Today @ APSU - University News

APSU receives top national award for improved efforts in educational fundraising

shembergerm — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:38:46 +0000

Since 2010, Austin Peay State University has encouraged alumni, friends and supporters to give to The Legacy Campaign, the University’s current capital fundraising program that so far has significantly increased millions of dollars for scholarships and educational endeavors.

Today, APSU is being recognized for its efforts with The Legacy Campaign.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education, known in the education circle as CASE, has selected APSU to receive the 2013 CASE Educational Fundraising Award, an honor given to superior fundraising programs at educational institutions across the U.S.

Specifically, APSU has been chosen to receive the Overall Improvement Award. APSU is the only public postsecondary institution in Tennessee to receive the distinction.

In the last three years, APSU has become more aggressive in seeking donations for The Legacy Campaign. Most recently, APSU received an eight-figure gift – by far the largest single gift in the school’s history – from Lars Eriksson in memory of his late wife, Martha Dickerson Eriksson, who graduated from APSU in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science in education.

In recognition of this unprecedented generosity, the University officially changed the name of its College of Education to the Martha Dickerson Eriksson College of Education. One of the three new residence halls, set to open this August, will also be named for her. And the College of Education’s STEM Center was renamed the Jack Hunt STEM Center, in honor of her late brother-in-law and a local teacher.

In addition to the Eriksson gift, The Legacy Campaign has established many new fundraising initiatives and received several key gifts:

The Reagan Giving Circle

The purpose of the program is to cultivate women as philanthropic leaders and create new and substantial funding via the support of women. It is named in honor of Dr. Carmen Reagan, retired marketing professor and APSU’s first female dean of the College of Business.

Mabry Legacy Campaign

For more than three decades, Drs. George and Sharon Mabry worked to build a nationally recognized creative arts program at APSU. They’ve mentored thousands of young, talented musicians, many of whom have established successful careers in the music world. To thank them for their efforts, this fundraising effort was unveiled to rename the campus’s Music/Mass Communication Building’s Concert Hall after the Mabrys. The Mabry Legacy Campaign has raised $500,000 to rename the venue as The George and Sharon Mabry Concert Hall.

The Mayfield, Wood-Boercker, Sears Endowment

The endowment, funded by private donations, will provide scholarships for deserving, hardworking physics students. This effort is named in honor of Melburn Mayfield, who founded the physics department at APSU, and two former physics chairs, Sara Wood-Boercker and Dr. Robert Sears.

The Robertson Endowment

This endowment, in honor of Jim and Nan Robertson, will award scholarships each year to a full-time student pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art with a concentration in photography and to a full-time student pursing a Bachelor of Arts in art education.

Women in Athletics

This endowment is part of the Austin Peay Celebrates Women in Athletics, to laud all current and former female athletes at APSU and recognize the growth of women’s sports. For the inaugural year, the 2011 Austin Peay Celebrates Women in Athletics featured the 25^th anniversary of the Lady Govs softball program. In addition, the softball field was named in honor of Cheryl Holt, a longtime coach and assistant athletic director at APSU. Each year, the Women in Athletics event will focus specifically on one sport and/or milestone. The goal is to celebrate women’s achievements in athletics and raise money for the women’s athletic programs.

DeWald Endowment

This endowment, created by local dentist Dr. Ernest DeWald in honor of his parents William and Josephine DeWald, was used to create the Josephine and William DeWald Memorial Scholarship for students enrolled in the nursing program at APSU. Josephine DeWald worked as a nurse for both a private practice and a hospital for 45 years. William DeWald worked as a nurse for Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and was promoted to an administrative position overseeing the hospital’s orderly staff. They also have been supportive of APSU’s agricultural projects at the Environmental Education Center, known as the APSU farm.

Dr. Preston Hubbard Scholarship Endowment

The endowment is named in honor of Dr. Preston Hubbard, who taught history at APSU for 33 years. Hubbard suffered and survived the Bataan Death March and the brutality of more than three years as a prisoner of war at the hands of the Japanese during World War II. After the war, he came to APSU as a student and later as a professor. After retiring from APSU, he penned his story in the book “Apocalypse Undone.”

For more information about the CASE Educational Fundraising Award or to learn more about how to give to APSU, visit http://www.apsu.edu/advancement or call the Office of University Advancement at 931-221-7127. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

APSU communication department organizes new Time Magazine Person of the Year exhibit

shembergerm — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:21:44 +0000

Before going inside the Austin Peay State University Music/Mass Communication Building for a class or performance, bring a smartphone.

And have a QR code reader app installed on the phone to view and hear the new Time Magazine Person of the Year exhibit, every issue ever produced on the distinction beginning with the 1927 cover.

The building’s first-floor walls near the APSU Department of Communication office contain rows of professionally framed Time Magazine covers, all arranged by decade. A QR code appears in the corner of every cover, allowing visitors to use their smartphones to read the code and listen to audio about each Person of the Year.

“People will see and hear how the world has changed based on the impact of these individuals,” Dr. Mike Gotcher, professor and chair of the communication department who organized the exhibit, said.

Students studying the various disciplines in the communication department, such as journalism, broadcasting and production, will learn about the exhibit in more detail. Gotcher said curriculum has been compiled for all instructors in the department to use in their courses.

In addition, students from all academic backgrounds will benefit from the exhibit, Gotcher said.

“This can help give students a foundation to begin additional research,” he said.

Gotcher began working on the exhibit in September 2012. He was able to locate and access copies of each Time Magazine cover online. He then assembled a team of faculty to assist in the audio for the project during the Spring 2013 semester.

John Moseley, associate professor of communication, wrote the script for each Time cover. Daniel Humberd, an instructor in the department, recorded the individuals involved in the project, and Dr. Frank Parcells, professor of communication, uploaded the audio files for QR coding and placed them on the communication department’s Web server.

APSU President Tim Hall provides the overview for each decade. Here is a list of readers from the APSU community who recorded the decades:

John Moseley, 1920s.

Dr. Sara Gotcher, associate professor of theater, 1930s.

Carol Clark, director of community and business relations and executive assistant to the president, 1940s.

Dr. David Kanervo, professor of political science, 1950s.

Dr. David von Palko, professor of communication, 1960s.

Dr. George Mabry, professor emeritus, 1970s.

Dr. Christina Hicks-Goldston, assistant professor of communication, 1980s.

Dr. Jim Parker, assistant professor of communication, 1990s.

Kenisha Burke, instructor of communication, 2000s.

Dr. Pam Gray, associate professor of communication, 2010s.

Gotcher said he plans to continue improving the project. For more information, contact him by email at gotcherm@apsu.edu. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

APSU police chief resigning to become chief at FAMU

shembergerm — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:21:32 +0000

Austin Peay State University Director of Public Safety Terence Calloway has resigned upon accepting an offer to become the chief of the Department of Public Safety at Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee. He will assume his duties at FAMU on June 21.

Calloway began his tenure at APSU in January 2012 and has led several college-wide safe school programs and community policing programs, such as “Boyz2Men” and “The Law in You” and a youth basketball camp. Calloway is also credited for boosting department morale in his short tenure, having served approximately 18 months upon his resignation.

