Academic Roundups

Academic Roundup

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

External learning components play key role in new on-campus Human Services degree program

Beginning this school year, students were able to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Human Services by traditional methods at Indiana Tech’s main campus in Fort Wayne. Previously, this degree was obtainable only through the university’s adult and online education program, the College of Professional Studies.

For assistant professor and program chair of human services Michael Dunne-Steece, giving his students ample opportunities to learn outside the classroom is extremely important when it comes to reinforcing his in-class curriculum.

Recently, Dunne-Steece took his class for an observatory visit to Hubbard Hill Memory Care in Elkhart, Indiana, and to the Great Kids Make Great Communities Annual Conference on Youth in Fort Wayne.

“The goal of these outings is for students to gain insight into the field of human services. There is so much more to the field than what comes to mind, and these outings inspire our students and light a fire of passion,” Dunne-Steece said.

Broadly defined, those who enter the human services field seek to improve the overall quality of life of various populations through the prevention and remediation of problems.

“Specialists in community and social services are in demand all across the country, and new opportunities are emerging for them all the time,” Dunne-Steece said. “For compassionate individuals who are called to use their natural talents to help others, this degree will show them how to use their positive energy in ways that can be life-changing.”

The populations human services professionals work with most commonly are children and families, the elderly, immigrants, veterans, the homeless and people with disabilities, criminal records, addictions or mental illnesses. As such, Indiana Tech has constructed a robust curriculum that addresses topics in the areas of addiction, gerontology, social policy, public communication, crisis management and case management.

“The landscape of the human services industry has changed drastically in recent years, so we have revised our curriculum to make sure our students are best-prepared for the current challenges and expectations they will face,” Dunne-Steece said. “More importantly, I want those who graduate from our program to take pride in and feel empowered by the career paths they choose. They are important and they matter. Who wouldn’t want to get paid to do what they love, all while showing compassion and giving back to the community?”

Later this school year, Dunne-Steece hopes to take classes to the Center for Non-Violence and get them behind the scenes to speak with judges in the Allen County court system.

2016 grad Richardson is taking on USC Gould School of Law

When Indiana Tech stopped offering a paralegal degree in 2012, Idontea Richardson didn’t know what she was going to do. That’s when Kim Spielman, associate professor of criminal justice and pre-law, intervened.

“He called me into his office to explain what was happening with the paralegal program, but then he encouraged me to join the pre-law program, instead,” Idontea said.

Four years later, Idontea graduated with honors from Indiana Tech’s pre-law program and was named the university’s most outstanding pre-law/criminal justice student for 2016.

“I knew the transition to the pre-law program would not be easy, but professor Spielman gave me ease because he said he believed in me and he knew I would do fine,” Idontea said. “It’s because of him that I never gave up on my dream of becoming a corporate lawyer, business owner and future judge.”

Today, Idontea’s star is still on the rise. She is a first-year student at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, which is considered one of the nation’s best law schools.

“Sometimes a professor has a student that inspires that professor by the student’s commitment to achieve; Ms. Richardson was such a student for me,” professor Spielman said. “It has been one of my best experiences in teaching to watch her grow from a shy, uncertain first year student to the confident, accomplished and mature young lady she has become.”

Dr. Good has her students digging biology

When associate professor of biology Dr. Julie Good was brought on board in 2018 to build Indiana Tech’s new biology program, she stressed that her students would experience a “get-your-hands-dirty” style of learning.

Dr. Good’s students are finding out she is a professor of her word.

This semester in Dr. Good’s General Biology I laboratory (BIO 1340), the primary focus for her students has been a field study of earthworms.

During the second week of class, students built four-sided plywood containment boxes—roughly three-feet square by two-feet high—and buried them approximately six inches deep on an open lot on the southeast corner of the Coombs St.-Berry St. intersection. Trenches were dug to place the boxes down into the soil to prevent the horizontal movement of contained earthworms.

The scientific purpose of this exercise is for students to speciate as many worms as possible and, possibly, identify a species that is new to Allen County. On a deeper level, the work they do in this introductory course lays a critical foundation for experiential lab work that is to come throughout their studies at Indiana Tech.

