Christine McCallum, PT, Ph.D. co-chaired an 11 member national taskforce which investigated the Physical Therapy Professions Clinical Education Placement Process. The 20 page report outlines 9 recommendations that pertain to various components of clinical education, including the development of a common language of the term placement process. The taskforce was the first collaborative effort between the ACAPT’s National Consortium of Clinical Educators and the Academy of Education’s Clinical Education Special Interest Group. Our 9 recommendations will be discussed at this week’s virtual Educational Leadership.
Diane Belfiglio, Assistant Professor of Art and Studio Coordinator at Walsh University has had her work accepted into two professional juried shows this fall. Belfiglio’s oil pastels, Ormond Beach I and Ormond VI, were two of 57 works selected from 164 entries for the Stark County Artist’s Exhibition at the Massillon Museum. The show opened September 26, 2020 and runs through January 17, 2021. Her oil pastel, Boston Bricks III, was one of 75 works selected from 471 entries in the 75th Ohio Annual exhibition at the Zanesville Museum of Art. For the first time in its history, the exhibit will run online only and can be found at: www.zanesvilleart.org. The show opens October 22, 2020 and runs through January 8, 2021.
Dr. Christine McCallum, Dr. Leigh Murray, and Dr. Alexia Lairson from Physcial Therapy collaborated with Occupational Therapy Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Michele Tilstra to complete a systematic review published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Education in September 2020. The article was entitled, “Assessment of employability skills: A systematic review of the availability and usage of professional behavior assessment instruments” (https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2019.030411 ). With the evidence found in the systematic review, the authors proposed a new framework for professional behavior advising for therapy students. Dr. Lairson and Dr. Tilstra presented the findings in a platform presentation for the Educational Leadership Conference in October of 2020. Their presentation was entitled, “Development of employability skills-A conceptual framework for professional behavior advising” (https://apta.confex.com/apta/elc2020/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/26846).
Dr. Melisa A. Barden, Associate Professor of Psychology, co-authored a teaching blog for the Society for Teaching of Psychology, Excellence in Teaching Blog. The article explores the topic of “Facilitating Student Application of Social Psychology Concepts to a Real World Problem” by Jennifer M. Knack (Clarkson University) and Melisa A. Barden (Walsh University) and it can be read in its entirety here.
Dr. Patricia Berg, Assistant Professor of Business, will be presenting at the Heidelberg University Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Colloquium on Friday October 9, 2020 via a digital conference. Her presentation title is “Leveraging the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership to Foster Successful Integrated Healthcare Teams." The Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Colloquium will focus on practical implementation of utilizing interdisciplinary teams in treating and caring for those in under served and vulnerable populations. Area professionals will be sharing their knowledge and experience in this vital area.
Teresa Fox, Vice President of Marketing, Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer, will join the 34th Class of Leadership Stark County this fall. Leadership Stark County engages and educates Stark County’s community leaders through a range of programs tailored to meet business and community needs by working with community organizations to identify, prepare, and position persons for leadership within these organizations. https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20200815/leadership-stark-county-announces-34th-class
Director of Elearning Mary Beth Messner and Director of User Support and Classroom Technology Jennifer Loudiana presented their award-winning program for Institutional Remote Learning Initiatives on June 18, 2020 at the Open Apereo 2020 Conference. Link to the presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQYViHqZJ6I.
Walsh was honored at the international Open Apereo Conference for its great work in keeping the full educational experience going in the midst of the COVID-19 upheaval. The Apereo Teaching and Learning Awards have a long history of recognizing innovation in teaching and learning. The award grew out of the Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award (TWSIA) which began in 2008 as part of the Sakai community.
Dr. Jennifer Clevinger, Professor of Biology, presented at the virtual BOTANY 2020 conference on July 28. This is a national meeting for several societies including the Botanical Society of America and the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. Her presentation was entitled "Teaching Field Botany: Online But Still Outside" and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0PwiuXCz90.
Walsh DeVille School of Business Associate Professor James Falter was featured in WalletHub's piece about business credit cards. You can find his recent contribution here: https://wallethub.com/best-business-credit-card#experts=James_Falter
Dr. Christine McCallum, PT, PhD, was recently elected the Vice-President of the Academy of Physical Therapy Education (APTE). She will begin her three year term in July 2020. The Academy of Physical Therapy Education, one of the oldest sections of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), is committed to advancing physical therapists, physical therapist assistants and physical therapy students in their roles as educators in academic, clinical and community settings. As Vice-President, she will assist the Academy President to meet the strategic plans and goals of the APTE, and serve as the liaison between the Research Committee and the BOD.