Mitch Robinson, vice president of finance and administration who is also Calloway’s immediate supervisor, said, “Although Chief Calloway has served the APSU community for just a short period of time he has made significant improvements to campus police operations and enhanced safety on our campus. The morale of the police department is at an all-time high, which can be attributed to Chief Calloway’s leadership and organization skills.”

Robinson also praised Calloway for his rapid improvements to APSU’s campus.

“One thing people should ask themselves when leaving a position is, ‘Did I leave it in better shape than when I arrived?’ There is absolutely no question that Chief Calloway has achieved that goal. I thank him for his service to APSU and wish him well in his new position at Florida A&M University.”

APSU is planning to open a national search for a new director immediately. Interested candidates can apply online at http://www.apsu.edu/human-resources. - Bill Persinger

Central Michigan athletics administrator is APSU's new athletics director

shembergerm — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:19:20 +0000

New APSU Athletics Director Derek van der MerweAustin Peay State University will begin another trailblazing campaign in Governors athletics beginning with the announcement of a new athletics director.

Derek van der Merwe (pronounced van de meer), deputy athletics director and chief operating officer at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., will become APSU’s next athletics director. He will succeed Dave Loos, whose decorated legacy as the Governors’ longtime athletics director includes 33 Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships in a 16-year span since 1997. Loos will remain at APSU as the head men’s basketball coach.

Van der Merwe was among five finalists invited for on-campus interviews conducted in late May. His appointment was approved Tuesday, June 4 by the Tennessee Board of Regents.

CMU President George Ross said he is confident that van der Merwe will advance student success on the field and in the classroom.

“From his days as a CMU Chippewa student-athlete to his time as an athletics administrator, Derek has displayed the utmost integrity, vision and leadership. We wish him the best,” he said.

Dave Heeke, associate vice president and director of CMU athletics, identified van der Merwe as “incredibly talented and one of the true rising stars of our profession.”

“He is a person who not only embraces a university's academic mission, but he allows it to direct his vision, decisions and resolve. He is committed to excellence in everything he does and focuses on providing the student-athlete a positive experience athletically, academically and socially.

"Derek will lead Austin Peay to new heights by doing things ‘the right way,’ which will make all connected with the University very proud."

CMU, known as the Chippewas in the Mid-American Conference, has 350 student-athletes in 16 athletic programs with an annual budget that now exceeds $25 million. During van der Merwe’s tenure, specifically in the last 10 years, CMU has won more than 45 Mid-American Conference Championships, maintained a cumulative department grade-point average greater than 3.0 and has achieved an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of more than 75 percent. In 2009, CMU was awarded the Mid-American Conference's inaugural Cartwright Award as the top overall institution exemplifying success in the classroom, in competition, and in the community.

This past year, five Chippewas teams advanced to NCAA postseason play, three were nationally ranked, and the field hockey team was recognized for the highest team GPA in the nation – an honor the soccer team had earned each of the previous seven years. In addition, the Chippewas played in their fifth bowl game in seven years, winning their second in a row. The Chippewa Athletic Fund has seen five years of record-breaking fundraising and is expected to bring in more than $1.3 million in 2013. In five years, self-generated revenues have increased by 96 percent and the donor base has grown by more than 800 members while CMU annually raised more external funds than any other program in the MAC.

“Central Michigan University is an institution that is consistently recognized for strong academic and athletics success,” said Jon Steinbrecher, commissioner of the Mid-American Conference. “This is a reflection of the culture and leadership of CMU. I am proud of Derek’s contribution at CMU to making it program of excellence in our conference, and I am looking forward to seeing what he will do at Austin Peay."

Van der Merwe’s close association with CMU actually began as a student-athlete who played football from 1991-95. He helped the Chippewas to the Mid-American Conference title in 1994 and earned Academic All-MAC honors as an offensive lineman in 1995 and was a co-captain his senior year. He graduated with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science in 1996, later earning a master’s in administration in 2005.

In 1997, he joined the athletics department as an academic adviser. He served in that capacity for a year before beginning a series of promotions that led him to his current position.

As CMU’s deputy athletics director, van der Merwe oversees facilities, events, summer camps, business operations, communications, Chippewa Athletics Fund and the corporate sales and marketing areas. He also serves as the primary administrator for softball, wrestling, men's basketball and football.

From 2005-11, van der Merwe was the senior associate athletics director, overseeing the business, compliance, facilities, event management, equipment, ticketing, and communications offices. The point person for the department's capital projects, he served as chair of the university's Design and Construction Committee for the $22 million CMU Events Center, which opened in December 2010.

Van der Merwe acts as the Chippewas' sport administrator for wrestling, football and men's basketball, and has become a major influence in the sport of wrestling on a national level. He served a four-year stint on the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee from 2007-11, which included one year as chair. He also has served as an NCAA peer reviewer for Division I institutions going through NCAA membership certification. He coordinated CMU's 2003-04 athletics certification self-study and continues to oversee the management and implementation of membership certification requirements. Van der Merwe is also the department's primary liaison to the university's Gender Equity and Diversity Committee and the Academic Senate's Athletics Committee.

He began his professional career as an academic adviser for the Chippewas before becoming the compliance coordinator in 1998. He was promoted to director of compliance in 1999, to assistant athletics director in 2001 and associate athletics director with sport oversight responsibilities in 2002.

In the fall of 2011, van der Merwe was one of 12 senior associate athletic directors from around the country selected by the Division IA Athletic Directors' Association to participate in its inaugural Fellows Program – a program which establishes professional mentoring relationships and developmental opportunities for future athletic directors. He was the first fellow selected from a non-BCS institution.

Dutch Baughman, executive director, Division IA Athletic Directors' Association, said van der Merwe is respected as one of the best athletics administrators in Division 1A.

“He is highly qualified and capable of leading and administering every aspect of an athletics department. He is also highly respected for his personal character and commitment to core values,” he said.

Van der Merwe and his wife, Amy, a former three-time All-MAC Chippewa softball player, have three children: Emily, Lauren and Ian. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

APSU to announce new athletics director during press conference

shembergerm — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:26:28 +0000

Austin Peay State University will begin another trailblazing campaign in Governors athletics beginning with the announcement this week of a new athletics director.

APSU will hold a press conference at 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 5 in the front lobby of the Dunn Center to announce who will succeed Dave Loos, whose decorated legacy as the Governors’ longtime athletics director includes 33 Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships in a 16-year span since 1997. Loos will remain at APSU as the head men’s basketball coach.

Five finalists were interviewed on campus in late May for the top athletics position.

The public is invited to the press conference and to meet APSU’s new athletics director.

APSU School of Nursing receives $60,000 grant with health department for breast health

shembergerm — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:49:43 +0000

Dr. Patty Orr (center), director of the APSU School of Nursing and associate professor, and Joey Smith (left), director of the Montgomery County Health Department, receive a check from Patty Harmon, director of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure-Greater Nashville Affiliate. (Contributed photo)

Thanks to a $60,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure-Greater Nashville Affiliate, the Austin Peay State University School of Nursing will partner with the Montgomery County Health Department to begin a breast health program.

The effort will launch June 12 with a forum that will serve as a call to action for men and women to know the latest about breast cancer, specifically how to minimize their chances of developing the cancer and how to detect signs early.

