lider. Many other faculty
have been well published
and are receiving recognition
for their scholarly work as
well as their excellent teach-
ing.
We were able to officially
open our field station at
Capitol Reef National Park,
providing the first field sta-
tion for UVU and one of the
few field stations in a na-
tional park in America. This
facility will allow many disci-
plines to utilize the out-
standing natural setting to
further the educational op-
portunities for our students.
The State Legislature has
approved $2.8 million for
UVU to undertake the plan-
ning and design of our new
science building addition.
This building will be 145,000
square feet and provide
much needed laboratory,
classroom, student study
space and faculty offices for
biology, forensics, nursing
and common space for all of
our science programs.
Welcome. In our last news-
letter we spoke of becoming
the College of Science and
Health with the change of
our institution becoming a
University. With this oppor-
tunity our college grew by
some 25 new faculty posi-
tions and is expanding with
a Master’s degree in Nurs-
ing, a new Biotechnology
Program and enhancements
throughout the College. We
are happy to report these
have all been accomplished
this past year. And further-
more, our numbers continue
to grow, with over 400
graduates receiving Bache-
lors and Associates degrees
this year.
Following the remarkable
changes in our college, we
have unveiled a “Science Renaissance“ plan for
“framing” our college for the
next three years. This plan
will set in motion an empha-
sis each year to celebrate:
1) The Sciences, 2) the
Health Professions and 3)
Mathematics. This year we
also put in place an out-
standing symposium series
open to students and the pub-
lic. You can read more about
this excellent program on
page 2 of this newsletter.
These seminars have ex-
ceeded our hopes with more
than 200 people attending
each of the sessions.
We also initiated our first Sci-ence for Breakfast this spring
with over 50 in attendance
enjoying Dr. Dan Fairbanks
talk entitled “Where Art and Science Meet”, while he
sculpted a bust of Senator
Margaret Dayton. We plan to
continue Science for Break-fast as a college tradition.
Our faculty continues to re-
ceive international recognition
with Dee Oyler being inducted
as a Fellow into the Royal
Society of Chemistry. Karl
Haisch was invited to speak at
an International Astronomical
conference in China. Jun Ling
has been invited to speak and
present his work on the same
agenda with some of the top
mathematicians in the world.
Steve Wasserbaech has been
appointed as a senior fellow
at CERN in Switzerland where
he will conduct experiments
on the massive new supercol-
UT
AH
VA
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NIV
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SIT
Y
S P R I N G 2 0 0 9
T H E S Y N A P S E
T H E S Y N A P S E
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E
D E A N ’ S M E S S A G E 1
C O L L E G E N E W S 2
D E P A R T M E N T N E W S 3
N E W F A C U L T Y & S T A F F 9
C O N T A C T I N F O R M A -T I O N 1 2
C A L E N D A R
The Synapse is publish
once a year by the College
of Science and Health
The College of Science and Health
SUMMER SEMESTER 2009
BLOCK I 5/6/—8/14
Block II 5/6—6/24
Block III 6/25—8/14
Block IV 5/8-9—7/17-18
FALL SEMESTER 2009 Block I 8/26—10/19
Block II 10/20—12/10
Final Exams 12/14--17
HOLIDAYS May 25 Memorial Day July 4 Independence Day July 24 Pioneer Day Sept 7 Labor Day Oct 8—9 Fall Break (Student) Oct 9 Fall Break (Faculty) Nov 25 –27 Thanksgiving Dec 24-25 Christmas
D E A N ’ S M E S S A G E
CSH SYMPOSIUM SERIES
Page 2 T H E S Y N A P S E
T his past year, the College of Science and Health spon-
sored our inaugural “Science Renaissance” speaker’s sympo-sia featuring prominent nation-ally recognized scientists. Dr. Duane Jeffreys from BYU, a respected evolutionary biologist, gave our first symposium dis-cussing the incontrovertible case for evolution in the natural world. Duane has been a tireless pro-ponent for evolution in under-graduate education and has had considerable influence both within the state and nationally in promoting evolution in public education. This past fall, we invited Dr. Pauline Snoeijs from Uppsala University in Sweden, to speak about her research on Linnaeus’ taxonomy and the remarkable photographic collection she has
