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MARQUETTE Educational Opportunity Program benefits students and communities “A scholarship is not for free — you have to work hard to maintain it.” No one knows that better than Dr. Phu Tran, Eng ’04, Grad ’11. He was the first member of his family to graduate from college. At age 14, his family moved to the United States from Vietnam. “For my parents, they came here to give us a better future and they knew education was the way to that future,” Tran says. “For me, there was no choice. Whatever I had to do to go to college, I was going to do.” From the moment he enrolled in Pulaski High School in Milwaukee, attending college was his main goal. However, that goal presented many challenges. His parents couldn’t pay tuition and he didn’t know anyone he could talk with about the admissions process or college life. That is, until a friend of the family offered him some life-changing advice. “He was a college graduate and went through the Educational Opportunity Program. He told me to apply,” recalls Tran. “So, after school one day, I hopped on a bus to Marquette’s campus. I went up to the EOP offices in Marquette Hall and asked about their programs.” He went on to apply for the Upward Bound Math-Science summer program designed for low-income, first-generation high school students. He was accepted and participated in the program, which helped him excel as an undergraduate. “Without that program, I would have been way less prepared compared to my classmates (at Marquette),” Tran says. “I had the drive to work hard. Knowing that my family would not have the financial support to send me to college, I had to work harder to maintain (my scholarships).” Marquette’s four federally funded TRiO programs (Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math-Science, Student Support Services and McNair Scholars) make college and graduate school a realistic option for low-income, underrepresented and first-generation students like Tran. Each year, Marquette’s TRiO programs help more than 500 high school and college students achieve their goals.
Photo by John Nienhuis
By April Beane
Dr. Joseph Green, director of Marquette’s Educational Opportunity Program, talks with students in EOP, which was established in 1969.
“From completing high school to attaining a doctoral degree, our EOP programs help students see that college is a possibility — something they may not have seen or been told before,” EOP Director Dr. Joseph Green says. “And we provide guidance counselors, mentors,
EOP Fast Facts EOP is comprised of four federally funded TRiO programs: n Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science (pre-college) — 95 percent of participants graduate high school in four years and more than 90 percent of participants go on to college n Student Support Services (college division) — more than 1,800 participants have earned a Marquette undergraduate degree n McNairs Scholars (college division) — more than 26 participants have completed a Ph.D. or other doctoral-level degree (more than 200 have earned master’s degrees)
tutors and peer support groups to help them succeed once they get here.” Today, like many first-generation college graduates, Tran feels a deep sense of responsibility for returning the favor to those in his community. “I spend a lot of time talking with kids at church and asking them what they are going to do this summer,” Tran says. “I continue to make information available to people I run into.” According to EOP Senior Associate Director Jessica Hernandez, who was a first-generation college graduate and a TRiO program participant while an undergraduate, it’s imperative that Marquette puts students out into the world who are interested in using their degree to help themselves and their families and communities. “You’re building up this knowledge that can be passed down because it’s not rocket science, it’s just a process. We have so many students here who don’t realize the impact they are having on their peers, their communities,” Hernandez says. “It could be as simple as talking to a student about going to college.”
CAM PU S H A P P E N I N GS Deadlines for Way Klingler awards approaching Up to four full-time, regular, junior faculty will receive Way Klingler Young Scholar Awards for 2013 –14. The awards of up to $22,000 fund $2,000 in operating expenses and cover up to 50 percent of salary so the recipients can take a one-semester sabbatical. Award winners are selected by the Committee on Research. The application is due Jan. 11, 2013, and is available on the Office of the Provost website. Deans have until Jan. 18, 2013, to nominate full-time associate or full professors for a Way Klingler Fellowship. Two fellowships will be awarded in 2013, one in science and a second in the humanities/social sciences. The science fellow will receive $50,000 annually for three years, and the humanities fellow will receive $20,000 annually for three years. The fellows will be chosen by the Committee on Research. In order to provide the opportunity for as many faculty as possible
to benefit from the Way Klingler Fellowship, the Committee on Research has voted to restrict past recipients from being considered again until ten years after their original award date. Detailed information is available on the Office of the Provost website.
Holiday hours in effect Dec. 24, 2012 to Jan. 1, 2013 The university will be closed Monday, Dec. 24 through Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, for the Christmas holiday. Limited campus services, including Public Safety, Facility Services and the Rec Plex, will remain open. The university will re-open Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Buildings and services with special hours of operation during the semester break include the Alumni Memorial Union, IT Services, Raynor Memorial Libraries, the Rec Center, the Rec Plex, the Spirit Shop and the Union Sports Annex. Complete holiday and semester break hours can be found at marquette.edu/holiday-hours/index.shtml.
