New Graduate Student Orientation

The New Graduate Student Orientation was held on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 from 3:30 – 5:00 pm in the Maucker Union Ballroom. Over 100 students from over 20 programs were in attendance. The event kicked off with a resource fair, including 30 exhibitors from around campus and the community. Groups represented at the fair highlighted everything from what to do in your spare time, through the Cedar Falls Visitors and Tourism Bureau, Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, and Panther Athletics, to offices that can help plan out the rest of your degree, like the Writing Center and the Registrar’s Office. The full list of participants, with contacts and/or links, can be found in PDF form by clicking here. After the Resource Fair, the focus moved to Informational Sessions. After a welcome and Graduate College staff introductions by Dr. Sue Joseph, Interim Dean, Pam McKay, Record Analyst in the Registrar’s Office, gave a presentation on Navigating MyUNIverse. The presentation highlighted some of the important features and actions you complete through MyUNIverse, including registering for classes, viewing and paying your University bill, and getting your grades. The focus of the presentation was on Student Requests, an important form for most graduate students’ time at UNI. Student Requests must be completed through MyUNIverse for registration changes and adjustments to your Program of Study. A printable brochure covering the same information as the presentation is available in PDF form by clicking here or by visiting the Graduate College office, 110 Lang Hall.		Sign in for Orientation
		Graduate students chatting and enjoying refreshments at Orientation
The graduate student panel gives advice. Left to right: Jie Cheng, Naomi Terbetski, Yogendra Khadka, Darius Robinson, and Melodie Kapping	The event concluded with a panel of current graduate students. Panel members were Jie Cheng, Business Administration, Naomi Terbetski, TESOL & French, Yogendra Khadka, Environmental Science, Darius Robinson, History: Public History, and Melodie Kapping, Physical Education. The panel answered questions from the students present, giving advice on everything from what they wish they had known at the beginning to where to get UNI parking passes.

Complimentary Annual Membership

Attention graduate students with undergraduate degrees from UNI or Graduate College Alumni reading this newsletter!

The UNI Alumni Association Board of Directors recently approved providing a one-year free membership to alumni who are unemployed or are attending graduate school.

UNI Alumni Association membership provides access to important services such as the on-line alumni directory, invitations and discounts to alumni events and substantial discounts for personalized career advice through CareerBeam (www.unialum.org/career). Alumni Association members also receive three issues of the Northern Iowa Today alumni magazine (non-members are mailed just one issue a year.)

Alumni interested in taking advantage of this program should email Holly Johnson (holly.johnson@uni.edu) at the Alumni Association. The message must contain name, preferred email address, year of graduation and mailing address.

The Alumni Association continues its practice of presenting a year’s membership to each class upon their graduation.

Awards Honoring Outstanding Scholarship

The University of Northern Iowa Graduate College recently presented awards to graduate students and two members of the graduate faculty.  Awards were presented for outstanding doctoral dissertation, outstanding master's thesis, outstanding master's research paper, distinguished scholar and outstanding graduate faculty teaching. The awards are intended to honor outstanding scholarship by UNI graduate students, outstanding teaching and research among graduate faculty and to provide increased visibility for UNI graduate programs. The awardees were selected from nominees who earned their master's or doctoral degrees in December 2009, May 2009 or July 2009.  A committee of graduate faculty members evaluated nominations in each category for clarity, scholarship, methodology, creativity, significance and contribution to the field of study. 

Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award for $200

• Faruk Yildiz, DIT
  "Low Power Energy, Energy Harvesting and Storage Techniques from the Ambient Human Power Energy Sources."
  Advisor: Mohammed Fahmy, Professor of Industrial Technology

Outstanding Master's Thesis

• First place for $200
  • Sergei Golitsinski, MA Communication Studies
    "Significance of the General Public for Public Relations:  A Study of the Blogosphere's Impact on the October 2006 Edelman/Wal-Mart Crisis"
    Advisor: Dean Kruckeberg, former Rrofessor of Communication Studies
• Second place for $100
  • Heather deWaard, MA Physical Education and Leisure Services
    "Exploring the Relationship with, Between Parent Beliefs and Athletes' Perceptions:  A Sport Commitment Approach"
    Advisor: Windee Weiss, Assistant Professor of Physical Education
• Third place for $50
  • Melinda Bullock, MA Psychology
    "The Effects of Facial Attractiveness, Weight and Immediacy on Social Influence:  A Test of Dynamic Social Impact"
    Advisor: Helen Harton, Professor of Psychology