produced and published in a new book entitled The Bridal Chambers of Linnaeus. She also spoke to students and faculty at a biology seminar regarding her research in the Baltic Sea. In November we heard from Michael Jacobs from ATK who is the project director of the Ares rocket, scheduled for a July test launch. This rocket is the flagship of America’s next-generation space transporta-tion system designed to deliver explorers to Earth’s orbit – supporting NASA’s exploration goals for crewed missions back to the moon and beyond. During the spring semester, Dr. Carl Black, an interventional radiologist and member of our national advisory board, gave a presentation on the work he is
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
doing at the vein clinic which entails everything from treat-ment of varicose veins to re-moving blood clots and pre-venting stokes. Dr. Alan Franklin gave a pres-entation on the Mendel-Fischer controversy which questions whether or not Gregor Mendel fudged his ground-breaking research on the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Our own Dan Fairbanks and Alan have written a book entitled “Ending the Mendel-Fisher Controversy” which puts to rest this allega-tion. Dr. Stan Welsh spoke about Utah native plant species . Dr. Temple Grandin, a nation-ally renowned animal scientist who is autistic discussed her work with animals and design-
ing more human holding facili-ties and pens. Temple, a highly engaging speaker, talked quite a bit about her autism and both how it challenges her and pro-vides her with the unique per-spective she brings to her con-sulting work, research, and writing. In addition to her sym-posium speech, she also spoke to a group in the community about special needs in educa-tion and material from her book, “The Way I See It.” Finally Dr. Thure Cerling, pro-fessor at University of Utah and author of over 200 papers and member of the American Acad-emy of Science presented “The History of Animals using Iso-tope Records. Naturally occur-ring stable isotopes leave an imprint of an animal’s history.
Page 3 T H E S Y N A P S E
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e b e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
B I O L O G Y D R . M A R K B R A C K E N
T he 2008-2009 year has been filled
with great expectations and accom-
plishments as well as some setbacks
due to the recent economic crisis. Fall
2008 marked the official start of the
biotechnology bachelor's degree on Utah
Valley University's main campus. The
number of majors in biotechnology in-
creased from 5 in the Fall of 2007 to
almost 90 at the beginning of the 2009
spring semester. Two-thirds of the bio-
technology majors are located at UVU's
main campus, with the other one-third
being found at Salt Lake Community
College's West Jordan campus.
The Biotechnology Program has lever-
aged the base money received from leg-
islative appropriations in 2007 by receiv-
ing approximately six hundred thousand
dollars of grant money from the US De-
partment of Labor. This money is being
used to equip and implement Biotechnol-
ogy 1010 as a concurrent enrollment
course in 6 high schools in 4 school dis-
tricts within UVU’s service area. Fall
2008 marked the first concurrent enroll-
ment class in biotechnology at Salem
Hills High School. This funding also en-
abled the Department of Biology to begin
summer training for participating high
school faculty and summer Biotech
camps for high school students. Summer
2008 marked the start of this training
with teachers participating from Provo
High School, Lone Peak High School, and
Salem Hills High School as well as others
from non-participating schools.
Biotechnology undergraduates have
participated in internships with various
companies, such as: Idaho Technolo-
gies, ARUP, InnovaBio and others.
Undergraduate research or internships
give students an opportunity to prac-
tice real science skills in labs and pro-
jects of their own. To help facilitate
these activities, the Department of
Biology built biotech and cell culture
laboratories. Our first bachelor's de-
gree graduates have jobs secured in
different biotech companies and are
paving the way for future students.
