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Jacksonville, Alabama
 

VPAA's Quarterly Report to the Board of Trustees


PRESIDENT’S REPORT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES REPORT
DIVISION OF ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS
JANUARY 2004

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

(With thanks to Victoria Oxley, JSU News Bureau, for her December 12, 2003, News Wire story.)

Dr. Joe Delap, Jacksonville State University’s Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, recently returned from a trip to Wuhan University in Central China where he participated in its 110th anniversary celebration.

JSU has had an exchange relationship with Wuhan University for more than ten years. Dr. Delap said JSU President Bill Meehan felt it was important to send a representative to the special event.

Several Wuhan faculty have taught at JSU in an exchange program that has strong ties to JSU's College of Education and Professional Studies. Wuhan and JSU students have also participated in the exchange program. A number of JSU faculty members have taught at Wuhan.

Wuhan University is in Hubei Province's capital, Wuhan, and known as "the thoroughfare leading to nine provinces." The university dates back to Ziqiang Institute, which was founded in 1893 by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces. By the end of 1946, the university had six colleges: liberal arts, law, sciences, engineering, agriculture and medicine.

Dr. Delap said, “The people of central China are very accommodating. They live in an area where it’s still unusual to see Westerners. They understand how hard it is for Westerners to travel to their area so they accepted our visit with grace."

Dr. Delap notes that everyday student life at Wuhan University and JSU is very similar.

“I did notice one small thing though. Students at Wuhan carry their chairs with them to class. They carry these little stools with them. It’s kind of neat to see,” he said.

Wuhan University has rolling physical features with a wooded campus that is attractive year round. It is widely known as one of the most beautiful universities in the world.

Wuhan boasts more than 45,000 students including over 12,000 postgraduates. The university's libraries have a collection of approximately 5.2 million volumes and subscribe to more then 10,000 kinds of Chinese and foreign periodicals.

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Department of Art

The Department of Art had 12 graduates in December, 2003.  Two of these students graduated with “Magna Cum Laude” and two with “Cum Laude” honors. Seven of these students had “special honors in art”.

The Art Department has been preparing for the NASAD Accreditation visit which will be in February, 2004.

Biology Department

Papers published.

Dr. James Rayburn and Rhonda Aladdin: “Developmental Toxicity of Copper, Chromium and Aluminum using the Shrimp Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Palaemonid with artificial Seawater.” Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 2003, Vol. 71 Number 3: 481-488.

Dr. Safaa Al-Hamdani and T.W. Barger (grad student). Influence of water stress on selected physiological responses of three sorghum genotypes. Italian Journal of Agronomy 2003.

Dr. Safaa Al-Hamdani. Physiological responses of kudzu to varying NaCl concentrations.  Asian Journal of Plant Science 2003. Vol. 2:

Dr. Safaa Al-Hamdani and Blair, S (grad student).  Influence of copper on selected Physiological responses of Salvinia minima and its potential use in copper remediation. American Fern Journal.  2004 (In press).

Dr. Carter, R.E and A.Londo. 2003. Remnant fire disturbed montane longleaf pine forest in West Central Georgia, USA. Proceedings of the Second International Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress, Orlando, FL.

Dr. Carter, R.E and A.Londo. 2003. Community analysis and species responses to fire in pitcher plant bogs of the Little River Canyon National Preserve, Alabama, USA. Proceedings of the Second International Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress, Orlando, FL.

Presentations.

Dr. Rayburn, and Wolfe, A (grad student). The teratogenicity and mutagenicity for 5 sites near the Anniston Army Depot (ANAD).” 24th Annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology And Chemistry (SETAC) 24th Annual Meeting in North America, November 2003, Austin, Texas

Ms. Griebeling, K.H. (grad student), Dr. Cline, G. and Dr. Rayburn Jr. Role of the jelly coat in the development of two frog species exposed to Roundup and Diazinon, using FETAX.” 24th Annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology And Chemistry (SETAC). 24th Annual Meeting in North America, November 2003, Austin, Texas

Dr. Sauterer, R.A., Millwood (undergrad student), M., Sikes (undergrad student), J. and Dr. Rayburn, J. “Effects of water and sediments near the Anniston (AL) Monsanto plant on Xenopus embryos by FETAX and inmmunoblotting.” 24th Annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology And Chemistry (SETAC). 24th Annual Meeting in North America, November 2003, Austin, Texas

Dr. David Steffy (PES) and Dr. James Rayburn (BY).  “Enhanced LNAPL Recovery In An Unsaturated Aquifer By Using A Humic Acid.” The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Seattle (November 2003).

Dr. Carter, R.E and A.Londo.  Remnant fire disturbed montane longleaf pine forest in West Central Georgia, USA. International Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress, Orlando, FL.

Dr. Carter, R.E and A.Londo. Community analysis and species responses to fire in pitcher plant bogs of the Little River Canyon National Preserve, Alabama, USA. International Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress, Orlando, FL.

Dr. Carter, R.E and A.Londo. Remnant fire disturbed montane longleaf pine forest in West Central Georgia, USA. Mountain Longleaf Pine Conference, Jacksonville, AL.

Gorman, R., Dr. R.E. Carter, and Dr. M.E. Meade. Isozyme variation between coastal, mountain, and transition zone longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, populations. Mountain Longleaf Conference, Jacksonville, AL

Womack, W.L. (grad student) and Dr. R.E. Carter. An historical perspective on the montane longleaf pine forest of Alabama and Georgia.

Mr. Shurette, G.R. (grad student), Dr. R.E. Carter, and Dr. G.Cline. The effects of hardwood midstory removal in montane longleaf pine stands on breeding bird assemblages. Mountain Longleaf Conference, Jacksonville, AL.

Service

Dr. LaJoyce Debro served as:

  • Invited reviewer of 13 abstracts for inclusion at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (9/03)
  • Represented JSU at the University of Maryland for information on opportunities for graduate study in Biology (11/03)
  • Served on the Policy Committee of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society of Microbiology
  • Served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society of Microbiology
  • Reader of essay exams for the Educational Service (6/03)
  • Participated in training session sponsored by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (12/03)
Department of Criminal Justice

Mr. H. Dean Buttram, III

The Department of Criminal Justice is making great strides to improve communication and educational significance with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Due to our collective efforts in recruitment and instruction, the number of students within the department is growing at an astounding rate. Meetings with representatives from the Department of Physical and Earth Sciences, as well as, representatives from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences have been positive for our department. These meetings are positive for our department for several reasons. They keep department members up to date with the ever-changing track of forensic science and investigation. Furthermore, by gaining this knowledge faculty members are able to give better advice to students with regard to their particular needs and interests.

According to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, the last eight forensic scientists hired by their department graduated from Jacksonville State University. This number is staggering especially if you consider the fact that one of the largest medical schools in the country, University of Alabama at Birmingham, is less than (80) miles away.

Within the growth of our department there is also a rise in the number of students who want to pursue a career practicing law. In order to be able to also assist these students a number of internships have been created with law firms, district attorney office’s, as well as, district and circuit judge’s.

Along with the growth of the department’s student body, the internship program is also growing at an alarming rate. We now have internship programs set-up with: over a dozen local municipalities; the Gadsden Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit (Gadsden, AL); several sheriff’s offices’; several district attorney’s offices’; the Alabama Department of Forensic Science; the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office (Atlanta, GA.); the Alabama Game & Fish Department; the Alabama Beverage Control Board; numerous correctional facilities and security agencies; the U.S. Secret Service; the U.S. Marshal Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms; the Drug Enforcement Agency; as well as, the United States Probation Office (Rome, GA).

The department is also making great strides to keep in touch with past graduates. We are currently trying to establish a scholarship fund with a number of graduates, as well as, with the Alabama Bar Association.

Department of Drama

JSU Drama and Music Departments are preparing for the 30th anniversary production of “West Side Story.” JSU’s first production of “West Side Story” took place in 1973. The cast for this production includes Stephen J. Williams, Matt Thompson, Casey Campbell, Jordan Christenot, Wade Bramblett, Derek Gindlesperger, Jason Skinner, Cris Morriss, Kelly Summers, Amanda Kirker, Sara Murdock, Erin Pool, Dani Proctor, Amy Mitchell, Christian Fernandes, Chris Harper, Rocky Tejada, Josh Sirten, Brian Roberson, Heather Norton, Judy Holt, Britani Mason, Bess VanLeuven, Cassie Ferguson, Lori Shaffer, Mandy Dickens, Jessica Sanborn, Brian Seitel, Ben Whitehead, Andrew Cayse, and Chris West. The production will be directed by Dr. Wayne H. Claeren. Orchestral Conductor will be Mr. Mark Fifer. Vocal Coach will be Mrs. Teresa Stricklin. Sets will be designed by Mr. Carlton Ward. Costumes will be designed by Mr. Freddy Clements. Technical Director will be Mr. David Keefer.

Remaining productions for the drama department’s 2003-2004 season include “Towards Zero,” “Wise Women,” and “La Veniexiana” (“The Venetian Way”). Mid-season passes are still available.

JSU Drama awarded academic scholarships for the spring 2004 term to the following four students: Amanda Kirker, Ben Whitehead, Lindsay Jacks, and Heather Norton. The department was able to award partial tuition scholarships to 18 other drama majors.

December graduates for JSU Drama included Dani Proctor, Mandy Dickens, and Jonathan Lawson.

JSU Drama graduates now teaching in universities in the southern region are Todd Edwards at Middle Tennessee State and Randy Blades at the University of Central Florida.

Department of English

Dr. Robert Felgar has agreed to serve as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Scholarly Editions II:  American Studies, American Literature, and Philosophy Panel evaluating Scholarly Editions proposals, which will meet in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2004, to make its recommendations to the Endowment.

On November 5-9, 2003, Dr. John Jones attended the National Collegiate Honors Council Convention in Chicago.  The CAS Honors Program also had its first graduate, Rosalind Moore, a political science and English double major.

Dr. Steven Whitton:

  1. Imagining the Holocaust statewide writing competition for middle and high school students.  6th year, winner chosen in March.

  2. Southern Playwrights Competition national playwriting contest, 15th year, winner chosen in April.
Department of History and Foreign Languages

Dr. Llewellyn Cook, Assistant Professor of History, contributed ten entries to the International Encyclopedia of Military History.

Dr. Harvey H. Jackson, Professor of History, published Inside Alabama: A Personal History of My State (University of Alabama Press, 2004). He continues to serve on the editorial board of The Anniston Star and write a weekly column on southern politics and culture.

The Department continues to provide support and instruction in the LASTING program which, in cooperation with the Calhoun County School Board and the help of a major grant from the Department of Education, helps local teachers develop new and more effective ways of teaching.  Dr. George Lauderbaugh coordinates the program.

