Newman Challenge Alumni Magazine

From the president

Posted on by Newman University Posted in Fall 2009, President's Letters Leave a comment

Newman University President Noreen M. Carrocci, Ph.D.

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Since coming to Newman University in 2007, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing many positive changes: The opening of new campus facilities such as the Dugan Library and Campus Center. The transition to NCAA Division II. The creation of a new Strategic Plan with collaboration across the Newman community.

I have also concentrated efforts on other areas I believe are important to Newman’s wellbeing: Attracting and retaining quality students. Balancing our budget. Building mutually beneficial partnerships with people and organizations across Kansas.

Through all of this, the constant that guides us is a focus on the student. Whether a new freshman, transfer, returning adult undergraduate or graduate, laid-off worker, or veteran eligible for the new GI Bill Yellow Ribbon program, we do everything we can to meet the needs of our students.

Two years ago, for example, we began participating in a program to better assess and improve student learning. This program helps us measure students’ acquisition of objective knowledge, as well as their abilities to communicate, think critically, analyze information and make ethical judgments.

Over the past year, we have developed and launched new academic programs to serve an ever-changing and diverse student population. We also began creating a long-term campus master plan that will cover everything from efficiently using old classrooms to building new learning and athletic facilities to expanding food service options.

And during the next few years, we will focus our fundraising efforts on increasing scholarships, so more students can gain the benefits of a Newman education. I would appreciate your support in this endeavor.

As anyone who has attended Newman knows, classrooms, technology and other external signs of the institution change. Yet the dedication of Newman’s faculty and staff to the students does not. I am proud of all they do for our students – and happy to say that students are appreciative of their work, too.

In fact, we often hear back from graduates who tell us how a professor or experience at Newman changed their lives. In this issue of Challenge, you’ll read about former pre-med students who sent notes of thanks to their professors for fully preparing them for medical school. You’ll also hear an alumna describe how Newman helped her become a successful author. And of course, you’ll get a look at some current students and what they think of Newman, as well as some of the activities, methods and people working to meet their needs.

I think as you read these and other stories, you’ll see that, indeed, everything we do at Newman – from providing microscopes and music classes to installing water fountains and WiFi – is for the student.

And that’s exactly as it should be.

Thank you for your interest and support.

Sincerely,
Noreen M. Carrocci, Ph.D.

Meeting the needs of today’s students

Posted on by Newman University Posted in Fall 2009, Feature Stories Leave a comment

College students have always come from a variety of backgrounds, with an assortment of reasons why they chose a particular institution and disparate aspirations and goals for their future.
That’s never been more true than today, as the needs, desires and diversity of students change more rapidly than ever before.

Meeting the needs of today's changing student population

College campuses today – including Newman’s – increasingly reflect changes in our society brought on by economic necessity, advanced technology, and simple demographics. While many students today still arrive on campuses straight out of high school, increasing numbers come from other sources and have needs and goals that differ from traditional students.

Some are adults who have been in the workforce for several years and return to school to complete a degree or get a different degree. Many are transfer students from two-year institutions who took advantage of lower tuition and other costs to acquire their general education credits. Others are veterans and active duty military personnel who wish to further their education through the GI Bill or other benefit programs.

“Nationally, enrollments went up in 2009,” said NU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Michael Austin, Ph.D. “But while private and public institutions showed gains of only 2 or 3 percent, community colleges reported a 20 to 25 percent rise in enrollment. Surveys also show many high school students are considering less prestigious colleges for affordability reasons, or are changing their focus to a two-year college.”

Austin said in order to remain competitive, increase enrollment, and better meet the needs of today’s students, the university has made a concerted effort to attract students from all population groups, by making Newman more accessible and creating more programs students and community members want and need.

These efforts have taken a variety of forms: Articulation agreements with area community colleges to identify courses that meet Newman requirements. Better-targeted financial aid, such as a $3,000 scholarship (disbursed over two years) for any student who earns an associate degree at a community college in Kansas and surrounding states. Reduced tuition programs for those hard-hit by the economic downturn (see story, opposite). And new academic programs such as the interdisciplinary bachelor of arts, where students can transfer credits from any accredited institutions they’ve attended in the past, and then create a plan of study that best meets their needs and interests.