A full-time herbarium curator was
hired during the summer of 2008,
advancing our already prestigious
virtual and collections herbaria in
preparation for a botany degree which
was schedule to go forward in the fall
of 2009. Unfortunately the degree
was delayed because of necessary
budget cuts and the loss of an essen-
tial faculty position. However the her-
baria are progressing nicely under the
care of Dr. Jason Alexander and we
are delighted to have him as an inte-
gral part of the biology department.
We also welcomed Dr. Glendon
Parker as a new faculty member in
biotechnology. He brings with him an
extensive research background in
biochemistry and carbohydrate me-
tabolism.
Several notable occurrences have
taken place among biology faculty this
year. Dr. Olga Kopp co-authored an
article which was published in Science
entitled “Genomic Education Partner-
ship”. Dr. Catherine Stephen was
awarded sabbatical leave next year to
collaborate on a status, trade, and
exploitation study of green and spiny
tailed iguanas This project is being
supported with one-time funding
through the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Dr.
Lawrence Gray was also awarded a
sabbatical leave to expand his col-
laborative studies with the Utah De-
partment of Environmental Quality.
The Department of Biology is cur-
rently poised to begin the planning
phase of a sorely needed new sci-
ence building. Announcements that
the 2009 legislative session appro-
priated 2.8 million dollars in planning
money to UVU was met with a great
sigh of relief and joy. There is tangi-
ble excitement and energy among
our faculty who have done so much
with limited space and resources. We
have a great faculty with superb tal-
ents and abilities. Most of our faculty
came to UVU with a vision of building
an undergraduate program that
would be second to none. Now this
glimmer signals the possibility of
realizing that vision in the not to dis-
tant future. The biology faculty are
rolling up their sleeves and thrusting
forward to make it become a reality.
Those of us who are old
can afford to live dan-
gerously. We have less
to lose.
C H E M I S T R Y D R . D E E O Y L E R
Page 4 T H E S Y N A P S E
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
T he Chemistry department has grown during the last
year. A new faculty member and two full time laboratory managers/instructors were hired. The new faculty member is Dr. Martha Day, her specialty is secondary education. She is teaching Education for Teach-ers classes for student teach-ers in Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics. She also teaches Chemistry classes. Both of the full time laboratory managers/
instructors hired have PhD degrees. They are Dr. Kris An-dress who has taught at UVU as an adjunct instructor for a number of years. Dr. Chin Yeh came to UVU from Salt Lake Community College. He re-places Fran Billington, who retired.
Dr. Dee Oyler, who has served as department chair for the last seven years will retire June 30, 2009. The department is in
E A R T H S C I E N C E D R . D A N N Y H O R N S
the process of finding another faculty member to replace him. Dr. Bruce Wilson will replace him as Chair of the Chemistry Department.
The department has added another emphasis for the chemistry degree. The addition is biochemistry. The depart-ment now has three, profes-sional chemistry, forensic chemistry, and biochemistry. The department still offers the
chemistry and physics secon-dary education degree.
The department is expecting the delivery of the new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) instrument this summer. The department is also in the proc-ess of obtaining a mass spec-trometer and a liquid chro-matograph. With these addi-tions the department will have an excellent number of instru-ments for teaching and re-search.
I n the past year, the De-
partment of Earth Science
has significantly increased
the extent to which our stu-
dents are engaged in the
learning process. We have
done this by getting our stu-
dents involved in research
projects and helping them
present their work at meet-
ings of professional organiza-
tions.
The Department has begun
two new research projects.
The first new project is a
hydrologic study of part of
the Sierra Madre mountains
of Northern Mexico. This
area is inhabited by mem-
bers of the Tarahumara
tribe, who live by subsistence
farming. Water in the area is
scarce, and about half of the
wells that are drilled yield no
water. A team from UVU
Earth Sciences, including
faculty members Joel Brad-
ford, Steve Emerman, and
Mike Bunds, along with sev-
eral UVU students, has be-
gun a project to characterize
the aquifer system in the
area. After another season
of field work, the team
should be able to provide
better guidance to well drill-
ers.