Learning Skills

Dr. Claudia McDade, Director, gave the luncheon address at the annual meeting of the Alabama Association for Developmental Education in Mobile in early November.  It was entitled, "A Glimpse of Higher Education in the United Kingdom" and included an electronic projection of photographs from her recent trip to Oxford University.  She also represented four year institutions on a panel discussion of the future of developmental education in Alabama.

MCIS Department

Dr. S. Krishnaprasad – has a refereed paper, “Multithreading Technology: The Fabric of High-performance Processors” accepted for presentation at ACM Mid-Southeastern Conference, Gatlinburg TN and has been published in the ACM Mid-Southeastern Fall.

Dr. S. Krishnaprasad – has a refereed paper, “SIMD Programming Illustrated Using Intel’s MMX Instruction Set” accepted for presentation at the CCSC: Southeastern Conference, Dunwoody GA.  The paper will be published in the Conference Proceedings.

Dr. Guillermo Francia and Dr. Chi-Chin Chao – have a refereed paper, “Computer Networking Laboratory Projects” accepted for presentation at the CCSC: Southeastern Conference, Dunwoody GA.  The paper has been published in the Conference Proceedings.

Dr. Thomas Leathrum – presenting a seminar on “Online Mathematics Software – New Software and Innovative Uses of Existing Software”, AMS/MAA Joint Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

Student Activities

Two Computer Science Programming Teams competed in the CCSC Southeastern competition at Dunwoody, GA.  Team One placed fifth and Team Two placed fourteenth out of 33 teams.

Department of Music

During the reporting period of November and December 2003 the Department of Music, its students, faculty and guest performers participated in the following activities:

The A Cappella Choir and the Civic Chorale under the direction of Dr. Patricia Corbin presented “Messiah” by G. F. Handel at St. Michael and All Angels’ Episcopal Church, Anniston, AL on 16 November 2003.  Soloists included JSU students and JSU Music faculty member Dr. Nathan Wight, bass soloist.  The orchestra was composed of members of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as well as JSU students and faculty including Dr. Jerryl Davis and Dr. Legare McIntosh. 

The A Capella Choir and the Madrigal Singers presented the annual Madrigal Dinner on the evenings of 21 and 22 November 2003 in Leone Cole Auditorium on the JSU campus.

The Department of Music students and faculty presented a Community Holiday Concert on 7 December 2003 in Leone Cole Auditorium.  The Chamber Winds under direction of Mr. Kenneth Bodiford, various choral ensembles under direction of Dr. Patricia Corbin,  Jazz I Ensemble under direction of Dr. Chip Crotts, Gospel Choir under direction of Dr. Myrtice Collins, Encore! Vocal Ensemble under direction of Dr. Larry Hardin, faculty soloists Teresa Cheatam Stricklin, soprano; Dr. Nathan Wight, baritone; Tracy Tyler, percussion; and pianists Dr. Gail Steward and Dr. Wendy Channel all appeared on the program.  Dr. Richard Armstrong served as host and presenter.  Non-perishable food items were collected under the auspices of Jacksonville City Police Department, Jacksonville City Fire Department and JSU University Police Department for distribution to needy families in Calhoun County.

Concerts of “Messiah” and the Community Holiday Concert were recorded by JSU Television Services and broadcast on Channel 24 throughout the holiday season.

The degree Doctor of Musical Arts was conferred upon Dr. Nathan Wight, assistant professor of music, by Arizona State University on 18 December 2003.  Dr. Wight teaches applied voice and voice related courses in the Department of Music.

Physical & Earth Sciences

Dr. Miriam Hill presented a paper at the National Council for Geographic Education annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Oct. 9, 2003.  Paper was titled "Web Map Resources for Classroom Activities."

Dr. Hill also received a grant from Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions in Huntsville, Al for computer licenses with a commercial value of $773,500.00.

Dr. Hill also published four maps titled: "An Oversized Oxbow," "Meigs Pasture Site," "Site 8SR44," and "Comparison". All published in the Southeastern Archaeological Journal titled "Late Holocene Climate Fluctuations and Culture Change in Southeastern North America." Vol.22, No.1, Summer 2003, Pages 9-32.

Dr. Harry Holstein appeared on Alabama Fox 6 to discuss Archaeology Sites in Calhoun County. He also co-authored and presented a paper at the Southeastern Archaeology Conference in Charlotte, NC on November 12, 2003. Paper was titled “Twenty-five years of Archaeological Investigation at Davis Farm Archaeological Complex.”

Keith Little published an article in the Southeastern Archaeological Journal titled "Late Holocene Climate Fluctuations and Culture Change in Southeastern North America." Vol.22, No.1, Summer 2003, Pages 9-32.

Dr. David Steffy gave an oral presentation at the National Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle, November 4, 2004. Presentation was titled "Enhanced LNAPL Recovery in an Unsaturated Aquifer by Using a Humic Acid."

Also, completed an environmental audit report on October 10, 2003: "Environmental Audit of the Fox Lake Farms, Inc. 3773 Fox Lake Road, Titusville, FL 32780."

Department of Political Science

The department is actively engaged in conducting research and presenting research findings at various professional meetings, such as: The Southeastern Conference on Public Administration (Drs. Hunter and Veasey), The Citadel Conference on Southern Politics (Drs. Owens and Barnett), The Mississippi Political Science Conference (Dr. Barnett), The Georgia Conference on Public Administration (Dr. Hunter), and the Annual Meeting of the Alabama Political Science Association (Drs. Owens, Veasey, and Hunter).

Also, the department continues to work with various media representatives regarding issues of significance to JSU and the broader service area, such as: the primary elections (Dr. Veasey on Channel 24 and Fox), ongoing policy issues in the Middle East (Dr. Savage in The Anniston Star), and Dr. Veasey will work with Channel 24 and the Jacksonville School District regarding a property tax increase during the spring of 2004. 

Sociology and Social Work

The BSW Program faculty completed the Self Study for Reaffirmation of Accreditation for 8 years by the Council on Social Work Education, 3 Volumes in September 2003.  They had their site visit on November 17 and 18, 2003.

Dr. David LoConto

Publications

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (OVRC) exercises and InfoTrac College Edition exercises, included in Wadsworth's Sociology Online Resources and Writing Companion, First Edition. Thomson/Wadsworth publishers.

Presentations

“Charles A. Ellwood: Placing a giant back in the origins of Symbolic Interaction.” The Mid-South Sociological Association meeting.  Baton Rouge, LA.

“McDonaldization and plagiarism: Cheating as a rational means of accomplishment in academia.”   The Mid-South Sociological Association meeting.  Baton Rouge, LA. With Carrie A. Vestecka.

“Still the object of desire: Health and gender issues of big beautiful women.”  The Mid-South Sociological Association meeting.  Baton Rouge, LA. with Karin N. Maney-Chumney.

Guest speaker for the Gadsden Career Association Installation & Induction Ceremony for ‘Jobs for Alabama’s Graduates’ (JAG).  October 29th.  Gadsden, AL.

Dr. Adrian Aveni

"Measuring the Consequences of Campus Internationalization: Results of a Pilot Study." Paper presented at the NAFSA Region VII Conference in Tampa, Florida, November, 2003

Dr. Mark Fagan 

Publications 

Virginia Tobacco Commission Regional Assessment for Retirement Development, (34 counties in Southside and Southwest Virginia), through the Center for Economic Development at Jacksonville State University, December 2003, (97 pages)

“Retirement Migration,” with Charles F. Longino, Jr., Encyclopedia of Financial Gerontology: Revised and Enlarged Edition, edited by Lois A. Vitt, December 2003

“Attracting Retirees Could Be Big Business for the State,” Special to the Mobile (Alabama) Register, September 28, 2003

Presentation

“Teaching Research Online,” BPD Annual Conference, Reno, Nevada, October 31, 2003.

Peroidicals Quoted In: East Carolina Business Journal, December 2003; Region Focus, The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Virginia; Summer 2003

Newspapers Quoted In: The Island Packet (Hilton Head, SC), November 1, 2003; Florence (Alabama) Times Daily, October 12, 2003; Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer, October 9, 2003; The State Newspaper (Columbia, SC), September 20, 2003.

Conference Attended: Attended the 2003 American Association of Retirement Communities Annual Conference

Office Held: Program Chair for the 2004 American Association of Retirement Communities Annual Conference

Ms. Kim Womack

Served as BPD Program Chair for the Annual BPD Meeting in Reno, Nevada.

Began national planning for Annual Meeting in Detroit Michigan in October/November, 2004.

Ms. Donna Kerns Smith

Presented a workshop, "Innovative Approaches to Integrating Research in Field Instruction," at the Baccalaureate Program Director's Annual Meeting in Reno, NV in October 2003.

Dr. Clark Hudspeth

Hudspeth, Clark D., Xiaohe Xu, and John P. Bartkowski. "Faith and Fatherhood Reconsidered: Mapping the interaction Effects of Religion and Class on Paternal Involvement." Paper presented at the 29th annual meeting of the Mid-South Sociological Association. November 05-08, 2003: Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Ms. Robyn Snider

Had two presentations at the Annual Conference for Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, October 30 and 31, 2003.  These presentations were: 1. Linking Social Welfare Policy with Social Work Practice, and 2. Integrating Research in Field Instruction.

Dr. Rodney Friery

Attended the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology in Denver, Colorado, from November 19, 2003, to November 23, 2003.

Mr. Jonathan Adams

Co-presented a workshop, Innovative Approaches to Integrating Research in Field Instruction, at the 21st Annual Baccalaureate Social Work Education Conference in Reno, Nevada, October 30, 2003

Convened a workshop, Enhancing Your Social Work Course with Electronic Toolbox Programs, at the 21st Annual Baccalaureate Social Work Education Conference in Reno, Nevada, October 31, 2003.

With social work interns, conducted and presented a special study regarding staff retention for the Quality Assurance Committee of Etowah County Department of Human Resources, October 1-November 20, 2003.

Presently 11 BSW Program interns from Etowah County and 5 BSW Program interns from Calhoun County are employed with Etowah County out of 38 social workers. 

Mr. James Powe

Presented for Calhoun County Department of Human Resources at the Assertion Hearing on the compliance toward the RC Law Suit.  Thirty-seven percent of the current social workers at the Calhoun County DHR were interns under Mr. Powe.

Dr. Hugh McCain

Was quoted in The Birmingham News on November 26, 2003 in regards to his research on roadside memorials.

