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This monthly newsletter features stories about events and programs within the Division of Academic Affairs. It is intended to inform, engage, and recognize members of our esteemed Community of Educators, all the faculty and staff who are committed to student success.
This is the last issue before the new year. Our next issue will come out January 26 and will feature stories from December and January. Should you wish to submit a story for the January issue, please click the button below. Submissions must be received by Thursday, January 19, 2022.
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From the Desk of Dr. Laurie Bernotsky . . .
Dear Colleagues,
The recent midterm elections reminded us of the importance of exercising our civic duty to participate in our democracy by voting. Just a few days later, on Veterans Day, we celebrated the people who fought to protect that democracy. It is fitting that this issue of the Provosts' Post focuses on stories of events and programs reflecting WCU's commitment to contributing to the "common good." To me, this is an incredibly important aspect of our mission. As a public institution, it is our moral obligation to produce the next generation of leaders to solve society's most complex problems. In my welcome address in September, I said we live in a world filled with problems -- poverty, hunger, health issues, and crime to name a few. I asked the question, "How many of those problems could we solve if smart, capable people really cared enough about the common good?" That's what we do and who we are at West Chester.
In this midterm election, according to the Ram Poll, conducted by WCU's Laura Pyott, nearly 90% of the 1000 PASSHE students surveyed said they planned on voting or already had voted. Additionally, 42 Members elected to the Pennsylvania state legislature attended or earned degrees from State System universities, and at least 33 legislators (some of whom are alumni) have ties to State System universities because their legislative districts include a PASSHE university.
More broadly, there was record turnout of voters nationally between the ages of 18-29 with young voters making up one-third of the electorate. Pennsylvania is at the forefront of this demographic shift, ranking among the top ten states on the Youth Electoral Significance Index (YESI) for impact in the Senate and Governor races according to CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement based at Tufts University. Despite youth making up only 16% of the state’s population, the youth voter registration rate is above average at 69%.
That's real impact. It is another example of how our students are making positive changes in the world on the local, state, and national levels and how we, as a community of educators, are contributing to the "common good."
Sincerely,
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WCU Honors Military Scholars
The University held this year’s Military Scholarship Ceremony and Breakfast on November 12 at the WCU Alumni & Foundation Center Ballroom to celebrate ROTC cadet and veteran scholars. Among those present were the 28 students who were recognized with at least one of 21 scholarships awarded this year.
“West Chester University takes great pride in providing a quality education and supportive environment for our student veterans, military service members, reservists, and their families,” said WCU President Christopher Fiorentino. He noted WCU’s longstanding commitment to military students and emphasized the growth of the Greg and Sandra Weisenstein Veterans Center and expansion of services in recent years under Director Lillian Morrison. The center works to create an intentional culture of understanding, acceptance, and success for veterans, active military, and those who support them, in part by facilitating communication among campus offices with a coordinated system of service.
“Along with increased scholarship support and program funding, in 2019, due to support from Mrs. Eileen Reider Glenn, Class of ’69, M’99, we’ve established a dedicated counselor position specifically to support our student veterans,” added Fiorentino.
West Chester University is among only 282 universities nationwide selected for gold award status on the Military Friendly Schools list for 2022-2023. The gold designation recognizes schools for their leading practices, outcomes, and effective programs on behalf of veterans, military service members, reservists, and their families. This is the second year WCU has achieved Gold status. In addition, WCU is a Yellow Ribbon school committed to helping students pay for tuition and fees that are not covered by the post-9/11 GI Bill.
For more information and a list of scholarship recipients, click the button below.
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Navigate Progress Reports
Thank you to all the faculty who participated in the Navigate Progress Report pilot this semester! We see how engaged you are in our students’ success. Each phase of the Navigate integration gives us valuable information on how to better support student success. Your participation is key to that process. Feel free to reach out to navigate@wcupa.edu with your feedback. Also, please see the resources section below for where to learn more about Navigate training and resources.
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Supply Chain Management and Business Intelligence Center Hosts Industry Night
The Traffic Club of Philadelphia (TCP) and WCU's Supply Chain and Business Intelligence (SC&BI) Center hosted the SCM Industry Night and Outstanding Students Awards Ceremony on November 10. This was TCP's second visit to WCU's campus at the invitation of Dr. Lori Fuller, Chair of the Accounting Department. Nearly 60 students met 50 professionals in the field of supply chain and logistics. Saint-Gobain/CertainTeed, a Fortune 500 company, was the featured company this year.
The SC&BI Center reviewed the Supply Chain and SAP programs at WCU, and recognized students’ achievements in the past year in the ERPsim North American SAP simulation competition, where we finished 12th. Over 100 students from 25 universities took part in this year’s virtual event jointly organized by SAP Next-Gen University Alliances NA and ERPsim Lab–HEC Montréal. Other achievements were recognized including the SAP student certificate, Supply Chain Case Competition (IKEA and Penske presented cases), and supply chain internships. Joseph Harkins, a sophomore Supply Chain major, received the outstanding supply chain student award and received $500 scholarship from SMS Rail.