Joel, Steve, and Mike have
also started a project to
study arsenic in rivers of
South Asia. The three faculty
members, along with two
students, will travel to Nepal
in May 2009. They will as-
sess how arsenic is getting
into one of Nepal’s major
river systems, with the goal
of protecting the population
from this toxic element.
These two new projects com-
pliment several ongoing pro-
jects in the Department.
Dan Stephen has been
studying evolution of am-
monoids (ancient
marine inverte-
brates), with the help
of several colleagues
from Utah, France,
Germany, and Swit-
zerland. Bill Dinklage
is continuing a study
of metamorphic
rocks in the moun-
tains of Central Ne-
vada. This work will
provide a better understand-
ing of mountain growth in the
western U.S. Daniel Horns is
continuing work on a study of
prehistoric earthquakes on
the Wasatch Fault. Daniel
Horns and Mike Bunds, are
working on a multi-year study
of the movement of the Sher-
wood Hills landslide in Provo.
Lastly, Jim Callison is con-
tinuing work on develop-
ment of a zero-emission
wood-burning stove. Each
of these projects has in-
volved contributions from
several UVU Earth Science
students.
In addition to gaining knowl-
edge and skills by working
on these projects, the stu-
dents have also made great
Continued on page 6
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
T H E S Y N A P S E Page 5
U VU Second Year Dental
Hygiene Students won
first place honors for their pres-
entation about “Third Hand
Smoke” at the annual Utah
Dental Association Convention
in Salt Lake City February 19-
20, 2009. Every year all of the
Dental Hygiene schools com-
pete through their table clinic
presentations on various topics
in oral health. There were ap-
proximately 40 different pres-
entations representing the five
hygiene schools in the state.
During the state convention,
Dentists, Hygienists, and Assis-
tants are able to view the pres-
entations and speak to the
students who have researched
the topic and presented the
material. A group of dentists
from the Utah Dental Associa-
tion act as judges and decide
which presentation warrants
recognition as the best. The
three UVU Dental Hygiene stu-
dents who took first place are:
Erin Michaels, Tricia Crandall,
and Colette Hinchcliff. Each
student also received a cash
award.
“Third Hand Smoke” refers to
residual tobacco smoke con-
tamination that remains after
the cigarette is extinguished.
Toxins (third hand smoke) from
the second hand smoke re-
main and build up on surfaces
such as clothing, hair, furni-
ture, and carpeting. The risk
from “Third Hand Smoke”
seems to be the greatest for
infants and children and may
affect their developing brains.
For more information on third
hand smoke, please go to the
UVU Dental Hygiene Depart-
ment Website at
www.uvu.edu/csh/dental.
Dental Hygiene students have
been very active in the commu-
nity this Spring semester.
Some of their activities for
Spring 2009 have been:
• Donated their services to
help the children by par-
ticipating in Sealants for
Smiles Program. The
students applied dental
sealants to the teeth of
children at no charge to
their families.
• Gave presentations on
oral health to the children
at Wasatch Elementary
school in Provo.
• Visited the Golden Living
retirement home and pro-
vided oral health educa-
tion to the senior citizens.
They also cleaned den-
tures and helped the resi-
dent with their particular
dental issues.
• Gave presentations at the
House of Hope, about
home care and the impor-
tance of fluoride. The
House of Hope helps
young mothers with seri-
ous drug issues.
The Department of Community
Health has changed their name
to The Department of Public and
Community Health. This is more
in line with the mission and
goals of the department.
Dr. Lynley Rowan has just re-
turned from Peru where she was
working in corporation with the
U of U Medical School in provid-
ing education and training to
local physicians. The Depart-
ment of Public and Community
Health will be looking for fund-
ing for next summer as the plan
is for the department to sponsor
a three day intensive health
education conference for physi-
cians and local health providers.
