FOCUS - 2018

2018-19

Spotlight on the Academic Power of Piedmont College

College Crossroads Page 6

Contents 04

Dr. Dionne Rosser-Mims

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Dr. Janice Moss and Dr. Stephen Carlson

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Faculty Achievements

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Hayden Giovino

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Student Research

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Student-Athletes

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Transformational Experiences

She refused to be stereotyped. And that made all the difference

Stewarding and mentoring their students through college crossroads

Colleagues making a name for themselves—and Piedmont­—in the academic arena

A distinctive Mellon program helps him discover a passion for art curation

Daring to tackle the unknown—to make discoveries and to prove points

Sports team members that put academics first

Piedmont to provide more hands-on learning opportunities

About the cover: (from left to right) Dr. Janice Moss, Ray Hernandez ’18, Morgan Rolston ’18 and Dr. Stephen Carlson are featured on pages 6-10. (photo by Kasey Brookshire)

President Dr. James F. Mellichamp Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athens Campus Dr. Perry Rettig

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Dean of Libraries & College Librarian Bob Glass

Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Daniel Silber

Vice President for Administration & Finance Ken Jones

Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences Dr. Steve Nimmo

Vice President for Advancement Amy Amason

Dean of the Walker School of Business Dr. Ed Taylor

Director of Marketing and Communication/Editor John Roberts

Dean of the School of Education Dr. Donald Gnecco

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Dean of the R. H. Daniel School of Nursing & Health Sciences Dr. Julia Behr

Design Manager Regina Fried ’08

Contributing Writer/Editor David Harrell Contributing Photographer Kasey Brookshire Published by the Office of Institutional Advancement Send Address Changes to: Piedmont College Institutional Advancement P.O. Box 429 Demorest GA 30535 Or piedmont.edu/updateinfo Piedmont College @PiedmontGA @PiedmontCollege

A central component of Piedmont’s values is a challenge to our entire college community “to immerse themselves in discovery, analysis, and communication.”

This statement correctly presupposes that learning and enlightenment thrive in an environment when everyone – our faculty, staff, and students – are working together. This issue of FOCUS illustrates the cooperative nature of a Piedmont education.

When our students succeed, our faculty succeed. More importantly, these stories illustrate the power of mentoring. And they are a testament of Piedmont’s commitment to our students.

These pages, too, are witness to the growing academic reputation of Piedmont. During the 2017-18 academic year, our faculty were celebrated authors, top researchers, and some were recognized on a national stage.

Enjoy – and be prepared to be impressed.

The inspirational stories of Dr. Janice Moss and Ray Hernandez ’18 and Dr. Steve Carlson and Morgan Ralston ‘18 show that these collaborations may take many forms. In one case, a professor guides and challenges a student on his path to a national tournament. In another, a professor reassures a student through a health scare while helping her and others win a national award.

Along with the students, the professors collected some accollades.

One was recognized at a national conference. The other was named to a prominent committee.

Perry R. Rettig, Ph.D. Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athens Campus

“I didn’t want to be average. I wanted to excel, to go above and beyond, to be a trailblazer.”

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Motivated to shine

From being underestimated to becoming a college dean

By David Harrell

I

f you are looking for Dr. Dionne Rosser-Mims ’99, you will not find her in the background. She is a verified lead taker.

What makes a person resolute about succeeding? In RosserMims’ case, it can be pinned on a single, eye-opening event. “I was a junior in high school,” she explains, “and had an appointment with the guidance counselor to talk about colleges. To my surprise, all I was shown was an array of two-year schools with less than stellar academic reputations. I thought, but I am a good student. Then it hit me. The counselor had narrowed my choices based on who I was, how I looked. And it hurt.”

At home, the same day, she told her mother about the meeting.

That wise woman marched Dionne back to school and had her tell the counselor how the assumption she wasn’t capable made her feel.

As you can imagine from that short recap, Rosser-Mims was more than prepared to build a significant career, which she has had the joy of doing at Troy University (Troy, Alabama) in the College of Education, where she teaches and researches adult education, and was named Interim Dean in July 2018.

Because there are so many examples, it requires a little cherrypicking to provide a glimpse into her varied accomplishments.

Rosser-Mims is the recipient of Troy’s prestigious Wallace D. Malone, Jr. Distinguished Faculty Award.

She has authored three books and is the co-founder and co-editor in chief of Dialogues in Social Justice: An Adult Education Journal, a peer reviewed open access journal.

