Last weekend, David Coberly’s bridge team won the Knockout Teams event at the Atlanta Labor Day Regional.  Coberly, assistant professor of Spanish, reports that his team “was undeniably the most interesting team present.”  His team included Coberly, his partner, a 21 year-old engineering major at Georgia Tech, a 17 year-old high school student in Hickory, N.C. and the city attorney of Hendersonville, N.C. Coberly says that it was “A real variety of ages, but a winning combination!” Congrats to David!

Professor Jane Nodine and Assistant Professor Marius Valdes both had artwork accepted this past summer in the 33rd Annual Juried Exhibition for The Artists' Guild of Spartanburg.

Jane Nodine's piece "Pinpoint Revealed" is a digital photograph enhanced with graphite and altered digitally.

Marius Valdes had two paintings selected, both of which were acrylic and house paint on canvas: " Cottonwood Trail Bear" and "Are there bears in Spartanburg?" The exhibition ran July 22 - August 27 at the Arts Center. The exhibition was juried by Barbara Haaksma, director of design and marketing for Milliken's Global Automotive Group.

As a member of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office Hispanic Liaison Committee, Dr. Jorge Salvo participated in the Committee’s Outreach Event at Westgate Mall on Saturday, September 9. The Hispanic Liaison Committee was commissioned by Sheriff Chuck Wright to promote relations between the Sheriff’s office and the Hispanic Community by reaching out to individuals in need of translators to assist with medical, legal and educational needs. Dr. Salvo extends a special thanks to Star Jamieson of the Office of Admissions for representing USC Upstate at this event.

Frances Jarratt-Hortis has been promoted to Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student and Diversity Affairs effective immediately. Frances has assumed administrative oversight responsibility for the University’s health services operation and will continue to supervise the student development department as well. Frances has 18 years administrative and counseling experience at USC Upstate. She is an exemplary employee who will bring many talents to her new role.

Jim Gorske has been named director of disability services. Jim’s duties and responsibilities have been expanded to include the following new duties 1. Facilitate reasonable accommodations for faculty and staff, 2. Educate the campus community (e.g. accessibility, legal rights and responsibilities), and 3. Promote equal access and opportunity through: the establishment of an ADA sub-committee of the Diversity and Equity Committee to address disability-related implications regarding distance education, web accessibility, program growth, etc. and the development of a long range access plan to meet the identified ADA-related compliance needs of the University. Jim has been an excellent employee throughout his tenure at the university. He will bring considerable knowledge, dedication and expertise to his new role.

Ms. Nancy Moorehead, R.N at Health Services has replaced Duveen Woolbright in an acting capacity as the acting director of Health Services. Nancy possesses an R.N., BSN and has worked at Health Services for five years.

Senior sociology major. Melissa Williams is driven by a passion for research and an interest in studying issues surrounding gender and race. She was given the opportunity over the summer to combine both interests by working on USC Upstate student evaluation team, contracted for by HUD and the Spartanburg Housing Authority, to study the delivery of community and support services to the former residents of the Phyllis Goins housing project who were relocated due to the demolition of the housing units.

The team interviewed a total of 91 heads of households to determine how their lives were impacted by their move from Phyllis Goins, whether they were receiving needed support services, and to ascertain whether future plans included moving into Collins Park, a new neighborhood under construction that will replace Phyllis Goins.

Williams says that the project helped her develop her interview skills and gave her an appreciation for the quantitative skills necessary for large-scale, complex studies. Dr. Doris Paez, Williams’ mentor through the project, says that Williams had “the real world opportunity to study sociological methods.”

Jazz on the Square
Friday, September 22 and 29 … 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. … Morgan Square
Come down to the Morgan Square fountain right after work and enjoy the music of some of Spartanburg’s best Jazz musicians. Beer and wine are available for purchase. Jazz on the Square is presented by the City of Spartanburg and the Spartanburg Downtown Association.

September Faculty Governance Meetings
The Senate will meet Friday, September 15 at 2:15 p.m. in Rampey. The Advisory will meet on Friday, September 29 at 2:15 p.m. in UCR.  

A “Preface” Event: Ethics in Action – Actively Creating a Just and Civil Society Tuesday, September 19 … 3:00 p.m. … Nursing Auditorium
Do we want to live in a world in which people go hungry, are homeless, or are imprisoned because of race? The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and many conditions in the world today are striking examples of social injustice. But creating a civil society requires more than our recognition of injustice; it requires our action. Dr. Ricke-Kiely and Dr. Romine will lead a discussion exploring how individual actions can shape a civil society, and USC Upstate students involved in community service projects will explain the impact of their work. Workshop participants will learn about projects that offer hands-on opportunities to help balance the scale of social justice.

Attention: Researchers!
Do you need help understanding plagiarism or documenting sources? Consider attending one of the following University Writing Center workshops. There is a limit of 10 students per class. Call ext. 5883 to reserve your spot. For further information, call the University Writing Center at ext. 5883 or Jane Addison at ext. 5604.

Understanding Plagiarism
Thursday, Sept. 21, 3:00-3:55 (ACAT 201)
Wednesday, Sept. 27, 3:00-3:55 (ACAT 204)

Modern Language Association style (MLA)
Tuesday October 3, 4:00-4:55 (ACAT 201)
Friday, November 10, 1:00-1:55 (ACAT 201)

American Psychological Association style (APA)
Friday, October 13, 1:00-1:55 (ACAT 201)
Monday, October 23, 3:00-3:55 (ACAT 201)

General Documentation Workshop
Bring a Research Paper in Progress!
Tuesday, October 19, 5:00-6:30
University Writing Center , HPAC 136

A “Preface” Event: Out of the Box: An Art Creativity Challenge
Monday, September 25 … 4:00 p.m. … URC Great Room
Show off your creative talents! Inspire others through your art! For this event, your challenge will be to solve a surprise problem based on the common freshman novel, “When the Emperor Was Divine.” A box of materials will be provided for you to use to create a piece of art based on the book. You can bring your own group of four or come solo and join a group. Prizes will be awarded.