MARQUETTE MATTERS
Long awarded Fulbright to teach in Argentina
Photo by Ben Smidt
By Nicole Sweeney Etter
Dr. Steven Long, associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, will travel to Argentina this spring as a Fulbright Scholar.
When Dr. Steven Long first took a seat in a Marquette Spanish class four years ago, he had a very specific goal: to attain proficiency and win a Fulbright to Latin America. Four years later, the associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology will be a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, a 400-year-old Jesuit university in Córdoba, Argentina, this spring. Long, who oversees Marquette’s bilingual English-Spanish certificate program for speech-language pathology graduate students, says he is looking forward to “the personal experience of coming to know a less-developed — by our standards — part of the world in a role other than tourist.” Argentina was a natural choice for Long, who practiced his Spanish by Skyping with a native Argentine and who has visited the country four times. The speech-language pathology profession is also more advanced in Argentina compared to many other Spanish-speaking nations, he says. To prepare for his Fulbright trip, Long spent a month last summer attending classes and observing in a clinic in Córdoba. This April, he will return for three months to teach an advanced course in evaluation and treatment of patients with unintelligible speech. While Long’s Fulbright award is for teaching, he says the experience could have an impact on his research. “Clearly, any future projects that I undertake that pertain to monolingual or bilingual Spanish speakers will benefit enormously from the linguistic and cultural experiences that I gain in Argentina,” he says. “Most research ideas develop from conversations, and I hope that I’ll be able to talk more with colleagues and students in Córdoba and that from those conversations, research ideas will grow.”
’Tis the season
The campus community will come together to celebrate the holiday season with several events throughout the month of December. Igniting Hope: Miracle on Westowne Square, sponsored by the Residence Hall Association, took place Sunday, Dec. 2, the first Sunday of Advent. President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., concelebrated Mass in the Chapel of the Holy Family, followed by a candlelight procession to a tree lighting ceremony in Westowne Square. Holiday music will fill the air at the annual Music Area Holiday Concert and during performances by The Naturals, a male a cappella ensemble, and the Faculty/Staff Chorale. The Gospel Choir will sing its rendition of “Amazing Grace” in this year’s Christmas video, which will be shared with the campus community in early December. All proceeds from downloads of the song track will go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. Decorations in Raynor Memorial Libraries are put up each year by a team of volunteers led by library employees. Be sure to stop by and take a look at their beautiful work.
From the Marquette family to yours, we wish you a blessed holiday season.
The Catholic Church is currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, declared by Pope Benedict XVI to be a global “Year of Faith.” Marquette’s commemoration of Vatican II began Oct. 11, 2012, the 50th a nniversary of the Council’s opening, and will end Nov. 24, 2013, the Feast of Christ the King. “This anniversary is an important learning opportunity for our university community,” says President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J. “So many of us, myself included, have no living memory of the Church before Vatican II. It is a challenge for us to imagine the seismic shift it represented. The Council changed almost every aspect of Catholic culture and experience, especially our world view. I think in particular of Gaudium et Spes and the world view it articulates. From our vantage point 50 years later, we can take that for granted. This anniversary provides an opportunity to explore anew.” Lectures, book discussions, interfaith panels and other events throughout the year will celebrate the spirit of the Council, which continues to animate the Church’s and Marquette’s mission as a Catholic, Jesuit university. University departments and student organizations should contact Vatican II Committee Chair Rev. Thomas Anderson, S.J., to sponsor a program that celebrates Vatican II and its heritage. Historical information, a listing of campus events and links to online resources are available at marquette.edu/mission.
