Archives: Initiatives
–Feb. 1, 2019
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Mathematics Beth DeWitt, Ph.D., who has been accepted to Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) a professional development program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences.
The program is part of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and it focuses on all aspects of an academic career: improving the teaching and learning of mathematics, engaging in research and scholarship, finding exciting and interesting service opportunities, and participating in professional activities. It also provides participants with a network of peers and mentors, according to MAA.
“I’m very excited to be part of Project NExT, said DeWitt, who joined Trinity last semester. “Participating in the program will help improve my skills at teaching, and teaching well.”
DeWitt said her colleagues, Professors of Mathematics Mandi Maxwell and Sharon Robbert, supported her during the application process. Both had been participants in Project NExT earlier in their teaching careers.
Before coming to Trinity, DeWitt worked as a collegiate assistant professor at the University of Maryland University College, teaching college-level courses in statistics and algebra at U.S. military bases in Europe.
A native of northwestern Ohio, she attended Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., for her undergraduate work. She was considering becoming a science major, but realized during a physics course that she missed solving problems. After earning her B.S. in mathematics, she worked as an analyst for Accenture. Then, she felt called to become a math teacher and went on to earn her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, where she worked as a lecturer and graduate student instructor.
DeWitt said she is looking forward to the multidimensional aspects each cohort of Project NExTfellows participates in:
–A three-day Project NExT Workshop in late July / early August, preceeding MathFest, the summer meetings of the MAA;
–Project NExT sessions during MathFest;
–Special events at the Joint Mathematics Meetings the following January.
–A one-day Project NExT Workshop preceding MathFest (and more during MathFest) the following year;
–An electronic network that links Project NExT Fellows with one another and with seasoned mathematicians and award-winning teachers.
At these workshops and other Project NExT sessions throughout the year, fellows will explore and discuss issues that are of special relevance to beginning faculty.
–Aug. 29, 2018
When Trinity’s nursing students receive their degrees, they are prepared for a world that needs them. Once again, Trinity alums continued their perfect first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam. This success represents the third time in four years that the College is celebrating a 100% pass rate.
“The nursing faculty at Trinity strive to help prepare students to be outstanding hands-on nurses, but recognize for that to happen graduates must first pass the NCLEX examination for licensure,” said Nursing Department Chair Tina Decker, D.N.P. “With this exam being so important, the department strategically designs content review and testing preparation throughout the curriculum so that when students graduate we can confidently say, ‘You are ready!’
“We are so proud that all of the hard work of the students and faculty from 2018 has resulted in the best possible outcome of 100% of the graduates passing the NCLEX on their first attempt, and a wonderful new batch of BSN-prepared RNs can go out into the world to give top-notch patient care,” she said.
The exams are administered by NCSBN, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, through which boards of nursing act and counsel together to provide regulatory excellence for public health, safety, and welfare. The exam is taken after the student graduates from a bachelor’s degree-granting nursing program.
Trinity’s nursing program, which is ranked the top BSN program in Illinois by RegisteredNursing.org, is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Click here to learn more about Trinity’s nursing program.
–Nov. 27, 2018
The students enrolled in Trinity’s SPED 420 Critical Issues in Special Education class have been working on a project to promote safety for students with disabilities this semester.
“Partnering with Elim Christian Services, we are creating a curriculum they can use for teaching animal safety while ensuring that the resources are age-appropriate for adults,” said Associate Professor Sara Baillie, Ed.D.
The class has recently visited local spots to videotape the expectations of interacting with various animals: from approaching a dog on a path, to caged animals at Lake Katherine in Palos Heights, Ill., to handling farm animals at The Children’s Farm at the Center in Palos Park, Ill.
–Nov. 29, 2018
In honor of his mentor, Trinity’s professor of music and department chair Mark Peters, Ph.D., has co-edited a collection of essays on J. S. Bach’s sacred vocal music, as well as contributing a chapter.
Peters said he edited the book, Compositional Choices and Meaning in the Vocal Music of J. S. Bach, with his friend Reginald L. Sanders, professor of music at Kenyon College, as a way to honor his dissertation advisor, Don O. Franklin, emeritus professor of music at the University of Pittsburgh and a past president of the American Bach Society.
“It was fun to work with Reggie on this project,” Peters said, “and we’re thankful for the work each of the authors put into it.”
The 17 essays in the book explore Bach’s vocal compositions, including his Passions, Masses, Magnificat, and cantatas, with a particular emphasis on broader cultural, social, historical, theological, and musical trends at the time. Peters’s chapter is titled “Death to Life, Sorrow to Joy: Martin Luther’s Theology of the Cross and J. S. Bach’s Eastertide Cantata Ihr werdet weinen und heulen (BWV 103).” The book, published by Lexington, is part of the series “Contextual Bach Studies,” edited by Robin A. Leaver.
