Featured Higher Ed Member of the Week: Claire Gilbert

This week’s featured high ed member is first year PhD student Claire Gilbert.

Claire’s road to Penn State has been primarily determined by three factors: her background, work experience, and academic curiosity. Both of her parents work in higher education, so Claire grew up in a household that always placed a strong emphasis on the importance of higher education and the need to ensure its successful continuation. She grew up wandering the halls of Indiana University and later Ohio University, where she also became a student. Claire had the opportunity to take college courses at OU from seventh grade all the way through high school thanks to a couple of excellent Ohio programs. When she went to Northwestern for undergrad, she had the chance to translate her general love of universities and learning into the practical administrative environment of Northwestern’s Information Technology department. Claire spent four years working for them, three of which were in administration. She knew at that point that she loved academia and enjoyed working in higher education, but she wanted to further refine her leadership skills and spend some time in the “real world” before returning to graduate school.

Therefore, after graduation Claire went to work for Deloitte Consulting in Chicago as part of their human capital department. She realized pretty quickly that she preferred the higher education work and learning environment to the corporate consulting lifestyle, but her year at Deloitte was incredibly valuable from a personal and professional development perspective. Claire applied for higher education PhD programs while at Deloitte, having determined for herself that she was still primarily motivated from both an academic and professional standpoint by higher education. She decided to come to Penn State due to the quality of the faculty and the program, the welcoming and supportive environment, and of course, the beautiful location. And so, Claire is now here in State College working as Don Heller’s graduate assistant

Claire spent her first ten years in Bloomington, Indiana surrounded by chickens and ducks. When she was ten, her parents moved to Athens, Ohio so that they could have a real farm. From that point on, Claire was a shepherdess. Although her parents recently moved to Columbus and sold the farm, Claire will always consider herself an Appalachian farm girl.

Outside of higher ed, Claire enjoys all of the following:

Camping, especially in the Boundary Waters (chain of lakes between Minnesota and Canada – totally awesome)
Animal husbandry
Board games (especially the strategic variety)
Traveling, especially in Europe
Vegging out

Featured member of the week Claire Gilbert with her partner Gabe

Turkeys, Starbuck and Peaquod, from Claire's family farm

Another shot from Claire's family farm

Higher Ed Dissertation Students Receive Awards

Three students from the higher education program received awards for their dissertations.  The $600 awards are part of the Research Initiation Grants Program (RIGP) in the College of Education.  Congratulations, and well done representing the high education program!

Jordan Humphrey – Liberal Arts Colleges in the Tumultuous 1940’s: Institutional Identity and the Challenges of War and Peace

Jessie Liu – An Exploration of Multiple Patterns of Faculty Productivity

Meghan Pifer – Networks in Academic Departments: Individual Strategies and Patterns of Access

Halloween Trickery, Hanging Chads in Penny Wars Fundraiser

Halloween hit Rackley 403 Friday afternoon as members of the Higher Ed community came together to celebrate the holiday of trick-or-treat. Some attendees arrived in costume . . . and others soon joined them in costume. Lisa Lattuca was this year’s “winner” of the penny wars contest. She claimed the title from Professor Heller and had the privilege of “donning” the pumpkin costume for 2009. But, this year’s voting result was challenged, and recollections from Florida 2000 popped into conversations. Dr. Alex Yin added $10 in pennies to Lisa Lattuca’s amount in an effort to save his advisor from the pumpkin, but it mysteriously disappeared. Was it sabotage? Or a sign of a need to shift from qualitative to quantitative money counters? Or just one of those unexplainable Halloween events? We’ll never know!  Perhaps we can settle it with a Tom Turkey Thanksgiving Tie-breaker?  In total, the event raised $119.55 for the local public library, so thanks to all who participated. As always, thank you to the HESA Social Committee for organizing the event!

