Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalm 136
This is such an appropriate verse for Thanksgiving season but it is also the perfect verse for every morning. I challenge you to say “Lord, I thank you for you are just good.” This praise or declaration can lead you to name so many ways he is good. When is the last time you have shared with a colleague, how good he is to you?
Yet, this passage also states for his mercy endures forever. Every day we awake to new mercies. Colleagues as you begin planning for Thanksgiving with family and friends, let me extend a challenge: Be intentional about providing time to share of God’s goodness and reflect on one opportunity to experience God’s mercy.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!
A Word from the Provost
FOR YOU WE GIVE THANKS:
We are grateful for Dr. Tara Sirvent, Director of Research and Writing, and want to acknowledge her accomplishment of being recognized by Advancing Women in Technology (AWT) as one of their 2016 Outstanding Executives in Technology. We salute you Tara and praise God that we can celebrate with you. Dr. Sirvent works tirelessly for the success of our students and provide stellar recognition for Vanguard University. Thank you, Tara.
Congratulations Dr. Ed Rybarczyk on your recent book publication, For Him Who Has Eyes to See: Beauty in the History of Theology (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers). Dr. Ed Rybarczyk and other Religion faculty are contributing to the scholarship of Christian Higher Ed and I invite you to be the first to make a purchase and share with other scholars. Again, we are grateful for another stellar accomplishment of a faculty member in the Vanguard community. Thank you, Ed.
Thumbs UP! Our ECE department is Ranked #6 for “Best Online Early Childhood Education Program” by BestColleges.com for 2016. Dr. Seon Chun-Burbank extends her appreciation to her ECE Team and all they contribute along with those who came before her to develop this program to train educators who work with our society’s young children. We celebrate you Dr. Burbank and your leadership of the Early Childhood and Liberal Studies Program. Vanguard University celebrates your work. Thank you, Seon.
I am grateful for our new faculty who joined Mike and I at our home October 15th. We shared a meal, fun games and everyone on campus loves Skittles after coming to my party. What a competitive group! Everyone who attended found that God has gifted them with artistic abilities. We enjoyed the candy and popcorn bar while we painted. We are grateful for the new faculty of Vanguard University. Thank you, new faculty.
We express thanks for the Music Department and the recent collaboration with Concordia and Vanguard orchestra and the entire Music faculty’s hard work. We were also honored the past few days for the High School guests on campus for the Choral Festival. Vanguard University joins the chorus in harmony of your great work. Thank you, Music Department faculty and staff.
Finally, we express our thanks to our Theater department and the long running play on campus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What great acting and singing talent among our student actors! The faculty of our Theater Department spend early mornings, weekends, late nights and time away from families to provide the community of Costa Mesa with a place for a night out in a Christ centered environment of Vanguard University. Thank you, Theater Department faculty and staff.
The list could go on and on in this newsletter but please know the Administration is grateful for the hard work of our academic departments, TUG, PS and GRADUATE PROGRAMS. Share your department’s scholastic achievement, events and activities with the Provost Office that we might celebrate with you. Thank you, Vanguard University and staff.
We look forward to seeing you at our monthly faculty meeting for November. Remember, faculty meetings are required for all resident, term, and part-time faculty. We welcome our Directors of all academic support offices to our meetings. Faculty can not do the good work without you. Dr. Pete Menjares, will be partnering with the Provost to make our meetings focus on faculty development following all brief announcements for the remainder of the year. Come and hear the vision of Dr. Menjares for on campus Faculty Development and how our faculty meetings will center on training and development for Faculty with minimal announcements.
Special Announcements from the Provost:
Join Tom Carmody and others for early morning prayer Monday’s and Wednesday’s at 7am in the Great Commission Hall.
Joel Gackle, Director of Alumni and University Relations would like to collaborate with those of you who bring alums on campus as guest lecturers or special events in your department to let his office know as he and his team would love to acknowledge their presence in a tangible way.
Are you encouraging your students to take advantage of the Career Center? If not, I encourage you to do so today! Internships and job opportunities and other training for job preparation are available to our students. Please share opportunities you may be aware of for your discipline with the staff in the Career Services Office.