Newman also participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, part of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. Under this program, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) matches dollar-for-dollar the contributions Newman makes to help cover an eligible student’s tuition*.

Through these and other initiatives, Newman is striving to meet the needs of today’s students. We looked at three students who represent some of the varied populations on campus today, and what led them to choose Newman University.

Cooper Wolf, a Newman Univeristy Freshman

Cooper Wolf
Age: 18
Class: Freshman
Major: Biology and psychology
Hometown: Wichita, Kan.
Schools attended before Newman: Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School, Wichita, three years; Trinity Academy, Wichita, one year
Interests/Activities: Chorale, piano, guitar, reading
Residence: New Hall on campus with roommate
Occupation: Part-time nanny
Plans/Goals after Newman: Earn a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.; work as an OT in Wichita or elsewhere in Kansas
Why she chose Newman: “Part of it was because I liked Dr. Singh (Professor of Biology Surendra Singh, Ph.D.). The Occupational Therapy program was also a good part of it. And, I wanted to stay in Wichita, and the fact that Newman is a Catholic college was important.” Experience at Newman so far: “It’s getting better every day.”

Tyler Nordman, a Newman junior

Tyler Nordman
Age: 20
Class: Junior
Major: Communication
Hometown: Augusta, Kan.
Schools attended before Newman: Advanced standing college classes while in high school from Butler Community College, El Dorado, Kan.; Highland Community College, Highland, Kan.
Interests/Activities: Men’s basketball team, Vantage photographer, hunting, fishing
Residence: Off-campus apartment with basketball teammate
Occupation: Construction in summer months
Plans/Goals after Newman: Work as freelance and/or commercial photographer
Why he chose Newman: “The basketball coach recruited me. I came for a visit and liked what I saw. I liked the size of the school and I talked to some of the people and faculty members and they seemed real nice. Plus I have some friends here and it’s close to my family, so that drew me.”
Experience at Newman so far: “I like the small classes, and the faculty really work with you. Especially with me being in sports and gone from classes, they work with me on making up any missed homework or tests.”

Michael Marler, a Newman freshman

Michael Marler
Age: 23
Class: Freshman
Major: Accounting/Business
Hometown: Wichita, Kan.
Schools attended before Newman: Goddard High School, Goddard, Kan.; Derby High School, Derby, Kan.
Interests/Activities: Amateur stand-up comedy; writing
Residence: Off-campus apartment
Occupation: Computer software repair, Computer Doctor, Wichita. Formerly sergeant, U.S. Army, infantry; enlisted in high school; served 4-month and 15-month tour of duty in Iraq; honorably discharged March 2009
Plans/Goals after Newman: Find a job in accounting; pursue business career
Why he chose Newman: “I heard it was a great school. In my opinion, a private college is better than a public one. I like smaller classes, and I like that one-on-one with teachers. I can learn things technically from reading a textbook, but I prefer to have the expert actually talking to me. And, when I learned about the Yellow Ribbon Program from talking to people at Newman, I said I definitely want to pursue this.”
Experience at Newman so far: “I really enjoy it. The teachers are great here.”

Trip takes students from empires to totalitarian regimes and back

Posted on by Newman University Posted in Fall 2009, Feature Stories Leave a comment

Newman students study abroad visiting many places in Europe by rail

L-r: Students Meghan Jost, Adelita Aldava, Randyn Wertz, Megan Lowe, and Jacob Somes at the Schonbrun Palace in Vienna.

This summer five Newman students learned about the elegance and breadth of what was the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the oppression and horror of former Nazi and communist regimes, as participants in “Europe by Rail,” a three-week tour of western and eastern Europe led by Associate Professor of History Kelly McFall, Ph.D.

The trip began in Vienna, Austria, and progressed through Hungary, the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, and the Netherlands before concluding in London. In addition to helping students understand the history and culture of Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries, McFall said the trip was designed to show students the ways different cultures interact.