Dr. Bob Walsh will be going to
Mexico in October with mem-
bers of the Earth Sciences de-
partment. He and others are
collaborating on designing an
epidemiological project to col-
lect hair samples to determine
the short and long term effects
of natural occurring arsenic in
the drinking water of several
Mexico villages.
Dr. Vance Hillman and Dr. Brian
Barthel have just returned from
the American Association of
Health, Physical Education, Rec-
reation and Dance annual con-
ference. Dr. Hillman presented a
paper and Dr. Barthel served as
a session host. In addition Dr.
Barthel serves on the ethics
committee for AAPHEARD.
Dr. Sue Jackson has just fin-
ished her PhD. She is also get-
ting ready for the arrival of her
first baby. Dr. Jackson has
been a welcomed addition to
the department.
Dr. Mary Brown and the cam-
pus Health Education Associa-
tion of Utah have been busier
than ever. Between local and
state presentations and her
untiring efforts with the HEAU
student club she continues to
set an example for all faculty.
Her work in preparing students
for the CHES exam has in-
creased the overall department
pass rate significantly. Without
this certification many students
have difficulty finding work in
the Public Health system.
Lori Richards has been busy
revamping the teacher educa-
tion degree within the depart-
ment. State licensing require-
ments continue to change as
does the state teacher exam.
Her tutoring efforts have made
a real difference in raising
scores on the statewide exam.
Dr. Reba Keele is busier than
ever coordinating department
internships. Each semester
Reba locates and supervises
over 30 internship students.
This combined with her supervi-
sion and teaching duties in the
Health Administration degree
keep her on the move.
The department wishes to rec-
D E N T A L H Y G I E N E D R . G E O R G E V E I T
C O M M U N I T Y H E A L T H D R . R O B E R T W A L S H
Continued on page 8 Continued on page 6
Page 6 T H E S Y N A P S E
P H Y S I C S D R . B R E N T B A R G E R O N
T his past year has been
quite eventful for the
Physics Department and sev-
eral very positive things have
happened. First of all, the
Department has hired two
new faculty members. Dr.
Bonnie J. Andersen is an ex-
perimental physicist who
comes to us from the Univer-
sity of Utah. She started
teaching at Utah Valley Univer-
sity last fall. She has been
very well accepted and the
students enjoy being in her
classes. We have also hired
Dr. Joseph Jensen, an as-
tronomer, who is currently
employed by the Gemini Insti-
tute in Hawaii where he is the
Director of Instrumentation.
He will start work here the Fall
of 2009. We are looking for-
ward to his arrival.
Our students have been very
productive and presented
papers at the Four Corners
Regional Meeting of the
American Physical Society in
October 2008 in El Paso, TX.
The students presenting
there were Rachel Mifflin
Anderson, Jeffery Hodges,
Michael Stufflebeam, Carlos
Moreno, and Tyler Park. Alex
Panin, a member of the
physics staff, also presented
two papers at the confer-
ence. This spring we had 8
papers presented at the
Utah Conference on Under-
graduate Research at West-
minster College in Salt Lake
City. The students present-
ing there were Rachel Mifflin
Anderson, Justin Giovannoni
(2 Papers), Jeffery Hodges,
Carlos Moreno, Tyler Park,
Sherene Higley (poster), and
Adam Barley (poster). All
papers were well received
and the Department was
very pleased with all of the
presentations.
Dr. Steven R. Wasserbaech
has been honored and has
honored the Chemistry De-
partment by receiving a won-
derful research appointment
to work at CERN, the premier
Steven Morris have received
appointments to carry out
research for the Space Dy-
namics Laboratory which is
associated with Utah State
University.
It is also noteworthy that we
have had three students enter
or be accepted for graduate
school over the past year.