She has led students on study trips to Uganda and Costa Rica; played a central role in the “As a result,” Rosser-Mims Inaugural Academy sponsored by continues, “I owned it. I didn’t One of Dr. Rosser-Mims’s signature achievements at Troy has been directing the Higher Education Resources internalize the negativity. Being a fellowship program that attracted 26 Chinese college educators to campus.

Services – East Africa, titled seen in that light spurred me (photo courtesy of Troy University) Advancing Women in Leadership; on. I didn’t want to be average. I Harnessing the Power Within; and directed the Teaching Excellence wanted to excel, to go above and beyond, to be a trailblazer.”

Fellowship Program that brought 26 Chinese college educators to First, she took charge of her own college search and found Piedmont the Troy campus.

College. “The minute I walked onto campus,” she says, “I knew I had Rosser-Mims is also proud to be a founding board member and vice found a place where I could make my mark and shine.” And did she president of Steps of Love, Inc., a nonprofit organization that collects ever. socks and undergarments for those in need.

She served as SGA president and yearbook editor; was a resident “I give a lot of credit to Piedmont College for my being where I am assistant for three years; joined two honor societies; and held down today. I think my steps are divinely ordained and God placed me a student job as a switchboard operator in the president’s office. All there for a reason,” she shares. “I felt so welcomed and the faculty was the while completing a triple major – mathematics, psychology, and so caring, it was just natural for my abilities to rise to the surface.” sociology – and a minor in English.

Then it was on to the University of Georgia for a master’s in public administration, a doctorate in adult education, and a faculty position with the University of Georgia J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.

Piedmont showed its mutual admiration by presenting RosserMims the Pacesetter Alumni Award in 2006.

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College Crossroads

By John Roberts

R

esilience. Confidence. Work ethic. Maturity. Critical thinking. Combined appropriately in young people, these skillsets can seed the ground for successful careers and fulfilling lives.

Some students come to Piedmont with them.

Most, though, need a bit of nurturing. At Piedmont, professors work hand-in-glove with students to develop these skills. They mentor students through countless college crossroads, helping them to discover themselves, realize their potential and push through disappointments.

Dr. Janice Moss and Dr. Stephen Carlson illustrate the collective qualities of the ideal professor.

Their work does more than enlighten. It shapes, motivates, and inspires.

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Dominant debater With sacrifice, Hernandez becomes top college debater

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ay Hernandez ‘18 was reveling in high school football when a classroom debate exercise convinced him to refocus his energy from the athletic pitch to the speaker’s podium.

Huddling with her student outside a meeting room at the tournament, she told Hernandez that next time he would make the finals.

A native of Gainesville, Hernandez discovered that he had the gift of gab and a flair for verbal dexterity. He dropped football his junior year and later joined the school’s speech and debate team.

Over the next two years, Hernandez’s standing on the Piedmont Speech and Debate Team rose. He was elected an officer and grew to become meticulous in his research. He explored every angle and practiced with and against his teammates.

After deciding to attend Piedmont, Hernandez thought debate would fade into a past hobby. He assumed that a small school would not have a team.

“But my high school coach told me that Piedmont had a debate team, that they were good, did a lot, and had a wonderful coach,” he said.

Hernandez met that coach, Mass Communications Professor Dr. Janice Moss, during his first week of class and rushed to sign up.

Hernandez was a top debater in high school. So he entered his first regional debate at Berry College in October, 2015 with a modicum of confidence.

But success his freshman year was elusive. Hernandez was eliminated in the early rounds.

“I was devastated,” he said.

In defeat, though, Moss sensed an uncommon determination and competitive spirit in her pupil.

“I knew he would get there,” she said. “And I knew that he would put in the hard work needed to get there. There was just something about him.”

“I did not believe her,” he said.

Hernandez says his professor’s high standards and the legacy of the college’s long-successful speech and debate team, which Moss founded in 2003, fueled his drive.

“She is always pushing us to do more,” says Hernandez. “We see what she has done here. We see what she has built. And it makes us want to work harder, to read more, to do more.”

Moss’s prophecy was realized last fall when Hernandez returned to Berry his senior year, advanced to the state finals and earned a coveted opportunity to compete at the collegiate speech and debate national championship tournament at the University of Wisconsin.