“Breast cancer is a big topic right now,” said Dr. Patty Orr, director of the School of Nursing and associate professor and occupant of the Lenora C. Reuther Chair of Excellence in Nursing. “Both men and women are encouraged to attend. Men do get breast cancer, plus they can come to support the women in their lives.”

Orr will be the primary speaker at the forum, which also will include discussions from nurse practitioners at the local health department as well as a physician from the Premier Medical Group. Speakers also will answer questions from the audience.

The breast cancer forum will be held at 5 p.m., Wednesday, June 12 in the Morgan University Center Ballroom. Everyone is invited to attend to learn the latest about breast health.

Orr wrote the Komen grant with Joey Smith, director of the county health department.

The breast health program also will include assessment, education and mammogram screening for the underserved population in Montgomery County.

“The goal is to identify any cancer early when it can be treated successfully,” Orr said.

APSU’s grant funding is among the $437,000 in total grants awarded by the Nashville Komen affiliate to local nonprofits to assist with education, screenings and treatment for breast cancer. Other agencies funded included the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services, Meharry Medical College and the Tennessee Department of Health, among others.

For more information, contact Orr by email at orrp@apsu.edu. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

APSU education professors and grad students help teachers in Guatemala

boothcw — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:24:30 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – In Guatemala, it’s easy for a public school teacher to feel overwhelmed. Class sizes are large, with about 45 to 50 students squeezing into a small, hot classroom. And most teachers in that country begin their careers at the age of 17 or 18, with minimal preparation.

“The resources are limited there,” Dr. Barbara Peterson, Austin Peay State University associate professor of education, said. “The schools are very poorly funded.”

Earlier this semester, Peterson, along with APSU education professor Dr. Margaret A. Deitrich and two graduate students, Jodi Davidson and David Kennedy, traveled to Guatemala City to bring American teaching practices to Guatemalan educators. They went as presenters for the Ninth Annual International Literacy Conference, which was developed to improve teaching in that Central American country.

“The conference was established to introduce teachers in Guatemala to instructional strategies that are designed to increase literacy,” Peterson said. “The graduate students and I were aware that many presenters would be focusing on reading strategies. We decided to present information about strategies that would help students become more engaged in their learning.”

The group developed a booklet, “How to Avoid a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: A Survival Guide for Teachers,” and then worked with local teachers on how to motivate their students.

“We came up with a variety of strategies that we thought would be easy to employ and would not require a lot of materials,” Peterson said.

Peterson said they had the Guatemalan teachers go through some of the exercises themselves, so they could see firsthand how to engage their students in learning.

“They really enjoyed the opportunity to participate and experience how these strategies work,” she said. “We also gave away some Austin Peay College of Education courier bags with things they could take back and use in their classrooms.”

Peterson and her two graduate students, who both recently graduated from APSU with their Master of Arts in Teaching degrees, returned safely from Guatemala earlier this semester and are now collaborating on a scholarly article on that country’s school system. Peterson said APSU plans to send more students to that area for future conferences and research opportunities.

For more information on this trip, contact Peterson at petersonb@apsu.edu.

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APSU's Mickey Fisher Memorial Golf Tournament is July 12-13 at Fort Campbell's Cole Park

shembergerm — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:56:50 +0000

Mary Fisher (left), widow of Mickey Fisher, taught Alexis Eldridge, the recipient of the 2012-13 Mickey Fisher Memorial Scholarship. (Photo by Beth Liggett, APSU photographer)

Since having a successful inaugural event in 2010, the Mickey Fisher Memorial Golf Tournament has returned every summer to raise money for scholarships – and will do so again next month.

The Mickey Fisher Memorial Golf Tournament will be held Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13 at Cole Park at Fort Campbell, Ky. The entry fee of $400 includes dinner, auction and scholarship presentation at 6 p.m., Friday, July 12 at the Bud Barn off Exit 19 on Interstate 24 and lunch at noon both days at Cole Park.

The scramble will consist of four-person teams and begin at 8 a.m. both days. Each team may include any combination of men, women, sons or daughters. Prizes will be awarded.

Non-golfers are invited to attend the dinner. Tickets are $15 for individual and $25 for couples.

The Fisher golf tourney is an endowment to benefit dependents of wounded or fallen soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky., with scholarships to attend APSU. Alexis Eldridge, the 2012-13 scholarship recipient, said the award helped her in numerous ways.

“By receiving the Mickey Fisher Memorial Scholarship, I was able to quit my job and focus 100 percent on school,” said Eldridge, a biology major who plans to graduate from APSU in 2016. “It was a total honor to receive this scholarship, and I know I have to work that much harder to honor it.”

Fisher’s wife, Mary Fisher, taught Eldridge at Barksdale Elementary School in Clarksville.

“She was always an outgoing, energetic and academically superior child,” she said. “It delights me to no end that she is still that very way, only as a young adult attending college.”

The 2013-14 scholarship will be awarded to the selected beneficiary at the dinner July 12.

Fisher, a Clarksville native, taught in the Fort Campbell Independent School System for 33 years as a teacher and coach. As a student at Clarksville High School, he participated on both the basketball and golf teams. He added to his sports legacy on the APSU Governors basketball court.

He died at the end of the summer in 2009, only weeks after retiring.

“The Mickey Fisher Memorial Scholarship is so very special to me because out of this tragic loss, we have something very positive – a chance to help a young citizen of our community advance academically at one of the most superior postsecondary schools in the state as well as the country, Austin Peay,” Mary Fisher, also an APSU alumna, said.

For more information about the Mickey Fisher Memorial Golf Tournament, call the APSU Office of Advancement, 931-221-7024, or Ed Sneed Jr., tournament chair, 931-905-0050. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

No. 2 seed Govs to face Florida in NCAA regional

shembergerm — Wed, 29 May 2013 13:21:18 +0000

Austin Peay State University's baseball team received the first No. 2 seed in program history and was awarded the opportunity to face Southeastern Conference stalwart Florida in a noon (CT), Friday contest as part of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship's Bloomington Regional.

The Bloomington Regional will be hosted by Indiana which will face No. 4 seed Valparaiso in the opening day's nightcap. All games of the regional can be seen online via ESPN3.

Austin Peay (45-13) will take the a 15-game win streak – the nation's longest active win streak – into the NCAA Tournament. The Govs qualified courtesy the Ohio Valley Conference's automatic bid after winning the OVC Tournament, Saturday. It is the first time under the current format an OVC team has received a No. 2 seed.

Florida (29-28) was one of nine Southeastern Conference teams selected to the 64-team field. The Gators are 4-5 in their last nine games, including an SEC Tournament opening-round loss to Texas A&M.

Indiana (43-14) won both the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The Hoosiers have won five of their last six, the lone loss coming to Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament championship round. Indiana avenged that loss the next day to win the crown.

Valparaiso (31-26) has won its last seven outings entering the tournament, including a 3-0 mark in the Horizon League Tournament. The Crusaders finished second in the Horizon League regular-season race, behind a Milwaukee squad they swept in the regular season and downed in the tournament.

Austin Peay has faced each of its three regional opponents previously. The Govs are 2-3 all time against Florida, last winning the opening game of a three-game series in 2002. Austin Peay has an 0-6 mark against host Indiana with the team's last meeting in 2008. Valparaiso is the most recognizable of the three teams Austin Peay was paired with – the two teams facing off 22 times and the Govs holding a 17-5 edge in the series.