Unofficial results from the money collection were as follows:

1. Lisa: $33.18

2. Jordan: $33.03

3. David: $26.99

4. John: $11.20

5. Phil: $2.53

6. Kim: $2.46

7. India/Jim: $0.24 — really, not even a quarter?

Oh Canada! HiEd members head to ASHE

Accompanying the first week in November is the annual Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) conference held this year in Vancouver, Canada.  Several higher ed faculty members and graduate students will be trekking to the left coast to attend the conference.  Headlines has compiled a list of must-see attractions in Vancouver – in addition to the conference, that is.  In return, please bring back fun pictures and stories to be included in the Headlines for future weeks.  Non-attendees: the party on the Rackley 4th floor will begin on Thursday at noon and continue through Sunday.  Don’t forget those passports, and safe travels to all!

Top things to see in Vancouver (courtesy tripadvisor.com)

1.  Stanley Park

2.  Lynn Canyon Park

3.  Seawall Promenade

4.  Science World

5.  Granville Island

6.  Sea to Sky Highway

7.  Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

8.  Vancouver TheatreSports League

9.  Whistler Mountaineer

10.  Queen Elizabeth Park

11.  Miraj Hammam Spa

12.  University of British Columbia Botanical Garden

13.  English Bay Beach

14.  Wild Whales Vancouver

15.  Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre

16.  Granville Public Market

17.  Cypress Mountain

18.  The Vancouver Trolley Company

19.  Van Dusen Botanical Garden

20.  Granville Island Brewing

Don Heller Featured on StateCollege.com

Check out our very own Professor Don Heller:

Click for Story

You can vote for Don if you find him interesting.  At last glance, Don was leading with 73% of the vote.  Note: his graduate assistants may or may not have been instructed to vote non-stop over the weekend.

Click for poll

Another Successful Week for HiEd Football

The Higher Ed Halfbacks went without a loss for the second consecutive week!  This was the BYE week for the squad from Rackley.  Surviving the bye is not an easy feat -  John Cheslock’s Cleveland Browns could probably find a way to snag a loss.

Wednesday’s season finale is against the Dumpster Scroungers.  If nothing else, the Higher Ed team should be cleaner and better smelling than their trash-diving foes. Team members Wil del Pilar and Jordan Humphrey have decided to avoid the stench and will be fleeing to Canada, so the team will be playing shorthanded.  We’ll see if Phil Blackman’s presence this week can make up for their absence for the Higher Ed Halfbacks to continue their non-losing ways.  Asked about the team’s prognosis for the playoffs, Team Captain David Knight said, “Playoffs!?!?  You’re talking about playoffs?  Playoffs!?!?”  Then Knight had a change of heart: “Well, I suppose even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, so you never know.”

All are welcome to support the team at the fields by the IM Building.  The game will begin at 8:00.

Featured Higher Ed Member: Amy Westmoreland

This week’s featured higher ed member is Master’s student Amy Westmoreland.

Amy is interested in access and retention. As a multiracial female, she witnessed a lot of her peers not make it through the undergraduate experience and wants to make sure there are efforts to create an inclusive atmosphere that keeps these students in school. She saw a lot of things things that could be changed at her alma mater and would like to be a part of that change.  This semester Amy is focused on getting her footing at Penn State.  Though she hasn’t joined any groups yet, she plans to be out and about enjoying all that Penn State has to offer next semester.

Amy hails from Racine, Wisconsin (spoken in the true Wisconsin accent, though she thought everyone else had the accent).  It’s located right next to Lake Michigan, in between the Milwaukee and the Illinois border.  She loves it there—Kringle, cheese, snow, beer…what’s not to love?  She moved to Madison, Wisconsin at age 18 and received degrees in English and Women’s Studies from UW-Madison.  Amy lived and played in Madison until August of this year. She had the best apartment ever, located about a swank jazz club, and one block from the lake, a block from the capitol building, museums, theaters, farmer’s market. She got a good deal by working for the real estate section of the newspaper but still felt pretty important.

