Spring 2006 - University Relations

Building a
New Future
VOLUME 13 NO. 1
Art, Theatre Moving to Downtown Columbus
SPRING 2006
The Merging of
the Communities
What do we mean when we say “community?”
On a college campus, we often refer to the
academic community – and most of us know what
that means. When we use that term in the place
where we live, it refers to the broader population
of our city and the surrounding area.
No matter which definition we use here at
Frank D. Brown
Columbus State University, we are so fortunate in
this “community” to have a profound sense of common purpose. Here,
there is a community of interest, as it were, a pervasive feeling of
partnership, teamwork, shared dreams and visions, all aided
immeasurably by the drive to take action on opportunities that present
themselves. This is the distinction of Columbus and our region: a
community of one mind, determined to develop and enhance the lives
of our residents, whether it be to improve the quality of life here or in
another area that has attracted a CSU graduate.
Community development is the part of economic development that
builds a strong infrastructure and recognizes the value of education,
recreation and the arts. That development, a strong and even-handed
local government, the strength of family and other values so taken for
granted that we often overlook them, are a vital part of what all of us
engage in every day. I suggest to you that few communities, anywhere, of
any size, can hold a candle to what we have done in this place. That has
happened because so many people have joined the ranks of “the willing,”
deciding to work and plan and dream about the Columbus, the region,
the country that “could be.” Good things sometimes happen accidentally;
great things, like what we see here, require deliberate action!
When the community of scholars and the community of dedicated
residents merge their thinking and their efforts, and share a vision of
what might be possible, there is no force known to man that can prevent
marvelous things from happening! That is the Columbus story. And
what a wonderful plot you have written. It’s a tale that resonates on the
streets of Columbus and with our students as they study, volunteer, learn
from mentors, experience this culture, then take those lessons into the
world as graduates.
Columbus State University is so proud to be a part of the team
changing the face of our nation in fairytale fashion!
Thanks for all you do.
Frank Brown
Spring 2006
Contents
FEATURES:
10
Writers/Editors
John Lester
Bill Sutley
Greg Muraski
Karen L. Johnson
Art and theatre
departments
ready for move
downtown
Magazine Design & Layout
Sally Morgan/Wendy Timmons
Kis Creative, Inc.
Contributing Photographers
Roger Hart
Kay Ingram
About the Cover:
Chuck Williams, project
superintendent for Batson-Cook
Company, shows Trish Ramsay,
assistant professor of art, around
the theatre in the art and theatre
complex, under construction during
a spring semester tour for faculty
from the two departments.
Address Correspondence to:
Focus
Office of Public Relations
Columbus State University
4225 University Ave.
Columbus, GA 31907
e-mail: lester_john@colstate.edu
13
Music professors
displaced by Katrina
impress CSU students
15
Vice President for University
Advancement
Kayron Laska
Honoring “Mr. Ralph”
with a $1.5 million
endowment
Executive Director of the Alumni
Association and Assistant
Director of Alumni Relations
Ray Lakes
Director of Public Relations
John Lester
16
CSU junior spends
her spring on the
talk-show circuit
4225 University Avenue
Columbus, Georgia
31907-5645
CAMPUS NEWS
Capital Campaign Tops $100M
After just four years of fundraising, Columbus State
University’s second-ever capital
campaign wrapped up in late 2005
with an astounding $100,326,928
in gifts and pledges.
When CSU officials kicked off
the campaign, they set a goal of
$67 million and established a mission of using CSU as a catalyst for
change in the community, while
also elevating CSU’s stature on a
regional and national scale.
Jimmy Yancey, retired chairman of the board for Synovus
Financial Corp., led the effort by
serving as campaign
chairman.That message resonated
with volunteers and with donors,
as evidenced by the more than
2,500 donors who contributed.
Their generosity led to an
amazing list of achievements.
Current and retired faculty and
staff doubled their goal and
pledged more than $2 million. CSU
Foundation trustees contributed
almost $30 million. The BradleyTurner Foundation’s lead gift of
$25 million was critical. National
foundations – some with no previous connections to CSU – contributed up to $1 million each.
Staff members wrote the university
into their wills. Local companies
contributed. Total alumni giving
reached almost $17 million.
Alumni and friends contacted by
phone, some who had not donated
in years, pledged almost $500,000.
And 28 individual donors each
gave $1 million or more. Close to
$20 million is in deferred gifts,
such as wills”It is truly astounding
to be able to announce that we
have raised more than $100 million with this capital campaign,”
said CSU President Frank Brown.
“This campaign is further evidence
of the generosity of the community
we serve, the students we have
graduated and the friends we have
made. It’s their belief in CSU that
has made this possible. And
through their confidence, we will
continue to make a difference.”
http://www.colstate.edu/campaign/
Sure Sign of Growth: First Parking Garage Going Up On Campus
A concrete sign of CSU’s
growth is forming next to the
Lumpkin Center, as workers build
the first on-campus parking garage
that will bring an extra 500 spaces
to campus this fall.
“The plan for a parking garage
has always been on CSU’s master
plan. We knew at some point that
this would come, We just had to
wait for the right time,” said
Associate Vice President for
Business and Finance Tom Helton.
The right time came after
2
much discussion and many student
inquiries. In December 2004, the
Student Government Association
voted in favor of the parking
garage and said the students
would be willing to pay an extra
fee of $39 each semester for the
garage.
The new $7.5 million structure
is a collaboration between the
University System of Georgia, CSU
and CSU Foundation Properties,
Inc., an independent organization
that supports the university.
Focus on Columbus State University
Built into the side of a hill to
be as inconspicuous as possible,
the garage will have two ways in
and two ways out, each on different levels. The student-only facility
will be open 24 hours and
equipped with security cameras
and handicap parking. It will help
relieve student parking woes as
well as help accommodate visitors
for special events on campus, such
as graduation, which is held twice
a year in the Lumpkin Center.
Spring 2006
Stanton Named New Academic
Affairs Vice President
George Stanton has been a CSU faculty
member since 1969, a professor, a department
chair and dean of the College of Science. As of
April, he has added vice president of academic
affairs to his accomplishments.
“He’s universally admired by the faculty
who know him well, and I think that will stretch
to the rest of the campus when they get to know
him,” CSU President Frank Brown said.
Stanton was selected for CSU’s top academic
post from among about 55 applicants for the
vice president’s post, which had been filled on
George Stanton
an acting basis by former College of Education
Dean Thomas Harrison, who postponed his planned retirement in
mid-2005. Harrison replaced Martha Saunders, who departed then
to become chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Stanton, dean since 2004 after a year as interim, has served on
several CSU search committees for the university’s top academic officer, but he never considered applying until colleagues approached
him after Saunders’ departure.
As science dean, Stanton oversaw one of CSU’s largest colleges,
where 81 faculty and nine staffers work with undergraduate or graduate majors who comprise about a third of the university’s student
body – far more than the 1,300 students enrolled in all of Columbus
College the year he arrived.
“Dr. Stanton’s understanding of our institution and its students
will be invaluable to all of us as he begins his tenure in this office,”
Brown said.
Stanton served on the Muscogee County school board for 10
years, including two years as president. He was the Georgia Science
Teacher Association College Science Teacher of the Year in 1997
and CSU’s 1972 Distinguished Professor of the Year. He’s proud that
five of his science faculty have been named CSU’s Educator of the
Year in recent years.
http://aa.colstate.edu/
Intramural Basketball Team Wins
National Championship
CSU’s intramural basketball men’s team won its second national
championship in April, defeating Clemson, 68-52, in the final game of
a 29-team tournament.
“I knew we had a good team but to accomplish another national
championship, it’s like a dream,” said intramural coach Mike Speight,
who also led the national championship team in 2003.
The CSU team qualified for the national tournament by winning
the state championship last month. The CSU women’s intramural team
also won its state championship game and made it to the elite eight in
the national championship round.
Unlike the NCAA divisions, the intramural teams play against all
colleges and universities, regardless of size. So CSU won their championship against schools that would traditionally conjure up images of
athletic powerhouses.
Spring 2006
Focus on Columbus State University
Education Dean
Knew of CSU’s
High Standards
CSU’s new College of
Education dean, scheduled to
start work July 1, is a seasoned
administrator who became
familiar with CSU as part of a
national accreditation team.
David Rock, a mathematics
educator, had been chair of the
Department of Education at the
University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth, where he also serves
as director of the South Coast
Regional Math Partnership, a
coalition of Massachusetts
school districts.