It’s Catalog planning time!!! Drafts are due in the Registrar’s office no later than December 16, 2016. We are asking that you honor the deadlines that we will be holding fast to. This allows the Office of the Registrar time to make all necessary edits and plan for timely distribution for new students for 17-18 and returning students for new courses. Chairs it is important that you recognize the importance of planning ahead and getting your changes to the Undergrad and Grad curriculum committees for all approvals including Faculty Senate. All other catalog contributors please note the deadline.
Faculty Senators, please make sure you are reporting to your department the Senate meeting outcomes. You represent colleagues in your department and if you must be absent from Senate meetings, please send a representative from your department. Each senator should have time at each department meeting to present.
Vena Training: All budget managers should contact Mario Dimas at if you have not had a budget training appointment.
Department Chairs and Program Directors: Please make sure all syllabi for Fall semester are submitted to course syllabi folder on the share drive Tuesday, November 1. The Provost would like to attend department meetings throughout November and December to share appreciation for the hard work of all faculty and hear how our office can be of support to the vision of your program. Please send a time and date to Dalila of your meeting request. Your voice matters!!!
Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) has opportunities for faculty grants and logistic placement for sabbaticals, new faculty development, leadership development institutes and other support services to enrich your teaching experience in Christian Higher Education. Please check out www.cccu.org.
Do you know of Foundations or Grant opportunities in your specific academic discipline? Please share those organizations directly with the Provost Office, IFD or Dr. Tara Sirvent, Director of Research and Writing.
Keep your eyes on announcements and the IFD website for the lunch hosted by the Provost Office during the month of November to hear the Sabbatical work of David Pecoraro and Dr. James Melton. Dr. Pete Menjares will moderate the discussion following the presentation. Don’t miss hearing the academic work of our colleagues.
News from the Registrar
In October the Registrar’s Office hosted a quarterly meeting that includes the Accounting Operations, Financial Aid, Admissions, and Registrar’s Offices along with the Admin Assistants for the President and VPs. We meet quarterly in an effort to maintain good communication, relay information, and build relationships. To make the relaying of information more interactive and fun, the hosting department does so in game format. For this meeting we used the game Catch Phrase as a base which brings out the competitive side of everyone!
Announcements:
Vanguard is now in the time period when students who withdraw from a course will receive a grade of “WF” (Withdrawal Failure). When a form is submitted to our office, a WF will be issued and the instructor will be sent a form allowing them to issue a grade of “WP” (Withdrawal Passing). A “WP” should only be assigned if the student is earning a minimum grade of “C” and is withdrawing from the course due to extenuating circumstances beyond their control (page 43 of the ’16-’17 Catalog).
Traditional undergraduate priority academic registration is November 7-11, and graduate student priority registration is November 14-18. Remember that if your class closes during registration and students add themselves to the waitlist you can give priority to individual students by contacting your administrative assistant. They know how to make that happen. Please do not sign an add/drop form to allow them entry to the class as this procedure is now handled by each department through the waitlist process. More detailed information will be sent via e-mail closer to Registration.
News from the Writing Center
The new writing center on campus is flourishing. We are settling into our new location in Scott 295, and we have a staff of nine undergraduate consultants who provide peer feedback on student papers five days a week. This semester we are requiring undergraduate clients to sit down for face-to-face appointments where they can discuss their writing in detail with our qualified team members. This allows students to ask questions about their writing and provides time for consultants to give detailed and thorough revision suggestions. We have staff members from various disciplines ready to help students with MLA, APA, or Chicago format. As we head into the final stretch of the semester, please encourage your students to make an appointment with the writing center to receive help on their papers. They should schedule ahead of time, as we are often too busy to accommodate walk-ins. Thank you for your support.
News from the Institute for Faculty Development
On October 17, Bonni Stachowiak, Naomi Kasa, and Pete Menjares unveiled the Institute for Faculty Development website to a group of faculty in the Great Commission Hall. We hope you’ll take a look at the site and think about what additional resources would most help you in facilitating learning for your students and what you might contribute to the site, as well.
http://vanguard.edu/ifd
Here’s an overview of the site (https://youtu.be/NL3l4TCaOzE), if you want a tour. Thanks to Naomi Kasa in the Communication department for your exceptional design and technical skills in developing the site.
Congratulations to KJ Hummel, Trish Fisher, and Susanne Reid for winning the movie gift baskets. Thanks to Naomi Kasa, Bonni Stachowiak, and Pete Menjares for presenting at the site unveiling. We’re also appreciative of Celina for the wonderful movie-themed treats.