Melk, a city in europe visited by Newman students on their Europe by rail study abroad trip

A European cathedral

A detailed tile roof in europe

“The route I chose was very intentional,” he said. “I wanted to hit cities on both sides of what had been the Iron Curtain to show students the contrasts, as well as the similarities.”

McFall noted how the long-term influence of the Habsburgs could be seen in the art and architecture of Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The students noticed it too, although they were equally struck by the evidence of communism and the fight for freedom of people in eastern Europe, as documented in Prague’s Museum of Communism.

“I think it has helped my understanding of the countries that we have visited and why they are the way they are,” wrote Meghan Jost, who along with McFall and fellow student Megan Lowe kept a blog during the trip. “I also found it interesting to look at footage of the riots that happened in the late eighties right before the fall of Communism. It made it all more real to me to be able to see pictures of events that happened around the time I was born and made me realize that for countries like the Czech Republic and Hungary democracy is a fairly new concept.”

McFall said students were also moved by the Buchenwald concentration camp in Weimar, Germany, and the Jewish Museum in Prague. At a lunch stop following the museum visit, the students were full of questions.

“I had planned several things to do after lunch, but the students kept asking me about Jewish history,” he said. “That happens a lot – the students drive the learning. I just have a conversation with them.”

McFall, who lived in Vienna and has traveled extensively in Europe, noted that while many things about the continent will always be the same, some aspects have changed since his last visit in 2000.

“The differences between eastern and western Europe are going away,” he said. “In a subway station in Budapest, there is a large map of the city that shows the location of 25 McDonald’s. You would not have seen that 10 years ago. London and Amsterdam didn’t change, but the east did.”

The students did as well. McFall said one of his goals was to show students that they can learn how to manage a different culture on their own.

“It’s a real personal growth experience learning that you can navigate an unfamiliar city by yourself,” he said. “To me those kinds of things are what Newman is about – helping people understand their world so they can transform it. Traveling overseas makes the students different people.”

The students agree.

“One of the things I learned from this trip was simply how big this world really is,” Lowe said. “Billions of people inhabit this earth and have lives so different from our American ones. I don’t believe you have truly lived until you have been to a different continent.”

Newman group works to improve education for Tibetan children exiled in India

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This large obelisk proclaims peace on the site of the Tibetan Childrens Village in India

It isn’t every day you have an opportunity to help the Dalai Lama, not to mention thousands of Tibetan children living as refugees in India.

Yet that’s exactly what two professors and one recent graduate from the Newman University School of Education did this June, when they traveled to Dharamsala, India, to implement educational enhancements at Tibetan Children’s Villages (TCV), an internationally recognized organization that operates schools for exiled Tibetan children and teens.

The initiative is part of an effort by the Dalai Lama to enhance teacher training and academic standards, in order to develop Tibetan student leaders who will become professionals and specialists. The group that came from Wichita to help in this effort included Ted Anders, Ph.D., assistant professor for graduate education and coordinator of special projects, Steven Dunn, Ed.D., associate professor of education and director of the School of Education, and Dunn’s son Joseph, a 2007 Newman graduate who now teaches social studies at Marshall Middle School.

The group also worked with colleagues from Georgia College and State University (GCSU) in the project, along with private educational consulting practices in Tampa, Fla.

Enthusiasm and dedication

The TCV was founded in Dharamsala by the Dalai Lama after his flight to India in 1959, and has evolved into a school system now serving more than 16,000 students and led by the Dalai Lama’s sister, Madam Jetsun Pema. The group became involved with the school in March after Anders was invited by Pema and the TCV executive board to form a team with Dr. Charles Martin of GCSU to evaluate and make recommendations for improving school services.

During the June trip, the group presented a weeklong conference for approximately 30 teachers and 50 administrators to introduce best practices of education and train administrators on how to better support and communicate with teachers. Anders said the conference was an unqualified success.

Ted Anders, Ph.D., works with teachers at the Tibetan Children's Village in India

“It was fantastic,” Anders said. “We achieved all the goals of the visit.”