Tim Wendler started his
graduate studies at Brigham
Young University in Septem-
ber of 2008. At the same
time, Michael Stufflebeam
entered graduate school at
the University of Utah. Jeffery
Hodges has been admitted to
the University of Utah to begin
this fall. The Department
expects that others will re-
ceive notices soon that they
have been admitted for gradu-
ate studies.
We should also note that our first two physics graduates Ryan Clary and John Jensen (class of 2004) have now completed their PhD degrees and are gainfully employed at two different companies in California.
research organization for parti-
cle physics in the world. CERN
is a European research institu-
tion with the world’s largest
particle collider. Steve will be
on sabbatical for the next aca-
demic year (2009-2010).
Congratulations to him! An-
other of our faculty members,
Dr. Karl Haisch has been in-
vited at least two times to
present papers at interna-
tional conferences over the
past year.
We have also been pleased
that our students have re-
ceived appointments to con-
duct summer research. Ra-
chel Mifflin Anderson worked
in a Research Experience for
Undergraduate Program at
Indiana University in 2008. At
the same time, Jeffery Hodges
received a similar appoint-
ment at Brigham Young Uni-
versity. Wayne Miller worked
on an internship at Novell
during the summer of 2008.
So far for the coming summer
(2009), David Bierman and
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
Intelligence is knowing what to do
when you don’t know what to do.
ognize the time and talents of
Mercedes Kelsey the depart-
ment advisor. Good advising
is critical for student success
and she has done a wonderful
job. She will be leaving for a
PhD program in New Mexico.
Last but maybe most impor-
tant is Kristie Dockstader the
department administrative
assistant. It is her organiza-
tional abilities and never
ending dedication that
keeps the department mov-
ing forward. Without Kristie
much of the departmental
successes would be impos-
sible.
Community Health—continued from page 5
professional connections by presenting the work at meetings
of professional organizations. Approximately 15 Utah Valley
University Earth Science students have presented their work
in the past year.
Earth Science—Continuted from page 5
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
T H E S Y N A P S E Page 7
N U R S I N G D R . M A R L E N E B A C O N
U tah Valley University’s
Math Education program
is one of the best in the state.
At least, that is, according to
Terry Hill, principal of Timber-
line Middle School in Alpine,
Utah.
And Mr. Hill should know—he
has hired several UVU math
graduates recently. In fact, of
the five math faculty currently
teaching at TMS, three are
recent UVU graduates: Geof-
frey Busby (BS Math Ed.
2007), David Kroupa (BS
Math Ed. 2006), and Nichole
Robertson (BS Math Ed.
2007).
When asked about Secondary
Education in Mathematics at
Utah Valley University, Mr. Hill
replied, “In almost every case,
the students we have worked
with as interns or hired as
ongoing teachers from UVU
have come to us ready for
the classroom. The high
expectation that the stu-
dents are held to in the
secondary math teaching
program inspires well
rounded, well prepared,
well disciplined teachers.“
Dr. Christine Walker, coordi-
nator of the UVU Math Edu-
cation program, supervises
all UVU student teachers in
mathematics and is largely
responsible for the success
of the program. Her impact
was noticed by Principal Hill
as he commented, “I have
just been extremely im-
pressed with the support
system that UVU seems to
have for the students in its
secondary math teaching
program. There appears to
be an integrity in the pro-
gram that is very impres-
M A T H E M A T I C S C A R O L Y N H A M I L T O N
sive. I would place them
among the top schools I work
with.“
UVU MATH WEEK was held
March 9—13, 2009 and in-
cluded a one-of-a-kind geo-
metric construction. Under
the supervision of Dr. David
Richter from Western Michi-
gan University, UVU students
and faculty worked for 6
hours to create an intricate
geometric structure using
LEGO-like building pieces
known as Zome. The final
product of their work, nearly
five feet in diameter, is on
permanent display on the
fourth floor of the Library.
Other Math Week activities
included math-for-cash con-
tests such as Speed Sudoku,
a Factoring Bee, an Integra-
tion Bee, and a Math Race, as
well as an outstanding exhibit
of art inspired by mathemat-
ics.