Among the 200 competitors at the April tournament, Hernandez was the sole entry from Georgia. With Moss supporting him from the crowd, Hernandez finished among the top performers at the event, which is sponsored by the National Forensic Association (NFA).

Graduating from Piedmont in May, the political science major is working at the Bross, McAlister and Williams Law Firm in Forsyth County where he is helping with client services and authoring a legal blog.

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Next fall, he plans to enroll in law school.

And Moss will continue to motivate and encourage the Piedmont Speech and Debate Team, an activity she has championed for 15 years.

It’s a program that has advanced a participant to the national championship tournament for six years and is widely considered to be among the best small–college speech and debate teams in the country.

A longtime member of the NFA, an academic association that is dedicated to advancing intercollegiate speech and debate, Moss was appointed to the group’s equity, diversity, and inclusivity committee in June.

“One of the greatest joys about being involved in speech and debate is seeing our students transform from hesitant speakers to confident communicators,” says Moss. “Speech and debate teaches our students to be critical thinkers. And it encourages them to organize their thoughts. These are valuable career-enhancing skills.”

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Go to piedmont.edu/ pathways to watch the video!

With a little help from your friends Rolston conquers health challenge and wins national award

M

organ Rolston’s life today is much different than it was a year ago.

Freshly graduated from Piedmont with a B.S. in Business Administration (and concentration in Marketing and Management), she is working in the marketing department for Scovill Fasteners, a Clarkesville-based manufacturer of buttons, snaps, and fasteners. Last summer, though, she was swimming in a sea of uncertainly.

Diagnosed with a heart defect as a child, Rolston ‘18 was scheduled for open heart surgery to replace a valve in June, 2017. The highly invasive surgery would take at least six to eight weeks of recovery.

But Rolston was a planner. She spoke with her professors and put together a plan so that she could continue her school work. She might get off to a slow start in the fall but she’d graduate with her class.

That plan was skewered, though, when the surgery was delayed.

And then delayed again.

When a firm surgery date was set for August 10 – the first day of class – her steadfast resilience was tested. That’s when Dr. Stephen Carlson stepped in.

“I knew she had the competence to do it. I knew she could do the work,” he said. “But part of the process was building up her confidence.”

Buoyed by her professor’s bolstering words, Rolston was determined.

Her first post-surgery person-to-person contact with Carlson and her advisor, Dr. Walter Keel, occurred after Labor Day. Slowly, the professors fed her with an easy diet of schoolwork. As Rolston’s strength returned, so did her workload.

Returning to Piedmont last fall at mid-term, she not only hit her stride, she thrived.

Rolston was part of a seven-member student team that was celebrated by the American Marketing Association (AMA) last April in New Orleans for their outstanding work on a marketing case competition sponsored by Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Mary Kay, which was founded 1963, approached AMA college chapters with an opportunity in August, 2017. The company, known for its vast network of distributors, has an aging customer base.

They wanted younger buyers. So they turned to undergraduate business schools across the nation for a possible solution. Develop a marketing plan, they said. The top 15 plans – decided by AMA judges – would be invited to an industry convention to be recognized. And the top five would have the opportunity to present their findings to May Kay executives.

Rolston and her team conducted focus groups, they pored over competitive analyses and studied social media campaigns. The end result was a 40-page paper that recommended that Mary Kay place student ambassadors in colleges and universities. The ambassadors would host parties and other events, but without the hard sell at the close. The effort, combined with a robust social media plan, would raise the company’s brand awareness among young adults, the paper stated, and seed the ground for future sales.

The group which also included Karina Rivera ’18, Shayna Healy ’18, Bridgette Kelly ’18, Jack Mayo ’18, Caleb Norton ’18, and Griffin Kern ’18 submitted their plan at the end of the Fall semester along with 300 other college AMA chapters. While Piedmont was not selected among the top ten, the student group – mentored throughout the process by Dr. Carlson – did finish among the top 15. And they had some fine company: Temple University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Cincinnati among them.

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While the recognition was resume boosting, Rolston said the main value was having the opportunity to collaborate with other students to work through a real-world problem. For her efforts and academic achievement, Rolston was awarded the Ken Bernhardt Outstanding Marketer Award by the Atlanta AMA chapter this spring, a recognition that helped with book and housing-related expenses.

“We felt that the work we were doing had the real potential to affect people,” she said. “And it surely gave me something to talk about in job interviews.”

