WSU Spokane Campus Bulletin
Issue 2006-10 (June 14, 2006)


IN THIS ISSUE

Underline

A Message from the Chancellor—WSU Spokane: At the Heart of the Action

Those of us living here all feel the sense of growing momentum across Spokane, with a wide variety of capital investments and civic projects:

  • Buildings are going up on campus and across the county.
  • The new Convention Center just held its first event with the Leadership Spokane graduation last week.
  • Fundraising by the Friends of the Falls is bringing in money for construction of a whitewater “park and play” feature in the Spokane River just west of downtown.
  • The list goes on and on.


As we celebrate these landmarks for the community, we may not realize that the entire state is taking notice of transformational developments in Spokane.

Business leaders in the Puget Sound region are saying, “There’s a lot happening in Spokane. We need to know more about what’s going on there.”

A few concrete examples of this statewide interest in “One Washington”:

  • The state legislature provided $1 million through WSU to support planning for an Institute for Systems Medicine, a public-private partnership. The ISM is envisioned as a private biomedical research organization complementing several already established—all on the west side of the state until now.
  • The Puget Sound Business Journal featured a special section on Spokane in April.
  • Washington CEO magazine will include a Spokane focus section in their July issue. That issue also includes their feature on the top 100 companies to work for, and it is one of their most widely read issues all year.
  • Around 60 members of the Prosperity Partnership—a group of top Puget Sound civic, business, and elected leaders—will be on the Pullman and Spokane campuses June 20-21 as part of an eastern Washington tour.
  • Jack Faris, executive director of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, has invited a number of Spokane people, including Tom Fritz of INHS and I, to present on Spokane initiatives at a meeting of the Seattle Community Development Roundtable in fall.
  • The proposed expansion of medical and dental education in Spokane, under the WWAMI and RIDE (Regional Initiatives in Dental Education) programs, positions us at the center of discussions concerning the health care professions shortage.

The Prosperity Partnership has also established a Higher Education Working Group, with a focus on increasing the number of bachelor’s degrees and in particular emphasizing high-demand degrees.

Within WSU itself, initiatives are under way to draw together the strengths we have in biomedical, life, and health sciences. WSU is one of the top 95 research universities in the nation, with a number of top scholars making breakthrough discoveries in fields from reproductive biology and genomics to sleep and performance.

As the site for leadership of this effort going forward, WSU Spokane has a unique opportunity to focus targeted health science education and translational/clinical research in the context of the largest regional health service cluster between Minneapolis and Seattle.

We have the synergy of strong partnerships with the area’s major hospital systems, private biomedical and healthcare institutions, the University of Washington, and local institutions of higher education. We are building targeted, truly world-class translational and clinical research programs, co-located with WSU Pullman.

The exciting developments in Spokane, bold new initiatives within WSU, and a statewide discussion about the importance of adequate funding for higher education to expand enrollments while maintaining high quality, intersect here on the Riverpoint campus.

The future of Spokane is very bright, and WSU will play a critical role in this success.

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ExMet Degree at WSU Spokane Granted ADA Accreditation

The Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology and Metabolism (ExMet) degree program at Washington State University Spokane has been granted Developmental Accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of the American Dietetic Association. ExMet is the only bachelor’s degree program in the nation to be endorsed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and accredited by the American Dietetics Association (ADA).

The only program of its kind in the Northwest, ExMet integrates the study of exercise and nutrition, focusing on biological and social/psychological interrelationships and their effect on the health of individuals.

Students completing this unique undergraduate degree are eligible to take national examinations for accreditation as entry-level dietitians and as certified ACSM Exercise Specialists. The degree program offers an interdisciplinary examination and evaluation of the multiple influences on individual health. Graduates have a competitive edge and extensive knowledge in the areas of both exercise physiology and nutrition.