He also serves on the
National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher
Education’s Board of Examiners
and chaired the council team
that visited CSU last year and
reaffirmed CSU’s College of
Education as meeting its high
standards.
Before moving to
Massachusetts, he was coordinator of secondary education at the
University of Mississippi, where
he was recognized by its College
of Education as an outstanding
researcher, teacher and grants
writer. Earlier, he taught at the
middle and high school levels.
“Dr. Rock has an outstanding
record in teaching, research,
administration and professional
service,” said Thomas Harrison,
who retired this spring after
serving as interim vice president
for academic affairs and College
of Education dean. “He comes to
us extremely well-qualified and
highly recommended.”
Rock earned his bachelor’s
degree in mathematics from
Vanderbilt University before
going on to earn a master’s in
mathematics education and
doctorate in curriculum and
instruction, both from the
University of Central Florida.
Rock is the author of numerous books and articles that focus
on mathematics education and
the effective use of technology
for teaching and learning.
3
Athletic Director Passes Coach Duties to Assistant
After 25 years as head basketball coach at Columbus State and
almost 40 years in coaching,
Herbert Greene is hanging up his
whistle.
The longtime Cougar icon is
stepping away from coaching but
will continue as the school’s athletic director, CSU President Frank
Brown announced in April.
“The department and the basketball team both have grown to
levels that each really require fulltime attention,” Brown said.
Greene agreed. “Our athletic
department has grown and gotten
so big that it needs more attention
from the athletic director …,” he
said. “The time is right for me to
make this move and leave the
coaching to someone else.”
Brown announced that Doug
Branson, a CSU assistant for seven
years, would step into the head
coaching position on an interim
basis for one year. He came to
work for Greene as a graduate
assistant in 1999 and has earned a
reputation as a solid coach on the
floor and a relentless recruiter off
the floor.
Herbert Greene
tells reporters he
won’t be coaching.
“There should not be much of a
difference in what people see on
the floor next season,” said Greene.
“After all, these are all Doug’s kids
— he recruited them and has
formed relationships with them,
and I don’t think the team will miss
a beat.”
Greene came to CSU on March
25, 1981, after serving as an assistant at Auburn University under
Sonny Smith. His claim to fame
there was his recruitment and
signing of Charles Barkley, who
went on to what will likely be a
Hall of Fame career in the NBA. He
took over as basketball coach and
athletic director at CSU in 1986
upon the retirement of Frank
“Sonny” Clements.
Greene, a Eufaula native, has
amassed 481 wins in his 25-year
tenure. His teams have averaged
just over 19 wins per season and
have made eight post-season
appearances — including the last
four years consecutively. CSU has
become a dominant team in the
Peach Belt Conference, which
Greene helped found, and has won
four regular-season titles and an
unprecedented six PBC
Tournament championships.
Greene said he’s probably most
proud of the academic achievements of CSU student-athletes. He
was instrumental in forming a
fifth-year scholarship program for
athletes who had finished their eligibility but were not finished with
their degree programs. To date, 97
of 101 student-athletes who have
enrolled in the fifth-year program
have earned degrees. Under
Greene’s leadership, more than 90
percent of CSU’s student-athletes
have earned degrees.
CSU Servant Leadership Program Welcomes New Director
CSU’s heralded Servant
Leadership Program is under the
direction of a new leader, Stuart
Rayfield, who has a doctorate in
leadership, policy and organizations from Vanderbilt University.
She came to CSU this spring
with experience in academia and
in the business world, taking over
the program from founding director Mary Sue Polleys, who retired.
CSU’s Servant Leadership
Program started in 1999 as a
comprehensive initiative committed
to developing leaders who practice
the philosophy that power and
authority are for helping others
grow, not for ruling, exploiting or
gaining advantage by promoting
conflict.
Program participants develop
4
skills through
leadership
classes, handson modeling of
leadership practices, increasing
self-awareness
with a variety of
comprehensive
assessment
Stuart Rayfield
tests and participating in challenging community service projects.
Rayfield had been at Auburn
University since 2002, working on
student programs, student life
issues, enrollment management
and leadership development.
She’s also worked with students
at Vanderbilt University and
Middle Tennessee State
Focus on Columbus State University
University, teaching classes on
academic success, leadership and
the university experience. She’s
also been at TSYS since 2004 as
an instructional designer, designing classroom and Web-based
education for TSYS employees
and clients.
She has a master’s in higher
education administration from the
University of Alabama and a
bachelor’s from Rhodes College.
“What’s great about this job
is that it takes all those pieces of
the puzzle (in my background)
and fits together so nicely to
allow me an opportunity to do
the things that I’m so passionate
about,” Rayfield said.
http://www.colstate.edu/servant/
Spring 2006
Spring 2006
Focus on Columbus State University
5
Plan Aims to Boost Quality
of CSU’s Student Writing
CSU has launched a five-year, $1.8 million
project designed to improve student writing.
The Quality Enhancement Plan is one of the
most tangible results of CSU’s self study in preparation for a spring visit by an accreditation team from
the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
“We know from nationwide studies that
employers commonly identify ‘written communication’ as a frequently lacking skill among young
professionals,” said Assistant Vice President for
Student Affairs Gina Sheeks, who led the QEP
effort.
CSU was also motivated by the results of discussions at three forums last fall that drew 175
faculty, staff and students who identified writing
as a “critical ability” and “area of improvement”
for CSU students. Also, more than 1,000 campus
respondents to an online survey identified “writing
effectively in a variety of forms and contexts” as
the greatest need for improvement in student
learning.
The CSU plan, projected to impact 4,000
students, features two components: “competent
writing,” which helps lower-level writers with
grammar and critical analysis, and “professional
writing,” which helps better writers conform to
professional writing standards of a given field.
SACS will evaluate the effectiveness of CSU’s
QEP effort in 2011.
http://sacs.colstate.edu/plan.htm.
Japanese Students Learn
from Art Professor
Trish Ramsay, assistant professor of art,
offers a jewelry-making demonstration at CSU
March 31 to high school students from Kiryu,
Japan — Columbus’ sister city — as part of a
March 26-April 4 visit by the group.
Among other activities, the 10 visiting
high school students went bowling with CSU
students, participated in Asian Night at CSU’s
International House, visited an American
English class offered by Continuing Education
and visited CSU’s Coca-Cola Space Science
Center. The students also visited Atlanta attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, World of
Coke and CNN.
Ramsay recently returned from leading a
group of CSU students to Kiryu, Japan, which
has enjoyed a special relationship with
Columbus for three decades, for a special class
on papermaking, coordinated by CSU’s Center
for International Education.
English Professor Honored With Lifetime Service Award
CSU English
Professor Jim
Brewbaker has
been honored
with a lifetime
service award
from the
Georgia Council
of Teachers of
English (GCTE). Jim Brewbaker
The council
presented its Louise Newland
Capen Award for Lifetime Service
to Brewbaker on Feb. 17, making
Brewbaker just the fifth recipient
of the award.
“I started working with
English teachers soon after coming
6
to Georgia in the 1970s,” he said.
“Our organization was struggling
at the time. Since then many people have contributed to its growth
and present strength. I played a
part along with many others.”
The award cites Brewbaker
“for his many years of dedication
to the field as a teacher and professor of English education” and
cites his “prolific scholarly publications, literary reviews, poetry, and
prose; his service as poetry editor
of English Journal; his service to
GCTE as president for two terms;
his leadership in GCTE workshops
and presentations; and his dedication in serving GCTE as a leader
Focus on Columbus State University
and supporter.”
A frequent presenter at state
and national meetings of English
teachers, Brewbaker has collaborated with graduate students in
presentations at national or
regional meetings in San
Francisco, Milwaukee,
Washington, Asheville, N.C., and
Charleston, S.C. Brewbaker, a
senior member of CSU’s teaching
faculty, said he has seen many
changes since her started at CSU
in 1971. Regarding retirement,
he said, “Retire? What for? I’m
having too much fun to stop now.”
http://www.gcte.net/
Spring 2006
Wakoko Honored For
International Education
CSU sociology professor
Florence Wakoko is a first recipient of the Faculty
Internationalization Award from
the Georgia Consortium for
International Studies, earning the
honor amid a field of nominees
from throughout the University
System of Georgia.
“The award committee (representing university system faculty
and administrators) recognized
her many contributions to international education, particularly
her outstanding work in promoting African studies, including the
African Studies Certificate and the
Southeast Model African Union
hosted by CSU last fall,” said history professor Neal McCrillis,
director of CSU’s Center for
International Education and CSU’s
representative member of the
consortium.
