Monthly Memo - Dec. 6, 2007

The Associated Students of Social Works (ASSW) Thanksgiving/Christmas food drive raised $395 in gift cards and collected many boxes and bags of food (half of which are shown here) to be donated to Laramies Community Holidays.

Keith Miller with Lu Zeph, Ed.D., AUDCs past-president

Laramie Senior Housing residents Lucy McCarrick and Martha McKenzie, and Rachel McDonald, a pre-dentistry major from Worland, and Kara Springer, a pre-pharmacy major from Sheridan, decorate facilities as part of CHAP.

Nancy McGee from Laramie and Robin DeCastro from Casper, center,were honored as Rising Stars of Scholarship and Research. With them are Susan McCabe, Associate Professor, and Carol Macnee, Professor and Director of Research.

Monthly Memo from the Desk of Dean Robert O. Kelley

77th Edition



A Message from Dean Kelley
Our students are building a reputation for their generosity and community involvement. The Associated Students of Social Work's (ASSW) Thanksgiving/Christmas food drive held in the middle of November is another example of the giving nature fostered in the college. Officers and members of ASSW raised $395 in gift cards and collected many boxes and bags of food to be donated to Laramie's Community Holidays.

News from the Divisions
Kinesiology and Health (K&H)
D. Paul Thomas, Professor, and his co-authors are looking forward to the publication of their article "Susceptibility to Systolic Dysfunction in the Myocardium from Chronically Infarcted Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats" in the American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulation.

"Teaching K-12 Students to Combat Obesity" by Tristan Wallhead, Assistant Professor, appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Tristan's article "Technology Use in a Physical Education Teaching Education Program: Unique Strategies for an Unconventional Subject Area" will soon be published in Future Focus.

Tami Benham-Deal, Associate Professor, received $160,000 from the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to fund her study "Physical and Health Education in Wyoming Schools." The purpose of the project is to provide guidance and support to the WDE for physical and health education standards, instruction, and assessment in Wyoming schools. The work will include (1) facilitating and supporting the review of physical and health education standards, (2) supporting the development of aligned and balanced assessment systems in physical and health education, (3) developing assessment descriptions for physical and health education, and (4) advising the Superintendent of Public Instruction on issues specific to implementation and assessment of standards-based physical and health education.

K&H students continue their impressive record of being accepted into the post-graduate programs of their choice. Catherine Kennedy from Evanston, who will graduate next May, will attend the occupational therapy program at A. T. Still University in Mesa, Arizona, beginning next fall. Derek Ewell from Lyman, Wyoming, who will also graduate next May, has been accepted by Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, for its class of fall 2008.

Wyoming INstitute for Disabilities (WIND)
Keith Miller, who recently retired as the director of WIND, was honored with the 2007 Outstanding Achievement Award presented by the Association of University Centers of Disabilities (AUCD) in recognition of his excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service to the wider community. Keith's passion to provide services and supports to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families has been the driving force that successfully advanced WIND from a center with a single staff member and one volunteer to a network of 40 professionals performing a broad spectrum of innovative activities for Wyoming's disabled citizens. (Keith is shown here with Lu Zeph, Ed.D., AUDC's past-president.)

Social Work
The Society for Spirituality and Social Work Forum will soon publish "The Change Agency of Emotional Connectedness: The Link Between Emotions, Emotional Intelligence, and Spirituality" by James Smith, Associate Professor. Jim originally presented the theoretical/hypothetical article at the First North American Conference on Spirituality and Social Work held in May 2006 at Renison College of the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Student Affairs

The state of Wyoming has several ways to help its residents gain professional or graduate education in many fields but primarily those in health care.

WICHE—The Undergraduate and Preprofessional Advising Office coordinates the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) program and serves as the WICHE state certifying office. WICHE is a consortium of 15 western states that was created to allow access to educational programs through interstate cooperation and administers the following three student exchange programs: (1) The Professional Student Exchange program allows certified residents to enroll in certain out-of-state professional programs—dentistry, allopathic medicine, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathic medicine, physical therapy, physician's assistant study, podiatry, and veterinary medicine—that aren't available in the home state. Complete information is available at http://www.wiche.edu/SEP. (2) The Western Regional Graduate Program makes distinctive graduate programs available to Wyoming and other WICHE state residents. The participating programs are approved by an educational committee and offer a wide range of graduate degrees. (3) The Western Undergraduate Exchange provides opportunities to enroll in an undergraduate program in another WICHE state at reduced tuition.