The project gave Rolston an elevated understanding of the hyper-competitive marketing work. But more importantly, she has emerged from her year-long pathway with a better understanding of her limits and potential.

And she credits her faith, and her professors for helping her succeed. “Morgan’s confidence has continued to grow each step along the way”, said Carlson. “Her journey is a testimony to faith and perseverance”.

Rolston agrees.

“God really put the right people in my life at the right time,” she says “Once that happened, it all fell into place.

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Faculty Achievements Dr. Stephanie Almagno

Dr. Carlos Camp

Professor of English

Professor of Biology

Authored “Participation Points: Making Student Engagement Visible” in Faculty Focus: Higher Ed Teaching Strategies, March 2017.

and Jessica Wooten Associate Professor of Biology

Dr. Elaine Bailey

Published “Ecological Limits to Local Species Richness in Dusky Salamanders (genus Desmognathus)” in a 2017 issue of Canadian Journal of Zoology.

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Chair of the Department of Natural Sciences Presented “Are Two POGIL’s Better Than One? A Study Done Across Multiple Semesters” at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 2018.

Dr. Kathy Blandin Associate Professor of Theatre Presented “Developing A New Outdoor Drama” at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Mobile, Alabama, March 2018.

Rebecca Brantely Instructor of Art & Director of the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art Attended the “Annual Western Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference,” which was held February 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the event she presented a paper “Envisioning the Baroque Body: ‘The Diva’s Song’ in Matthew Barney’s Cremaster 5.”

Attended the conference “The Tableau Vivant: Across Media, History, and Culture,” which was held December 2017 at Columbia University School of the Arts, New York, New York. At the event, she presented a paper “Thespis, Caravaggio, and Cindy Sherman: A Theatrical Dialogue.”

Published the essay “Common Rituals, The Paintings of Dale Kennington,” in The Grandeur of the Everyday: The Paintings of Dale Kennington (The University of Alabama Press, 2017).

Dr. Carlos Camp

Dr. Hugh Davis Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Department of Humanities Served as associate general editor for The Works of James Agee, Volume 4: The African Queen and The Night of the Hunter: First and Final Screenplays, published by the University of Tennessee Press, 2017.

Served as associate general editor for The Works of James Agee, Volume 5: Complete Film Criticism: Reviews, Essays, and Manuscripts, published by the University of Tennessee Press, 2017.

Presented “T. S. Eliot: Werewolf of London” at the Popular Culture in the South Annual Convention in Savannah, Georgia, October 2017.

Presented “Shakespeare: A Cannibal Feast,” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Special Session titled “Teaching Shakespeare to Non-Majors,” in Atlanta, Georgia, November 2017.

William Gabelhausen Associate Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Department of Theatre Presented “Developing A New Outdoor Drama” at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Mobile, Alabama, March 2018.

Dr. James F. Mellichamp Professor of Music and President of Piedmont Performed three solo organ concerts: the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., October 2017, the historic St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, September 2017, and the world-famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, New York, June 2018.

Professor of Biology Presented “Ecology of Aquatic Larvae in the Contact Zone Between Two Cryptic, Parapatric Salamander Species” at the meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, March 29, 2018.

Dr. Timothy O’Keefe Assistant Professor English Published You Are the Phenomenology, a cross-genre book that includes poetry, songs and lyrics through the University of Massachusetts Press, February 2018.

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Dr. Julia M. Schmitz

Margaret Ryder

Associate Professor of Biology and QEP Director

Assistant Professor of Business and Director of Athens Walker School of Business Operations

Presented “Creating a Pamphlet to Learn About Human Diseases” at the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society Conference in Columbus, Ohio, May 2018.

Dr. Douglas A. Torrance Assistant Professor of Mathematics Presented “The Chow-Waring problem” at the American Mathematical Society (AMS) Central Sectional Meeting at the Ohio State University, March 2018.

Presented “Toy Trains and Polyplets” at the Mathematical Association of American (MAA) Southeastern Section Spring Meeting at Clemson University, March 2018.

Dr. Carson Webb Butman Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Authored “Kierkegaard’s Critique of Eudaimonism: A Reassessment” which was published in a 2017 edition of the Journal of Religious Ethics.

Dr. Jeff Bruns

Presented “Assessing Student Learning: How to Build an MBA Evaluator” at the Southern Association of College and School Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Convention in Dallas, Texas, December 2017.