To sum up her journey to State College, Amy says she got lost. She graduated from UW-Madison in 2006 and got a full-time position at a newspaper. Trips to Italy and Australia and roadtrips around the U.S. (Texas, Washington D.C., Florida, Atlanta) helped get the traveling bug out of her. She loved working for a tutoring program and decided to talk to a few people that ran the program. They told her their degrees, and it turned out she needed a Master’s degree in Higher Education, so she set about doing it. Amy did all of her applying online (during work) and was accepted to Penn State and another institution. She chose Penn State because it is another Big Ten University, felt more like home, and has a great reputation.

At heart Amy  considers herself a really old soul. She loves family and friends, but her parents are her best friends, and she loves introducing them to people because she finds them hilarious. Sometimes when she finishes a major paper or test, she likes to “reward” herself with reading a couple chapters from one of her favorite books (ex. East of Eden, One Hundred Years of Solitude). It’s one of her nerdy English major things, but it makes her incredibly happy. Amy also loves using her artistic talents – she doodles in sketchbooks, designs clothes, and does abstracts.  She likes to do anything that makes her laugh, and that includes just sitting with a group of friends and trash talking. She swears like a pirate (degrees worse than a sailor), so she loves being around people that let her drop an F-bomb or two without being offended. At other times, she just enjoys being quiet and listening to others or just simply enjoying sights or sounds. Amy says she is easily entertained and has a vivid imagination that allows her to create her own fun  – she’s like a kitten with a constant ball of yarn.

Featured member Amy Westmoreland with two of her best friends

PSU Higher Ed Well-Represented at Education Law Association Conference

Professor Bob Hendrickson, Pete Moran, and Phil Blackman attended the Education Law Association conference last weekend in Louisville, KY.  The ELA is a national association that focuses on K-12 and Higher Education Law.

Moran presented a paper with Professor Preston Green, an Ed Leadership and Law School faculty member.  The paper was entitled ” The State Constitutionality of Voucher Programs: Religion is Not The Sole Determinant.”  This provided an overview of the state constitutionality of publicly-funded voucher programs with a special emphasis on non-religious obstacles.

A collaborative paper between Hendrickson, Moran and Blackman was entitled “A More Effective Policy to Handle Cheating and Plagiarism at Colleges and Universities.”  The paper considered the issue of high schools and colleges facing an epidemic of cheating and plagiarisms.  The team presented that recent litigation outlines constitutional questions facing public institutions and contractual issues facing private institutions.  They also provided potential policy recommendations that institutions could adopt to foster an improved education of students on issues such as plagiarism.

According to Hendrickson, Pete and Phil, “did an outstanding job of presenting.  They did a wonderful job.”

HESA member meeting minutes

Check out the member meeting minutes from our 10/21/09 meeting. Points for everyone to pay particular attention to are highlighted in red. Search your name to remind yourself if you volunteered to look into or do anything before our next meeting. Click here for the minutes!

Halloween Potluck Luncheon: Friday at Noon!

Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat….

Join us on Friday at noon in 403 Rackley for a Halloween potluck luncheon. Drinks and a few Halloween treats will be provided. Please bring a potluck lunch item (hot or cold) to share with the group.

If you don’t, you’ll get no loot, and you may just wear the pumpkin suit….

Leading up to this event, the higher ed community will again be participating in the now legendary HESA “pumpkin suit”/penny wars fund-raiser. Halloween containers marked with the names of participating HESA leaders and faculty members will be sitting on the ledge outside of the elevator on the 4th floor for the duration of the week. Stop by and vote for the person whom you’d like to see wear the costume to Friday’s luncheon by filling their box with money. Silver coins and paper money add to the person’s total, while pennies decrease the person’s overall total. So, empty your piggy banks, clean out your coat pockets, and stuff the box of the person whom you’d think would look best in orange. The person with the most money in their box at the end of the week will wear the pumpkin costume to our luncheon. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go to a local organization.

Competitors include Lisa Lattuca, John Cheslock, Kimberly Griffin, India McHale, Jim Woodell, Jordan Humphrey, Phil Blackman, and David Knight.

We hope to see you all on Friday for lunch. As Don has shown us in the past, the pumpkin costume is a Halloween sight not to be missed….

Don Heller, last year's Penny Wars "Winner" (?)