Southeastern students, alumni invited to Career Fair Sept. 15 Southeastern students and alumni are invited to participate in Career Fair 2016,
the Office of Career Services’ annual university wide career event. Held as a benefit exclusively for Southeastern students and alumni, Career Fair
2016 will include over 130 organizational participants and will be held Thursday,
Sept. 15, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Pennington Student Activity Center on the
corner of University Avenue and General Pershing. Representatives from various companies and associations, government agencies,
business, engineering, finance and banking industries will be on site to answer questions
and take resumes during the free event. “Career Fair provides Southeastern students and graduates the opportunity to
obtain that much needed face time with recruiters to set themselves apart from the
rest of the pack and all of those faceless resumes that come their way,” said Ken
Ridgedell, director of Career Services. “There is no other venue that will allow
you to directly interact with recruiters and managers from over 130 employers and
leave a lasting, positive impression. In fact, it would take you months to speak with
as many recruiters as you can in one day at Southeastern’s Career Fair 2016.” To get the most out of the fair, Ridgedell said students and alumni should bring
copies of their resumes; be prepared to briefly discuss career interests, goals, knowledge
and skills; and collect brochures and business cards. For additional information on Career Fair 2016, visit www.southeastern.edu/careerfairinfo or contact Career Services at 549-2121 or careerservices@southeastern.edu.
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Follett donates to food pantry
University Bookstore and Textbook Rental, both managed by Follett manager Roger Harvey,
reached out to some of Follett’s business partners in a response to President Crain’s
email expressing a need to support our on-campus food pantry since it was supporting
our students and campus community impacted by the flood. The response was overwhelming.
Follett’s Health and Beauty supplier, ICM Distributing, donated a wide variety
of personal hygiene products, including shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant,
etc. Their food and snack vendors donated non-perishable snacks such as microwaveable
meals, drinks, candy items, and healthy snack items. In total, Follett donated 11
boxes of items to the Food Pantry.
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Phi Kappa Phi announces Quiz Bowl Tournament Get your team together for the 15th Annual Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Homecoming
Intramural Quiz Bowl Tournament. This fast-paced question and answer competition pits
faculty teams against each other, with the top faculty team competing against the
top student team for Quiz Bowl Champions. First-place and second-place faculty teams receive prizes of $100 and $50 respectively,
and all participants receive prizes. Teams may represent a department, college, organization,
or just a group of friends. Optional practice session is Monday, Oct. 17, with the
tournament taking place Tuesday, Oct. 18. Contact Joan Faust at joan.faust@southeastern.edu for an application, which is due Thursday, Oct. 13.
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Southeastern student concludes study with Grammy- winning guitar master at institute
Graham Guillory, a Southeastern music major, was recently selected to study one-on-one
with Grammy-winning guitar master, Pepe Romero. Guillory, a sophomore from Mandeville,
earned an invitation to the annual Celedonio Romero Guitar Institute held at the Wanda
L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University this summer. Graham was accepted to the program through an audition recording of Tarrega’s
“Adelita and Brouwer’s, Estudio Sencillo #VI.” Thirty-six international students attended
the intense workshop, which featured masterclasses and private instruction with members
of the Grammy-winning Los Romeros Quartet. Graham was assigned to private lessons
with the virtuoso leader of the quartet, Maestro Pepe Romero. “Graham is a very talented young musician and is a testament to the fine education
he is getting from Southeastern and his guitar instructor Patrick Kerber,” said Matthew
Denman, assistant professor of music at Oklahoma City University. “During the final
concert, Graham was able to perform with Los Romeros, the Royal Family of Guitar,
several times.” When asked about his experience, Graham couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. “I was very honored and a bit shocked to be appointed section leader for one
of the large guitar ensemble pieces. I realized that in the guitar world, not only
does a student from Southeastern get by in this environment, but a guitar student
from Southeastern competes with his peers from Ivy League schools and conservatories,”
he explained. “Studying with the Romeros was intellectually stimulating, and profoundly
improved my ability. It was an unparalleled experience.” For the final concert at the guitar institute, Graham’s solo piece was Torroba’s
“Romanza de los Pinos.” With the large ensemble, he performed “El Baile de Luis Alonso”
by Geronimo Giminez and “La Vida Breve by Manuel de Falla” sitting next to Celin Romero
as a section leader. “I encouraged Graham to audition for the class. I knew that he would work side
by side with upper-classmen and graduate students and that he would do well,” said
Kerber, Southeastern instructor of guitar and coordinator of guitar activities. “It
was my thought also that the Romeros would seize on Graham’s enthusiastic attitude
and grant him some extra unscheduled time, which they did. It is their style to identify
passion and discipline in students and to encourage these qualities.” “I contacted Maestro (Pepe) Romero after the event,” Kerber continued, “and his
comments about Graham were exemplary. I am very proud of Graham, and happy that he
did so well. I predict similar successes in the future.”