2013 NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
BLOOMINGTON REGIONAL · BART KAUFMAN FIELD · BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

Friday, May 31
Game 1: No. 2 Austin Peay vs. No. 3 Florida, Noon (CT)
Game 2: No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 4 Valparaiso, 6 p.m. (CT)

Saturday, June 1
Game 3: Losers of Games 1 & 2, 1 p.m. (CT)
Game 4: Winners of Game 1 & 2, 5 p.m. (CT)

Sunday, June 2
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, Noon (CT)
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6 p.m. (CT)

Monday, June 3
Game 7: If necessary, same teams as in Game 6, 6 p.m. (CT)

APSU to offer new PSM graduate degree in the fall

shembergerm — Tue, 28 May 2013 15:18:28 +0000

This fall, Austin Peay State University will offer a new graduate degree that will bring together science and business skills to give students a greater competitive advantage in the workforce.

The Professional Science Masters, or PSM, will enable students to pursue advanced training in science or mathematics while developing workplace skills.

The PSM at APSU will be a fully online degree program, allowing students to work on a degree while continuing to hold employment. Students can pursue one of two concentrations – data management and analysis or predictive analytics.

Both concentrations are ideal for anyone with a bachelor’s degree, working in industry or military and having a desire to advance their career with a technical degree.

Intended as an alternative to research-focused doctoral programs, PSM programs normally consist of study in a designated science or mathematics discipline but also contain a professional component that provides a fundamental education in professional fields such as communication, policy, business or law.

In the U.S., the PSM initiative began in 1997 when a select number of research universities, with the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, developed programs integrating science and mathematics studies with knowledge and training in management, law or other professional arenas. In 2001, the national Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) began its promotion of the PSM by partnering with Sloan to extend this initiative to a number of master’s-focused institutions, and in January 2006, CGS assumed primary responsibility from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for supporting and promoting the PSM initiative.

“I have wanted APSU to develop a Professional Science Masters since the Sloan Foundation started the PSM initiative in 1997. The key was finding the right program to propose, but it has been worth the wait,” Dr. Jaime Taylor, dean of the APSU College of Science and Mathematics, said. “The concentrations in data management and analysis and predictive analytics could not be more timely.”

The APSU Department of Computer Science and Information Technology will manage the data management and analysis concentration, while the APSU Department of Mathematics and Statistics will oversee the second one.

More information about the PSM graduate degree is located at http://www.apsu.edu/cogs/programs.

For questions about the PSM, send an email to gradpsm@apsu.edu. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

APSU schedules interviews for athletics director candidates

boothcw — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:36:13 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University has scheduled on-campus interviews for the remaining athletics director candidates. On Monday, May 20, Matthew Pope, senior associate athletics director at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, visited campus for a full day of interviews. Bill Lansden, associate athletics director for athletics development at the University of Memphis, will be at APSU on May 23. An open session will be held with him at 4 p.m. in the Dunn Center room 227. The public and local media are invited to attend this session.

Next week, the final three candidates will be on campus and will be available to meet with the public and local media at the following times:

• Chad Kimmel, managing group leader-major gifts for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Wisconsin, from 3:30 to 4 p.m. on May 28.

• Julio Friere, senior associate athletics director for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, from 3:30 to 4 p.m. on May 29.

• Derek van der Meuwe, deputy athletics director and chief operating officer for Central Michigan University, from 3:30 to 4 p.m. on May 30.

All three sessions will be in the Dunn Center, room 227.

For more information on the University’s AD search, please contact the APSU Office of Public Relations and Marketing at 931-221-7459.

15 APSU graduate students chosen for University grants

shembergerm — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:17:30 +0000

Fifteen graduate students at Austin Peay State University have been selected as awardees in the 2013 Graduate Student Research and Creative Activity Grant.

The SRFP awards between $200 to $1,000 for selected proposals to develop a research or creative activity project.

The names of the awardees are the following:

Biology: Aaron Ross, Amelia Rinehart, Emma Gibson, Erin Bloom, James Flaherty, Jonathan Martin, Kelly Anderson, Koppula Raghavulu, Kristen Pilcher, Michael Fulbright, Nickolaus Willis and Robert Ahlers.

Health and Human Performance: Samantha Watson

Music: Zachery Thompson

For more information about APSU’s Graduate Student Research and Creative Activity Grant, call Dr. Dixie Dennis, associate provost of Grants and Sponsored Programs and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, at 931-221-7415 or email her at dennisdi@apsu.edu. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

APSU's Uffelman to discuss Clarksville occupation during NPT Civil War documentary

boothcw — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:42:19 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Shortly after the fall of Fort Donelson in February 1862, the city of Clarksville became an occupied city. Union soldiers marched through town carrying muskets and rifles, and they camped on what would someday become the Austin Peay State University campus.

A year after the occupation began, a 16-year-old girl named Nannie Haskins began keeping a journal. Those musty, yellow pages describe a town in distress.

“It’s an eyewitness account of Clarksville being taken over by the Union,” Dr. Minoa Uffelman, APSU associate professor of history, said. “Life was hard in Clarksville, and people were really, really scared about what would happen. Nannie had two brothers fighting for the Confederacy, and she didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Later this month, Uffelman will appear in a new Civil War documentary on Nashville Public Television, where she’ll discuss Haskins and the Clarksville occupation. “Rivers and Rails: Daggers of the Civil War,” co-produced by the Emmy Award-winning team of Stephen Hall and Ken Tucker of The Renaissance Center in Dickson, premieres at 8 p.m., May 30, on NPT-Channel 8.

The documentary is the latest episode in the “Tennessee Civil War 150” series, which is a joint venture between NPT and The Renaissance Center in Dickson. Hall said the program will explore how “transportation by water and steel brought great prosperity to the state just before the Civil War, only to give the invading Union Army a highway directly into the deep South, eventually helping force the Confederacy to its knees.”

The documentary opens with what many historians now consider the deathblow to the Confederacy – the Battle of Fort Donelson in nearby Dover, Tenn.

“Fort Donelson and Clarksville falling are just the very beginning of the end for the Confederacy,” Uffelman said. “Some scholars say Fort Donelson is the most important battle of the Civil War. Once it falls, then the Cumberland River opens up and the Union controls it. Then Nashville falls, and it’s the first Southern capital to fall.”

Uffelman, a noted local historian, was invited to participate in the documentary because of her knowledge of the Nannie Haskins diary. For the last few years, she has worked with Ellen Kanervo, APSU emeritus professor of communication, Montgomery County Historian Eleanor Williams and Phyllis Smith, president of the Friends of Fort Defiance, on transcribing the important historical document. This fall, the University of Tennessee Press will publish the diary.

“We didn’t want this to be a documentary focused completely on military strategy,” Hall said. “It was important to show how the lives of ordinary citizens were disrupted and destroyed. The story shows not only how the Union used boats and trains to their tactical advantage, but how people in Tennessee suffered because of it.”

Hall interviewed Uffelman on a clear fall afternoon in front of the earthen walls of Clarksville’s Fort Defiance - Civil War-era fort with a strategic view of the Cumberland River.

“Commanders took the attitude that the rivers and rails had to be controlled at all costs,” Hall said. “And that cost was paid by families who were caught in the middle of the conflict. If you lived in a town on the river or with easy access to the rails, you could count on misery coming your way.”