“The students are challenged to ‘drive the bus’ in an environment full of ambiguity and uncertainty. Employers tell us this is what they will experience in the professional world,” Dr. Good said. “I’ve provided approximately five protocols and they— within their lab group—have been responsible for setting a scientific goal; a coordination goal, which defined how the members were going to work together; and an operational goal, which defined what the group needed to do physically

with digging, moving, thinking, recording, data reporting and analyzing. They’ve done everything.”

Freshman O Wai Shar says Dr. Good’s lab experience has been fun, even though it’s involved close contact with worms.

“It’s definitely a unique experience as this is one of my first actual labs in college,” O Wai said. “What has been useful for me is learning how to navigate through a lab like an actual scientist would do, as well as writing like they would.”

After spending six weeks in the field, each group began formal analysis of the data and preparing a lab report, which is due in early December. Dr. Good is working in other hands-on exercises throughout the semester to reinforce the scientific method and professional communication, but the culmination of the earthworm study is considered each group’s final.

Results of the lab varied based on the containment locations on the lot. As such, some groups had limited success for four weeks on the dig site, and have been forced to think outside the box to glean usable findings. For the groups who had more success early, changes in the weather and erosion of their site caused additional challenges to overcome. For all groups, the field work has been a valuable lesson.

“When it comes to true research or true patient care, it is ultimately problem solving. The successful professional must be able to think outside the box,” Dr. Good said. “Sometimes we need to drive our learning in unlikely places to arrive at discovery.”

Adjunct communication professor is named Indiana’s best sportswriter for 2019

Over the summer, Indiana Tech’s communication program announced that veteran Journal Gazette sportswriter, Justin Cohn, had joined the staff to teach sports communication.

In September, Cohn was named the best sportswriter in Indiana for 2019. Cohn, who has covered sports for the Fort Wayne daily newspaper since 1997, was named the Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year by the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Cohn, 43, is best known in Fort Wayne for covering the Fort Wayne Komets, a minor-league hockey team that has called the city home since 1952, and the Mad Ants, the NBA G League minor-league affiliate of the Indiana Pacers. He was the paper’s Indianapolis Colts reporter for a decade, and covered four Super Bowls during that time. He has covered the NBA, MLB and PGA Tour in his career.

Academic Roundup

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Adjunct professor writes about developing healthy financial habits

In October, “Unlock Your Why: 7 Keys to a Thriving Relationship with Money,” a book by adjunct business professor Heather Burgette, was released on Amazon.

Burgette has taught undergraduate and graduate classes at Indiana Tech since 2010, and she worked in the Career Center for three years. She is also the founder of the Facebook group Becoming Debt Free.

Her book helps readers break their “unhealthy financial habits and discover the seven fundamental keys to a healthy, prosperous and thriving relationship with money.”

You can connect with Burgette on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, and on her website heatherburgette.com.

Dyer’s sports marketing class teams up with Mad Ants

Craig Dyer’s SM 4200-Sports Marketing class is working with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this semester on a ticket sales initiative that will be a win-win for students and the NBA minor league basketball team.

Students from Indiana Tech, Trine University and Manchester University are gaining valuable, real-world experience selling tickets for selected games during the Mad Ants current NBA G League season. The student from each university who sells the most tickets during this initiative will earn a guaranteed job interview with the Mad Ants.

“One student from Indiana Tech will ‘win’ the contest and get an interview, but all the students in the class are gaining real-world sport sales and marketing experience through this project. That is what excites me,” said Dyer, who is the lead of the university’s sports management program.

Mad Ants senior business development manager and 2014 Indiana Tech graduate, Allie Lane, met with students beginning in late-August to provide training and direction. From there, students were free to begin selling—either over the phone or in person. “Allie has personally visited our classroom on multiple occasions. She has assisted students with cold-calling skills, explained the Mad Ants sales approach, and really provided students with guidance and confidence that is needed to be successful. I’m very grateful for Allie and her commitment to our students and this project,” professor Dyer said.

