ANNUAL report 2016
2 Table of Contents Greetings from the Dean .......................................................................... page 3
About the college .................................................................................... page 4
this year’s top stories .............................................................................. liberal arts high ........................................................................... spanish for the health professions ............................................... Department of Psychology accomplishments .................................
page 5 page 5 page 6 page 6-7
events & highlights .................................................................................. college highlights student highlights faculty highlights
page 8 page 8-10 page 10-11 page 12-13
New projects & current initiatives ........................................................... page 14
Endowments & grants .............................................................................. page 15
Cover photo of the L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center at Idaho State University
Greetings from the Dean The College of Arts and Letters ended 2016 on a high note, as it was one for the books. Our faculty, staff, students, and alumni have had many accomplishments; we have started new programs to enhance recruiting, new marketing campaigns, and created several new endowments. To name some of our top accomplishments, we started the new program “Liberal Arts High,” and it proved to be successful as we visited 16 high schools across Idaho. Our professors are visiting high school classrooms and sharing their expertise, and getting students excited about College. We already have high school visits lined up for 2017, and we can’t wait to tell more students about ISU! We also secured over $1.1 million dollars in new grants, which is huge for research and collaboration. We received local and national grants in our art, anthropology, English and philosophy, global studies and languages, history, and psychology departments. These grants not only help our professors conduct research, but provide opportunities for our students to gain experience and funding to finish their education. We also held our fourth annual New Year’s Eve Gala, which raised over $100,000 in revenue! Our students provided the entertainment for the evening, as well as a special guest performance by Time for Three. We are so thankful for the support of our community, alumni, donors, faculty, staff, and students who help make this event possible to give scholarship money to our students. We are planning next year’s Gala, and hope to see everyone there! Our annual report highlights each of our accomplishments this year. We hope you get as excited and proud as we do when you read about our faculty and staff. We are very enthusiastic about moving forward into 2017 and increasing opportunities for our students, and connecting with our community. Sincerely, Dean Kandi Turley-Ames
4 About the College
15
advanced degree programs
30
undergraduate degree programs
149 $1.1 503 $100,000
full-time faculty members
million in newly awarded grants in 2016
graduates in 2016
in revenue raised at our fourth annual New Year’s Eve Gala
This Year’s Top Stories Liberal Arts High Our Liberal Arts High program sent its first professor into a high school classroom in February. To date, our professors have given presentations at 16 different Idaho high schools and presented to over 4,100 students. The program was created to send professors across the humanities and social sciences to Idaho high schools to share their expertise, and show students that they can earn a quality education in their own backyard. Our hope is that we can alleviate the fears students may have about college by giving them a taste of a college classroom before enrolling in classes. By putting professors into high school classrooms, we are also helping to build strong relationships between professors and students. Our professors have created presentations on a variety of topics based on their expertise including, “‘You Are What You Eat’: A Spicy History of Food and People,” “Getting your Ensemble to Groove,” “Hollywood Move Formulas,” “Comics in the Classroom,” and “How to Rock the Vote: An Introduction to Our Complicated System of Elections.” Students can find college classes based around these topics with our professors once coming to ISU. After each presentation, the high school students complete a survey asking what their thoughts were on the professor, topic, and general impression of ISU. The data collected has helped the College build a stronger program, and help create presentations based around student’s needs. We are looking forward to reaching out to more schools and students in 2017.
Professor Kathleen M. Kole de Peralta during a Liberal Arts High presentation at Century High School
6 This Year’s Top Stories Spanish for the Health Professions The Spanish for the Health Professions program started in 2014, and has taken off in Eastern Idaho. The program provides both health professionals and language students a unique program of study, as well as many service learning opportunities. The curriculum requires ISU students to take both Spanish and culture classes along with their studies in their chosen health profession. The program also provides high school students in large Latino communities a chance to learn the specialized Spanish, ethics, and standards needed to be an interpreter in a health care setting. A $1,175,000 grant funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration provides books, test fees, interpreter training, academic enrichment activities, mentoring, and career counseling for high school students in the program. Once passing the two core classes offered by the ISU Early College Program, the students can take the Spanish CLEP exam at ISU. Each Snake River High School student who participated this year earned between 18-22 college credits. The Spanish for the Health Professions program is made possible through collaborations with the Kasiska Division of Health Sciences, and Utah State University. “Our goal is for students to understand and be able to communicate effectively in both English and Spanish, as well as understand the culture behind the people they are helping serve,” Tarp said. “If we can help each student develop these assets and skills, then we can help them go on to college and be successful there, and in the workforce.”
