New media arts degree grows in popularity
Since the English, Technical Communication and Media Arts (ETCMA) department added a new media arts program in the fall of 2011 the new major’s enrollment has grown significantly.

ETCMA Department Chair Dr. Mark Nunes said faculty members only expected a handful of students, mostly internal transfers, in the first semester. “New media arts ended up having 26 declared majors that fall and has had steady growth ever since.”

Currently, there are 78 declared majors enrolled in courses, which nearly tripled the program’s enrollment in one year. New media arts also now accounts for just under half of all the majors in ETCMA.

Of those 78 new media arts students, nearly one-third are first-year students.

“The new media arts degree is designed to point students toward careers in multimedia design and multimedia arts,” explained Dr. Nunes. “These jobs occur in a range of industries, but in general they involve visual content development for the Web and other interactive environments. Multimedia artists can work in marketing communication and public relations as web front-end developers, and on design and development teams for gaming and entertainment.”

The first new media arts degrees are expected to be conferred during the spring 2013 commencement ceremonies.

Participation in co-ops, internships up 39 percent
The staff of the Career and Counseling Center reports that the number of SPSU students seeking internships and cooperative education experiences (co-ops) with the university’s partners in the business community is on the rise.

The rate of student participation in these opportunities for work experience rose 39 percent in 2011-12, compared to the 2010-11 academic year, according to Eileen O’Laughlin, assistant director of Career Services. During 2010-11, 351 students participated in co-ops and internships versus 490 in 2011-12.

She attributes the increase to a combination of things. “Parents are pushing the students more now to seek these opportunities – some parents ask about the prospects for internships and co-ops during the recruitment process. We’re also using different marketing techniques implemented by Jill Forest [associate director of Career Services], and Christi Pichon [employer and career relations coordinator] has been bringing in more employers. And then, there’s word of mouth as student interns and co-op students talk to other students in their majors about their experiences.”

More than 60 companies representing a wide variety of industries attended this month’s Fall Career Expo, many of them seeking interns and co-op students as well as full-time employees. Forest coordinates the Career Expo.

“Employers realize that SPSU students are very skilled and also not as expensive [as hiring new employees],” O’Laughlin noted. Companies like Georgia Power, Cox Communications, ZF Industries, Pond & Company and Norfolk Southern are always looking to us for interns and co-ops.”

SPSU students collect awards at national research conference
Three members of the SPSU Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PSLSAMP) returned home from the PSLSAMP National Symposium and Research Conference at the University of Georgia earlier this month with awards for the work they presented.

Brett Jones and Edward Jones, both senior electrical engineering majors, won second place in the technology and engineering category for their oral presentation entitled “Designing CZTS thin film solar cells to evolve the world.” Dr. Deidra Hodges, assistant professor of electrical engineering, was their research mentor.

Senior biology major Nekeshia Griffin brought home the first-place award in the environmental biology category for her oral presentation entitled “Examination of the sympatric relationship between the redbreast and bluegill sunfish populations in Nickajack Creek, Ga.” Dr. Peter Sakaris, associate professor of biology, was her research mentor. This was the second year in a row that Griffin won first place for her oral presentation at a PSLSAMP conference.

The National Science Foundation-funded Peach State Alliance is a collaborative effort sustained by several higher education institutions: SPSU, Fort Valley State University, Georgia Perimeter College, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University, Savannah State University and the University of Georgia. The alliance’s goal is to increase statewide the number of underrepresented minority students completing undergraduate degrees and pursuing graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM fields).

SAR expresses appreciation for SPSU
The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) recently recognized SPSU for proudly displaying the American flag on campus. Wayne Brown, an SPSU alumnus and president of the Captain John Collins Chapter of SAR, presented SPSU President Lisa A. Rossbacher and SPSU Police Chief John Bauer with a certificate commending the university for “exemplary patriotism in the display of the flag of the United States of America.”

Brown, who received a degree in electrical engineering technology from SPSU in 1977, said SAR also recognizes the acts of first responders (police, fire and emergency medical service personnel) and will begin saluting the SPSU Police department on a regular basis.

SPSU to host annual computing conference
On Nov. 2 and 3, the School of Computing and Software Engineering (CSE) will host the annual conference of the Consortium for Computing Science in Colleges (CCSC) for the Southeast region.

The conference will bring together 150 to 200 faculty members and students in computing as well as administrators of academic computing faculties to discuss issues in computing education.

In addition to presentations by faculty and students, the event will also host a student programming competition and a competition for student research.

Dr. Becky Rutherfoord, associate vice president for Institutional Effectiveness and interim chair of the Information Technology department, is the local organizer for the conference. CSE faculty members Dr. Jon Preston and Dr. Jeff Chastine will conduct a pre-conference workshop on “Increasing student engagement through gaming in introductory computer science courses,” and CSE Dean Han Reichgelt will address the participants at a banquet with a talk on “MOOCS (massive online open courses), YouTube, and Higher Education.” Other participating CSE faculty members include Dr. Richard Halstead-Nussloch , Dr. Orlando Karam and Dr. Chi Zhang.

For more information on CCSC visit Consortium for Computing Science in Colleges or contact Dr. Rutherfoord at brutherf@spsu.edu or ext. 7400.

Lady Hornets ready for 2012-13 season
Laquanda Dawkins, women’s basketball head coach, has announced the schedule for the 2012-13 season and invites the SPSU community to come out and support the Lady Hornets.

The team opens its season with an away game against cross-town rival Kennesaw State University on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. The Hornets’ first home game is the next day against Bryan College of Dayton, Tenn., at 2 p.m.

The 2012-13 schedule is challenging but Coach Dawkins, in her third season with SPSU, is ready to get back to the top of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) and into the national rankings.

“Each new season is a challenge because I have a new team to work with, new opponents to face and often, new ideas and schemes to try,” she said. “This year’s schedule fits extremely well with our team goals. I am really excited about our non-conference schedule, which will prepare us for the competitive play within the SSAC.”

Coach Dawkins hopes the entire SPSU community will support the team this season. “We want the Hornet’s Nest to be the toughest place to play in the SSAC,” she said. All students and faculty and staff members are entitled to free admission to home games with their Hornet Card. General admission is $5 for visitors.

Trolley Thursdays connect SPSU, Marietta Square
University Transportation has introduced Trolley Thursdays to encourage students and faculty and staff members to get out and experience Marietta every Thursday evening. The free service is designed to increase the sense of community between SPSU and its neighbors.

Every hour on the hour from 6-9 p.m., a free trolley takes passengers from SPSU to the Wal-Mart on Cobb Parkway and the Marietta Square and then back to campus. The round-trip ride takes just under an hour.

Several Marietta Square businesses have become Poly Partners by agreeing to offer a discount between 6-10 p.m. on Thursdays to shoppers who present their Hornet Cards. Doing business with the university’s community partners helps to increase SPSU’s economic impact, so go do your part!

The SPSU trolley stop is outside the entrance to the Student Center adjacent to Parking Lot 35. Simply show the driver your Hornet Card to climb aboard.

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 40
Oct. 24, 2012