In additional to Uffelman, the documentary includes a prestigious lineup of historians, including Dr. Carroll Van West, Middle Tennessee State University; Fred Prouty, Tennessee Historical Commission; Dr. Wayne Moore, Tennessee State Library and Archives; Jim Ogden, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park; and Melinda Senn, Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History

After its premiere on NPT, “Rivers and Rails: Daggers of the Civil War” will be broadcast on other PBS stations around the state. Previous episodes have been distributed nationwide via American Public Television.

The "Tennessee Civil War 150" series is made possible in part by The Tennessee National Heritage Area, the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Sesquicentennial Commission.

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APSU names top five candidates for athletics director position

boothcw — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:02:32 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University has narrowed its search for a new athletics director down to five strong candidates, and the University will begin interviewing the first two candidates on campus next week. APSU began looking for a new AD in April when Coach Dave Loos stepped down from that position after 16 successful years. Loos remains the head coach for the men’s basketball program.

After an extensive national search, the University is bringing in the following five individuals for interviews:

• Matthew Pope, senior associate athletics director at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga;

• Bill Lansden, associate athletics director for athletics development at the University of Memphis;

• Derek van der Merwe, deputy athletics director and chief operating officer for Central Michigan University;

• Chad W. Kimmel, managing group leader-major gifts for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Wisconsin;

• Julio Freire, senior associate athletics director for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

On Monday, May 20, the first candidate, Pope, will visit APSU for a full day of interviews. The University will host an open session with Pope at 4 p.m. in the Dunn Center Football Suite, room 227.

On Thursday, May 23, Lansden will be on campus to meet with University officials. An open session will also be held with him at 4 p.m. in room 227. The public and local media are invited to attend both of those sessions.

APSU is still in the process of finalizing the schedules for on-campus interviews with the other candidates. When those dates are set, the University will also host open sessions, allowing the public to meet with those individuals.

“I’m proud that our University is able to attract such talented individuals from across both the state and the nation,” APSU President Tim Hall said. “These candidates know what our athletic programs are capable of achieving, and our new director will help usher in a new era of success at APSU.”

That new era will include needed renovations to a few of the University’s key athletic facilities. After the 2013 football season concludes next fall, the home side of Governors Stadium will be demolished. A brand new $16.9 million facility, with state-of-the-art player amenities and corporate suites, will greet the Govs when the 2014 season opens.

By next season, the Dunn Center arena will have just its third scoreboard since the facility was constructed. In addition, new LED tables will replace the current tables, allowing more professional signage display.

The Candidates:

Matthew Pope

Matthew Pope is the senior associate athletic director at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. That program oversees 310 student athletes in 17 athletic programs and an annual budget of $14 million.

Pope earned his Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education and his Master of Arts in Sports Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Throughout his 20-year career in Intercollegiate Athletics, he has served as athletic business manager for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, associate athletic director for business affairs at Western Kentucky University, athletic business accounting technician at UNC and in several administrative positions at UTC.

Bill Lansden

Bill Lansden is associate athletic director for Athletics Development at the University of Memphis. That program oversees 425 student athletes in 19 athletic programs and an annual budget of $41 million.

Lansden earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at Rhodes College, where he was a 4-year Football Letter winner and team captain. He earned his Master of Science in Sports Administration from Georgia State University. During his 17-year career in Intercollegiate Athletics, he served as marketing coordinator for the FedEx – St. Jude Classic, associate athletic director for external operations at Middle Tennessee State University and directed a $10 million “Vision for Victory” football campaign at the University of Memphis.

Derek van der Merwe

Derek van der Merwe is deputy director and chief operating officer at Central Michigan University. That program oversees 350 student athletes in 16 athletic programs and an annual budget of $25 million.

He earned both his Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Political Science and his Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University. During his 15 years of professional experience in Intercollegiate Athletics, he has chaired a $22 million University Event Center Committee for a CMU basketball arena and fitness center, negotiated an all-sport apparel and equipment agreement with Adidas and reorganized a $5 million model for a Grant-in-Aid Scholarship program.

Chad W. Kimmel

Chad W. Kimmel is managing group leader-major gifts for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Wisconsin. That program is part of the Big Ten Conference, with several athletic programs – including basketball and football – winning conference titles over the years.

Kimmel earned his Bachelor of Science in Public Management from Austin Peay State University and his Master of Science in College Student Personnel from Kansas State University. During his career, he has worked as assistant director of marketing and promotions and assistant director of development for the Kansas State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, director of development and senior director of development for Wisconsin’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and he served in a leadership position for that school’s development team, which raised $31 million in gift funds over the last year.

Julio Freire

Julio Freire is senior associate athletics director for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. UNLV is a Division I NCAA program that participates in the Mountain West Conference, and its teams have won several national championships.

Freire earned his Bachelor of Arts in Education from Arizona State University and his Masters in Counseling from the University of Phoenix. Throughout his 22-year career, he has served as associate athletics director for Ohio University, associate athletics director for development at Tennessee Technological University, associate athletics director for development at the University of Arizona and he secured $13 million in cash gifts for a UNLV basketball practice facility.

For more information on the University’s AD search, please contact the APSU Office of Public Relations and Marketing at 931-221-7459.

APSU Breast Cancer 5K raises $3,375 to American Cancer Society

shembergerm — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:36:34 +0000

Henderson Hill III (center), director of the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center at APSU, and Lauren Wilkinson (right), assistant director of the APSU University Recreation, present a check to Jerri Rule, community representative with the American Cancer Society. The proceeds are from the annual Breast Cancer Awareness 5K held April 13 on the main APSU campus. (Photo by Beth Liggett, APSU photographer)

On an early Saturday morning April 13, more than 200 runners joined forces to race in the Breast Cancer Awareness 5K race organized by a number of offices at Austin Peay State University.

Some of them walked away with top finisher awards, but all of them played a part in raising $3,375 to the American Cancer Society.

“This money will benefit breast cancer efforts,” said Jerri Rule, community representative with the American Cancer Society who was on hand to receive a check from APSU race organizers Tuesday, May 15.

This was the third year for the Breast Cancer Awareness 5K. Lauren Wilkinson, an assistant director in University Recreation whose office helped to organize the 5K run, said this year’s event was the first competitive race.

“In the past couple years, the 5K was held as a fun run, but I think having it this year as a 5K race really helped,” she said.

In addition to University Recreation, two other APSU offices – the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center and the Office of Alumni Relations – also assisted with planning the event.

For more information, contact Wilkinson at 931-221-6974 or wilkinsonl@apsu.edu. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

New students, community encouraged to read 'Saints at the River'

shembergerm — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:36:16 +0000

This summer, Austin Peay State University will welcome new students who will register for classes and pick up one of their books that will serve as the common reading assignment for Fall 2013 semester.

The new book is “Saints at the River” by Ron Rash, and the community also is invited to read the book and participate in the campus events and book discussions beginning in September. New student orientation and registration will begin May 18 and continue throughout the summer.

The book was selected for APSU’s annual reading initiative called The Peay Read. One of the highlights of this year’s program will be a special presentation from the author, Ron Rash. He will speak at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 26 in the Dunn Center at APSU. The talk is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow his talk.

