News Archive

(05/26/09)

Honor Society Inducts Miami Middletown Students

More than 20 Miami Middletown students were recently inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges.

The inductees included: Ashley Bown, Christopher Buie, Candice Carberry, Elizabeth Richmond, Dorothy Shuemake and Lorraine Walker of Middletown; Jason Knapp of Carlisle; Casey Detro, Kevin Ruppert, Leah Warner and Brittany Zimmerman of Franklin; Matthew Randles and Juanita Vordenberg of Springboro; Seth Hunter and Devin Terry of Lebanon; Martina Schmidt of Liberty Township; Daniel McGowan of Mason; Jesse Griffis of Maineville; Alison Hollins of West Chester; Ed Smeltzer of Ashland; Roberta Ciambrone and Bruce Kilburn of Dayton; Brian Cavanaugh of Miamisburg and Rianna Blosser of New Lebanon.

To be eligible for membership, a student must complete a minimum of 12 hours of course work and earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Both part-time and full-time students are eligible to join.

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(05/21/09)

Summer Reading Skills Programs at Miami Regional Campuses

Miami University's Corporate and Community Institute has partnered with the Institute of Reading Development to provide summer reading skills programs for students ranging in age from four years old through adulthood.

These programs are designed to expand and reinforce the reading skills and habits taught in school at each developmental stage and to help foster a lifelong love of reading. The classes will help develop specific skills for each age group, ranging from building confidence and improving comprehension and fluency for the younger students to better test studying and note taking techniques and speed reading for older students and adults.

Classes are available at Miami's Middletown and Hamilton Campuses as well as the new Voice of American Learning Center in West Chester with costs ranging from $229-$289. Dates and times of the classes vary depending on program level and location.

For more information on the Summer Reading Skills programs log onto www.readingprograms.org or call 1-800-978-9596.

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(05/20/09)

New BIS Degree Gets Its First Grad

Lauren Harlow, a 22-year-old from West Chester Township, was recognized at the 170th spring commencement in Oxford as the first recipient of the new bachelor of integrative studies degree.

Miami's regional campuses at Middletown, Hamilton and the Voice of America Learning Center began offering the degree in fall 2009. Currently 229 students are working toward a BIS degree.

The BIS builds on an associate's degree, or on the first two years of most college programs. It offers seven primary concentrations -- of five courses each -- in applied and liberal studies. Concentrations include Applied Sociology; Contemporary American Experience; Environmental Studies; Families, Gender, and Society; Information Technology; Organizational Leadership, and Understanding Media and Visual Culture.

Program requirements include courses with intercultural perspectives and 21st Century literacies. The BIS is tied together by interactive seminars that guide students in linking different areas of study and different patterns of thinking.

For more information on the Bachelor of Integrative Studies program, visit www.regionals.muohio.edu /bis.

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(05/18/09)

Casey, Garshelis Receive MUM Teaching Awards

Moira Casey and Judy Garshelis, both of the English department, are winners of the 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award at Miami University Middletown.

Casey, recipient of the award for full-time faculty, believes "that teachers should value the skills and experience that students bring with them into the classroom, but that we must also encourage change and growth through learning." In her literature courses, Casey has coordinated several online, real-time chats between students and authors whose books they had read. Students in her Children's Literature course choose a children's book, read the book to children and then present their experience to the class and connect their often theoretical discussions to the practical experience of children's reaction to the reading. In her classes, Casey also uses film clips, peer workshops, online discussions, literacy maps and educational timelines to help her students make those connections beyond the classroom setting. Casey joined the English Department at Miami University Middletown in 2003 where she has been involved in many activities on campus including being a member of the Leadership Collaborative of the MUM Center for Teaching and Learning.

Garshelis, recipient of the award for part-time faculty, has taught in the English Department at Miami Middletown since 2004 and has been an educator for more than forty years. In her composition and literature classes, she uses a number of creative approaches, trying to create assignments that incorporate events relevant to students' lives. In one activity analyzing American culture and the media with an emphasis on children's advertising, students review television programming, print ads, the Internet and designs of a local toy store. In other classes, television portrayals of the American family, from "Ozzie and Harriet" to "The Sopranos" to "Family Guy," have been used as a springboard to discussion and a comparison essay. Through an activity in which they create and present a documentary, her students have been spurred into writing to public officials about issues including the treatment of returning veterans, of illegal aliens and of animals. She and her students have visited the Freedom Center, Union Terminal, the Dayton Art Museum and the Miami Indian art display on the Oxford campus, followed by various assignments in which students try to place themselves in the shoes of some of the people whose lives are depicted in the exhibits. To bring the concept of dialogue to life, students mute a segment of a film and then write and perform dialogue illustrating a current issue.