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Southeastern students sponsor farmers market Sept. 21 The Southeastern student organization Reconnect will sponsor a farmers market in front
of the Student Union on Wednesday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The only student-run farmers market on a college campus in the state, the event
features food sales from area farmers, food samples, arts and crafts, homemade soaps,
and much more. Vendors include Simple Works’ all-natural bath and body product and Mrs. Francis
Chauvin’s homemade pies and shoe sole pastries. In addition to fresh produce, other
items available for purchase include jams and jellies, beef jerky, tea cakes, hummus,
farm-fresh eggs, breads, and popsicles. “The Reconnect Farmers Market is an event where you can interact with local farmers
and vendors, eat a healthy and fresh lunch, or pick up some homemade jewelry or bath
products from your fellow students. It’s a way to shop locally and support healthy
food choices without having to leave campus,” said Alexis Taylor, vice president of
Reconnect. A student environmental club, Reconnect participates in the Real Food Challenge,
a national effort among college students to promote the use of locally grown, healthy
and sustainable food products.
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Southeastern ranked among top 100 for low student loan debt Southeastern is among the top 100 universities in the nation where parents of students
hold the lowest level of PLUS Student Loan Debt, according to the online newsletter
“Student Loan Report.” “A Southeastern degree consistently ranks as one of the best values in higher
education. Our institution provides exceptional instruction while also being a comparably
affordable financial decision for families,” said Southeastern President John. L.
Crain. Southeastern was named the No. 93 Most Affordable College for Students for 2015,
according to the newsletter, which just released results of its 2016 Parent Student
Debt Indicator (PSDI) Study. The PSDI calculates the average amount of PLUS student
loan debt borrowed by parents per undergraduate student each year. A PLUS student loan is a program created by the Department of Education that
allows parents to borrow funds directly from the federal government to help meet the
costs of an undergraduate education for dependent children. The complete study can be found online at https://studentloans.net/parent-student-debt-indicator-2016/.
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USDA makes second grant to Southeastern to support health coaching program A two-year $646,482 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will continue to
provide authentic field experiences for Southeastern Louisiana University students,
while at the same time increasing the quality of life for area residents. The funding
will allow Southeastern and its partners, including North Oaks Health System, to expand
a highly successful health coaching program that has reduced hospital readmission
rates by 72 percent among at risk patients since its inception two years ago. Provided through the Delta Health Care Grant program, the grant will support the
Health Transition Alliance, a partnership involving the Southeastern College of Nursing
and Health Sciences and North Oaks Health System which was established in 2014. At
that time, the work of Southeastern health coach interns collaborating with the Alliance
was supported by a grant of more than $350,000 from the USDA. It focused on the preparation
of students to work as health coaches for recently-discharged patients, and has seen
success rates higher than those previously recorded with similar programs across the
nation. “This project has been a ‘win-win’ for all involved,” said Southeastern President
John L. Crain. “We’ve heard amazing success stories on health care in our community
from the first grant. We’re proud of what the university and our partner North Oaks
are doing to serve the health care needs of our region.” USDA Rural Development Business Cooperative Service Administrator Sam Rikkers said
Delta Health Care Grants such as this are designed to improve access to health care
services in rural areas, where health is most compromised and challenged and providers
are not as readily available. Ann Carruth, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and principal
investigator for the grant, said Louisiana has many health challenges, including a
near 35 percent obesity rate, high rates of diabetes and heart disease and is ranked
48th in infant mortality and 47th in preventable hospitalizations. North Oaks’ Health Transition Alliance is a health system-wide, physician-led
interdisciplinary program to help recently discharged patients better manage care
in hopes of reducing hospital readmissions. Southeastern students from the health
education and promotion program serve as health coach interns and participate in helping
patients achieve post-discharge goals by following physicians’ instructions for home
care, taking medications appropriately, following a prescribed diet and using appropriate
therapies, and scheduling follow up visits with their physicians. “Health coaches are being used to change behaviors, and this can be the single
hardest thing people try to do,” Carruth said. “Our health coaches are learning that
some patients simply don’t have the resources to make health choices, so we try to
work with the clients on that. Patients also will tell students things about their
lives and their health that they will not tell to a physician or nurse. That’s an
important insight into their care.” Initiated in 2014, the pilot program has yielded impressive results, Carruth reported.