Sally Blank, director of the Program in Health Sciences at WSU Spokane, has said that “By creating this integrated program, we are transcending the boundaries of other health-science programs that limit students to a single emphasis. Now students can have expert backgrounds in two areas instead of one. We expect [graduates will] be leaders in the health field.”

The ExMet program is accepting student applications for Fall 2006.

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WSU Spokane Sleep Researchers Receive Defense Instrumentation Grant

Thanks to a special grant acquired by sleep researchers Gregory Belenky, M.D., and Hans Van Dongen, Ph.D., Washington State University Spokane’s sleep and performance research center will soon have the very latest equipment, placing it at the forefront of sleep and performance research laboratories worldwide.

The pair recently received more than $725,000 from the Department of Defense in response to their grant proposal to the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP). DURIP supports the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new university capabilities to perform cutting edge defense research. An example of such research would be the sleep and performance research center’s fatigue management studies, which have the potential to significantly improve the work performance and quality of life of military personnel.

Belenky and Van Dongen will use the funds to outfit the center’s newly built laboratory space—located in WSU Spokane’s South Campus Facility—with an integrated measurement and data management system to conduct long-term residential lab studies into sleep and performance. This system will include:

  • A comprehensive measurement system consisting of a neuropsychological testing system, a polysomnographic recording system, and a near-infrared brain imaging system.
  • A data integration and security system, which will bring together all data in a single data set and will help safeguard the security and confidentiality of research data.
  • A data archiving and sharing system that will allow the center to easily share data with other scientists throughout the nation.

“Enabled by the DURIP, we will combine behavioral testing, standard sleep/wake electrophysiological recording, and continuous brain imaging to make major advances in our understanding of sleep and how to manage sleep to sustain performance in a 24/7 society,” said Belenky, the director of the sleep and performance research center.

The researchers and their staff are currently examining equipment that they are considering to acquire.

“We hope to have everything ready to start our first laboratory experiments this fall,” Van Dongen said.

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WIMIRT Announces New Leadership

The Washington Institute for Mental Illness Research and Training (WIMIRT) recently announced the appointment of WSU alumnus John Roll as director and Larry Cohen as an assistant director for Psychopharmacology Research and Training.

Roll previously served as assistant director for WIMIRT in the areas of substance abuse and other addictive disorders. Cohen, who previously served as the chair of the Pharmacotherapy Department, is a new addition to WIMIRT.

Both individuals have outstanding credentials coming into their new appointments. Roll has been a principal investigator or co-/sub-investigator on numerous grants totaling several million dollars, most of them from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (a unit of the National Institutes of Health). He was the scientific director of Friends Research Institute, Inc., a nonprofit research institute. In the past, he served as director of behavioral pharmacology in UCLA’s integrated substance abuse programs. He is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association.

Cohen, a professor of pharmacotherapy in the College of Pharmacy, is also a newly elected member of the 2005-2010 Psychiatry Expert Committee, the body that makes the United States Pharmacopeia’s (USP’s) scientific and standards-setting decisions. He is also a member of the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS) Specialty Council on Psychiatric Pharmacy, and a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. He is a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, a fellow of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, and a founding director of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists. In the past 27 years, Cohen has worked in a variety of public and private health organizations on an academic, state, and regional level.

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Charlotte Hardt Recognized for Contribution to Rural
Health Care

Charlotte Hardt, the interim director for Washington State University Extension’s Eastern Washington Area Health Education Center, was recently recognized for the vital role she plays in rural health care. The National Rural Health Association (NRHA)—a national nonprofit organization that provides leadership on rural health issues—named her as the 2006 recipient of the prestigious Louis Gorin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rural Health Care.

Given to Hardt during a May 17 ceremony at the NRHA’s annual conference in Reno, Nevada (pictured at right), the Louis Gorin Award is one of just seven awarded to rural health leaders whose dedication and commitment exemplify the highest standards of rural health care and service to their communities. Awardees are selected by a group of their peers based on their outstanding contributions and significant achievements.