McCrillis said CSU is fortunate
to have Wakoko among its scholars of Africa. “During her rela-
tively brief time
at CSU, Dr.
Wakoko has
played a pivotal
role in developing African
studies at CSU
and in the
Florence Wakoko
USG,” he said.
A native of Uganda, Wakoko
joined CSU in 2002 from Fort
Valley State University where,
during six years, she organized a
summer, faculty seminar in Ghana
and helped form the Southeast
Model African Union that facilitates college student collaboration
in developing solutions to key economic, social, and political-security issues facing Africa. Wakoko
brought the model African Union
to CSU’s Cunningham Center in
November 2005 and about 200
students from 15 university system schools participated.
http://cie.colstate.edu/SEMAU/
Future Alum?
CSU Day volunteers came
in all sizes this year, including
Zaria Singleton, daughter of
alumni Eric and Tashee
Singleton. Almost $78,000 in
CSU Day donations had been
received as of April 18. More
than 90 volunteers worked the
phones
during
the effort
leading
up to the
March 30
climax,
when red,
white and
blue signs
popped up
around
Zaria Singleton
the
Columbus area as a thank-you
to individuals and businesses
that made donations to CSU
throughout the year. About
100 volunteers — mostly
faculty and staff — helped
deliver signs during the week
of CSU Day.
Sociology Professor Named Educator of the Year
CSU has
named sociology
professor Richard
(Rik) Newtson as
its 2005-06
Educator of the
Year.
Meanwhile,
senior English
major Melissa
Richard Newtson
McDaniel, currently studying in England through
the “CSU in Oxford” program, has
earned the Faculty Cup as this
year’s most outstanding student.
The awards highlighted CSU’s
Scholastic Honors Convocation
March 31.
Newtson, who has numerous
journal publications and is currently writing a textbook, “A
Sociological Suitcase: Sociology that
you can take with you,” was honSpring 2006
ored in addition to English professor Jim Owen (recognized for faculty service) and library science
professor Reagan Grimsley (recognized for faculty research and
scholarship).
Newtson joined CSU’s College
of Science faculty in 1998 and
teaches a wide range of gerontology and sociology courses. He also
advises the student Sociology Club
and directs sociology majors in professional internships.
McDaniel, originally from
Dallas couldn’t make the awards
ceremony since she was finishing
her second term at Greyfriar’s
College, part of Oxford University in
England where she lived in CSU’s
Spencer House. She is a member of
the CSU Honors Program and several national honor societies. Prior
to departing for England, McDaniel
Focus on Columbus State University
was a member of the CSU softball
team and poetry editor for The
Arden (a yearly collection of published writings by CSU faculty and
students). Her community service
affiliations have included Big
Brothers, Big Sisters; the Children’s
Network and Habitat for Humanity.
In addition to several faculty
and student departmental recognitions, the Scholastic Honors
Convocation also featured retired
faculty and administrator emeritus
designations to Earl Bagley (vice
president for student affairs), Mario
Mion (professor of political science), William Hamilton (professor
of management) and Paul Vander
Gheynst (dean of arts and letters).
http://psysoc.colstate.edu/sociology/
newtson/newtson.htm
7
An Evening with Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor counts himself among the fortunate as a former
English major who enjoyed writing and still gets in daily practice 40
years later.
The author of 12 books, Keillor is better known for A Prairie Home
Companion, his long-running public radio show. In Columbus, he’s also
known as the latest speaker in the annual Hunter Lecture Series, which
attracted a near-capacity RiverCenter crowd April 13 for “An Evening
with Garrison Keillor.”
A few hours earlier, also as part of his appearance in Columbus, he
regaled about 200 students and others at the Davidson Student Center
with tales of growing up in Minnesota and his general thoughts on “The
Craft of Writing.”
Student fans applauded – and faculty winced – when, in response to
a student’s question, he pondered aloud whether research papers were
still a worthwhile practice.
“I’m opposed to the wasting of young people’s time,” he said. “I
mean, to write about Paradise Lost or Great Expectations, you just don’t
have a lot of experience at the age of 21 or 22 to write much new.”
Later, speaking to a small group of reporters before he took the
RiverCenter stage, he said he enjoyed working with legendary director
Robert Altman and a big-name cast on the A Prairie Home Companion
movie, which premieres in June. Keillor plays himself and wrote the
screenplay, learning to accept that actors would improvise and change
his prose.
“Woody Harrelson tossed in a couple of dirty jokes that I hope my
mother doesn’t think I wrote,” he said.
During his evening performance, Keillor made frequent references
to the annual Hunter Lecture, made possible by a gift from Madge
Hunter in memory of her late husband, James W. Hunter. The John B.
Amos Lecture Fund was a co-sponsor of the 2006 lecture.
“Well, this is the Hunter Lecture, so I guess I’ll have to talk about
hunting,” he said, drawing one of his first of many laughs during a twohour appearance.
CSU Student Joi Hughes talks to
Garrison Keillor about her interest
in publishing her poetry after his
April 13 campus talk.
McCullers Center
Establishes
Endowment
CSU’s Carson McCullers
Center for Writers and
Musicians has received
separate, anonymous gifts
of $100,000 and $50,000 to
establish the Marguerite and
Lamar Smith Fellowship
Endowment.
Named in honor of the
parents of Carson McCullers,
the endowment will provide
fellowships to gifted emerging,
or mid-career writers and
composers who will reside in
McCullers’ childhood home in
Columbus while they pursue
their creative work.
The first fellowship will be
awarded to a writer who will
reside during fall 2006 in a
spacious private apartment in
the Smith-McCullers House
and receive a stipend to assist
with transportation and other
expenses. The individual will
give at least one public presentation of his or her work
during the residency.
CSU English professor
and McCullers center director
Cathy Fussell said the writers’
fellowship is inspired by
McCullers’ experiences at the
Breadloaf Writer’s Conference
in Vermont and the Yaddo
Arts Colony in Saratoga
Springs, N.Y. The latter location, said Fussell, is where
McCullers “wrote much of
her work.”
Subsequent fellowships
will include composers in
honor of the importance of
music to McCullers’ writing,
Fussell added.
The goal for the center is
to support two semester-long
fellowships during the academic year and three shortterm fellowships of three
weeks’ duration each during
the summer term.
http://www.mccullerscenter.org/
8
Focus on Columbus State University
Spring 2006
CSU Archivist Named State Journal Editor
The Society of Georgia
Archivists has appointed CSU
Archivist Reagan L. Grimsley as
editor of Provenance, the organization’s scholarly journal.
Grimsley will oversee the management and publication of the
annual journal from 2006 through
2009. He will work with an editorial staff of four and a nine-member
board of editors to produce the
annual journal that primarily publishes scholarship about theory
and practice in the archival field.
“The contents of Provenance
are an important contribution to
the archival field, and my first goal
will be to maintain the high stan-
Camping
Out This
Summer
at CSU
CSU Continuing Education,
Centers for Excellence and Athletics
will join forces this summer to offer
a wide variety of camps and classes
for children.
From music for newborns to juggling for teens, CSU programs offer
an escape from the daily summer
doldrums, and this year’s 46 offerings represent a record total for
summer diversions .
The programs, weekly from May
22 through July 28, will feature
weeklong, half-day and full-day sessions.
Campers can become a “Comet
Jumper” in science camps at CSU’s
Coca-Cola Space Science Center,
experience nature and wildlife at
CSU’s Oxbow Meadows
Environmental Learning Center or
discover math with a twist of fun
through CSU’s Columbus Regional
Spring 2006
dards set by previous editors,”
said Grimsley, an
associate professor of library science at CSU. “I
am fortunate to
have a talented
and dedicated
team of four ediReagan Grimsley
tors working with
me who are committed to the mission of the journal and the organization as a whole.”
Before joining CSU in 2001,
Grimsley served as special collections librarian at Pikeville College
(Ky.). He authored the 2004 image-
Dylan Rice and Abigail Stone
Math Collaborative. All three Centers
for Excellence also will collaborate in
one mega camp, “XTreme Teams:
Where Science, Mathematics, and
Technology Make a Splash!”
Soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis and golf camps offer opportunities for trying a new sport or for
fine-tuning skills. For those not into
athletic competition, other actionpacked alternatives include the 33rd
annual Cheerleading Camp and
dance camps with the Columbus
Ballet or CSU Dance Team.