Nursing program has from
our community. After a very
rigorous examination they
gave us full continuing ac-
creditation for eight years.
There was not much time to
rest after our NLN-AC visitors
left because we had to pre-
pare to move from the
Browning Administration
Building into the new offices
at UVU West Campus. There
is much more room for fac-
ulty offices and most of the
student nursing courses are
scheduled on the West Cam-
pus. A new Nursing Arts Lab
was completed during spring
semester and offers more
space for students who were
cramped into the small lab
spaces in the Browning Ad-
ministration Building.
In January, we received ap-
F all semester the nursing
faculty began implemen-
tation of the new bachelor’s
of science nursing curriculum
as we continued to phase out
the “old” program. Faculty
stepped up to the challenge
and the curriculum transition
has progressed smoothly. At
the same time, faculty contin-
ued preparation for the
planned accreditation visit
from the National League for
Nursing Accrediting Commis-
sion (NLN-AC). Beginning on
October 27, the nursing fac-
ulty welcomed five site visi-
tors who stayed with us for
three days. During that time
our NLN-AC visitors inter-
viewed faculty, administrator,
students, and community
leaders. They were very im-
pressed with the quality of
nursing education at UVU and
the level of support the UVU Continued on page 8
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
Page 8 T H E S Y N A P S E
• Visited Vineyard Elementary school
in Orem where they gave presenta-
tions on topics such as brushing and
flossing, proper diet, snacks, and
tooth decay. They used a variety of
costumes and visual aids to make
the experience fun for the children.
proval from the Utah Board of Regents for
a Master’s Degree in Nursing Science.
This is only the second master’s degree
at UVU and is an important step as we
move along as a new university. The
nursing faculty members are very excited
about the new master’s degree program
and are planning on accepting our first
Dental Hygiene—Continued from 5
Nursing– Continued from 7
• Our students organized a Sealant
Saturday, at our clinic. Sealants
were placed on children’s teeth free
of charge. Faculty donated their time
to help with this event.
• Students presented a puppet show at
the UVU daycare facility. The puppet
show was to help teach the pre-
schoolers about proper oral hygiene.
• Students attended the Heritage
School Health Fair in Provo. There
were 160 students and 2000 em-
ployees in attendance.
students into the program, fall semester
2009.
As you can see, we have been very busy.
One of our next biggest challenges is
meeting the need for nursing in our com-
munity. We are expanding the number of
students we will admit to our program and
will welcome 60 new nursing students
into our program fall semester, 2009.
Continuing to meet the demand for highly
qualified nurses remains the primary goal
of the UVU Nursing Program. As we grow,
we’ll remember our traditions while pro-
viding the newest in nursing education for
our students.
As the Physical Education and Recreation
department continues to grow we look
forward to the changes and challenges
ahead. Many of our soon-to-graduate
students are applying to professional
schools and have been successful in
their endeavors. We have offered bache-
lor degrees for the past three years and
each year we have more graduates than
the year prior.
We welcome Jason Slack as the new
Department Chair and Andrew Creer as a
new faculty member in the Exercise Sci-
ence emphasis. In addition to our great
classroom instruction, faculty are in-
volved in various research projects, pro-
fessional organizations, and service to
the community and university.
Andy Creer brings with him a passion for
cycling and is the advisor for the UVU Cy-
cling Club. In addition to mentoring the
students on group rides, several of the
club members are involved with him as he
collects data regarding physiological adap-
tations to cycle training.
Scott Williams has been a major player in
the opening of the Capitol Reef field sta-
tion as a place where faculty, staff, and
students can go to conduct research in
several different disciplines and increase
their network. At this facility students also
provide service for different land manage-
ment agencies.
Shaunna Mcghie has been asked to par-
ticipate on the Strategies Editorial Board
for the National Association for Sport and
Physical Education. She is the current
editor for PE Central K-2 and is an active
member of the American Alliance for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance.
