K-STATEMENT FOR KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY and STAFF

K-STATEMENT index                                May 3, 2007 / Vol. 29, No. 20

TRACZ TOP MUSIC EDUCATOR A faculty member is being recognized as one of the top 10 music educators in the nation by the Music Educators National Conference. Frank Tracz, director of bands and professor of music, has been named a 2006 Lowell Mason Fellow. Tracz is one of 10 music educators nationwide who will be honored as a Fellow at the organization's Centennial Congress and Celebration June 25 in Orlando, Fla. The award is named for Lowell Mason, who is credited with introducing music instruction to American public schools and establishing teacher training in music education. "Frank Tracz truly deserves to be recognized nationally for his outstanding career achievements," said President Jon Wefald. "He is a superb music educator and excellent band director." Gary Mortenson, head of the music department, credits Tracz with moving the K-State Marching Band into an elite status among all major university groups. Under Tracz, Mortenson said, the K-State Marching Band has grown considerably in personnel and in quality from 120 members in 1993 to more than 300. MANHATTAN GREAT FOR RETIREES Money Magazine just included Manhattan as one of the country's "best places to retire young" -- and being home to K-State helped the city make the list. Manhattan ranked ninth on the list, which can be viewed at http://money.cnn.com/ magazines/moneymag/ Criteria for determining the rankings included "the presence of one or more major and/or highly competitive colleges in the vicinity." K-State's presence means many of the world's top leaders visit through the prestigious Landon Lecture Series. Well-known performers and theatrical productions come to Manhattan regularly as a part of the McCain Performance Series. Being a member of the Big 12 athletic conferences makes K-State the place to catch top collegiate competition.   OH, BY THE WAY... RAPID RESPONSE CRUCIAL TO CONTAINING FLU PANDEMIC Being prepared so response is rapid is of vital importance in case of a pandemic flu outbreak, according to research funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers looked at information from the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic to see why some cities were hit harder than others when all implemented similar public health measures. What they found was that "how fast" mattered just as much as "how" when a response was considered. Cities that took days to implement public health measures saw peak mortality rates much lower than those that took weeks. Although the ideal way to contain a potential pandemic would be through vaccinations, an effective vaccine would take months to develop after the first cases of pandemic flu appear. The studies showed, however, that early, non-pharmaceutical interventions were effective at the height of the pandemic, as an effective vaccine was not available in 1918. "This research demonstrates the need for plans to be complete so response to a pandemic is immediate," said Steve Galitzer, director of environmental health and safety at K-State. Although K-State's pandemic flu committee is preparing guidelines for offices and departments to follow in case of a pandemic, all units on campus will be required to complete their own contingency plans. For more information on the university's flu plan, go to http://www.k-state.edu/safety/ and click on "Pandemic Flu Plan." DID YOU KNOW: LIFE INSURANCE Have you reviewed your life insurance coverage recently? K-State provides term life insurance coverage in the amount of 150 percent of regular salary for each benefits-eligible employee at no cost to the employee. Additional group term life insurance is available through the Teachers and Employees Association and optional group life insurance coverage provided through KPERS. Applications for initial supplemental coverage or additional coverage, subject to underwriting review, may be made at any time. Coverage also may be reduced upon request. You can review your supplemental life insurance coverage by going to the K-State home page/Faculty and Staff/Employee Self-Service. To update your beneficiaries for K-State group term life insurance coverage, complete the beneficiary forms available from the HR Web page. For more information about K-State benefits, contact Human Resources at 532-6277.   ON CAMPUS - MAY - July 1 Michael Krueger, "Quantrill, in Life," 2004, lithograph and intaglio on paper From the exhibit "Michael Krueger: 2007 Friends of the Beach Museum of Art Gift Print Artist" available through July 1 at the Beach Museum of Art. Each year, an artist is selected to produce a limited edition print available exclusively to Friends members. The selected artist then has an exhibition at the museum. "Krueger's work is characterized by an insistence on narrative and line," said Bill North, Beach Museum senior curator. "His imagery reflects a deep interest in American history, the history of art and contemporary American culture." Krueger joined the art department at the University of Kansas in 1995 as an associate professor. He teaches printmaking, drawing and digital art. Krueger's work can be found in many public collections throughout the country, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Fogg Museum at Harvard University and the New York Public Library. 