Dr. Gerald Sullivan Senior Fellow in Business Presented “Marketing Planning and its Effects on Financial Performance in Community Banks in the Southeast U.S.” at the International Academy of Business and Economics in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 2017.

Presented “The Effect of Market Orientation on the ROA in Three Economic Time Periods: A Longitudinal Study of Community Banks in Southeast U.S.” at the International Academy of Business and Economics in West Palm Beach, Florida, March 2018.

Published “Marketing Planning and its Effects on Financial Performance in Community Banks in the Southeast U.S.” in the Journal of International Management Studies, December 2017.

Published “The Effect of Market Orientation on the ROA in Three Economic Time Periods: A Longitudinal Study of Community Banks in Southeastern U.S.” in the Journal of International Business and Economics, March 2018.

Senior Fellow in Business Published “Recruitment and Retention: Whose Job is it?” in the Academic Exchange Quarterly, February 2018.

Dr. Edward Taylor

Published “Presidential Job Satisfaction: Variables That Impact Public and Non-For Profit Degrees of Satisfaction” in the Planning for Higher Education Journal, March 2018.

and Dr. Kerry Waller Associate Professor in Business

Dr. Stephen Carlson Senior Fellow in Business Presented “Buyer-Seller Communications: Constructs and Measurement” at the Atlantic Marketing Association Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, September 2017.

Presented “Teaching Digital Marketing: Issues for Curriculum Development and Student Competencies” at the American Marketing Association (AMA) International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 2018.

Published “Buyer-Seller Communications: Trusted Advisor Constructs and Measurement” in the Atlantic Marketing Journal, March 2018.

Dr. Keith Nelms Professor of Business

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Presented “Creating Common Ground for Computer-Based Instruction Through Use of Virtual Machines” at the University of Georgia College of Education’s 2017 Innovation in Teaching Conference in Athens, Georgia, October 2017. | F O C U S 2016-17

Professor in Business

Presented “Owning Student Success Through Retention” at the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Conference in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, October 2017.

Dr. Barbara Benson Professor of Education and Chair, Department of Early Childhood Education Co-presented (with Meidl, C., Kline, L., McGuire-Schwartz, M.E., & Arndt, J.) “Innovative Instructional Techniques in Early Childhood Teacher Education” at the annual meeting of the Association of Teacher Educators in Orlando, Florida, February 2017.

Co-presented (with Govoni, J., Peppers, S., and Nystrom, J.), “Raising and Inspiring the Profession: Southeastern Regional ATE (SRATE)” at the annual meeting of the Association of Teacher Educators in Orlando, Florida, February, 2017.

Presented “Ignite the spark: Motivational Techniques in Higher Education,” at the annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators in Cordele, Georgia, October 2017.

Dr. Angela Humphrey Brown

Dr. Lynn Rambo

Professor of Education and Coordinator of Secondary Education on the Athens campus

Associate Professor of Education and Director of Curriculum in the Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellowship

Co-presented (with Dr. Erica Moore, Assistant Professor at Lock Haven University) “What Am I Thinking? Exploration of Professors’ Metacognitive Practices in the College Classroom” at the 47th Annual Conference of the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning in Orlando, Florida, October, 2017.

and Dr. Susan Goss Associate Professor of Education and Director of Teacher Education

Dr. Don Gnecco Professor of Education and Dean, School of Education Has been named to the advisory board of the newly-established Woodrow Wilson Academy for Teaching and Learning, a graduate school of education developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Susan Goss Associate Professor of Education and Director of Teacher Education and Dr. Kelly Land Assistant Professor of Education and Director of Clinical Experiences in the School of Education Have received the Georgia Field Directors’ Association Innovation Award for Mentoring for their project, “A New Model for Mentoring: Inquiry Based Induction.”

and Dr. Kelly Land Director of Clinical Experiences Presented, “Lived experiences: Co-teaching as Experiential Learning Through a Triad Model” at the National Conference on Co-Teaching in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 2017.

Dr. Karen Samuelsen Professor of Education and Director of Research Approval for the Athens campus Presented (along with Dr. Lisa Hockaday and Dr. Jan Witherington) “Educators perceptions of the interrelationships between education courses” at the annual meeting of the Eastern Educational Research Association, February 2018. (Drs. Witherington and Hockaday both received their Education Specialist and Doctor of Education degrees from Piedmont.

