Math Science COIL leads CSC achievements for 2022

The building meets contemporary laboratory and teaching standards and includes a lecture hall with two 120-inch projection screens, active learning classrooms and labs, study spaces, extensive audio-visual technologies. The building also includes the Dr. Lois Veath Planetarium, the Eleanor Barbour Cook Museum of Geology, and the High Plains Herbarium.

Student achievements were numerous and varied this year.

In the School of Business, Mathematics and Science, four Range Management students won the Rangeland Cup at the international Society for Range Management conference in Albuquerque. They are Brolin Morgan of McCook, Nebraska, Emma Pendleton of Hemingford, Nebraska, and siblings Sage McGinnis and Hayden McGinnis of Buena Vista, Colorado. Eight students competed in June in the National Leadership Conference of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA-Collegiate), formerly Phi Beta Lambda, in Chicago. They are Markus Ramsey of Minden, Neb., Drew Kurtenbach of Rapid City, S.D., Phillip Soto of Scottsbluff, Neb., Andrew Avila of Henry, Neb., Logan Parde of Ceresco, Neb., Allison Schneider of Lincoln, and Thomas Ganos and Aubree Noble of Chadron. Students accepted into the Rural Business Leadership Initiative met business owners in the spring and then competed for grant funds to improve rural communities in the fall. Nearly 40 CSC students, alum Crystal Vander May, and her Higher Ability Learners at Hay Springs participated in Spotted Skunk research. A group of nine students and four faculty attended the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. Isioma Akwanamnye earned a full fellowship to the Biomedical Science Training Program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. She will be studying cancer biology in the umbrella Ph.D. program.

In the School of Liberal Arts, a musical composition written by sophomore Thomas Hughes of Chadron was aired on Nebraska Public Radio. Rylie Cole of Minden, Nebraska, won a Gold Addy award for Elements of Advertising in Still Photography from the Black Hills American Advertising Federation. Four students attended the Model of Arab League conference in Washington, D.C. Andrew Corbine of Rapid City, South Dakota, and Hend Elnady of Cairo represented the State of Kuwait on the Council for Poverty and Unemployment, and earned recognition as Distinguished Delegates by their peers. Laura Clay of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Wyatt Fiscus of Bayard, Nebraska, worked on the Summit of Arab Heads of State. Corbine later made a solo presentation at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference in Chicago. Five students attended the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention in Atlanta. Sarah Wagoner of Gering, Nebraska, Abigail Swanson of Grand Island, Nebraska, and Ashy Blacksheep of Chadron presented pieces. Ezra Hare of Chadron and Samuel LaRive of Hot Springs, South Dakota, also attended, along with faculty advisers Dr. Kimberly Cox and Dr. Mary Clai Jones. Riley Snyder of earned a National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) President’s Innovation Award and attended the NAMM show in Anaheim, California, in June. Five students attended the Story Catcher Writing Workshop and Festival in Gunnison, Colorado. The students are Kyla Mitsos of Rapid City, South Dakota, Erin Hayhurst of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Caleb Twite of White River, South Dakota, Jarret Buchholz of Arnold, Nebraska, and Rebeka Scheiderer of Hotchkiss, Colorado. Six students attended the American Advertising Federation’s Meet the Pros event in Omaha with Art Professor Mary Donahue. She also accompanied Art Guild students on a field trip to Denver.

In the School of Professional Studies and Applied Sciences, Army ROTC Cadet Austin Alexander of Newell, South Dakota, completed specialized training in Hawaii. Social Work seniors in SW 435 planned and hosted a conference about Truth and Trauma. They are Cooper McLaughlin of Wall, South Dakota, Abbygail Schaffer of Greeley, Colorado, Mercedes Sloan of Tonopah, Arizona., and Serenity Sterkel of Alliance, Nebraska. Student Senate President Olivia Bryant of Anselmo, Nebraska, was accepted to the Momentum Institute of the Student Basic Needs Coalition, a program that serves as a resource and guide to advocating for higher education.

In cocurricular activities, an Esports program was established with teams competing in Miller Hall. Plans for 2023 involve the completion of an arena in a former lobby on the west side of Kent Hall. A club, Familia, was established to support Spanish speaking members of the campus community and help others learn about the language and culture.

Faculty achievements included a wide array of presentations and publications. One of the more unique accomplishments was a summer cross-country bike trip completed by Dr. Kurt Kinbacher, Dr. Mary Clai Jones, Markus Jones, and student Jace Demaranville.

In the School of Business, Mathematics and Science, Dr. Jung Colen, with four co-authors, published an article in the Journal of the Korean Society of Mathematical Education analyzing the methods a veteran teacher used to teach multiplication to third grade students in Korea. Colen, an associate professor of Math, also completed the second portion of a Service, Teaching, and Research (STaR) fellowship with the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. In September, Colen presented a study she conducted with her husband, Dr. Yong S. Colen, a mathematics education professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Conference in Los Angeles. Professor Dr. Mike Leite and Assistant Professor Dr. Tawny Tibbits wrote a grant for a Portable X-ray Flouresence unit that students in Geoscience courses will be able to use to analyze the chemical makeup of solid materials.

Three employees made a virtual presentation to the national Academic Chairpersons Conference. Dr. Wendy Waugh, Dr. Shaunda French-Collins, and Dr. James Koehn presented Not Your Typical Administrator, best practices for cultivating and maintaining positive working relationships between faculty and administration.

