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President: Tuajuanda C. Jordan, PhD
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Q&A: Geoffrey Bowers, asst. prof. of chemistry September 2017 Geoffrey Bowers joined the SMCM faculty in 2016.
Do your teaching practices reflect the way you were educated? Yes and no. My undergraduate education is in engineering, which very strongly emphasizes problem solving. I still put a very strong engineering-like emphasis on problem solving and teach students the general problem solving strategy that my favorite undergraduate professor taught me. I give students a lot of independence and challenges that help facilitate authentic learning. And I still strive to put all my course materials into an understandable real-world context, another trait several of my engineering faculty excelled at. On the flip side, I’ve learned a lot over my career and try to be more focused on balancing my students’ immediate and long-term needs. I really try to explain to my students why I am doing thing X or using policy Y in classes and I’m not afraid to change a course on the fly. I once thought class was turning out to be fairly boring and solicited and acted on student opinions for how we could keep the focus on learning but have class be more engaging. I like mixing up different student-centered practices with more traditional instructional methods. And I am much more appreciative of learning opportunities with my students outside the classroom. How did you become interested in your current research field? I was always mildly interested in rocks as a kid and loved a great western summer car trip my family did in my pre-teen years, but my main passions were cars and science. I thought engineering would be a great blend of those ideas and picked chemical engineering as a major … by the time I became a senior, I felt like all I was doing was mathematical modeling in a computer and I really missed answering the question “why?” in the lab. So I shifted back to pure chemistry in graduate school, choosing NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) as my research tool. In choosing a topic I was intrigued by a US Department of Energy funded project looking at nuclear waste remediation and the transformations nuclear waste induced in soil minerals. It ended up my favorite graduate school class was on soil
mineralogy, and the Manhattan project origins of my research project got me hooked on geoscience. I had a great postdoctoral mentor also, and have been lucky to find a great group of collaborators who know much more about rocks than I do.
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You involve undergraduates in your research and maintain longterm mentoring relationships. Why is that? I once read that every person needs at least one adult in their lives that is like a parent but without the genetic ties. In my mind, that is what a mentor is … the parent by choice. I don’t think anyone gets into teaching at a student-centered place like St. Mary’s if they don’t have that parent like drive to help young people be the best people they can be. Those research opportunities and shared experiences rely on and facilitate development of a deep sense of trust and honesty that can lead to a lasting sense of caring and camaraderie. My parents have played a critically important role in my life and the possibility of having that kind of influence on someone else is honestly the greatest part of my job. If you could extend your summer by a week, where would you go and what would you listen to? I spent most of my summer on a visiting appointment at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., so from there, I would drive with family down the Columbia river gorge to the Pacific Coast in Oregon, then drive down the Pacific Coast Highway through most of Oregon. Next, we would head over to Crater Lake in Oregon and on into Idaho. I’d also like to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument before heading into Colorado, stopping at Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Great Sand Dunes national parks as we cross Colorado. Then it’s back to Maryland, because honestly, in our short time here this has really, truly become home. We’d be listening to some of my favorite metal bands like Metallica, Disturbed, and Tool; along with some alternative music. I’d have some time devoted to family sing-a-long songs by Lady Gaga, and a few artists this metal guy is too embarrassed to list here.
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New Students Welcomed at Opening Convocation On Thursday, Aug. 24, St. Mary’s College welcomed approximately 440 first-year and transfer students to campus at its opening convocation. President Tuajuanda C. Jordan gave remarks, as did Provost Michael Wick and Associate Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion | Chief Diversity Officer Kortet Mensah. Following the event, family and friends bid farewell to students with handshakes, hugs and tears. Student orientation leaders then gathered their respective groups to continue the several-day orientation program. Classes began Monday, Aug. 28.
Thanks for Your Many Years of Service, Vivian!
(L): Vivian Jordan and her husband Alfred. (R): The banner hung for her at Calvert Hall.
On August 31, after having worked here for 30 years – 360 months, 1,564 weeks and 10,948 days (provided she was never sick or on vacation) – Vivian Jordan stepped out of Calvert Hall for the last time and retired as an executive assistant to the president. She worked for the Office of the President her entire career and served four presidents: Edward “Ted” Lewis, Maggie O’Brien, Joe Urgo and Tuajuanda C. Jordan. Though she alluded to wanting no fuss made over her retirement, the College couldn’t let her go without a farewell. President Jordan declared August 22 “Vivian Jordan Day” and many of her colleagues stopped by her office to wish her well. A banner in her honor hung outside Calvert Hall.
S M C M St riv es for a More I nclusi ve , D iver s e , and E q uit a b le Campus through Tra in in g
SMCM to Assist Historic Sotterley Plantation
Campus-wide diversity training for St. Mary’s College of Maryland was initiated earlier this summer, bringing the campus community one step closer to building a more inclusive, diverse and equitable institution.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland Archives has partnered with Historic Sotterley Plantation to assist with preserving Sotterley’s archival collections and making them available online.
St. Mary’s College’s commitment to diversity is an integral part of the College’s fundamental mission to create a welcoming and inclusive environment that nurtures learning and personal growth for the entire campus community. DiversityEdu is a campus-wide online training program created to accomplish that goal.
A national landmark dating back to 1703, Sotterley Plantation is a 94-acre museum overlooking the Patuxent River in Hollywood, Md. It has been open to the public since 1961.
