Student Engagement Survey
This month, we received the results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). As many as 32 percent of freshmen and 35 percent of seniors participated in this important survey. I'm happy to announce that, here at SOU, we met or exceeded our peer institutions in virtually all areas measured by NSSE.
Please extend thanks to students who participated in this survey. Students' honesty and willingness to participate help us learn more about what we're doing well and how we can continue to improve on SOU's tradition of academic quality, student-faculty interaction, and collaborative learning.
Recently, the Medford Mail Tribune ran an editorial praising SOU's high NSSE marks, as well as our increasing enrollment. You can read this article here.
Mini-Grants
I announced in November the creation of the President's Mini-Grant Program for Faculty-Student Collaboration. The money awarded from these $500 to $1,500 mini-grants can be used toward academic conference travel, equipment purchases, matching grants, and faculty-student grantwriting projects.
I am delighted to be able to put $15,000 per year toward supporting the unique learning experience that occurs when our outstanding faculty and students partner on research and creative projects.
Charitable Fund Drive
This is the time to give back to our community. The Charitable Fund Drive consolidates charitable donations from state employees throughout Oregon, offering us a great deal of control on where and how our donations are spent.
So far, SOU faculty and staff have donated $11,000 to the 2008 State Employee Charitable Fund Drive. I hope you will join me in contributing to one of the more than 800 agencies providing resources and services here in Oregon.
Jefferson Grapevine
Two of Oregon's top early-stage equity investment fund managers, Bob Ward and David Chen, shared their insights on angel networks during a recent Jefferson Grapevine event at the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center.
The Jefferson Grapevine is a bimonthly gathering of business entrepreneurs, investors, bankers, and others interested in promoting new business developments in southern Oregon.
Made in LA
On Saturday, November 22, we were honored to host filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar for the screening of Made in LA, their 2008 Emmy award-winning documentary. The film focuses on undocumented immigrant workers laboring in Los Angeles sweatshops. After the screening, Carracedo and Bahar discussed their NW Sweatfree campaign, which they hope will help end the unfair hours and poor working conditions in the Northwest.
Approximately 120 students, staff, and community members attended the screening. Special thanks go to Dr. Barbara Scott Winkler, Women's Studies Coordinator, for organizing this event and for posing thoughtful questions during the post-screening Q&A session.
French Club Dinner
Bon appetit! On November 20, our French Club hosted Le Diner Français, a wonderful annual event. Faculty, students, and community members were invited to dine on gourmet French foods, including onion soup with beef stock; toasted bread and Swiss cheese; spring quiche with sun-dried tomatoes, leeks, and zucchini; and chocolate mousse.
Marianne Golding, Michelle Guerrie, and all of the students in the French Club did a great job of bringing French culture to our southern Oregon palates. Merci!
German Club Activities
The SOU German Club has been incredibly active this term. In honor of St. Martin's Day, club members drove to Portland on November 14 to help the German-American Society with their annual celebration of sharing. Our students helped create lanterns for the St. Martin's Day Parade. After the parade, they prepared a simple meal of Kartoffelsuppe und Brötchen (potato soup and rolls), which was shared with the children and parents. The event drew about 200 German speakers from the Portland area.
The following Friday, the German Club shared their new knowledge of St. Martin's Day with three third-grade classes. As many as 90 Lone Pine Elementary School children visited our campus, where they made lanterns, learned a traditional German Saint Martin's song, and paraded across campus to show their lanterns to our community.
Upcoming events include making gingerbread houses with the SOU Art Club and creating German crafts with the John Muir School. Thanks to German Instructor Christiane Pyle for helping to organize these events. For more information, contact Maya Nerenberg.
NASU Annual Welcome Back Tribal Gathering
On Saturday, November 22, the Native American Student Union (NASU) hosted the fall Welcome Back Tribal Gathering at Ashland Middle School. Festivities included traditional song and dance by the Chemawa Indian Schools Apache Crown Dancers, Aztec Dancers, a Klamath River brush dance demonstration, and SOU's Ho'opaa Hawai'i Club with a Hula dance showcase.
Uniting the World
The International Student Association (ISA) presented its second annual Uniting the World event at Hannon Library on Friday, November 19. This symposium featured presentations by international students, who shared their distinct cultures and experiences. Represented countries include China, Korea, Mexico, Kosova, India, Zambia, England, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Poland, France, Japan, Vietnam, and the USA. Each seminar was dedicated to a specific country and topic, which ranged from Japanese paper crane-folding to French cinema.
Festival of Lights Parade
On November 28, for the sixth year in a row, the School of Education's special education program participated in the Ashland Festival of Lights Parade.
