campusnews
Playhouses & Forts Schreiner staffers Stephanie Keller and Elizabeth Loggie created a playhouse design that was chosen as one of eight in the “Playhouses and Forts” exhibit that ran through October 24 at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. Loggie is volunteer
coordinator at Schreiner and Keller is assistant art director of creative services and responsible for the design of SCENE magazine. Their playhouse had a space dedicated to each of the five senses that allowed children and other visitors to explore each sense through hands-on activities. According to Keller, their children inspired the design, by thinking about what the world looks like to them. The playhouse allowed visitors to create music, observe the world through recycled objects, explore soil layers from bedrock to living plants and find out what kind of forest creature he or she might be. “The playhouse idea just came together seamlessly,” Keller said. “One of the great things about working at Schreiner is the high level of creativity all over this campus. It was really fun collaborating with Elizabeth and we’re really proud of what we accomplished.” Loggie agreed, saying, “This project was truly a fun exercise in creativity. We never dreamed we’d be selected but found the entire process very rewarding. Taking a project from concept to actual build was amazing and we need to give recognition to our faithful husbands and children. It truly was a family affair, like an old-time barn raising, but in our case a playhouse.”
Schreiner Awarded Two Grants Schreiner University received a $475,727 grant from the National Science Foundation, which will allow Schreiner to make renovations to what is not only a teaching lab in Moody Science Building, but also a site for ongoing faculty and undergraduate research. The grant describes the renovation as
“facilitating the space’s use as an epicenter of research and research training in an underserved region.” The grant proposal was a team effort among chemistry faculty Dr. Kiley Miller, Danette Vines and Dr. Robert Holloway, as well as Beth Bourland, Schreiner associate director of development for foundation relations. “Schreiner University has continuously strived for excellence and quality in education,” said Miller, who is heading up the project. “Through the grant funds from the National Science Foundation, Schreiner will provide another useful tool in the educational process. Some of the highlighted research coming from Schreiner professors will be organic synthesis of anti-HIV analogs, using analytical instrumentation to quantify vitamin E in cosmetic products and analyzing mixtures of fatty acid methyl esters. Hill Country residents support Schreiner indirectly through federal taxes. I like to think that some of our Hill Country dollars are coming back to us to support this pursuit of educational excellence and quality.” “We are extremely pleased to be taking the chemistry program in a new direction and to be providing some wonderful research opportunities for our students,” Dr. Diana Comuzzie, dean of the Trull School of Sciences and Mathematics and professor of biology at Schreiner, said. “This grant is the product of several years’ worth of work and builds on work accomplished under the support of the Welch Foundation. Some very exciting things are happening at Schreiner University and this is one shining example.” The University of Chicago Arete Initiative awarded Dr. Adam Feltz, assistant professor of philosophy and interdisciplinary studies, a $200,000, two-year grant for the project “The Heuristics of Virtue—Integrating Virtue Ethics and the Science of Heuristics.” Feltz said his project addresses questions such as “Why do we think Mother Theresa virtuous and Bernie Madoff vicious? Can we educate our children to be more like Mother Theresa and less like Bernie Madoff? Can we create environments that elicit behaviors more like Mother Theresa’s and less like Bernie Madoff’s?” The grant will allow Feltz to further develop the research he and his students have been pursuing through Schreiner’s Behavioral Philosophy Lab. “Both of these projects speak to the faculty’s commitment to make Schreiner University a leader in designing high-impact educational environments that cultivate student learning and excellence,” said Dr. Charlie McCormick, Schreiner provost and vice president of academic affairs. “Both projects increase the University’s capacity to engage undergraduate students in undergraduate research, a pedagogical practice that has been shown to positively impact student learning, motivation and sense-of-self.”
www.schreiner.edu Fall 2010 5