The Department of Psychology Shines Through Awards and Grants The Department of Psychology was on the receiving end of countless awards, nominations, and new grant awards this year. For instance, associate psychology professor Dr. Xiaomeng (Mona) Xu was honored as a 2015 Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science. The Rising Star award recognizes outstanding psychological scientists in the earliest stages of their research career. Dr. Maria Wong received an invitation to serve as a member of the Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress, and Health (MESH) study section. The MESH study section reviews grant applications of the interactions of stress, emotion, sleep, and circadian rhythms, and their relationships to physical and mental illness and health.
This Year’s Top Stories Dr. Joshua Swift received the Early Career Award from the American Psychological Foundation and the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. The award recognizes outstanding promise in the field of psychotherapy, mostly based on research to the field. Drs. Tera Letzring and Erin Rasmussen brought in more than $800,000 in grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The grants will help fund Letzring’s research on personality judgement, and Rasmussen’s research on food insecurity and obesity in women. Dr. Rob Rieske received over $8,400 from the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health to train clinical psychology graduate students to assess and provide treatment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Top, from left to right: Xiaomeng (Mona) Xu, Dr. Maria Wong, Dr. Joshua Swift Bottom, from left to right: Dr. Tera Letzring, Dr. Erin Rasmussen, Dr. Rob Rieske
8 Events & Highlights College Highlights The student-ran International Affairs Council welcomed Ambassador Arun K. Singh (bottom left) as the keynote speaker for the 45th annual Frank Church Symposium in March. Other delegates included Dr. Rafi Ahmed, National Academy Member, Dr. Fahim Rahim, M.D., and Retired Major General Tony Taguba. Our fourth annual New Year’s Eve Gala (bottom, left center) raised over $100,000 in revenue to help support our students in the arts. The classical pop music fusion trio Time for Three made a special guest performance, and our students in theatre, dance, music, and art provided the entertainment for the evening. The 12th annual Gender and Sexuality Conference was held in March and focused on how ideas and stereotypes concerning gender and sexuality shape and influence many aspects of daily life. Over 40 presenters from across the country joined our professors, students, and graduate students to present their research. Members of the iDebate Rwanda debate team debated in conjunction with ISU’s debate team on the topic “This house believes that in the aftermath of genocide, forgiveness is more important than justice.” The debaters (bottom, center right) focused on the 1994 genocide when more than one million Rwandans were killed. They shared their own stories of what it was like to live in a post-genocide generation, and how they strive to live inspiring and impactful lives. Foreign language teachers from across Idaho traveled to Idaho State University to attend the 55th Annual Idaho Association of Teachers of Language and Culture Conference. Anthropology professor Christopher Loether was the keynote speaker, and Global Studies and Languages lecturer Valia Tatarova (bottom right) organized the event.
Events & Highlights
Five governmental officials from Bhutan (top left) visited with the Idaho State University Department of Political Science as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The officials discussed what political science was, what new challenges the United States faces that should be tackled in the next five to 10 years, and the engagement of academia and policy engagement with the government. Undergraduate students participating in the National Institutes of Health funded IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) took immersive art and music classes by ISU faculty members, and then displayed their art work in the ART4Sci exhibit. The students also presented their work at the State INBRE conference in August and were the only students who had art work to compliment their research posters. The College held four summer camps for area middle and high school students in music, theatre, art, and communication: The Summer Institute for Piano and Strings provided students (top right) in grades 8-12 a week full of concerts, seminars, focus classes, chamber music, coaching, music history and theory, and crafts. The students participated in an opening concert that featured ISU faculty and alumni in the Jensen Grand Concert Hall. The annual Marching Band Camp was held in the middle of July, and more than 400 high school students came to campus to learn more about woodwind and brass techniques, drumline and mallet instruments, section leadership, conducting, flag and rifle techniques, and color guard. ISU faculty members and guest instructors from other institutions led the camp. The first annual CAMP was held for students interested in Communication, Art, Media, and Persuasion. It was taught by ISU professors and held in our state-of-the-art facilities. Students learned about scholarships and financial aid, had the opportunity to stay in on-campus housing, and received a true college experience. The first annual Conservatory Theatre Camp was held this year for middle and high school students interested in theatre and dance. The camp was held in the Stephens Performing Arts Center and taught by ISU faculty, students, and members of the community. The camp was directed by theatre student Jenna Davies.
10 Events & Highlights The Department of Music hosted the International Choral Festival, the Idaho Music Educators Conference, the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Jazz Fest, the Marching Band Invitational, Day of Percussion, and various group, student, and faculty concerts. The School of Performing Arts presented eight theatre and dance productions throughout the year. The Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminology received $1,087,860 grant renewal from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to help train child welfare workers in Idaho. The grant helps embedded trainers teach new child welfare and seasoned workers through field training, coaching, mentoring, and inservice training. The Department of Art created a digital studio lab for current art students to receive a more modern and technological training in their art degrees. The studio is equipped with 13 new desktop computers dedicated to art and design, and technology to support 3D imaging, scanning, and printing. It also has a HP Sprout, a 3D scanner and resin printer. The State Board of Education approved a Master of Social Work program in our Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminology. Students can will soon be able to earn their entire social work education at ISU.
