2008 Woodie Awards
Pitt State Briefs
Issue date: 7/24/08 Section: PSU Briefs
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to launch new year
University President Tom Bryant will address the annual Faculty Senate opening meeting to be held at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom of the Overman Student Center.
Before the meeting, a coffee and conversation period will start at 8:45 a.m. The agenda includes a welcome from Mark Johnson, Faculty Senate president; remarks by Brenda Frieden, chair of the Faculty Association, and Tim Thomas, president of PSU/KNEA; and welcoming remarks from Steven Scott, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who will also introduce new faculty and staff.
International students
to enroll Aug. 19-21
The International Programs & Services office will schedule new student orientation Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 19-21. International students will visit various departments on Thursday afternoon for enrolling and advising. For more information, call Julia Helminiak at 235-4221.
OIS warns
of spam e-mail
The PSU campus is being spammed by someone asking people to give their login name and password, warns of Office of Information Services. The e-mail is listed as being from "THE PITTSTATE DESK" and begins "Dear pittstate.edu webmail user." It indicates that failure to give this information immediately will render one's e-mail address deactivated.
Kathy Sanley, OIS associate director, asks that PSU e-mail users not respond to this e-mail. Sanley says that OIS would never ask users for their login or password.
Caterpillar donates
$10,000 for scholarships
Two representatives from Caterpillar recently presented a check for $10,000 to the university's College of Technology. The university will match that amount for a total of $20,000. The money will go toward scholarships for students in the Caterpillar Think Bigger programs at Pitt State. The program is a two-year course of study that prepares students to become heavy equipment technicians for the company.
Skubitz Foundation
donates $50,000
The PSU Foundation received a gift of $50,000 from the newly formed Leon V. and Dorothy M. Skubitz Foundation, a charitable fund set up by M&I Bank in Pittsburg. The money will go toward a scholarship for an outstanding student within the Department of Nursing.
"It's a gift that will give back to the entire community, because nursing is a profession that will be needed even more as the Baby Boomer population ages," said Mary Carol Pomatto, chairwoman of the Nursing Department.
The fund was set up in response to the wishes of the Skubitzes, two longtime Pittsburg residents.
PSU awarded $598,000
for tech scholarships
Months of preparation culminated recently with the award of $598,000 for scholarships for the university's College of Technology programs.
A STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation to PSU. The money, which will be disbursed over the next five years, is earmarked for the Department of Engineering Technology.
The grant is designed for students who have a strong financial need while showing potential for a career in engineering. A committee will be formed to recruit students, and will continue to work with them throughout their four years of schooling to ensure their success. The $598,000 grant will provide four-year scholarships to at least 13 students.
"This isn't a scenario where we give them the money and then hope they survive," said Jim Otter, chairman of the department of Engineering Technology. "We will be developing an infrastructure to give them the support they need."
Otter said a handful of faculty members had been working to obtain the grant with the help of the College of Continuing and Graduate Studies. Mark Jones and Randy Winzer, professors in the department, along with the help of Brian Perry, PSU grants coordinator, made the case in their proposal that because southeast Kansas has a high poverty level, many potential students end up pursuing little or no college because they simply can't afford it. Otter says the grant reviewers at the National Science Foundation were receptive to the university's goal of reaching that demographic.
"We have a working-class kind of student," he said. "Many of them are working at least 20, maybe 40 hours per week. There are many who can't afford a four-year education and instead choose a one- or two-year program and then throw themselves into the workforce, maybe coming back to get more education later. This gives them a chance to get it now."
Graduates often go on to have careers in mechanical engineering, design or process engineering, or quality control.
For more information, call the department of Engineering Technology at 235-4350.
Dell appointed head
Of automotive technology
Timothy Dell, assistant professor in the Department of Automotive Technology, has been named department chairman. He took over his new responsibilities July 1.
This is the first time the department has had its own dedicated chairman. For the past several years, John Iley has served as chairman of both the Department of Technology Studies as well as the Department of Automotive Technology. Iley will still head Technology Studies.
A native of Pittsburg, Dell earned a bachelor of science degree in automotive technology and a master of science degree in technology education from PSU. He recently completed a Ph.D. in education from Kansas State University.
Dell began his career at PSU in 1999, teaching courses in fluid power, off-highway systems and automatic and advanced hydraulic transmissions.
In addition to teaching, Dell has served as the department's diesel and heavy equipment coordinator for five years, and oversees the Caterpillar Think Bigger program, the only program of its kind in the U.S. He also serves on the John Deere National Training Council - one of only two instructors to do so nationwide.
Church to hold luncheon
The Light House Temple will be holding a spaghetti luncheon from 11:00 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 2, at the Homer Cole building on south Joplin St. The meal is $6 and includes spaghetti, salad, dessert and a drink.Deliveries are available and orders must be place by Friday, August 1, and will be delivered between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the day of the luncheon.
For more information, call 249-1769 or 875-6609 to place orders.
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