The Quad

The lead story in their most recent departmental newsletter tells us that: “’Story City,’ a new UMKC service-learning project, is giving urban children the opportunity to author their own short fiction.  UMKC Service- Learning is working in partnership with the UMKC Institute for Human Development, UMKC English Department, and three community organizations to connect 100 elementary-age students with 25 “Introduction to Fiction” students enrolled in ENG 214, to learn and grow together.”  This ten week program will culminate in a published anthology of stories drawn from the students’ oral stories with each student getting his or her own copy.

We also learn that the department has created and funded a “Best Essay” contest for those High School/College Partnership students enrolled in English 110 throughout the KC Metro area.  One of this year’s four winners will be attending UMKC this fall to study English.  And, they announce that their Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing in conjunction with the School of Education and the Greater Kansas City Writing Project has been approved and the first students will be admitted this summer.

This 17-page newsletter includes so many stories of interest, including achievements and recognitions (with photos) of faculty, students and alumni, that we do not have room in the Zine to properly cover them.  So we applaud them and send you to their site for the stories.
See:

• cas.umkc.edu/english/documents/Newsletter-Spring-2012-Issue-2.pdf.

The 6th Annual Scholarship Fest for Latinos of Tomorrow was hosted by The College on Arts & Sciences on Saturday, March 10.  More than 65 students participated in the event–a dual-tracked college access/college retention program designed to identify and bank scholarship packages to encourage a college-going culture and develop a scholarship/financial plan to allow current college students to complete their degrees.

Once again, this year’s event was co-sponsored by the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures, the High School College Partnerships and Arts & Sciences Continuing Education.  A special campus welcome was provided by Dr. Kevin Z. Truman, Dean of the School of Computer Sciences and Engineering.  Sessions included Preparing for College, Navigating a Seamless Transfer to a 4-Year Institution, Financial Literacy, FastWeb, College 101: Scholarship Essays and Resumes—An Introduction and Engaging with College Recruiters.

Those completing Scholarship Fest continued the annual program for Latinos of Tomorrow members, attending Essay and Resume Workshops from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Saturday, March 10 and 17, 2012.  Assisted by Kelley Young, Alice Reckley Vallejos and Lynne Clawson-Day, the students finalized a minimum of three scholarship applications each.  Students participating in this series of workshops have earned more than $13,000 per year in scholarship funding for an upcoming academic year to complement merit scholarships in their quest to meet the ever-increasing costs of higher education.

Mark your calendars for January 23, 2012 and plan to donate blood at the A&S College-Community Blood Center-Psi Chi (Psychology Honor Society) co-sponsored drive to be held in Room 401-AD of the Student Union. This will be the first recent A&S effort on behalf of this important community-wide cause and we thank the members of Psi Chi for their willingness to aid in the effort.  The Community Blood Center indicates that winter months are high demand months so we are hoping for a big turnout. We will have a system for getting information about donor eligibility in terms of medical factors and recent travel sites that may affect eligibility to those who are interested in participating. We also hope to have an on-line registration system that will allow for appointments to be scheduled to complement the walk-ins that will make this a success. Look for further updates via email as we get closer to the date.  And say “yes” (if you are able to do so) when contacted by our volunteers.

Several news items are of note for this E-Zine.

Department Moving: The Department of Psychology was closed Tuesday, May 10th–Friday, May 13th in order to move to its new ON CAMPUS location: Cherry Street Hall, which is next to the new Student Union. Beginning Monday, May16th you can find the departmental office, faculty offices, undergraduate advising and Psi Chi/Psychology Club all on the third floor of their new building. They are very excited about this move because it will allow them to be more accessible to students and closer to campus activities. Please see them in their new location!

Psi-Chi and Psychology Club Induction Ceremony

On the evening of April 6, 2011, the UMKC chapter of Psi Chi and the Psychology Club had their Spring induction ceremony, welcoming 36 new members. New members in attendance recited the Psi Chi ‘Oath of Membership’ and participated in a candle lighting ceremony. The 2011-2012 Psi Chi and Psych Club officers also were announced during the Spring Induction Ceremony. Finally, the clubs recognized Professor Jared Bruce with the 2010-2011 PSYCH (Psychology Students’ Yearly Choice for Honors) Award.

Psi Chi is the international honor society in Psychology. Membership in Psi Chi is for life and incudes benefits such as scholarship programs, research competitions, reduced dues for professional organizations like the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Psychological Science (APS).

For more about this event and other activities, see:  http://umkcpsychology.blogspot.com/

Department Students Win Awards and Fellowships

The Psychology Department has had a great start to the 2011 year with many students being recognized for their achievements and receiving awards for these achievements.

Student Awards: Alisha Adams (Doctoral Student)-Preparing Future Faculty Fellowship and Women’s Council Graduate Assistant Fund; Sofie Champassak (Doctoral Student)-NIH funded R25 fellowship; Elizabeth Duval (Doctoral Student)- Women’s Council Graduate Assistant Fund; Chris Fowler (Doctoral Student)-Graduate Studies Minority Doctoral Fellowship; Laura Hancock (Doctoral Student)-Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship; Starlyn Hawes (Doctoral Student)-McNair Doctoral Fellowship; Amber Hinton-Dampf (Doctoral Student)-McNair Doctoral Fellowship (renewal); Jessica Hamilton (Doctoral Student)- Preparing Future Faculty Fellowship (renewal).