Music, art, and theatre camps at
the Rankin Arts Center in uptown
Columbus are another option. The
Arts Explorers at the Rankin Arts
Center will explore visual arts in the
mornings and dance, music and theatre each afternoon. Explorers will
join in activities inspired by artists
such as Pablo Picasso and Andy
Focus on Columbus State University
based work “Hattiesburg in
Vintage Postcards,” as well as articles in both archival and historical
publications.
Grimsley also currently serves
as an executive board member of
the Georgia Association of
Historians and on the board of
trustees for Historic Westville, Inc.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in
history, and master’s degrees in
history and library and information
science, all from the University of
Southern Mississippi. He is pursuing his doctorate in history at
Georgia State University.
www.soga.org.
Warhol. At the end of each week,
campers will get an overview about
a featured artist whose work will
be reflected in an original composition and performance by the
campers.
For parents seeking a bit of
everything, camps at the Elizabeth
Bradley Turner Center for
Continuing Education are a possible solution. These camps are fun,
focused and led by experienced
local educators. The camps are
designed to challenge the participants’ creativity and enrich their
minds, all in an environment
designed for fun. These camps
include “CSI Columbus” and “CSI
Mystery” for kids who are interested in forensic science and clue
finding; “Backyards & Beanstalks”
for those who love playing in the
garden; “Crank up the Volume,”
allowing campers to explore dance
through jazz; and “Food Mania,” to
pique the interest of kids who enjoy
creating edible art.
To learn more about these
camps, visit
http://conted.colstate.edu or call
(706) 568-2023 and request a summer catalog. To contact the Rankin
Arts Center directly for information, go to http://rankinarts.colstate.edu or call (706) 641-4000.
9
T
A Command
Performance
heatre Professor Steven Graver
was hired at Columbus State
University 10 years ago, just as officials began planning to move CSU’s
fine and performing arts departments to a downtown campus. The
vision was to add the energy of hundreds of art, music and theater students to an area already buzzing
with cultural excitement. The
Springer Opera House, private galleries and a planned spectacular performing arts center would complete
the circle to create a downtown arts
district teeming with new ideas, visitors and potential.
While that dream is beginning to
materialize, CSU’s departments of art
and theatre have not yet been major
contributors. Politics and finances
played a role, as is always the case,
and only CSU’s Schwob School of
Music could go when the moving
trucks backed up to Fine Arts Hall a
few years ago.
By John Lester
Photo by Roger Hart
Photo by Roger Hart
Photo by Roger Hart
CSU Art and Theatre Faculty
Eagerly Await Move to
Spectacular New Downtown Facilities
Photo by Sally Morgan
Art, theatre faculty posing in the
Feighner Courtyard of CSU RiverPark
campus before their move are
Brandon Booker, Glen Giles, Steven
Graver, Hannah Israel, Tina
Reutenberg, Michelle McCrillis,
Brenda May Ito, Kimberly Garcia,
Tim McGraw, Trish Ramsay, Kate
Musgrove, Susanne Howard, Orion
Wertz, Kimberly Manuel, Erika Adams
and 16. Jeff Kaller.
10
Spring
2006
Focus on Columbus State University
This fall, it’s art and theatre’s
turn.
Construction crews are working
furiously this summer to finish two
new theatres, a costume shop;
rehearsal room and lighting lab;
Spring 2006
10
“The new Arts and Theater complex rising along the river [is] just the latest, though especially dramatic,
part of CSU’s leading role in the restoration and transformation of downtown Columbus. “
—Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
dressing rooms; teaching studios;
galleries; lounge; courtyard; and a
two-story glass-lined lobby that will
offer gorgeous views of the sunset.
The 125,000-square-foot complex borders a public park and the
churning waters of the
Chattahoochee River. When finished,
CSU may be the only university in
the country to have a separate campus devoted solely to the performing
arts.
“I come downtown at least three
times a week to see the progress,”
Graver said during a spring tour of
the construction site. “I love watching every brick go into place. It’s
really exciting to stand here in the
middle of it and know it’s going to
be real.”
Walking around the gray shell of
the 350-seat proscenium theatre,
Graver actually let out a “Wow!” as
he saw the pit built beneath the
stage that will allow actors, scenery
and props to literally rise out of the
floor.
Rendering of new
student hosuing
Spring 2006
Focus on Columbus State University
Photo by Roger Hart
“To say that the faculty, staff
and students of the theatre department are excited about these new
facilities would be a huge understatement,” said Kate Musgrove,
chair of the department. “These
facilities will make it possible for
theatre faculty at CSU to fully exercise their talents without being
hampered by a lack of space or
equipment.”
Art faculty members are similarly enthusiastic.
Their new building, to be called
the Corn Center for the Visual Arts,
is a remodeled textile warehouse
that will feature high ceilings, special wall panels for displaying artwork and studios built specifically
for separate disciplines.
“It’s going to be great to be
teaching in these spaces designed
for these specific uses,” said Jeff
Kaller, interim chair of the art
department.
The new complex will feature
several places for art students, faculty and visiting artists to display
their work. The current gallery on
main campus is small and doubles
as a space for theatre students. It’s
also showing its age, said Orion
Wertz, a professor of painting.
“We’ve got wooden boxes
attached to bulletin boards attached
to walls in our gallery now,” he said
as he surveyed the cavernous room
that will become the department’s
new gallery, an important aspect in
the teaching process.
“It’s very valuable. We see it as
part of the curriculum as well as
something for the community to
enjoy,” he said. “We’re trying to
teach our students to be contemporary artists, and giving them a
model like this [gallery] gives them
the opportunity to be successful.”
The art and theatre buildings
are in what officials are calling the
CSU RiverPark campus, an impressive collection of about a dozen university properties in downtown
Columbus. The CSU RiverPark campus includes the Schwob School of
Music in the RiverCenter for the
Performing Arts, CSU’s Coca-Cola
Space Science Center and the historic Rankin building, home to con-
The new 350-seat theater will be
intimate and functional, said theatre
professor Steven Graver.
Rendering of new theatre
lobby entrance
Photo by Roger Hart
Rendering of art and
theatre complex
A spacious new art gallery will
invaluable for painting professor
Orion Wertz.
tinuing education classes and deluxe
loft apartments.
“It is not unusual for colleges and
universities to establish branch campuses for the purpose of better serving the people of their area,” said
CSU President Frank Brown. “And it
is not unusual for colleges and universities to emphasize certain academic programs, such as the fine and
performing arts.
“What is unusual is the creation
of a new campus, some distance
away from the university, which will
serve the fine and performing arts
exclusively, including the provision of
the complete campus experience of
on-site housing, student services,
facilities which are, by any measure,
world class, and a faculty and staff
dedicated to providing an enriching,
growth experience,” Brown said.
Across the street from the Rankin
– scheduled to open this fall with the
art and theatre complex – are two
new five-story buildings for student
apartments. Built right on Broadway
in the heart of downtown, the new
buildings will provide beds for up to
252 students.
Combine that capacity with
what’s already available in the
Rankin, and CSU soon could have
360 students living in downtown, or
as locals call it, Uptown.
The university’s commitment to
downtown can’t really be measured,
11
even after hearing CSU has invested
about $65 million in the Rankin,
Space Science Center, new housing
and the art and theatre complex.
The lofts created in the Rankin
were among the first lofts built
downtown. They have spurred a lot
of interest in downtown living, and
now many commercial developers
are turning upper floors of other
downtown properties into trendy
places to live.
Having CSU’s music school in
the RiverCenter makes the facility a
living, breathing building, with
activity throughout the day and
night. Performances by CSU students and faculty represent a significant number of the concerts offered
on the RiverCenter’s three stages.
It’s not just CSU bragging about
its impact on downtown. The
Columbus Renaissance Week committee presented Columbus’ inaugural Renaissance Award to CSU in
recognition of contributions of the
university to the community. In an
editorial on March 30, 2006, the
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer said
“The new Arts and Theater complex
rising along the river [is] just the
latest, though especially dramatic,
part of CSU’s leading role in the
restoration and transformation of
downtown Columbus. Anybody who
isn’t really up on CSU’s central role
in the life of Columbus hasn’t been
anywhere near the Broadway/Front
Avenue area for some time now.”
Richard Bishop was assistant
city manager in Columbus for many
years before moving to an office a
few blocks from the Government
Center to lead an organization
called Uptown Columbus Inc., devoted to economic development in the
downtown area. He’s had a front
seat for CSU’s revitalization of the
area.
“CSU’s uptown development has
played a major role in establishing
Uptown as the cultural, educational
and entertainment destination for
the region,” Bishop said. “The cultural and educational venues created by CSU increase leisure activity
in Uptown, which in turn helps support Uptown as the place to live,
work and play for our community
and the region.”
