mu parent resource magazine

8/14/2019 MU Parent Resource Magazine

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Parent Resource

PARENT

M A R S H A L L U N I V E R S I T YM A R S H A L L U N I V E R S I T Y

RESOURCERESOURCE

Spring 2008 A publication or Marshall University parents and amilies.


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Parent Resource

Parent Resource is apublication from the:

Marshall University

Ofce of Parent Resources

Division of Student Affairs

One John Marshall Drive

Memorial Student Center, 2W40

Huntington, West Virginia 25755

(304) 696-3395

1-888-687-3768

[email protected]

www.marshall.edu/parents

Edited by

Sherri L. Stepp

Coordinator of Parent Resources

Printed and designed by

Marshall University Printing Services

Dear Parents and Families,

Change can be a good thing. Or, at least, thats what Ive been told. Sometimes,we nd ourselves resisting change due to uncertainty. But anyway we look at it,change is going to happen and we must learn to accept it or all it has to bring.

Leaving high school and moving on to college is a huge transition or our youngadults. Students are ending one chapter o their lives and are preparing to writethe next. They are leaving the comorts o home and diving head-rst into theunknown. They may have to learn how to use an alarm clock or the rst timeor a washing machine and dryerand possibly learn to sew on a stray button.Homework reminders will become their own responsibility and time managementtakes on a whole new meaning.

As parents and siblings, some o you may have experienced this transition andhave an idea o what to expect. Others may have chosen dierent paths and areuncertain about what lies ahead. Either way, the Oce o Parent Resources hopesto assist you and your amily with your questions and concerns. I know that theuncertainty o this transition exists or the entire amilynot just the student.

The Oce o Parent Resources was implemented to serve as a point o contact orparents. We will be working to provide useul sources o inormation such as thismagazine and our website at www.marshall.edu/parents .

I hope you enjoy this edition o the Parent Resource. Please eel ree to

contact me i you have questions, concerns, or ideas and suggestions. Contactinormation is provided in the let column o this page. Also, please contact me iyou would be interested in contributing an article or providing a Parent Tip or auture edition o this magazine. There is comort in sharing experiences.

Best wishes,

Sherri L. Stepp, CoordinatorOce o Parent Resources


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Parent Resource

Contents4 With the Right Support the Sky is the Limit!

5 Help your Student Find a Career to Love

6 Engineering at Marshall: Reemerging and Reenergizing

7 Award Winning Activities: Always Fun and Many are Free!

8 - 9 Herd for Habitat is Building a Better Community10 Memorial Fountain Receives Face Lift

11 Parents: Encourage your Student to Get Involved

11 Marshall Implements Text Message Alerts


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4 Parent Resource

With the Right Supports the Sky is the Limit!by Rebecca Hansen

Transitioning into a college settingcan be dicult or any student, butor a student diagnosed with an

Autism Spectrum Disorder, additionalchallenges may arise. Common tasks

such as registering or classes or gettingtextbooks can become quite overwhelming.We at the College Program or Studentswith Aspergers Syndrome try to providethe support necessary to make the journeythrough college lie fow a bit moresmoothly.

The College Program at a GlanceThe College Program or Students withAspergers Syndrome was developed in theall semester o 2002 by the West VirginiaAutism Training Center. The AutismTraining Center was established by the WestVirginia Legislature in 1983 through theeorts o parents o children with autismthroughout the state. Our philosophy isthat individuals with autism can lead happy,productive lives and deserve the samequality o lie that others without disabilitiesenjoy. Dr. Barbara Becker Cottrill, thedirector o the WV Autism TrainingCenter, states that the most eectiveway to support individuals with autism inenjoying quality lie experiences is throughcommitment, hard work, creativity, andproblem solving eorts delivered by a teamo people who provide care, education, andtraining or that person.

Our program began as a pilot study withone student to see i success could occurwhen adequate supports were put inplace. These supports included help withnavigating campus, plugging into organizedsocial groups and clubs, note taking,money management, time managementand help learning how to sel-advocate,

just to name a ew. Needless to say, thecomort o having a team o people as asupport system helped tremendously. Theoriginal student has since graduated and theprogram has grown signicantly since then.

We have learned the necessity o tailoredservices and recognized the act that thesame supports are not going to work orevery individual. We try to prepare or theunexpected because proper planning is thekey to survival when it comes to collegelie.

Currently, our program has 14 ull timestudents rom all over the nation receivingindividualized supports. Their elds o

interest range rom music to history topsychology and science. Our sta includesa team o trained graduate assistants whowork one-on-one with them. Their workincludes everything rom proctoring examsto going to the movies together.

