A Word from the Provost
The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advise of the saints, and he who has Christ’s spirit within will find in it a hidden strength. Thomas a Kempis
A friend shared a devotional book called “A Pathway to God’s Presence.” Here is a brief excerpt of one of the devotionals called “ What Is God Saying to You? As you reflect on this school year with so many diverse experiences that may have caused sorrow, joys, disappointments, questions, praise, etc. I want to challenge you to take time in solitude and what is God saying to me? What are the lessons to learn?
Reflection: Hear the word of the Lord…listen to the instruction of our God you people…(Isa. 1:10 NIV)
When strange things happen to us, we sometimes say, “Somewhere in this there must be a lesson for me.” Indeed, the wise find that life teaches them lessons throughout their lives. Whether they take notice of this or learn from it is quite a different matter…God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was often referred to as Rabbi or Teacher. His ministry on earth was teaching people about the Kingdom of God. Jesus” teachings, many of them in the form of stories and parables, are some of the most unforgettable things we will ever hear or learn. What is God’s message for you? You should make it a lifelong task to learn more and more about God.
Ask yourself: What is God doing through me by means of this incident? What does the Bible say about this? How is he using these circumstances to show me a better way? You will discover so many interesting life-changing things that will magnify and deepen your faith and wisdom. Don’t ever stop learning from the Great Teacher. Allow the teacher of life to teach you more and more every day.
How has God used this school year for new lessons to learn and experience growth?
I want to express my appreciation to our faculty and staff for your hard work, passion for the work you and willingness to extend grace during the 15-16 school-year. As my second year at Vanguard comes to a close I want to say that I am grateful to serve with each of you each day. We will enter our 16-17 year with anticipation of an Accreditation visit from WSCUC in September and on campus in March, 2017. I ask that our faculty and staff be prayerful for a successful accreditation year. We are all in this work together.
There are key dates ahead to make note for participation:
Nurse Pinning Ceremony- Thursday, May 5th
Baccalaureate- Thursday, May 5th
Commencement- Friday May 6th
End of the Year Faculty Gathering- Thursday, May 12th
Staff Picnic- Wednesday, May 18th
TUG Strat Op- Monday, May 23rd-Wednesday May 25th
Board of Trustees- June 8th & 9th
Graduate Strat Op- Monday, June 13th- 15th
Professional Studies Strat Op- June 27th- 29th
Commendations are in order for the Graduate Education Program. On Friday, the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing officially awarded at its commission meeting a full 7 years of accreditation for our Credential and Graduate education program. We appreciate the work of all our faculty and staff who worked on this process.
We have several TUG and Grad programs with special accreditors and I want to say to all our faculty and staff who work so hard to maintain the accreditation status demonstrating educational effectiveness and excellence based on best practices and high standards.
Farewell:
Dr. Karen Lee joined the faculty of Vanguard University 15 years ago and has worked at Vanguard in every role demonstrating diligence, commitment, thoroughness, Christ-centered focus and conviction in each task. While we are sad to say farewell but we are grateful that God will use these qualities at Point Loma Nazarene University as their new Vice Provost for Educational Effectiveness. You will be sincerely missed! May God bless you abundantly.
Dr. Jerry Tiernes will be stepping down as Director of Graduate Education Programs. We appreciate the leadership and guidance provided during his time in the Graduate program. He is very instrumental in leading the successful CTC accreditation process. He will be missed as the Director but will be transitioning to half time in Liberal Studies.
Special Thanks:
I would also like to extend sincere appreciation to Dr. April Westbrook who led us throughout the year in our Wednesday morning early prayer. Without prayer we can do nothing and I appreciate all who faithfully participated when your schedule allowed.