Student HIghlights Psychology graduate students Chris DeCou, Colin Mahoney, and Ariana Tart-Zelvin received awards from national organizations based on their work: Chris DeCou received the Outstanding Student of the Year Award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Colin Mahoney was awarded a $1,000 American Psychological Foundation/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology Graduate Research scholarship for his dissertation titled “A Laboratory Examination of Sexual RiskTaking in Sexually Traumatized Women.” Ariana Tart-Zelvin won the 2016 Ted Blau Student Poster Award from the National Academy of Neuropsychology. Students in Dr. Erika Kuhlman’s Women in the North American West class wrote biographies of Idaho suffragists. The history of these women was not previously written, and students had the opportunity to do original research on important figures in Idaho history. The biographies include; Helen Young, the first female laywer in Idaho; Emma Drake, a physician; and May Arkwright Hutton, a suffragist and labor activist.
Events & Highlights
Sixty-one students from Renaissance High School in Meridian received their Associate of Arts degrees in general studies at the Idaho State University-Meridian commencement. The students started taking dual-enrollment courses during their junior year of high school and were able to get a jump on their college classes. The Idaho State University Chamber Choir (top left) traveled to England and Scotland for 13 days in May to perform in some of the most historic cathedrals in the world. They performed in Edinburgh, York, Newcastle, Worchester, London, Ely, Oxford, and Cambridge. Larry Leibrock, political science research fellow at the ISU Informatics Research Institute, was awarded a Fulbright Shuman Fellowship to conduct research and teach at Oxford University, England starting in January 2017. Leibrock’s research will focus on European Union data privacy and U.S. Homeland Security. Volkan Aktas, M.P.A. student, interned for the United Nations Department of Field Support in outreach and gender in New York. He managed a system-wide web-based electronic platform, created an outreach campaign for field-based positions; met, emailed, and called 1,000 institutions and organizations worldwide; generated reports; and conducted research to prepare documents and materials. Music student Kylle Strunk’s composition “Oaxacan Fantasy” was produced by Tapspace. “Oaxacan Fantasy” also won second place at the Portland Percussion Group’s 2016 Call for Scores. Communication, Media, and Persuasion students (top right) helped ISU take first place at the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) for District XI this Spring. This is the first time ISU has been the regional champion in the competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation.
12 Events & Highlights Faculty Highlights Idaho State University’s first Teaching Literature Book Award was given to Nancy Rabinowitz for her book “From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Humanities Classroom and Beyond.” The award is an international juried prize created by Dr. Jessica Winston. Sixteen books were nominated during the inaugural year. Rabinowitz traveled to Pocatello to present to ISU faculty and students, local teachers, and staff from BYU-Idaho. Associate professor of global studies and Spanish Dr. Cathleen Tarp received an Idaho Hometown Hero Award from the JRM Foundation for her vision and work to create the Spanish for the Health Professions program to ISU. This program helps high school students and health profession and language students participate in a one-of-a-kind program. Department of English Chair and professor Dr. Jennifer Attebery was selected as an honoree at the 17th annual Southeast Idaho Business and Achievement Ceremony, and won the University Education Award. Attebery has been the Chair of ISU’s Faculty Senate, Curriculum Council and the Department of English and Philosophy, as well as the Director of the Folklore Program. Anthropology Chair Dr. Kate Reedy received a $331,126 grant from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Office of Subsistence Management to study subsistence in communities in the Lower Alaskan Peninsula. The grant will fund a three-year project where Reedy will survey three village’s subsistence and collect a series of data. It will also help round out a project in which she surveyed the other eight villages on the Aleutian Chain. Political Science Chair Dr. Donna Lybecker was selected to serve on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Advisory Committee due to her expertise on international border environmental issues. The committee consists of 15 members from throughout the United States comprised of people from industry, academic, and environmental groups. Assistant history lecturer Dr. Paul Sivitz developed a map with Montana State University professor Billy G. Smith that is currently on display in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The map, titled “Free African American Householders in Philadelphia, 1789-1791” is part of a larger project where Sivitz and Smith recover the lives of Philadelphians living in the nation’s first capital during the eighteenth century. Music professor Jon Armstrong released a new album titled, “Burnt Hibiscus,” produced by Orenda Records last fall. The album is a collaboration between Armstrong and Indian-American vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sheela Bringi. Music blog “Bird is the Worm” listed Armstrong’s record as the second best jazz record of 2016.
