2009feb23journaldraft1.qxp:03-24-08 CAL U JOURNAL.qxd 2/18/09 11:17 AM Page 1
California University
VOLUME 11, NUMBER 7 FEBRUARY 23, 2009
Faculty Asked to Complete Survey
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Decades of work by Cal U’s Dr. Carol Bocetti and the recovery team she leads has restored the Kirtland’s warbler so effectively that the birds may soon be taken off the endangered species list.
More Than a Wing and a Prayer Professor’s Work Helps Rare Songbirds Rebound
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r. Carol Bocetti’s off-campus work is clearly for the birds, and her goal is to put herself out of business. Bocetti has spent 23 years with the Kirtland’s Warbler Recovery Team, leading an effort to save one of the rarest songbirds in the world. An assistant professor in Cal U’s Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, she has been working to rebuild the habitat of the Kirtland’s warbler, a 6inch bird with a streaked yellow breast and a distinctive, melodious song. The warbler nests only in a small area in and around Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, where forest fires naturally thin and regenerate the jack pine forests. The warbler shares those forests with the brown-headed cowbird, an aggressive bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other species. In spring, young cowbirds hatch before the smaller warblers, often pushing the endangered Kirtland’s hatchlings from their nests. By 1987, habitat loss and cowbird parasitism had reduced the number of Kirtland’s warblers to just 167
nesting pairs. Bocetti’s recovery team — the first ever appointed under the Endangered Species Act — has tracked the warbler population and modified its habitat, planting and harvesting trees in patterns that replicate the patchy growth after a wildfire, and removing cowbirds. More than 1,800 pairs of Kirtland’s warblers now are nesting in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan and adjoining areas of Wisconsin and Ontario. The birds fly to the Bahamas for the winter. “ Now we have a success story,” said Bocetti, who began working with endangered species as a graduate student at The Ohio State University. “The goal was 1,000 breeding pairs for five years running, spread across the landscape. Well, we’re there. As soon as we started the habitat management program, it was one of those ‘if we build it they will come’ situations.” Bocetti hopes the warblers eventually can be “de-listed” as an endangered species, although the birds’ survival still — continued on page 2
alifornia University’s Office of Continuous Improvement will be administering the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) this spring. Coordinated by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) at Indiana University-Bloomington, FSSE is designed to measure faculty expectations of student engagement in educational practices that are empirically linked with high levels of learning and development. The survey also collects information about how faculty members spend their time on professorial activities and the kinds of learning experiences their institutions emphasize. FSSE results can be used to identify areas of institutional strength, as well as aspects of the undergraduate experience that may warrant attention. The information is intended to be a catalyst for productive discussions related to teaching, learning and the quality of students’ educational experiences. The survey will be administered by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University-Bloomington (IUB). It parallels the NSSE student survey that also is being administered this spring. Through IUB, all full-time and parttime faculty will be invited to participate. The survey should be completed online. Administration will be overseen by Cal U’s Office of Continuous Improvement. President Angelo Armenti, Jr. has authorized this survey at Cal U. “I encourage all faculty members to participate,” he said. “The results will allow us to assess and improve the quality of our academic offerings, while at the same time letting us see how we stack up against comparable universities across America.” All responses are anonymous; survey — continued on page 4
Cal Hosts Conference for PASSHE Student Leaders
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ore than 120 student government members from across Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education visited Cal U Feb. 6-8 for the PASSHE Board of Student Government Presidents Leadership Conference. The board consists of Student Government Association presidents from all 14 of the PASSHE institutions. The BSGP holds an annual leadership conference at one of the participating institutions. Cal U played host to a number of presenters, including keynote speaker Steve Toprani, a 2001 Cal U grad who is
district attorney for Washington County. “Having the Washington County DA really fit in with the theme of the conference, which was value-based leadership,” said Ryan Jerico, Cal Student Government president and one of three students who serves on the PASSHE Board of Governors. “(Toprani) spoke about his campaign, but the whole moral compass he brought really added value. Afterward, he answered questions from the students for more than half an hour. Being an alumnus, he gave a great reflection on the University, and — continued on page 4
Washington County District Attroney Steve Toprani ’01 delivered the keynote address at the PASSHE Board of Student Government Presidents Leadership Conference hosted by Cal U.