January 14th, 2010

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Emile C. Netzhammer announces that the following faculty have been granted sabbaticals during the next academic year, 2010-2011:

Phyllis Benay, Writing Center, AY 2010-2011
Steven Bill, Geology, FA 2010
Deborah Black, Education, FA 2010
Gary Bonitatibus, Psychology, FA 2010
Michael Hanrahan, Computer Science, FA 2010
Karen Jennings, Psychology, SP 2011
Robert Kostick, Art/Graphic Design, SP 2011
Margaret Orelup, History, FA 2010
Kristen Porter-Utley, Biology, FA 2010
Margaret Smith, Health Science, SP 2011
Pamela Smith, Health Science, AY 2010-2011
Karen Stanish, Math, SP 2011
James Stemp, Soc/Anthropology, FA 2010
Barbara Ware, Modern Language, SP 2011
Michael Welsh, Political Science, SP 2011
David White, Education, SP 2011

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The Office of Disability Services cordially invites the KSC community to a farewell reception in honor of our colleague Mary Leonard, who will be leaving Keene State at the end of December. Mary joined the KSC community in 1989. She began working for the Aspire Program as the administrative assistant and then transferred to the Office of Disability Services in 2000 as the program support assistant.

Please join us in celebrating and reminiscing her time at Keene State College and in wishing her a grand farewell. Hors d’oeurves will be served Monday, December 14, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Academic & Career Advising conference room. There will be live music and singing - some special guests will be present to perform some peaceful holiday music.

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From Nona Fienberg, Arts and Humanities: Please join us for afternoon tea on Tuesday, December 15, from 2 to 4 p.m., in the Thorne Art Gallery to wish our colleagues Helen Frink, Marsha Hewitt, and David Payson our best on their retirement.

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Dr. Margaret Walsh (photo by Mark Corliss)

Ann Marie Rancourt Academic Affairs: It is with great pleasure that we would like to introduce Dr. Margaret Walsh as the new director of the College Honors Program. We look forward to her building on the work of Dr. Beatriz Torres and Dr. Helen Frink, and we’re sure that much progress will be made under her leadership. In her time at Keene State, Dr. Walsh has demonstrated a strong commitment to academic excellence and a constant willingness to serve and to lead in multiple roles on this campus. Her success in working with students, colleagues, and the general public makes her an excellent ambassador for the program. The appointment begins in January 2010, and will end in May 2012.

Thanks to Dr. Anne-Marie Mallon, chair of the search committee, and to members of the committee, Shari Bemis, William Stroup, Peter Roos, Donna Smyth, Kent Drake-Deese, Karen Honeycutt, and Allison Shufelt (student rep) for creating a rigorous search process and conducting a successful search.

We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Frink’s successful efforts over the last 18 months in shepherding the program through the college approval process, as well as all the work she has done with the Advisory Council and many offices on campus in establishing processes that have contributed and will continue to contribute to the program’s success. Thank you, Dr. Frink.

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Professor Timothy T. Allen (Mark Corliss photo)

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From the Business Office: The College’s planning cycle is underway, and initiative requests are due soon. The planning process is integrated with the budget process. An Excel file has been developed to help departments quantify and communicate your budget requests. The Excel file must be submitted along with the initiative request if your proposal seeks financial support. For the Excel file, follow the link in section #5 on the http://www.keene.edu/planning/ip_form.cfm. Business Office cost center liaisons are eager to assist you with the completion and use of the new file. We encourage you to contact John, Melissa, Liane, or Karen if you would like our help.

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The interdisciplinary courses in Keene State’s newly created Environmental Studies Department explore how people interact with the environment, incorporating the natural world as well as social and political systems. The curriculum is designed to develop students’ ability to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize complex information relating to environmental issues, and they will graduate with skills that will help them succeed in careers as diverse as environmental consulting, policy making, field research, and staff positions assisting organizations in meeting goals related to sustainability.

“The faculty of Keene State College recognized the critical importance of Environmental Studies when it established the major in 1979,” said Gordon Leversee, dean of the School of Sciences and Social Sciences. “Changing environmental challenges and opportunities have prompted this move from a multi-departmental model to a core faculty model, and the new department represents Keene State’s renewed commitment to address the environmental challenges we face.”

