Cedarville News - SOCHE Honors Six Cedarville Faculty

• SOCHE Honors Six Cedarville Faculty with Excellence Awards
• Orchestra’s Fall Concert Features “First and Last” Performances
• Five Professors Recognized for Excellence in Education
• Cost of Poverty Simulation Comes to Campus
• Cedarville Ranks No. 5 Among Midwestern Christian Universities
• Cedarville Ranked No. 3 Online College in the Nation

SOCHE Honors Six Cedarville Faculty with Excellence Awards

The Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) will present 58 faculty representing 15 colleges and universities in the Miami Valley with “Faculty Excellence Awards” on Friday, Nov. 18. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Dayton Art Institute.

The Faculty Excellence Award is based on teaching, service and scholarship, and each recipient was nominated by his or her respective college or university. Susan Southard, the 2016 recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Price for nonfiction, will be the keynote speaker.

Representing Cedarville University is Dr. Kristin DeWitt, associate professor of psychology; Sandra Harner, senior professor of professional writing; Mark Klimek, associate professor of Nursing; Dr. Glen Duerr, assistant professor of international studies; Dr. Elizabeth Sled, assistant professor of kinesiology; and Dan Sterkenburg, associate professor of international business.
Dewitt, who joined the faculty in 2015, has volunteered much time mentoring students, faculty and staff within and beyond her department. Student course evaluations have ranked her at or above her peers’ rating.

“When I received word about the SOCHE award I was in disbelief,” said Dewitt. “I am truly humbled. My true reward in teaching is when I see students clearly articulating the relationship between their faith and knowledge, and when I hear of my students walking in truth.”

Harner developed the professional writing program, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. She has had numerous articles published in her field, presented at conferences and serves as the director of the professional writing student organization. She plans to retire later this year.
“I am so honored to be recognized for doing what I love,” said Harner. “I have given my heart to teaching for 36 years at Cedarville University, and as I retire, this award is another highlight as I take my victory lap.”

Klimek is a founding faculty member for the Cedarville University School of Nursing. He has been teaching for 34 years and has been the school of nursing curriculum committee chair since 2005, leading four major curriculum revisions.

Duerr is one of the most sought-after experts by local and regional media on international topics. He has participated in more than 100 interviews during the past two years and is viewed highly by students for his teaching.

Sled has served in the kinesiology department at Cedarville for the past four years and has become beloved by her students and respected by her colleagues for her dedication to teaching. Her course evaluations are consistently the highest in the department and well above the institutional averages.

Sterkenburg has been teaching at Cedarville University since 2010, following a 25-year career in business. He currently advises Financing Hope, a student organization dedicated to helping innovative, needy individuals realize their dreams of owning their own business.

Orchestra’s Fall Concert Features “First and Last” Performances

The Cedarville University Orchestra will perform several engaging pieces during its annual fall concert on November 18, 2016, at 7 p.m. The concert will showcase three music faculty members with a world premier piece and a farewell performance.

The concert will feature the world premiere of “Clarinet Concerto,” composed by Steve Winteregg, D.M.A., professor of music. The premiere will feature soloist Bruce Curlette, D.M.A., senior professor of music and director of the orchestra’s clarinet ensemble.

"I often compose solo pieces that combine the concerto with program music,” said Winteregg. “In this case, I have combined a concerto for clarinet and orchestra with a musical picture of significant places in Dayton's history."

As a “farewell” appearance with the orchestra, Chuck Clevenger, D.M.A., senior professor of music, will perform Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor.” Clevenger has served on the faculty at Cedarville for 34 years and will retire from full-time teaching at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.

The orchestra, directed by Carlos Elias, M.M., professor of music, will also perform Sibelius' "Finlandia” and the Overture from Verdi's "La Forza del Destino.”

The performance, which will be held in the Dixon Ministry Center, is free and open to the public.

Five Professors Recognized for Excellence in Education

Five Cedarville University professors will be recognized in the December issue of the "Ohio Magazine" as “Excellence in Education” honorees. Each December, the publication recognizes faculty members across the state for their outstanding achievements in higher education.

The honorees include Rebecca Gryka, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences; Marc Clauson, Ph.D., professor of history and law; Mark Gathany, Ph.D., associate professor of biology; Tim Norman, Ph.D., professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering; and Michelle Wood, Ph.D., associate professor of English.