We are continually trying to promote autismawareness throughout campus by holdingbrown bag lunches. These trainings areheld monthly during the academic calendaryear in the Memorial Student Center. Thesetrainings are open to all aculty and staand are designed to specically aide inknowing what classroom teaching strategieshelp our students learn best. We alsoprovide training to residence advisors andsta so that the time spent living at MarshallUniversity can be a healthy and productiveone.

So what exactly is Aspergers Syndrome?Aspergers Syndrome is on the highunctioning end o the autism spectrum.Many times, students with Aspergerssyndrome have average to high IQ scoresand excellent academic abilities. Theprevalence o autism has increased rom4-5 in 10,000 to 1 in 150 (Centers orDisease Control, 2007). Persons withAspergers Syndrome may exhibit signicantimpairment in the use o language andcommunication, social interaction, andmay also use repetitive and stereotyped

patterns o behavior. These traits canbecome apparent in both the classroomsetting and within residence halls. Forexample, in the event o a lecture beingcancelled, most students are excited toutilize the unexpected ree time. However,or students on the Autism Spectrum, highamounts o anxiety may result. Divertingrom a set routine changes the dayaltogether and the resiliency that is neededin order to move on and bounce back rom

the situation is sometimes complicated or isaltogether missing.

Succeeding academically in college is, ocourse, o prime importance; however,social growth can be equally as importantor students with Aspergers Syndrome.Filling up the social time proves to bethe biggest challenge. While most socialactivities naturally occur without mucheort, learning where their social niche iscan be more dicult than taking a calculustest or our students. Who am I going toeat lunch with? What do I do when I amnished with my homework? How can I geto the mall? These questions coupled withthe inability to look or the answers canparalyze our students, resulting in a missedopportunity to mature socially. Our programtries to ensure that those opportunities arenot missed.

Dr. Tony Attwood, an expert in the eld oautism, reminds us that i youve met oneperson with autism, then youve met oneperson with autism. Our students bringunique talents and abilities to MarshallUniversity and The College Program orStudents with Aspergers Syndrome strivesto ensure that each student reaches his orher ull potential. By coupling an excellenteducation rom Marshall University withthe support rom our program, you have astudent ready to enter the workorce.

For more inormation about the CollegeProgram or Students with AspergersSyndrome, please visit us in Old Main Suite316, call 304-696-2332 or visit our websiteat www.marshall.edu/coe/atc.

Rebecca Hansenis an Assistant Coordinatorwith the College Program or Students withAspergers Syndrome at Marshall University.


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5Parent Resource

Help Your Student Find a Career to Loveby Denise Hogsett

5Parent Resource

Consider how you made your decisionabout your career path. Whoinfuenced you to go to college?

Most o us either made the decision basedon what was amiliar to us or something wehad experienced:

I want to be a physical therapistbecause I had a sports injury andwent through treatment.

I want to be a coach or trainerbecause I like sports.

Everyone is getting intotechnology.

I majored in Accounting becausemy mother was an accountant.

While there is nothing wrong with thisthinking, with a little investigation yourstudent may discover the numerouspotential occupations out there. And

that discovery could lead to an increasedinterest in nding a career that will t bothinterests and skills.

The Key is to start Early! Search out waysto explore careers rom the beginning ocollege. Waiting until the Junior or Senioryear is too late. At Marshall, your studenthas access to on-line services and the Sigi 3program. This web-based sotware system

gives students many ways to research careerpaths based on their work-related values,interests and skills. Also, your student hasaccess to career guidance rom experiencedsta. Suggest that they attend a job air orparticipate in volunteer activities and part-time jobs, summer or seasonal work. Do notassume that your student will automaticallybe exposed to careers during college coursework.

The First Step! Make sure your studentvisits Marshall Career Services Center bothon-line and in person. We have a wide

variety o career resources. We can giveassistance and support in choosing a career,

show them how to look or internships andhelp them prepare or interviewing. Wecan also help prepare an attention-gettingproessional resume. Inormation andsupport on campus is important and we canprovide that or your student.

One Final Thought! We all knowindividuals who go through the motionsevery day at work, not enjoying what theydo. We do not want to see your studentfoundering through college without areal sense o purpose or direction. Thesevaluable college years should and can bethe start to a career that will provide thevocational satisaction that we all desire.Encourage your son or daughter to beproactive in exploring careers and oer yousupport as they come to grips with one olies major decisions.

Visit our website periodically or updates tocareer opportunities available to MarshallStudents and Graduates.

Denise Hogsettis the Director o CareerServices at Marshall University.