Hardt received the award for dedicating her life’s work to rural health care, as well as for her boundless energy to make things better. According to her nominators, “Charlotte’s wisdom, problem solving skills, and her ability to work with a wide range of people is exhibited in her work with a variety of organizations and is evidenced in the honors she has received.”

Hardt has worked in rural health since the mid-1970s, serving as a nurse, nurse supervisor, hospital administrator, hospital district commissioner, community health systems development leader, and devoted worker at the state and national rural health association level. She is also a Mennonite Disaster Services volunteer, who most recently assisted in the rebuilding effort in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

As a legislative appointee to the Washington State Rural Health Care Commission, Hardt has helped to bring critical services to Washington, including a health professional loan repayment program and rural health systems development grants. She was also a founding board member of the Washington State Rural Health Association—now one of the most effective state rural health associations in the nation—and a former president of the NRHA.

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WSU Alumna, Adjunct Faculty Member Honored for Educational Leadership Role

“World class” is a phrase perfectly fit to describe Nancy Stowell, PhD, a WSU alumna, adjunct assistant professor at WSU Spokane, and associate superintendent for teaching and learning services for Spokane Public Schools. Her superior scholarship and leadership qualities have now been recognized by an international organization.

Stowell has been honored with the Excellence in Educational Leadership Award for 2005, which was presented to her earlier this spring. The award is co-sponsored by WSU and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), an organization of member universities in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. The annual award is designed to recognize school administrators who have played a significant role in the improvement of administrator preparation. Stowell is among 30 recipients in the country this year.

As a member of UCEA, WSU was able to nominate Stowell, focusing on her key role in the reform efforts of the state of Washington, and her groundbreaking reform work at the school-district level in Spokane. She is highly regarded for her scholarship and keen intellect, as well as her devotion to improving administrative education programs.

Stowell’s extensive career as an educator has included positions as a middle school principal, a curriculum director, an area director supervising schools and principals, and an associate superintendent of Spokane Public Schools, one of the largest school systems in the state of Washington. Additionally, she has served on professional education advisory boards for Washington State University, Gonzaga University, and Whitworth College. She has also been a board member for the YMCA Corporate Board and the East Central Community Center Organization.

With her knowledge of the challenges facing American public education, Stowell works to make changes in large educational systems so that each child is learning at a level necessary for success in today’s society. While getting her PhD in educational leadership from WSU, she completed a dissertation study of the statewide political influence on educational policy.

Washington State University has the largest superintendent preparation program in Washington, and educates the majority of the superintendents statewide. WSU is also one of the founding members of UCEA, and is devoted to recognizing and supporting education practitioners who contribute to the administrator preparation program, such as Stowell.

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Spokane School Psychology Student Awarded WSASP Minority Scholarship
Based on an article from SCOPE, the newsletter of the WSASP

Julianna EagleBear, a student currently enrolled in the Washington State University-Eastern Washington University joint post-master’s certificate program in School Psychology, was recently named the 2005 recipient of the Washington State Association of School Psychologists (WSASP) Minority Scholarship for Graduate Training in School Psychology.

The WSASP Minority Scholarship Program was established to help foster diversity in the school psychology profession by relieving the financial pressures faced by minority students pursuing careers in this field. The $1,000 scholarship award is given annually to at least one qualified and select graduate student of school psychology in the state of Washington.

An enrolled tribal member of the Navajo Nation, EagleBear is currently completing her internship in the Wellpinit School District, which is located on the Spokane Indian Reservation. She holds a certificate in teaching with endorsements in math and reading, as well as a master’s degree in school counseling.

School psychology program chair Steve Hirsch presented the WSASP Minority Scholarship to EagleBear earlier this spring (pictured above).

Debra Ross, special education director of the Wellpinit School District, has described EagleBear as “…dedicated, effective, and compassionate with a real commitment to the children, community, school, and staff.” In addition, she says, “Julianna is able to identify with the feelings and culture of the students with whom she interacts…resulting in children learning more to their capacity and enjoying the process.”

