Faculty Achievements

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Odeh, associate professor of technology, art and design, presented a research paper entitled “Strategies for Teaching Online and Hybrid Courses” at the 49th National Association for Workforce Improvement conference in Portland, Ore., May 21-22. Al-Odeh also completed necessary training to become a Certified Quality Matters Master Reviewer to manage and coach peer review of online courses within the Minnesota Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU).

Dr. Jim Barta, interim dean of the College of Health Sciences and Human Ecology, and Joan Kyriopoulos, teacher at the Edith Bowen Laboratory School in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University, co-wrote an article for the October issue Teaching Children Mathematics, a publication of the National Council of Teachers in Mathematics. The article was about the authors’ work in the rural Guatemalan village of Santa Avelina where students are integrating mathematics and social studies in a cultural context.

Dr. Porter Coggins, assistant professor of professional education, wrote a column titled “How Geometric Sequences Might Have Kept the Zombies Away” that was published in the June 2014 edition of the Minnesota Council for Teachers of Mathematics’ Mathbits newsletter.

Dr. Michael Urban, associate professor of professional education, in July attended the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ 2014 Project Kaleidoscope Summer Leadership Institute for STEM Faculty in Crenstone, Colo.

Dr. Eric Forsyth, professor of human performance, sport and health, co-authored a chapter in Contemporary Sport Management (5th Edition) entitled “Interscholastic Sports.” Contemporary Sport Management is written by Paul Pedersen and Lucie Thibault.

Dr. Janice Haworth, associate professor of music, presented “The Civil Rights Movement and the Songs They Sang” to open the fall season of the Headwaters Center For Lifelong Learning presentation series in
Park Rapids.

Dr. Troy Gilbertson, professor of criminal justice, was part of a cohort of MnSCU faculty, staff and administrators who graduated from the Luoma Leadership Development Academy this summer. The academy is an 18-month leadership development program to promote effective leadership on MnSCU campuses.

Dr. Carla Norris-Raynbird, assistant professor of sociology, will serve as director of BSU’s women’s studies/gender studies program. She will chair the Women’s Studies/Gender Studies Council, serve on the university’s Academic Affairs Council and work with others to provide oversight for this critical area of study.

Dr. William “Bill” Scheela, professor emeritus of business administration, in September presented his academic paper on funding mechanisms for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Asia at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. He presented his work with Dr. Janti Gunawan, an international business partnership consultant from Indonesia.

Dr. Patrick Welle, professor of economics, is nearing completion on a project to research how water levels are impacting the economic viability of resorts and other commercial water-based activities on the Rainy and Namakan Lakes and Rainy River on the northern edge of Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park.

Dr. Anton Treuer, executive director of the American Indian Resource Center, has been traveling extensively to present on a broad array of topics related to Ojibwe language and cultural preservation. In mid-September, Treuer presented as part of a panel discussion hosted by the Indigenous Scholarship Program at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla., which is exploring a collaborative effort with BSU and the University of Hawaii-Hilo.

Dr. Colleen Livingston, professor of mathematics and computer science, received Quality Matters certification in August for her MATH 1100 course, Math Reasoning.