In addition to selling tickets, professor Dyer is requiring his students to create a sales portfolio comprised of a sales prospect list, a cold-call script, call log sheets and a sales report. His in-class culmination of this project will end with each student delivering a professional presentation that summarizes their sales numbers and highlights achievements and challenges. The student with the highest marks will ultimately ‘win’ the contest.

“The Mad Ants are committed to our local

community, and this is just one of the many ways we can integrate our brand to promote fun, competitive educational opportunities,” Lane said. “Also, as a Tech alum, it’s great being able to engage with students and faculty, share my expertise and hopefully inspire my fellow Warriors.”

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants have been a member of the G League (known as the NBA Development League from 2005 through 2017) since 2007.

Indiana Tech’s College of Business is giving students another way to set themselves apart from their competition by offering a graduate certificate in Organizational Leadership. The five-course, 15-credit hour sequence will not only help students expand their leadership skill sets, it will also take them nearly halfway to the required 36 credits needed to earn a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership. “In earning this certificate in Organizational

Leadership, students will build their competencies in leadership, financial management, problem analysis and decision making, and developing human capital,” said Dr. Kathleen Hanold Watland, dean of the College of Business. “The certificate in Organizational Leadership will help students become more effective leaders within their organizations and help them become more marketable professionals.” The Organizational Leadership graduate certificate joins Indiana Tech’s other graduate certificate programs including: à Health Care Administration à Human Resources Management à Management à Marketing The university’s project management certificate became even more impactful when, in June, the university’s project management program was recognized by the Project Management Institute as a Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.). Expect Indiana Tech to continue working to identify learning opportunities that will enable students to grow professionally using delivery methods that meet their needs. In fact, the university is developing a Master of Business Administration, concentrating in business analytics, and a graduate certificate in business analytics for launch in 2020. In addition, the university plans to launch a portfolio of undergraduate certificates, as well. “It’s becoming more and more

important for employees to bring a measurable value to their workplace,” Dr. Watland said. “We will continue to work with employers to learn what top skills are important to them and build academic programming that will allow our graduates to stand out.”

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Project Management

Sports management program puts another grad in the big leagues

In July 2019, just a couple of months after graduating with a bachelor’s in business administration concentrating in sports management, Lukas Brant accepted a job as inside sales executive with the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Clippers.

Lukas works with businesses and individual consumers to help them meet their ticketing needs—an entry-level position that requires a lot of tenacity and self-prospecting to be successful. However, Lukas is used to having several irons in the fire while maintaining a high level of achievement.

At Indiana Tech, Lukas was a double major; a runner for the Warriors’ cross country team; a student ambassador; and a member of the Scholar Leaders, the Sports Management Society and the Student Executive Board—all while earning academic accolades from Daktronics, the Alpha Chi Honor Society member and the Chi Alpha Sigma Athletic Honor Society.

“Lukas’ academic abilities were always all-star level and I know he will do the same level of work for the Clippers organization,” said Craig Dyer, associate professor of sports management. “I’m very happy for him and look forward to hearing more about his success in the near future.”

Academic Roundup

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Togashi tapped to lead cybersecurity program to new heights

What do Marriott, Equifax, Target and Sony all have in common? Aside from being distinguished companies in their respective industries, all have endured debilitating cyberattacks that have negatively affected their businesses, damaged their reputations and cost them millions of dollars to remediate. As cyberattacks become more and more common, corporations are searching for the best and the brightest minds in cybersecurity to help them defend their digital infrastructure. Indiana Tech is already a launching pad for outstanding cyber defenders. Its cyber defense team, the Cyber Warriors, is nationally known on a collegiate level, having won nine state titles—including five straight. Now, the university is looking to Darryl Togashi to strengthen its cybersecurity degree program and raise it to new heights. Professor Togashi was hired over the summer as director of Indiana Tech’s cybersecurity program. He brings to the position more than 20 years of industry experience, which includes building servers; developing websites, databases and applications; managing and securing networks; and leading international projects. He has taught since 2005 and, over the last four years, has trained his focus on cybersecurity. Through his expertise, Professor Togashi has become a member of Indiana Governor’s Council on Cybersecurity and an Infragard Member in the education sector for Indiana. “Darryl contacted me last spring about