Four core faculty have been assigned to the new department:

• Dr. Timothy Allen teaches the popular “Energy and the Environment” course, and conducts studies of trace-element mineralogy and groundwater resources.
• Dr. Renate Gebauer is an ecologist with special expertise in plant-soil-water relationships. Her collaborative relationships include the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest Ecosystem Study in the White Mountains.
• Dr. Nora Traviss has expertise in environmental health and safety and is conducting a long-term study on human exposure to diesel exhaust particulates in collaboration with Dartmouth College.
• Dr. William Fleeger is joining the Keene State faculty this fall and brings his considerable experience in environmental policy studies, including serving as program director of the Regional Ecosystem Applied Learning Corps at Southern Oregon University. The Corps worked with over 20 land management agencies and community partners on watershed and land management issues, including the Spotted Owl project.

Emerging green technologies and concerns about climate change are hot topics in the news lately, but sustainability and environmental awareness have been a way of life at Keene State College for some time now.

A faculty-led recycling program was created in the 1970s, and the establishment of the President’s Council for a Sustainable Future (PCSF) in 1996 pushed campus operations to become more sustainable: Many departments use electric cars to get around campus; few chemicals are used to maintain the beautiful lawns, arboretum, and gardens; and in winter alternative pre-treatments minimize salt and sand use on walkways and parking lots. KSC has the only LEED building in Cheshire County (the Pondside III residence is LEED Silver), and campus construction projects seek managers with experience in high-performance buildings, C&D waste/recycling management, and indoor-air-quality management protocol.

As this culture of environmental awareness grew at Keene State over the years, so did the number of courses focusing on sustainability. Last year a new major, SPEDI (Sustainable Product Design and Innovation) was launched, expanding on existing courses in the Architecture and Safety Studies programs that have long featured sustainable building design courses, management courses grounded in sustainability principles, and safety studies courses that look for ways to reduce worker hazards. Often students in these courses have used the campus operations as case studies, including a management project to look at transportation numbers, the microbial content of campus compost, and water testing.

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Jack Marshall, emeritus professor of art (photo by Dwain Hammett '92)

From Mark Reynolds, College and Media Relations: The KSC community was saddened to hear that John (Jack) Marshall, professor emeritus of art, passed away on July 7, 2009.

Dr. Marshall taught sculpture at KSC from 1973 until he retired in 2002. Many community members will recall walking by the sculpture studio - at all hours of the day - to see him working away on one of his projects. Or, more likely, they just heard him working; often, he had so many works in progress that he was hidden behind them.

Dr. Marshall had a BA in design from Massart, an MFA from Boston University, and a PhD from the Yale School of Architecture. His works have been shown in Massachusetts at the Fuller Memorial Museum in Brockton, the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, the Baak Gallery in Cambridge, and the Carl Siembab, Sunne Savage, and Ellie Reiglehaupt galleries on Newbury St. in Boston. His work has appeared in NYC at the Whitney Biennial, the Awards Exhibit of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the American Institute of Architecture, Leve House, the New School, the Allan Stone Gallery, and in a solo show at Ward Nasse Gallery in Soho. He has had European shows in Milan, Pisa, Florence, Copenhagen, Geneva, and Zurich. You can read more about Jack, or share a memory, here.

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The University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees, on recommendation from its Academic Affairs Committee, has promoted 12 Keene State College faculty members, awarding tenure to nine professors.

Tenure

Rebecca Dunn (Health Science)
Michael Hanrahan (Computer Science)
Wayne Hartz (Technology, Design and Safety), Associate Professor
Robert Kostick (Art), Associate Professor
Donna Paley (Technology, Design and Safety), Associate Professor
Kristen Porter-Utley (Biology), Associate Professor
Marianne Salcetti (Journalism)
William James Stemp (Sociology), Associate Professor
Barbara Ware (Modern Languages)

Promotions

Phyllis Benay (English and Interdisciplinary Studies), Professor
Matthew Crocker (History), Professor
Christopher Cusack (Geography), Professor
Gregory Knouff (History), Professor
Mark Long (English), Professor
Elisabeth Roos (Theatre and Dance), Professor
Margaret Walsh (Sociology), Professor

Emeritus

Judith Hildebrandt, Associate Professor Library (2000–2009)
Robert Madden, Associate Professor Library (1976–2009)

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Dr. Jerry Jasinski (Ann Card photo)

Dr. Jerry Jasinski (Chemistry) has been appointed co-editor of Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online, the open-access structural journal of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr).