Every year, the group creates a thematic float based on children's literature, distributing books to children and parents along the parade route. This year's float theme was the “Polar Express,” and more than 1,600 books were distributed. Over the years, the group has distributed between 15,000 and 20,000 books, most of them donated or gathered by students.
Dulcet Performs at Hannon Library
In case you missed Tuesday's beautiful performance by Dulcet, SOU's student-run, co-ed a cappella singing group, at Hannon Library, I am including a slideshow featuring their performance of "Take on Me":
If you would like to view a high-resolution version of this slideshow or if you have trouble viewing the movie above, visit the Music Department website.
You may also enjoy this audio clip of "Love Will Save the Day":
Dulcet was founded in fall 2005 by freshmen Russell Kamp and Jesse Theissen. They started out with just nine singers, most of whom were brand new to a cappella music. Since then, the group has gone through a tremendous amount of growth and change, transforming into the officially recognized music ensemble it is today. The group is currently led by juniors Ella Greene and Ezra Butt, with the support of Associate Professor of Music Fredna Grimland.
Southern Oregon University Symphonic Band
I hope you were able to catch the SOU Symphonic Band's fall concert last night, December 4, at 8 pm in the Music Recital Hall. The performance featured pieces from four female composers whose music spans the last hundred years. Works included African-American composer Florence Price's Three Negro Dances, Shelly Hanson's Puerto Rican-style Seis Manuel, Russian composer Elena Roussanova Lucas's Serenade for Winds, and Nancy Galbraith's With Brightness Round About It, inspired by text from the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel.
Charity Soccer Game
A brave crowd of nearly seventy-five people gathered in the cold on November 22 to see a soccer showdown between international students and Ashlanders. Master in management student Amit Rama organized the game. He wants to raise funds for creating a youth soccer team near his hometown in Livingstone, Zambia. Bringing regional youths together, he wants to help educate them on AIDS/HIV prevention. This fundraising soccer game was an excellent way to begin raising awareness for World AIDS Day, which took place on December 1.
Volleyball
Junior setter Lindsey Stone (above) has been named the Cascade Conference Player of the Year for the second straight year! Stone was one of three Raiders honored with postseason awards. Sophomore Maggie Rivers was named the Libero of the Year. Lindsey Stone and senior Mia Wortel were both First Team All-CCC selections.
Cross-Country
Seniors Anthony Monteleone (left) and Cameron Kreuz (right) both claimed All-American honors at the NAIA National Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the Men's Cross-Country team finished fourth. The team wrapped up the program's best ever national finish with 197 points. SOU entered the National Championships ranked fourth in the nation, the highest ranking ever by an SOU cross-country team. Monteleone finished sixteenth with a time of 25:04, and Kreuz finished twenty-first with 25:08.
Soccer
Four members of the Women's Soccer Team have been named to the Cascade Conference All-Conference team. Sophomore Auika Muragin (above), freshman Katie Griffith, sophomore Chelsie O'Neill, and freshman Stacy Hamer all earned All-Conference accolades. The team finished the season 7-3 in Cascade Conference play and advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time in program history.
Current Events
Arts and Culture
Music
Community Events
Photo Captions (top to bottom, left to right):
Assistant Professor of Physics Ellen Siem advising a student; Multicultural Resource Center Coordinator Marvin Woodard working with students in the MRC (photos by Rory N. Finney).
Associate Professor of Music Fredna Grimland practices with students; Associate Professor of Anthropology/Environmental Studies Mark Tveskov examines an artifact with students (photos by Rory N. Finney).
Bob Ward and David Chen; Jefferson Grapevine mingling (photos by Rory N. Finney).
Made in LA poster still (courtesy of the Made in LA website).
Students preparing the French Club Dinner (photos by Rory N. Finney).
Elementary school children making St. Martin's Day decorations with the German Club (photos by Melissa L. Michaels).
NASU Welcome Back Fall Tribal Gathering (photos by Marsa Morse).
Presenters at the ISA Uniting the World Conference (left photo by JR Melton, courtesy of The Siskiyou; right photo by Marsa Morse).
Festival of Lights float (photos courtesy of Professor of Education Gregg Gassmann).
Dulcet performs at Hannon Library (photos, slideshow, and audio recording by Melissa L. Michaels).
SOU Symphonic Band (photo courtesy of Associate Professor of Music Cynthia Hutton).
Amit Rama kicks a soccer ball (photo by Rory N. Finney).
Lindsey Stone on the volleyball court (photo by Rory N. Finney).
Anthony Monteleone and Cameron Kreuz (photos courtesy of SOU Sports Information).
Auika Muragin on the soccer field (photos courtesy of SOU Sports Information).