French-Collins and Dr. Britt Helmbrecht, assistant professor in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, participated in the Emerging Leaders Program, a premier leadership development program provided by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

In the School of Liberal Arts, photography and art by Mary Donahue and Laura Bentz was exhibited in Omaha.

In the School of Professional Studies and Applied Sciences, an article co-authored by Assistant Professor Dr. Elizabeth Kraatz was published in Theory Into Practice, a peer-reviewed journal designed for teachers and administrators to support the application of educational research to educational practice. In the abstract of the study, Kraatz, and her co-authors write the goal of the article is to highlight the benefits of controversial conversations in the classroom and describe teaching approaches that facilitate effective controversial conversations.

Professor of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Dr. Dawn Brammer, was recognized by the Society of Health And Physical Educators (SHAPE) Nebraska leadership council as the recipient of the 2022 SHAPE Nebraska Honor Award.

Staff achievements included presentations and conference attendance.

Dr. Shaunda French-Collins was named Chadron State College’s Interim Dean of Graduate Studies and the School of Business, Math, and Science, replacing Dr. Wendy Waugh.

A presentation by Alex Helmbrecht, director of College Relations, and Daniel Binkard, Digital graphic designer, at the Higher Learning Commission’s annual conference highlighted the lengthy and painstaking process that earned the college a stellar reaccreditation review by HLC.

Three representatives of CSC attended the ¡Adelante! Leadership Institute in San Diego. They are Taylor Osmotherly, Student Activities Coordinator, Gabi Pérez, Assistant Director of Admissions, and Student Senate President Olivia Bryant.

CSC campus improvements and outreach efforts involved collaborative workstations in the King Library, Education scholarships, collaborations in Education and health professions, digitalizing the herbarium collection, and nine new academic offerings.

Sections of the King Library were remodeled over the summer including 10 collaborative workstations on the main floor. Each workstation includes a whiteboard table, screen and streaming casting capabilities, and power outlets. The library’s Oculus Virtual Reality headsets, monitors, and bicycle are now adjacent to the Richard's Media Lab. Additional options include several gaming systems with three TVs and an arcade game with more than 100 titles.

A $100,000 Educator Pipeline Grant from the Nebraska Department of Education will allow CSC to expand its offerings to para-professionals who want to become school teachers. The one-time grant will be available only through Dec. 2024. It is designed to help alleviate statewide shortages by adding more candidates to the teacher education pipelines from institutions of higher education.

In addition to a well-established graduate education program in Anchorage, an undergraduate cohort from the Palmer/Wasilla area enrolled this fall. The new program at the Matanuska-Susitna school district is designed for high school graduates earning bachelor’s degrees in education. The district, about the size of West Virginia, includes nine high schools in Palmer and Wasilla.

CSC students interested in osteopathic medicine will have the option of Rocky Vista University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine following the completion of an agreement between the two institutions in October.

The High Plains Herbarium digital collection now includes more than 52,000 specimens that are searchable online and more than half of the entries have images associated with them. This is about 80 percent of the college’s flowering plants, ferns and conifer specimens.

A new program, Nutrition and Dietetics, requires a combination of Biology, Chemistry, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Nutrition courses. The program is based on the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics standards. Other new offerings include a master’s degree in Athletic Training, graduate certificates in Healthcare Management and Digital Marketing, and the following undergraduate options: Media Production option, Media Production minor, Natural Science concentration field endorsement, Political Science minor, and Pre-Art Therapy.  

CSC alumni distinguished themselves in their careers, in advanced degree programs and community service.

Katie Digmann is returning to her alma mater as the Director of Alumni and Development. Among her responsibilities, Digmann, who will replace Karen Pope when she retires in January 2023, will lead the Alumni Association, host alumni gatherings and alumni travel, coordinate alumni events on campus, and raise funds to support scholarships and campus initiatives.

Dr. Tom Detwiler and his wife, Lee, received the college’s Distinguished Service Award in December.

Chadron High School history teacher Michael Sandstrom was selected the 2022 Outstanding Teacher for the Third District by the Nebraska State Council for the Social Studies.

Fellow Chadron High School employee and CSC alum, Loni Watson, received the 2022 Counseling Excellence Award from the Nebraska State College System.  

Former CSC student Miranda Bright, a teacher at Crete High School, received the National Association Teacher of Family and Consumer Sciences New Professional Award in New Orleans.

Rachel Mitchell presented a paper titled A Sicilian Romance: Women Do That Which Is Right at the Northern Plains Early British Literature Conference at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota. Associate Professor of English Dr. Kimberly Cox presented and CSC student Ezra Hare attended. Cox’s plenary talk focused on hand grasping as moments of sexual violation and hand clasping as moments of consensual romantic encounter in eighteenth-century novels.

Arttie Parker completed a prestigious seminar for educators about propaganda through the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

During Homecoming festivities, Distinguished Alumni Awards were presented to Mark Allen Brohman and Dora Olivares. Dr. Nisha Durand, Ryan Hieb, and Dr. T.J. Thomson each received the Distinguished Young Alumni award. Family Tree Awards were conferred upon the Guzman and Brown families.

Durand also presented at the Nebraska Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Conference in Nebraska City, Nebraska. CSC student Emmanuella Tchona gave a presentation, and alum Isioma Akwanamnye was honored with the James Turpen INBRE Scholar Award. Professor Dr. Ann Buchmann, mentor of the INBRE students, also attended the conference.

In 2023, Chadron State College and the Nebraska State College System Office will be engaged in a national search to fill the presidency following Dr. Randy Rhine’s announcement that he will retire in June. Rhine has been CSC’s President since May 2012.