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Employee Spotlight of Sarah Clifton |
Four day work week begins May 17 Students awarded safety scholarships Panamanian students complete program
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Top school superintendent to speak at commencement
One of Louisiana's top educational leaders will address Southeastern graduating students
at commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 16.
Patrice B. Pujol, superintendent of the Ascension Parish School System and the
2015 Louisiana Superintendent of the Year, is the invited speaker for the event scheduled
for 10 a.m. at the University Center. The system is comprised of 21,500 K-12 students
in 28 schools in the parish.
The university will confer approximately 1,175 degrees on students who are graduating
with bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The university will recognize its
first group of doctoral degrees in advanced nurse practice when eight students are
hooded at the ceremony.
Pujol received her recognition as top superintendent last November from the Louisiana
Association of School Executives and the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents.
The award is given each year to the superintendent who demonstrates excellence in
education, leadership and district school performance.
She received her bachelor's degree from Southeastern in French Education in 1976.
She later earned a doctorate at Southeastern in educational leadership, where she
completed her dissertation on school district organization processes that promote
efficacy and improved student achievement.
Pujol has worked in education for 38 years as a teacher, principal, director
of secondary schools, director of school improvement, and assistant superintendent.
Under her leadership, the school system has become one of the top performing
districts in the state. The district recently received an "A" rating for the third
consecutive year and improved its District Performance score to rank No. 4 overall
among public school districts in the state.
Pujol has initiated and implemented such innovations as the instructional coach
program, a district-wide curriculum framework with benchmark assessments and a leadership
assessment and development program. Most recently, she has worked with her leadership
team to create a "Turnaround Zone" to redirect concentrated support for the lowest
performing schools in the district.
Employee Spotlight: Sarah Clifton
Sarah Clifton, instructor of mathematics, was selected for the Employee Spotlight
Award (Faculty) during the recent competition for the award held during Employee Appreciation
days last month.
Other recipients of the award are Linda Alford of Athletics (unclassified staff)
and Candance Thomas of Upward Bound (classified staff). The will be profiled in future
issues of ByLion.
Sarah was nominated by Lori Ostarly-Ulfers, instructor in the Department of History
and Political Science.
"Sarah is an inspiring and wonderful person and is a very dedication and conscientious
teacher," said Osterly-Ulfers. "She puts in a lot of extra time wither her students
and is well liked by her colleagues."
Sarah is also well known at the Pennington Student Activity Center, where she
teaches fitness classes.
"I am very surprised and honored by the Spotlight Award," Sarah said. "I think
it is wonderful the university is taking time to recognize employees in a time of
such financial hardship for higher education. I've had the privilege of meeting so
many wonderful, caring people who have become my extended family, not to mention the
students who inspire me every day."
Prior to joining Southeastern in 1997, she taught at Broward Community College
and Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Nepalese students raising funds for ravaged country
Southeastern's students from Nepal, numbering approximately 100, reacted to the damage
in their home country caused by a devastating earthquake by conducting a campus-wide
fundraising campaign.
Led by Nepalese Student Association of Southeastern Binit Sharma Poudel and Saraj
Ayer, both chemistry students, and several other students, the group has set up a
table in the Student Union and collection boxes in other locations to collect funds
to help relieve the stricken country, where more than 5,000 people were killed by
the quake.
The students, in cooperation with the Office of Multicultural and International
Student Affairs, will hold a candlelight vigil for the earthquake vicitims on Thursday,
May 7 at 5 p.m. in the Student Union breezeway.
For more information, contact Poudel at Binit.Poudel@southeastern.edu or Ayer at Suraj.Ayer@southeastern.edu.
GATHERING SUPPORT - Nepalese students man a collection table to garner support for those affected by the recent earthquake in their home country.
Southeastern Ceramics Club holds Pottery Sale May 4
Just in time for Mother's Day, the Southeastern Ceramics Club will hold a pottery
sale on Monday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Union.
The club was organized to help Southeastern students display, sell and promote
their work.
For more information, call 549-2193.
Four day work week begins May 17
Effective May 17, the University will begin a four-day work week (10 hours/day). The
officially recognized work schedule for employees of the university will be from 7
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday with a 30-minute lunch break.
The university will observe Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, as a designated holiday
with pay. The university will also be closed on Thursday, July 2, in observance of
Independence Day, which is a designated holiday with pay.
The university will resume the four and a half day (4 ½) workweek on August 9.