Columbus State
University’s RiverPark
Campus Art and
Theatre Complex by
the Numbers:
• Expected cost of academic building/renovation: $34 million (all from
private support through the recently completed Investment in People
capital campaign)
• Construction began: Early 2005
• Completion date: Fall 2006
• Expected CSU enrollment in fall ‘06:
about 500 (almost 200 in music and
about 150 each in art and theatre)
• Size of Yancey Center at One
Arsenal Place: 90,000 square feet
(40,000 to be used for CSU academic
space)
• Size of art and theatre complex:
125,000 square feet
• Art and theatre complex features:
350-seat proscenium theatre; 150to 200-seat black box theatre,
depending on configuration; costume shop; rehearsal room and
lighting lab; dressing rooms; teaching studios; two galleries; scene
shop; lounge; courtyard; and glasslined lobby overlooking the
Chattahoochee River.
CSU’s RiverPark housing features:
• 24-hour security.
• Secure access to buildings from city
parking garage.
• Full kitchen and common living
room.
• High-speed Internet access.
• All utilities included.
• Pest control.
• Within walking distance of
• Schwob School of Music and
CSU art and theatre complex.
• Recreation and fitness facilities.
• Dedicated shuttle to and from
CSU’s main campus.
http://www.colstate.edu/riverpark/
12
Focus on Columbus State University
CSU Names New
Associate Dean
for Fine and
Performing Arts
As the
departments of
art and theatre
prepare to join
forces with the
Schwob School
of Music at
CSU’s
RiverPark
campus, they
will be unified
Earl Coleman
under the
direction of
Earl Coleman, new associate dean
for the fine and performing arts.
“We’re excited about this new
position and believe that it will
strongly benefit all three programs,”
said Bill Chappell, CSU’s dean of
College of Arts and Letters. “We’re
very fortunate to have someone of
professor Coleman’s character and
experience.”
Coleman said he sees his new
role as moving beyond administrative duties and into one as an advocate for students and faculty who
will help develop a stronger, student-centered, liberal arts education.
“I look forward to seeing these
programs breathe new artistic life
into our students, our campus and
our community,” Coleman said.
“The atmosphere of excitement that
surrounds our upcoming move is
contagious.”
A nationally renowned vocalist,
Coleman has taught at Stephens
College, Columbia College, the
University of Missouri-Columbia,
Bemidji State University, The
University of TennesseeChattanooga, The University of
Memphis and The University of
Michigan, where he also served as a
dean in the School of Music.
In addition to his new position,
Coleman will serve as interim director of the Schwob School of Music,
when Larry Kaptain leaves CSU this
summer to become dean at the
Shenandoah Conservatory, a private
institution near Washington D.C.
Spring 2006
A Perfect Fit
By Bill Sutley
Two Professors Displaced by
Katrina Land at CSU
F
Spring 2006
orgive Jim Atwood and Patti
Adams if they feel a bit of “survivor’s guilt” when they compare
their Hurricane Katrina stories to
that of other New Orleans residents.
While most of their professional
musician colleagues were debating
whether to depart the Crescent City,
Adams and Atwood were wrapping
up a summer-long retreat in the
Colorado mountains, where the
married couple has a cabin.
“Whenever we’ve been (in New
Orleans) and there were hurricane
warnings, we always stayed and it
was always OK,” said Atwood, 60.
“We usually ended up on our front
porch drinking a glass of wine. It
was a good thing we were in
Colorado this time. It would not
have turned out well.”
As it eventually played out,
Loyola University’s temporary loss
turned into CSU’s gain. The professional musicians and adjunct Loyola
faculty were a perfect fit to offer
relief to the Schwob School of Music
as some of its key faculty took time
off to welcome a new child.
Adams was able to move into
Andrea Martin’s role as the school’s
primary flute and piccolo teacher,
and Atwood offered some relief for
Martin’s husband, Paul Vallaincourt,
the Schwob school’s primary percussion faculty member. Both
Martin and Atwood served onesemester faculty appointments during the spring.
Their stint at CSU was just part
of their hiatus from New Orleans,
which lasted much longer than
anticipated when the storm’s devastation and power outages prevented
them from heading home. First,
they moved from Colorado to
Chicago. A chance meeting on
Bourbon Street 20 years earlier produced a friend of a friend who
offered use of a downtown Chicago
high-rise apartment she had just
vacated with a month left on the
lease.
From there, the “professional
orchestra community” stepped in –
offering them a series of guest performer positions and master class
teaching assignments. But an old
friend at Columbus State offered the
most stable relief to the absence of
steady employment with the
Louisiana Philharmonic Symphony
or music education work at Loyola.
“I first thought of Patti because
we needed a flute teacher,” said
Laurence Kaptain, director of the
Schwob School of Music. “I have
known her professionally over 30
years, and her husband is an icon in
the percussion world.”
Kaptain, also a percussionist,
had played with Atwood during a
summer festival in the early 1970s
and took his idea of offering temporary appointments to the couple to
Bill Chappell, dean of the College of
Arts and Letters, and Thomas
Harrison, then acting vice president
of academic affairs. They warmed to
the idea.
“I saw this as something that
would be good for the students, but
they saw the human side of it,”
Kaptain said. “We would be helping
some world-class people at a difficult time in their life.”
Student response to the visiting
music faculty has been “tremendous,” he said.
Adams, who had met CSU’s
Martin professionally, jumped at the
CSU opportunity because, “I knew
she was a wonderful player, and she
would have wonderful students.” It
helped, too, that they had a common
teacher. Adams said: “I knew her
students wouldn’t be surprised by
anything I said.”
On one spring afternoon, she
was busy teaching a junior CSU
Focus on Columbus State University
13
Photo by Bill Sutley
Patti Adams, right, a professional New Orleans symphony musician,
demonstrates technique to Kaelah Williams, a music performance major
from Cumming, Ga. Adams was able to teach all of her lessons in the office
studio of CSU music faculty member Andrea Martin, who Adams replaced
for a semester while Martin welcomed a new baby.
14
the Mexico City Philharmonic. They
say they will, likewise, miss CSU’s
students — and the Schwob School
of Music home in the RiverCenter.
“You have such a great facility
here,” Atwood said. “And the students have just been great.”
http://music.colstate.edu/
Photo by Bill Sutley
music performance student who
hopes to make her living as a professional orchestra flutist, like
Adams.
“It’s very competitive,” Adams
said, listening carefully while the
student played Mozart’s G Major
Flute Concerto. “Hundreds go for
one position. It’s amazing how
quickly they eliminate people.”
In another studio deep within
the RiverCenter, Atwood was
preparing to teach another music
performance major – this one hoping to someday become a professional timpanist, like Atwood.
“He’s not like any teacher I’ve
had before,” said Jenny Wagner, the
junior from Carrollton. “He knows
how to explain everything in a simple way. He doesn’t try and make
everything complex. I’m glad he’s
here.”
Wagner, 20, has enjoyed
Atwood’s instruction so much that
she plans to make monthly trips to
New Orleans for instruction after he
departs in May.
Atwood and Adams, who met in
college at LSU, moved to New
Orleans in 1982 after both played in
They count themselves fortunate
among the ranks of Hurricane
Katrina survivors. CSU offered them
steady income for a semester while
they pieced together other work
around their duties here. “Just about
every time someone called and gave
us a date, it worked,” Atwood said.
This spring, they even managed
to begin teaching part-time again at
Loyola, commuting between
Columbus and New Orleans.
Their home in New Orleans’
Garden District came through
Hurricane Katrina virtually
unscathed, with minor roof damage.
“But that’s almost worse than having
a lot,” Atwood said. “Our damage
will probably cost us about $2,000 to
repair, but the way the situation is
now, if you don’t have a $10,000 job,
you can’t even get anyone out of
their truck.”
Regardless of such problems,
Atwood and Adams will be glad to be
back home – and can live out of suitcases when they want to, not when
they have to. Over about eight
months from last August through
March, they calculate they have
spent about 25 nights in the Big
Easy.
As Atwood put it: “This commuting deal looked good — on paper.”
Jim Atwood, right, a professional New Orleans symphony musician, shows
Kevin von de Bur, 18, a freshman music education major from Dalton, Ga.,
how to play a particularly challenging piece on the timpani.
Focus on Columbus State University
Spring 2006
E
Martha Cunningham
ven though his schooling never went beyond the sixth grade, Ralph
King liked to say “the only thing you can be sure of leaving a child
is a Christian name and a good education.”