Dr. Maureen Newton

Presentation

The 21st Annual Baccalaureate Program Director’s Conference, October 29 – November 2, 2003, “But I Don’t Understand!  Linking Social Welfare Policy and Social Work Practice in Baccalaureate Education” with Robyn Snider.

Community/Professional Service

Appointed to coordinate a needs assessment for area social work practioners in the NASW Coosa Valley Chapter.

Ms. Dee Barclift

Faculty advisor to the SW Club

October - membership drive which recruited 40 new members

November - food drive for 2 local Food pantries

December - held a Christmas party for 40 children from local Boys and Girls Club. Pizza, soda, candy and $15.00 gift card was furnished for all participants.

Provided 12 hours of training for over 200 law enforcement personnel from throughout the county.  Training addressed identifying mental illnesses, personality disorders, intervention strategies, medication.

Attended BPD Annual Conference in Reno, Nevada.  Facilitated one session.

Dr. Nancy Francisco Stewart

Publication

"Social work practice in hospitals today from the perspective of social work staff.” Selected Proceedings of the 2003 Annual Conference-National Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, William J. Spitzer, Editor, in press.

Presentation

Convener, Association of Baccalaureate Program Directors (BPD) 21st annual conference, October 31-Nov. 2, 2003. Reno, Nevada.

Media Presentation

Channel 24, “Wake Up Alabama” on 10/15/2003: Was interviewed on television, Channel 24, about the “Shirt off our backs” project in a 20-minute discussion/presentation on the early show. Presented the social work profession, issues faced by clients and agencies and spoke about the JSU social work program.

Service

Implemented and coordinated JSU and Coosa Valley NASW participation in the national “Shirt off our backs” project.  Developed letter to local professionals and spoke in social work classes on this project. Collected vignettes of experiences with social service agencies, particularly those programs identified with welfare reform.  Printed the vignettes on shirts which were then sent to Washington, DC and displayed in the Senate Parking Lot as part of a national campaign on October 27, 2003.  The 25+ shirts were then sent to the Alabama Congressional delegation.  This project was featured on Channel 24 Alabama and reported on XM Satellite Radio, CT Public Radio, WZBC Boston, KTFA Morning Show in Berkeley, CBS Affiliate in North Bend, Oregon, and the entire press conference was taped by NPR.  The project was a headline story on Women’s E-News and the Institute for Public Accuracy.

COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

The College of Commerce and Business Administration held a Fall Faculty/Staff Convocation on October 3, 2003.  During the Convocation, Dean William Fielding presented four faculty members in the College with $500 awards for excellence: Dr. Joann Williams, Assistant Professor of Management, 2002-2003 recipient of the Bob and Lou Kennamer Award for Excellence in Teaching; Dr. John Sneed, Associate Professor of Accounting, 2002-2003 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; Dr. James Thomas, Assistant Professor of Marketing, recipient of the 2002-2003 Dean’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Research; and Dr. James McIntyre, Associate Professor of Finance was the recipient of the 2002-2003 Dean’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Service.

Certificates for Excellence in Teaching during the 2002-2003 Academic Year were awarded to Dr. Patricia Borstorff, Dr. Brent Cunningham, Mr. Mike Featherstone, Dr. Mark Hearn, Dr. Michael Marker, Mr. Jeff Parter, Dr. James Thomas, Dr. Joann Williams, Dr. Gary Yunker, Dr. Doris Bennett, Dr. Shawn Carter, Dr. Ronnie Clayton, Dr. Frank Fuller, Dr. Ben Hardy, Mr. Floyd Kirby, Dr. Cynthia McCarty, Dr. James McIntyre, Mr. Gene Padgham, Dr. Angela Sandberg, Dr. Bill Schmidt, Dr. Cynthia Sneed, Dr. John Sneed, and Dr. Jeff Zanzig.

Certificates for Excellence in Research during the 2002-2003 Academic Year were awarded to Dr. Patricia Borstorff, Dr. Brent Cunningham, Dr. Mark Hearn, Dr. James Thomas, Dr. Joann Williams, Dr. Shawn Carter, Dr. Ronnie Clayton, Dr. Ben Hardy, Dr. Cynthia McCarty, Dr. James McIntyre, Dr. Angela Sandberg, Dr. Cynthia Sneed, Dr. John Sneed, Dr. Chris Westley, and Dr. Jeff Zanzig.

Certificates for Excellence in Service during the 2002-2003 Academic Year were awarded to Dr. Patricia Borstorff, Dr. Brent Cunningham, Dr. Ken Day, Mr. Mike Featherstone, Dr. Deborah Francis, Dr. Mark Hearn, Dr. Michael Marker, Mr. Jeff Parker, Dr. James Thomas, Dr. Joann Williams, Dr. Gary Yunker, Dr. Doris Bennett, Dr. Shawn Carter, Dr. Ronnie Clayton, Mr. Glenn Graham, Dr. Ben Hardy, Mr. Floyd Kirby, Dr. Cynthia McCarty, Dr. James McIntyre, Mr. Gene Padgham, Dr. Angela Sandberg, Dr. Jeff Zanzig, Mr. Ben Boozer, Mr. Penn Wilson, Mrs. Lori Carter, Mrs. LaRue Gamble, Mrs. Debby Jones, Mrs. Pam Pope, Mrs. Mary Klug, Mrs. Kelly Roberts, and Mrs. Clarice Smith.

Five faculty members were promoted effective October 1, 2003.  They are:  Dr. Shawn Carter, Associate Professor of Economics; Dr. Angela Sandberg, Professor of Accounting; Dr. Richard Cobb, Professor of Management; Dr. Brent Cunningham, Associate Professor of Marketing; and Dr. James Thomas, Associate Professor of Marketing.

Dean William Fielding attended the SBAA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, November 2-4, 2003.

Dean Fielding continues to serve on the Board of Directors for Second Chance, NABIS and Regions Bank.

Department of Finance, Economics and Accounting

On November 13, 2003, Mr. Gene Padgham took members of the Financial Management Association on a tour of the Honda facility in Lincoln, Alabama.  The tour provided an opportunity to view both the car assembly process and the engine building assembly line.  Witnessing the efficiency of the process, learning about their inventory scheduling where parts arrive just hours before needed, and discussing job opportunities made this a very educational and enlightening tour.

Dr. Cynthia McCarty took 5 area teachers to the National Council on Economic Education’s annual conference in New Orleans for 3 days in October.

Dr. Christopher Westley continues to serve on Glen Tenney’s dissertation committee through Touro University

On November 30, 2003, Dr. Westley had an article published in The Birmingham News on page 8C entitled “Hey Big Spender:  Bush Betrays Budget Pledge”.

Dr. Westley has authored end-of-chapter data questions for the new edition of Glen Hubbard’s Money and Banking text, published by Addison-Wesley.  He has also reviewed a Microeconomics text for the McGraw-Hill Higher Education Economics Department, an Intermediate Microeconomics text by Hirschey for McGraw-Hill, and an Urban Economics text by McDonald and McMillan for Blackwell Publishers.

Dr. Westley has submitted an abstract for Public Choice Society meetings this March in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Cynthia Sneed and Dr. John Sneed co-authored a paper entitled “Unregessing the Alabama Tax Code: An Analysis of the Riley Tax Plan” published by the Alabama Policy Institute.

Dr. Cynthia Sneed and Dr. John Sneed co-authored two papers that they presented at the Academy of Accounting and Finance Annual Meeting at New Orleans in December.  They were entitled:  “The Politics of Fiscal Illusion in the Bible Belt” and “The Effectiveness of State Supermajority Limits in Curbing State Expenditures.”

Dr. Jeff Zanzig completed a course in computer networks as progress towards his certificate in computer information systems.

Department of Management, Marketing, and Information Management/E-Commerce

Brent Cunningham

During the fourth quarter of 2003 Dr. Brent Cunningham had two papers accepted at a conference and attended that same conference.

Conference Papers:

Cunningham, Brent and Dr. James L. Thomas, “Explicating Materialism in the Service Sector,” 2003 Atlantic Marketing Association Annual Conference, Portland, Maine.

Cunningham, Brent, “Shopping Orientations: Revisited and Revised,” 2003 Atlantic Marketing Association Annual Conference, Portland, Maine.

Mr. Mike Featherstone

Conference Attended: 2003 Atlantic Marketing Association Annual Conference, Portland, Maine.

Mike Featherstone had an article, "The Role of E-Commerce in Business Education" accepted for publication in the Australasion Journal of Business and Social Inquiry.  This is a peer reviewed publication.

He has been invited to present a paper, "An Examination of Varieties of Virtual Content in International Business", at the Academy of Business Education Conference in April.

Mike Featherstone’s dissertation proposal "International E-Commerce: a comparative analysis of adoption and infusion in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States" has been accepted by the faculty at Southern Cross University. 

Dr. Deborah Francis

Dr. Francis is the program chair for the International Entrepreneurship Division for the 2004 USASBE conference.  This job entailed finding 3 reviewers for each of the 19 papers that were submitted to IED, getting the reviews back in a timely manner, compiling the reviews, making accept/reject/maybe decisions on each paper, and submitting reviews and decision information to the competitive chair.  This task began around August 16,2003 and was completed September 10th.

Dr. Deborah Francis also did a second review on a case for Entrepreneurship,

Theory and Practice. ( She serves on ETP's case review board.)  She also did a second review on a paper for The Academy of Management Journal.

Dr. Joann Williams

Dr. Williams was a guest speaker at the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Business To Business Expo in October.  She spoke on E-mail and Cell Phone Etiquette."

Dr. Williams made arrangements to have Mrs. Shelley Cofield, Human Resource Director of Hunjan Mfg. Of Alabama spoke to the Student Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management in November.  She spoke on how to start your career.

Dr. Williams has placed and will supervise six students in human resource and management internships. These students are conducting their internships at Ace Products, HunJan Mfg., Jacksonville Medical Center, Modern Technology, Five Star Food Services and Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce.

Center for Economic Development and Business Research

Small Business Development Center

Mr. Pat Shaddix (JSU Director of the Center for Economic Development and the Small Business Development Center), Mr. Keith Lowe, and Ms. Robbie Medders attended the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) annual conference in San Diego, California the last week of September.   At the ASBDC annual conference, Ms. Robbie Medders was presented with the Alabama “State Star Award” at the closing banquet on Saturday evening.  The Star Award is given to one individual each year who has exhibited dedication and strong commitment to the SBDC program in their respective state.  Ms. Medders was nominated for this award by the Alabama SBDC state office.

CED and SBDC center staff attended the College of Commerce and Business Administration’s annual convocation in October.  Awards were presented to Mr. Ben Boozer, Ms. Clarice Smith, Ms. Debby Jones, and Mr. Penn Wilson for their past year’s service.