Southeastern students awarded newly established safety scholarships, accept donated
equipment
Several students enrolled in Southeastern's Occupational, Safety, Health and Environment
(OSHE) program have been awarded scholarships sponsored by the Greater Baton Rouge
Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers.
The scholarships were officially presented to Brennan Waguespack of Gonzales,
Melanie Verdin of Loranger, Leiah Roberts of Springfield and Zachary Smith of Franklinton.
"We are delighted to receive scholarship support for these worthy students in
our OSHE program, and are indebted to the Greater Baton Rouge Chapter of American
Society of Safety Engineers for their support of our program," said Sebastian van
Delden, head of the Southeastern Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology.
"Our partnership with GBRASSE is strong and we appreciate their support by serving
as professional advisors to our program."
van Delden gave special credit to GBRASSE President Brett Perricone, a Southeastern
graduate who has emphasized the importance of university's program in providing highly
qualified graduates for area industries.
The scholarships were presented at the Livingston Parish Literacy and Technology
Center, where major equipment items recently donated by the New Orleans Chapter of
the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE) are utilized in OSHE coursework.
The equipment included a variety of noise, airborne contaminate, ventilation and particulate
monitoring and evaluation devices.
"AADE recognized that Southeastern needed sufficient modern equipment for students
to receive adequate hands-on training and funded a $25,000 grant to purchase safety-related
equipment," explained van Delden. "Michelle Chauvin of Chevron was particularly instrumental
in helping us obtain this grant."
Southeastern's OSHE program has been identified by companies such as Valero,
Axiall Performance Contactors and other industrial firms as a key partner for recruiting
graduates. The Southeastern bachelor's program was started in 2004 at Southeastern
and approximately 100 graduates have gone through the program.
CHECKING THE NEW EQUIPMENT - Ephraim Massawe, right, associate professor of occupational safety, health and environment at Southeastern, demonstrates some of the new equipment purchased for the program by the New Orleans chapter of the American Association of Drilling Engineers. Looking on are, from left, students Brennen Waguespack of Gonzales, Leiah Roberts of Springfield, and Melanie Verdin of Loranger.
Southeastern SBDC to host Ham'nd Eggs
Southeastern SBDC will host the May 6 Greater Hammond Area Chamber of Commerce Ham'nd
Eggs Networking Breakfast from 7:30 to 9 a.m. At the breakfast, SBDC will be celebrate
National Small Business Week, the new rebrand of Southeastern SBDC (statewide and
nationwide) and announcing the receipt of the 2015 Excellence & Innovation Award from
SBA.
The SBDC Excellence and Innovation Award is given annually to the SBDC program
that demonstrates excellence in providing value to small businesses and advancing
program delivery and management through innovation. Awards are given annually on state,
regional and national level.
The Association of Small Business Development Centers is a national network that
acknowledges the importance of a unified brand that ties SBDC programs together as
members of one connected group. There is an increased need to communicate to Congress
that we are a network of 63 united centers across the nation, and a need to build
an identifiable national brand for our customers.
SBDC TO BE HONORED – The Louisiana Small Business Development Center at Southeastern has been selected to receive the 2015 SBDC Excellence and Innovation Award, making it the top center in the United States. The award will be presented at a ceremony May 8 at the White House. Pictured are staff of the Southeastern SBDC, from left, William Joubert, director; consultant Brandy M. Boudreaux; Sandy Summers, assistant director; and consultant Wayne Ricks.
Students from Panama complete English program
Approximately 50 students enrolled in Southeastern's first Panama Bilingue program
graduated on Friday and are headed back to their native country to teach their newly
acquired language to students there.
The students have been on the Southeastern campus since January, most coming
here with little knowledge of English. They are part of an effort by the Panamanian
president and the U.S. to help the nation become a bilingual country.
Coordinating the program were Aristides Baraya, head of Southeastern's Hispanic
Business Institute, and program director Tara Lopenz.
The gradates each received a diploma from Antoinette Philips, interim dean of
the College of Business. A new group of students from Panama will enroll in the program
in June.
Panamanian Graduates -- Approximately 50 English graduates of the Southeastern's Panamanian Bilingue program graduated from the program on Friday and have returned to their home country to teach English to students in Panama.
Department of Counseling student addresses educational administration class
On March 17 April Juneau, a school counseling graduate student in the Counselor Education
program, conducted a cross-departmental presentation with students in the Educational,
Leadership, and Technology Department.
Juneau was invited to speak to Dr. JC Stringer's EDL 662 Human Resources for
Educational Purposes class in hopes of practically applying information learned by
his students seeking an Educational Leadership master's degree to the importance of
utilizing the school counselor as a humanistic link in a school setting.