7-21 Faculty art exhibit An exhibit of faculty art will be up May 7-21 in the Kemper Art Gallery, K-State Student Union. The gallery is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. 8 Faculty Senate meeting Faculty Senate will met at 3:30 p.m. May 8 in the Big 12 Room, K-State Student Union. 14, 16 Grade sheets due Final grade sheets are due in Enrollment Services by noon May 14 for examinations given May 7, 8, 9. Sheets are due May 16 for May 10-11 examinations. K-State's 140th class K-State is preparing to present degrees to more than 2,600 students at commencement ceremonies in Manhattan and Salina. The class of 2007 is the 140th to graduate from K-State since the first class graduated in 1867. Read more   Carving a successful path Navigating a university as large as K-State can be a bit overwhelming for a new hire. Seeking out resources and opportunities, not to mention policies and procedures, can be daunting for a first-time professor. Read more   UP CLOSE A portrait of passion Athletes describe it as being "in the zone" while a psychology professor may call it "Flow." It's the feeling of being so caught up in the activity at hand that nothing else seems to matter. The feeling of total absorption disregarding time, place and reality. It's the feeling described by Clive Fullagar, professor of industrial and organizational psychology, when painting a portrait. Read more   PLAUDITS FACULTY MEMBERS HONORED FOR TEACHING Four K-State faculty members are receiving the 2007 Commerce Bank Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. This year's recipients are David Allen, assistant professor of elementary education; Barbara G. Anderson, assistant professor of apparel, textiles and interior design; Gary Pierzynski, professor of agronomy; and David Rintoul, associate professor of biology. The awards, each of which includes a $2,500 honorarium, are sponsored by the William T. Kemper Foundation and Commerce Bancshares Foundation; they are coordinated through the Kansas State University Foundation. This is the 12th year Commerce Bank and the foundation have partnered with K-State to promote and support excellence in teaching with the Commerce Bank Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards. Such support allows K-State to reward outstanding faculty members, said President Jon Wefald. "K-State wants undergraduates to have the best education and instructors possible," he said. "These honorees have devoted themselves to fulfilling that vital part of the university's mission." ARCHITECTURE SELECTS DAY, KEANE AS JARVIS CHAIRS Dennis Day, pictured left, and Timothy Keane, pictured right, have been named this year's Jarvis Chairs of Landscape Architecture at the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. Dan Donelin, head of the department of landscape architecture and regional and community planning, said this is the second year for the $10,000 annual stipend to be awarded to faculty members who, in the previous academic year, made significant contributions in teaching, scholarship or service. A blind jury of two faculty members from another nationally accredited landscape architecture program and a faculty member from a non-design background select the award recipients. The Jarvis Chair of Landscape Architecture is financed through a bequeathed endowment established by Mary K. Jarvis, a 1942 K-State graduate thought to be the first woman to receive a landscape architecture degree from the university. Interest from the endowment is matched by the state of Kansas Faculty of Distinction program. SCHALLES RECOGNIZED FOR ADVISING PEER EDUCATION GROUP Dianna Schalles, health educator and registered dietitian at Lafene Health Center, has been honored for advising K-State's student peer education group, Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices. Schalles received the Area 5 Award for Excellence: Outstanding Adviser 2006-2007 from the BACCHUS Network, a university- and community-based network promoting student- and young adult-based campus and community-wide leadership on health and safety issues. The award was presented at the seventh annual "Meeting of the Minds": Partners in Prevention and the BACCHUS Network Area 5 Spring Conference. Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices, or SNAC, works to educate the university community about healthy eating strategies and body image. TAYLOR HONORED BY SIGMA LAMBDA BETA FRATERNITY Kay Ann Taylor, an assistant professor of secondary education, has received an exemplary teaching award from Sigma Lambda Beta, a fraternity at K-State. Taylor was nominated by two of her students: Jose Estrada, a senior in pre-professional secondary education, and Robert Gomez, a sophomore in pre-professional secondary education. Estrada said he nominated Taylor because of the impression she has made on his life. "Not only is she an expert in her field, but I feel she goes above and beyond her role as just a teacher," he said. "When I walked into Dr. Taylor's classroom, I felt really comfortable speaking up and expressing my opinion because Dr. Taylor had established an environment where students could freely speak up without the fear of being rejected. Not many teachers have accomplished this in their classrooms." AERA HONORS KIM FOR NARRATIVE RESEARCH ARTICLE An article by Jeong-Hee Kim, "For Whom the School Bell Tolls: Conflicting Voices Inside an Alternative High School," was selected as the best narrative research article of 2007 out of three national finalists. The award is given