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President's Corporate Advisory Board Holds First "Master Class" for Management Students
Members of the President's Corporate Advisory Board and select senior business leaders from across the region representing 19 different companies came together on November 10 to share their experiences over the years in the workplace with more than 120 students from Professor John Scott's Principles of Management class. Discussions centered around two questions: "What do I know now that I wish I knew when I was in college?" and "What advice would I offer students to best to prepare for a successful career after college?" Each table engaged with two advisors followed by a panel discussion where advisors answered questions submitted by students in advance.
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Veterans Apply Geospatial Intelligence Skills in
Planning and Economic Development
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WCU's Department of Geography and Planning has a long history of educating veterans. A number of these alumni have found careers in the Defense and Intelligence communities, as well as the Planning and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) industries. Since the establishment of the WCU Veterans Office, the Department has worked to create a collaborative learning and support environment for each cohort of veterans in the Department. Currently, a team of six Veteran/Active Military Geography and Planning majors are collaborating to bring their geospatial intelligence skills into their university and projects experiences. Student team members include Jeremy Fleming (Accelerated B.S. Geography- Environmental to M.S. Geography), Christopher Cammarata, (Accelerated B.S. Geography- GIScience to M.S. Geography), Paul Trainor (B.S. Geography- GIScience), Nick Hanna (B.S. Geography- GIScience), Zakary Reilly (B.S. Geography- GIScience) and Ethan Fink Accelerated B.S. Geography- GIScience to M.S. Geography). Staff Sgt. Rich Simpson (B.S. Urban and Environmental Planning and Master of Urban and Regional Planning alum) is serving as a technical advisor on this project. Rich is a former President of the WCU Veterans Organization and is currently a Solutions Engineer at ESRI, the world’s leading GIS company. Through his work at ESRI, he is assisting the group learn about emerging artificial intelligence tools for image analysis.
These students are lending their military experience and skills to ongoing planning and economic development projects with West Whiteland Township. The initial phase of this project included 3D modeling and zoning analysis of the Exton Mall and surrounding shopping areas. The group of veterans are adding to the project using drones to collect imagery of the area. Their image classification and analysis skills are being combined with cutting edge image processing and analysis tools using Deep Learning models. The results include vehicle and building extraction counts as well as vegetation versus impervious surface mapping.
Department Chair and Professor, Gary Coutu, has brought this team of veterans together to create pathways for other veterans and foster learning environments and hands-on projects to leverage skill sets acquired during their military service. These veterans are discovering that the fields of Geography, Planning, and Geographic Information Science lead to careers that reflect skills, experiences, and positions from their service experience. Through these projects, the veterans are also assisting the Department review its curriculum to support the development of an Accredited Geospatial Intelligence Certificate.
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PASSHE DEI Summit Showcases WCU's Initiatives
WCU was a major contributor to this year's PASSHE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit. More than 1100 participants from across the Commonwealth heard from 12 members of WCU's faculty, staff, and students who participated as presenters. This year’s theme was “What does it mean to belong? Cultivating relationships and centering equity in our communities.” To create diverse communities that are inclusive and equitable to all, we must explore the questions: What does it mean to belong? How can we individually and as a collective, nurture diversity, equity, and inclusion as foundational to building a robust State System?
This year’s Summit aimed to serve as a platform for dialogue, reflection, communal learning, and community building, centered on exploring the praxis of belonging. The DEI Summit supports the State System’s five mission-driven DEI priorities, which were affirmed by the Board of Governors in April 2021. This annual Summit reflects the State System's commitment to building and maintaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive space for faculty, staff, and students to thrive.
Below are the sessions featuring WCU faculty, staff, and students.
Act 101 in PASSHE: Supporting Our Students' Success
John Craig, Jeremy Miller (PHEAA), Andrew Ortega (Penn West), Jordan Harris (PA House), Lyssa Rivera (Virginia Commonwealth Univ.)
Creating an Equitable Model for Dual Enrollment
David Thomas (Community Col. of Philadelphia), John Ulrich (Commonwealth Univ.), Sarah Freed
Cultivating Critical Questions Regarding Race and Equity and Promoting Cultural Competencies with First-Year College Students
Jessica Tobin Nagle (Temple), Rose Jagielo-Manion, John Craig
Gender Inclusivity in the Classroom: What it Looks Like & How We Too Get There
Dana Pratt (student), Liam Lair, & Hannah Zartman (student)
Taking a Deeper Dive to Revisit and Strengthen Curriculum Diversity
Francis Atuahene, Cirstóbal Cardemil-Krause, Andrew Sargent, Tracey Robinson
West Chester University & Delaware County Community College’s Moon Shot for Equity Initiative: Creating Equity Minded Institutions and bringing about culture change in higher education?
