SPSU to host fourth annual Polytechnic Summit
Planning is underway for the 2012 Polytechnic Summit to be held at SPSU June 6-8. The summit is an event that focuses on the common interests and challenges of polytechnic institutions across the world.

Faculty members, students (especially those doing research or capstone projects), administrators and industry and government professionals are encouraged to attend and submit papers or posters that focus on the role polytechnic institutions play in all aspects of society.

An evening event will be held at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville and will include dinner, a tour of the museum’s exhibits and a visit to the planetarium.

George L. Mehaffy, vice president for academic leadership and change at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, will deliver a keynote address on “The Changing Context for Higher Education.”

For more information or to submit a paper proposal for the 2012 Polytechnic Summit, visit www.polytechnicsummit.org.

Two SPSU professors named Governor’s Teaching Fellows
Dr. Beth Stutzmann of the English, Technical Communication and Media Arts (ETCMA) Department and Dr. Donald Ariail of the Department of Business Administration have been selected as Governor’s Teaching Fellows (GTF) and will participate in a two-week Summer Symposium Program at the University of Georgia.

As a lecturer in music and state-certified music educator, Dr. Stutzmann has created entirely new courses at SPSU including History of Contemporary American Music and Music Theory. She also teaches Music Appreciation, is the director of the SPSU Band and composed a new fight song for the university. An active member of the Research Learning Community, she recently coauthored a paper on “Effective Multidisciplinary Active Learning Techniques for Freshmen Polytechnic Students.” She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music education from Shenandoah Conservatory in 2011 and earned the Outstanding Faculty Award in 2011.

Dr. Ariail is an associate professor and coordinator of the accounting programs. He was the lead author for two papers that won him the 2010 Distinguished Research Award from the Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies and has coauthored two murder-mystery teaching novels used in accounting. Dr. Ariail was also one of the advisors to the SPSU student team that recently won the state-wide University System of Georgia Social Business and Microcredit Competition.

Established in 1995 by Gov. Zell Miller, the GTF program is designed to help faculty members at accredited public or private colleges or universities in Georgia address the statewide need to improve undergraduate instruction. The symposiums are designed to help the fellows implement projects that will enhance the quality of undergraduate education on their home campuses.

Prof. Cheryl Shinall of the ETCMA faculty participated in the Summer Symposium last year.

SPSU alum Edrick Harris promoted at Russell New Urban Development
Edrick Harris, a member of the SPSU Alumni Association Board of Directors, has been promoted within Russell New Urban Development, LLC (a division of H.J. Russell & Company).

After 12 years with the company, Harris now holds the position of director of real estate development. He is responsible for increasing Russell New Urban’s presence in fee development, program management, municipal consultation and housing-agency consultation.

Harris earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Development at SPSU in 1998.

Faculty publications
• Dr. Ying Wang, an assistant professor in mechatronics engineering, had two articles published recently in prestigious journals. “Vision-based grasping using mobile robots and nonlinear model predictive control” appeared in the January 2012 issue of the International Journal of Control and Intelligent Systems. “Multi-robot cooperative transportation of objects using machine learning” appeared in the December 2011 issue of the International Journal of Robotics and Automation. In addition, Dr. Wang has been invited to join the program committee planning the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 9th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation. This international conference attracts participation by more than 2,000 researchers each year.

• Dr. Laura Palmer, assistant professor in the Master of Science in Information Design and Communication program, has had her second article in recent months published in Intercom, the magazine of the Society for Technical Communication. “What’s Data Got to Do with It? Information Architecture and Analytics” is featured in the latest issue. In it, Dr. Palmer provides an overview of information architecture and analytics, compares the two, breaks down data and websites and encourages the reader to learn more about analytics.

SPSU to host accounting conference
On Wed., March 21, the SPSU Accounting Club and the Department of Business Administration will host the 2012 SPSU Accounting Conference, open to all SPSU students, as well as students from other institutions in Georgia. The main goal of the event is to promote awareness and spark interest in the accounting field.

The conference will be held in the Joe Mack Wilson Student Center, and will cost $25 for general registration ($10 for those with student IDs). Free parking and lunch will be provided.

The conference will begin at 9 a.m. with a resume review, followed by a panel discussion on careers in accounting, including a review of opportunities that extend beyond being a certified public accountant (CPA). The panel will consist of members of The Institute of Management Accountants, the Association of Government Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Construction Financial Management Association.

Following lunch, a keynote speaker from Becker Professional Education will outline the requirements for earning the CPA designation, as well as the roles played by and responsibilities of being a CPA. Then, a case competition will present a scenario related to business ethics developed by accounting programs Coordinator Dr. Donald Ariail. Awards will be presented for the most creative solutions to the case.

For more information about the conference, contact SPSU Controller Arthur Vaughn at ext. 3282 or avaughn@spsu.edu.

Runnin’ Hornets to make 14th appearance at NAIA tournament

The Runnin’ Hornets will make their third consecutive appearance at nationals tomorrow (Thurs., March 15) in the opening round of the 2012 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship.

The Hornets, who received the first at-large bid to the single-elimination tournament and are therefore the 5th overall seed, are set to take on the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriots at 10:45 a.m. in Kansas City, Mo. This is the teams 14th overall appearance in the NAIA championships, which run through March 20.

The Hornets finished the season ranked sixth in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll. Their overall record at the national tournament – known as College Basketball’s Toughest Tournament – is 10-14 with one final-four appearance and seven in the quarter-finals.

The team has defeated seven nationally ranked teams this season, including Shorter University, ranked No. 1 in the nation; Georgetown College (Ky.), No. 4 in the nation; Mountain State University (W.Va.), 11th in the nation; and Lee University (Tenn.), No. 17 in the nation. The Hornets also beat two NCAA Division II teams on their home floors: St. Leo University in Tampa, Fla., and Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga.

Bathtub Races postponed until fall
The SPSU Bathtub Races originally scheduled for Sat., March 17, have been moved to a date in November yet to be determined. Stay tuned for updates this fall.

Campus now collecting toner cartridges for recycling
The SPSU Department of Material Management is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Flex Imaging to provide toner-cartridge-recycling service to SPSU.

SPSU’s Central Receiving Department is collecting toner cartridges at various locations around campus (with more locations coming soon) and sending them to Flex Imaging for remanufacturing. The goal is to save hundreds of pounds of used SPSU toner cartridges from entering landfills.

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 5, Issue 10
March 14, 2012