Dawn L. Campanelli, EMBA/MBA Program Coordinator, DeVille School of Business, was recently elected to a second term on the Board of Directors for Women's Impact, Inc. For 2020, she is also serving as Chair of the Better Business Bureau Charitable & Educational Fund, Inc. and as a Director on the BBB Executive Committee, serving the Canton Region & Greater West Virginia.
Rebecca Coneglio, Vice President for Enrollment Management, has been named a member of the 2020 class of yStark! Twenty Under 40 Professional leaders. Organized by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Canton Repository, Twenty Under 40 recognizes 20 young engaged professionals across various sectors of the business, civic, government, arts, education and non-profit communities. Nominees are selected based on career acumen, community service and trusteeship, and personal and professional achievements.
Professor of Finance Dr. James Falter joined WHBC host Bill Morgan on Thursday, April 2, for a follow-up conversation on the COVID-19 impact on the stock market.
Professor of Biology Dr. Tom Freeland recently shared his expertise in this straightforward nine-minute video explaining why handwashing and social distancing are effective weapons in the fight against COVID-19. Watch it here. https://www.facebook.com/tom.freeland.98/videos/2840646022684228/
Professor of Philosophy Leslie Whetstine shares that this pandemic is directly showing the relevance of the Humanities in Healthcare. “My students are working on devising a morally defensible approach to resource allocation based, in part, on what's currently happening in Italy.”
Professional Associate Professor Humanities Lee Horrisberger and her COM 365 Public Relations and Writing class are collaborating via Zoom with their Community Service-learning partner, the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, on the "Walk with the President." The class participated in the first virtual First Friday on April 3 by creating a video about the tour that will be shared with patrons of First Friday and with the Museum’s Stark-Tusc County Collaboration. The video project reviews how the class improved the brochure, added social media outreach, and created videos with QR codes for stops along “The Walk.” The Vamonde App with “Walk with the President” is available here https://www.vamonde.com/adventure/a-walk-with-president-mckinley/781. YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/jtX0jh3dSpo
Katie Hutchinson, Student Engagement and Archival Services Librarian, recently acquired one of the Brothers of Christian Instruction robes from the 1960s. These robes were worn by the Brothers and Student Brothers when the University first opened. Stop by the Archives on the second floor of the Library or email archivist Katie Hutchison if you’d like to see the collection.
The Canton Repository spotlighted Walsh junior basketball forward Maci Sales and her inspirational story of how Type I diabetes hasn’t slowed her down. She is currently ranked the fourth in the G-MAC in scoring and second in rebounding for the 11th-ranked Cavaliers. Read the story here.
The Walsh Museum Engagement Team (MET), the student club for Museum Studies, organized an informal symposium about the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris on Friday, Feb. 14. Drs. Rachel Constance, Chad Gerber and Katherine Brown discussed how the Gothic Cathedral has shaped or influenced their respective fields of study. The symposium explored how the accidental fire at the Cathedral in spring 2019 connected people worldwide through history, the arts, and theology.
EWTN Spotlight: FIC Brother Chrysostom Ahimbisibwe was prominently featured carrying up the Communion Gifts on EWTN during the live coverage of the Mass For Life at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Watch the clip here.
Dean of the School or Arts and Sciences Dr. Michael Dunphy and DeVille School of Business Dean Dr. Rajshekhar Javalgi are co-sponsoring a special community event on cybersecurity for more than 100 non-technical business professionals on Wednesday, February 12, from 4-6 p.m., in GLC.
Recent graduate Amara Shomali ’19 credits her professors Dr. Koop Berry and Dr. William Davis as well as her Government and Foreign Affairs degree from Walsh for helping her to secure a new position as Congressional Fellow for Senator Susan Collins, in Washington, D.C.
“Working on Capitol Hill has been a transformative experience and a powerful way to launch my career. As I take on my new Staff Assistant position, I will continue to build on the foundation that my professors helped me lay. The Government and Foreign Affairs program grew my passion for all things politics and widened my perspective of the world.”