The process of getting the book published was a lengthy one that involved working with authors from around the globe, said Peters, who finished final edits during his sabbatical in Indonesia earlier this year. “It was a busy sabbatical,” said Peters with a laugh.
The book is divided into four parts: Bach’s Vocal Music in Theological Context; Analytical Perspectives; Bach’s Self Modeling: Parody as Compositional Impetus; and The Reception of Bach’s Vocal Works. “This helped to shape the book as a unifying volume,” he said.
Peters and Sanders divided editing duties, and each translated a chapter from German to English, as well as co-writing the preface.
While Bach is his primary area of study, Peters has a range of musical interests. Earlier this year, he authored the chapter “U2 and the Art of Being Human,” in U2 and the Religious Impulse: Take Me Higher, edited by Scott Calhoun.
–Dec. 11, 2018
Trinity Assistant Professor of History Kyle Dieleman, Ph.D., is one of the inaugural recipients of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s Teacher-Scholar Grants for 2019-2020, as part of its Vital Worship Grants Program from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
Dieleman intends to use the grant to continue to study the relationship between Sabbath observance and spiritual formation, offering historical insights and exploring contemporary adaptations. His previous research will be published in January with his book, “The Battle for the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformation: Devotion or Desecration?”
“The grant will provide for some course releases, a research assistant, travel funds, and a couple of seminars with church leaders and pastors,” said Dieleman.
This new stream of the Vital Worship Grants program recognizes that teacher-scholars in many disciplines have a unique role to play in strengthening and nurturing the life of Christian worshiping communities. These inaugural teacher-scholar grants will engage disciplines traditionally associated with worship such as theology and music, but also from philosophy, history, education, and African American Studies and women’s studies. Along with Dieleman, recipients include scholars at research universities, seminaries, and regional Christian colleges. They represent eight states, one Canadian province, and the District of Columbia.
Each grant will fund a research project beginning in 2019 that shows promise to serve worshiping communities by strengthening Christian public worship practices.
–Dec. 27, 2018
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Nursing Autumn Mels ‘12, who has been named a 2019 Illinois Nurse Educator Fellow. The fellowship, a program of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center Advisory Board, is designed to promote excellence in nursing education.
“I feel completely honored to have been granted this opportunity to be a 2019 Illinois Nurse Educator Fellow,” said Mels. “I am looking forward to the variety of different learning opportunities that lie ahead and the impact it will make on myself, our faculty, students, and future patients.”
Mels said that Associate Professor of Nursing and Department Chair Tina Decker, D.N.P., encouraged her to apply for the fellowship and wrote a recommendation letter for the yearlong program.
“Over the next year, I will be spending time partaking in a variety of different opportunities that will improve my bedside nursing, my role as a professional nurse educator, and, in turn, our students,” said Mels. That could include attending several conferences, participating in continuing education courses, and work towards receiving her certification as a nurse educator.
“The conferences are geared towards two things that I have a passion for–nursing education and obstetric nursing,” she said. The first conference is the National Nurse Educators Summit, which will be held in Savannah, Ga., March 31-April 3. “This conference is put together by ATI, which is a program we utilize to a great extent in our nursing program here at Trinity,” said Mels. “At this conference, I will learn how to develop as a professional and explore different teaching strategies and evaluation methods, which will help to improve course/program outcomes at Trinity.”
The second conference is sponsored by the Association of Women’s Health & Neonatal Nursing and will take place in June in Atlanta. “As a member of this professional organization, an obstetric bedside nurse, and women’s health educator, this convention will help to inspire and improve education related to care of women and neonates,” she said.
As part of the fellowship, Mels will report back to the State of Illinois, as well as sharing her knowledge with colleagues in Trinity’s Nursing Department. “This fellowship truly has a domino effect, in that the knowledge I gain from these experiences will have an impact on the care I provide to my patients, the educational strategies I may then share with the nursing department, the educational and clinical experiences I provide my students with, and then the effects the students have on their future patients,” said Mels. “I firmly believe this opportunity will help me advance my knowledge and skills as a professional nurse educator, which will improve my abilities in educating our future nurses.”
Trinity’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program, which has had a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam for three of the last four years, prepares graduates in all areas of clinical nursing with a Christian perspective.
Fourteen Trinity students, along with Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Director of Theatre John Sebestyen, Ph.D., are traveling to the Region 3 gathering of KCACTF (Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival) in January, 2019.