The Peay Read is designed to provide a unifying experience and contribute to the academic experiences for freshmen students. However, the reading program also offers opportunities for the entire campus community.

“Saints at the River” tells the story of how the small South Carolina town of Tamassee is thrown into the national spotlight after a 12-year-old girl drowns in the Tamassee River and her body is trapped in a deep eddy. The girl's parents want to attempt a rescue of the body; environmentalists are convinced the rescue operation will cause permanent damage to the river and set a dangerous precedent. Torn between the two sides is Maggie Glenn, a 28-year-old newspaper photographer who grew up in the town and has been sent to document the incident. Since leaving home almost 10 years ago, she has done her best to avoid her father, but now, as the town's conflict opens old wounds, she finds herself revisiting the past she's fought so hard to leave behind.

In addition to the speaking event on Sept. 26, The Peay Read festivities will include a number of other activities centered on the events and themes observed in the book:

Sept. 16: Book discussion luncheon at 12:20 p.m. in the Morgan University Center, Room 103A.

Sept. 18: Book discussion with appetizers, 1 p.m. in the Morgan University Center, Room 306.

Sept. 21: Whitewater rafting trip, with sign-ups in the Foy Fitness and Recreation Center.

Sept. 24: Photojournalism workshop, 2:30 p.m. in the Student Publications Office, located in the Morgan University Center.

Sept. 26: Before his talk, there will be a meet-and-greet, specific to APSU students, with Ron Rash at 3 p.m. in the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center.

Sept. 28: Canoe trip, with sign-ups in the Foy Fitness and Recreation Center.

In addition to the book and panel discussions, other Peay Read student activities and memorabilia include the following:

-- T-shirts with “Saints at the River” printed on them and given to freshmen students enrolled in the APSU 1000 First-Year Experience program, which is including the book in its classroom discussions.

-- Bookmarks with book quotations, which will be used in student discussion groups focused on those quotations.

-- Faculty-student class discussions.

-- Student book reviews, with authors of the best essays and creative projects invited to a dinner with Rash.

A mobile app detailing all events and activities associated with The Peay Read has been developed and can be downloaded via Apple’s iTunes.

For more details about this year’s book reading selection or The Peay Read, visit http://www.apsu.edu/Read/ or visit Peay Read on Facebook.

For more information about the book or Rash’s upcoming talk, contact Dr. Dixie Dennis, chair of The Peay Read committee at APSU, by telephone at 931-221-7415 or by email at dennisdi@apsu.edu. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

APSU history professor teaches classes in Honduras

boothcw — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:59:13 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Soto Cano Air Base sits at the bottom of the Comayagua Valley in the Central American nation of Honduras. It’s home to about 500 U.S. Army soldiers, and this past January, a handful of them gathered inside a small wood hut with a sheet metal roof. The building served as a classroom for the first “on-the-ground” college courses offered at the remote base, and Dr. Sheena Harris, Austin Peay State University assistant professor of history, traveled all the way from Clarksville to teach the new classes.

“I love to travel to tropical environments,” she said. “I went over there and taught a U.S. History I and a U.S. History II survey course. While there, we had the unique opportunity to visit the Mayan ruins in Copan with the class. It was a great way for them to experience live history.”

Last year, the Austin Peay Center @ Fort Campbell decided to offer the soldiers stationed at Soto Cano an option other than online classes. The Center pitched the idea of teaching in Honduras to professors at APSU’s Clarksville campus, and Harris, a new history faculty member and an Iraq war veteran, volunteered to teach a couple of classes. She spent eight weeks in Honduras, living in military housing, eating at the post’s mess hall and local restaurants and providing many soldiers with their first taste of APSU.

“People asked, ‘You’re in Texas right?’” Harris said. “When I told them it was in Clarksville, they’d say, “Oh I was stationed at Fort Campbell once.”

The Austin Peay Center @ Fort Campbell is looking to expand its offerings at the Central American airbase by sending math, English and history professors for future eight-week sessions. But the Center isn’t simply looking to educate soldiers. Harris said the University wants to make a positive impact on that entire region. That’s why she led outreach programs targeting young girls in the area and local orphanages.

“A high percentage of the teenage girls there don’t finish school because they can’t afford book bags or paper, and they end up pregnant at very young ages,” she said. “We got a group of girls and asked what they needed. We were able to supply them with uniforms and books and pens and all those things for them to continue their education. I was able to do that on behalf of Austin Peay.”

Harris returned to Clarksville in March and spent the remainder of the spring semester teaching online courses and eight-week courses at the Fort Campbell Center. But she hopes the program catches on so she can return to the air base next January to teach more military students.

For more information on this program, contact Harris at harriss@apsu.edu.

APSU grad to study poetry at Robert Frost's summer farmhouse

boothcw — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:06:18 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – During the summer months, the great American poet Robert Frost liked to stay in a small, white clapboard farmhouse in rural New Hampshire. According to the website www.literarytraveler.com, he later wrote to a friend about his first experience at the farm.

“Our summer was one of the pleasantest we have had for years… There is a pang there that makes poetry,” Frost wrote.

He spent 19 summers at the farm, and in 1977, 14 years after his death, the farmhouse was transformed into The Frost Place – a retreat for emerging American poets. This summer, recent Austin Peay State University graduate Chase Davenport will stay at Frost’s former summer home to study the craft under some of the nation’s top poets.

“I’m going July 14 to their Conference on Poetry, and that’s basically an intensive workshop that lasts an entire week,” Davenport said. “I get to work with well-established poets like Kevin Prufer, Cleopatra Mathis and Martha Rhodes. I get to be around 60 or 70 poets and in workshops all day long, writing poetry all day long.”

Davenport is able to attend this exclusive residency because he received the APSU Bravo Award earlier this spring. Each year, the University’s Office of Academic Affairs presents the award to a high achieving student with an interest in research or creative work. The award pays for the recipient to attend a professional conference or workshop related to his or her research.

“I’d never be able to go without this Bravo Award,” he said.

Davenport arrived at APSU four years ago from Humboldt, Tenn., planning to study music composition. Then he took a class taught by poet and former APSU associate professor Dr. Blas Falconer, which inspired him to change his major to English. In the years that followed, he has become a guiding force in the campus’ creative writing community.

“We're very proud of him here,” Dr. Amy Wright, associate professor of English, said. “He has been such an inspiration for our local writing community, providing them with a writing role model, demonstrating what it means to be a serious writer is to engage community, give and receive feedback, organize local readings, and of course, invest in the work itself.”
Davenport served as the inaugural president of the APSU Creative Writing Club. After only two years, it is now the largest collegiate-based student writing organization in Tennessee. He was also editor-in-chief of the student literary magazine, “The Red Mud Review,” which received more than 200 submissions from across the country this year.

On May 10, Davenport finished his career at APSU, earning his Bachelor of Arts in English. He was recently accepted into the Master of Fine Arts program at The New School in New York City, but he hasn’t decided if he will attend this fall or not. Right now, he’s focused on spending his summer the way Frost did – writing outside a small farmhouse in rural New Hampshire.

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APSU is one of 7 schools to receive national grant

shembergerm — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:00:22 +0000

Austin Peay State University is one of seven universities in the U.S. chosen to receive an inaugural $150,000 national grant to propose efforts that will increase the number of students receiving degrees.

