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People

Arts and Sciences Honors Faculty
With New Centennial Awards

The first annual Centennial Faculty Awards have been awarded to six faculty and staff members. The winners are Shelly Elman, Performing Arts; Dr. N. Jane McCandless, Social Science; Dr. Muriel Cormican, Humanities; Dr. Bashu Dutt, Business; Dr. Becky Stanard, Education; and Chris Huff, Library.

The idea behind the creation of these awards was to celebrateWest Georgia’s centennial through faculty recognition, development and support and also to carry that celebration into the future by making this an annual event. The departments and Library were asked to devise their own methods of recognizing and awarding distinguished faculty. These rules may change over time, and faculty may be honored more than once.

Guest Receives Whiting Writers' Award

Paul Guest, poet and visiting professor of English, has received the prestigious 2007 Whiting Writers’ Award. Guest is one of 10 emerging writers of exceptional talent and promise to receive the prize of $50,000 this year.

Guest is the author of two collections of poetry: “The Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World,” and “Notes for My Body Double,” which won the 2006 Prairie Schooner Prize. His work has appeared in many journals, including The Southern Review, Crazyhorse, Poetry and Verse.

Sewell Recognized for Leadership

Dr. Said Sewell, associate professor of political science, has received an African American Male Initiative Best Practice Leadership Award from the University System of Georgia for his nationally recognized programs on campus.

Sewell, director of the Center for African American Male Research, Success, and Leadership, was recognized for his visionary leadership and the multi-faceted program that provides leadership development and a learning community for African American male students.

Kudos

Dr. Jeremiah Alberg (philosophy) has had his book titled “A Reinterpretation of Rousseau: A Religious System” published by Palgrave Macmillan. Alberg’s book explores the theological philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and shows how Christianity can bring the coherence of Rousseau’s system and philosophy to light. Other publications include articles in magazines and journals, such as International Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies and Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis and Culture.

Rachel Abbott and Claire Mowling (physical education and recreation) presented “The Character Education Jungle: Building Student Character through Movement” at the annual meeting of the Georgia Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in Atlanta.

Dr. Timothy Schroer (history) has had his first nonfiction book, titled “Recasting Race after World War II: Germans and African Americans in American-Occupied Germany” published by the University Press of Colorado. The book explores the renegotiation of race between Germans and African American soldiers in post-WWII Germany. Schroer also presented a copy to the Ingram Library.

Dr. Allison Nazzal (education) presented a model for quality distance education courses at the National Middle School Association Conference in Houston. The presentation was based on research in effective instruction for higher education.

Dr. Joy Black (mathematics) presented “Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Algebra Teachers” at the Team-Math Conference Pre-Session at Tuskegee University.

Faculty in the Department of Geosciences presented their research at the 119th annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver. Presenting were Drs. Curtis L. Hollabaugh, Julie Bartley, David Bush, Phillip M. Novak-Gottshall, Christopher Berg, Rebecca Dodge, and Jonathan Brian Stogner, assistant director for Network Services and Randa Harris, instructor of geology.

Drs. Jim Burton and Joel Haynes (marketing and real estate) had their cowritten article titled, “The Development and Benefits of an Integrated Sales Program”(with Brian Rutherford, Perdue University and Jenniver Allen, Lovell Communications, Inc.) published in B-QUEST, an Internet business journal.

Dr. Robert Claxton, professor emeritus of history, presented his recently published book, “From Parsifal to Peron: Early Radio in Argentina, 1920 – 1944,” to the Ingram Library. The book documents radio’s influence on the social, economic and political history of the country.

Carol Goodson (library) won first prize in the Georgia Library Association’s Academic Libraries Division annual paper competition. She presented the paper at the recent Georgia Council of Media Organizations Conference and received a check for $200 from Blackwell’s Book Services.

Dr. Sunil Hazari (management) had his article “Perceptions of Business Students’ Feature Requirements in Educational Websites” published in Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education. Business education graduate student Barbara Johnson co-authored the article.

Dr. Bruce Landman (mathematics) had his article “Avoiding Monochromatic Sequences with Special Gaps” published in the SIAM Journal of Discrete Mathematics.

Dr. Sooho Lee (political science) delivered two lectures at the Kyungpook National University, Deagu, South Korea titled “R&D Strategies and University-Industry Collaboration: Lessons from U.S. Universities” and “Beyond Harold Lasswell: Broadening the Scope of Political Science.”

* Kudos features such news about UWG faculty and staff as article and book publications, conference attendance and presentations, grants, organizational leadership and awards. E-mail your news for publication consideration to the Campus Chronicle editor.

Campus Talk

Nicole Worthington has been hired as the Director of Development for the Division of University Advancement and the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. In this role, Worthington will build a development effort for the university and help establish a strategic plan to support the growing needs of UWG. Dr. Andrew Leavitt, associate vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, said Worthington is a welcome addition to the division. “We are pleased to have Nicole on staff; her background and perspective will be a valuable asset to the university.”

Dr. John Ferling, author, historian and a UWG professor Emeritus of history, will be featured on a one-hour National Public Radio program, “John Adams.” The show, which will air Feb. 15 and April 15, will take a look at John Adams and his legacy as lawyer, diplomat, politician, president and scion of a political dynasty. Particular attention will be given to the contentious election of 1800 between Adams and Thomas Jefferson. UWG's UTV-13 recorded the interview.

The Division of Business and Finance has hired Richard Sears as the new University Controller. Sears was director of Financial Operations at the University of Texas Health Science Center before coming to West Georgia. “My move to UWG has been a very refreshing change of pace, in fact a breath of fresh air compared to Houston,” said Sears. Sears will be working with James Sutherland, vice president for Business and Finance; Mike Renfrow, assistant vice president for Campus Planning and Development and Dan Lewis, coordinator of Business and Finance Development.

The Office of Development and Alumni Relations welcomes James Janis as the new Associate Director of Development for the College or Arts and Sciences and the Ingram Library. His experience includes teaching at the Princeton Review, Buffalo State College and SUNY at Buffalo. Janis’s office will be located on the third floor of the Library.

The Wolves new football coach, Daryl Dickey, arrived on campus in December. Dickey’s experience includes four seasons as head coach at Presbyterian College and a six-year stretch as quarterback coach on the staff of Bobby Bowden at Florida State. “I am very excited to be here,” said Dickey. “My job is to get the football program caught up with the rest of the university.” Beyond his coaching success, fans may remember Dickey as a player at Tennessee. He capped his senior season in 1985 by leading the Southeastern Conference in passing efficiency while pushing the Vols to the SEC title.

In Memorium

Stacy Gilley, computer services specialist I, died Sept. 23, 2007. She began working at UWG as a member of ITS in 2000 and developed several important Web sites for UWG and the University System of Georgia.

Peter W. Ware, husband of Dr. Laurie Ware (nursing), died Aug. 19, 2007. Memorial contributions may be made to the University of West Georgia Foundation Inc. for the Peter Woodhouse Ware Graduate Nursing Scholarship Fund.

Elaine Willis, senior secretary for Campus Planning and Facilities, died Aug. 7, 2007. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105.

*Campus Talk features such news about UWG faculty and staff as announcements of marriages, births, new hires, promotions, transfers, retirements, trips and volunteer work. E-mail your news for publication consideration to the Campus Chronicle special sections editor.