Mr. Keith Lowe attended monthly meetings of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Small Business Committee at the Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Ben Boozer assisted the ASBDC State office in presenting a seminar for the Society of Women Engineers at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in October.

Mr. Pat Shaddix, Mr. Willard Butterworth, and Mr. Penn Wilson participated in the annual conference of the Alabama Association of Regional Councils in Orange Beach during October.

Mr. Pat Shaddix participated in the Association of University Business & Economic Research annual conference in New Orleans during October. 

Mr. Mike Self attended monthly meetings of the Etowah County Industry-Education Alliance during the reporting period.

Mr. Keith Lowe and Mr. Ben Boozer participated in the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Business Expo in which five workshop sessions were presented to 99 attendees.

Ms. Robbie Medders and Mr. Keith Lowe continue to participate in the monthly meetings of the Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) at the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce.

Mrs. Robbie Medders attended the Gadsden Chamber of Commerce 2003 Small Business Awards luncheon in October.   Awards were presented to twelve small businesses.

Mr. Mike Self staffed the Joe Ford Center for Economic Development during the quarter for both the JSU Center for Economic Development and Small Business Development Center.

Mr. Pat Shaddix, Ms. Debby Jones, Ms. Robbie Medders, Mr. Mike Self, and Mr. Penn Wilson attended and presented the 2003 American Association of Retirement Communities (AARC) annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee, the first week of November.  Over 100 attendees heard presentations from some of the nation’s leaders in the field of retiree attraction as an economic development strategy.   The JSU Center for Economic Development is the national headquarters for the AARC and staff members worked for months preparing for the successful conference.

Mr. Willard Butterworth participated in the early November annual meeting of the East Alabama Regional Planning & Development Commission of which he is a board member.

Mr. Willard Butterworth participated in the annual Southern Economic Development Council conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina, in November.

Mr. Willard Butterworth addressed the Ft. Payne Kiwanis Club in November.   He talked about the many services offered to communities by JSU and the JSU Economic Development Center.

Mr. Mike Self spoke to Dr. Marsha Hardney’s Career Development Class at JSU-Gadsden.   His topic was “Entrepreneurship as a Career.”

Mr. Pat Shaddix announced that the selections for the JSU SBDC Advisory Board were completed.   Those individuals agreeing to serve areas follows: Ms. Tracy Rouse, Alabama Safety Products; Ms. Sandra Turner, Anniston Army Depot; Mr. Louis Fuller, Fuller Medical Company; Mr. Phillip Pearson, Screened Image; Mr. Ed Gardner, St. Clair County Economic Development Council; and Mr. Blaine Galliher, Gadsden State Community College and State Representative for Etowah and St. Clair Counties.

Mr. Ben Boozer addressed a class at the Alabama School for the Deaf in which he discussed the importance of small business.

The JSU SBDC participated in an Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) accreditation review in December. 

Mr. Pat Shaddix and Mr. Penn Wilson participated in planning meetings in Montgomery for a statewide retiree attraction conference.  

Mr. Pat Shaddix and Ms. Robbie Medders participated in monthly board meetings for Northeast Alabama Business Incubator System (NABIS) at the Entrepreneurial Center during the quarter.

Mr. Ben Boozer assisted the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce by serving as a judge in their Christmas parade in early December.

All CED/SBDC staff members attended the JSU Staff Awards Meeting & Luncheon at Leone Cole Auditorium in December.

The SBDC completed the first quarter of its fiscal year having worked with over 120 clients individually.   SBDC assistance is offered through individual counseling as well as through training sessions on a variety of topics pertinent to small business owners.  

Several articles written by SBDC staff members were published in the “Calhoun County Business Journal”, a publication of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce.

Two  JSU Economic Update were printed and distributed statewide during the quarter.   Mr. Penn Wilson has now taken over as the editor of the Update.

The SBDC presented six workshops/conferences with a total of 169 participants during the reporting period.   Additional workshops are scheduled for the next quarter.

Mr. Willard Butterworth assisted Dr. William Fielding with completing the “Economic Impact of the I-20 Automotive Corridor on Alabama” study.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

Dean’s Office

The College of Education and Professional Studies NCATE Steering Committee held a planning retreat at the Barn Restaurant in Jacksonville, Alabama on November 24, 2003.  The purpose of the retreat was to finalize the Unit’s Assessment Plan for the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) visit scheduled for Fall 2005.

Dr. Cynthia Harper attended the state Press Release in Montgomery, Alabama on December 18, 2003 to receive information regarding results of the recent administration of the  Professional Education Personnel Evaluation Program (PEPE).  Jacksonville State University’s College of Education and Professional Studies received the grade A for all education programs in which JSU teacher education graduates were evaluated.  The mission of PEPE is to assure excellence in education in Alabama's public schools. The primary purpose of the program is to assist educators through the process of performance evaluation and professional growth to deliver quality education services, thus increasing student achievement.

Dr. Cynthia Harper attended the Education Dean’s meeting in Montgomery, Alabama on January 12, 2004.  The purpose of the meeting was to adopt new state standards and regulations for teacher education programs.  New standards are closely aligned with the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).  Programs in the College of Education and Professional Studies have been NCATE accredited since 1954.

Dr. Cynthia Harper attended the Alabama Partnership for Children Board Meeting on January 13, 2004 in Montgomery, Alabama.

The College of Education and Professional Studies held its annual Spring Faculty Meeting on January 9, 2004 in Self Hall.  The purpose of the meeting focused on ways to strengthen academic advisement at all program levels.

Department of Child Development Center

The JSU Child Development Center has an enrollment of 90 children ages six weeks through six years of age.  There are nine instructional classrooms opened.  Each classroom has a certified lead teacher and two teacher assistants to conduct daily lesson plans and provide quality childcare to the community.

As children enroll at the Center, the parents are issued a password that enables them to go on line and view their child in their classrooms via internet.  This unique feature is not available in any other childcare facility in the area.  The cameras provide ultimate safety and advancement toward perfecting teaching skills performed and observed daily.

New equipment for the two outside playgrounds and the two indoor playrooms has been installed at the Center.  All equipment is safety certified and age appropriate for the students who are served at the Center. 

The Center has received a food permit from the Calhoun County Health Department. Food preparation is to begin on site within the month of February.

All employees employed at the Center have undergone fingerprinting and criminal background checks by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation.  This information is currently on file at the Center.

Eight computers have been purchased and installed in the computer lab at the Center.  Each classroom has an opportunity to visit the computer lab weekly.  Mrs. Sharon Caroza provides weekly individualized computer lessons in our lab.

Mrs. Kristi Triplett, the director of the Center, attended a McClellan networking breakfast on November 12, 2003.  McClellan area representatives were available to discuss development plans for the year 2004.

The Center has purchased and installed childcare management software.  This software provides fingertip access to vital information on the children enrolled and the employees.  Information such as, medical history, birthdays, classroom groups, payments of tuition and certification information is stored and readily available.

The Center is currently hosting six J.S.U. practicum classes.  The following practicums have been scheduled for the Spring Semester at the Center:  Early Childhood Education 352 and 306, Family and Consumer Science, Nutrition and the Life Cycle, HPER, Nursing 324 and Special Education 403.  The Center hosted 172 practicum students from JSU.

Department of Communication

The Foreign Editors Conference, sponsored by the Southern Center for International Studies, The Ayers Family Institute and Jacksonville State University, was held at Jacksonville State University on Wednesday, October 22, 2003. Nine panelists participated in the conference: Roger Cohen, foreign editor for the NY Times; Lee Cullum, a regular contributing columnist for the Dallas Morning News; George de Lama, deputy managing editor of news at the Chicago Tribune; Loren Jenkins, senior foreign editor at NPR; Eason Jordan, executive vice president & chief news executive at CNN; Simon K. C. Li, assistant managing editor of The Los Angeles Times; Stuart H. Loory, the Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, & editor of the IPI Global Journalist; Chris Waddle, vice president for news at the Anniston Star and president of the Ayers Family Institute for Community Journalism. The moderator was Terrence Smith, media correspondent and senior producer for “The News hour with Jim Lehrer.”  The theme of the conference was, “The Angry World: International News Coverage in America.”  The conference explored the roots of anti-Western sentiment around the world and the implications for the American press in bringing the story to its readers. The proceedings of the conference will be aired on PBS and distributed to all schools of journalism in the US later. The conference was well attended with most JSU communication students actively attending and completing a class project based on the conference. Most expressed their delight about what they learned from the conference.

The Department of Communication currently has two faculty vacancies to fill: the Ayers Chair of Communication vacated by Mr. Lloyd Dobyns, and a broadcast faculty position to be vacated by Dr. Ralph Carmode (retiring) at the end of this academic year. The search is on for the Ayers chair’s position, while the broadcast faculty position is awaiting approval.

The Department of Communication will be launching its newsletter in the spring of 2004. The newsletter will begin as an annual publication and later increase in frequency possibly to twice a year. It will serve, among other things, as a bridge between the department and its alumni and as a recruitment tool.

Plans for the 2004 Communication Week have begun. Decisions about dates, speakers, as well as the complete program are currently underway. So also are plans for the 2004 Summer Journalism Institute, both to be held in the Department of Communication.

The department has formed several committees since this year to create an inclusive leadership structure that involves faculty members in leadership positions. Latest among these committees are:

The Diversity Committee (chaired by Dr. Augustine Ihator). This committee is responsible for the recruitment and retention of minority faculty and students in the department, and

The Publicity and Publications Committee (co-chairs: Mr. Mike Stedham and Dr. Augustine Ihator). Other members of this committee include Mr. Jerry Chandler, Dr. Kingsley O. Harbor, the editor of the student newspaper, The Chanticleer (currently Elizabeth D. Lusk), and the program director of the radio station (WLJS-FM 91.9) (currently Eric Johnson). The Publicity and Publications Committee is responsible for all publications and public relations promotions for the Department of Communication.

Dr. Kingsley O Harbor, department head of Communication, and Mr. Mike Stedham, manager of student media at JSU, met with the executive director of Alabama Press Association (APA) and another board member of APA on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 in Birmingham. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of our cooperation with APA in conducting a pilot project that will establish newspapers in high schools in the JSU area of service. That pilot project, if successful as we believe it will, will serve as a model for establishing newspapers in high schools in other areas of the state of Alabama.

Dr. Augustine Ihator, associate professor of public relations, has a paper accepted for publication in Corporate Communications: An International Journal. The title of his paper is, "The Impact of Social and Technological Changes on Corporate Communication."

Dr. Ihator will also be presenting a research paper titled "Managing Global Corporate Crisis: A Critical Analysis of Cultural Implications," at the 7th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Las Vegas, February 9-11, 2004.

