:00, Marriott/Marina Ballroom Salon EF
• Participant, AERA Division D Mentoring Luncheon for New Professionals, Thu, Apr 16, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Ballroom 20D

Peter Fadde (CI):

• Discussant, Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning II: Continuing Dialogue on Foundational Theory and Deep Infrastructures, Tue, Apr 14, 4:05-6:05, Grand Hyatt/Del Mar
• Discussant of session, Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning III: Cognitive Load in Learning and Technology, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Grand Hyatt/Del Mar
• Paper presentation, Video Production and Implementation Issues, Wed, Apr 15, 2:15-3:45, Grand Hyatt/Mohsen B
• Paper presentation, Design-Based Research on a Video-Simulation Program to Train Expert Recognition and Anticipation Skills, Thu, Apr 16, 10:35-12:05, Grand Hyatt/Del Mar

Kelly Glassett (CI):

• Paper presentation, Preservice Teachers’ Construction of Becoming a Teacher, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 33C (with Joyce Killian, Christie McIntyre, John McIntyre, Grant Miller, and Cathy Mogharreban)

Sally Gradle (School of Art and Design):

• Paper presentation, Another Look at Holistic Art Education: Unfolding the Process of Knowing, Mon, Apr 13, 12:00-1:30, Marriott/Irvine
• Symposium participant, Finding Our Place in the Cosmos:  Art Making as Spiritual Inquiry in Education, Mon, Apr 13, 2:15-3:45, Convention Center/Ballroom 6F (with Barbara Bickel)
• Chair of session, Arts and Learning Business Meeting: Johnny Saldana, Invited Speaker, Tue, Apr 14, 6:15-7:45, Convention Center/Room 30C
• Chair of session, Redefining the Three R’s: Reading, Writing and ART – Investigations into the Impact of Art-Based Literacy, Fri, Apr 17, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 16B

Dan Hechenberger (CI):

• Paper presentation, Beyond Lexington: In Search of Critical Questions That Facilitate Historical Thinking, Mon, Apr 13, 12:00-1:30, Convention Center/room 14A (with Grant Miller)

Larry Hickman (Center for Dewey Studies):

• Participant, The John Dewey Society SIG Business Meeting: Chair, President of Society Jim Garrison, Tue, Apr 14, 6:15-7:45, Marriott/Point Loma

Flaviu Hodis (EPSE):

• Paper presentation, Borderless Communication: International Students’ Usage Patterns of Social Networking Sites, Tue, Apr 14, 4:05-5:35, Convention Center/Room 25B (with Georgeta Mioara Hodis)

Georgeta Mioara Hodis (Speech Communication):

• Paper presentation, Borderless Communication: International Students’ Usage Patterns of Social Networking Sites, Tue, Apr 14, 4:05-5:35, Convention Center/Room 25B (with Flaviu Hodis)

Joyce Killian (CI):

• Paper presentation, Preservice Teachers’ Construction of Becoming a Teacher, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 33C (with Kelly Glassett, Christie McIntyre, John McIntyre, Grant Miller, and Cathy Mogharreban)

Rhonda Kowalchuk (EPSE):

• Paper discussion, Error, Power, and Interpretability of Multiple Testing Procedures, Thu, Apr 16, 1:15-1:55, Marriott/Marriott Hall Salon 4

Cheng-Yao Lin (CI):

• Discussant of session, Thinking in a Technological Age: Implications for Teachers’ Education, Wed, Apr 15, 10:35-12:05, Convention Center/Room 32A

Christie McIntyre (CI):

• Paper presentation, Outcomes of Standards-Based Portfolios for Elementary Teacher Candidates, Tue, Apr 14, 10:35-12:05, Convention Center/room 29D
• Paper presentation, Preservice Teachers’ Construction of Becoming a Teacher, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 33C (with Kelly Glassett, Joyce Killian, John McIntyre, Grant Miller, and Cathy Mogharreban)

John McIntyre (CI):

• Chair of session, Effective Supervision to Enhance Teacher Performance, Wed, Apr 15, 10:35-12:05, Convention Center/Room 33A
• Paper presentation, Preservice Teachers’ Construction of Becoming a Teacher, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 33C (with Kelly Glassett, Joyce Killian, Christie McIntyre, Grant Miller, and Cathy Mogharreban)
• Paper presentation, A National Survey of Professional Development Schools, Thu, Apr 16, 8:15-9:45, Convention Center/Room 9 (with Paula Echeverri)

Grant Miller (CI):

• Paper presentation, Beyond Lexington: In Search of Critical Questions That Facilitate Historical Thinking, Mon, Apr 13, 12:00-1:30, Convention Center/room 14A (with Dan Hechenberger)
• Paper presentation, Preservice Teachers’ Construction of Becoming a Teacher, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 33C (with Kelly Glassett, Joyce Killian, Christie McIntyre, John McIntyre, and Cathy Mogharreban)

Cathy Mogharreban (CI):