To be nominated, faculty must demonstrate excellence in teaching, participate in professional development activities, support student success outside the classroom and be a distinct member of the academic community. Each school or university in the Ohio area can nominate up to five professors or teachers for this recognition.

“God-pleasing excellence is what these five professors exemplify in and out of the classroom,” said Loren Reno, vice president of academics at Cedarville University. “With their other colleagues, I salute their significant accomplishments and this high honor.”

This is the second year for all five of the Cedarville professors nominated were chosen by the magazine for this recognition. In 2015, Cedarville’s honorees included Gerald Brown, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical engineering; Aleda Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice; James Leightenheimer, M.A., associate professor of communications; John Mortenson, D.M.A., professor of music; and Peggy Wilfong, Ph.D., professor of English.

Cost of Poverty Simulation Comes to Campus
Cedarville University’s School of Pharmacy has partnered with Think Tank’s Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) to organize a simulation that offers a glimpse into the lives of low-income individuals and families. The experiential event will take place on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the university’s Stevens Student Center.

Many organizations and communities across the nation use COPE to address the issues of poverty from a comprehensive perspective. The simulation exercise causes participants to make hard decisions faced by low-income people – and then experience the consequences. Think Tank and CareSource Foundation worked with low-income individuals to create the simulation.

“It’s our hope that through the simulation, participants are able to challenge themselves and gain a realistic view on poverty,” said Danielle Baker, third-year professional pharmacy student and president of Cedarville’s American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists chapter. “This event will help pharmacy students think differently about the patients they serve in the health field.”

Participants will be given a scenario and characters to play based on the statistics of people and families who are living in poverty. A group of 17 students from the school of pharmacy have already volunteered to be trained by Think Tank beforehand to play different roles in the simulation.

“Although professional pharmacy students serve the underserved, we don’t often have the opportunity to experience poverty itself,” said Courtney Seekins, third-year professional pharmacy student and chair of the school of pharmacy’s student council. “This simulation provides that opportunity.”

The school of pharmacy has extended the invitation to the entire university and has a goal of 100 participants. Registration is free and can be completed online.

Cedarville Ranks No. 5 Among Midwestern Christian Universities

Cedarville University is one of the best Christian universities in the Midwest and the top Christian university in Ohio, according to Christian Universities Online (CUO), an independent online resource for students interested in Christian higher education. Cedarville comes in at No. 5 in CUO’s 2017 Midwest rankings.

CUO evaluated and ranked Christian colleges and universities based on their student-to-faculty ratios, acceptance rates, financial aid offerings, retention rates and graduation rates.

Cedarville has a student-to-faculty rate of 13-to-1, which allows students to receive more personal instruction and support from professors, and the university’s strong graduation and retention rates – 72 and 86 percent, respectively – indicate a high level of student satisfaction thanks to myriad support services and a vibrant student life.

“This ranking seeks to highlight intentionally Christian colleges and universities that excel in categories of personal attention to their students, selectivity, readily available financial aid and overall student satisfaction,” explained Anna Rebekah Orr, associate editor of CUO.

Cedarville also excelled when evaluated on its financial aid offerings, providing grant or scholarship aid to 99 percent of full-time, beginning undergraduate students. Cedarville recently increased academic scholarship amounts, created new competitive academic excellence scholarships and increased donor-funded scholarships, allowing more students than ever to experience its rigorous, Christ-centered education.

“I offer my thanks to the faculty and students whose excellence and pursuit of Christ have made this favor possible. To God be the glory,” said Gen. Loren Reno, vice president for academics.

Cedarville Ranked No. 3 Online College in the Nation

A recent ranking announced by the SR Education Group listed Cedarville University among the best online colleges in the country. In the 2017 Top Online Colleges ranking, Cedarville was listed No. 3 in the United States.

The University of Maryland and University of Washington were ranked ahead of Cedarville University.

The ranking was based on both academic strength and affordability, aiming to provide a list of colleges offering high quality online education at a relatively low cost. Each of the colleges listed has an annual tuition rate of $15,000 or less.

Cedarville University offers six online master’s degree programs and three online certificate programs, each fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission’s North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Many of the programs have flexible options for completion, allowing students to choose between full-time, part-time or accelerated learning formats.

The SR Education Group is an education publisher that creates resources for students, providing information about educational opportunities, careers and financial aid. It researches and publishes content about online colleges and posts college rankings to aid students in making decisions regarding their higher education.