collaborating on some academic projects. As we talked about these, I outlined the direction that Tech was heading in cybersecurity, especially in developing a state-of-the-art Security Operations Center (SOC). His enthusiasm for this was quite evident which was the first important step in considering him to lead this project,” said Gary Messick, associate dean of the university’s College of Engineering and School of Computer Sciences. “As our discussions continued, I learned that Darryl puts in the time and effort to bring a project to a successful conclusion. He does not shy away from challenging work.” An SOC is a training center built from hardware and software that will allow students to monitor and identify devices and traffic on our network and give them the ability to see and learn from unusual activity that would be considered a hack or violation of company security policies. This

30 Fall 2019 isolated lab would allow students to perform ethical hacking, network penetration tests and cyber defense activities, without triggering alarms in our production network.

Developing a world-class SOC is just one of the many changes professor Togashi wants to accomplish over the next two years.

“We are adding classes to the program to help fill some of the gaps identified by local and national companies that we have talked to in helping us understand what we need to do to bridge the gaps between education and industry,” professor Togashi said. “Along with additional classes, our enhancements will include building new labs and workspaces for our students to have hands-on experience where they can experience real-life scenarios and challenges.”

Those new labs and workspaces include:

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A digital forensics lab, where simulated crime scenes can be created to give students practice at incident response and digital forensics investigation techniques.

A data center, which can be used for our cybersecurity program and other departments within the School of Computer Sciences. Professors will be able to create customizable virtual environments to give our students another hands-on environment to learn from.

“The opportunity to focus on cybersecurity and be involved in building a security operations center and a digital forensics lab appealed to me,” professor Togashi said. “The plan is to grow our cybersecurity program to be nationally recognized as a viable program.”

Earning a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) designation will be a huge first step.

The CAE-CDE program is sponsored jointly by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). When a university has a CAE-CDE designation, it means its curriculum meets NSA and DHS standards, which are based on helping prepare cybersecurity professionals to meet industry gaps in our national infrastructure.

Designated CAE-CDE schools are also eligible for grants from the Department of Defense Cybersecurity Program, the National Science Foundation and Scholarship for Service programs. These grants can be used for further program enhancement.

Professor Togashi indicated Indiana Tech has applied for CAE-CDE designation and should know the results in 2020.

Seeing + doing = learning in Canales’ lean manufacturing class

Lean manufacturing is the study of the principles and practices used to identify and minimize non-value-added activities present in the manufacturing environment. The goal is creating production efficiencies and reducing waste while maintaining a safe work environment. The principles and practices involved require repetition to fully understand and discipline to execute with efficacy, regardless if you are in management or on the assembly line.

That’s why the 16 weeks of Peggy Canales’ IME 4020-Lean Manufacturing class is a flurry of activity that incorporates observation and hands-on implementation so that students can become familiar with the many facets of lean manufacturing.

Always a staple of professor Canales IME 4020 curriculum is a field trip to Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK).

The Georgetown, Kentucky-based facility is Toyota’s largest vehicle manufacturing plant in the world—annually capable of producing 550,000 vehicles and more than 600,000 engines—and it employs more than 8,000 workers. Toyota’s vehicle production system has developed into a world-class display of lean manufacturing that is studied all over the globe.

On Oct. 3, 17 students from the College of Engineering made the trek to Georgetown.

“I found the experience very valuable,” said Jithu Paulose, who is pursuing a Master of Science in Engineering Management at Tech. “The visit provided me with a better understanding of the concepts that I learned from the lean manufacturing class.”

Fundamental to lean manufacturing is the concept of continuous improvement. To develop a mindset of focused continuous improvement, kata is introduced. Kata is a pattern one practices to learn a skill and mindset. Through practice, the pattern of a kata becomes second nature—done with little conscious attention—and is readily available.

To convey the concept of kata, professor Canales uses a puzzle exercise to give students practice in achieving incremental improvements. Students assemble into teams and are tasked with a challenge condition to complete the puzzle in 15 seconds.