• Paper presentation, Preservice Teachers’ Construction of Becoming a Teacher, Wed, Apr 15, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 33C (with Kelly Glassett, Joyce Killian, Christie McIntyre, John McIntyre, and Grant Miller)

Frackson Mumba (CI):

• Paper presentation, Inquiry Levels and Skills in Zambian High School Chemistry Course, Thu, Apr 16, 2:15-3:45, Omni/Gaslamp 4 (with Vivien Mweene Chabalengula)

Deborah Seltzer-Kelly (CI):

• Paper presentation, Krippendorff’s Alpha and the Ontological and Epistemological Implications of Intercoder Reliability, Wed, Apr 15, 10:35-12:05, Omni/Gaslamp 1

Yanyan Sheng (EPSE):

• Paper discussion, An Empirical Investigation of Item Variance Hyperprior Distributions in Hierarchical 3PNO IRT Models, Wed, Apr 15, 10:35-11:15, Convention Center/Ballroom 6A

Tamara Yakaboski (EAHE):

• Paper presentation, The Development of Shifting Career Strategies for Asian Female Faculty in the STEM Fields Within the United States, Wed, Apr 15, 10:35-12:05, Convention Center/Room 11A
• Participant, Disrupting Disciplines: Feminist Interdisciplinarity and Higher Education Research, Fri, Apr 17, 8:15-9:45, Convention Center/room 14A

Laura Dreuth Zeman (SW):

• Chair of session, Student Truancy, Delinquency, and Dropout, Thu, Apr 16, 12:25-1:55, Convention Center/Room 23B
  

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• Joyce Fetro Chair Health Education and Recreation

  Joyce Fetro (HER Chair) has been named the American Association for Health Education (AAHE) Scholar for 2009.  This is one of the organization’s highest national honors, “presented annually to recognize an association member who has had a scholarly record for a number of years as evidenced by publications and presentations related to health promotion/education.”  The award will be presented to Joyce at the organization’s national convention in Tampa, Florida at the end of this month.  It is a tribute to Joyce, primarily of course, but also perhaps to the Health Education Program in our College, since she has played and continues to play such an active role in it.  Congratulations to Joyce for this prestigious national award! 

• Patti Elmore Interim Associate Provost of Academic Affairs

  Patti Elmore (EPSE and currently Interim Associate Provost for Academic Affairs) was recently named as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).  This is a very prestigious honor for Patti, putting her in select company within an international research society that has more than 26,000 members.  She was chosen for her sustained record of research accomplishments and contributions in her field of study.  Patti also currently serves as co-editor of the AERA journal, Educational Researcher, and is also a fellow of the American Counseling Association.  Congratulations to Patti!

• Two members of our faculty have recently been selected as Outstanding Reviewers for Educational Researcher, which means they are considered to be among the journal’s top 12 reviewers during the year 2008.  Kathy Hytten (EAHE) and Rhonda Kowalchuk (EPSE) will be honored at a reception sponsored by the AERA Publications Committee at the organization’s annual meeting in April.  As the letters from the Educational Researcher Editorial Board state, these selections are made to those reviewers who have “gone far beyond any expectations of an academic journal reviewer in terms of number of timely reviews completed, depth of understanding of the field of research exhibited, and a compassionate voice so necessary in mentoring emerging scholars as authors.” 

• Tamara Yakaboski (EAHE) has received a Graduate Technology Enhancement Grant in the amount of $5,000 to fund her request for “Research software for EAHE Computer Lab.”  With these funds, Tamara has purchased NVivo8 software to be installed on all eight computers in the EAHE lab for use by faculty and graduate students.  It should be in place by the end of the semester.

• Julie Partridge (KIN) has received a 2009 Excellence Through Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching Enhancement Award, to provide her with summer funding to address her project on “Development and implementation of problem-based learning activities to improve learning and retention of psychological constructs in the physical domain.”  Less than half the proposals submitted were funded by the Office of Academic Affairs on campus. 

• Toby Brooks (KIN) presented a day-long workshop to youth fitness instructors for the National Personal Trainers’ Institute (NPTI) in Chicago on March 9.  He co-taught with International Youth Conditioning Association Founder and CEO Brian Grasso.  The sessions were video recorded and will be developed into a program DVD to be used throughout the NPTI network, which includes 29 education and training centers in 17 states.

• Jared Porter (KIN) recently co-authored an article (with J.B. Winchester and J.M. McBride) in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23, 444-454.  It is entitled “Changes in bar path kinematics and kinetics through use of summary feedback in power snatch training.”

• Paul Asunda (WED) received the 2008 Dissertation Award: Technology Education Division from the Association for Career and Technical Education.

• Beth Winfrey Freeburg and Barbara Hagler (WED) both received an Award for Innovation 2008-2009 from the University Council for Career and Technical Education and the Illinois State Board of Education.

• Gene Hall (WED) is serving as a guest speaker and panel member for an international conference, “Kariera 2009,” to be held at the Technical University in Ostrava, Czech Republic, from March 8-13.  The title of his presentation is “A performance improvement model for workforce development.”