When King became a successful Columbus businessman in the 1940s
without the benefit of a formal education, he worked tirelessly to ensure
that future generations would have the privilege of attending college.
In l947, he became one of the first to support what was then called
Columbus Community College. The idea was to establish a two-year
college that area students, who were unable to go away to school, could
attend to earn a college degree. King helped raise funds for the new
school, especially the department that would become Schwob School
of Music.
King’s support and influence were important for the young college.
“Mr. Ralph,” as he was affectionately called, founded and ran a
successful grocery store chain and served on the boards of numerous
civic and business organizations. Upon retiring, he was elected to the
Muscogee County Commission and served two terms as chairman of
the commission.
“He was the kind of man that everyone wanted on their committee
because he was a wonderful mediator,” says his daughter Martha
Cunningham. “He loved people and had the knack of making everybody
feel that they were the most special person.”
King’s wife, Martha, was equally involved in the community.
She taught commercial law at Industrial High School. Following the
Depression, she and friend Weeda Matthews founded Open Door
Community Home.
“The two of them tutored and gave away food,” recalls Cunningham.
“Daddy used to joke that if he could sell as many groceries as she gave
away, we’d be a wealthy family.”
Apart from community service, the Kings were passionate about
their faith and
church, St. Luke
United Methodist
Church.
While the Kings were obviously devoted to their church, they
lived out their deep faith in ways unseen.
Granddaughter Brooks Dykes recalls the time Ralph King went to
collect rent from one of his tenants. The family was unable to pay.
After they explained the situation, King gave them money and told
them to come get groceries at his store.
The influence of strong Christian parents inspired much of
Cunningham’s own life of service.
Recently, Cunningham decided to continue her parents’ legacy of
service and support of Columbus State University. In memory of their
heart for education and their concern for the community, she arranged
a $1.5 million planned gift to the university in her will.
“Daddy got involved with Columbus State University in its early days
because it was good for the community,” says Cunningham. “Supporting
CSU is still good for the community, and I believe that my parents would
be pleased and honored to continue to play a role in its growth.”
Cunningham’s gift will establish The Ralph I. and Martha Brooks
King Faculty Chair in the College of Education, which will allow CSU
to attract a highly qualified faculty member with an established
reputation in the field of education.
“This endowment will provide the resources to recruit a professor
who will embody, promote and enhance excellence in educator
preparation through outstanding teaching, scholarship and professionalism,” says Tina Butcher, interim dean of the College of Education.
“The individual will provide CSU students with opportunities to
engage in collegial, collaborative activities on campus, within the
community and at state, national and international levels.”
Remembering the Kings
By Karen L. Johnson
Planned Gift
Establishes Chair,
Honors Parents
Ralph I. and Martha Brooks
King, on their August 1930
wedding day at St. Luke’s
United Methodist Church in
Columbus, are the namesakes
of a new College.
Spring 2006
www.colstate.edu/plannedgiving
Focus on Columbus State University
15
Taking
a Stand
CSU Junior’s Story of Integrating
Her Prom Draws National Attention
A
Columbus State University junior spent part of
her spring traveling the country and reliving the
national news story about how she helped integrate
Taylor County High School’s prom in Butler, Ga.
Lifetime, the cable channel, revived interest in
Jerica McCrary’s story by airing throughout March its
made-for-TV movie, Just One Night. The 20-year-old
actress Raven-Symoné, known to teens as the star of
Disney’s That’s So Raven and to older Americans as
Olivia on The Cosby Show, portrayed McCrary in the
fictionalized version set at a Louisiana high school.“I
watch the movie, and I still get emotional, with all the
chaos, all the changes,” McCrary, 21, a biology major
at CSU, told one reporter during a whirlwind of
publicity for the movie.She managed to keep up her
B average at CSU while squeezing in trips to
Louisiana, Los Angeles, Washington and New York
City to promote the movie for Lifetime. McCrary also
got to know Symoné, who she describes as “really
funny and down to earth.”
Her family in Butler supported her courageous
stand in 2002 to end 31 years of segregated proms,
even though many in the community quickly tired of
the glare of national publicity.
“Prom night for each and every one of us was very
magical,” McCrary recalls of the dance held at a
Columbus hotel. “The theme was, `Make it last forever,’
We wanted to have integrated proms from then on.”
Media made much of the fact that about 50 people from the 420-student school organized a separate,
segregated prom event the following year. But since
then, Taylor County High School proms have been
fully integrated, without incident.
McCrary organized more than 20 meetings during
her senior year, all the while maintaining a 4.0 grade
point average, to push for and plan all the details
related to the integrated prom.
“My greatest challenge would be convincing students to trust this decision and that we were doing
something good,” she said. “It wasn’t easy keeping
them on the same page. But we were a close-knit
class and wanted to continue our tradition of being
friends.”
Today, many Taylor County High School friends
also attend CSU, which she chose despite scholarship
offers from several larger universities. Now, she’s
nurturing her lifelong love affair with the sciences.
16
Story and photo by Bill Sutley
CSU junior Jerica McCrary takes a break during an
interview prepping her for an appearance on the
Montel Williams Show. The poster promoting
the Lifetime movie Just One Night, featured the
actress Raven-Symoné, who portrayed McCrary.
“Ever since I was a child, I’ve been interested in
biology and how the body works,” she said. “I used to
love to play with earthworms.”
For nearly four years, McCrary has kept mostly
quiet about her past moment in the national news
spotlight — not that she’s ashamed of it.
“I don’t bring it up,” she says. “Now I hear some
people calling me, ‘the prom girl.’”
She’s looking ahead to graduate school and a
possible career in education. But she also has many
other interests, ranging from criminal justice (her
minor) to poetry. She’s an officer of Alpha Kappa
Alpha sorority and vice president of CSU’s Greek
Council. She also enjoys Westminster Fellowship, the
Presbyterian ministry at CSU.
“Hopefully the movie will help youth stand up in
their communities and contribute to integration,” she
said. “Even though you might have to stand up by
yourself, be courageous. You can make a difference
by standing up for what’s right in your heart and
soul.”
Focus on Columbus State University
Spring 2006
Creating Learning Moments
By Greg Muraski
Mastering The Technology Side of Counseling
Has Led to National Recognition for CSU
A recent accreditation
review by the Council
for Accreditation of
Counseling and
Related Educational
Programs labeled CSU
is a “national model”
for “its use of cuttingedge technology in
professional counselor
training.”
Professor Michael Baltimore
A
Dana Livingston
Spring 2006
s the audience members, with
popcorn in hand, finished taking
their seats, the lights started to dim.
Within seconds, the large screen at
the front of the room illuminated the
title: “Supervisory Ethics: the Movie.”
Even film buffs who track the
most obscure of independent releases
may wonder why they have never
heard of this movie, even though “the
feedback was tremendous” from the
audience.
The filmmaker was counseling
Professor Michael Baltimore and his
audience was a national assemblage
of his colleagues, who had convened
in Chattanooga a couple years ago for
the annual conference of the Southern
Association for Counselor Education
and Supervision.
Instead of a PowerPoint-aided
recitation of his research, Baltimore
put some digital video production
skills to work. His audience viewed his
presentation documentary-film style.
The experience was complete with the
popcorn, served by the conference’s
hotel staff, and take-home DVD copies
containing a menu of extra features
exploring Baltimore’s work in further
depth.
“It was a fun change of pace, and
much of the feedback indicated that
the respondents felt they got more out
of it as opposed to taking it in from a
standard presentation.” said
Baltimore, who credited colleague
Lenoir Gillam as a collaborator. .
Beyond a novelty, what Baltimore
shared with his colleagues reflects
what he describes as “creating learning moments” – a concept he has
effectively instilled in CSU’s graduatelevel professional counselor training
programs.
Technology and counseling may
not seem to be a logical fit, but
Baltimore and his fellow CSU professors have shown their students and
their colleagues that technology is not
only a good accompaniment to the
counseling curriculum, it has greatly
elevated the quality of the teaching
and the students’ ability to learn. In
Focus on Columbus State University
17
his 12 years at CSU, Baltimore’s innovation has driven the department’s
community and school counseling programs to national recognition.
A recent accreditation review by
the Council for Accreditation of
Counseling and Related Educational
Programs labeled CSU is a “national
model” for “its use of cutting-edge
technology in professional counselor
training.”
The visiting officials also cited the
online, peer-reviewed Journal of
Technology and Counseling
(http://jtc.colstate.edu) as “an obvious
strength of the program.”