Events & Highlights Emeritus professor Dr. Susan Swetnam was selected as the 2016 recipient of the Idaho Humanities Council’s Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities Award. She also published her eighth book “A Season of Little Sacraments, Christmas Commotion/Advent Grace” with Liturgical Press of Collegeville, Minnesota. English professor Dr. Alan Johnson was awarded his second Fulbright Scholar grant to research images of the environment and forest in Indian literature in Southern India for nine months. Assistant professor, Dr. Charles Speer and the Department of Anthropology hosted a summer Archaeological Field School in the Sweet Ola Valley of Western Idaho. Every student found at least 60 artifacts including horseshoe nails, medicine bottles, ceramic plates, and square nails. These artifacts date back at least 125 years ago, with some Archaic items dating back 2,500 years ago.
Top, from left to right: Dr. Cathleen Tarp, Dr. Jennifer Attebery, Dr. Kate Reedy Bottom, from left to right: Dr. Donna Lybecker, Dr. Paul Sivitz, Jon Armstrong
14
New Projects & Current Initiatives
Road Scholars
Using funds from the Dean’s Excellence Fund, we will be hitting the road to present high school seniors from Eastern Idaho schools with a scholarship to Idaho State University in our new Road Scholars program. We believe that Eastern Idaho is full of young, talented students who will one day go on to bigger and better things. We want to do our part in keeping Idaho’s best and brightest in state to continue their education. We have asked principals and counselors to nominate three of their best seniors, and each nominated student to write a one-page summary of their goals and aspirations. Once we pick the winners, we will travel to each school and surprise the winning student with a scholarship to ISU. We will also show that student other scholarship opportunities that are available at ISU, and give a short presentation to teachers about our Liberal Arts High program.
Live, Learn, Play
We created a new recruiting and marketing campaign that shows future students that Idaho State University is not only for students with high academic aspirations, but also for students who are outdoor enthusiasts. Pocatello is situated at the foot of the Portneuf and Bannock Mountain Ranges, and is surrounded by mountains, trails, lakes, and rivers that provide opportunities for skiing, mountain biking, rafting, trail running, and much more. Within a three-hour drive of the University you can visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, and the City of Rocks National Preserve. Inside the city, there are opportunities to fish, swim, paddle board, and play any sport. Pocatello is a great place to live, learn, and play, and we want the rest of the country to see that.
IRC update
This year, we received approval from the State Board of Education to create the Integrated Research Center (IRC) to provide space, technology, and equipment for scholarly interdisciplinary training, research, and creative activity. Students are able to learn how to use an eye tracker, plotter/scanner, 3D printer, EEG equipment, statistical software packages, and visualization software. Some of our professors are already utilizing the IRC to hold courses and use equipment for special projects, and our students are using it to print research posters and conduct their own research.
Endowments & Grants New Endowments and Grants Alumnus Galo Medina created the Galo Medina Endowment for students across our disciplines. The endowment was created because Medina said he reached a certain point as a student where he needed an opportunity to receive his undergraduate degree, and he wants to help students who might be in that situation. Medina is continuing to grow the endowment, and the first student was awarded a scholarship in the Fall. The Cheryl Jensen Scholarship Foundation was established at the end of 2015 to support students in the performing arts. The endowment is designed to award scholarships to full-time juniors or seniors solely studying music or theatre. The Jensen Family created the endowment to honor Cheryl Jensen and her passion for the arts and education. The scholarship fund will continue to grow every year we host the New Year’s Eve Gala. The College received a donation from the F.M., Anne G., and Beverly B. Bistline Foundation for $25,000 to bring classical pop music fusion trio Time for Three to perform at the annual New Year’s Eve Gala. The Bistline Foundation supports arts activities that provide entertainment or art-related education to the general public. The Voilleque – Nelson Arts and Letters Scholarship Endowment was started by alumnae Anne Stanton Voilleque and Louise Smith Nelson to provide an opportunity for Idaho high school students to come to ISU who might not have another opportunity otherwise. Voilleque and Nelson have established other endowments previously at ISU. The Victor C. Joe Endowment Fund in Experimental Psychology was established to recognize Joe as an exemplary individual, mentor to students, professor, colleague, and friend of many people in the community. This was the first endowment established in the Department of Psychology. The endowment has surpassed 85 supporters, and is continuing to grow. Richard Hall left over $50,000 in his estate to be included in the Teri Hall Memorial Endowment. The Teri Hall Memorial Endowment was created in 2003 to celebrate the life of Richard Hall’s daughter, Teri, a former chair of the Anthropology Department. The endowment supports students studying Anthropology.
@isuartsandletters idaho state university college of arts & letters 921 south 8th avenue, stop 8087 pocatello, idaho 83209-8087
@isuartsletters idahostate_cal