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NEWS RELEASES DECEMBER '04
UW-Marinette International Students Seeking Host Families
December 6, 2004
Students from the Youth for Understanding (YFU) program are seeking host families while they study at UW-Marinette for the spring semester. They include 8 men and 2 women from the countries of Azerbaijan, Brazil, Ghana, Korea, Switzerland and Vietnam.
Joo-Young Hwang and Joo-Hee Han from the Republic of Korea have studied English for 7 years. Joo-Young enjoys learning languages and has studied German and Chinese along with English. She also likes to play the piano and ski. Joo-Hee is a nursing student and hopes to volunteer at a retirement home during her time in the U.S. For the last three years, she has studied jazz and modern dance as well as voice.
Joao Silva of Brazil is studying environmental engineering and has had 6 years of English. He is a soccer and motocross fan and is interested in trying new sports in the U.S. He is also fond of pets.
Adnan Topalli is from Berne, Switzerland. His family is of Albanian descent and Adnan speaks Albanian, German, French, and English (6 years of study). He is interested in a career in business and enjoys soccer, physical fitness, reading and movies.
Bihn Dieu, Tuan Le and Thach Le have studied English in Vietnam for 7 years. Bihn, who likes to jog, is planning a career in education and computers. Tuan would like to study business and enjoys swimming and computers. Thach Le is studying engineering and computers. He enjoys swimming, reading and singing. Thach is also a religious young man and hopes to be able to attend weekly services.
Aslan Amani and Rufat Hajiverdiyev are from Azerbaijan and have studied English for 8 years. Both hope to have careers in computers and business. Aslan is an avid jogger and soccer fan. Rufat enjoys swimming and reading.
Michael Quaye, from Ghana, has studied English for 8 years and French for 4 years. Two years ago, he was a high school exchange student in Bloomfield, Connecticut. He attends church regularly with his family in Ghana. He likes sports and participates in golf, soccer and swimming. He plans a career in business and economics.
These students will arrive in Marinette January 13. All of the students will be freshmen at UW-Marinette. They not only take a full load of classes but also do public service projects. Host families are asked to provide a home, meals and transportation to the University although some students may have their own cars or ride with friends. YFU students have their own insurance and spending money. Sharing one’s home with a student from another country can promote peace and understanding. Friendships made with international students can last a lifetime. For more information, call or Jane Jones at 735-4343 or email.
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Oitzinger Named Wisconsin Teaching Scholar
December 15, 2004
Dr. Jane Oitzinger, professor of English and philosophy at UW-Marinette, has been honored with a Wisconsin Teaching Scholar award. This award which is granted by the Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID), is given in support of projects designed to advance the practice of teaching through scholarly inquiry into student learning. OPID names only one Teaching Scholar per UW institution each year.
Oitzinger’s proposal to study team-taught interdisciplinary Learning Communities (LCs) will seek to determine why those students make greater intellectual gains than their non-learning community peers. UW-Marinette has been a leader in the UW System in the development and delivery of team-taught interdisciplinary learning community courses. Research has shown that students in these courses demonstrate significantly greater intellectual gains than their counterparts in traditional courses. Dr. Oitzinger's proposed research will help determine why.
“What she learns will enable us to deliberately design all of our courses--inlcuding the single-discipline courses--to ensure the same success," said Dean Langteau. "We are excited to support Jane as she conducts this research and study this coming year.”
Oitzinger earned her doctorate in English Education from the University of Florida before joining the campus in 1983. In 1984, she received a Lilly Postdoctoral Teaching award sponsored by the Lilly Foundation Endowment. In 1993, she wrote a proposal for an OPID grant to develop Learning Community courses at UW-Marinette. At that time, studies showed that the participation in learning communities gave students an increased understanding of their material, helped them retain what they learned and led to greater interaction with instructors and their fellow students.