Anders and Steven Dunn attributed much of the success to the enthusiasm the Tibetans had for learning new skills.

“They were so interested in the learning they remained on task the entire time,” Dunn said. “I’ve taught hundreds of seminars, in the U.S. and internationally. Busy, over-burdened U.S. teachers often lose focus and enthusiasm. It takes tremendous energy to keep them engaged. The Tibetans, however, stayed with it. They were constantly on task, grateful to be learning.”

Anders noted another example of how strongly the Tibetans want to improve their skills and their schools – a group of teachers and administrators from the Kashmir/Nepal border who rode in a bus across the Himalayas for three days just to attend the conference.

“They have incredible dedication,” Anders said. “They were so engaged, and so intent on getting the concepts.”

Videos of several conference sessions can be seen at www.tedanders.com.

Tibetan culture

While there, the Newman team also experienced the Tibetan culture through several activities planned by their hosts. Among the most memorable were meditating in a temple outside the city with Buddhist monks every morning in Dharamsala, drinking butter tea (made with real butter), and learning folk dances with increasingly elaborate and difficult steps. Steven Dunn was deeply moved by an hour-long Buddhist prayer service.

“They were doing chants that sounded ancient, like they were from 1,000 years ago – very guttural sounds with a depth of feeling and sense of history at a deep emotional level,” he said. “The people have a connection with those prayers that unifies them and has real meaning.”

At the end of the trip, the group also experienced a little of the traditional nomadic Tibetan way of life. The group hiked up from the plateau where Dharamsala sits at about 7,000 ft. to another plateau at the base of a snowcapped mountain about 3,000 feet higher. When they arrived, they found that their Tibetan hosts had gone up the day before to set up a camp. Anders and Steven Dunn said they were almost overwhelmed by the scene, which included colorful tents, yaks, donkeys, campfires and large pots with simmering broth, and other images of what seemed to them a timeless culture.

“To come upon that image and to be embedded so lovingly into that culture was very special,” Anders said.

“They are very affectionate people; so open to us and teaching us about their culture and what we were teaching them,” Dunn added. “We were just overwhelmed by the generosity and friendliness and compassion of these people.”

Institute for gifted and talented

Before returning to America, Anders and Steven Dunn agreed to help develop an education plan for a special academy recently created for about 600 gifted, talented and spiritually sensitive students, who will be trained to serve as ambassadors of peace, love and compassion throughout the world. Anders and Dunn said they and other School of Education faculty plan to travel to India over the next few years to help the schools produce these kinds of scholars.

As part of their training, the students will study in various colleges and universities around the world. Anders said plans are being made to bring several top math and science Tibetan students to Newman in the near future.

“The ongoing success of this relationship professionally and personally is a huge blessing of life for all of us,” he said. “We look forward to continuing the relationship, and look forward to the upcoming conference.”

Why I play games in my classroom

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What do you say when a student calls from the delivery room, where his wife is in labor, and wants you to put him on speakerphone so he can participate in class?

For 10 years, I lectured or led discussions in World Civilizations classes. Why not? When I was a student, I loved lectures. I sat in class attentively (well, most of the time) and took notes eagerly. After 50 minutes of class, my notebook was full, my hands cramped and my brain happy. So that’s the way I taught.

But today’s students are different. There are many ways to characterize the so-called “millennials.” But one thing is sure. They want and need a greater variety of activities and more hands-on involvement than I would have been comfortable with.

So now we play games. Specifically, we play lengthy role-playing games in which students assume the role of historical figures at critical moments in history. This semester, they are playing Chinese bureaucrats trying to reverse the slide of the Ming Empire, citizens of New York in 1774-76 debating their relationship with Britain, and Indian politicians pleading with the British to quit India. During the games they make speeches and debate other students. But they also parade, stage demonstrations, plot behind the scenes and even attempt to “kill” other characters.