In Spring semester 2011, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and the KCMOSD volunteer program, Partners in Education, started an internship program for UMKC foreign language students. The internship program began as a way for Spanish students at the 400 level to practice their oral language skills with bilingual children, but the school district was really excited and they wanted to do more, with French as well, and at different levels of proficiency and according to the needs of their schools. The idea is that the UMKC students would get permission from a professor to enroll in the internship as a class. Then, in order to fulfill the requirements of the internship, they will meet with a class in the KCM district for one hour each week for 15 weeks and write a final assignment detailing their experience. For more details go to our Opportunities page or follow this link:  http://cas.umkc.edu/ForeignLanguages/Opportunities.asp

For more on what is happening in the Department see:
 http://cas.umkc.edu/ForeignLanguages/News.asp

The new edition of New Letters discusses the theme of power in relation to the enduring nature of art and its ability to lend us a reprieve from the forward momentum of time. In keeping with the theme of the enduring power of art, this issue features an essay memorializing poet Phil Miller, a teacher and a leader in the Kansas City literary community, alongside one of his poems, a New Letters retrospective. Other highlights include poetry, fiction and an essay by the New Letters Literary Award winners, poetry by Kim Addonizio, an interview with Walter Cummins, and an essay and photo spread of Paris, France’s, legendary George Whitman on his 97th birthday. The cover art for the edition is by Lisa Grossman.

The Center for Applied Environmental Research of the Geosciences Department in partnership with the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, UMKC Chapter, presented their 18th Environmental Forum on October 12, 2010. The topic was: “EPA’s Priorities Toward Sustainability” and featured remarks by UMKC Chancellor Morton. The main address was by Dr. Karl Brooks, Administrator Region 7, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
See:- http://cas.umkc.edu/caer/

On November 10, 2010, a Town Hall Meeting to review developments in the College over the past two years was held in the U-Center. Dean Karen Vorst  provided a commentary as the slides of the Power Point were viewed by the faculty and staff who attended. After the presentation, there was a Q&A session.
See:- http://cas.umkc.edu/docs/townhall%2011-08-10kv.ppsx to view the ppt.

Kathy Goggin, Jannette Berkley-Patton and Delwyn Catley (Psychology) were awarded a three-year, 1 million dollar grant from NIH to create the Heartland Health Network (HHN). HHN is slated to become a coalition of community partners working together to address health disparities  among African-American people by promoting wellness, facilitating health research and the dissemination of effective health interventions.  Founding partners include the Calvary Community Outreach Network (CCON), KC Free and UMKC.  The grant was one of approximately 30 proposals that were funded from 600 submitted grant proposals across the nation.
The “kick-off” event for HNN, a Community Health Fair, drew over 1000 people to the campus of the Calvary Temple Baptist Church on Saturday, October 30th. Chancellor Morton, Dean Vorst, Senator Clair McCaskill and Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver were on hand to express their support for the event and the mission of the HHN. Over 15 community health serving organizations including UMKC’s School of Medicine distributed vital health information and conducted health screening.
See:- http://heartlandhealthnetwork.org/ and http://umkcpsychology.blogspot.com/

Dr. Ken Kramme, a Science teacher at Liberty High School, with more than 31 years of service  to UMKC through the  A&S High School/College Partnerships dual credit program, was recently recognized for teaching excellence by the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). This Outstanding Teacher recognition program by SCI rewards teachers for motivating students to pursue careers in chemistry or chemical engineering. The award carries a cash stipend of $1000 to be used for classroom purposes or professional development.
To support science education in the Unites States, one of SCI’s goals is to encourage students to pursue degrees in chemistry. Its SCI Scholars Program is a nationwide competition for college students in chemistry or chemical engineering. SCI Scholars may nominate a teacher who encouraged their interest in science and through their excellent teaching, gave them the foundation for their academic success. Dr. Kramme was nominated by Erik Nordwald, a former student at the Liberty High School, who now attends the University of Missouri – Columbia.
See:- http://www.soci.org/Membership-and-Networks/Regional-Groups/America-International-Group.aspx

Congratulations to Lauren Buscher, an undergraduate psychology student, and her research mentor, Jared Bruce.  Lauren’s poster was selected for The Dr. Ted Blau Student Poster Award at this year’s National Academy of Neuropsychology  Conference. The title of the poster was “The relationship between self-reported cognitive difficulties and medication adherence in multiple sclerosis”.
See:- http://www.nanonline.org/NAN/Award/Award.aspx
Congratulations also to David Martinez, a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology.  David recently received a highly competitive NIMH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award to fund his dissertation work.  This $100,000  award will provide funding to support David as he completes his project “HIV Stigma Reduction and Screening in the Hispanic/Latino Church Setting.”  Faculty members Kathy Goggin and Jannette Berkley-Patton will serve as David’s research mentors.
See:- http://grants.nih.gov/training/nrsa.htm

New Letters on the Air is among 10 finalists in the Culture and the Arts category for the 2010 New York Festivals International Radio Programming Awards, which were announced on August 11. Other finalists include programs from BBC Radio 4, RTE Radio 1 (Ireland), and Radio Television Hong Kong. The winner of the competition will be announced by September.

(From left to right Dennis Conrow (Assistant Producer), Angela Elam (Producer & Host), Annie Walsh (Technical Editor) and Max Mosley (Student Radio Staff))

On June 24, 2010, The Applied Language Institute (ALI) hosted a delegation of 13 ESL professors and instructors from the West Bank (Palestine), who were chosen by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The 13 visitors participated in the “Teaching English as a Second Language” program to meet with their U.S. professional counterparts. These professionals have travelled across the USA learning about the United States and about English Language teaching in U.S. Universities.
See:- http://www.umkc.edu/ali/about_us.asp