Faculty Notes
CSP faculty continue to be leaders in their fields. Dr. Steve Arnold, dean of the College of Vocation and Ministry, served as the keynote speaker of the Iowa District West Retreat. The retreat entitled, “Saints Alive!” was held at Camp Okoboji in Northern Iowa, and featured Dr. Arnold’s sessions on renewing the body, mind and spirit. Dr. Arnold also conducted a spiritual assessment and renewal seminar focused on developing a healthy spiritual life at the Iowa District West LCMS Director of Christian Education Conference.
Sally Bass, director of the Southeast Asian Teacher Licensure Program, presented a workshop at the Minnesota’s School Based Children’s Mental Health Training Initiative in Orlando, Fla. on the early warning signs of children’s mental illness. The workshop also included interventions for responding to children in schools and resource mapping for children with mental illness.
Dr. Jeffrey Burkart, associate dean of the College of Vocation and Ministry, presented two workshops at the Plum Creek Children’s Literary Festival at Concordia University, Nebraska. His first workshop, “Poetry for and by Children,” focused on resources and techniques for writing poetry, making poetry exciting for children and teachers, as well as oral interpretation of poetry for and by children. The second workshop was about dramatic storytelling through the use of puppets, pantomimes and other dramatic presentations. Dr. Burkart also had his devotion “The Play’s the Thing” published in “Splashed of Grace” and in a Devotion Book being published by Concordia Publishing House.
Dr. Lynn Gehrke, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Child and Family Education, conducted a faculty training session for early educators in Northeast Ohio. The training session centered on the use of early learning standards in planning curriculum, instruction and assessment.
Kevin Hall, director of the Director of Christian Education Program, coauthored an article with Dr. Steve Arnold entitled, “Christian Faith Formation for the 21st Century: A Renewing Way.” The article was published in the quarterly newsletter, “Christian Education Leadership.”
Dr. Carol Rinkoff, chair of Organizational Management and Communication Department, along with instructors Jean Rock, and Renata Mayrhofer, presented on the topic “Distance But Not Distant: Creating Community Online” at the Sixth Annual Beyond Boundaries Conference held at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Dr. Frederick Bartling, professor of Education, presented at this year’s annual Minnesota Adult Continuing Education Association fall conference. His presentation, “If You Build It Will They Come: Rethinking the Education of Tomorrow’s Workforce,” addressed emerging trends in workforce development and promising best practices research in adult and continuing education. Conclusions and recommendations regarding how the adult educator can bridge these two disciplines through effective classroom practice were shared and further research was proposed.
Kris Bransford and Michele Pickel, along with their students, have been selected by the National Youth Leadership Council to present at the National Service Learning Conference in Minneapolis, April 10-12, 2008. CSP professor, Rev. Dr. Richard Carter, serves on the NYLC board and will be presenting with board members. The office of Service Learning is involved with the service project committee for the conference and hopes to mobilize students to help with the teen driver safety service project at the convention center. For more information about the conference, go to https://programs.regweb.com/metro/NYLC2008/index.cfm.
Christine Kudelka, professor of Marketing and Innovation in the College of Business and Organizational Leadership, presented at this year’s national conference of the American Public Health Association in Washington, DC on November 7, 2007. Her presentation was part of a panel discussion entitled, “Tech-Based Approaches to Health Education” focusing specifically on “Tobacco Addiction Prevention: Using Technology to Reach Teens.” This scientific session was focused on how the media and technology are increasingly part of children’s daily lives and present new opportunities to engage and educate our youth about healthy lifestyles, particularly healthy eating, leading tobacco free lives and physical activity.
Dr. Michael Walcheski, chair of Graduate Studies in the College of Education and Dr. David Bredehoft, chair of Social and Behavioral Sciences, presented at the National Council on Family Relations Annual Meeting. They provided an update on their ongoing research on the topic of overindulgence and were featured on the front cover of the 85-page conference program.
Dr. Dale Trapp, chair of the Natural Sciences department, has been named the Ramsey County Outstanding Conservationist of the Year. He and his science students have donated more than 100 hours to building rain gardens in St. Paul’s Lake Phalen Regional Park. These rainwater gardens improve water quality, introduced science students to bio-infiltration water conservation technology, and created a partnership between Concordia and the City of St. Paul that has saved the city more than $2,000 in maintenance costs. (See story on page 24)
Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra’s recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Choral Symphony earned a Grammy Award nomination. CSP faculty were a part of the choir singing for that award-wining recording, including Dr. David Mennicke, chair of the Music department, Shari Speer, term faculty of Music, and Barbara Prince, voice instructor.
Dr. Carol Rinkoff, chair of the Organizational Management and Communication Department, received her Ph.D. in Organization and Management from Capella University. Her dissertation topic was “Learning Styles Diversity: Implications for the Organizational Culture of University Student Cohorts.”
On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Governor Pawlenty presented President Bob Holst with the Spiritual Dream Keepers award for his spiritual commitment to education and social justice educating Minnesota’s communities.