The University was named to the Next Generation Learning Challenges Breakthrough Models Incubator (BMI) grant program, an initiative managed by the nonprofit organization Educause with support from the League for Innovation in the Community College and funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The six other schools selected were Ball State University, Charter Oak State College, SUNY-Empire State College, Harper College, Montgomery County Community College and the University of Maryland-University College.

In addition to grant funding, the BMI will provide a range of support to help each participating institution plan and launch its own pathway to fundamental, technology-enabled change.

APSU will consider techniques that will serve as the next steps toward student completion. This could involve the University’s computerized planning tool called My Future, which suggests which majors are the best fit for each student’s academic talents.

My Future also includes links to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, giving students an opportunity to research the careers that follow from the majors suggested for them.

By demonstrating what is possible through their designs and implementation, BMI institutions will catalyze broader efforts to improve the quality, completion and affordability of college. The result, both for the Incubator institutions and for the field, will be significantly improved student access to and completion of high-quality, affordable degree programs, which in turn will improve the effectiveness of American higher education. - Dr. Melony Shemberger

Edelweiss Club scholarship awarded to APSU student for 2013-14

shembergerm — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:43:44 +0000

Andrew Beaudoin (middle), who is studying German at Austin Peay State University, receives a scholarship from Debbie Whitaker (left), president of the Clarksville Edelweiss Club. Dr. Norbert Puszkar is on the right. (Photo provided)

Andrew Beaudoin, a German major at Austin Peay State University, has been selected to receive the Clarksville Edelweiss Club Scholarship for 2013-14.

He was honored during an awards ceremony at the Edelweiss Clubhouse on May 8 and received a check from Debbie Whitaker, president of the Clarksville Edelweiss Club.

The Clarksville Edelweiss Scholarship grants $500 per year. Students must be German majors or minors at APSU. The Clarksville Edelweiss Club is a not-for-profit organization and was founded to uphold and promote German heritage and tradition.

For more information, contact Dr. Norbert Puszkar, associate professor of German, at 931-221-6391.

APSU military students honored with APSU military coin

boothcw — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:49:43 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – On Wednesday afternoon, Austin Peay State University President Tim Hall stood before a small group of about 50 students and said they were one of the main reasons he loves going to work each morning.

“It makes us proud that we get the chance to work with heroes,” he said.

The students, sitting on a stage in the campus’ Mabry Concert Hall, were all either veterans, reservists or active duty military personnel. In less than 48 hours, they would receive degrees from APSU, and the University hosted a special ceremony Wednesday to recognize all their hard work.

As part of the Spring 2013 Military and Veteran Graduate Recognition Ceremony, each student received one of the University’s special military coins. About 20 percent of APSU students have a military connection, and the coin, designed by the APSU Office of Public Relations and Marketing, was created to honor those individuals.

During this year’s ceremony, the University also presented a coin to Joe Winn, a 1963 APSU graduate and a World War II and a Korean War veteran. Winn spent much of his career as a flight engineer on the Navy version of the B-24 bomber. The 94-year-old, dressed in a dark blazer with his medals pinned to his chest, was greeted by a standing ovation as he went on stage to receive his coin. When Wednesday’s ceremony ended, the APSU students made sure to stop and shake Winn’s hand as they processed out to meet with their families and friends.

For more information on the ceremony or APSU’s military coin, please contact Dr. Bill Cox, executive director of the Austin Peay Center @ Fort Campbell, at coxw@apsu.edu.

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Photo cutline: APSU President Tim Hall presents graduate and veteran Darrell Sheffield with an APSU military coin. (Photo by Beth Liggett/APSU).

Ninth Annual Clarksville Writers Conference coming to APSU in June

boothcw — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:46:12 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Clarksville Arts & Heritage Council is partnering with the Austin Peay State University Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, the APSU President’s Office and the Tennessee Arts Commission to once again bring acclaimed authors and poets to town for the Ninth Annual Clarksville Writers Conference. The event will be June 6 and 7 at the APSU Morgan University Center.

This year’s conference will focus on Southern culture and Southern literature. Frye Gaillard, writer-in-residence at the University of South Alabama, will serve as the event’s keynote speaker. Gaillard has written extensively on Southern race relations, politics and culture as the author or editor of more than 20 books, including “Cradle of Freedom: Alabama and the Movement that Changed America.” He will speak during the Thursday evening banquet at Freedom Point at Liberty Park, overlooking the Cumberland River and historic downtown Clarksville.

The conference will also feature several distinguished southern writers, such as best-selling author and Nashville resident Adam Ross and three members of the “Grit Lit” southern literary movement – Tom Franklin, Dale Ray Phillips and George Singleton.

Authors scheduled to speak this year include:
• Janine Boldrin, freelance journalist for Military Spouse magazine and author of e-book “The Thinking Spouse's Guide to Military Life.”
• Beth Ann Fennelly, award-winning poet of the collections “Unmentionables,” “Open House” and “Tender Hooks” and co-author of forthcoming novel “The Tilted World.”

• Tom Franklin, New York Times best-selling author of “Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter,” co-editor of anthology “Grit Lit: A Rough South Reader,” and co-author of forthcoming novel “The Tilted World.”
• Rheta Grimsley Johnson, journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the memoirs “Hank Hung the Moon” and “Enchanted Evening Barbie and the Second Coming.”
• Dale Ray Phillips, short story writer and author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated collection “My People's Waltz.”
• Adam Ross, author of 2010 New York Times Notable Book “Mr. Peanut” and the short story collection “Ladies and Gentlemen.”
• Chuck Sambuchino, editor of “Writer's Digest's Guide to Literary Agents” and author of “Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript” and “Create Your Writer Platform.”
• Ann Shayne, former editor of book review BookPage and author of novel “Bowling Avenue” and “Mason-Dixon Kitting: The Curious Knitter's Guide.”
• George Singleton, author of often humorous short story collections and novels, including “Stray Decorum,” “Work Shirts for Madmen” and “Pep Talks, Warnings, And Screeds: Indispensable Wisdom And Cautionary Advice For Writers.”

In addition to the scheduled presentations and workshops, free manuscript consultations with two literary agents will be available to conference participants.
A complete package, including all conference activities, is offered, as well as “a la carte” options. Discounted rates are available for early registration, which is postmarked on or before May 23. Late registration is postmarked between May 24 and May 30. Visit the conference website at http://www.artsandheritage.us/writers for author bios, the conference schedule, registration information and more.

APSU employees share plaudits about scholarly contributions

shembergerm — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:51:03 +0000

Faculty and staff members at Austin Peay State University recently announced a number of publications, conferences and credentials as part of their professional and scholarly activities.

Dr. Frank Parcells, professor of communication, Kathy Lee Heuston, associate professor of communication, and Dr. Rob Baron, assistant professor of communication, presented a panel at the 2013 Broadcast Education Association Convention held in early April in Las Vegas, Nev. Parcells moderated a program, “Local TV Stations Marketing Through the Social Media.” Parcells introduced the subject, Baron looked at the use of Facebook and Twitter by local TV stations, and Heuston focused on local TV stations’ lack of use of YouTube to reach the non-TV local news-watching demographic of 18- to 34-year-olds. Journal Broadcast Group Corporate Vice President Jim Thomas, owner of Nashville's News Channel 5, WTVF-TV, summarized the presentation with examples of what their stations are doing with the social media.

