CM students volunteer with HouseProud Atlanta
Students from the Construction Management (CM) Department put their education to work this fall by volunteering on three community service projects with HouseProud Atlanta Inc.

HouseProud provides Atlanta’s low-income senior and disabled homeowners with no-cost home repairs to keep them warm, safe and dry in their existing homes. HouseProud relies heavily on skilled volunteers to fulfill its mission.

Groups of as many as eight CM students – including members of the SPSU Constructor’s Guild –helped out by replacing rotted porch handrails and decking; reattaching gutters; removing and replacing deteriorated soffits; installing new exterior handrails; re-screening porches and doors; fixing cabinets and replacing exterior doors.

“We had the pleasure of assisting a 75-year-old blind gentleman who lives by himself, an elderly lady whose husband recently passed away and other individuals in need,” said Trent Anderson, president of the SPSU Constructor’s Guild and vice president of the SPSU Student Government Association. “Students enjoyed taking some time on Saturday mornings to work with their hands and give back to the less fortunate, and we look forward to continuing these projects in the spring semester.”

“The work the SPSU students did in one day would have probably taken us several weeks to complete with the individual volunteers who work with HouseProud on a semi-regular basis,” Jonathan Kidwell of HouseProud Atlanta wrote to Anderson after the most recent volunteer efforts on Nov. 19.

Honor students, faculty participate in Gobble Jog fundraiser
Thanksgiving morning started early for several of SPSU’s Honors students and faculty members, as well as their friends and family members, as they participated in MUST Ministries’ 9th annual Gobble Jog.

Launched in 2003, the first Gobble Jog raised $29,000 for the Marietta-based ministry, which now serves almost 34,000 impoverished people. This year’s event drew close to 10,000 participants from 49 states.

This is the second year that the SPSU Honors Team has entered the Gobble Jog fund raiser as a way to give back to the local community. According to Ann Parker, assistant director of the University Honors Program, the Honors team consisted of 10 joggers in 2010, while this year, the team had increased to 17 participants. She hopes to see the number continue to grow in 2012 and beyond.

Dr. Mayeed publishes two papers
Dr. M. Sajjad Mayeed, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, recently had two papers published.

He presented “Replenishment of Ultrathin Liquid Perfluoropolyether Z Films on Solid Surfaces” in Denver at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in November and also had the paper published in the conference proceedings. His second paper, “Finite Element Thermal/Mechanical Analysis for Microscale Laser Joining of Ultrathin Coatings of Titanium on Glass/Polyimide System,” was published in the Journal of Materials: Design and Applications (Oct. 2011).

Creation of new department prompts reorganization in Procurement, Facilities
Robert P. Forbes has been promoted from director of Procurement and Mail Services to director of the new Department of Material Management.

Reporting to him will be:
• Denise Sanderson, who has been promoted to manager of Procurement;
• Steve Hogan, who has been promoted to manager of Central Receiving/Inventory Management. (This area was previously part of Facilities Management – Hogan, Linda Powell and Maurice Hinton will be leaving Facilities to join the Department of Material Management.); and
• Mark Tankell, manager of the University Post Office.

According to Bill Prigge, vice president for Business and Finance, the creation of the Department of Material Management will “allow for technology, systems and process integration and improvements across all of the organizations that ship, receive and move material into, out of and across the SPSU campus.”

Men’s basketball team No. 13 in NAIA Top 25 Poll
With eight wins and two losses under their belts so far this season, the Hornets rank No. 13 in the latest 2011-12 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.

That’s up five spots from the NAIA’s first regular-season poll released on Dec. 5, and seven spots from the preseason poll.

Farewell to Advisor Jon Lindsay
Jon Lindsay, an SPSU employee since 1995, will retire at the end of the month.

Lindsay is the professional adviser in the School of Arts and Sciences. During his 16 years on campus, he has also served as a tutor in the former Learning Resources Center, an adjunct professor of English, a full-time professor of English, coordinator of tutoring and testing in Advising, Tutoring and Testing, and the academic advisor for undeclared majors and joint enrollment.

He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, a master’s from St. Mary’s University, and a second master’s from SPSU.

2011 SCCP contributions total $9,900
A total of 55 SPSU faculty and staff members gave $9,900 to a wide variety of nonprofit charitable organizations when they participated in the 2011 State Charitable Contributions Program (SCCP). This is the highest total contributed to the SCCP by SPSU since 2008, according to the program’s campus coordinator, Dr. Ron Koger.

SPSU named to NAIA Champions of Character
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) recently named SPSU as a 2011 Five Star Champions of Character Institution.

Champions of Character is an organization that seeks to change the culture of sports for every NAIA student-athlete, coach, official and spectator. The program is working to replace the current cycle of cheating, trash talking, taunting and out-of-control behaviors with integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.

NAIA schools have to meet rigorous criteria to receive the award, including achieving certain scores in categories like character training, conduct in competition, academic focus and more. SPSU was selected because the campus incorporates athletic achievement and public service into policies related to behavior in practice and game situations, into its athletic and academic environment, and as part of its character education.

SPSU also received this distinction in 2010.

As a Five Star Champions of Character institution, SPSU is expected to uphold the five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.

Holiday Door Decorating Contest winners
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) took first prize in the annual Holiday Door Decorating Contest sponsored by the Social and Community-Building Committee. Using materials and electronic components recycled from its tech shop, ECET created a tree strung with LED lights powered by student-built solar panels.

Second prize went to the School of Computing and Software Engineering, which created a choose-your-own-holiday greeting in the form of a tree-topped mantelpiece hung with stockings.

The Budget and Grants Office entered the contest with “O Come All Ye Frugal,” which consisted of a Christmas tree made out of soda cans, circled by a train full of campus personnel.

Have news to share?
If your department has an upcoming event or other news to share with the campus community, please send an e-mail with all the pertinent information to Diane Payne (dpayne@spsu.edu). To be considered for use in a specific issue of the SPSU Hornet’s Nest, a news item must be submitted no less than four weeks before the date of the issue.

Volume 4, Issue 47
Dec. 14, 2011