Each group records how much time it took to complete its first attempt. Based on this experience, the students now understand their current condition. They then break the challenge condition down into smaller goals. They conduct experiments, using different methods, to find ways to improve their assembly time. After each experiment, they record their new current condition and establish a new target condition along with a new experiment they will implement to try to achieve it. Each team gets five rounds to achieve the challenge condition.

“There are discussions between each round where we use Socratic questioning to develop a greater understanding of what was learned with each experiment,” professor Canales said. “This aligns closely with story boards that are used to track projects in the workplace, and it teaches the students coaching skills for encouraging workers while ensuring each worker still retains ownership of the project.”

“The exercise helped me learn the importance of trying new things and failing quickly in order to get to a better solution,” said senior industrial and manufacturing engineering major Amarra Paulk.

Sports News

Stevenson Named NAIA National SID of the Year

In September, Indiana Tech’s Sports Information Director Tyler Stevenson was honored as the NAIA Sports Information Director of the Year for 2019. The honor based on the accomplishments during the previous year in the areas of athletics communication, sports information, promotion and service to the NAIA.

Stevenson is in his fourth year as Indiana Tech’s SID and a two-time WolverineHoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) SID of the Year.

“It is a great honor and very humbling to be named the NAIA SID of the Year,” reflected Stevenson. “It’s a special group of SIDs that make up the NAIA and to be on the list of national award winners is truly mind blowing and incredible, and I could not do it without all the other SIDs across the NAIA or without the support from my family and the entire Indiana Tech athletics department.”

“Tyler is a caring, hardworking professional who is a true asset to Indiana Tech,” said Tech athletics director Debbie Warren. “He is a wonderful person to have as a friend and a colleague, and we could not be more proud of him.”

Athletics honored for 2018-19 academic efforts

Former Indiana Tech wrestler Erique Early was named the Sooner Athletic Conference’s 2018-19 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men’s wrestling. Early capped off his Indiana Tech career in March by capturing the 133-pound national championship at the NAIA National Championships.

à The Indiana Tech women’s track and field program earned a bevy of honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Highlighting the honors was freshman Destiny Copeland (hurdling in photo), who, with her 3.84 GPA, was named the Women’s Indoor Field Scholar-Athlete. Joining Copeland on the USTFCCCA All-Academic list were KiMaya Houston, Shakirah Kellam, Mary Leighton, Hayley Newman, Pamela Sanders-Booker, Renique Smith, Sha’londa Terry and Megan Theismann. The program also garnered USTFCCCA All-Academic Team status for both the indoor and outdoor season with a cumulative GPA of 3.2395

à Indiana Tech men’s soccer received a United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2018-19 season. The Warriors finished the 2018-19 academic year with a 3.35 team GPA.

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Indiana Tech women’s soccer received a United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2018-19 season. The Warriors finished the 2018-19 academic year with a 3.52 team GPA.

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The Indiana Tech Department of Athletics picked up a bevy of academic awards over the summer and sported a 3.12 grade point average during the 2018-19 season. The following Indiana Tech teams were named NAIA Scholar-Teams: Baseball, Men’s Bowling, Men’s Cross Country, Men’s Golf, Men’s Lacrosse, Men’s Soccer, Men’s Tennis, Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, Softball, Women’s Basketball, Women’s Bowling, Women’s Cross Country, Women’s Golf, Women’s Lacrosse, Women’s Soccer, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field and Women’s Volleyball.

Athletics earns NAIA Champions of Character Gold Status

The Indiana Tech Department of Athletics was honored by the NAIA as a Gold Level Five Star institution for the 2018-2019 academic year as part of the Champions of Character program. It was one of 180 member institutions to garner the honor and one of 63 schools to earn gold status. It is the third consecutive year in which the department has earned the highest level on the Champions of Character scorecard.

Institutions are measured on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earned points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion.