Ms. Kara Hall, Head of Human Resources and PR (Public Relations) Programs at the Mizell Memorial Hospital in Opp, Alabama, spoke to PR students on Monday, November 24 at 8:45 a.m. in the Department of Communication. The speech was arranged by Dr. Ihator.

Mr. Jerry Chandler, assistant professor of journalism, recently returned from a writers' summit meeting in Chicago, a meeting for all contributors to Frequent Flyer magazine. Also, he is about to publish a story about low-fare airlines in Business Travel Executive magazine.

The SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) chapter at JSU recently received a three hundred dollar ($300) grant from JSU SGA (Student Government Assoc.), and that is the highest amount of grant given to any organization on campus by the SGA.

The 2003 yearbook, Mimosa, has been completed and will be here ahead of schedule.

Mr. Mike Stedham, manager of student media, has completed (with Mr. Mike Hathcock) and submitted, ahead of time, the FCC license renewal agreement for the campus radio station’s continued operation.

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Dr. Larry Beard presented at the NCTM Southern Regional Conference in Charleston, SC November 5-8, 2003.

Dr. Elizabeth Engley presented at Alabama Association for Young Children Annual Conference in Gulf Shores, AL October 17, 2003.

Dr. Slenda Haynes presented at Alabama Reading Association Conference in Montgomery, AL October 10, 2003.

Dr. Celia Hilber presented at Alabama Association for Young Children Annual Conference in Gulf Shores, AL October 16-18, 2003.

Dr. Nina King presented at Georgia Association for Young Children Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA October 11, 2003.  Dr. King also presented at Alabama Association for Young Children Annual Conference in Gulf Shores, AL October 16-18, 2003.

Dr. Patsy Lowry presented at Alabama Reading Association Conference in Montgomery, AL October 9, 2003.  Dr. Lowry also presented at MSERA Conference in Biloxi, MS November 5-7, 2003.

Dr. Judy McCrary presented at Alabama Reading Association Conference in Montgomery, AL October 9, 2003.  Dr. McCrary also presented at MSERA Conference in Biloxi, MS November 5-7, 2003.

Dr. Gena Riley presented at the NCTM Southern Regional Conference in Charleston, SC November 6-8, 2003. 

Mrs. Sandra Sudduth presented at Alabama Reading Association Conference in Montgomery, AL October 10, 2003.

Department of Educational Resources

Dr. Jan Wilson and Dr. Charles Notar had an article approved for publication in the Journal of Instructional Psychology.  The title of the article is, “The Table of Specifications:  Insuring Accountability in Teacher Made Tests.”

Dr. Donna Herring, Dr. Charles Notar, and Dr. Jan Wilson had a grant approved.  The title of the grant is, “Enhancing Teacher Education through National Technology (ET)”.  This is a PT3 Grant for three years totaling $385,000.00.

Dr. Mary Montgomery visited Austria on personal business, but met with Professor Peter Holaer at University of Innsbruck, Austria, to discuss Educational Administration programs in that part of the world.

Dr. Jerry Kiser received certification training in “How to Write a CACREP Self-Study” at a workshop in Alexandria, VA.

Dr. Tommy Turner visited Piedmont Middle School in Piedmont, AL, to present a short workshop on issues regarding bullying, hazing, disrespect, etc.  This same workshop was presented to JSU Student Teachers at the student teaching seminar.

Dr. Donna Herring has presented over eight pre-service workshops for local teachers.

Dr. Jan Wilson, Dr. Dennis Zuelke, and Dr. Gordon Nelson presented at the MSERA Conference in Biloxi, MS.

Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Ms. Karen Nemeth, as President of the Alabama Association of Family and Consumer Sciences attended the Executive Board meeting in Birmingham on October 1.

Ms. Robbie Boggs and FCS Merchandising students attended the Spring, 2004 RTW Fashion Show for women and children presented by the Fashion Office of the Apparel Mart in Atlanta, GA,  Friday evening, Oct. 17.  Apparel and accessories from various vendors were featured on the runway to buyers and guests attending the spring market.

Ms. Paula Napoli, along with Dr. Elizabeth Engley, Dr. Nina King, and Dr. Celia Hilber presented a workshop at the annual AAYC Conference in Gulf Shores on October 18.

School pictures were taken at the JSU Child Development Center in East Mason Hall on Oct. 20.  Parents, siblings, and grandparents were also invited for pictures.  It turned out to be a great family affair.

Ms. Karen Nemeth served as Higher Ed. Vice President for AL Teachers of FACS (ACTE) in Montgomery on Oct. 23.

Ms. Karen Nemeth served on Randolph County Career Tec. Ed. Advisory Board on Oct. 30.

The JSU Child Development Center enjoyed going across our beautiful campus to Trick or Treat on Oct. 31.  Thanks to all the different offices= that welcomed our children with wonderful treats.   We would also like to thank our special visitors to the JSU Child Center: Smokey, the horse, Ginger an English Mastiff, and Chelsea a Maltese.  These animals were part of our lessons on veterinarians and how to care for pets. A special thanks to Dr. Cline from the Biology Department for coming to visit us during Halloween week.  He brought Mr. Bones, a full size skeleton, a bat, and a live snake named Charlie.

Dr. Tim Roberts attended a dietary managers’ advisory committee meeting at Auburn University on Nov. 10.

Ms. Karen Nemeth attended the National Task Force for CFCS Certification in Austin, Texas November   12 - 14, 2003.

Ms. Robbie Boggs serves on the Bauder College Advisory Board and attended the meeting in Atlanta, GA. on Nov. 13.

Ms. Paula Napoli did a presentation entitled APreschool Friends Program@ at Grace Episcopal Church in Anniston on Nov. 24.

Our enrollment for Spring, 2004 has increased by 10%.

Department of Health, Physical Education & Recreation

Dr. Glen Roswal conducted tennis clinic with Lleyton Hewitt at the US Open in New York.

Dr. Glen Roswal attended the USTA Conference. (member of Plan for Growth Committee and Special Populations Committee)

Dr. Glen Roswal presented paper at the VISTA 2003 Conference (International Paralympics committee) in Bollnas, Sweden.

Dr. Glen Roswal presented 4-day seminar on Special Olympics and Adapted Physical Education in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Dr. Glen Roswal presented session at 2003 AAHPERD National Student Leadership Conference 2004.

The AWE-some Program is celebrating 20 years of operation.  Mrs. Donna Hey, program director, held a Halloween costume party for the group on October 28, 2003.  A number of the HPER faculty (Hey, Mabrey, Hill, and McLaughlin) assisted with that celebration.

Dr. Glen Roswal is in Alaska for a Special Olympics conference. 

As part of the HPER partnership with the Piedmont School System: Scott Austin, Strength and Conditioning Coach at JSU, presented a program on strength and conditioning for children 6th – 12th grades.  The next professional develop at Piedmont will be Dr. Tim Roberts’ program on nutrition for athletes with emphasis on nutritional supplementation.

The specifics requirements for of the “Graduate HPER Honor Society” have been develop and the first induction ceremony will be held December 2003.

Dr. John Hammett visited Louisiana College to review and observe their arthritis exercise program.

The following faculty either presented, presided, and or sat as an officer at the Alabama State Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (ASAHPERD) Conference in Birmingham: Willie Hey, Roland Thornburg, Ronnie Harris, Glenn Roswal, Donna Bailey-Hey, Gina Mabrey, Lori Thornburg, Jim McLaughlin, and Kory Hill.

Several of the HPER graduate and undergraduate students also presented at ASAHPERD Conference.

Dr. William Hey received the ASAHPERD PRIDE Recognition Award.  This award honors individuals who have given their time, energy, and a commitment to bettering the lives of children, adults, and senior citizens.  Specifically put, these individuals display Personal Responsibility In Delivery Excellence!

Dr. Jimmy Griffin presented two papers at the 31st Annual Association for Experiential Education Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 

The 3rd Annual Gamecock Gallup had 134 participants and netted $1055 for the HPER Club. 

The 1st Annual Gamecock Youth Run had 125 participants and netted $1919 for the HPER Club.

The race directors, Mr. Jim McLaughlin (Gamecock Gallup) and Mrs. Lori Thornburg (Gamecock Youth Run), are to be commended for their fine leadership.

Other faculty and staff that assisted with the runs are: Willie Hey, Roland Thornburg, Ronnie Harris, Donna Bailey-Hey, Gina Mabrey, and John Hammett.

Dr. Hammett and Mr. Eric Johnson (JSU Head Athletic Trainer) visited the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to review their entry level and post-certification masters programs in athletic training.

Three students presented their EDS presentations

Dr. Glenn Roswal presentations two papers at Alaska AHPERD Conference in Anchorage.

Article in Proceedings of the International Conference on Outdoor Recreation and Education, 2002- Connecting Web-based Learning with Staff Development for Experiential Programs. Jimmy Griffin, Ph.D. & Chuck Hooker, M.Ed.

Graduate and Undergraduate HPER Honor Societies held there fall induction and awards ceremony on December 10, 2003.  Six students received graduating honors and five students were inducted into the Society.

The HPER Alumni Newsletter was mailed out on December 18, 2003.

Department of Instructional Services

Mr. Mike Zenanko edited the “Passport to Success: Annual report of CE&PS” for the fourth year. Four thousand of these booklets were printed. Mr. Mike Zenanko and Dr. Gordon Nelson conducted a Phi Delta Kappa PowerPoint training session at Anniston Middle School for new teachers in the local school systems.

The Learning Resource Center has added over 400 books through donations and purchases. Fourteen new Ellison dies have been added to the Centers collection of 480 dies. Mrs. Penny Lane has worked to update the LRC’s collection of psychological tests

During the fall semester, The Teaching/Learning Center had 167 tutors working with 102 community children.  A total of 1,670 hours of free tutoring was provided.  Mrs. Dorothy Phillips has been hired as the Coordinator of the Teaching Learning Center.

The Multimedia Instructional Laboratories now has 24 new and up-to-date workstations for computer instruction. One of the features of these workstations allows students to save to CDs or DVDs their student portfolios created during student teaching. The Ramona Wood Building now has five classrooms equipped with computer workstations, LCD projectors and Smart Boards. These help the Faculty to demonstrate current technology in the classroom as required by the SDE. Two more smart classrooms are being created. The classrooms are located at Mason Hall for the Family and Consumer Sciences Department and the other at Pete Mathews Coliseum for the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department. Mr. Stan Cates, the MIL technician is making the new installations.

Department of the Teacher Service Center

The Teacher Education Services has successfully placed 208 Preservice Teachers in 9 Alabama counties and 3 Georgia counties.