Dr. Michael Dunphy, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, and Walsh’s new partnership with Shimadzu were profiled during an interview with Ohio’s News Network, Spectrum News 1, on Thursday, January 30. Click here to watch the interview. https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/cleveland/news/2020/01/30/walsh-university-science-program-gets--1-1-million-upgrade
Professional Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands Thomas Roblee represented Walsh University as one of five conductors for the concert band at the annual Ohio Private College Instrumental Conductor’s Association Honors Festival, January 18-19, 2020. In addition, five Walsh music students were selected to participate including Sarah Durma (flute), Kelly Coakley (clarinet), Kaity Bryant (trumpet), Patrick Mulhearn (trombone), and Alyssandra Howe (percussion). The OPCICA Honors Festival is an opportunity for students from private colleges and universities across Ohio to rehearse and perform a culminating concert with professional musicians. OPCICA is comprised of 24 member colleges and universities.
Walsh alum Pacifique Niyonzima ’17 was honored by Kent State University with the 2020 Rozell Duncan Student Diversity Award. This annual award recognizes students who have demonstrated, through positive interactions with others, a respect and value for differing backgrounds and points of view within Kent State University or surrounding community. Niyonzima is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Cultural Foundations within the Kent State College of Education, Health and Human Services.
Carrilyn Long, Director of Multicultural Affairs, along with more than 80 Walsh student volunteers provided service at North Canton Church of Christ food distribution program on Saturday, January 25, in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. Together, they served over 800 families.
Dr. John Kandl, Professor of English, presented the paper "History into Vision: Meditative Design in Micheal O' Siadhail's The Five Quintets" at the national College English Association Conference in New Orleans this past March. He will also present a version of this in the session for Walsh's board on February 7th.
Dr. Kandl has also been invited to serve as a permanent member of the editorial readers board for Slant: A Journal of Poetry, which is an international literary journal housed at the University of Central Arkansas.
Drs. Chalee Engelhard (University of Cincinnati), Christine McCallum and Leigh Murray are recipients of a 2020 Academy of Physical Therapy Education Educational Research Grant. The project title is: Assessing the Director of Clinical Education roles/responsibilities task fit impact: A Delphi Study. The grant, in the amount of $9187.75, will be based out of the University of Cincinnati Physical Therapy program.
Stephanie Koontz, Director of Alumni Relations, was awarded a Diversity Scholarship to attend the CASE Conference in Chicago.
Dr. Trish Berg and Professor Tanya Carson have an article titled "Resilience in the Business Curriculum: A Biblical Perspective and Directions for Future Research" that will be published in the Christian Business Academy Review journal March 2020.
Michael A. Frank, Director of the Walsh Fund, recently published My Christmas Story, which offers a reflection on the sacred religious story for children. A copy is available in the Br. Edmond Drouin Library. This is his first published work.
Dr. Trish Berg and Professor Tanya Carson have an article titled "Resilience in the Business Curriculum: A Biblical Perspective and Directions for Future Research" that will be published in the Christian Business Academy Review journal March 2020.
Dr. Karen Stock, DeVille School of Business, and students in the BUS 360 Management and Organizational Behavior class participated in a virtual team project called X-Culture. The Walsh group were among nearly 5,000 students from around the world who worked together on an international business project. Students learned to work on virtual teams with students from other countries and gained a better understanding of cultural differences and the challenges of dealing with technology and other time zones. In addition, they worked on real projects for clients such as an international airport, cosmetics company, and a luxury resort, who may put their work into practice. Here is the link to the X-culture website https://x-culture.org/
Professor Carrilyn Long and Dr. Katherine Brown received $20,000 from the City of Canton, Ohio for the “Future Curators: Walsh University Museum Studies Academy” grant.
Roja Baruwal (student) and Dr. Adam Underwood (advisor) received $425 from the Sigma Zeta National Science and Mathematics Honor Society for the “Functional Implications of NAA10 variant E100K on Protein-Protein Interaction” grant.
2019 Accomplishments
Walsh University successfully hosted more than 350 middle school girls on campus for the December 17 Girls Who Code Event. The event was coordinated with assistance from Walsh faculty members including Drs. Melisa Barden, Jacque Mumford, Jim Jerkofsky, Mike Sarver and Mike Dunphy.
Dr. Michelle Lenarz, Division of Education, presented best practice strategies for teaching comprehension to high school English learners at the annual conference of the Association of Literacy Educators & Researchers in Corpus Christi, Texas, this past November.
Dr. Michele Tilstra, Occupational Therapy, presented at the Ohio Occupational Therapy Conference on October 19, 2019. Dr. Tilstra presented “Preparing for Level II Fieldwork” along with recent OT graduates, Lana Hoffert, Shannon Montgomery, and Kendra Zbinovec who assisted with the presentation by providing examples from their recent experiences.
Director of Graduate Nursing Programs Dr. Janet Finneran received $199,999 from the Ohio Board of Nursing for the “Nurse Educator Graduate Program” grant.
Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs Sherrie Underwood received $121,872 from the Ohio Board of Nursing for the “Fast Track BSN Program” grant.
Dr. Chris Seeman, Associate Professor of Theology, visited the Washington DC headquarters of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to record the first in a series of videos the bishops will be posting on their website to aid Catholic homilists in preaching on difficult Scripture texts. Funded by a grant from the Congregation of Christian Doctrine, these videos address common misconceptions about Jews and Judaism that often find their way into Christian preaching. The videos are currently in production; when they are released they will be circulated among more than 55,000 followers of the USCCB website.
Sabina Alasti-Ward, Director, Herttna Counseling Center, hosted a table along with Walsh CHD practicum students at the NAMI Walsh for Mental Health on Oct. 6, which takes place at the Hoover House Pavilion. This year Lindsey Perl, Ashlen Rogers, and Jessica Jamison administered free mental health screenings. Each person who completed a screening was entered into an opportunity to win a VISA gift card.
Drs. Leigh Murray and Christine McCallum, Physical Therapy, in collaboration with Dr. Chalee Englehard from the University of Cincinnati and Dr. Anita Santasier from the University of Montana presented “The rest of the story: building blocks for developing education researchers and agendas” at the 2019 Physical Therapy Education Leadership Conference (ELC) in Bellevue, Washington
Dr. Christine McCallum, Physical Therapy, is serving as the co-chair of the national Clinical Education Placement Process Taskforce as a representative of the National Consortium of Clinical Educators. This is an 18 month commitment with the intent inform our national bodies representing academic physical therapy (APTA and ACAPT) about the current state of placing students into clinical education experiences and recommendations for the future. Dr. McCallum presented alongside the 11 member taskforce at the 2019 Physical Therapy Education Leadership Conference (ELC) in Bellevue, Washington about “The clinical placement process taskforce: an update about our crucial conversations”. We held focus groups with approximately 100 clinical and academic faculty from across the country to help guide the taskforce work.
Dr. Michelle Lenarz, Division of Education, & Anderson, D. W. (2019, November). Best practice strategies for teaching comprehension to high school English learners. Presentation at the annual conference of the Association of Literacy Educators & Researchers, Corpus Christi, TX.
Dr. Lenarz, M. L,, & Anderson, D. W. (2019, October). Effective comprehension strategies for English learners in secondary language arts classrooms. Presentation at the annual Ohio Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference, Columbus, OH.
Dr. Betty Marko and Dr. Jeannie DeFazio, Division of Education, published a chapter with Msgr. L. Gaetano on the Christ the Servant Teaching Corps (CTSTC):A Transformative Partnership for Teacher Candidates and K-5 Students in Rethinking School-University Partnerships: A New Way Forward. Manuscript in progress.
Drs. Jeannie DeFazio and Betty Marko, Division of Education, will present Christ the Servant Teaching Corps – Transformative Clinical Experiences for Teacher Candidates and P-5 Students. Presentation at the Academy for Educational Studies: Critical Questions in Education Symposium, Savannah, GA
Dr. Patricia Berg, DeVille School of Business, was honored with the Teaching Award from the national Christian Business Faculty Association (CBFA). This award typifies Dr. Berg’s passion and commitment to teaching and for emulating the character, engagement, and calling of Christ to the work and ministry of transformational education. The CBFA conference was held at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. The award was announced during the conference. The CBFA is a national organization with members who are business professor from both public and private liberal arts universities who are committed to teaching business with a commitment to Christ as the focus of all its activities, leadership in faith-business integration, related scholarship, and as a community of support for Christians devoted to teaching business.
Dr. Michael Petrochuk, DeVille School of Busines, was was awarded one of the "Best Paper" awards at the Atlantic Marketing Association Annual Conference for his paper titled "Revising a Conceptual Model and Scale to Assess Interest in Medical Tourism Services." In addition to this winning paper, he also presented two other papers in the same conference on the use of podcasting in a marketing capstone course and the flipped classroom to enhance online student learning.
Dr. Michele Tilstra, Occupational Therapy presented at the Ohio Occupational Therapy Conference on October 19, 2019. Dr. Tilstra presented “Preparing for Level II Fieldwork” and recent OT graduates, Lana Hoffert, Shannon Montgomery, and Kendra Zbinovec assisted with the presentation by providing examples from their recent experiences.
Dr. Joseph Torma, Professor of Theology, is presenting "Advent and the Best Kept Secret" at the Catholic Men’s Night on November 29, 2019.