“Women In…” Series continues : Women in Community Service – How to Change the World
Thursday, September 28 … 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. … Campus Life Center 310
The world of non-profit organizations is heavily populated by women activists, leaders and volunteers. Mary Thomas, VP of Programs, Spartanburg Foundation, discusses this gender imbalance in the field, as well as the opportunities is provides for the aspiring female activist. For more information, contact Lisa Johnson at ext. 5724.  

A “Preface”Event: Superman Goes to War: Truth, Justice and the American Way?
Monday, October 2 … 5:00 p.m. … Sparty’s Den, Palmetto House Propagandists love short-cuts – particularly those which short-circuit rational thought. By playing on emotions, exploiting insecurities, and bending the rules of logic, they can shape the way we think and act. As history shows, they can be quite successful. Dr. Canino’s analysis of World War II cartoons, posters, and images in film will expose the tricks that propagandists used and discuss their effects. Led by Dr. Cathy Canino, English faculty.

ScanSource Information Sessions
Monday, October 2 … 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. … CLC 309
ScanSource, the fastest growing public company in the Upstate, will be on campus providing students with information about their successful summer internship program. These sessions are scheduled during the morning and afternoon on October 2. For more information, contact Betty Guzzo.

Coffee & Conversations
Tuesday, October 3 … 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. … Honors House
Kathryn McLaughlin and Cathy Canino will lead this study abroad presentation in the Honors House. There will also be information about the John C. Stockwell Diane C. Vecchio scholarship.

Red Cross – Keeping Seniors Safer - Session 1
Friday, October 6 … 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. … Rampey
The Red Cross/Key to Independent Living will offer three sessions this semester to help men and women 60 years and older. The first session will focus on disaster preparedness and response. E-mail Jeanette Reeves to sign up. There is limited seating. If enough people reserve by Wednesday, October 4, pizza may be ordered. If not, you may bring your own lunch.

Technology Training Workshops
The following workshops are being offered this week in Media 124. Contact Dr. Tom Davis to register or get additional information. There will be more workshops in the near future and faculty and staff are encouraged to let Dr. Davis know what they would like to see offered.

Outlook Email – Beyond the Basics – Learn to do more than just send and receive email from a Windows computer using Microsoft Outlook. Find out how to create your own mailing lists or groups, create and manage folders, archive or save messages permanently, create and manage your contacts in the address book, and use the calendar to schedule your appointments and set up meetings. Learn how to use your email account to access your home directory when you are off campus.
Wednesday, September 20 from 10 – 11 a.m. and 2 – 3 p.m.
Friday, September 22 from 10 - 11 am

Introduction to Blackboard - Blackboard is a web-based program that allows you to create or supplement a course using the Internet. You can use it to send email to students as a group or individually, make material available, post announcements and grades, create discussions, and even have online testing. In this introductory session, you will learn the basics and get help with features that you want to use.
Thursday, September 21 from 2 – 3 p.m.
Friday, September 22 from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Online Teaching Resources
Through our institutional membership in the Sloan-C Consortium for Online Education, paid for by a Faculty Technology Training Grant from the Carolina Piedmont Foundation, we are able to enroll up to 15 faculty members in some very good online professional development workshops. The following three online courses and one seminar are being offered this fall. Contact Dr. Tom Davis via email if you would like to participate in one or more of these.

Teaching Online – Course Development Basics: Based on research and the Sloan-C effective practices, this workshop provides the foundation for designing and delivering online courses. Faculty gain enhanced pedagogical knowledge and learn effective strategies for creative, online classroom facilitation. During the three-week workshop which begins Sept. 27th, facilitators will review the benefits and challenges of online curriculum development and teaching and address the qualities of effective online education. The workshop is designed as an 'active' learning experience, enabling faculty to explore actual online courses in several disciplines, as well as build a syllabus leading to a complete online course module for their course. Get more information at: http://www.sloan-c.org/workshop/gettingstarted.asp

Copyright Compliance for Online Educators: As an online educator, you face a new world of legal issues. In this workshop, Linda Enghagen, of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, will take you through the key copyright issues that you and your colleagues should be aware of when delivering your online courses. This workshop runs from October 18 – 27 th. Get more information at: http://www.sloan-c.org/workshop/copyright.asp

Student Services for Online Programs: Successful online learning programs provide students with access not only to instruction, but to a wide range of support services. This workshop runs from Nov. 8 – 17 th and will explore ways in which technology has automated the student's total learning experience, spilling over to the rest of the university such as administration, academic counseling, and technical support. Get more information at: http://www.sloan-c.org/workshop/studentservices.asp

Blended Learning – Research Perspectives, a Webinar: Integrating face-to-face and online learning, blending can enhance learning and optimize seat time.  How can blending transform today’s learning environments? In response to this question, 24 practitioners at 16 colleges and organizations examine research, stakeholder perspectives and best practices in 13 chapters designed for multiple educational contexts such as: designing and delivering hybrid courses, student interaction and student satisfaction, strategies for training and preparing faculty and other related topics. This online seminar takes place on Friday, Oct. 13 th from 2 – 3:30 pm. Get more information at: http://www.sloan-c.org/workshop/index.asp