• Graduate students in the Department of Workforce Education and Development have been very active during the last few months.  For example:

• Cory Mohr published “Aligning classroom instruction with workplace skills” in Techniques, pp. 34-38.
• Joy Roach received a Dissertation Award from Delta Pi Epsilon, the National Honorary Graduate Society Promoting Excellence in Research and Teaching for Business.  Her dissertation is entitled, “Factors Affecting Written Business Communication Creation and Productivity Perceptions.” 
• Matthew Stierwalt recently received a Training Top 125 Award from Training Magazine and an Excellence in Practice Award from the American Society for Training and Development.
• Gayla Stoner serves as National Secretary for Region III and New Ideas Chair for the Association for Career and Technical Education.  She also received an Illinois Council on Continuing Higher Education Research Grant and made two recent presentations:  “Faculty support and recruitment for online courses at Southern Illinois University Carbondale,” at the annual meeting of the Illinois Council on Continuing Higher Education in Chicago in February; and “Substantive interaction: What is it? And how can we capture it?”, at the annual meeting of the American Association for Collegiate Independent Study in St. Louis last November.  Gayla also will be presenting in May on “Recruiting and teaching faculty to teach online: A case study from Southern Illinois University,” for the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development that meets in Austin, Texas.
• Marie Vicher serves as President of the Lambda Chapter of Omicron Tau Theta (a graduate honor society for the profession of vocational, technical, workforce, and career education) and made two recent presentations:  “Perceptions of peer mentoring of graduate students in a workforce education and development program,” at the October 2008 meeting of the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Bowling Green, Kentucky; and “Perceptions of graduate students on mentoring” at the December 2008 conference of the Association for Career and Technical Education Research in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Veronica Whitsel received a James A. Walker Presidential Fellowship from SIUC.

• Lyle White (EPSE Chair) and John Benshoff (RI Chair), along with Laura Harrawood, a doctoral graduate of EPSE, have co-authored “Death anxiety in a national sample of United States funeral directors and its relationship with death exposure, age, and sex,” in Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 58(2), 129-146.    

• John Benshoff (RI Chair), along with RI faculty members Stacia Robertson and Shane Koch, and RI assistant research scientist Sharon Davis, have co-authored “Professional identity and the CORE standards,” in Rehabilitation Education 22, 227-236.    

• Maria Claudia Franca (RI) and Kenneth Simpson (RI) co-presented twice at the Illinois Speech-Hearing Association Annual Convention in Chicago in mid-February.  Their presentations were on:  “The impact of multiculturalism in speech-language pathology education” and “Attitudes and beliefs toward language diversity in communication disorders students.”

• Members of our Rehabilitation Institute played a prominent role at the February 2009 Annual Conference of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education in San Antonio.  Among those who presented papers and posters were the following faculty and students:

• John Benshoff (with Cindy Chapman and Shawn Saladin), “The CRC Exam as a comp exam: Adding validity and reliability to student assessment”
• Shane Koch, Sharon Davis and John Benshoff, “SBIRT: Building communities to address coexisting disabilities”
• James Soldner and William Crimando, “Single subject research design: Utility in rehabilitation research and practice”
• Paige Dunlap, Verletta Saxon and Burton Pusch, “Diversifying communication: Websites promoting accessibility”
• Sharon Davis, Shane Koch, Kathryn Price and Elizabeth Hensley, “Using evidence based practices to enhance employment outcomes”
• Jessi Meyer and Heaven Hollender, “Training needs for rehabilitation counselors in the emerging 21st century”
• Heaven Hollender, Nicholas Cioe, and Thomas Upton, “Attitudinal differences about disabilities among rehabilitation professionals”
• Azzahrab Anuar, “What the Law of Islam says about disability?”
• Nicholas Cioe, Heaven Hollender and Thomas Upton, “Adolescent brain injury: Change in functioning following discharge”
• Paige Dunlap, Verletta Saxon, and Burton Pusch, “Using websites to promote student retention in rehabilitation programs”
• Keisha Grayson (with Jenelle Pitt), “Multicultural competency and rehabilitation counseling: Have we progressed?”

• Robert Nimtz (TEP Center Coordinator) is entering his fifth year as Executive Director of the Illinois Council for the Social Studies (ICSS) and this year is the chair for the Great Lakes Regional Conference to be held April 23-24 in Lisle, Illinois.  He is also in his third year of a three-year term on the assignment committee of the National Council of the Social Studies and serves as editor of the ICSS Newsletter that is published 3 times a year and as a jury member for the ICSS Journal.  

• Angela Hunter and Andrea Restoff (COEHS Advising Office) are both serving on two committees for the National Academic Advising Association:  Steering Committee and Presentation Proposal Committee.

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Please continue to submit “good news” to your Chair/Director, who will send them to Carol Reynolds of the Dean’s Office, crenolds@siu.edu . . . and look for more “Did you know that?” in the next issue of the COEHS UPDATE.