I am deeply appreciative to Dr. Ludmila Praslova, Dr. Karen Lee, Dr. Mary Wickman, Dr. Diana Avans, Dr. Mike Wilson (core team). I want to thank Dr. Ed Westbrook, Jeremy Moser, and Amanda Lebrecht for special support and all the faculty (so many) and staff who contributed to developing the draft of our Reaffirmation visit report. The final report will be prepared for meeting our July deadline following graduation. We are also very proud of our faculty who presented at the ARC Conference. 
We welcome Dejon Davis who served as Interim Director and Consultant as the new full time Senior Director of SGPS. Join me in welcoming Dejon to Vanguard University.
On Thursday, April 21st our brightest and best students in each of their respective departments were awarded for their accomplishments. A big Thank You to Cynthia Antonuccio for her excellent organization of the Awards Chapel.
Baccalaureate and Commencement are right around the corner! Please visit the website for upcoming Commencement and Baccalaureate information (times, location, etc.) and instructions.
The offices of Professional Studies, Deans Office and Provost Office enjoyed an afternoon of lunch, fellowship and fun at the Provost home.
Thanks to all of you who have worked so diligently this year. We are gearing up for program-specific Strat-Op meetings. If you have been extended an invitation, we hope you will make every effort to help shape the academic strategic plans!
We are pleased that The Provost, Dr. Doretha O’Quinn, Professor of Nursing, Dr. Mary Wickman and GCWJ Director, Dr. Sandra Morgan are three of five nominees for the Women in Business award Luncheon held on May 4th.
News from the Registrar
Happy end-of-the-year from the Registrar’s Office! We thank you in advance for getting your grades in no later than Friday, May 13th at noon. Students will be able to view their grades on myVU at 12am Wednesday, May 18th. Many people, not the least of which are the students, appreciate your timeliness!
News from Professional Studies
On Thursday April 21st, Professional Studies hosted their annual Graduation Celebration to honor their 2016 graduating students. The event featured a reception with live music from the VU Jazz Band, a visit from VU’s mascot, and opportunities for students to reflect on their journeys at Vanguard. Students and their families had the opportunity to hear from esteemed members of Vanguard’s faculty and administration as well as a student speaker from the Nursing Program. There will be 143 students graduating from Professional Studies this Spring.
News from the Office of Global Education and Outreach
As we head into the summer, we have several student groups traveling around the world for study and outreach. We would appreciate your prayers as these teams are traveling.
Kenya – Our Psychology Department, led by Dr. Powell and Dr. Hanna will be taking a group of 18 students for a one-month study abroad program in partnership with Africa Theological Seminary. Students will be taking 9 units while abroad, including their internship.
Israel – We have a handful of students partnering with the Center for Holy Land Studies, where they will be taking a 3 unit course in Jerusalem, literally following the footsteps of Jesus.
Romania – Led by Dr. Morgan in the Global Center for Women and Justice, this class 3 unit course will be a 10-day intensive over the summer, partnering with an AGWM missionary. Not only will they be studying, but they will be able to minister in several different contexts during their time.
Thailand – Our student team led by Katie Heemstra in the GEO Office will be partnering with an AGWM missionary for this 2-week outreach trip. While there, our students will be participating in youth ministry, educational efforts, street ministry and park ministry. In addition, we have two students participating in Summer of Service (SOS) at the same location, spending just over two months as summer interns.
Uganda – This outreach team led by Ellie Kaiser will be partnering with Children of the Nations to provide ongoing support to orphaned children.
Arkansas – Our student team led by Kayli Hillebrand will be spending a week in partnership with AG’s Compact Family Services, where they will be primarily ministering to children and youth in the foster care system.
You can find ongoing updates at our facebook page: www.facebook.com/vuoutreach or on Instagram at @vugeo
News from the Library
The VU Library introduced their new library app created through Boopsie during National Library Week. We have already seen an increase in downloads even though the semester is almost over.
Starting May 9th the library will be experiencing some refurbishments with circulation moving to the entrance of the library where the Archives has previously been housed. Additionally, new computer tables have been purchased and will be placed in the area of the current circulation area. Archives will be moved to space in the back allowing for continued growth.