Dr. Teresa Secules Professor of Education

Associate Professor of Education

Has worked collaboratively over the past three years with 35 Woodrow Wilson Fellows to develope the Student Misconceptions in STEM Database, which is now published online at www.studentmisconceptions.pbworks.com.

Co-authored an article (with M. Welch and J. Donovan), “Digital Citizenship: You Can’t Go Home Again,” which appeared in Tech Trends magazine, October, 2017.

Dr. Candice Southall

Dr. Randy Hollandsworth

Served as a peer reviewer for Journal of Academic Ethics.

Served as a peer reviewer for International Journal of Teaching and Learning I Higher Education.

Dr. Kenyon Gannon Associate Professor of Education; Distance Learning Coordinator and Kristi Koshuta Instructor of Mathematics Presented a paper with student Maison Clouatre, “E-tutoring as an Academic Services Support Tool in a Multiple Campus Context” at the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education annual conference, Washington, D.C., March 2017.

Associate Professor of Education Serves as a field reviewer on the editorial board of Exceptional Children, the journal of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Dr. Perry Rettig Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athens Campus Has published Assuming the Mantle of Leadership: Real-Life Case Studies in Higher Education through Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, Maryland.

Miranda Hawks Assistant Professor in Nursing Completed a podium presentation titled “The Role of the Nurse in Safe Pharmacological Practice,” at the Annual Viet Duc Nursing Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, October 2017.

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The art of aiming high

Giovino is a blend of grit, focus, passion, and talent

By David Harrell

H

ayden Giovino ‘21 was still in high school in rural Rabun County, Georgia, when he locked in on his aspiration to become an art curator.

Now, it is understandable if a person that young, from a place that small, sets a goal that big (and out-of-thebox), it might trigger a “Where did that come from?” reaction.

On the other hand, consider this. He was already discovering art, analyzing art, and writing about art for the well-known Foxfire, an organization dedicated to preserving the traditions of Southern Appalachia. And, all the while, making his own art (he draws, paints, and has an affinity for collage).

Taking that into account, his is an assured, crystalclear vision.

When he arrived at Piedmont a year ago as a freshman (double majoring in art and religion/ philosophy with a minor in business), Hayden did not encounter skepticism about his goal,

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but full-throttle support. Of course, it didn’t hurt that there was also a bit of serendipity thrown in.

Rebecca Brantley, Art History Instructor and Director of the College’s Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art explains, “I attended an information session at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art in September, 2017. The topic was the Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Program, created to increase diversity in museums. After teaching Hayden and working with him on projects at our museum, I was certain he would be a strong candidate.” As Hayden finishes the thought, “If not for her, I would have never heard about the opportunity.”

Long story short: He applied (with Brantley’s assistance). He was selected – as one of only 15 from a large applicant pool, most from metro Atlanta, for the summer program held at the High Museum. Hayden was also among the youngest in the cohort.

Yes, it is a very competitive program.

It is also demanding. As Hayden says, “The idea is to promote the inclusion of young, non-traditional voices in the museum world while opening our eyes to the reality of working and succeeding in that arena.”

Part of that reality check was joining curators in action.

“With the High’s Curator of American Art, we visited the home of a collector Much of Giovino’s artwork is to better understand the respectful collage based. relationships required to support acquisitions,” says Hayden. “Then, with the Curator of Contemporary Art, we went to an artist’s studio to discuss the essential collaboration and mutual support of artist and museum.”

Giovino (left) reviews artwork with Rebecca Brantley, Instuctor in Art and Director of Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art. The capstone of the program was mounting an actual exhibition using the High’s collection of civil rights photographs. “Working in groups of five,” Hayden relates, “we had to put ourselves in the shoes of visitors – considering how they would physically see the show and emotionally react to the show – along with the best way to provide them digestible information. Most people walk into a gallery and don’t even consider how things got there. As a curator, you realize it takes a lot of thought, work, and decisions to bring it together.”

Next up for Hayden (in addition to his studies and artwork) is the possibility of some exciting news. Two of the 15 in his Mellon group will be chosen for a two-year internship at the High Museum. He has, unsurprisingly, applied.

What are his chances? According to Brian Hitselberger, Associate Professor in Painting and Printmaking and another Hayden cheerleader, “Excellent. He is determined, resilient, intelligent, and prepared to beat the odds of his unconventional career trajectory.”

