Volume 29, No. 1
August 22, 1997
Scott A. Miller
Contact: MU PR Office 662-4844
NEWS
Learn something: be an "auditor"
MU's Council of Trustees recently approved an inexpensive, almost risk-free way for community members to learn side-by-side with college students in courses the university offers.
For just $50 and the permission of the instructor, virtually anyone can "audit" an MU course beginning with the Fall 1997 semester. The program has two benefits:
*Students, particularly those who feel uneasy about going back into the classroom after significant time away, can familiarize themselves with course material
*The $50 fee is approximately 10 percent of what it would cost a Pennsylvania resident to take a single three-credit course on-campus, all but eliminating the financial commitment of taking a class for credit.
"It's our way to be more of a service to the community," says MU Provost Joe Moore, who proposed the program. "It's for people who want to take advantage of the university as a resource and for adult learners who want to test the waters before going back to college."
Community members who wish to audit a class must first choose a class with space available, get the permission of the instructor and then pay the $50 fee. They become a student in the class the same as any other student except they do not receive a grade and they do not receive academic credit toward a degree.
Moore says the program works better for some kinds of courses than others.
"A French class might do you a lot of good if you're planning a trip to Quebec and would like to brush up on your French," he says. "On the other hand, some of our courses which require a lot of time in a lab probably don't accommodate extra learners very well."
Those interested in auditing a class may request a Fall Master Schedule from MU's Center for Lifelong Learning by calling 4244.
Two key staff positions filled
President Kelchner filled two key staff positions over the summer when he announced the appointments of Brian Barden as admissions director and Christine Shegan as director of police and safety.
Barden has served the university as interim director of admissions since fall 1995 when former director of admissions John Abplanalp became the university's director of external learning experiences. Barden was chosen for the permanent position from a field of several candidates culled from a national search.
Barden earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education at Mansfield in 1976 and completed his master's at Mansfield in 1982. He has taught at Warren L. Miller Elementary School in Mansfield, was an administrator at the New Covenant Academy, and was day care director for the Elmira Psychiatric Center.
He began his career at MU in Fall 1989 as an admissions counselor. He has also served the university as coordinator of transfer and articulations and was involved in state articulation process. He was instrumental in developing several articulation agreements with community colleges.
Shegan previously served Indiana University of Pennsylvania as a corporal in the crime prevention and education unit. She had served IUP as a police officer since 1984 and continues to serve as an instructor for Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. She is also a certified instructor in rape aggression defense.
Shegan earned a bachelor's and master's degrees in criminology from IUP, and completed Municipal Police Officer's Training Academy (PA Act 120) at IUP in 1985.
She is a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Campus Crime Prevention Practitioners, Crime Prevention and DARE Officers of Western Pennsylvania and the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 33.
Have an Updater announcement? Send it to Scott A. Miller
Ted Ryan, criminal justice administration, delivered a paper on "The Theology of Crime" in June at the 1997 Concurrent Annual Conferences of The Peace Studies Association and Consortium of Peace Research Educators at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Barry Brucklacher, education, attended a Fast Plants workshop in July at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Educators use Fast Plants in a variety of classroom exercises for all levels of education because of the plant's short, 35-day life cycle. The Wisconsin Fast Plants Program is working with NASA as part of a joint U.S./Ukrainian Space Shuttle mission scheduled for fall 1997. The Education Project associated with this mission will use a special stock of Fast Plants known as "AstroPlants" to study how plants grow and function in microgravity, and communication over the Internet will permit data sharing among classrooms and between the United States and Ukraine.
Albert Dalmolen, history and political science, traveled to Switzerland in May at the invitation of the Federal Institute of Technology. In addition to leading a graduate colloquium on U.S. foreign policy at the Institute's Center for International Studies, he lectured in courses at the University of Zurich and the University of St. Gallen. In June, he attended a two-day workshop on "Public Life and the Arts in Southeast Asia," sponsored by Cornell University's Southeast Asia Program.
Penguin USA will publish a paperback book of Kate Chopin's short stories edited by Bernard Koloski, English. The Penguin Classics edition of "Bayou Folk" and "A Night in Acadie" will contain the 44 works Chopin included in her two published anthologies of short stories. Koloski will edit the stories and add an introduction, a bibliography, and some notes. The book will be available in early 1999, in time for the centennial of Chopin's 1899 novel, "The Awakening."
MU opened its 104th football season with more than 80 players reporting to camp last Wednesday and Thursday.
"In both numbers and quality, this the best preseason camp we've had since I've been here," said third year head coach Joe Viadella. "We're going to be young once again, but we got more depth at every position. We've been going at it pretty good the last couple of days and the whole coaching staff has been impressed."
Hoping to give direction to the young Mountaineers are seniors Jason Donadi and Matt Guzivich, who were selected to captain the team.
"Jason is a preseason All-American and has been one of the best running backs we've ever had at Mansfield," Viadella said. "He's shown the dedication to the program that's earned the respect of all his teammates. Matt Guzivich is cut from the same cloth. He's a tough kid who leads by example and that example is hard work."
Although showing improvement in most area's of the team, which posted a 3-8 mark in 1996, the Mountaineers know victories will not come easy. With a schedule that includes two teams that won national championships in the ‘90s (Ithaca and Westminster) along with three other teams that earned playoff berth's, the Mountaineers face a rigorous challenge.
The MU roster is dotted with a number of local players including returning starting fullback Nate Davis of Wellsboro. Other Green Hornets on the team include freshman Dan Eskensen at defensive back and junior linebacker Jeremey Richardson. North Penn grads include freshman linebacker Mike Lord, along with red-shirt freshman Chris Olsen and freshman Kevin Swope at wide receiver.
The Mountaineers will kickoff their 10-game schedule Saturday, Sept. 6, when they host Southern Connecticut State University at 1 p.m. at Karl Van Norman Field.