Claudia Rodriguez, TECTA director, and Lisa Maddox-Vinson, TECTA specialist, presented at the 2013 Tennessee Family Child Care Alliance (TFCCA) State Conference held April 5-6 in Nashville. Maddox-Vinson also attended the Pyramid Model Leadership Institute presented by Team Tennessee, April 10.

Dr. Melony Shemberger, assistant director of communication in the Office of Public Relations and Marketing and adjunct faculty member in the APSU Department of Communication, had a paper accepted for presentation at the 2013 Visual Communication Conference, to be held June 26-30 in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The title of her paper is “The verdict: How newspapers are using video to expand local courtroom coverage.”

Philip Voorhees, adaptive technology coordinator in the Office of Disability Services, was awarded the 2013 Dona Sparger Professional Service Award on April 18 during the annual Tennessee Association on Higher Education and Disability (TN-AHEAD) Conference held at Tennessee Tech University. This is the highest honor awarded to a disability service provider and honors a postsecondary service provider who demonstrates exemplary professional service to the disability services field through education, advocacy and service. Voorhees, who is president of TN-AHEAD, was specifically honored for his outstanding efforts across the state and country regarding assistive technology and general access for persons with disabilities.

APSU history honor society publishes third scholarly journal

boothcw — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:37:48 +0000

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – On Thursday afternoon, members of Austin Peay State University’s Phi Alpha Theta (PAT) history honor society unveiled the third volume of its popular scholarly journal, Theta-Delta, during a ceremony in Harned Hall. The slim, red booklet might at first resemble the previous two editions of the journal, which features academic papers by APSU history students, but co-editor-in-chief Deanna Carter pointed to the masthead to show how this volume was different.

The names of several APSU history faculty members now serve on the journal’s editorial board. Dr. Jason Verber, assistant professor of history, also shared editor-in-chief duties with Carter.

“This is the new and improved Theta-Delta,” Carter said. “We just wanted to make it better. We had a lot more faculty editors and assistant editors and proofreaders. This is really coming together as a premier work.”

The idea of creating a scholarly publication began about three years ago when Dr. Minoa Uffelman, associate professor of history at APSU, saw a copy of Murray State University’s history journal. She then challenged her students to develop a similar publication, which they did by using scholarly magazines such as The Journal of Southern History as a model.

PAT members solicited scholarly papers from their peers and asked for recommendations from faculty members. The editorial board ultimately selected six strong works, focusing on a diverse range of historical topics such as Maya civilizations to women maintaining the home front during the Civil War. The third volume was also partly funded by a grant from the APSU Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR).

“This journal exemplifies the mission of the Office of Undergraduate Research by providing students an outlet for their scholarly achievements,” Dr. Christopher Gentry, OUR director, said.

APSU President Tim Hall also praised the organization’s efforts in a letter printed at the front of the journal.

“I could not be more pleased than I am at how the Theta Delta Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta continues to flourish on campus,” he wrote. “The scholarly efforts represented by the Theta-Delta journal are one evidence of that flourishing.”

A limited number of printed versions of the journal were distributed among faculty and students last week. For more information on the journal or PAT, contact Dr. David Rands, the chapter’s adviser, at randsd@apsu.edu.

Military/Veteran Graduate Recognition Ceremony May 8 for APSU spring grads

shembergerm — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:36:38 +0000

Active duty and military veteran students who will graduate from Austin Peay State University this week will receive APSU’s military coin.

The military and veteran graduate recognition and coin presentation ceremony, with the theme “All Hail to Those Who Serve,” is scheduled for 5 p.m., Wednesday, May 8 in the Mabry Concert Hall, located inside the Music/Mass Communication Building. The event is open to the public.

Guest speaker will be state Sen. Mark Green. A special coin presentation also will be held to honor Clarksville resident Joe Winn, an APSU alumnus who will be the first World War II veteran to receive APSU’s military coin.

About state Sen. Mark Green

As state senator, Green currently serves District 22 (Houston, Montgomery and Stewart counties). He is vice chair of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee as well as a member of the Judiciary and State and Local Government committees. He is also the chaplain of the Senate GOP Caucus where he authors a weekly devotion.

In his civilian life, Green is president and CEO of Align MD, an emergency department and urgent care management and staffing company based in Clarksville. He also founded Align MD Foundation, also in Clarksville, which provides health care to underserved populations throughout the world.

As an active duty soldier from 2004–06, Green served as the emergency department medical director at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky. There he won awards for patient satisfaction and efficiency.

Green’s military career actually began as an infantry officer. From 1987–90 he served as a rifle platoon leader, scout platoon leader and battalion personnel officer in the 194th Separate Armor Brigade at Fort Knox, Ky. Following the infantry officer’s advanced course, then-Capt. Green served as a battalion supply officer and an airborne rifle company commander in the famed 82nd Airborne Division.

In 1986, Green graduated West Point with a degree in quantitative business management. In addition to his degree from West Point, he has a master’s certificate from the University of Southern California in information systems and a medical degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

His military awards include the Bronze Star, The Air Medal, The Air Medal with “V” device for valor under heavy enemy fire, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, The Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Joint Services Achievement Medal, the Combat Medical Badge, the U.S. Army Ranger Tab, U.S. Army Flight Surgeons’ Wings, the Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Senior Parachutists Badge and the Air Assault Badge.

About Joe Winn

In 1938, shortly before the U.S. entered World War II, a young 18-year-old man named Joe Winn left a job at his family’s service station to join the Navy. Tensions were rising in Europe and Asia as war broke out in those regions, and the young seaman soon saw signs of the conflict washing up on American shores. He witnessed U-Boat attacks on American ships off the coast of Florida, and he helped the Immigration Services search for German saboteurs in Jacksonville.

Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor. As America joined the World War, Winn patrolled the west coast in reconnaissance planes, looking for Japanese submarines. But the end of the war didn’t end his naval career. He went on to serve as a flight engineer on the Navy version of the B-24 bomber, looking for Soviet submarines off the Alaskan coast, traveling throughout the Pacific and brightening the skies with 80 million candle-powered search lights for pinned-down Marines fighting on the Chinese border during the Korean War.

In 1958, after 20 years of dedicated service, Winn left the Navy and returned home to the New Providence area. He entered Austin Peay State College on the G.I. Bill as a nontraditional student and, after graduation, went on to a long and successful career as an industrial arts teacher in the Clarksville-Montgomery County area.

About the APSU military coin

APSU created its own coin with its military students and veterans in mind. The antique bronze color coin, designed by the APSU Office of Public Relations and Marketing, is finished with black enamel. The first set was cast in 2011.

On one side of the coin, the eagle is prominently displayed as the nation’s symbol, along with other American patriotic elements. The University’s AP logo is situated at the bottom of the coin. The words, “All Hail to Those Who Serve,” were crafted from the lyrics of APSU’s alma mater and from the military’s customs and courtesies to welcome those who have joined the unit.

The other side of the coin shows an image of the clock tower atop the Browning Administration Building, generally considered the emblem of APSU. The year APSU was founded, 1927, also is noted on the bottom of the piece.

Students receiving the coin as military service members and veterans will graduate from APSU on Friday, May 10.