Miami Middletown's Center for Teaching and Learning sponsors the MUM Excellence in Teaching Award, whose recipients also represent the campus at annual celebrations of teaching sponsored by GCCCU, the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) and the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges (OATYC).

Judy Garshelis (left) and Moira Casey received the 2009 Miami Middletown Excellence in Teaching Award.

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(05/18/09)

MUM to Host Retirement Reception for Ewers

A retirement reception for Miami University Middletown Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Community Partnerships Jim Ewers will be held on Tuesday, May 26 at 4 p.m. in the Campus and Community Center. The reception is open to the public.

Ewers joined Miami Middletown in 1995. He is a current member of the boards of directors of the Greater Cincinnati United Way, Atrium Medical Center and Malachi Youth Initiative. He is past president of the Middletown Area Y.M.C.A. board of directors and is a former member of the board of the Middletown Chapter of the American Red Cross. He has been host of Hawk Talk on TV Middletown since 2002 and has written a regular column for the Middletown Journal.

For more information on this event, call (513) 727-3200.

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(05/15/09)

Sparks, Kyle Named MUM Students of the Month

Curt Matthew Sparks and Robert Kyle have been named Miami University Middletown's Students of the Month for March and April.

Curt Matthew Sparks, a senior architecture major from Middletown, was nominated for the award for his work with Miami's Over-the-Rhine Community Outreach program. Sparks did a residency program in Over-the-Rhine where he helped design, build or remodel low-income housing. As part of the program, he took courses that focused on the issues that face our nation's urban poor. With this new perspective Sparks hopes to continue his work in his professional career by creating equitable, mixed income and mixed use housing. "Curt Matthew is one of the many Miami students who will one day reshape the world," says nominator, Danielson Kisanga. Sparks maintains a high GPA and soon will be working on his master's degree in architecture.

Robert (Bob) Kyle, a junior history major from Centerville, Indiana, was nominated for the award for his dedication to fellow students by going out of his way to help those struggling both academically and non-academically. Kyle volunteered as a note taker for a fellow student and also makes them available to others who miss class. He maintains a high GPA while working full-time. "The classroom is just a friendlier place with Bob in it," says nominator Angela Yesh.

The Student of the Month award is given in recognition of students who make a significant contribution to the campus either in or out of the classroom.

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(05/13/09)

Neumann Authors Book on African American History

Caryn E. Neumann, visiting assistant professor of history at Miami University Middletown, has written a new book chronicling African American history. The Term Paper Resource Guide to African American History is a reference book for high school to undergraduate level students that will help them find and research term paper topics related to African American history.

The book covers events chronologically from 1581 through 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Students can choose from 100 events in African American history. Each event is summarized and term paper ideas are listed, along with annotated primary and secondary sources as well as web sites and multimedia for further study.

"So much of African American history was lost or ignored for so many years, it is really a subject that begs for research and study," said Dr. Neumann. "I hope that this book will pique the interest of students and guide them in the right direction as they do their own research projects."

Dr. Neumann joined Miami Middletown in 2007 and she currently teaches several history courses there. Prior to this she taught history at Ohio State Newark.

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(05/12/09)

Miami Middletown Graduates 2009 Nursing Class

Miami University Middletown graduated more than 50 nursing students this spring.