Department of Technology & Engineering

Mr. Terry Marbut and Dr. Ed Bellman made a presentation at the annual conference of the National Association of Industrial Technology.

The department is exploring the potential development of a program to enable JSU to provide Honda associates with the opportunity to pursue a Bachelors degree in Technology. Honda associates are currently restricted in their ability to pursue higher education through traditional programs due to rotating work schedules.

Mr. Lyle Barnard (pro-rata instructor) attended a workshop provided by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) to obtain information on trends in technological education.

Department of TV Services

A new Fall Preview Day and a new JSU spot are completed.  These 30-second spots aired on WJXS TV24 and Horizon Cable.

TV Services provided equipment and engineering support for the “taped delay” broadcast of all home Jacksonville State University football games.  TV Services Director Mr. Mike Hathcock was the “Play-By-Play” announcer.  All games were aired numerous times on WJXS TV24.

“Inside Gamecock Athletics” was produced on a weekly basis during the football season.  This program featured highlights from each football game, comments from Head Coach Jack Crowe and interviews with the team.  “Inside Gamecock Athletics” was seen each Tuesday at 9 p.m. and each Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. on WJXS TV24.  Horizon Communications in Marshall County also broadcast the show.

A three minute thirty second JSU promo and two thirty second JSU commercials air on Fox SportsSouth during the JSU/Murray State football game.  TV Services produced all the promos and thirty second spots during the fall.  Fox SportsSouth reaches more than 11 million households.

“The Greater Calhoun County Area Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities” Twentieth Annual Awards Luncheon is taped.  The Awards ceremony aired on Cable One.

“The Report on International News Coverage in America” press conference is taped.  This program is part of the Ayers Family Institute for Community Journalism produced by the Southern Center for International Studies.

A three minute thirty second JSU promo and a thirty second JSU commercial, both produced by TV Services, airs during the JSU/Tennessee Tech football game seen on the Football Network over the Empire Sports Channel. Only satellite dish subscribers had the option of picking up the game.

The Gamecock Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2003 Induction is taped. This program aired on WJXS TV24.

Handel’s “Messiah” is taped before a standing room only audience at The Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Anniston.  This concert featured JSU’s A Cappella Choir, the Calhoun County Civic Chorale and Festival Orchestra.  JSU Faculty member Dr. Patricia Corbin of the Department of Music directed the Messiah.  This feature required over 60 hours worth of production.  The program aired twice during the Christmas Season.

COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

Office of Continuing Education

The Office of Continuing Education has entered into a yearlong consulting agreement with Jacksonville Medical Center entitled “Partners in Service Excellence.”  This program will begin with a consultant’s assessment to facilitate a plan that will include a Best Practice and Magnet Recognition Status Review; a Customer Service Training Plan; a Leadership/Management Training Plan; and an Employee Selection, Recognition, and Appreciation initiative.  Marketing the “New Medical Center” and a Communication Plan will also be included.

The Office of Continuing Education is working with the Office of Domestic Preparedness through EAI with on-site Conversational Spanish training for individuals who will be working with First Responders.  A Beginning class was conducted in the 2003 Fall Semester and an additional Beginning and Intermediate Class began in January 2004. This program is scheduled to be a yearlong program.

The Office of Continuing Education continues to be involved with M&H Valve in its development of candidates for supervisory positions within their organization.  Because of the success in the Anniston plant, the corporate office has sent its representative to consider adopting the total program for the international corporation.

Three Medical Certificate programs were initiated in Fall 2003 with a total of 13 individuals participating.  These classes: Medical Billing and Coding, Pharmacy Technician, and EKG Cardiovascular have been approved by the Workforce Incentive Act for individuals who have become unemployed as a result of company closings, etc.  Through this program, an individual can receive tuition assistance to assist them in retraining. 

The Office of Continuing Education will offer its first Auctioneer School, accredited by the Alabama Board of Auctioneers, beginning January 30 and continuing until graduation on February 8.  The students are required to plan and conduct their own auction, and this auction is scheduled for February 8 at the Gamecock Center.

Continuing education classes for practicing auctioneers will be offered through the Office of Continuing Education for the first time beginning January 31.

The University Partnership for Alabama Continuing Education reports the following accomplishments for 2003:

Police Chiefs:

433 participants in the program

43 chiefs earned 40-hour certificates in 2003

13 chiefs earned 80-hour certificates in 2003

2 chiefs earned 160-hour certificates

137 total certificates have been earned since the beginning of the program in 2000

County Administrators:

10 administrators received certificates in 2003

9 administrators became Certified County Administrators in 2003

33 administrators have received certificates since beginning of program

23 administrators have become Certified County Administrators since the beginning of the program

County Engineers:

6 county engineers received certificates in 2003

20 county engineers have received certificates since the beginning of the program

College of Graduate Studies

The graduate enrollment set an all-time record of 1650 students for the 2004 Spring Semester was a record enrollment for spring semesters.

In-Service Education Center

On October 6 and 7, 2003, the Alabama Reading Initiative, Alabama Leadership Academy, and In-Service Education Center provided a training session for 61 public school teachers and administrators entitled, “Leading for Literacy.” 

On November 18, 2003, the In-Service Education Center provided professional development credit for 69 teachers in conjunction with Honda and Alabama Public Television for a training session, “What’s Up in Factories?” at the Honda Training Facilities in Lincoln.

The In-Service Education Center began the second year of a National Board Certification preparation series.  Twenty-four teachers enrolled to attend multiple sessions of this series.  In December, the Center was awarded a contract from the Alabama Department of Education to assist in payment to the trainers for these sessions.

During this school year, the In-Service Education Center is working with the Alabama Reading Initiative to re-certify Cohort Three schools as participants in this program.  During the first quarter of this year Oxford Middle School, Oxford High School, and Weaver Elementary School have participated in Recertification programs with the assistance of the JSU In-Service Reading Coaches.

On October 30, the In-Service Center provided training for the teachers of Etowah County as part of a series of sessions that will enable teachers to better prepare their students for the Alabama Direct Assessment of Writing.

COLLEGE OF NURSING AND HEALTH SCIENCES
Three proposals have been submitted for federal funding:

Advanced Education Professional Nurse Traineeship to fund tuition and other related expenses for graduate students enrolled in the MSN program during the 2004-05 academic year. The total request is for $245,928.

MSN Clinical Nurse Specialist Program for Rural, Underserved Populations proposal requesting continued support for program development in the MSN program targeting expansion of the Institute for Excellence in Community Health, online course/program development, and enhancement of curricular offerings related to emergency preparedness and bioterrorism. The total request is for $460,469 over a two-year period.

Building A Diverse Workforce in Rural, Underserved Areas is a new proposal requesting funds to increase the number of baccalaureate prepared nurses from disadvantaged, underrepresented, and minority backgrounds. The total request is for $734,546 over a three-year period.

Dr. Jane Cash and Dr. Beth Hembree have submitted a proposal to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation – Birmingham Affiliate, for their project entitled, “Breast Screening Project for Underserved Minority Women Living in Public Housing Complexes.” The total project was $14,996.

Project staff have been hired for the Anniston PCB Health Study. Ms. Christie Shelton is serving as the Project Director and Ms. Sharee Hutchinson is serving as Research Assistant/Clerical Staff. A JSU outreach office in the West Anniston area will be secured in the next few weeks. Funding for this project is provided by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  A Community Meeting is scheduled on January 15th to provide a forum for the research team to discuss the health study with the community members.

The Jacksonville Association of Nursing Students (JANS) was presented the Break-Through to Nursing Award on October 18, 2003 for their innovative fundraising activities and donations of books overseas. Two JANS members were elected to the Executive Board of the Alabama Association of Nursing Students:  Bryana Vosley was elected as the Nominations Elections Chairperson and Daniel Crow was elected as 2nd Vice President of AANS.

The MSN Program Progress Report was reviewed and the MSN program was awarded continuing accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) in October.

Dr. Jane Cash, Ms. Lynn Hillhouse, and Ms. Katie Brothers co-authored a paper that was presented at the Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) meeting in Toronto, Canada. Ms. Lynn Hillhouse presented two additional papers to the American Association of Perianesthesia Nurses (New Orleans) and the American Academy of Neuroscience Nurses (Birmingham).

Dr. Martha G. Lavender was elected as a Director for the Executive Board of the Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing, Southern Regional Education Board in November 2003.

DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY SCIENCE

The Military Science Department’s vision is to recruit the very best students available for Jacksonville State ROTC.  We retain those students through a challenging curriculum, quality mentoring, and a positive program that encourages leadership, scholarship, individual responsibility and Battalion camaraderie.  We train and develop our cadets to ensure they are fully prepared to accept the responsibilities of a commissioned officer and to effectively lead America’s sons and daughters.  We strive to commission the very best lieutenants that enter the Army each year.   

The Gamecock Battalion sent an eight-cadet team to compete in the Army 10-Miler road race in Washington D.C. in October.  The team was accompanied by Major John Nolan from the ROTC Department and Mr. Jim McLaughlin of the HPER Department.  The ROTC Alumni Association and the SGA contributed funds to defray the costs of the trip, and JSU ROTC alumni in the D.C. area hosted a dinner in honor of the team and arranged a tour of the Capital.  The dinner for the team also served as the kick-off event of the JSU D.C. Area National Alumni Chapter.  Forty-four alumni attended the event, including Major General David Bryan who serves in the area.  The team finished twenty-second among all ROTC and service academy teams that participated. 

In October, our Ranger Challenge Teams traveled to Camp Shelby, Mississippi to compete against 23 other teams within our Brigade.  This year was the first time in recent history that the Department fielded two competitive teams.  Both teams acquitted themselves extremely well.  Team “A” earned a silver streamer overall, and Team “B” earned a bronze streamer while finishing first overall on the hand grenade assault course. 

The annual JSU ROTC Alumni Dinner the evening prior to homecoming drew over 100 attendees.  The Military Alumnus of the Year, Colonel Luke Wilson, provided remarks.  Colonel Wilson is the Director of Operations for 5th US Army in San Antonio, Texas.  The Ranger Club built, guarded and supervised the bonfire for homecoming, and JSU cadets provided the color guard for the game.  

JSU Alumnus, Captain Will Cambardella, was honored during half-time of the JSU-Tennessee-Martin game on military appreciation day, October 11th.  He recently returned from a nine-month deployment in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division.  Captain Cambardella was presented a plaque by Dr. Meehan, and Ms. Meehan presented flowers to Ms. Cambardella.

Thirty six JSU cadets and eight cadre members participated in the annual Gamecock Gallup 10K Race.  For the second year in a row, the Military Science Department was recognized as the department with the highest percentage of participating cadre and students.  A number of students and cadre were among the top three finishers in their respective age groups. 