2020 Hall of Fame Class announced

Indiana Tech’s Department of Athletics has announced its 2020 Hall of Fame Class, which will be inducted on Saturday, May 2, 2020, at Don Hall’s Guesthouse in Fort Wayne. Time of the ceremony is to be determined. The 2020 class, Indiana Tech’s 22nd overall, is comprised of the 1969 men’s volleyball team, the 1991-92 women’s basketball team, men’s basketball player Dwayne Tubbs and softball player Jessica Williams.

Early represents Team USA at world wrestling event

Indiana Tech men’s wrestling assistant coach Gralan Early (third from left in photo) finished third in the freestyle 70kg division at October’s 2019 United World Wrestling Veterans World Championships. Early earned a bronze medal for Team USA in the event, which was at Tbilisi, Georgia. Early went 4-1 on the final day of action at the championships and capped off his tournament with a pin over Teimurazi Kasoshvili of Georgia in the third-place match. Early started his tournament with a pair of wins, first with a 10-0 technical fall to defeat Serkan Sen of Turkey in 59 seconds before handing Germany’s Steve Brylla an 8-2 decision. The nine-year assistant for Tech fell in the quarterfinals to Mohsen Sameti of Iran, but came back strong with a 6-3 win over Aslan Kaitov of Russia to advance to the bronze medal bout. A

B

C

2018-19 National Champions honored at All-Athlete Meeting

National champions from the 2018-19 season were honored and presented with their national champion rings during August’s annual All-Athlete Meeting in the Schaefer Center. Those honored were:

A. Sawyer Miller and Erique Early (men’s wrestling), Leondra Correia and Destiny Copeland (women’s track and field)

B. The men’s ice hockey team

C. The men’s indoor track and field team

From the Desk of Matt Brown

HELPING TO SHAPE THE FUTURE

Please allow me to introduce myself to all of you. In July, I joined the Institutional Advancement team as Director of Alumni Relations after 10 years teaching English at the high school level. Even in my absence as I taught in Indianapolis for two years and South Carolina for four, I have called Fort Wayne my home. Since the very first days walking up and down these campus sidewalks, in and out of the various buildings on campus, and meeting faculty, students, staff and alumni across generations, one thing is apparent: This place has reinforced that this town is my home. The stories of success and overcoming adversity that I’ve heard in a few short months have been nothing short of inspiring. The stories you have shared continue to allow me to learn about the history of this university, the far-reaching influences you’ve had on industry, development and innovation, and the directions we are all heading in the very near future. I was given immense insight into the historic “Tech Legacy” and utterly palpable “Warrior Pride” that comes along with being associated with the university. Please keep those stories coming! Send them my direction at mjbrown@indianatech.edu. HOMECOMING ’19 This past October, it was humbling to meet so many generations of alumni and to hear your stories that brought each of you to, through and beyond Indiana Tech. There were innumerable tales of progeny, prosperity and passion that filled the entire weekend from Friday night’s President’s Dinner to celebrate our leadership donors to the sounding of the final horn of Sunday’s women’s alumni soccer game in the heart of campus. Graduates as recent as the summer of 2019 and as far back as the 1950s came together in fellowship to share their Tech stories, each attesting to the impressive improvements this university has seen. Some alumni I had the privilege of meeting had not been back to campus since their graduation from the old stand-alone Indiana Technical College building downtown. There was a genuine sense of awe for how much Indiana Tech has grown across this campus and city. To view photos from the weekend’s activities for current students and their families and alumni alike, please visit ind.tc/ homecoming-2019. COME ON HOME! As we begin to plan for 2020’s Homecoming and Family & Friends Weekend Celebration, next Oct. 1-4, I encourage you to come share in the experience of it all. We will be honoring graduates of 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2010. Be sure to visit indianatech.edu/ homecoming soon for updates as we get closer. Also be on the lookout for save the date and email reminders of upcoming alumni updates. In the meantime, please stay in touch! Share your family updates, career changes, celebrations or ideas for Tech in Your Town and alumni outing events with me at mjbrown@indianatech.edu. Go Warriors! The stories you have shared continue to allow me to learn about the history of this university, the far-reaching influences you’ve had on industry, development and innovation, and the directions we are all heading in the very near future.” “