The IUCr promotes international cooperation in crystallography and contributes to all aspects of crystallography: promoting international publication of crystallographic research; facilitating standardization of methods, units, nomenclatures, and symbols; and forming a focus for the relation of crystallography to other sciences.

The technique of single-crystal X-ray crystallography allows accurate and precise determination of the full three-dimensional structure of a molecule and the spatial arrangement of molecules relative to the neighboring molecules. These studies have an impact in a number of areas, ranging from synthetic chemistry to systems of biological interest and cleaning of the environment.

The online journal provides an easily accessible publication mechanism for the growing number of inorganic, metal-organic, and organic crystal structure determinations. In 2007, the journal published over 5,000 structures. Articles are published in a short-format style with enhanced supplementary materials (HTML and PDF supplements, CIF, structure factors, graphics), a much richer collection of material than is provided by publishers of other structural journals.

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Dr. Susan Herman (photo by Mark Corliss)

From Mark Reynolds, College and Media Relations: We are saddened to learn that Dr. Susan Herman, professor emerita of Management, passed away on June 24th. She was also a professor of Management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and cofounder of Interlocken Center for Experiential Learning (now Windsor Mountain International) in Windsor, N.H. Dr. Herman was an energetic and engaged teacher, professional, volunteer, traveler, outdoorswoman, and cook. The KSC Human Resources office uses her 1994 book, Hiring Right, as a sound basis for the College’s recruiting protocols. Dr. Herman was also an important catalyst in the evolution of the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies, which established the Susan J. Herman Award for Leadership in Holocaust & Genocide Awareness this past April to honor her vital contributions to its work.

Dr. Paul Vincent, professor of Holocaust studies and history, mentioned a meeting with Dr. Herman in early spring, when she was still undergoing tests for pancreatic cancer in Boston. He recalled a statement she made that summed up the strength of her character: “You know, Paul, I want to live. But if that’s not to be, I’ve had a wonderful life.”

“The world is a dimmer place without the magic of her life,” Dr. Vincent said.

Dr. Herman is survived by her husband, Gary Kofinas; her three children, Melissa, Thomas, and Sarah; her five spectacular grandchildren, Tia, Felix, Simon, Miriam, and Joshua; and her three sisters, Ellen Switkes, Marjie Crosby, and Barbara Virchick. Family and friends are invited to celebrate Susan’s life Thursday June 25th from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Virchick residence, 32 Mill Street, Dorchester, MA, 02122. A second gathering will be Saturday in N.H. from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m at the Carmel residence, 4 Pheasant Hill Road, Keene, NH, 03431. A memorial service for Susan will be held Sunday starting at 2 p.m. at the Keene synagogue, Congregation Ahavas Achim, 84 Hastings Avenue, Keene, NH, 03431. The family will sit shiva following the service at the Carmel residence.

For a wealth of photos and information from Susan and her family, visit her Caring Bridges web pages.

If you remember this warm and wonderful teacher, please visit the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies blog to leave and read memories.

Donations can be made in Susan’s honor to the Susan J. Herman Leadership Award in Holocaust and Genocide Awareness, Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies, Keene State College, 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03435-3201.

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From Colin Abernethy, Chemistry: Elizabeth A. Neuhardt ’10 has been selected to receive a 2009 James Flack Norris/Theodore William Richards Summer Research Scholarship from the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society. The award carries a stipend of $3,000 with another $500 for supplies and travel.

At the conclusion of her summer of research in my laboratory, Ms. Neuhardt will write a report for publication in The Nucleus (The newsletter of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society) and will also present her work at the Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference (NSCRC) in April 2010. The presentation of this award to Ms. Neuhardt will be made at the 897th Meeting of the Northeastern Section on May 14 at Northeastern University, Boston, Mass.

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