Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Dr. McD.

A memorial service will be held Friday, May 7, at 2 p.m. at Woodfin Memorial Chapel in Murfreesboro for Dr. John N. McDaniel, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Visitation will be from 12-2 p.m. that same day. McDaniel, one of the most beloved members of the MTSU community, died Monday at Middle Tennessee Medical Center. A member of the faculty since 1970, McDaniel joined the English department as an assistant professor before ultimately becoming chairman in 1978. He was named Liberal Arts dean in 1987. “John McDaniel was the face and the heart of the College of Liberal Arts for the quarter-century he served as its dean,” says Dr. Mark Byrnes, associate dean. “His devotion to the college and the university was complete. Generations of faculty members, department chairs and students benefited from his steady leadership.”

In lieu of flowers, donations in McDaniel’s honor may be made to the John N. McDaniel Teaching Excellence Award in care of Robyn Kilpatrick, MTSU, Box 109, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132.

The triumphs of toddlers

Evie was born with spina bifida. She had surgery at birth to repair her vertebrae opening. When Evie was 15 months old, she began receiving special instruction at Project Help. At 22 months, Evie walked with a tiny walker, and at 24 months she pushed the walker aside in order to scurry down the hallway. This is only one success story of Project Help, the only free-of-charge program in Rutherford County for families who have toddlers with special needs. The program offers training for approximately 300 pre-service education majors each year, as well as serving as a rotation site for Motlow State Community College and MTSU nursing students. A portion of Project Help’s financial support comes from the Tennessee Department of Education. The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties supports and allocates funds for salaries and operating expenses, and other community groups donate time and funding.

Contact Project Help Director Susan Waldrop at 615-898-2837.
swaldrop@mtsu.edu

Learning about teaching

To better serve the MTSU faculty, the Learning, Teaching and Innovative Technologies Center (LTITC) will move from Room 214 of the Telecommunications Building into the James E. Walker Library over the summer in anticipation of a busy fall 2010 semester. The LTITC connects professors with the latest instructional methods, including technologies, that can make the classroom experience more enlightening, as well as the expertise to use that technology most effectively. “We’re excited about the transition because it puts the LTITC in the academic center of the university,” says Faye Johnson, Assistant to the Executive Vice President and Provost for Special Initiatives. Johnson says the center will provide plenty of room for workshops, learning sessions and other professional development activities designed to improve the quality of instruction.

Contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376.
kkeene@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

A FOREIGN AFFAIR--MTSU junior Aaron Shew will depart for Turkey around May 14 for study experiences that will enhance not only his education but his prestige and his portfolio. Shew, a double major in plant and soil science and international relations from Murfreesboro, will join students from other institutions in a conflict resolution course in Cyprus and Turkey at his own expense. Through June 9, Shew will question government diplomats on best practices for negotiating solutions to thorny issues between countries. From there, Shew will head back to Lucknow, India, where he studied in the summer of 2009 under a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) from the U.S. Department of State, for extensive instruction in the Urdu language. His summer studies will be funded with another CLS. The 2010-2011 academic year is covered under a fully endowed fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. For an interview with Shew, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.