March 2009 Articles
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Staying Grounded by Nancy Stanko
Not A Retiring Science Educator: Barb Rundell by Karen Persky
COD Career Pathways Committee Takes Off by Shaun Dudek
Accolades by Konkel & Hagman
Staying Grounded by Nancy Stanko
I am very proud to be a part of this college—and a very big part of the enormous upcoming
change we are trying to effect. I would be referencing the elections (of course I would
be). Last week we held a brand new "first"—a fundraiser for which many of our very own
faculty, families, and community members dedicated many hours to work towards victory on April
7…. Just another example of how it cannot happen without us on the ground.
Stay focused; help get out the VOTE!
COD Faculty Association also plans to hold two elections this term. The first one is Tuesday, March 3, in which we will vote for the NEA Regional Assembly representatives and fill a vacant senate seat. Later in the term, we will hold an all-faculty meeting to discuss degree requirement changes and then hold another vote on the changes. Faculty Senate is also discussing the possibility of changing the start date of the terms of senate officers and senators.
We are moving forward in our journey as educators even though there is a lot of noise around us. Let us keep high ethical standards and excellence in educating. Try to stay focused with your continued excellence in the classroom with our students. Know that you do make a difference every day in our student's lives. The community around us is depending on us. Be flexible. Be creative. Develop something new from your creative ideas. Continue to get involved with committees—there will soon be new ones coming!
Congratulations to our newly tenured faculty. As we know, working through the three-year tenure process can be rigorous. This year we are proud to acknowledge that we have added ten faculty. Be s ure to take a moment to congratulate Jill Stratton Granberry, Sally Fairbank, Theodore Darden, Cynthia Rice, Robert Hazard, Laura Ortiz, Rumiana Nikolova Genov, Jeffrey Trautmann, Katrina Willenborg Nagle, and Dennis Emano.
Not A Retiring Science Educator: Barb Rundell by Karen Persky
Dr. Barbara Rundell, from the Natural and Applied Sciences Division (NAS), is retiring at the
end of this school year. Barb is an outstanding and well-respected
professor who has taught biology, anatomy and physiology, and microbiology at the college. She
began her career at the college 30 years ago as a part-time faculty member, joining the full-time
faculty in 1994. She has always been an advocate for quality science education.
Barb has promoted science education as evident through publications, participation in professional meetings, and advising. She has extended herself into the greater academic community by attending numerous conferences over the years on topics in microbiology and biotechnology, and she has diligently spearheaded the new biotechnology course COD will be offering next spring. Barb has successfully brought new technology into the microbiology curriculum in the form of engaging new laboratory exercises.
Barb has been a leading spokesperson on behalf of the biology faculty regarding construction of the new health science building. She has been very active on a number of committees including the campus grounds committee that oversees the natural and landscaped areas on campus.
Time and again her unwavering resolve has proved instrumental both to the mission of the NAS division, as well as the welfare of all COD students, past and present, who have been enriched throughout her years of service. Maybe one can substitute for Barb Rundell, but no one can replace her. The biology department, NAS division, and the college campus have been enriched by her presence. We wish Barb Rundell a happy retirement!
COD Career Pathways Committee Takes Off by Shaun Dudek
Haven't heard about Career Clusters or Career Pathways? You will in the coming year! Illinois
recently adopted the national Career Cluster framework. As chair of the
COD Career Pathways Committee, Shaun Dudek has been working with Illinois Community College Board
and the Illinois State Board of Education developing a model for COD.
Career Clusters are groups of occupations and industries that have a common set of foundational knowledge and skills. Illinois has recognized 16 clusters with multiple pathways within each cluster. These pathways are multi-year programs of academic (general education) and technical (occupational) study that prepare students for a full range of postsecondary options within each of the 16 clusters. Currently there are 81 nationally recognized pathways, each with a specific knowledge and skill set, leading to specific Programs of Study or to COD's departments. Much more information is available on the national site or the newly released Illinois site.
Funding for this initiative comes from the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 (Perkins IV). The five-year funding plan requires the development of a multi-tiered process with the following components:
- Program Accountability (assessments/accreditations/credentials)
- Coordination within the Career and Technical Education Community (secondary education to post-secondary without duplication)
- Academic and Technical Integration (rigor and relevance in all coursework)
- Connections between Secondary and Postsecondary Education (dual credit)
- Links to Business and Industry (advisory committees)
Programs of Study are the final piece of the framework. These are sequences of courses that incorporate a non-duplicative transition from secondary to postsecondary with succession to an associate or baccalaureate degree for culmination.
As current President-Elect of the 600-member International Graphic Art Education Association, Shaun has taken on the task of organizing 150 graphic printing and publishing teachers within our state and creating a Program of Study for the Printing Technology area.
COD already received a grant from ICCB to create a Program of Study for Nursing. However, the state had no money to support this initiative in all the program areas. Shaun's volunteer group stepped up to expand the nursing model to show how it can be used within all disciplines. The initial multi-tiered process is a Program of Study Self-Assessment that will be facilitated on campus March 20, 2009. Want to know more about Career Clusters or Career Pathways and how it will affect your department or program? Write Shaun an email.
Accolades by Mary Konkel & Ida Hagman
Linda Elaine (English)
Inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Elmhurst College chapter. This honor is awarded to
graduate students who are in the top 10% of their class. Who Hoo, Linda! She is scheduled to
complete her M.A. in English Studies in summer 2010.