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Student Research STUDENT RESEARCH

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SCIENCES Rachel Matthews ’18, Cayla Simmons repel minihictia Imporeiur, odis disit, inus sinis autem vernatur sediandit asintur quate explautemod escit quam

Cecilia Davis ’18, Tyler Brock ’18, Jessica Smith ’18 Biology majors Stockbridge, Georgia, Eastanollee, Georgia, and Demorest, Georgia, respectively Presented a poster “Differential Habitat Use by Sympatric Salamanders Along Their Parapatric Border” at a meeting of Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

MacKenzie Devine ’19 Biology major Pensacola, Florida Presented “Using GIS to Construct a Predictive Model for the Occurrence of Invasive Plant Species in Northeast Georgia” to the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

Natalie Freel ’18

Tyler Brock ’18 Biology majors

Gainesville, Georgia, Demorest, Georgia and Eastanollee, Georgia, respectively Presented a poster, “Host Specificity of the Leech Placobdella Biannulata”, at a meeting of Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

Austin Miller ’18 Chemistry major Fairview, Georgia Presented “Hooded Warbler, Setophaga Citrine, Occurrence in Relation to Vegetation Structure and the Presence of Invasive Plant Species (coauthored by Timonthy Menzel)” at the Lillian E. Smith Center and to the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

Dimple Patel ’18

English major

Chemistry major

Demorest, Georgia

Athens, Georgia

Presented “St. Narcissus and the Breakdown of Communication in The Waste Land,” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 2017.

Presented “Effect of Decaffeination Process on Chlorogenic Acid Levels in Arabica Coffee Beans Using UV/VIS Spectroscopy” at the National American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 2018.

McKenzie Latta ’18 Biology major

Clayton, Georgia Presented “The Relationship Between Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) Territory Location and Topography (co-authored by Dr. Timothy Menzel)” at the Lillian E. Smith Center and to the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

J. Thomas Looney ’18 Biology major Demorest, Georgia Presented “Reaction Behavior of the Ant Species Nylanderia Faisonensis During Sequences of Interactions with Aphaenogaster Carolinensis” to the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

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Emily Pierce ’19 English major Lilburn, Georgia Presented “The Sybil’s Role in The Waste Land,” at a meeting of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 2017.

Lanae Ramos ’18 English major Demorest, Georgia Presented “T. S. Eliot: The Artist in Love with His Art” at a meeting of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 2017.

Cayla Simmons ’18, Rachel Matthews ’18, Tyler Brock ’18 Biology majors Demorest, Georgia, Gainesville, Georgia, and Eastanollee, Georgia, respectively Presented a poster, “Salamander Leech Mania: A Cautionary Tale”, at a meeting of Association of Southeastern Biologists in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

Jessica Smith ’18, Tyler Brock ’18 Biology majors Demorest, Georgia and Eastanollee, Georgia respectively Presented a poster “Human effects on genetic diversity in two cryptic, parapatric salamander species (Eurycea bislineata complex)”, at a meeting of Association of Southeastern Biologists in in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, March 2018.

Emma Stanley ’18 English major Buford, Georgia Presented “Dialectic Divergence: Walt Whitman’s Journey to Structural Selfhood” at a meeting of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 2017.

Susannah Terrell ’18 English major Toccoa, Georgia Presented “Ekphrasis and the Tragic Female in The Waste Land” at a meeting of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 2017.

Aaron VanKempen ’18 Mathematics Major Coopersville, Michigan Presented “Asymptotic Quantification of Regular and Semi-Regular Round Robin Tournaments” at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Southeastern Section Spring Meeting at Clemson University, March 2018. At the meeting, he was also the recipient of the Walt and Susan Patterson Prize, an award that recognizes the outstanding undergraduate presentation.

Stephen Young ’18 Mathematics Major Athens, Georgia Presented a poster, “Enumerating Triangle and Diamond Subgraphs”, at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Southeastern Section Spring Meeting at Clemson University, March 2018.

BUSINESS Zach Langley ’17, Daniel Stepler ’17, Justin Groover ’18 Business Administration majors Lilburn, Georgia, Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and Newnan, Georgia, respectively Presented “Estimating Charge Offs: A Student Research Project” at the Allowance for Loans and Loses (ALLL) Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, May 2017.

Jack Mayo ’18 & Caleb Norton ’18 Business Administration majors Orange Beach, Alabama, Williamson, Georgia, respectively Presented “Which, Macroeconomics Factors Drive Losses? A Student Research Project” at the Allowance for Loans and Loses (ALLL) Conference in San Antonio, Texas, May 2018.