by the Narrative Research Special Interest Group, which is a division of the American Educational Research Association. Kim's award-winning article appeared in the International Journal of Education and Arts in August 2006. The article is a study of an alternative high school in Arizona, and provides different views from administrators, teachers and students on their public alternative school experiences. INSPIRE BY EXAMPLE AWARDS HONOR STEPHENS, WESSEL Community First National Bank, K-State's civic leadership program and the provost's office partnered to present Inspire by Example awards for community service. The awards recognize a tradition of volunteerism at K-State as well as the skills that students, faculty and staff devote to meeting critical needs in their communities. K-State honored the award winners and community organizations April 16. Recipients received a plaque, and Community First National Bank donated $250 to a service agency selected by each recipient. The faculty award went to Greg Stephens, associate professor in technology management at K-State at Salina, for his involvement in promoting sustainable agriculture, organic marketing cooperatives and rural heritage. His award donation will go to Yesteryear Museum, a volunteer-driven, agriculturally based living history museum in Salina. The staff award went to Tonya Wessel, apartment living coordinator at K-State housing and dining services, for her work with the Global Women's Society at K-State's Jardine Apartment Complex. Wessel was praised for her ability to lead by the example of her service. Her award donation will go to Jardine's Conversational English Coffee Talk, fostering language skills and mutual support among residents of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. ADMINISTRATIVE SKILLS, TEACHING, ADVISING HONORED Six Presidential Awards are being presented to honor outstanding teaching, advising and administrative skills at K-State. The awards, which consist of a $2,500 honorarium and plaque, are sponsored by the K-State president's office and Curtin Property Co., a real estate development firm with offices in Manhattan and Kansas City. The awards are coordinated through the Kansas State University Foundation. Receiving the Presidential Awards for Teaching Excellence are Caroline Delandre, a graduate teaching assistant in biology; Kyoko Mizuno, an instructor in modern languages; Susan Jackson Rodgers, an assistant professor in English; and Donita Whitney-Bammerlin, academic program coordinator and instructor of management. The Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising recipient is Angelia Perry in the College of Arts and Sciences. Lakshmi Reddi, a professor of civil engineering, is receiving the Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head. "These Presidential Award honorees demonstrate the talent and dedication that make K-State such a great place to study and to teach," said Jon Wefald, K-State president. "We appreciate that Chris Curtin and the Curtin Property Company continue to help the university reward these faculty members for their hard work." ARTS AND SCIENCES PRESENTS STAMEY TEACHING AWARDS The College of Arts and Sciences is recognizing a biochemist, an economist and a geographer for their common ability to reach students in their classrooms. The college is presenting its William L. Stamey Awards for Teaching to John Tomich, professor of biochemistry; Amanda Freeman, instructor in economics; and L. Scott Deaner, doctoral student in geography. The awards are named for William L. Stamey, a dean of K-State's College of Arts and Sciences from 1969 to 1987.   POINTS OF PRIDE K-State hosts first-ever open house in Saudi Arabia K-State recently hosted an open house at Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia's capital city of Riyadh -- the first-ever open house by an American university in the kingdom. K-State was represented by Kenneth Holland, associate provost for international programs, and Julie Lebo, project coordinator for the office of international programs. During the two-day event, which was promoted through newspaper advertisements, flyers and 100 billboards, Holland and Lebo visited with approximately 650 participants, including high school, technical college and university students, as well as members of the public. Participants were seeking information on admission to the K-State campus in Manhattan or information on K-State's distance education programs.   NOTEWORTHY Neil Dunn, speech communication, theater and dance, received first place for his score "Echo" in the national James P. and Shirley J. O'Brien Composition Competition sponsored by the University of Arizona. "Echo" was written for CrossTalk, an electronic percussion ensemble and the World Music Gang, a world music ensemble, both at the University of Arizona. More Noteworthy   OPPORTUNITIES CLASSIFIED • A recording of classified job opportunities is available 24 hours a day on the Employment Information Line, 785-532-6271. • A list of employment opportunities is posted at www.k-state.edu/hr/ • For additional information, call 785-532-6277 or come to the Division of Human Resources in 103 Edwards Hall. Applications are accepted 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. weekdays. UNCLASSIFIED • A complete listing of vacancies can be seen at www.k-state.edu/affact/ • For additional information, call the office of affirmative action at 785-532-6220 or come by 214 Anderson Hall.