During the games, the students control the classroom. I’m extraordinarily active behind the scenes, giving advice, reading rough drafts and suggesting background readings. But in class they run the show and I just take notes. We talk a lot in academia about teaching leadership. In my classes, students practice it daily.

Ninety percent of the students love it. They get to laugh, move around and even shout at each other in class. One of my favorite memories is of a student playing a patriot in New York in 1775 getting out of her chair and walking across the tables to mob a loyalist. As one student put it (recounting a date spent talking exclusively about the game), it can take over your life.

I’m glad they’re having fun. I am as well. But much more important is how much they’re learning.

The core of the games, for all of the yelling and plotting and competing, is an attempt to win other students to a particular vision of the future. Each game revolves around a critically important issue. How do you balance the desire to respect majority rule with the need to protect minority rights? How do you respect traditional ways while allowing innovation and experimentation? How do you allow passionate protest while prohibiting violence?

To inform their solutions, each game includes a significant amount of reading (the Analects of Confucius in the game about China). By explaining and challenging these ideas themselves, students learn far more effectively. And they get to engage issues critical to the modern world.

To be sure, there’s a cost. Focusing in depth on a few case studies, my students miss the broad narrative of World History. But I think the deeper understanding more than makes up for that.

There’s still a place for lectures. Students haven’t changed that much in a certain number of years I won’t reveal here. Tell them a good story and they’ll hang on your every word. And, just as students have learning styles, teachers’ preferences and strengths differ significantly. But for me, encouraging my students to inhabit the history they’re learning has enormously improved learning and engagement.

Oh, by the way. I told the almost new parent I didn’t want to be responsible for his divorce and so would not put him on speakerphone. Forty minutes later, his classmate told me she had been texting him updates and he had a proposal to make. I finally gave up and let him participate. India exploded and he lost the game. But, so far as I know, he’s still married.

Newman appointed to national community service honor roll

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Wichita, Kan. – Newman University is one of only 11 colleges and universities in Kansas and the only four-year university in Wichita that was recently named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities. Newman was among only 635 institutions of higher learning across the nation to be selected for inclusion on the honor roll.

Launched in 2006, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. The program recognizes colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs.

Among the criteria for selection are:
• The scope and innovation of service projects
• The percentage of the total student enrollment engaged in community service activities
• The percentage of students engaging in more than 20 hours of service per semester
• The extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses
• The extent to which scholarships related to service are offered
• Recognition of faculty for academic service-learning
• Service is part of the institution’s mission and strategic plan

“We are thrilled to be named to this prestigious honor roll, and proud of our students, faculty and staff whose efforts have brought this national recognition,” said Newman President Noreen M. Carrocci, Ph.D. “Service is one of the very foundations upon which this university – and our founders and sponsoring order the Adorers of the Blood of Christ – is based. Our mission is to empower our graduates to transform society, and what better way can they accomplish that than through service?”

Newman University supports and encourages student service through designated scholarships, service learning trips and classes. Students are exposed to the value of service beginning with orientation and the freshmen seminar “Traditions and Transitions,” and continuing in classes, service trips, athletic service participation and scholarships.

Service projects Newman students and faculty have engaged in include:
• “Stuff the Bus,” a holiday season toy and food drive for needy families in the area
• Trips to Crownpoint, N.M., and Guaymas, Mexico to perform work for underprivileged families
• Building houses for Habitat for Humanity
• Collecting necessities for a women’s crisis center at Christmas
• Making deliveries for Meals on Wheels
• Working as timekeepers at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
• Coaching softball and a soccer clinic for children
• Distributing Thanksgiving dinners at United Methodist Urban Ministries

For several years, students have completed more than 16,000 hours of service per academic year – the equivalent of nearly eight years of full-time work. Charity Week also focuses student attention on serving. For the past 10 years, students have raised funds and awareness for a variety of local and national charities during this week.