Jack Mayo ’18, Caleb Norton ’18, Karina Rivera ’18, Bridgette Kelly ’18, Shayna Healy ’18, Griffin Kern ’19, and Morgan Rolston ’18 Business Administration majors Orange Beach, Alabama, Williamson, Georgia, Gainesville, Georgia, Gainesville, Georgia, Tyrone, Georgia, Johns Creek, Georgia, and Royston, Georgia, respectively Were recognized as semi-finalist in the Mary Kay American Marketing Association (AMA) Case Competition (see page 10) during the AMA International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 2018.

NURSING & HEALTH SCIENCES Kassie Warren ’18 Cardiovascular Technology Major Commerce, Georgia Received the Alan Waggoner Travel Grant to attend the American Society of Echocardiography (Heart Imagery) Scientific Sessions in Nashville, Tennessee, June, 2018. The grant supported travel and registration costs for the sessions.

Randall (Scott) Brown ’18 Cardiovascular Technology Major Lavonia, Georgia Received the Feigenbaum Cardiovascular Sonographer Student Travel Grant to attend the American Society of Echocardiography (Heart Imagery) Scientific Sessions in Nashville, Tennessee, June, 2018. The grant supported travel and registration costs for the sessions.

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Student Athletes We’d like to point out two things here. First, we call them student-athletes. Second, student comes first. Our players are well known for hitting the fields, the courts and the trails with a competitive, winning spirit. It is the same spirit that drives them when they hit the books – as you can see via these 2017-18 standouts.

Google Cloud Academic Teams

Selected by the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA), the Academic AllAmerica Awards have honored top studentathletes since 1952.

2018 GOOGLE CLOUD ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN TEAM

Nathan Metzger ’18 Majored in Engineering Physics Men’s Tennis Aukland, New Zealand

2018 GOOGLE CLOUD ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN TEAM

Justin Groover ’18 Majored in Business Administration, Concentration in Accounting Baseball Newnan, Georgia

2018 WOMEN’S GOLF COACHES ASSOCIATION ALL-AMERICAN SCHOLAR

Kensley Brown ’20 Middle Grades Education major Women’s Golf Gray, Georgia 18

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2018 WOMEN’S GOLF COACHES ASSOCIATION ALL-AMERICAN SCHOLAR

Jordan Abbott ’19 Nursing major

Women’s Golf Marietta, Georgia

A growing emphasis on active learning

By John Roberts

Confucius, a famous Chinese philosopher, once said “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Confucius knew that people learned best by doing. Modern-day educators understand it as well. And they have given it many names: engaged learning, experiential learning, and active learning to name a few.

These types of learning opportunities can take many forms: studyaway, joint research with a professor, and service learning. Educators know that these experiences can be transformational. It’s where deep learning occurs.

Many of these practices have been occurring at Piedmont for years.

Recently, though, administrators and faculty have been working to incorporate more of them into the classroom and throughout the curriculum. In March, the college and a group of faculty

and administrators organized five days of activities to celebrate and promote active forms of learning. More than 300 students, representing both the Demorest and Athens campuses, took part.

Some did poster presentations, others participated in a leadership symposium or listened to a guest lecture. During the late spring and summer, faculty and staff visited and dialogued with colleges and universities that have vibrant engaged learning programs.

And five – Kim Crawford (Associate Dean of Student Life), Margaret Ryder (Director of Athens Walker School of Business Operations and Associate Professor of Business), Dr. Julia Schmitz (Associate Professor of Biology), Dr. Joe Dennis (Assistant Professor of Communications) and Sandra Maughon (Fellow in the Harry W. Walker School of Business) attended a four-day institute in Salt Lake City, Utah to learn about different ways to promote and grow active learning. The conference was hosted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Representatives from 38 colleges and universities participated.

And they’re likely to use some of those ideas for an April 17, 2019 half-day Piedmont event that will celebrate engaged learning.

“We learned a lot, particularly in the area of finding innovative ways to incorporate research in the classroom,” says Julia Schmitz. “Our events in March were very successful. We just want to build on that momentum and make future events bigger and bigger.”

Jessica Zuppan’s ’19 research explored archery.

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1021 Central Avenue Demorest, Georgia 30535 706-778-3000 20

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piedmont.edu