EagleBear values her role in working with American Indian children. Her background enables her to alleviate the cultural gaps that interfere with providing accurate results in the early identification of learning disabilities that could delay or eliminate their educational success.

School psychologists like EagleBear, who have the unique skills to deal with culturally and linguistically diverse populations, will be increasingly in demand. According to the National Association for Speech-Pathologists, the overall U.S. population is forecast to increase by almost 50% by the year 2050, with a large proportional increase forecast for the African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and Native American populations. The Caucasian (white, not of Hispanic origin) population will experience the smallest proportional increase.

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WSU Spokane Offers Hoopfest Parking to the Public

With 145,000 people flocking to downtown Spokane and the ongoing 1-90 construction, parking for Hoopfest weekend could be a little, well, foul. Luckily, WSU Spokane is offering three large lots for additional parking on June 24 and 25. Free public parking will be available in the Green lot #1 behind the Academic Center, Yellow lot #2 at the South Campus Facility, and Yellow lot #1 between Riverpoint and the condominiums.

The WSU Spokane and Hoopfest partnership will also recognize WSU Spokane as a major sponsor of the weekend event.

WSU Spokane campus parking is part of the STA “Hooploop”, a park and ride system that will shuttle basketball fans downtown from the campus lots. Pick up locations are on Bernard, Spokane Falls Boulevard, the South Campus Facility lot and Yellow lot #1.

For more information on the Hooploop and to view a Hoopfest parking map, including the WSU campus lots, click here.

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Call for Papers, Projects, and Posters for Design Research Focus Week

October 5 through 7 mark the Interdisciplinary Design Institute’s third annual Design Research Focus Week.

The theme for the conference this year is “Design and Livable Communities.” The Design Institute is calling for the submission of papers, projects, and posters related to this theme by July 17, 2005.

In keeping with its mission, the Design Institute encourages submissions from a wide range of disciplines, such as the natural sciences, the social sciences, health care/public health, the arts, and the design disciplines. Participation is not limited to the academic world—the business world, as well as the public and private sectors may also enter submissions.

Those submissions selected to be presented at the conference will be further peer-reviewed for inclusion in the Interdisciplinary Design and Research e-Publication (IDRP), sponsored by the WSU Interdisciplinary Design Institute.

For suggested topics and submission guidelines, please refer to the Design Research Focus Week Web site.

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Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown Highlights
Women's Leadership Conference

Do women govern differently than men? Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown will give her perspective on that question when she addresses aspiring women leaders during the NEW Leadership Inland Northwest Summer Institute, June 16, at Spokane's Doubletree Hotel City Center.

Brown's speech, titled "Washington Women as Political Leaders: Where Do We Go From Here?" is open to the public and will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the hotel's ballroom. "I think people will find Lisa Brown's topic very interesting because there is a lot of discussion nationally about the representation of women in public office," said event coordinator Alice Coil from Washington State University. "The issue is equally relevant right here in our hometowns."

She intends to provide the audience with a glimpse of our state's past, present and future female political leaders while expounding upon the challenges and opportunities that they face as elected officials.

Her talk will be a highlight for women who have been selected to participate in this year's National Education for Women's (NEW) Leadership Inland Northwest Summer Institute -- a four-day residential program. Washington State University is one of just 12 locations across the country to run a summer institute. This will be the first year WSU is hosting the institute in Spokane.

Persons interested in attending Brown's free lecture are asked to RSVP by contacting Alice Coil at coila@wsu.edu.


Community Connections

  • University District Meeting
    A University District meeting will be held on June 20 at 3 p.m., at the South Campus Facility Court on the Riverpoint Campus. All interested Riverpoint faculty, staff, and students are invited, as well as the general public. An overview of the University District and progress made to date will be given, as well as a presentation regarding next steps for continued development. For more information, contact Barb Chamberlain at 358-7527.