The quality of the work provided by Newman University students is also consistent and valued. Comments by civic agency representatives have included:
• “Clients mentioned to me that they did not believe that the younger generation of students possessed any community spirit. Your efforts here have put that fear to rest.” (Director of Adult Day Services, Catholic Charities)
• “I can always depend on Newman University students to get the job done. We have had adult groups from {large employers} here in town and they accomplish half what Newman University students do.” (Director of Camp Hiawatha, Salvation Army)
• “…the pleasure that it was for me to witness true servant’s hearts in the students.” (Executive Director, the Treehouse, A Place for Moms, Kids & Stuff)

Recent studies have noted the importance of service-learning and volunteering to college students. In 2006, 2.8 million college students volunteered more than 297 million hours of service, according to the Volunteering in America 2007 study conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The culture of service at Newman University begins in the institution’s mission, which charges the entire university to a commitment of engagement and service. Catholic social teaching directs the institution to base all decisions on the common good, with the goal of developing and empowering people. The mission and charism of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ also calls for the advancement of justice and peace. Both statements mandate development of right relationships, a preferential option for the poor, and a hunger and thirst for justice and peace. The Newman University core value of service is an outward manifestation of these principles.

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is sponsored by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the USA Freedom Corps, and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is presented during the annual conference of the American Council on Education.

Board of Trustees welcomes five new members

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The Newman University Board of Trustees recently elected four new members. John Rapp ’00 also joined the board as Newman Alumni Association representative.

Gerald Aaron

Gerald Aaron, a Newman University Board of Trustees member

Gerald Aaron earned a bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University and a juris doctorate from Washburn University. He is a trustee of the Via Christi Health System, the Guadalupe Health Foundation and the Wichita Community Foundation, and a member of the WSU Foundation Investment Committee. He and his wife Janis live
in Wichita.

Glenn Dugan

Glenn Dugan, a Newman University Board of Trustees member

Glenn Dugan is president and manager member of Dealer Management, Inc./Dugan Truck Line, LLC. He graduated from Kansas Newman College in 1985. He is a charter member of the Church of the Holy Spirit, Goddard, Kan., and a 10-year board member of the Bishop Carroll Catholic High School Junior Wrestling Club. He and his wife Kelly (Martin), also a 1985 Kansas Newman graduate, have five children: Kurtis; Kyle; Keaton; Konner, and Karson.

Michalene Maringer

Michalene Maringer, a Newman University Board of Trustees member

Michalene Maringer is president and CEO of the Via Christi Wichita Health Network. She earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a master of science degree from the Rush University College of Nursing, Chicago. She was also a fellow in the Wharton Fellows Program. Maringer is a member of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce board of directors. She is married to Ed Korosa, and resides
in Andover.

John Rapp

Newman University Alumni Association President John E. Rapp

John Rapp is an attorney-partner at Hulnick, Stang & Rapp, P.A. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Newman University in 2000 and a juris doctorate from the University of Kansas. In addition to being president of the Newman National Alumni Board, Rapp is a member of the Wichita Bar Association Board of Governors and the Wichita Crime Commission. He and his wife Stacy live in Wichita.

Vera Robl

Vera Robl, a Newman University Board of Trustees member

Vera Robl is an accountant and co-owner of Robl Construction, Inc. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Fort Hays State University. Robl is a member of the Executive Board of Directors for the Lord’s Diner, the Cathedral Renovation Commission for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, and St. Catherine of Sienna Parish. She is a former member of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Building Commission. She and her husband Steve reside in Wichita.

Father Kapaun painting unveiled

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Mural of Father Emil Kapaun in St. John's Chapel

A 12-foot by 4 ½-foot mural of Father Emil Kapaun was unveiled Aug. 5 in St. John’s Chapel at a special ceremony that included remarks on the creation of and symbolism in the work by artist Wendy Lewis. The ceremony also included a blessing of the painting by the Most Rev. Michael O. Jackels, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, who celebrated a Mass before the unveiling. The painting hangs opposite a mural of St. Maria De Mattias also painted by Lewis and installed in the chapel in 2005. Fr. Kapaun, who was ordained in St. John’s Chapel on June 9, 1940, served as an Army chaplain during World War II and the Korean War, and died in 1951 as a prisoner in North Korea. He is being considered for canonization as a martyr.