The main emphasis of the presentation was the promotion of positive faculty-student
relationships by approaching the humanistic rather than solely the academic side of
students within a school environment. Additional topics of discussion included the
importance of positive teacher immediacy, which is defined as the communication behaviors
that reduce the perceived distance between teacher and students, as well as the benefits
of student feelings of connectedness to a school as a result of those positive immediate
behaviors. Furthermore, the presenter communicated ways in which the school counselor
can be utilized as a link between faculty and students as well as between the school
and community. The presentation was concluded with a question and answer component
in which the EDL students were able to connect their learning from a practical standpoint
with counseling information shared by the presenter.
Juneau's presentation was well received by the class and provided the EDL graduate
students a greater insight as to the relationship administrators should share with
counselors.
Press Release (Steve Scalise)
Scalise praises national recognition of Southeastern Louisiana University's LSBDC
http://scalise.house.gov/press-release/scalise-praises-national-recognition-southeastern-university%E2%80%99s-lsbdc
This Week in Athletics
Southeastern will host the 2015 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships
presented by Tangi Tourism to highlight this week in Southeastern Athletics.
The league meet is scheduled for Friday through Sunday at the Southeastern Track
and Field Complex. The Lions will be looking to repeat as Southland Conference Outdoor
champions on their home track. Live scoring, provided by the Southland, will be accessible
at LionSports.net.
The softball team (21-28) is the No. 4 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament
at Lady Demon Diamond in Natchitoches. SLU will open the double-elimination tournament
on Wednesday, facing Lamar at 1:30 p.m. The tournament runs through Friday with the
winner of the tournament earning a berth in the NCAA Championships. Live stats and
video, provided by the Southland, for the entire tournament will be accessible at
LionSports.net.
Winners of its last 11 Southland Conference games, the league-leading Southeastern
baseball team (36-13, 20-4 Southland) will look to inch closer to its first-ever Southland
Conference regular season championship. SLU will close out its non-conference schedule
on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. game at Southern.
SLU will then return home to host Central Arkansas for a three-game series at
Alumni Field. The series opens on Friday at 6 p.m., continues on Saturday at 2 p.m.
and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. The series will be broadcast in the Hammond area
on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net, where live stats and live video (LionVision subscription required) will be accessible.
The golf team, ranked No. 50 nationally, expects to learn its NCAA Regional site
this week. On Monday, the field will be announced at 9 a.m. on the Golf Channel.
Monday, May 4
Golf, NCAA Division I Selection Show, 9 a.m. (Golf Channel)
Wednesday, May 6 Softball, vs. Lamar (SLC Tournament), Natchitoches, 1:30 p.m. (SLC DN) Baseball, at Southern, Baton Rouge, 6 p.m.
Thursday, May 7 Softball, SLC Tournament, Natchitoches, TBA (SLC DN)
Friday, May 8Track and Field, Southland Outdoor Championships, Southeastern Track Complex, 7:30
a.m. Softball, SLC Tournament, Natchitoches, TBA (ESPN3)Baseball, vs. Central Arkansas, Alumni Field, 6 p.m. (KSLU) (LionVision)*
Saturday, May 9Track and Field, Southland Outdoor Championships, Southeastern Track Complex, 9 a.m.Baseball, vs. Central Arkansas, Alumni Field, 2 p.m. (KSLU) (LionVision)*
Sunday, May 10Track and Field, Southland Outdoor Championships, Southeastern Track Complex, 10 a.m.Baseball, vs. Central Arkansas, Alumni Field, 1 p.m. (KSLU) (LionVision)*
Southeastern home events in bold
* - Southland Conference contest
Professional activities
Charles Elliott (History and Political Science) designed and is leading a six-week Readings-and-Conversation
Program on "(Re) Considering the War of 1812" for the Assumption Parish Public Library
from April 9 through May 14 in Napoleonville.
Kathleen Campbell (Educational Leadership and Technology) presented "Louisiana University Principal
Preparation Programs: Similarities and Differences" at the Louisiana Council of Professors
of Educational Administration (LCPEA) in Kinder, La., April 23 & 24.
ByLion is published weekly online (bi-weekly during the summer session) for the faculty and staff of Southeastern Louisiana University. Send submissions to publicinfo@southeastern.edu, SLU 10880, fax 985-549-2061, or bring to University Marketing and Communications Office in East Stadium. Submission deadline is 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
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