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Personnel & Staffing Changes

Comings:

  • Devon Hansen, Sleep Research Coordinator, Sleep & Performance Research Center, effective 6/1/06
  • Katie Weaver Randall, Research Associate, WIMIRT, effective 6/1/06
  • Michael Eisensmith, Media Technician Lead, Information Technology Services/WHETS, effective 6/5/06

Goings:

  • Marlene O’Dea, Office Assistant 3, Area Health Education Center, effective 6/30/06
  • Tracey Rice, Academic Coordinator, Upward Bound Program, Student Services, effective 6/23/06
  • Hesheng Liu, Research Associate, Electrical Engineering/Computer Science, effective 6/30/06
  • Kate Behan, Research Associate, Child & Family Research Unit, effective 7/5/06

Promotions:

  • Vivian Knapp, Custodian 4, Facilities Operations, effective 1/1/06
  • Michael Bergam, Media Technician Supervisor, effective 4/15/06
  • Erin Kincaid-McIntosh, Program Coordinator, effective 7/1/06

Recruitments:

  • Office Assistant 3, Area Health Education Center, apply by 6/13/06 at www.hrs.wsu.edu
  • Utility Maintenance Supervisor, apply by 6/13/06 at www.hrs.wsu.edu
  • IT Specialist 2, SIRTI, apply by 6/14/06 at www.hrs.wsu.edu
  • Registered Polysomnographic Technologist (RPSGT), Sleep and Performance Research Center, apply at www.hrs.wsu.edu,  position is open until filled

Searches:

  • Upward Bound Academic Coordinator, Student Services, apply by 6/23/06, information at www.chr.wsu.edu
  • Research Associate for Co-Occurring Disorders, WIMIRT, review of applications begins 7/1/06, information at www.chr.wsu.edu 

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Welcome to WSU Spokane!

WSU Spokane welcomes Devon Hansen as the study coordinator for the sleep and performance research center. Devon comes to us from the Sleep Institute of Spokane and has a BA in psychology and a MS in clinical psychology. She will be managing recruitment of study participants, maintaining the lab on a day-to-day basis, as well as supervising research assistants and students.

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Way to Go!

"In your travels through the campus buildings you may have noticed the brightly colored posters that caution you on using the crosswalks during the I-90 construction. A 'great big' thanks goes to Kelly LaGrutta, education, for designing the crosswalk poster and to Kristie Wardrop, IDI, for printing all of the posters. Completion of this project is just another great example of staff members working together for the good of the campus."
(from Jon Schad)

"A great big thank you to the Pullman HR team!…They have created a new system for training. Training can be a multi-tasking duty, from scheduling all the different classes, coordinating all the campuses, getting the WECN set up, and getting everyone involved all the training materials…WOW! So with that in mind Diane, Karen, and I would really like to express our appreciation for all their time and energy on this exciting new program."
(from Debra Myhre, Karen Erp and Diane Wick)

Here's where you make someone's day a little brighter by extending your thanks for a job well done. Send your “Way to Go!” comments to Laura Scholtens, scholtens@wsu.edu, and watch for your thanks to be published in an upcoming issue of the Campus Bulletin!

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The Bulletin is a monthly publication that is usually published on the second Wednesday of each month. The exact publication date may shift due to holidays. If you have an item that you'd like us to include, send it to us by Friday in the week before publication.
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The Bulletin covers news of interest to the faculty, staff, and friends of Washington State University Spokane, and associates on other WSU campuses and on the Riverpoint Campus.

Regular columns cover professional accomplishments, opportunities for involvement in the campus community and the Spokane community, notices of new developments on campus, upcoming events, personnel changes, and other news.

The Bulletin also serves as a source of information for external communications directed to alumni, future and current students, and friends of Washington State University Spokane. You'll read it here first!

Subscribers welcome! Send an e-mail to Judith Van Dongen, jcvd@wsu.edu, to request the WSU Spokane Campus Bulletin.

Editorial staff