Vanessa Kahen, Tracey Robinson, Megan Jerabek, Simmee Myers (DCCC)
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Museum Studies Exhibit Pays Tribute to Philadelphia's Diverse History "Beyond the Bell"
"Beyond the Bell: Philadelphia’s Global Heritage exhibition," curated by WCU Museum Studies Department opened last month in the Old Library Lower Gallery and will be on display through May 1, 2023. The Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology’s latest exhibition, "Beyond the Bell: Philadelphia’s Global Heritage," honors the 50th anniversary of the ratification of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention. Although the city was designated by UNESCO for its importance in the creation of the world’s first Enlightenment-era Republic, the exhibition counters the settler colonialism rhetoric by exploring the diverse heritages that make Philadelphia a global cultural hub. The Museum has partnered with the Global Philadelphia Association and its members, and features artifacts from the National Parks Service, Lest We Forget Museum of Slavery, the Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, and numerous artists and community members. During his visit this month to WCU, PASSHE Chancellor Greenstein visited the exhibit.
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World War II Exhibit at Knauer Gallery Through December 9
In recognition of the brave men and women who fought to protect our democracy, Dr. Robert Kodosky, chair of the Department of History and a historian of American military and diplomatic history, brought to WCU a collection of film posters and other original WWII artifacts from the military-history collection of Stephen “Mr. Movie” and Michell Friedman, and Adam MacMillan, a sophomore who accompanied a D-Day veteran to Normandy this past summer.
“‘For Reel: The Cinematic Art of the Second World War," which may be viewed at the Knauer Art Gallery from November 7 through December 9, enables visitors to explore the ways that film posters conceptualize the stories that WWII movies convey,” says Professor Kodosky. “They reflect an immense filmography that covers every genre, from propaganda to satire, while varying widely in their historical accuracy.”
On November 10, Dr. Kodosky kicked off the exhibit with a conversation with two WWII veterans, Robert P. Gibson and Ernest Mogor, in Madeleine Wing Adler Theater. The veterans shared stories about their sacrifices and experiences, including D-Day. Dr. Kodosky later shared that conversation on November 11 as a guest speaker at the National Constitution Center’s livestreamed Veterans Day commemoration.
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PASSHE Faculty Professional Development Council
Request For Proposals due January 24
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) invites you to apply for the 2022-23 Annual Grant Program (funding will begin in June 2023). This program is intended to provide professional growth opportunities for individual faculty, with a focus on projects that encourage student success. This year, the maximum number of proposals has increased to twenty-one (21) from each of the 10 universities. Below, you will find the ategories for funding and the attached application has detailed instructions regarding eligibility and criteria.
If you have any questions about the application and review process, or if you would like support or advice regarding the construction of your proposal, please contact your assigned Grants Development Specialist, Andrea Morris (AMorris@wcupa.edu) or Catherine Spaur (CSpaur@wcupa.edu).
Applications will be accepted for the following categories:
Category 1-A: Joint Faculty‑Student Basic or Applied Research
Category 1-B: Scholarly Research: Basic or Applied
Category 2: Joint Faculty‑Student Public Service
Category 3: Creative and Performing Arts
Category 4: Innovation in Teaching and Improvement in Student Learning Outcomes
Category 5: Individual Career Enhancement in Off-Site Settings
To review the call for proposals and to apply, please go to the WCU PASSHE FPDC application form by clicking on the link below. Because this is a limited submission opportunity, your application will be reviewed at WCU before it is submitted to the FPDC. Applications are due for initial, internal review by January 24, 2023.
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Ram Poll Shows Nearly 90% of Eligible PASSHE University Students Planned to Vote in Mid-Terms
WCU’s Laura Pyott, a professor of statistics in the Department of Mathematics, has been polling college students since 2018 as part of a statistics course. The first election survey, named the Ram Poll by the founding students, was funded by a CELT grant in 2018 and polled only WCU undergraduates. Professor Pyott received a Provost Research Grant in 2020 to conduct the second Ram Poll which was sent to 13 PASSHE universities across the state. Presidential election year enthusiasm generated a large response of 1,676 Pennsylvania undergraduates—86% of whom said they planned to vote or had already voted. The 2022 Ram Poll, funded by a Lindback Teaching Award, received responses from 948 students from 10 PASSHE universities. Enthusiasm was again high, with 89% saying they will certainly or probably vote in the midterm election. Students who took the poll reported that their top issues were education, abortion, healthcare, and the economy. The 2022 Ram Poll was conducted by Professor Pyott and her STA201 students: statistics majors Gianna Lafrance, Emma Laughlin, Connor McKee, Jaiden Neff, Evan Parker, Julia Randazzo, Jack Ross, Ian Vanwright, and Kyle Weber; computer science majors Jessica Gorr and Hayden Kanak; and political science majors Veronica Yeakel, Katelyn Samples, and Elizabeth Seravello. To read the report, click on Ram Poll below.
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IRB Q&A Zoom Sessions
For faculty conducting research involving human subjects, the WCU Institutional Review Board (IRB) will host IRB Q&A Zoom sessions for the campus community. Please find below the fall 2022 Zoom sessions dates, times, and zoom links. All may attend any of the scheduled sessions.
Also, in addition to the dates listed, the IRB Co-Chairs hold weekly open office hours. Please feel free to join those at any point with questions as well.
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FREE LinkedIn Learning Content Available to
WCU Faculty, Staff and Students
LinkedIn Learning with Lynda.com content is an industry leader in online training, with a digital library of over 180,000 videos, covering a wide range of technical, business, software, and creative topics. West Chester University faculty, staff and currently enrolled students have unlimited access.
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