With funding from the Federal Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) in 1997, Oitzinger led the UW Colleges in its participation in the National Learning Communities Disemination Project.
In 2000, she received an OPID grant for a pilot project implementing a 9-credit LC program (triad) and for assessing that triad and several 6-credit LC dyads. "
The 2000-01 pilot resulted in improvement to our LC program and in the development of an ongoing, collaborative, longitudinal study on intellectual development in LCs and single-discipline courses," said Oitzinger. "The main goal of my proposed Wisconsin Teaching Scholars project is to further students' intellectual development while they are learning specific course content, whether in my stand-alone courses or in learning community collaborations."
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Stolpa named UW-Marinette Kaplan Fellow
December 15, 2004
Dr. Jennifer Stolpa, assistant professor of English and Spanish, has been named Kaplan Fellow by her peers at UW-Marinette for 2004-2005. Kaplan Fellows are faculty or academic staff members who have made or are making “significant and innovative improvement in instruction or in service to students,” according to former UW Colleges Chancellor Lee Grugel who established the award in honor of Arthur M. Kaplan, who served the UW Colleges as vice chancellor and provost as well as acting chancellor, until his retirement in 1993.
Stolpa joined the campus in September of 2000. She received her B.A. in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, her Masters degree from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and her Ph.D. in English Literature from Loyola University in Chicago. She was chosen “Teacher of the Year” for 2004 and was recently appointed to the position of campus coordinator for the “Engaging Students in the First Year” (ESFY) program. As an avid sports fan, she serves as the campus Athletic Representative. This past year, she also chaired the campus Dean Search and Screen committee.
Dean Paula Langteau noted Stolpa’s many accomplishments including her “innovation and creativity, demonstrated by her ongoing efforts to develop interdisciplinary courses, her expansion of the Spanish language program and her continued writing and publication within her field.”
Stolpa has also developed classes for the Freshman Seminar course, specifically those dealing with math and writing anxieties. In addition she has expanded the Spanish program with advanced studies and opportunities for travel and intercultural activities such as a recent trip to the Milwaukee Folk Fair. She has also taken a lead in the formation of the campus International Club and is the campus advisor for students seeking study abroad opportunities.
Her most recent publications included two articles in Phi Kappa Phi Forum entitled “Unexpected Confessions” and “Interdisciplinary Studies.” She also co-presented at the Midwest Modern Language Association (M/MLA) Conference in Chicago on “Thinking Outside the Sphere: Bringing the Theory of Multiple Dimensions to the Masses” in the Science and Literature session. And The Gaskell Society Journal published her article entitled “What’s in a Name? Echoes of Biblical Women in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Ruth” in 2004.
Stolpa is the thirteenth recipient of the Kaplan award which includes a $500 grant to be used for professional development or supplies needed to help with student recruitment and retention efforts.
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Kallgren Named Associate Campus Dean at UW-Marinette
December 14, 2004
Dean Paula Langteau has announced the appointment of Dr. Dan Kallgren as Associate Campus Dean at UW-Marinette beginning January 1. The associate campus dean is selected from the existing campus faculty, with half-time responsiblities devoted to providing assistance with curricular planning, hiring and supervision of instructional academic staff, oversight of the student evaluation process, as well as the coordination and oversight of a planned new Academic Resource Center (academic skills lab) for students. The associate campus dean also serves as the dean designee in the dean's absence. All thirteen of the UW Colleges' campuses have an associate dean appointed by the campus dean; the appointment at UW-Marinette this fall was delayed by the retirement of former Dean Bremer and the appointment of Dean Langteau this past summer.
Kallgren has taught history and political science courses at the campus since 1995 and was named Teacher of the Year in 1998, 1999 and 2001. As associate campus dean, Kallgren will continue to teach history courses each semester as well as to serve as Hi-Q Quiz Master, UW-Marinette’s representative to the UW Colleges Senate, and co-director for a Teaching American History grant from the Federal Department of Education.
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