The CSU-based journal has contributors worldwide, and integrates
video and graphic technology
advances. Baltimore co-edits the journal that he created in 1998 with professor Martin Jencius, currently with
Kent State University. The review further described “faculty productivity”
as a program strength “highlighted by
the high level of collaboration among
the faculty (professors Baltimore, Ric
Long, Walter Breaux and Lenoir
Gillam) that has brought national visibility to the program.”
But praise for Baltimore and the
programs starts from within. “I’m not
surprised to be part of ‘a national
model,’” said Pete Martinez, a 47year-old Army chaplain and community counseling student whose previous
degree in theology was competed
through traditional lectures and
library text research. “(Baltimore) is
among the ‘movers and shakers’ of
his peers, and the quality of training
here has accelerated my ‘catching up’
technology-wise with my younger
classmates.”
Martinez is one of six chaplains
and two civilians training as interns
through CSU with Fort Benning’s
Family Life Center, directed by Lt. Col.
Thomas Waynick.
“I can’t be more pleased with the
skill-level these interns are being prepared with through CSU,” Waynick
said.
Such skills include utilizing “marital satisfaction inventory” software
and related IT tools for marriage and
family therapy. Traditionally, counseling students have merely “learned
about” such tools for future application, But the collective, advancing skill
level of CSU students has them
already applying such instrumentation
and sharing results in class discussions, said Professor Ric Long whom
Baltimore cites as “adept as any of us
in adapting technology into the curriculum.”
Another, more widely demonstrated student skill has played out in
multi-media, CD-Rom and DVD editing
and production as an optimal means
for presenting research. Community
counseling major Tim Bolen, for
example, has applied such skills to a
Education professor Donna Pascoe, from left, counseling professor Walter
Breaux and counseling graduate student Jennifer McGhee prepare for filming
in Studio 212.
18
Focus on Columbus State University
study on the effect of Internet addiction on marriages that he is submitting to the online Journal of
Technology in Counseling. Bolen, who
considers himself “tech-savvy,” said
he was surprised at how his professors, particularly Baltimore, have
guided his skills “to another level.”
Bolen’s school counseling counterparts also are thriving with their
newly developed skills.
Dana Livingston recently delivered a “bullying” presentation via a
digital “whiteboard” to the fourth and
fifth graders of Upson Elementary
School where, as an intern, she has
access to one of a few Georgia schools
that are using this cutting-edge presentation tool. Among its features, the
whiteboard’s wireless student
response system uses radio frequency
signals to enable students to enter
individual responses to the presenter,
and instant graphic display of class
data is presented on the computerinterfaced whiteboard for analysis
and to guide further discussion.
Meanwhile, Livingston’s classmate
Rodney Rountree is exercising his
software experise in supervising
online SAT and graduation-test preparations in one of his many roles as a
Columbus High School intern, said his
professor and school counseling program coordinator Lenoir Gillam.
Gillam said CSU also prepares its
school counselors to produce enewsletters to target students and
parents; use test score monitoring
software and make data-driven evaluations and decisions about program
development; and diligently monitor
Web resources for ongoing trends in
their fields and related legislative
issues.
Such student development stems
in part from proactive and collaborative faculty development between both
programs. The programs’ production
facility, “studio 212” (http://coe.colstate.edu/tech) has spawned several
multi-media faculty research presentations – from elaborate DVD productions (ie Baltimore’s Supervisory
Ethics: the Movie”) to podcast interviews such as “Inclusivity in
Multiculturalism” – produced from
Gillam’s interview of colleague Walter
Breaux. The podcast, among others
generated from CSU, is downloadable
from www.counseloraudiosource.net,
a worldwide academic resource.
http://celps.colstate.edu/
Spring 2006
Class Notes
1971
Paula Lavendar Norton retired from
Watauga County Schools in Boone, N.C., as
an associate superintendent in June 2005
after 33 years as an educator in the state. In
August 2005, Norton began a second career
in education in Tennessee when she became
Safe Schools/Healthy Students Project
administrator in Mountain City, Tenn.
1973
David Hay, manager of Boral Bricks, was
named 2006 chair of the Phenix City/Russell
County Chamber of Commerce Board of
Directors.
1975
Elizabeth W. Hendrickson was named 2006
Teacher of the Year for Double Churches
Middle School in the Muscogee County
School District.
1976
Roger W. Buterbaugh has been elected as
state director, Georgia State Council, Society
for Human Resources (SHRM) for the term
2006-2007. As such, he will provide
leadership and guidance to the 19 SHRM
chapters in Georgia. He served as president,
SHRM Columbus Area, for 2005 and led the
chapter in earning the coveted Pinnacle
Award for hosting and teaching a group of
13 Russian human resources professionals in
April-May 2005. The Pinnacle Award is the
highest honor that SHRM can bestow upon a
chapter and is awarded to recognize
outstanding achievement in human
resources.
1977
Clarel D. Fowler was named 2006 Teacher of
the Year for Hannan Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
1978
Carla D. Hubbard was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Harris County High School
and was honored as the Teacher of the Year
for the Harris County School System.
Lloyd B. Teaster, M. Ed., has joined the
University of Georgia System’s, The Fanning
Institute as public service faculty associate.
Fla. during Hospital Week in May 2005. She
is a charge nurse in the Women’s Center.
1979
Wayne Joiner, vice president of Columbus
Regional Healthcare System, was named
Executive of the Year by the Port City
Chapter of International Association of
Administrative Professionals for 2005.
1981
LeAnne P. Kennedy, was promoted to
enterprise risk officer for Synovus,
responsible for developing and
implementing an integrated approach to
identifying, measuring and managing risk
across the company.
1982
Brenda E. Hancock was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Edgewood Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
Linda L. Wakefield was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Downtown Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
Barbara McCaskill has co-edited “PostBellum, Pre-Harlem: African American
Literature and Culture, 1877-1919” with
Caroline Gebhard of Tuskegee University.
This collection of 15 essays will be published
by New York University Press in June. She is
also co-director of the Civil Rights Digital
Library Initiative, funded by a grant of
$761,427 from the Institute of Museum and
Library Services.
Harrold H. Miller, Ph.D. published “Vincit
Omnia Veritas” in 2005. He was also
elevated to Dignitario from Knight
Commander, order of the honor guard of
Santa Sofia by HIH Prince Hugo-Jose
Tomassini-Paternó during 2005.
1983
Suzanne Allen has joined the University of
Akron as director of development.
Brent G. Braxton was promoted to vice
president, commercial lender II, Financial
Institutions Group of Columbus Bank and
Trust.
1984
Durona R. Courington was promoted to
director of accounting at St. Francis Hospital.
Laura J. Chandler was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for the Woodall Center in the
Muscogee County School District.
Beth Thompson won the Nightingale Award
at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Panama City,
Spring 2006
Focus on Columbus State University
1985
Lorri M. Blanchard was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Stower Elementary on Fort
Benning.
Mary C. Brooks was named 2006 Teacher of
the Year for Carver High School in the
Muscogee County School District.
Debra Rouse was named 2006 Teacher of the
Year for Midland Middle School in the
Muscogee County School District and was
one of 10 semifinalists for the districts 2006
Teacher of the Year Award.
Carolyn L. Sumrall was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Fox Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
1986
Tami Lee was named 2006 Teacher of the
Year for Blackmon Middle School in the
Muscogee County School District.
1987
Wanda J. Person was named 2006 Teacher of
the Year for Wilson Elementary on Fort
Benning.
1988
Rebecca A. Kimbrel was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Blanchard Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
1989
Patsy Fuller Kerstetter has earned the
designation of Project Management
Professional. This certification is the project
management profession’s most recognized
and respected global credential. She is a
technical director at TSYS.
1990
Kim Cason was named 2006 Teacher of the
Year for Northside High School in the
Muscogee County School District and was
one of 10 semifinalists for the 2006 district’s
Teacher of the Year Award.
Barbara A. Culwell was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Lloyd Elementary on Fort
Benning.
Lori H. Denham was named 2006 Teacher of
the Year for Key Elementary in the Muscogee
County District.
Nichole J. Hollinger-Foster was named 2006
Teacher of the Year for Wesley Heights
Elementary in the Muscogee County School
District.
19
the Year for Johnson Elementar School in
the Muscogee County School District.
Angela H. Hollis, along with husband, Tim
Hollis, recently opened Home Care Services
of Columbus, a personal care and
companionship provider, serving senior
adults, the disabled,and those recovering
from an illness or injury.
Lori R. King was named 2006 Teacher of the
Year for Mulberry Creek Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
Debbie S. Moore was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Jordan High School in the
Muscogee County School District.