ESSAI Project: Bob Georgalas (English),
Chikako Kumamoto (English), Chris Petersen (Biology), Lois
Stanciak (Education), & Ben Whisenhunt (History)
Entered the 2009 Diana Hacker TYCA Outstanding Programs in English Awards competition in November
and won the award as the exemplary program in the category of "Fostering Student Success."
We are all very pleased to receive this award, not just for us alone, but also for our College and for what we faculty do as a whole. Bob Georgalas will be representing us at the awards ceremony.
ESSAI and College of DuPage received this award because of "the creative response to the challenges of educating two-year college students and for demonstrating professionalism in the commitment to educating diverse student populations" (Sandie McGill Barnhouse, TYCA Chair). According to the Chair, "two-year colleges and faculty deserve national recognition for their outstanding work."
The Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) was formed in 1996 to establish a national voice within the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). TYCA participates in the CCCC national conference, which will be held in San Francisco this March.
Deborah Klein (Criminal Justice)
Appeared in the benefit performances of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues in February.
The College of DuPage Service Learning program, Human Services Department and Women's Studies
Committee hosted the performances, with proceeds going to Take Back the Night DuPage. This was
Deborah's acting debut, unless you count her court appearances.
Colin Koteles (Library)
Is implementing DigitalCommons@C.O.D.—an open-access digital repository used to collect,
preserve, and showcase scholarly, educational, and creative digital works created by the COD
community. DigitalCommons@C.O.D. facilitates global discovery and access to C.O.D.'s intellectual
output while providing a stable, long-term home for digital scholarship. All C.O.D. faculty,
staff, and faculty-sponsored students are encouraged to publish and showcase work in
DigitalCommons@C.O.D. Be sure to view the digital repository and
the policies.
Marina Kuchinski (Art)
Her work "Wait" was selected for the 2009 Clay National Biennial Exhibition of the National
Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. 835 applicants submitted over 1500 entries, and 56
artworks by 51 artists were selected. The exhibition will take place at the Arizona State
University's Ceramic Research Center in conjunction with the national conference in Phoenix in
April 2009.
Image Details:
Title: Wait
Description: Floor unit: Unglazed earthenware, built from solid clay, then hollowed out, fired to cone 6 oxidation in an electric kiln, 24" x 24" x 10"
Wall unit: Digital photo, 3.5" x 2.5"
Chikako Kumamoto (English)
With an NEH scholarship award, she attended a five-week workshop on Shakespeare and Early-Modern
theatres at the American Shakespeare Center's Black Friars Playhouse located in Staunton, VA. She
learned much about performance-based teaching of Shakespeare, writing a script and performing
roles in Antony and Cleopatra like an actor of the Admiral's Men, an acting company of
Shakespeare's time.
Her paper, "Shakespeare's Achillean Coriolanus and Heraean Volumnia: Textual Contamination and Crossing of Homer's Illiad in Coriolanus," was published in the Journal of the Wooden O Symposium, volume 7 (2008). Her paper on Othello has also been accepted for publication. The Journal of the Wooden O Symposium is an annual publication containing selected papers from the summer symposium. Peer reviewed papers presented at the symposium undergo a second review process for inclusion in the Journal. Articles are indexed in the MLA International Bibliography.
Jackie McGrath (English)
Competed in three short course swim meets this Winter, including the St. Charles Superbowl on Feb.
1, the Des Plaines Latoff YMCA Masters on January 11, and the Chicago TYR Grand Prix on December 6
and 7. She raced in events ranging from the 1650 meter freestyle to the 50 butterfly, but she admits
what she enjoyed most were the various "free" t-shirts, water bottles, and coupons.
Eva Maria Räpple (Philosophy)
Presented "Adam and the Modern Self: Paul Gauguin's Self-portrait and the Boston Story of the Fall"
at the November 2008 annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Section: Bible and Visual
Art. Theme: Biblical Art as Cultural Encounter.
Hot off the press in our new COD institutional repository is her publication: "Divan Japonais: Toulouse-Lautrec and Japanese Art"
Jason Snart (English)
Has a forthcoming article, "Repetition as Revisionary Measure: William Blake's Designs to Edward
Young's Night Thoughts," to be published in the journal Nineteenth Century Studies, the
interdisciplinary journal of the Nineteenth Century Studies Association. NCS is a member of the
Council of Editors of Learned Journals.
Ben Whisenhunt (History)
Co-authored with Marina Swoboda: A Russian Paints America: The Travels of Pavel P. Svin'in,
1811-1813 (Montre?al : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2008). This is the earliest account by
a Russian official of the United States and includes introductory material by the authors, the first
completely annotated translation into English of Svin'in's travel narrative, and over thirty of the
Russian diplomat's watercolor paintings. Svin'in's narrative provides an interesting, if not
provocative, look at steamboats, slavery, Native Americans, religion, and much more.
Accolades submissions can be sent to Ida Hagman or Mary Konkel. We want to hear about your personal accomplishments as well as your professional ones. Tell us about educational achievements, classroom and program successes, publications and presentations, awards, athletic achievements, musical/theatrical accomplishments and more. Don't keep it to yourself or share just among your Division colleagues. Shout it from the top of the soon-to-be-renovated BIC rooftop! We want to celebrate and rally around your creativity, innovation, spirit, and hard work. The Faculty Advocate is a publication that is open to our community.