Faculty and students in the Physical Edu-
cation and Recreation Department are
engaged in various activities which will
prepare them to be qualified profession-
als in their field. This past school year we
had 6 students present research at the
Utah Conference for Undergraduate Re-
search, all of which were further accepted
for presentation at the National Confer-
ence for Undergraduate Research held in
Wisconsin this year. In addition, students
have presented research at the Western
Society of Kinesiology and Wellness and
the Association for Experiential Education.
P H Y S I C A L E D U C A T I O N & R E C R E A T I O N D R . J A S O N S L A C K
Page 9 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
NEW FACULTY, STAFF AND REASSIGNMENTS
Jason Alexander
Biology
Melissa Monk
Biology
Glendon Parker
Biology
Kris Andress
Chemistry
Chin-Yah-Yeh
Chemistry
Steve Emerman
Earth Science
Karissa SeriaDelozier
Nursing
Bonnie Andersen
Physics
Jason Hill
Dean’s Office
Erik Heiny
Mathematics
Colin Brinkerhoff
Mathematics
Martha Day
Chemistry
Edmund Priddis
Biology
Xioa Y. Ji
Mathematics
Hjoohyun Chung
Nursing
James Bradshaw
Biology
Andrew Greer
Physical Education
Rebecca Brimhall
Community Health
Sue Smith-Jackson
Community Health
Dianne Knight
Dental Hygiene
Kerri Carlile
Mathematics
Marlene Bacon
Nursing
Linda Kochniuk
Nursing
Tom Lee
Physics
Duke Dayton
Physics
PHOTOS WERE UNAVAILABLE
S C I E N C E F O R B R E A K F A S T
Page 12 T H E S Y N A P S E
I n f o r m a t i o n E x c h a n g e B e t w e e n P e o p l e & D i s c i p l i n e s
U T A H V A L L E Y U N I V E R S I T Y
THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND HEALTH UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY
800 W. UNIVERSITY PARKWAY OREM, UTAH 84058
KERRI HOWLETT—ASSISTANT TO DEAN
801-863-8980
CATHY MARSHALL—ADMIN SUPPORT
801-863-6441
C O N T A C T S U P P O R T O U R C O L L E G E
THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND HEALTH
SAM RUSHFORTH—DEAN
801-863-8981
DANIEL FARIBANKS—ASSOCIATE DEAN
801-863-6440
DAVID JORDAN—ASSISTANT DEAN
801-863-7160
LOUISE ILLES—ASSISTANT DEAN
801-863-6040
www.uvu.edu/csh
With the greatest number of grant opportunities coming from the National Science Foundation the following links will provide due dates for each of the areas within the College of Science and Health: http://www.nsf.gov/home/deadline/bio.htm (Biology) http://www.nsf.gov/home/deadline/crssprgm.htm (Crosscutting) http://www.geo.nsf.gov/ear/earfund.htm (Earth Science) http://www.nsf.gov/mps/divisions/dms/news/c_deadlines.htm (Math)
On Thursday, March 26, we started
a new tradition in the College of
Science and Health. We began a
discussion series called, “Science
for Breakfast.” We plan to have
three presentations per year by well
known science and health practitio-
ners. Our first presenter, Dr. Dan
Fairbanks, is also our new Associate
Dean of the College of Science and
Health. Dr. Fairbanks has a world-
wide reputation as a geneticist and
has written many scientific papers
and recent books.
Dan is also a world-class sculptor. He
has portrait busts, and other pieces
in museums and private collections
in many parts of the United States
and Mexico. For his presentation,
Dan sculpted Senator Margaret Day-
ton while our invited guests had
breakfast and asked questions. It
was a wonderful start for what we
expect to be a fine tradition.
C A P I T A L R E E F F I E L D S T A T I O N P H O T O B Y B R U C E W I L S O N
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