We conducted our annual Fall Awards Ceremony in November.  Forty-one cadets were recognized for excellence in leadership, athletics and academics.  For the first time, we presented the new scholarships established through the work of the ROTC Alumni Association.  Eight students received $1000.00 awards, and one student received a $500.00 award.  The alumni association also presented Officer’s Guides to eighteen senior cadets.  Two senior cadets were awarded ROTC Corporate Partner Scholarships in the amount of $1000.00 each.  Less than 2% of cadets in the nation receive these awards.  

The Gamecock Battalion’s Marksmanship was again recognized for excellence.  The Department entered two teams this year in the ROTC Intercollegiate Marksmanship Competition.  Team “A” finished first in the nation in M-16 sub-caliber competition and third in the nation in .22 caliber marksmanship.  Team “B” finished third in the nation in .22 caliber competition. 

Western Region Headquarters conducted a command inspection of the Military Science Department in December.  The team inspected logistics, administrative and personnel management procedures, recruiting, training, information management and security, and safety.  The Department received commendable ratings in five of the six areas, the highest number of commendable ratings the team has given.  Captain Dean Shackelford was presented an on-the-spot Army Achievement Medal for his outstanding recruiting operations.   

We held our annual Winter Commissioning Ceremony in December, where four new lieutenants joined the brotherhood of arms.  Jacksonville State ROTC has now commissioned         1346 officers since 1948.  Lieutenant Colonel Doc May, the Professor of Military Science provided remarks. 

Lieutenant Colonel May was the keynote speaker for the Vulcan Materials Corporation Christmas Banquet in Birmingham and the Military Officers’ Association of America meeting at McClellan in January.  Each of these meetings provided an opportunity for Lieutenant Colonel May to raise awareness of the educational and extracurricular opportunities at JSU and the opportunities available through ROTC. 

The ROTC curriculum is designed to prepare our students to meet the leadership challenges of America’s Army in the 21st century. Our focus is to send the message to all prospective cadets and to the University population that we provide the best leadership training available for young men and women.

DISTANCE EDUCATION

Organizational items:

Ms. Sherri Restauri had a paper presentation accepted for the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference. The presentation will be on March 3, 2004.  Dr. Franklin King coauthored a presentation, Gender Differences in Computer Knowledge, for the annual MSERA (Mid-South Educational Researcher) meeting, October 2003. Other:

Distance Education had a very significant impact upon both students and faculty at Jacksonville State University.  During the Fall 2003 semester, six thousand and three enrollments were noted in distance learning classes and in courses supplemented by distance learning technologies.  One hundred and ninety-six courses were affected by distance learning experiences and 251 sections were impacted.  In that final enrollment figures and courses offerings for the Spring 2004 session are not yet available, they will be reported in the next Board of Trustees' report.

Consistent with the growth in the number of courses offered through the online mode of Distance Education, 3  new courses were added to the Electronic Campus for the fall semester, bringing the total number of unique courses JSU is advertising through the Electronic Campus to ninety-seven. Continued growth in course listings in the Electronic Campus is expected as more online courses are created. Investment in listing courses through SREC provides JSU online courses with a broader prospective student base.

Training on the Blackboard system was continued throughout this term. A total of 5 workshops were conducted during the Fall 2003 term, including instruction at the Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.  Individual training sessions on the Blackboard system, instructional design issues, and other pertinent instructional technology concerns continued to be offered to instructors during the Fall semester. The new Instructional Technology & Design Laboratory was opened for use by faculty members for one-on-one training on Blackboard, as well as Instructional Design and instructional technology assistance.

The Office of Distance Education continues to work on highly innovative projects including video streaming in association with Honda and the implementation of area wide broadband communication infrastructure for education and economic development.  The infrastructure will support distance learning, telemedicine, video surveillance and video arraignment, Internet services (email and web-hosting), e-Government services, possibly business broadband services including voice, video and data applications.  County stakeholders include twelve high schools, six county seats, two institutions of higher learning and three hospitals.

Grants:

The Office of Distance Education obtained a 10-site license from the eHelp RoboDemo Education Program grant. RoboDemo eLearning software is used for creating interactive simulations and demonstrations in Shockwave's Flash format. Documents created with RoboDemo can then be utilized to provide online training and simulations across campus in both academic and administrative needs, including the ability to convert PowerPoint slideshows into movie-formatted Flash presentations. The education grant provided the 10-site license to JSU for free, at an approximate cost savings of $2990.00. Licenses have been distributed to several faculty members on campus, as well as maintained within the Office of Distance Education's Instructional Technology & Design Laboratory.

During the Spring 2004 session, Videoconferencing classes are scheduled to be offered at 15 different sites in Alabama and Georgia.  There are six videoconferencing classes currently scheduled for the College of Education and Professional Studies and the College of Commerce and Business Administration.

JSU GADSDEN

The third floor of the Joe M. Ford Center is complete and presently occupied by Gadsden State Community College.  Under the terms of the lease agreement this allows JSU Gadsden to exclusively occupy the second floor. 

Computers for the computer lab have been installed at the Ford Center.  This lab is part of the shared space between GSCC and JSU on the first floor.  The lab will enhance instruction as well as services to our students.  The Department of Continuing Education has programs scheduled for the spring.

LIBRARY

Interior painting has been completed on all floors except the basement.  Carpeting has been installed on public service floors except 10th.  Elevator installation has begun with one elevator out of service at all times until the installation has been completed.

The library initiated an electronic book service with the purchase of 9,000 Ebooks, which are accessible online for browsing or check-out.

The library acquired a surplus digital scanner and installed it at the reference desk in order to provide free scanning service to the university community.

Ms. Jodi Poe reviewed Business Statistics on the Web:  Find Them Fast – At Little or No Cost, by Paula Berinstein.  Choice 41, 2003.

Every van has been out of commission since November when a FedEx truck parked at the top of the ramp to the loading dock lost its parking brake and rolled downhill into it, causing considerable body damage.  The van is at a body shop now and should be back in service by the end of January.

Mr. Luke Griffin authored with Vickey L. Baggott, Guide to Popular U. S. Government Publications, 7th ed. Libraries Unlimited, Englewood CO, 2003.

Ms. Paula Barnett-Ellis and Mr. Luke Griffin published “Faculty Use of Electronic Library Resources” in Academic Exchange Quarterly, Vol. 7 (3), Fall 2003.

Mr. John Bauer-Graham, Ms. Jodi Poe, and Ms. Kim Weatherford published “Functional by Design:  The Use of a Comparative Study to Determine the Usability and Functionality of One Library’s Web Site,” Technical Services Quarterly, Vol. 21 (2), 2003.

STUDENT AFFAIRS

Admissions

Over 150 juniors from 56 area high schools got a taste of college life courtesy of Jacksonville State University’s Emerging Leaders Day on November 6, 2003.

The event, in its fourth year at JSU, is an opportunity for the students to participate in leadership seminars, meet student leaders from other high schools as well as meet with JSU student leaders. High school counselors were asked to identify three juniors in their school who hold leadership roles and are interested in further developing leadership skills to attend the event.  The students selected two sessions from the following:

Discover: Presented by Mr. Don Killingsworth

Destructive Behaviors: Presented by Mr. Ricky Naugher

Entrepreneurship: Presented by Dr. Cynthia McCarty

Health Issues: Presented by Dr. Sarah Latham

Leadership: Presented by Mr. Robert Hayes

Medical Developments: Presented by Dr. Benjie Blair and Dr. Mark Meade

Team Building: Presented by Mr. Terry Casey

Volunteerism: Presented by Ms. Linda Shelton

At the end of the day, several students received door prizes as souvenirs of their day at JSU.  Matthew Taheri, a junior from Plainview High School, walked away with the grand prize: a leadership scholarship worth one year’s tuition at JSU.

Career Placement Services

On October 3, 2003 Ms. Sarah Aultman, program assistant for Career Placement Services presented a power point presentation to the  College of Nursing on the career services offered to students.

Career Placement Services began their Career Week workshop series with "Resumania" on Thursday, October 16th. Participation ranged from freshmen to grad students and staff as they all took advantage of one-on-one resume advisement from the Career Placement staff. David Myer of the English Department assisted Janet White and Sarah Aultman and as a result over 20 students received individual help with resumes and cover letters.

Beginning on October 20th and continuing through October 22nd, several prestigious executives provided seminars to JSU students on “Employability Skills.” These presenters came from Sherwin-Williams, Russell Corporation, Honeywell Aerospace, and Redstone Arsenal. At each session these speakers addressed between 50 and 80 students and spoke to them about employment trends and issues, as well as the tools and skills needed to succeed in the competitive corporate world of today.

Another type of workshop included in the Career Week was “Corporate Dress/Design on a Dime.” Consultants from Casual Corner of Boaz and Men's Wearhouse of Atlanta discussed appropriate business attire. The staff of Career Placement Services offered the 25 participants hints on how to achieve a professional appearance for a fraction of the cost by wise shopping at local thrift stores.

Wrapping up the Career Week workshop series was Tim Grey, Chief of Staff for Civilian Employment at Redstone Arsenal. Mr. Grey comes to Huntsville from Washington, D.C. and is responsible for all the civilian employment authorities.   He spoke to an audience of 60 students about the valuable opportunities and benefits to be found in federal employment. Mr. Grey is a 1970 JSU alumnus.> Thursday, October 23 was a huge success as Career Placement Services hosted 60 recruiters from 28 different companies at the annual Fall Career Day. Focusing on business, finance, computer science, and technology majors, 250+ students were able to network with executives, expand their knowledge of diverse industries, and hand out resumes to potential employers. It was a great way to end a very valuable and productive week of events!

On October 30th, Ms. Sarah Aultman participated in the “Women for Hire” Career Fair in Atlanta.

Sherwin-Williams conducted on-campus interviews on October 6th. 

Career Placement Services hosted a Christmas Tea on December 5th to honor those faculty members serving as liaisons within each academic department.  Several faculty and staff participated.

Ms. Janet White, Director of Career Placement Services attended the Open House in Birmingham held by Japan-America Society of Alabama (JASA) on December 12th.

American Cast Iron and Pipe conducted on-campus interviews for co-op students on December 12th.

Currently there are 423 students electronically registered with Career Placement Services using Monstertrak, and 194 students have contracted with Referencenow, a web-based credential file holder.  In the last quarter, approximately 350 students sought assistance through Career Placement Services; 197 schools sought teachers, and 212 companies sought non-teaching majors.

15 students participated in co-op partnerships with 8 different companies during the Fall Semester.