Highlights of the unveiling ceremony:

Newman graduates are accepted into medical schools at impressive rate

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Newman alumna Katie Grelinger had the academic training, excellent grades and high score on the Medical College Admission Test to be accepted into medical school last spring, and is now pursuing a long-held dream of becoming a physician.

She’s not the only one. Over the past 10 years, 96 percent of Newman graduates who successfully completed the university’s pre-med program and received a positive recommendation from Newman’s Pre-medical Committee have been accepted into medical schools.

Newman Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences David Shubert, Ph.D. attributes the high success rate to several factors.

“The students come here very motivated to learn,” Shubert said. “Much of their success has to be attributed to their dedication and commitment. Complementing that is the faculty, who are very dedicated to student learning – with the mantra of: ‘We will do everything we can except lower the standards.’ There’s a synergy between our students and our fine faculty, who care about and work with their students both inside and outside of the classroom.”

Shubert added that the Newman Pre-medical Committee attends the conference of pre-medical advisors at the University of Kansas School of Medicine each year to stay abreast of current trends and developments in medical schools. The committee also invites KU’s assistant dean of admissions to Newman to meet with pre-med students. Shubert added that all Newman pre-med students “shadow” a physician or receive hands-on time with a physician or hospital to get an accurate look at what the profession entails.

Grelinger, who is one of four members of the 2009 class now attending the KU Medical School, and her classmate Betsy Simison recently contacted members of the Science Department to say how well Newman had prepared them for the rigors of medical school.

“I just wanted to thank you again for all your help in getting my friends and me here to medical school,” Grelinger wrote. “We are all enjoying ourselves here at KU. And yes, in case you’re wondering, truly all I do is study, but I’m amazed at how much I don’t mind that. Thank you all again for everything. We wouldn’t be here without you!”

“I want to express my gratitude for the good base of knowledge you taught me,” wrote Simison. “I have encountered concepts from Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Bioethics, Thermodynamics, and of course basic Biology. I feel extremely well prepared for the material. I did not think I would have to know how to prepare a sigma curve comparing binding affinities in protein-ligand interactions, but lo and behold, that was one of our first assignments! Please keep doing what you do, and if future pre-med students wonder why they have to learn such a broad range of concepts, assure them that every little bit of it is used in medical school!”

Jabaras, Carr will receive honorary degrees at 2009 Fall Commencement

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Fran and Geri Jabara and Monsignor William Carr will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa during the Fall 2009 Commencement ceremony Dec. 12. The university bestows the honorary degrees upon notable members of the extended Newman community based on exemplary dedication to one of the university’s four Core Values: Catholic Identity, Culture of Service, Academic Excellence, and Global Perspective.

The Jabaras were selected for their commitment to Academic Excellence. Fran Jabara is a longtime businessman, philanthropist and Wichita State University accounting professor. He and Geri have created academic entrepreneurship and student scholarship programs at universities nationwide. Fran served on the Newman Board of Directors from 1972 to 1984, and in recent years on the School of Business Advisory Board. The Jabaras have been generous benefactors to Newman, and for many years have sponsored the Harvey J. and Leona J. Ablah Awards (named for Geri’s parents), which are presented annually to a male and female graduating senior who exemplify the spirit of Newman, demonstrate academic excellence, and show great promise to make positive contributions
to society.

Msgr. Carr, who was selected as a model of Catholic Identity, has served the Church and the Wichita Diocese for close to 50 years. He is respected for his scriptural and liturgical scholarship, writings, lectures, and study of Latin and Biblical Greek. Since 1966, he has written for several publications of Sunday Missal Service, a national publisher of periodical missals and background materials for the liturgy. Among his many appointments, he has been a teacher, chaplain and pastor in many parishes in Wichita and south-central Kansas, chairman of the Liturgy Commission, diocesan director for the Department of Religious Education, and rector at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He retired in 2002, but continues to write Instruction for Presiders, Lectors, and Commentators for Sunday Missal Service and columns for the diocese newspaper the Catholic Advance.