Encourage your child toget involved in campuslife and not go home

every weekend.

Cheryl Poling,Ripley, WV

Parent tiPS

Be proud of your kids.

Timothy Taylor,Warfordsburg, PA


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6 Parent Resource

Thanks to the dedication andconcerted eorts o many Marshallalumni, aculty, and administrators,

the Bachelor o Science in Engineering

degree has been reestablished at MarshallUniversity ater a long hiatus.

Although Marshall last awarded anundergraduate engineering degree in 1976,engineering never completely disappearedrom campus. A two-year EngineeringTranser program, which has existed ormore than 75 years, continued to providestudents with a oundation in engineeringwhich they could use to complete theirdegrees at other institutions. Also, due toMarshalls merger with the West VirginiaGraduate College, a Master o Science inEngineering degree was oered beginning inthe mid-1990s.

Yet the return o the our-year engineeringdegree remained a dream to be realized.With the ormation o the College oInormation Technology and Engineering(CITE) in 1998, the structure necessaryto support a our-year degree began tocoalesce. Add to that President StephenKopps strategic vision o promotingeconomic growth through technology-basedresearch and development, and the supportneeded to re-start the engineering degreewas in place.

A strong engineering program is notonly important to Marshall University, itsimportant to the people o West Virginia,Kopp explained. In an industry-based statesuch as ours, we need qualied engineers todevelop our inrastructure as well as createnew technologies.

Thus, through the eorts o universityadministration, CITE aculty, alumni andcommunity members, a proposal or aBachelor o Science in Engineering (BSE)degree was submitted to the Marshall Board

o Governors and unanimously approved in2006.

The approval o the Board o Governorswas a great moment ater years oplanning, said Dr. Bill Pierson, Chair othe Weisburg Division o Engineering andComputer Science. Yet at that point, thework was just beginning.

First was the issue o aculty. At the timeo the Board o Governors approval,

Engineering at Marshall:

Reemerging and Reenergizing by betH Wolfethere were two undergraduate engineeringproessors. While the rst reshman classo BSE majors in over 30 years arrived oncampus in August o 2006, the number

o students in the Engineering Transerprogram remained strong. As a result, threenew aculty members have been hired sincethe Fall o 2006.

The second issue acing the program wasthat o acilities. Engineering always hada rather nomadic presence on campus,oering classes in a variety o locations.When CITE was ormed in 1998, its homebecame Gullickson Hall, which alsohouses the department o health, physicaleducation, and recreation, as well as theArmy ROTC program. With a growingstudent population and lack o lab acilities,aculty and administration began looking ora solution to the space problem.

In April o 2007, plans were revealed orthe construction o a 16,000 square-ootengineering lab acility, which is the rstphase o the Advanced Engineering andApplied Technology Complex to be builtnext to the Robert C. Byrd BiotechnologyCenter.

This is extremely important or theCollege o Inormation Technology andEngineering. It is signicantly importantor undergraduate engineering programsbecause we need good, unctionallaboratories or accreditation o ourbachelor o science degree program,Interim Dean Tony Szwilski said when thearchitectural plans were unveiled during the2007 Alumni Weekend.

Construction crews broke ground or thelab acility last all, and progress can beseen daily at the 3rd Avenue site. Thenew lab acility is scheduled to becompleted or the start o the allsemester o 2008.

Its exciting to drive by and seehow the site changes each day,Piersonsaid.Thisbuildingis keyto us

providing the best education or ourstudents and will be a crucial element insecuring accreditation. Currently, planscall or an accreditation visit during the all

term o 2009.

Marshall also continues to strive toinspire the next generation o engineeringstudents. From June 15 to June 20, 2008,Marshall will host the 8th Annual ExploringEngineering: Academy o Excellence on theHuntington campus. During the week, 30high school students will live on campusand learn about what engineers do, andwhy they are so important to our modernway o lie. More inormation about theacademy can be ound at www.marshall.edu/eeae.

One ormer participant in the engineeringacademy enrolled in the BSE program thisall. The engineering academy at MarshallUniversity was a wonderul experience,said Bryan Adkins. Through hands-onactivities and talking with engineers, I wasable to learn a high amount about the eldo engineering. I got to see engineeringin the real world during the camp, how itworked, and who it helped. It helped mechoose a career in engineering.

With growth in students, aculty andacilities, its an exciting time to be a part oengineering at Marshall!

Beth Wolfeis the Coordinator o STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics) Outreach with the Collegeo Science and the College o InormationTechnology and Engineering atMarshall University.


