Movement Sciences

Kathy Browder Heads for North Carolina

Movement Sciences Department Chair Kathy Browder is moving back near her roots with a new job she began this July. As Associate Dean of the Department of Health and Human Services at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Kathy will be close to her family and about an hour from where she grew up. But that’s not the only reason she chose the job.

“It was a hard choice to leave the University of Idaho,” said Kathy, “but the more I read about the job in North Carolina, the more I saw it as a great opportunity.”

Kathy has been at the University of Idaho since 2001, when she was appointed as a faculty member in the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. When Department Chair Cal Lathen retired in 2003, Kathy was poised to step in as interim chair. Part of her preparation had been an appointment to a university task force under then President Jon White.

“I learned about leadership and the university as an organization,” said Kathy. “I became convinced that I had the skills to be involved in administration.”

Kathy served as interim chair after Lathen left, then became permanent chair of HPERD in 2006. She has led the department through many changes, most importantly redefining the department to meet the challenges of the 21st century. She also helped lay the foundation for the department’s Healthy Active Living initiative and took strong steps to align resources and structures to support the initiative, including high quality education, outreach and engagement with the community.

“We began to define outreach and engagement to integrate into our scholarship and teaching,” said Kathy.

One specific example of the department’s outreach is the Safe Routes to School program, in which students, faculty, and community members have worked together to provide schools with the education and support structures for safe and healthy alternatives to get to school.

“We’ve also restructured our core curriculum to integrate community service learning projects,” said Kathy.

Kathy served as interim associate dean in the College of Education after Dean Rowland left, and helped provide stability and leadership for the College for two years through an important transition. This experience will no doubt help in her new role in North Carolina.

“I owe the University of Idaho a lot of gratitude,” said Kathy. “They invested in me and supported me.”

Dr. Michael Anthony Pickering, currently at West Point, has been hired as the new department chair. He will begin his work with the College of Education in January of 2013. Until then, Dr. Damon Burton is serving as interim department chair.

Nez Perce Tribe Local Education Funds at Work in Partnership with Clearwater Valley Upward Bound

By Michael Highfill

Over the course of the past two years, the Clearwater Valley Upward Bound, or CVUB, project at the University of Idaho has enrolled 47 low-income, first-generation high school students in college courses utilizing local education funds secured through our partnership with the Nez Perce Tribe. Students were enrolled in a range of core curriculum courses, including English 101 and 102, Psychology 101, Sociology 101, Anthropology 101, Music History 101, and Political Science 101.

Students enrolled in courses through CVUB received extensive support services in order to ensure their success. These support services included, but were not limited to: academic tutoring and advising, mentoring, and guidance in accomplishing their postsecondary education goals. Each student received approximately 120 hours of support from CVUB staff members as they worked to complete their course(s), and earned an average grade of B-. In fact, some students were able to complete an entire semester of course work (12 credits) prior to enrolling in their freshman year of college.

A significant body of research has demonstrated the positive impact of successful student participation in early enrollment in college courses. According to Dr. Joni L. Swanson at the University of Iowa’s College of Education, early enrollment students are more likely to enter college within seven months of high school graduation and more likely to persist through the second year of college than non-participating students.1 Students who participate in dual enrollment are required to take fewer core courses upon enrollment in college and will, therefore, have less of a financial burden. In addition, students who successfully complete these so-called “gatekeeper” courses early are much more likely to persist in college.

In total, students enrolled through this partnership have completed 150 college credit hours thus far, and program staff has logged over 5,600 service hours in support of these students. Furthermore, students enrolled through the partnership have gone on to enroll in a program of postsecondary education in the fall directly following high school graduation at a rate of 100% – this coming from high schools with an average college-going rate of 30%. These students have enrolled at such institutions as Lewis Clark State College, University of Idaho, Washington State University, Baylor University, and Northern Arizona University.