This year, the conference is being held in Madison, Wis.
The students include:
National KCACTF Award for Theatrical Design Excellence
Andrea Taylor will present her Costume Design from Trinity’s Spring 2018 production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors in consideration for this award.
National Playwriting Program
Stephanie Rodriguez will attend playwriting workshops and presentations.
Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions
Four Trinity student actors were nominated to participate in this scholarship audition, by representatives of KCACTF who visited Trinity to observe our productions of The Comedy of Errors(Spring 2018) and Seeds (Fall 2018). Each of the nominees is required to prepare a monologue and two scenes, with student acting partners who are not also nominees themselves.
–Nominee Emma Darcy, with scene partner Mateo Perez
–Nominee Breanna Eissens, with scene partner Jonah VanderNaald
–Nominee Ben Friesen, with scene partner Alexandria Eggert
–Nominee Morgan Limback, with scene partner Bethany Dadisman
Stage Management Intensive
Four Trinity students have been selected to stage manage events that are a part of the KCACTF conference/festival in Madison: Kyli Ayers, Megan Blok, Hannah Rodgers, and Sydnie Tiemens.
Launched in 1969, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 20,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide annually. For 50 years, the organization has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 700 academic institutions throughout the country.
Last week, NPR featured a podcast by Professor of Communication Arts Craig Mattson, Ph.D., as part of its “The Academic Minute” series.
In the podcast, “Better Feeling for a Better World,” Mattson discusses the messaging behind social entrepreneurship companies such as TOMS and Warby Parker.
As the podcast notes, Mattson is a rhetorician, and he studies how messages work, how they form relationships, how they create worlds, and how they open possibilities.
You can listen to the podcast here.
Trinity is proud to participate in the Chicago Research Summit, a new organization created to foster greater collaboration between Chicago’s educational and cultural institutions. And the College is also proud to announce that the summit’s new logo has been designed by Mariah Nelesen ’20, a graphic design and Spanish double major.
Nelesen’s logo was chosen from nearly 20 submissions. Members of the steering committee described her winning design as clean, crisp, and very professional and noted that the design integrates the blue and red colors used in the city’s flag.
Nelesen said her design was inspired by the Chicago Research Summit’s focus on the sharing of ideas and practices between staff and faculty from colleges and universities in the area. “This is what I wanted to reflect in the logo,” she said. “I was thinking about both the coming together of people and ideas, as well as the expanding/moving forward of people and ideas. I wanted the logo to have the feeling of movement and fluidity while being grounded.”
The Chicago Research Summit is being organized by the librarians at Trinity, DePaul University, Columbia College, North Park University, and North Central College. Its goal is to bring together educators and community partners to discuss how we can connect students to the rich array of cultural resources in Chicago and introduce them to a research agenda based on the complex issues that emerge in contemporary urban spaces. The first summit is scheduled for Oct. 18 at North Park University.
Take advantage of internship opportunities and polish your communication skills. That is some of the advice that Kyle Ten Pas ’98, partner at KPMG, gave to accounting students in Assistant Professor of Accountancy Mike Chitavi’s classes during a recent videoconference.
Throughout the discussion, Ten Pas, who is now an audit partner in the Des Moines office of the global accounting firm, offered practical tips, answered questions, provided encouragement, and reflected on his days at Trinity.
Students from several classes, including Principles of Accounting; Intermediate Accounting; and Taxes I, had the opportunity to attend the videoconference and ask questions.
A native of Waupun, Wis., Ten Pas took an accounting class in high school and continued on that path at Trinity. “I never second-guessed my career, he said.” While a sophomore, he was offered a job at Ozinga, where he was able to gain experience in accounts payable, reconciling accounts, and other areas. “It was an incredible opportunity,” he said. “Take advantage of these types of opportunities,” he urged students. “And really work on your communication skills,” he added
Ten Pas said the courses he took at Trinity helped prepare him for his future career. “From an educational perspective, I was prepared for everything I needed in my skill set.”
Along with classes and internships, Ten Pas also talked about playing soccer for the College and being roommates with Josh Lenarz ’98, currently Trinity’s head women’s soccer coach.
Ten Pas married a fellow Trinity graduate, Gina, who is originally from Pella, Iowa. After working in Chicago for several years, they moved to Iowa to be closer to her family. While he is based in Des Moines, he said he enjoys the opportunity to travel for work “At KPMG, I get to work with people around the world and the country,” he said.
Throughout his career, he has remained in the field of public accounting, with a particular focus on financial services companies. “I’m very passionate about public accounting,” he said.