Outstanding Master's Research Paper for $200

• Eric Crandall, MA Physical Education and Leisure Services
  "Self-Determination Theory and Application to Physical Education and Coaching"
  Advisor: Jennifer Waldron, Assistant Professor of Physical Education

The Distinguished Scholar Award for 2008-2009

• Roy Behrens, Professor of Art
  Awarded $1,000 in support of his research and creative activity
  This award honors eminent and distinguished artists and scholars among the UNI Graduate Faculty, who have established an illustrious record of research nationally and internationally.

The Outstanding Graduate Faculty Teaching Award 2008-2009

• Marybeth Stalp, Associate Professor of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology
  Awarded $1,000 in support of her teaching in graduate education
  Outstanding graduate teaching includes commitment to academic excellence; attention to individual student needs, interests and development; and consideration of classroom teaching in graduate level courses.

Program’s 11th Cohort

The Mathematics for the Middle Grades MA Program began its 11th cohort this summer.  The program is for practicing middle grades teachers. The cohort follows a professional development model set in the context of classroom practice.  Program content and experiences are directly and explicitly linked to teaching mathematics.  The fall and spring courses are offered online using an asynchronous learning environment.  The summer coursework and professional development is completed online for 3 weeks and on campus for 3 weeks, where there are opportunities to work with classmates and have direct access to faculty, technology and instructional resources.  With the encouragement, support and suggestions from the cohort and faculty, teachers use their classrooms as a learning laboratory to improve students’ mathematics achievement.

The Mathematics for the Middle Grades

The fourteen graduate students comprising the summer 2009 cohort include mathematics teachers, mathematics coaches, a published author, participants from the FINE Foundation ARRC Program, and a curriculum developer.  All bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the program.   Ten recieved their undergraduate degree from UNI.  Three of the teachers currently teach out of state and one attends the summer sessions from Japan via live video conferencing.  With the changing demographics of the program participants, faculty continues working together to tailor to the needs of such a diverse teaching population.  For more information about the program or to enroll in the next cohort, please contact Dr Bridgette Stevens, Program Coordinator, at bridgette.stevens@uni.edu.

MM Music History Student’s Research Presentations

Billy LeGrand, M. M. Music History student ('10) and Coe College adjunct professor of music, was invited this past May to present at the annual meeting of the Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, held at the University of Minnesota.  His paper, "That There Not Pass to the Indies: Examining the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Music of Cuba," was part of a panel entitled "Issues in African Diasporic Music."  In November, LeGrand will present further research in the "Musical Mobilities and Cultural Memory" panel at the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), to be held in Mexico City.  This meeting, the first outside of the U.S. and Canada, will be an important moment for SEM, highlighting the importance of Latin American, as well as cross-cultural, studies. LeGrand's work seeks to give voice to the ethnic origins and cultural histories of African slaves brought to Cuba.  In May, his presentation focused on the particularities of four African ethnic groups, highlighting their diversity and deconstructing the myth of African heritage as a homogenous entity.  Building upon this research, LeGrand's November presentation will locate historical cross-cultural influences among African communities in Cuba as well as the effect of Afro-Caribbean migrations to Cuba.  This research is part of LeGrand's thesis work seeking to understand the multi-layered webs of African, Iberian, Latin, and American diasporas in salsa music.

Billy LeGrand performing at the UNI Graduate Student Research Symposium in April 2009

MA Student & Science Teacher Honored

Travis Benner, a current graduate student in the Master of Arts in Science Education, was the elementary science teacher finalist in Iowa for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) 2008-2009.

Each year the Iowa Department of Education honors state finalists for the PAEMST. The national level award is the highest recognition that a kindergarten through 12th grade mathematics or science teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States. Enacted by
Congress in 1983, this program authorizes the President to bestow up to 108 awards each year. The National Science Foundation administers PAEMST on behalf of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Awards are given to mathematics and science teachers from each of the 50 states and four U.S. jurisdictions. The teachers are recognized for their contributions to teaching and learning and their ability to help students make progress in mathematics and science.