More than 45 student health coaches have been trained, and 65 high risk patients discharged
from the hospital have received health coaching. “We’ve seen readmission rates among at risk patients decrease by 72 percent and
a significant decrease in emergency hospital visits as well,” she added. “I have not
found any other program demonstrating that kind of success.” “The reduced readmission rates and visits to the emergency department are important,”
said James E. Cathey Jr., North Oaks president and chief executive officer. “But that
is minor compared with how these health coaches have impacted people and their lives.
They are making a real difference in the new world of health care.”
 HEALTH GRANT AWARDED --The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded a $646,482 grant to Southeastern Louisiana
University and its partner North Oaks Health System to support a health coaching system
designed to reduce hospital readmissions among at risk patients. Pictured are, from
left, Sam Rikers, administrator of the USDA Rural Development Business Cooperative
Service; Ann Carruth, dean of the Southeastern College of Nursing and Health Sciences;
James E. Cathey Jr., North Oaks president and chief executive officer; Michele Sutton,
North Oaks executive vice president; and Clarence W. Hawkins, director of Louisiana
USDA Rural Development.
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Southeastern economics faculty listed as third most prolific in Southern Region The economics faculty at Southeastern has been ranked the third most prolific in
research in the U.S. Southern Region, according to a study published in the journal
Economics Bulletin. The study, titled “Out of Big Brother’s Shadow: Ranking Economics Faculties at
Regional Universities in the U.S. South,” evaluated research productivity from more
than 200 colleges and universities in the South that are classified as regional universities.
Southeastern was ranked tops among four Louisiana institutions in the listing. “Our economics faculty publish quality applied and scholarly research, in line
with the college’s mission,” said Antoinette Philips, interim dean of the College
of Business. “They reflect their research in their teaching, which leads to an enriched
learning experience for our students.” Southeastern’s economics program is based in the Department of Management and
Business Administration. Faculty in the program have been published in the Journal of Urban Economics, Economics of Education Review, Journal of Macroeconomics, and Applied Economics, all of which are ranked among the top 100 economics journals. The study was written by economists Frank Mixon of Columbus State University
and Kamal Upadhyaya of the University of New Haven and can be found on line at www.economicsbulletin.com/. The authors note that approximately 200 regional universities are located in
states that comprise the U.S. South, and no study to date focused solely on the research
endeavors of economics faculties affiliated with these universities.
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Sherman family scholarship awarded
The William F. Sherman, M.D. Memorial Scholarship was presented to Southeastern student
Lacy Falgot of Folsom, second from left, by Hammond dentist Kenneth Sherman. The Sherman
family endowed the scholarship in memory of the late Dr. Sherman of Ponchatoula, a
1971 Southeastern graduate who was killed in an automobile accident in 1976. The scholarship
supports students seeking careers in medicine. Pictured are, from left, Danny Acosta,
a friend and mentor of the late Dr. Sherman; Falgot; Dr. Kenneth Sherman; and Southeastern
Donor Relations Coordinator Lisa Patti.
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Southeastern’s Columbia Theatre to host free concert by Air Force Academy Band Southeastern’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts will host the Air Force Academy
Band’s premier popular music ensemble Blue Steel in a free concert Sept. 15. Sponsored by the Hammond Daily Star, the concert is scheduled at 7 p.m. in the downtown Hammond theatre and is part of
a week-long tour through southeast Louisiana. The evening will feature high energy music for all ages spanning the last 60
years of popular music and original repertoire. The concert will also honor military
veterans and highlight the sacrifices made by men and women in uniform. “We at Columbia Theatre feel strongly about honoring our military, both active
and veterans,” said Director of Columbia Theatre and Fanfare Roy Blackwood. “I feel
fortunate to have booked the Blue Steel Air Force band that plays a wide selection
of contemporary and patriotic music perfect for our mission of support.” Blackwood said tickets are required but provided without cost through the partnership
with the Hammond Daily Star. Tickets are available prior to the night of the performance at the newspaper’s office,
located at 725 S. Morrison Blvd., or at the Columbia Theatre administrative office,
located at 220 E. Thomas St. For more information, call the Columbia Theatre at 543-4366.
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