The members of Miami Middletown's nursing class of 2009 are: Leah Colborn, Julie Flick, Jennifer Henry, Janna Logan, Katelyn Magrino, Amanda McCoy, David McGuire, Robin Owens, Amanda Rickard, Cynthia Risner, Meghan Stewart, Courtney Thomas, Penny Tincher and Cassie Tucker of Middletown; Stacy Bowling, Ashley Butler and Rhoda Carder of Trenton; Brittney N. Campbell of Liberty Township; Whitney Green, Joanne Jacob, Lisa Middleton and Mark Wells of Hamilton; Lynda Chapman, Joan Chasteen, Chastity Deaton, Anita McLaughlin, Kimberly Morris, Kimberly Rogers, Daniella Thacker and Jeffrey Webb of Franklin; Christy McGuire, Sarah Ratliff and Rachel Riggs of Springboro; Teri Evers, Chelsea Harrington, John Pennington, Nichole Revis and Jennifer Smith of Lebanon; Rianna Blosser of New Lebanon; Lauren Schaerges of West Chester; Jillian Morrow of Mason; Shana Evans of Gratis; Angela Senften of Oxford; Kelly Bradshaw, Ashley Edwards, Nicole Newton and John Snow of Dayton; Stephanie Tortorici of Bellbrook; Heather Engle of Bellefontaine; Rosa Barnett of Brookville; Rana Watt of Greenville; Joshua Ewry and Amanda Reed of Miamisburg; Diane Beaty of Overpeck; Shani Brittingham of Xenia; Terry Cummings of Oregonia; Jessica Donaldson of West Alexandria.

Lisa Middleton and Angela Senften received the Ruth Ann Busald Awards for academic excellence and leadership potential. Jennifer Smith received the Nightingale Award, nominated by faculty or students. Ashley Edwards, Chastity Deaton and Amanda McCoy were awarded Clinical Achievement Awards for their ability to exercise nursing judgment in clinical situations.

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(05/07/09)

Autumn Meade Receives Darbyshire Award

Miami University Middletown Sophomore Autumn Meade has been awarded the W. Lynn Darbyshire Award for 2008-2009.

Meade, a Bachelor of Integrative Studies major from Franklin, was recently elected vice-president of Miami Middletown's Student Government for the 2009-2010 academic year. She is president of Campus Ambassadors and works in the Student Affairs. Over the last year she volunteered at the AURCO conference and for the last two years has worked with the Future Leaders of America enrichment program. Meade is active in her church and during the holidays helped with the Shoe Box Christmas drive to help needy children around the world. For fun she coaches a youth softball team. Meade maintains a high G.P.A. and will receive her Associate of Arts in Social Science.

"Autumn truly embodies all that the W. Lynn Darbyshire Award represents: dedication, cooperation, selflessness and dependability," said her nominators.

The Darbyshire award is given each year to a student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in a student organization, student advisory council, student employment, community service or campus committee assignment.

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(05/05/09)

MUM Lists 2009 Student Awards

Miami University Middletown recently announced its 2008/09 departmental and leadership/service awards for students.

Departmental awards for academic achievement at Miami Middletown included:

Business - Bradley M. Burns (Camden) and Mary L. Gadd (Lebanon).

Business Technology - Malia Rhodus (Springboro), Jessica Slone (Middletown) and Dana Wilson (Middletown).

Chemistry - Melinda Niebel (Miamisburg), Tiffanie Salmon (Middletown) and Jason Umbach (Oxford).

Computer & Information Technology - Rob Parker (Cincinnati), Rachel Thompson (Springboro) and Casey Turner (Waynesville).

Engineering Technology - Cindy Braden (Trenton)

Art - Shirley Barnett (Middletown)

Black World Studies - Benjamin Ryan (Middletown)

Communication - Jacob Shiflett (Middletown)

French - Alex Duvelius (Loveland)

History - Jacob Shiflett (Middletown)

Music - Steven Conley (Middletown)

Spanish - Cristi Bushman-Faske (Liberty Township)

Malcolm Sedam Award for Creative Non-Fiction, Fiction & Poetry - William Johnson (Middletown), Ross Matson (Oxford) and David Miller (Mason).

Social Science & Education - Tim Chasteen (Oxford), Casey Detro (Franklin) and Traci Vanoss (West Elkton).

Leadership Service Awards were given to: Joey Baty (Beavercreek), Danielle Blair (Middletown), Kyle Brandenburg (Middletown), Brandon Carrington (Monroe), Brenda Castanon (West Chester), Russell Carolus (Lebanon), Alex Duvelius (Loveland), Stephanie Doll (Monroe), Dana El-Khatib (Cincinnati), Robert Kyle (Centerville, IN), Lauren Kirch (Monroe), John McKiddy (West Carrollton), Autumn Meade (Franklin), Chris Mull (Franklin), Shelby Pettus (Monroe), Gailon Revere (Middletown), Scott Sears (Middletown), Beverly Stamper (Middletown), Ryan Taylor (Camden) and Jordan Thomas (Cincinnati).

Photos of the award winners may be viewed online at www.mid.muohio.edu /news /albums/ awards09/index.htm.

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