Les Aspin Center celebrates 25 years of preparing students for public service By Lexi Lozinak
governmental agencies and departments. They also have the opportunity to visit government agencies and listen to a variety of educational speakers discuss their insiders’ perspectives on American democracy. The center has grown to include Milwaukee government internship opportunities through the Kleczka Program, and Father O’Brien is also dedicated to creating a presence for the center abroad. Nearly 500 leaders from seven African countries have studied in Rev. Timothy O’Brien, founding director and adjunct professor of American government at the Les Aspin Washington, D.C., as part Center for Government in Washington, D.C., interacts with students in front of a wall displaying photos of the African Democracy of each Les Aspin Center class since the program began in 1988. Training Program, and classes of Marquette students regularly travel Many alumni apply their experiences to to Kenya and Ghana as part of a comparative post-graduate careers in politics, including democracies course. Pedro Colon, the first Hispanic member of the “What students can expect from the program Wisconsin Legislature, and Marina Dimitrijevic, is an intense immersion experience that Milwaukee County board chair. combines academics and professional work,” Students studying at the center during says Chris Murray, coordinator of student the spring 2013 semester will participate in a affairs and visiting instructor at the Les Aspin number of unique experiences to commemorate Center. “Simply stated, we want students who the center’s 25th anniversary, including attending are committed to making a difference in their the presidential inauguration in January 2013. society. They will come back to campus very different from when they left.” Photo by Hilary Schwab
When the Les Aspin Center for Government reaches its milestone 25th anniversary this spring, it will have influenced the lives of more than 2,000 students interested in public service. Founded as an eight-week summer program in Washington, D.C., it is now regarded as the gold standard of D.C. internship programs. For nearly six years after the program’s first summer in 1988, Rev. Timothy O’Brien, director and adjunct professor of American government at the Les Aspin Center, continued to bring students to Capitol Hill during the summer months and to teach on campus during the school year. Hoping to create a sense of permanency and to grow student participation, Father O’Brien held a spring semester program in D.C. in 1993. The rest, as they say, is history. In 1994, the university nabbed Les Aspin, former secretary of defense for President Bill Clinton, to teach classes in D.C. for students. After Aspin passed away suddenly in 1995, the program was re-named in his honor. Around the same time, Father O’Brien found permanent facilities on Capitol Hill, and in 1996, the center opened its doors for year-round academic programming. While in D.C., students live in an academic community and attend classes at the center’s campus, just blocks from the Capitol. Student interns spend several days each week at placements in Congressional offices, the White House, the Food and Drug Administration, private and non-profit organizations, and a variety of other
TAKE
On the Side
Ernest Eugene – Memory savant
Photo courtesy of Marquette University Intercollegiate Athletics
By Lynn Sheka
Ernest Eugene, athletic trainer for the men’s basketball team, can recite any bone in the human body, any area code in the United States and any phone number he has ever seen. He has a photographic memory so clear that when he’s assessing a player for a concussion and needs to remember the names and functions of the 12 cranial nerves, he can close his eyes and picture the exact textbook page where the information can be found. Eugene, who travels with the team, makes it a point to memorize the area code for each hotel he stays in. After Head Men’s Basketball Coach Buzz Williams learned of his skill during a television interview, the coaches and team spent an entire plane ride testing Eugene’s ability to recall area codes. No one was able to stump him. His skill also comes in handy when pinpointing specific areas of the anatomy for players to focus on during functional training. He creates an injury prevention program for each student athlete, believing “80 percent of injuries are avoidable if you take the time to screen athletes at the start of their training.” Eugene demands excellence of himself in all facets of his life, including his memory. “Now that I’m pretty close to mastering area codes, I’m working on memorizing all the roads in Wisconsin and being able to identify all of my friends’ license plates,” says Eugene. “I’m not quite there yet, but I’ll get there.” “On the Side” offers a glimpse of faculty and staff interests outside of Marquette. Email your story suggestions to marquettematters@ marquette.edu.
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The top five most interesting numbers associated with the Krueger Child Care Center are: 11,200 rubber gloves used each year 1,008 gallons of milk consumed each year
800 crayons used each year
404 diapers changed every day
201 combined years of service at the university for teachers at the Child Care Center
“Take Five” is a brief list about an interesting aspect of Marquette life. Email your list suggestions to marquettematters@marquette.edu. Marquette Matters is published monthly during the academic year, except for a combined issue in December/January, for Marquette University’s faculty and staff. Submit information to: Marquette Matters – Zilber Hall, 235; Phone: 8-7448; Fax: 8-7197 Email: marquettematters@marquette.edu Editor: Lynn Sheka Graphic design: Nick Schroeder Copyright © 2012 Marquette University
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MARQUETTE MATTERS
A different kind of boot camp For many doctoral students, lingering in that dreaded “ABD” — all but dissertation — status kills their chances of ever adding those other three initials — Ph.D. — behind their name. But students intent on finishing their doctoral degree have a valuable tool: the Graduate School’s Dissertation Boot Camp. For one intense week, students lock themselves away in Raynor Memorial Libraries from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to plow through as much work as they can. “It’s like a gym for the mind,” says Jennifer Sweeney, a doctoral candidate from the Department of English. “If I get distracted or tired it really pushes me to see everyone else here working.” Since launching in 2008, the boot camps — which are offered during winter and summer breaks — have helped more than 140 students, many of whom attend multiple times. “Students are coming back repeatedly because they tell us they get so much done in that one week,” says Craig Pierce, assistant dean of the Graduate School. Nationally, only half of doctoral students complete their degrees. “It’s a huge waste of resources, time and effort on the part of students and faculty members,” Pierce explains. Marquette won a three-year grant from the Council of Graduate Schools to tackle the problem,
Photo by Dan Johnson
By Nicole Sweeney Etter
Corliss especially loves working with students from a range of disciplines and says his role varies by student: “Some as a sounding board, some as an approval mechanism and some as a counselor.” Corliss asks a lot of questions and dispenses plenty of practical advice.