Gary Rothwell has published “Notes for the
Occasional Case Manager” in the January
issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.
1991
Wendy S. DuToit was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Rose Hill Center in the
Muscogee County School District and was
one of 10 semifinalists for the district’s
MCSD Teacher of the Year Award.
Pamela Siddall, president and publisher of
the Ledger-Enquirer, was named to the
Leadership Georgia class of 2006.
Larry A. Stewart was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for South Columbus Elementary
in the Muscogee County School District.
1993
Sharon C. Anderson was named 2006
Teacher of the Year for Gentian Elementary
in the Muscogee County School District and
was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2006
district’s Teacher of the Year Award.
1994
Mary Collier was appointed to the position
of due process facilitator with the
Muscogee County School District.
Paige M. Pirkle was named 2006 Teacher of
the Year for Wynnton Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
Evelyn W. Talley was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Rigdon Road Elementary in
the Muscogee County School District.
1995
George A. Franks was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Waddell Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
Amelia Stanelle was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for Hardaway High School in
the Muscogee County School District and
was one of three finalists for the district’s
2006 MCSD Teacher of the Year Award.
James C. Woodall Sr., senior vice president
for operating and marketing at
Communicorp, was promoted to executive
vice president.
1996
Melissa A. Hill was named 2006 Teacher of
20
Paula C. Thompson was named 2006
Teacher of the Year for Brewer Elementary
in the Muscogee County School District.
Stephanie M. Wright was named 2006
Teacher of the Year for Midland Academy
in the Muscogee County School District.
1998
Josh A. Dunlap was promoted to vice
president and commercial lender II, of the
Financial Institutions Group of Columbus
Bank and Trust.
Tammy Hodo is at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee working toward a
Ph.D. in urban studies. She has accepted a
graduate research assistant position with
UWM at the Center for Urban Initiatives
and Research.
Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation, was selected as
one of Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential
Georgians in its January 2006 issue.
1999
Holli J. Hinkle, was promoted to vice
president and accounting manager in the
Synovus general accounting and tax office.
Heather A. McCrone was named 2006
Teacher of the Year for Double Churches
Elementary in the Muscogee County School
District.
Elizabeth L. Pettis, former Pennsylvania
deputy attorney general, joined Eckert
Seamans’ Cherin & Mellot, LCC, as an
associate in the Harrisburg, Pa. office. She
will focus her practice on corporate and
business law and insurance regulatory
compliance and enforcement.
Kelley N. Taylor was named 2006 Teacher of
the Year for Richards Middle School in the
Muscogee County School District.
2000
Jill L. Sammons was named 2006 Teacher of
the Year for Arnold Middle School in the
Muscogee County School District.
Focus on Columbus State University
2001
Stephanie A. Dalton was named Teacher of
the Year for Eastway Elementary in the
Muscogee County School District.
Eric P. Grigsby was named Teacher of the
Year for Rothschild Middle School in the
Muscogee County School District.
2002
Pat Rayl, has accepted the position of second
vice president for Technology Services at
Aflac, responsible for Software Quality
Assurance, Network Operations Center,
Computer Operations Center and Technical
Services organizations.
Heather S. Tarver was named 2006 Teacher
of the Year for New Mountain Hill
Elementary in Harris County, Ga.
2003
Kay Agnew was named 2006 Teacher of the
Year for Shaw High School in the Muscogee
County School District and was one of 10
semi-finalists for the 2006 MCSD Teacher of
the Year Award.
Laszlo Stan toured the U.S. and Canada with
an English Opera Company for ten weeks
beginning in February, doing Gilbert &
Sullivan comic operas.
Brett M. Willis of Synovus was promoted to
vice president and portfolio data manager,
responsible for providing perspective on the
portfolio to Synovus management, analysts
and regulators.
2004
Helena C. Coates, managing partner of
Media, Marketing & More! Inc., was named
to the Leadership Georgia class of 2006.
Joshua P. McCann of SunTrust Bank was
promoted to banking officer, and will
continue to manage the Publix in-store
branch on Bradley Park Drive.
Solange Navarrete-Wallace is a graduate
assistant at the University of Florida.
2005
Amanda U. Allen, a first-grade teacher at
Gentian Elementary School, was among 15
Georgia school teachers recognized for
being among Georgia’s best and brightest
new teachers and to receive a $1,000 New
Teacher Assistance Grant from Georgia
Power Co. The teachers were honored at an
awards luncheon at the company
headquarters in Atlanta.
Spring 2006
Calendar of Events
May 2006 – October 2006
August
May
13 Oxbow Meadows. Second Sunday Series: “Wildflowers.”
Learn about native wildflowers in the region. $2 per person. 2
& 3 p.m.
1 Schwob School of Music. Chorale. $5 RiverCenter Legacy Hall.
7:30 p.m.
6 Rankin Arts Center. Stained Glass. Two weeks; $140 Rankin
Arts Center. 9a.m.-1 p.m.
8-9 Elizabeth Bradley Turner Center for Continuing Ed. Project
Communication Management. $495 Elizabeth Bradley Turner
Center for Continuing Education. 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
13 Columbus State University. Graduation. Commencement
Ceremony Lumpkin Center. 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
13 Columbus State University. Spring Commencement. Lumpkin
Center. 10 a.m.
14 Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center. Second Sunday
Series: “Hooray for Hummingbirds.” Oxbow Meadows. 2 p.m.
15 Columbus State University. Summer Term: May Session Classes
Begin.
22-26 Rankin Arts Center. Arts Explorers Camp. Ages 5-10, $125
Rankin Arts Center. 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
June
8 Columbus State University. Summer Term: June Session Classes
Begin.
10 CSU Coca-Cola Space Science Center. 10th anniversary celebration. 706-649-1470.
11 Oxbow Meadows. Second Sunday Series: “Gardens for Children.”
Learn the basic tools to get children hooked on gardening. Design a
radish garden! $2 per person. 2 p.m.
19 Alumni Association Meeting?
21 CSU Continuing Education. Professional Meeting and Event
Planners luncheon. 11:30 a.m. $25 per person. 706-568-2023.
17 Columbus State University. Fall Term: Classes Begin.
20 Columbus State University. Freshman Convocation 2006.
4 p.m. Fine Arts Hall auditorium.
September
1 CSU athletics. Cougar Invitation women’s soccer tournament at the CSU Soccer Complex CSU vs. Newberry.
http://athletics.colstate.edu/.
4 CSU athletics. Cougar Invitation women’s soccer tournament at the CSU Soccer Complex CSU vs. West Georgia.
http://athletics.colstate.edu/.
10 Oxbow Meadows. Second Sunday Series: “Feeding
Backyard Birds.” Discover different ways of feeding our
feathered friends. $2 per person. 2 & 3 p.m.
October
5-8 Theatre Department. “Communicating Doors.” Times to
be announced.
8 Oxbow Meadows. Second Sunday Series: “Going Batty.”
Find out which bats live near you. $2 per person. 2 & 3 p.m.
16-17 Cunningham Center. Women’s Leadership Conference.
The Women’s Leadership Development Conference will provide
tools for effective leadership in the corporate culture for the
21st century woman. Cunningham Center. Time to be
announced.
15-17 CSU Rankin Arts Center. Jonathan Simon Figure
Drawing. $225 per person. 706-568-2023.
22-24 CSU Rankin Arts Center. Jonathan Simon Oil Painting.
$225 per person. 706-568-2023.
November
July
9 Oxbow Meadows. Second Sunday Series: “Insectival.” Oxbow’s
seventh annual insect festival. $2 per person. noon-4 p.m.
1
Columbus State University. Admissions Application
Priority Processing Deadline for Spring 2007 semester.
Plan Your Next Meeting or Special Event
with Columbus State University!
FULL-SERVICE CATERING
OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE
Spring 2006
Elizabeth Bradley Turner Center • CSU Main Campus • Call (706) 568-2023
Rankin Arts Center • Uptown Columbus • Call (706) 641-4000
Focus on Columbus State University
IBC1
Summer Camps at CSU
Hunter Greene cooled off
last year during “sliding
practice” on the final day
of summer baseball camp.
To learn more about
CSU’s camps this year,
refer to article on
page 8 or visit
http://conted.colstate.edu
or call (706) 568-2023 and
request a summer catalog.
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U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 10
Columbus, Georgia 31908
4225 University Avenue
Columbus, Georgia
31907-5645
Address Service Requested
Parents: If this issue is addressed
to a son or daughter who no
longer lives at home, please send
the correct address to the Alumni
Office at the address above.
Thank you.