College of Liberal Arts  

CoLA Weekly

   September 1, 2017
   
Welcome back! It's great to see the activity and excitement with all of our new and returning students back on campus. The view from my office window has become much livelier. Looking out at our diverse and energetic array of students is a constant reminder of why we're here and why we love what we do. It's going to be a busy year as our new university leadership settles in, so I hope you are all well-rested!

 
Last week's CoLA Retreat brought 100 faculty and staff together to discuss the college's Enrollment Management Plan. Thank you to our panelists who shared best practices and strategies around recruitment and retention initiatives. Dan Zehringer, Music, shared successful techniques for recruiting students into his program; Jennie Buckwalter, Dean's Office, talked about the strategic use of scholarships to increase student retention and graduation rates. Michael Griest gave useful information about the assistance offered by Raider Connect to keep students on track for graduation; and Don Miller talked about continuing the orientation experience into the freshman year to increase student engagement.
 
We will continue meeting and talking about enrollment management in the upcoming year, as we all have a role to play in encouraging more students to come study here.  We must all do our part to retain our students and help them along that path toward graduation.  
 
At the conclusion of the retreat, we recognized this year's CoLA Outstanding Award Recipients . Congratulations to:
 
Back row (L to R): Lance Greene, Kathryn Meyer, Valerie Stoker, David Hapner, Chris Wydman.   
Front row (L to R): Jennifer Subban, Marie Donohue, Noeleen McIlvenna, Jeannette Horwitz. 
 
I hope you will join me at this year's University Convocation and Awards Celebration on September 13 at 3:00 p.m. in the Student Union Apollo Room. President Schrader will share her State of the Union address and we will celebrate faculty and staff being honored by university-level awards.  Congratulations to the CoLA awardees in that group:
Congratulations as well to our many colleagues who were promoted for this upcoming academic year:
 
Professor
Enamul Choudhury, Urban Affairs and Geography
Thomas Greg Hellems, Theatre, Dance, and Motion Pictures 
Karen Lahm, Sociology and Anthropology 
Sally Lamping, English 
Carol Mejia-LaPerle, English
Opolot Okia, History 
Annette Oxindine, English 
La Fleur Small, Sociology and Anthropology  
Valerie Stoker, Religion, Philosophy, and Classics 
Jonathan Winkler, History 
Kelli Zaytoun, English 
   
Associate Professor with Tenure 
Marya Cordes, Theatre, Dance, and Motion Pictures
Chris DeWeese, English
Arvind Elangovan, History
Caroline Hillard, Art and Art History
Jerry Nelms, English
 
Senior Lecturer 
David Baxter, Communication
William Jobert, Music
Dennis Loranger, Music
Gretchen McNamara, Music
 
This fall we celebrate Wright State's 50th anniversary. We have come a long way since our establishment in 1967.  Homecoming Weekend on September 29 - October 1 will offer a wide range of festivities so we can all celebrate this important milestone together. Stay tuned for more details.
 
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend,
Linda Caron
Dean  

 
CLASS CORNER 
 
Thurs., Sept. 7 - The Power of a Liberal Arts Degree, 10:00-11:00 a.m. Millett 106
 
Wed., Sept. 13 - How to Conduct an Effective Job Search, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Millett 106
 
Wed., Sept. 20 - Crafting Powerful Resumes and Cover Letters, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Millett 106
 
Please check out the many upcoming activities planned through our Center for Liberal Arts Student Success (CLASS) .