Counseling and Career Services

The fall was very successful for the JSU Peer Educators.  The activities for National Alcohol Awareness Week were as follows with number of students participating shown in parenthesis:

Alcohol Use Survey – (886)

Pledge Cards signed to Not Drink and Drive – (558)

Fatal Vision Goggles (simulating the effects of alcohol in the system)- (62)

Windshields Washed – allowing “Safe Vision; Don’t Drink & Drive” (71)

Tobacco Use Survey Results

How often do you smoke?

Never – 149     Occasionally – 26     Daily – 26     Weekly – 0

How many cigarettes do you smoke per day?

None – 17         ½ pack – 13          1 pack – 12     2 or more packs – 0

How many cigars do you smoke per day?

None – 13        1-3  - 6                 4-6  - 3         7 or more – 0

How often do you use chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, etc.?

Never – 13      Occasionally-3      Daily – 1        Weekly – 0

For women: Are you pregnant, breast-feeding, or planning a pregnancy?

Yes – 1            No – 18

Sex:   Male – 66        Female- 135

Ethnic/Racial group:

American Indian or Alaska Native – 1

Asian – 2

Black or African American – 66

Hispanic or Latino – 1

Caucasian – 131

The 4th Annual Appalachian School of Alcohol and Other Drug Studies is set for June 22-25, 2004.  The school will be hosted by the Offices of Counseling and Career Services, Counselor Education, Continuing Education and Jacksonville State University.  Our enrollment went from 176 to 226 last year.  We are expecting even larger numbers this year. 

Multicultural Services

2003 Homecoming NPHC Stepshow - The Office of Multicultural Services and National Panhellenic Council (NPHC) sponsored the fifth annual Homecoming Stepshow at Pete Mathews Coliseum on November 15, 2003.   Three teams from JSU NPHC participated along with three visiting step teams.  The visiting teams consisted of one team from Alabama State University, one from Troy State University and one from Greenboro High School (Greenboro, Alabama). The program also featured a singing group from Anniston. Over sixteen hundred and fifty (1650) students and guest of the University attended this event.  This was the largest crowd ever for a stepshow. 

Native American Month POW Wow -  November is Native American Month and this year Multicultural Services sponsored the first annual Native American Month Pow Wow from November 6-9, 2003 on the Quad.  The entire first and second grades from Kitty Stone Elementary School attended the Pow Wow on Friday, November 7, 2003. A large number of guests from the community and University attended the celebration as well.  There were also ten vendors displaying Native American cultural crafts through out the celebration.

Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference -  The Office of Multicultural Services will sponsor eight students to attend the Southwest Black Student Leadership Conference at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas from January 22-25, 2004.  The African American Association (AAA) officers and members will be attending this conference. This will be the eighth year that students from JSU have participated in similar leadership conferences.  Over 1200 students and advisors attended this conference in 2003. The conference provides its participants with an opportunity to enhance their leadership skills, explore issues of importance to students of color, meet potential employers, network and interact with significant national and international leaders.  The theme of SBSLC 2004 is Developing Collegiate Leaders: The Catalyst for a Productive Tomorrow. It is our hope that through dynamic, innovative workshops, participants are challenged to desire and achieve excellence in every area of their individual lives.  The students will be attending numerous leadership workshops. 

Martin Luther King Week - During the week of January 19-23, 2004 Jacksonville State University will celebrate Martin Luther King Week.  We are planning many exciting programs and activities for the student body and faculty.  A special showing of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech will be shown on January 22, 2003 in the TMB Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.  The office will also sponsor a bus trip to Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta, Georgia on January 19, 2004.

Black History Month - Black History Month at JSU promises to be very entertaining and educational.  The highlight of the month will be the Soul Food Dinner Theater featuring Pin Points Theater’s The Meeting on February 12, 2003 at 6:30 p.m. at Leone Cole Auditorium.  This intriguing play is the critically acclaimed powerful drama about the lives, philosophies, and times of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.  Other activities for the month include a lecture by Hasani Pettiford, a renowned professional speaker, television personality, financial consultant and author of three critically acclaimed books.  In addition to comedy night, JSU Gospel Choir in concert, an African American Heritage Month Scholarship Pageant and an African American Heritage Month Free Party for students in Cole Auditorium.   

JSU Students' Appreciation And Fun Day On The Quad: The Office of Multicultural Services, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and the African American Association will sponsor a Student Appreciation and Fun Day on the Quad to end the semester and prepare students for upcoming finals on April 15, 2004.  During the fall semester over 700 students/faculty/staff enjoyed a free cookout dinner, entertainment by DJ Anthony Gregory and participated in various sporting activities. 

Student Life

Greek Life

All Executive members of the Interfraternity Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, and the Panhellenic Council attended a retreat from January 5th – 6th.  The Councils outlined goals for the entire Greek community.  Collaboration among councils was discussed and initiated.

All Greek governing councils elected new officers in November 2003.

The Panhellenic Council designed a Unity Project for all five Panhellenic chapters.  The women are currently coordinating philanthropy and social activities, such as a self-defense seminar, birthday party for the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and a Trash (Clean-up) Day for all Greeks.

The Interfraternity Council has decided to bring a new fraternity to campus for the 2004-2005 academic year.  The Council is current receiving information from national fraternities not present on Jacksonville State University’s campus.  The anticipated date for a decision is April 2004.

The Interfraternity Council applied for five awards for the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia in February.  All five executive council members will attend the conference.

The Panhellenic Council applied for a Project Recognition Award for the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia in March.  Several Greek women are attending.

Academic Report

The following chapters exceeded the All Undergraduate Grade Point Average (G.P.A.):

Delta Sigma Theta          3.098

Phi Mu                              3.092

Zeta Tau Alpha                2.954

Alpha Omicon Pi             2.876

36 students within the Greek community received a 4.00 G.P.A.

SGA

The SGA had record-breaking turnouts of students, faculty and staff donors for the fall semester Blood Drive with totals around 250. 

The Student Activities Council has branched out to several campus organizations. The JSU Cheerleaders and Marching Southerners received goody backs with an inspirational poem from the Student Activities Council.  This was done in an effort to acknowledge all of the hard work that these organizations put into making JSU a better and more spirited campus.  The SAC also sponsored a tailgate party, which supplied food and beverages to any and all students that wished to attend.   The SAC has made many successful efforts throughout the year to increase attendance at SGA events and to make any and every person and organization feel acknowledged and welcome.

The Student Government Association’s Organizational Council sponsored a motivational speaker for students with a special session exclusively for campus employees.

Midnight Snack in the Caf sponsored by the SGA was one of the best ever with record attendance and participation. 

The SGA’s STARS (Students Together Advocating Realistic Solutions) Committee works in conjunction with the Higher Education Partnership in Montgomery.  The STARS Committee is presently working on a handful of policy assignments for the Partnership that will be presented before the state budget hearing committee.  The policy assignment that JSU was given involves researching statistics about the education system in Florida and how that information could be used here in Alabama.  The other universities were given other states to research so that this information can be compiled into a report for when the committee is contemplating the Alabama budget.

Freshman Forum

The Freshman Forum reached out into the community in October spreading cheer to senior citizens at the Jacksonville Health and Rehabilitation Center.  Members of the Forum prepared bags filled with sugar-free goodies and attached a friendly JSU message offering "treats" to the elderly, rather than "tricks" on Halloween.

In November, the Freshman Forum hosted an Involvement Expo featuring different organizations from across campus.  The intent of this endeavor was to align freshmen leaders with JSU organizations and promote involvement in extracurricular activities.  The speakers included representatives from the JSU Ambassadors, Greek Life, Gamecock Hostesses, and the Y.M.C.A. Collegiate Legislature.  Information was provided, questions were answered, and connections were made that will enrich student leadership, programs, and lives in the future.

To close the fall semester, the Forum sponsored a Pajama mixer for the freshman class.  Pizza, Karaoke, and contests brought students together for an evening of fellowship and fun for everyone. 

In accordance with the mission of the University, the Office of Student Life is striving to open the eyes of our campus population to cultural diversity and social opportunity.  Our efforts are aimed at further enhancing the student experience at Jacksonville State.

University Housing and Residence Life

*2 beds are currently offline.

 

Apartments

Total Capacity

Total # of Residents

Occupancy %

Campus Inn

87

64

73.56

College

23

21

91.30

Pannell Efficiency

82

67

81.70

Penn House

33

29

87.80

Jax

42

29

69.00

 

 

 

 

TOTALS

267

210

78.65%

*17 out of the 267 apartments are currently offline.

# of Houses

# of Houses Occupied

Occupancy %

13

9

69.23

*1 house is currently offline.

 

 

Halls

Total Capacity

Total # of Residents

Occupancy %

Crow

185

150

81.00

Daugette

158

135

85.40

Dixon

192

169

88.00

Fitzpatrick

227

204

89.80

Logan

122

105

86.00

Panhellenic

19

14

73.60

International House

41

39

95.10

Patterson

118

96

81.30

Sparkman

428

389

90.80

 

 

 

 

TOTALS

1490

1301

87.32%




Effective Fall 2004, the Department of University Housing and Residence Life will implement the following changes:

Daugette Hall will be designated as males and continuous housing.

Fitzpatrick Hall will be designated as freshmen females and continuous housing.

Campus Inn Efficiency Apartments earned credit hour requirement will be reduced from 64 to 32 hours with the GPA remaining 2.25.

Sparkman Hall will offer sororities the opportunity to rent an entire floor or half a floor.

Crow Hall will be designated as male athlete and freshmen housing. (We will enforce the NCAA 49% student-athlete housing rule.)

University Police Department

In November 2003 the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies granted reaccredidation to Jacksonville State University Police Department during the CALEA conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. UPD Police Chief Terry Schneider appeared before a panel of National Law Enforcement experts to answer specific questions and provide a detailed overview of the JSU Police Department. After reviewing the onsite report and evaluating the presentation by Chief Schneider, the CALEA full commission membership voted unanimously to grant full reaccredidation to the JSU police department.

2003 Crime Statistics - During the past 12 months, Jacksonville State University experienced a 30 percent decrease (250 reported) in reported crimes from the previous year. This makes the crime rate for 2003 the second lowest in the past 13 years. Arrests increased by 57 percent (92) from 2002 (53). Cost of crime to JSU and the campus community remained relatively the same: for 2003, crime victims on- campus reported losing $50,671.90 in stolen property and $11,945.00 in damages, for a total of $62,616.90.  Victims off-campus (students living in Jacksonville area) reported losing $82,937.00 in stolen property and $12,078.00 in damages. Direct cost of crime to victims in 2003 was $157,631.90.



 


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