WWAMI—UW participates in WWAMI, a regional medical education program with the University of Washington School of Medicine. The program annually reserves seats for up to 16 qualified Wyoming residents. Participants complete the first year of medical school at UW in Laramie and the second year in Seattle at the University of Washington. The third and fourth years are spent in clinical sites throughout the WWAMI region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho). For more information and applications for residency certification, please visit www.uwyo.edu/hs/upao/WICHEWWAMI.asp.

WY-DENT—WY-DENT is a dental contract program for certified Wyoming residents with the University of Nebraska College of Dentistry and Creighton University School of Dentistry. Each school reserves seats for up to five qualified Wyoming residents. For more information and applications for residency certification, please visit www.uwyo.edu/hs/upao/WICHEWWAMI.asp.

Communication Disorders
Teresa Ukrainetz, Professor, and her co-investigators, Jackson alumnae Cathy Ross and Heide Harm, presented their study "An Investigation of Intensity and Spacing for Phonemic Awareness Treatment" at the annual national convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association held in Boston. The study, which was funded by a Faculty-Grant-in-Aid Award, was conducted in the Teton County School District.
Community Health Advancement Program (CHAP)
CHAP volunteers gathered at Laramie's Senior Housing on October 12th to help decorate for Halloween and sort through Christmas decorations in preparation for the holidays. Seen here are residents Lucy McCarrick and Martha McKenzie, and Rachel McDonald, a pre-dentistry major from Worland, and Kara Springer, a pre-pharmacy major from Sheridan.

Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing (FWWSON)
Congratulations to Virginia Conley, Assistant Professor, who will receive the 2008 American Academy of Nursing Practitioners' State Award for Excellence during the group's national meeting to be held outside Washington, DC, in late June. This prestigious award is given annually to dedicated nurse practitioners in each state who demonstrate excellence in their areas of practice.

FWWSON faculty took active roles in the November American Association of Critical Care Nurses Baccalaureate Education Conference held in New Orleans. Mary Burman, Professor and Interim Dean, spoke about "The Scholarship of Teaching"; Janice Stephens, adjunct faculty and the Whitney Endowed Chair at Sheridan College, presented a poster—"Creating Quality Inter-professional Wellness Programs"; and Pamela Clarke, Professor, served on the planning committee of the conference and as a moderator of one of the panels. Pam, a certified rehabilitation nurse since 1986, also spoke about the career of rehabilitation nursing at the Mid-year Conference of the National Student Nurses Association held in Kansas City.

Two students in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner master's option—Nancy McGee from Laramie and Robin DeCastro from Casper—were honored as "Rising Stars of Scholarship and Research" at the 39th Sigma Theta Tau International Biennial Convention held in early November in Baltimore. Nancy and Robin were nominated as two of the FWWSON's most promising students who are early in their careers and have demonstrated potential to make significant contributions to nursing practice, education, and research; exceeded expectations in their current roles; and model behaviors of the highest levels of professional practice. During the convention, the students presented posters on their current thesis research: Mary's presentation was titled "Mental Health Assessment with a Rural Hispanic Community in Wyoming," and Robin's was titled "Rural Wyoming Communities' Perceptions of Individuals Who Experience Mental Illness." The honorees are seen here with their advisors— Susan McCabe, Associate Professor, and Carol Macnee, Professor and Director of Research. Robin also published "Cutting Through the Myths of Deliberate Self-harm" in the spring/summer issue of the Northwest Public Health Magazine.

Virginia Conley, Assistant Professor, and Penelope Caldwell, Assistant Lecturer, received $3,000 from the Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning to revise Nursing 3150—Professional Roles: Carer/Helper, Counselor, and Advocate.

Susan McCabe, Associate Professor, was honored with a Fall 2007 Faculty Senate Speaker Series Award and presented "Depression: Exploring Sadness of Mind or Is It Brain&?rdquo; at UW and at Casper College.

Posted on Thursday, December 06, 2007