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7Parent Resource

Award Winning Activities:Always Fun and Many are Free!by tiffany Mellace

The Student Activities ProgrammingBoard, commonly known on campus

as SAPB, oers a great range oactivities or students. The events rangerom educational programs and speakers toree bowling and movies. Here are somedescriptions o recent or upcoming eventsavailable to Marshall students:

Thunder Bowl ThursdaysFreebowling every Thursday night or amonth at our local Colonial Lanesbowling alley. Thunder Movie TuesdaysFreemovies ater 6:00 pm each Tuesday ora month at our local Cinema Theatre. Rock Against RapeEach

spring, SAPB sponsors an aternoonand evening with local bands in aneort to raise awareness about rapeand domestic violence. Donationsthroughout the program supportour local rape crisis center anddomestic violence shelter. Up LateA Friday evening o reeood, Guitar Hero, trivia, bingo, crats,karaoke and un in the MemorialStudent Center. Cincinnati Reds GamesStudentshave the opportunity to take a bustrip to see our closest proessional

baseball team. In the past, bus tripand game ticket has been available tostudents or as little as $10.

In addition to the activities highlightedabove, SAPB sponsors activities in the

Memorial Student Center and on the Plazathroughout the school year. It might bepersonalized license plates, photo mousepads, or sand artsomething the studentscan take a little time between classes tocreate a great memento or their residencehall room or their room at home. ForFall 2008, SAPB is anticipating a greateducational session on saety on theinternet.

With all o these great programs andactivities, Marshalls SAPB has beenhonored as First Runner-Up in the

Programming o the Year Award at theNational Association or Campus ActivitiesMid America Region. They have alsoreceived awards or Outstanding ServiceProgramming and Outstanding EducationalProgramming. They have been eaturedin the nationally distributed November/December 2007 issue o Campus ActivitiesMagazine which raved, Smart money iswhat you see at Marshall and it is becauseo bright and dedicated students and sta.With creative ways o taking charge o their

own entertainment and sharing the loadwith outside organizations, the Marshall

University campus activities programmingboard is bringing students a colorul andexciting array o activities again and again.

While its important to go to class and workhard, SAPB oers students an opportunityto take a short break rom classes and studytime to relax and have some un. Its a greaway to meet new riends and kick back, i

just or a short time.

Joining SAPB oers students a chance totake an active role in the activities availableon campus. Any Marshall student is eligible

to join. Its a great learning experience inactivity planning and teamwork. Anythingis possible in SAPB; the students just have tocreate the idea and group as a whole makesit a reality. Students interested in joiningshould contact Oce o Student Activitiesat (304) 696-6770 or stop by the MemorialStudent Center, Room 2W31.

Tiany Mellace is a Graduate Assistantin the Oce o Student Activities andormer president o the Student ActivitiesProgramming Board.

7Parent Resource


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8 Parent ResourceParent Resource

Herd for Habitatis Building a Better CommunityBy Megan BarBour

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9Parent Resource

is necessary as on-site training will be givenand proessionals will be readily availableto help and urther instruct students.

So with construction now in ull swing,Herd or Habitat encourages and inviteseveryone to sign up and volunteer! Formore inormation or to register to volunteer,please visit www.marshall.edu/student-

activities/Herd_For_Habitat.htm .

Megan Barbouris a graduate assistant romAberdeen, OH, working or the Herd orHabitat project at Marshall University.

9

Marshall University has taken noticeo the importance to give backto others and to help within the

Huntington community. This year, Marshallintroduced to all reshmen students,the OneBook program that allowed allreshmen students to come together byone commonality despite dierent backgrounds, hometowns, histories, and

personal experiences. That similaritywas the reading o The Glass Castle by

Jeanette Walls rom Welch, West Virginia.The book presents heartelt stories o amily,trust and orgiveness and portrays a senseo sincere optimism despite desperatehardships, ears and ailings.

As a second part o this First YearExperience, Marshall University and theHuntington Habitat or Humanity haveteamed up to construct Marshalls rst everstudent and aculty built house as a wayor Marshalls Freshmen class to have the

opportunity to continue their bond andgive back to the community in their ownway. Eorts to recruit volunteers to workon the house began mid-summer and arestill continuing as we are always looking ormore people to help out with this project.

Habitat or Humanity is a nonprotorganization whose mission is to eliminatepoverty housing and homelessness romthe world by providing sae, clean and

aordable housing. According to theUnited Nations, over 100 million peoplelive without permanent shelter and about1.6 billion live in substandard housing.In the U.S. alone, one third o the nationexperiences housing problems on a dailybasis. In hopes to reduce these statistics,Habitat or Humanity has built more than200,000 houses and provided shelter or

more than 1,000,000 people worldwide.