“ It’s like a gym for the mind,” says Jennifer Sweeney,
a doctoral candidate from the Department of English.
and the dissertation boot camp has since become so popular that the Graduate School now funds it on its own. The only cost to students is a $50 deposit to hold their spot, which is refunded at the end of the week. So far, the approach seems to be working. The attrition rate of boot camp participants is two percent, compared to Marquette’s overall doctoral attrition rate of about 41 percent. It helps to have faculty cheerleaders. The 20-25 students at each camp meet one-on-one with faculty facilitators, including Dr. George Corliss, senior research scientist and professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering, who has been involved since the beginning.
Corliss urged Dora Jones, a nursing doctoral candidate, to think about the multimedia possibilities of her final PDF file. “We’re not just writing on a blackboard anymore,” he says. When Jones talked about how she connected with a book author whom she admires, he pushed her to think about how to leverage the relationship. “She’s probably up for tenure or just passed tenure, which means she’s under pressure to do research,” he told her. “So the opportunity to jointly publish is going to sound as good to her as it does to you.” The boot camp also includes daily opportunities for students to mingle and discuss their research and challenges. Dissertation writing can
be a lonely process, Pierce says, so camaraderie is key. And while many are boot camp veterans, faculty and participants alike admit it’s usually a good sign when they see new faces. “It’s really inspiring just to see someone finish, and not only from my department,” says English doctoral candidate Carly Anger. “It tells me I can do it, too.”
2013 Dissertation boot camps January 7-11 June 3-7 August 5-9 Held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, in the Raynor Memorial Libraries’ Beaumier Suites. Learn more at marquette.edu/grad/camp.shtml.
M A R Q U ET T E H AP P E NINGS Oncology researcher to give Wake Lecture on spirituality of palliative care Dr. Betty Ferrell, professor and research scientist at the City of Hope Medical Center in Los Angeles, will deliver the annual James Wake Memorial Lecture on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 5 p.m. in the AMU, Monaghan Ballroom. Ferrell has practiced in the field of oncology nursing for more than 35 years, focusing her clinical expertise and research in pain management, quality of life and palliative care. She has published more than 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals and texts and authored eight books on cancer pain management, palliative care and end-of-life-issues. This event is free. For more information, call University Special Events at 8-7431.
Theatre Arts to present Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse The Theatre Arts Department’s annual children’s play is Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, based on the popular children’s book by Kevin Henkes. Performances are scheduled at 2:30 p.m. on January 12, 13, 19 and 20, 2013, at the Helfaer Theatre. Tickets are $12 each and are available at the Helfaer Theatre Box Office or online at http://theatretickets.marquette.edu.
Mid-year Commencement will be held Dec. 16 Marquette’s December graduation ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 16, at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Speakers will include President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.; Dr. Lisa Hanson, associate professor in the College of Nursing; and a student. The Baccalaureate Mass will be held Saturday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Gesu.
Metcalfe Chair to discuss new poetry collection Jan. 24 Metcalfe Chair A. Van Jordan will present “Scenes from the Journey of Oscar Micheaux,” Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, at 4 p.m. in the Raynor Memorial Libraries’ Beaumier Suites, as part of Marquette’s Freedom Project. Van Jordan’s newest collection of poetry, The Cineaste, features poems that are responses to various films. The centerpiece of the book is a series of sonnets on African American independent filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, who started making films in response to D.W. Griffith’s controversial film, Birth of a Nation. Van Jordan is a professor of English at the University of Michigan and a former Guggenheim Fellow. This event is sponsored by the Department of English and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the Office of the Provost.