Students participate in a small-group activity as part of DiversityEdu training program.
to better identify and share our values,” she said. The College is committed to providing learning opportunities that enhance each member’s ability to positively interact with diverse individuals.
Kortet Mensah, the College’s associate vice president of diversity and inclusion/chief diversity officer, said that in addition to the hour-long training, there are several in-person group conversations taking place on campus that aim to reinforce the lessons in the online training. The conversation portion of the training, she said, is a “collaborative community-building conversation,” that allows participants to work toward applying the online information into their different walks of life. “We’re using it to build our community on the values that this institution holds dear, which are inclusion, diversity, building a sense of respect and dignity, and integrity among us,” Mensah said. Joanne Goldwater, associate dean for retention and student success, said the training and discussion puts everyone on the same page. “Once we all have a common base of knowledge, concepts, historical issues, and language, we can better engage with each other and build understanding which will hopefully improve our sense of community and humanity. From here, we will be able
“The goal is that when we leave the room, we leave with our dignity intact and a better understanding of what our campus has planned for a diverse, inclusive and equitable community,” Mensah said. Diversity education aligns with the College’s Strategic Plan to engage the campus around inclusion, diversity and equity (IDEs) and prepare students to abate social injustices. St. Mary’s College President Tuajuanda C. Jordan said that we are providing the members of our campus community the skills to be productive and engaged global citizens. “This requires an understanding of, and appreciation for, at first glance, the differences between individuals. More importantly, this educational endeavor enlightens us regarding the similarities that exist across humanity and better prepares us to address the world’s challenges in a collaborative, productive, and respectful manner. The concept of inclusive diversity is a central component of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland mission. It is a core value and part of our ethos.”
Michael Dunn, director of Title IX compliance and training/Title IX coordinator, facilitated the training program’s discussion sessions.
What’s Happening in Sports As the annual tradition follows, here’s a quick look at Seahawks Helping Seahawks - showing how our fall student-athletes help new students and their families have a smooth move to St. Mary’s. Thank you to all the student-athletes who lent a hand and thank you to Justin Gordon, assistant director of athletic communications, for putting the video together. Watch it here: http://www.smcmathletics.com/general/2017-18/ videos/Seahawk_Move-In_Day
Kent Randell, the archivist for the College, said portions of Sotterley’s archival materials will be transferred to St. Mary’s College’s archives allowing for staff and selected students to assist in the preservation, arrangement and description of the invaluable historic
Papers from Historic Sotterley Plantation that are among the archival collection to be preserved at SMCM.
records and for ease of access for researchers. Sotterley and the College’s archives staff are also working to get portions of the museum’s collections online at the Digital Maryland website, a statewide digitization program headquartered at the Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Library Resource Center in Baltimore.
Researcher Modeling Marine Ecosystems with Dr. Lewis Science and Technology University (KMSU) in South Iran, adjacent to the Persian Gulf. She also works at the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science (INIOAS) as a researcher.
Maryam Hakim Elahi spent two months on campus this summer working with Kristy Lewis, assistant professor of biology, to expand her knowledge of ecosystem modeling. Elahi is a PhD candidate in marine ecology at Khorramshahr Marine
Elahi and Lewis modeled the marine ecosystems of southern Iran, including mangroves and coral reefs of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, as well as the marine environments of the Indian Ocean. In the future, they hope to facilitate a broader institutional collaboration between St. Mary’s College and Iranian marine institutes and universities.
Kudos to... Katharina von Kellenbach (prof. of religious studies) and her colleague Matthias Buschmeier (German literature, University of Bielefeld) were awarded a grant for over €500,000 (about $600,000) by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZIF) at the University of Bielefeld. In 2018-2019, they will lead scholars from different continents to examine the idea of guilt as an enduring and generative force in the aftermath of violent conflicts. Julia King (prof. of anthropology) in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR), Chesapeake Conservancy, and the state-recognized Rappahannock Tribe of Virginia, has been awarded a $240,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities to trace the history and development of the Rappahannock Indians in early American history (200-1850 AD). Marilyn Steyert ’18, was selected to participate in the Amgen Scholars Program. Since 2006, the Amgen Scholars Program has provided hands-on research opportunities under world-renowned faculty mentors to more than 3,500 undergraduate students. In a field of more than 5,600 applicants, Steyert was one of nearly 350 students globally accepted to the program.
Liza Gijanto (assoc. prof. of anthropology) was awarded a Howard Foundation Fellowship in April 2017 for her project titled: Emancipation and Commerce: The Gambia Colony and American Plantations in the Age of British Abolition. The fellowship for the 2017-2018 academic year will support her research which examines the nature of the impact of the Atlantic trade on the Gambia River. Katy Arnett (prof. of educational studies) recently co-authored and had published “Access for Success: Making Inclusion Work for Language Learners” (Pearson Canada, May 2017). The book integrates principles and theories about universal design for learning and language learning with practical strategies to address the diverse needs of today’s language learners in Canada. Elizabeth Nutt Williams (prof. of psychology) was published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology. The article, co-written by Jairo Fuertes of Adelphi University, focuses on how therapy works and what makes it so effective, with special attention made to the client. Daniel Pratson ’15 was granted an English Teaching Assistant scholarship to Malaysia through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Pratson opted instead to continue his education in graduate school.