Immense eorts have been madethroughout campus in order to raise undsor Herd or Habitat as each house costsapproximately $40,000 to build. Herdor Habitats Bring-a-Buck campaign wasorganized and held at the Marshall v. WestVirginia University ootball game, bringingin over $6,000. Additionally, studentshave supported the project by holding acar wash and organizing a reverse-trick-or-treat undraiser. Student organizationsare continually encouraged to take on any

individual projects to raise unds towardreaching its goal o $40,000.

The groundbreaking on the 1900th blocko Artisan Avenue site took place onDecember 13, 2007. On January 28,2008, students began work on the houseby participating in a wall-raising event.From then on, students could volunteeror one o two daily shits on Tuesdaythrough Saturday. No building experience

Habitat or Humanithas built more than200,000 houses andprovided shelter or

more than 1,000,000people worldwide.

Habitat or Humanity isa nonprot organization

whose mission is to eliminatepoverty housing and

homelessness rom the worldby providing sae, clean and

aordable housing.

Ask questions! Sometimes,your child wont tell you

everything.

Donna OBrien,Williamson, WV

Parent tiPS

Stay connected! Call, email,send mail, visit!

S. Jean Schraf,Edgewater, MD


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10 Parent Resource

The Memorial Fountain stands oncampus as a constant reminder thatthe Marshall community has seen

tragedy, yet through tragedy new liesprings orth. The ountain was built to

ensure that generations o Marshall studentswould never orget the disaster o the 1970plane crash that killed 75 members o theUniversitys ootball team, coaching staand community. The bronze plaque next tothe ountain reads, They shall live on in thehearts o their amilies and riends orever,and this memorial records the loss to theuniversity and to the community.

It is tradition on campus to turn o theountain on the anniversary o the tragicplane crash, November 14, and turn itback on in April. This winter, not only

was the water turned o, it was completelydisconnected. So was the electricall inpreparation to reurbish the aging ountainand its base. According to Mark Cutlip,director o the universitys Physical PlantDepartment, The base o the ountain isin very bad shape. A year ago, we had astructural engineer inspect the ountain andhe said we probably had 18 months until itwould become unstable.The 6,500 pound, 13 oot high monumentwas created by Harry Bertoia, an Italian-born sculptor. He hoped the ountainwould commemorate the livingratherthan deathon the waters o lie, rising,receding, surging so as to express upwardgrowth, immortality and eternality. Whenit was installed in 1972, the spray o waterwent all the way to the top o the ountain.Over the years, damage has occurred to thewater pump limiting the height o the spray.The sculptured part o the ountain hasalready received restorations to damagedsurace areas. Soon to be reurbishedare the damaged water pump and theountain base is being rebuilt. In order tocomplete these tasks, the ountain had tobe relocated. Workers utilized a 350-toncrane, a smaller crane and several otherpieces o heavy equipment to careully litthe ountain rom its crumbling base to atemporary platorm several eet away.Students, sta and construction workerswatched in awe and snapped photos asthe ountain was prepared or the lit. Ittook several hours to prepare the crane and

Memorial Fountain Receives Face LiftBy Sherri Stepp

secure the harness, but the actual litingand moving o the structure took around 20minutes. The entire reurbishing project isscheduled to be completed by the rst weeko April.

Spring Hill Cemetery holds anothermonument to the victims o the crash. It islocated at the common grave o six players.The steps leading to the monument and thebenches will be also be upgraded as part othis project, estimated to cost $200,000.

The Marshall University Foundation hasjoined with a committee o amily memberso the crash victims, alumni and severalormer Marshall ootball players to organizeundraising eorts to cover the renovationcosts. Because o the signicance othe ountain, the cemetery memorial andwhat they both mean to all o us, we wantto keep them in good working order and

beautiul or years to come, noted RonArea, CEO o the oundation.

Sherri Steppis the Coordinator o ParentResources and the Director o the JohnMarshall Emerging Leaders Instituteat Marshall University and a MarshallUniversity Alumna.

From a vantage point on the second fooro the Memorial Student Center where myoce is located, I sometimes watch visitors

as they stop by the ountain and read theinscription on the plaque next to it. Oten,they take pictures o the ountain and thenthey take pictures o each other with theountain behind them. The image o theountain is immortalized by thousands ophotos like those taken by our visitors. Iam anxious to see our ace-lited ountainand once again walk by it, reminded thatI am part o a University that has seen itsstruggles but still stands tall.


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Parent Resource

Ofce o Parent ResourcesMemorial Student Center 2W40One John Marshall DriveHuntington, WV 25755-3006

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