As you look toward next semester’s classes, the new Institute for Faculty Development website (http://vanguard.edu/ifd) has a host of resources to help.
Hear Jackie Parke in Psychology describe her visual home page and share the resources she used to create it. (http://vanguard.edu/ifd/resources/show-us-your-course-with-jackie-parke/)
Read about other faculty members’ creative uses of Canvas, including Seon Chun-Burbank, Siaumin Fun, Joni Prado, Bridget O’Callaghan-Hay and Phil Reid. (http://vanguard.edu/ifd/blog/2016/09/creative-uses-of-canvas/)
News from the Library
The Library hosted a Spoken Word night on Thursday, October 27, 2016.
Approximately 60 undeclared students were counseled by faculty librarians in preparation for spring 2017 registration.
Information Literacy sessions in the library during November include CORE 101, ENGL 120, BUOM 378, PSYD 367.
Library hours for Thanksgiving:
Tuesday, November 22, Close at 5 p.m.
Wednesday, (11/23) through Saturday, (11/26) Closed,
Open Sunday November 27, 2-8 p.m.
Pre Finals/Finals Week Hours
Monday, November 29 – December 1, 7:30 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Friday, December 2, 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, December 4, 2 – 8 p.m.
December 5 – 9 7:30 a.m. to 3 a.m.
December 10 – 11 Closed
December 12-16, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
News from the Office of Institutional Research
It is our great pleasure to announce that now course evaluations will be completed online rather than in paper from October 24th. Students can take the course evaluation survey on their mobile devices or on Canvas. An invitation email will be sent to students and instructors two weeks prior to the last day of the class. Also, reminder email(s) will be sent to incompletes. Faculty, if you teach cross-listed sections, please make sure to combine them as one course in Canvas in order to have their evaluation results combined in one report. Also, while students have the ability to take the course evaluation outside of class time, we strongly recommend that you set aside ten to fifteen minutes at the beginning of class time to allow students to complete the survey. During this time, please leave the room.
Academic admins and coordinators, we will be hosting a brief informative training session on November 10th @10-11am in the library computer lab regarding how to access and distribute the evaluation result reports as well as a brief overview of the software (www.evaluationkit.com). We greatly value your inputs as we strive to improve the new online course evaluation system. Feel free to contact us with any questions/suggestions regarding this matter at OfficeIR@vanguard.edu.
News from the Office of Global Education and Outreach
Thank you all for participating and supporting GEO Week 2016. We had a wonderful turnout and made several connections with students interested in serving short and long term. Below are a few snapshots of the week!
Coming up… Operation Christmas Child!
November 1st will kick off our annual shoebox drive for Operation Christmas Child. Join us in chapel November 1 at 9:30am to hear from a former recipient of a shoebox and how the Lord used that small gift to do huge things in their life. Shoeboxes are available at the GEO office and are due by November 18th. For more information, visit http://www.vanguard.edu/geo/global-outreach/operation-christmas-child/
News from the Global Center for Women and Justice
The Global Center for Women and Justice will host its 10th Women in Leadership Series featuring a panel of exceptional women leaders in the community. Guest speakers include Scharrell Jackson, Chief Financial and Administrative Office of Squar Milner, Nicole Johnson, a federal agent, and VU Assistant Professor, Jacqueline Park. The event will take place on Monday, November 14th from 6:30-7:30pm in Newport Mesa Church.
Continuing the legacy of our friend Dr. Elizabeth Leonard, the Global Center for Women and Justice put on its annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month Speaker Series. Invited speakers included Diamond Award nominee, Laura’s House, and Sociology Professors, Dr. Stephanie D’Auria who presented on Date Rape, Dr. Ed Clark who presenting on the experience of boys in domestic violence, and Dr. Sandra Morgan on the connection between pornography and sex trafficking.
The American Coast Theater Company, Vanguard University’s resident professional company, in collaboration with the Global Center for Women & Justice, are proud to present the West Coast Premiere of Life Without Parole, a play that takes a look at domestic violence from the perspectives of women serving long prison sentences for killing their abusive partners. This show will be featured in LA for 3 weekends:
November 4 & 5 || 8pm
Location: Edgemar Center for the Arts | 2437 Main St. Santa Monica, CA 90405