The library will be open extended hours for pre-finals and finals week.
April 25-28, Monday – Thursday, 7:30-3 a.m.
April 29, Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
April 30, Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
May 1- May 4, Sunday – Wednesday 7:30-3 a.m.
May 5, Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
May 6-8, Friday – Sunday, CLOSED
News from the Office of Student Success and Academic Resources
The Tutorial Center
At 9pm, on Thursday, April 21, we held our End of the Year Tutorial party/meeting. It may seem like an odd time for a meeting, but when you’re trying to mesh the schedules of over 40 tutors, you have to take what you can get!
We handed out the framed Tutorial Certificates to the tutors who attended our 8-hour National Tutor Association Training Session back in January. They are officially NTA-certified tutors for the next two years!
We shared the framework of the Tutorial Training PowerPoint that we are in the process of developing for the future tutors of Vanguard University. It is based on material from the NTA training sessions, input from our current tutors, and research done by our Academic Resource Center staff. (A special shout-out goes to tutor Marlisse Holbrooke for developing the PowerPoint!) This will be an intensive hour long training session to prepare our tutors with the knowledge they need to be the best tutors they can be for our VU students. It will include information on how to create and conduct a tutorial session from start to finish, cultural sensitivity awareness, working with students with learning disabilities, and other topics relevant to building a professional and educationally sound tutorial session. Tutoring is so much more than just helping a student with his or her homework!
We also shared some of the exciting new physical changes that will be taking place in our Tutorial Center. This summer, the ceiling of the Center will be getting a slight “facelift” – it will be scraped and the lights replaced with recessed lighting. We are going for a “Modern with Comfort” look to our Center, one that will attract students who want a nice, comfortable place to study and to learn!
We are looking forward to an exciting new semester in the Fall for the Tutorial Center!
The Writing Center
Our face-to-face Writing Center is open during Finals Week from 9:00 am until 7:00 pm on Monday through Thursday, and Friday from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm! Please visit us in Heath 214 or call 1.966.6359 to make an appointment. For Graduate and Professional Studies students, our on-line service is still available via <gpswritingcenter@vanguard.edu>. During the summer months, all students are welcome to use the services provided by the Grad-PS on-line Writing Center.
News from the Global Center for Women and Justice
Our partnership with local churches is growing as Dr. Morgan was interviewed and featured in video at the Mariners Church Outreach weekend. We are gaining more traction and awareness in the community and will continue to collaborate with Mariners Church and support their human trafficking prevention efforts at their Lighthouse Community Centers in Santa Ana. Watch the video at https://vimeo.com/162577732
We have launched our 4 course Anti-Human Trafficking Online Certificate program and have 8 applications for that being processed through the Professional Studies Department. It is exciting to be able to offer Student-at-Large learning opportunity to our community and beyond! http://www.vanguard.edu/gcwj/htcertificate/
Three webinar trainings on Women’s Leadership have been completed for the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE). Dr. Morgan will continue to lead the webinar trainings up until the scheduled visit of the trainees from Iraq to Vanguard University in July.
April 20: Dr. Morgan spoke at the Newport Center United Methodist Church for their education night on the biblical framework of ending human trafficking and how the local church is the best solution.
April 22: GCWJ partnered with the Lewis Wilson Institute for the guest lecture from Dr. Marcia Clarke. She spoke on the Black British Pentecostal Experience.
April 25: GCWJ Coordinator, Nadia Hernandez has returned from her maternity leave and is happy to share that baby Isabelle is doing very well. Isabelle Penelope was born on January 28, 2016.
The Live2free, anti-trafficking student mobilization club ended a successful semester of educating over 1,300 young people! We are very proud of these courageous students.
On May 5th, Dr. Morgan will be the Keynote Speaker for the Westminster Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast! http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/barbara_eames/westminster_mayor_s_prayer_breakfast