News – Page 22 – The Transcript

Vice president of enrollment leaves OWU

By Gopika Nair, Editor-in-Chief

Susan Dileno, vice president of enrollment, has left Ohio Wesleyan to “pursue other opportunities,” according to an email by President Rock Jones.

In an email sent to OWU faculty and staff on Nov. 30, Jones announced the transition in Enrollment. Dileno joined OWU more than three years ago and has initiated several new efforts in Enrollment, according to Jones’ email.

The Offices of Admission and Financial Aid staff are continuing to work toward yielding a strong class in the fall of 2018, Jones said in an interview.

Applications for admission have increased more than 9 percent in the past year and international student applications have increased by more than 47 percent.

“The energy and commitment among the admission staff is very high, and I am confident that the transition in enrollment leadership will not detract from this year’s admission results,” Jones said.

The percentage increases evident across recent applications can be attributed to the efforts of the admissions staff, support of faculty and staff across campus, and the new majors and programs that have been implemented at OWU as part of 2,020 by 2020 initiative, Jones said.

“The goal for the fall of 2018 is to enroll 543 new students, including 475 first-year domestic students, 35 international students and 29 transfer students,” Jones said.

The search for Dileno’s replacement will begin immediately. Until a permanent replacement is appointment, Dwayne Todd, vice president for student engagement and success, will oversee enrollment.

“During his tenure at Columbus College of Art and Design, Dwayne filled a similar interim role for nine months, and his interim leadership in enrollment was referenced prominently and with deep appreciation by references during the search that led to his appointment as VP for Student Engagement and Success,” Jones said in his email.

Todd said most of the work in “encouraging applications” was completed during this semester and that he will shift his attention to making admission decisions and persuading prospective students to commit to OWU.

“My focus during this interim period of leadership is on supporting the Enrollment team, providing some fresh eyes on our yield efforts, establishing stronger connections between efforts to both recruit and retain students, and of course, meeting our goals for our incoming class,” Todd said.

Jones added that he anticipates a new vice president for enrollment will be appointed by late spring or early summer in 2018.

A search on Glassdoor, a website that announces job openings, revealed that an opening for a new vice president for enrollment has not been posted when last checked on Dec. 5.

Following Jones’ announcement about Dileno’s departure from OWU, several faculty members requested a special meeting in December to discuss the state of Admissions, said Tom Wolber, associate professor of modern foreign languages.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday at noon, Jones said.

Anderson, chair of the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid and Lauri Strimkovksy, vice president for finance and administration and treasurer did not respond to requests for interviews.

Note: This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

WCSA 2018-19 leaders elected

By Spencer Pauley, Copy Editor

After a close election race, Ohio Wesleyan will have its first black female student body president: Cara Harris.

Harris and vice president-elect Peyton Hardesty said they are ready to start the next semester with more emphasis on student involvement.

“We really want to allow students to vote on the weekly specials for Ham-Will,” Harris said.

The reason for this being that dining service is a primary concern for students at OWU. By allowing students to have more say on the food they’re being offered, it may help improve the student satisfaction with dining services.

Harris and Hardesty said they want to see more sustainability with efforts to make OWU more environmentally-friendly. Harris said she thinks one good way to do that is by taking a few days per week to only use green containers at Ham-Will.

“I think only 10 percent of the containers that we have purchased through WCSA are in rotation, and those are really low numbers,” Harris said. “So I think that if people are forced to use them, then they could see how easy it is to turn them in and get their points back.”

The exact number of days in which the green containers would be the only option are possibly two to three a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Besides Ham-Will dining changes being considered, Hardesty said they want to see less trash being created through the cafe options.

According to Hardesty, the average college student gets two to four coffee drinks a day, and most of the time, they’re throwing the material away afterward. One problem that is getting in the way of allowing students to use reusable coffee mugs is the Chartwells staff itself.

“I’ve had multiple encounters with Chartwells employees where they’re saying that it’s a health concern for using our own mugs because it might be dirty,” Hardesty said.

So the solution Hardesty said they are considering is either better communication with dining services next semester to allow students to use reusable mugs or encourage the university to invest in reusable coffee cups, similar to the green containers in Ham-Will.

Harris and Hardesty are preparing to change how WCSA meetings are run as well. Instead of having one legislative day per month, Harris is proposing having two legislative days a month and another two days for reports and brainstorming for the whole senate.

“I feel like you don’t get to know everybody in full senate, you only get to know your committee members because you are the ones meeting weekly and biweekly,” Harris said.

Additionally, Hardesty said they believe that new members of WCSA might not understand the language used in the meetings so the messages are not received by everyone.

To fix this problem, Hardesty wants to dedicate time to educate members on the language being used.

“I feel that if we can incorporate learning how to do something internally like learn how to draft a bill for 10 minutes, then now there’s no more excuses for offering ideas,” Harris said.

By allowing time dedicated to learning how to effectively be a part of WCSA, Harris and Hardesty said they hope to see more members bring their ideas to meetings for discussions. With Harris and Hardesty winning the election, expect to see more student involvement to be considered.

Note: The print and digital version of this article used incorrect pronouns for Peyton Hardesty. This version of the article has been updated to correct the mistake.

New dining service may be introduced

By Kienan O’Doherty, A&E Editor

With Ohio Wesleyan growing bigger by the day, meeting student needs becomes more of a challenge.

Chartwells, which has been Ohio Wesleyan’s main food vendor since 2011, has been getting negative reviews from students and faculty alike, and soon may be out of another client, although nothing is certain yet.

The decision to put OWU’s dining program out for proposals has been in the works for a while and there are a lot of factors behind this decision, said Lauri Strimkovsky, vice president for finance and administration and treasurer.

“We made the decision to put our dining program out for proposals based on negative student feedback about the dining program, as well as the results of a study conducted by campus dining,” Strimkovsky said.

Senior Paul Heithaus, who has witnessed Chartwells change throughout his years at OWU, has seen little improvement, but said that food solutions are different for this generation of incoming students.

“I’ve seen a slow level of improvement in Chartwells during my time here,” Heithaus said. “With that said, I believe it’s time for Ohio Wesleyan to go in a different direction. The profile of the incoming student at OWU is evolving and the food solutions should naturally do the same.”

Junior Austin Strauss said he believes the diversity of food isn’t as big of a factor as it should be.

“To be honest, in the beginning it really wasn’t too great, then they made a few changes and it got a tiny bit better,” Strauss said. “Hamilton-Williams Marketplace (Ham-Will) has always had good food just not much diversity,and they seem to serve almost always the same thing. This year, for the omelettes, they don’t cook them in front of you either, which leads to the decline of student interaction with employees. Smith Hall for me just never seems to have high quality food, but the best part is when they cook food in front of you.

But he added that he thought there were some positives.

“The one thing I will say is Bishop Cafe has some of the best food on campus, with a decent selection, and daily changes in the special of the day,” Strauss said. “But overall, the food here has been very generic, and the food selection is pretty repetitive.”

Multiple administrators from OWU recently visited schools with top 10 dining programs to determine their decisions. Dwayne Todd, vice president for student engagement and success, saw many changes while visiting, particularly at schools he saw were similar to OWU.

“At two of the campuses, which are much like OWU, we observed that their main focus was on quality over quantity in terms of the menu offerings and amount of food on the line,” Todd said. “Dishes are chef-inspired and innovative. They are purchasing much of their ingredients from local suppliers and build the menu around what items are available at the time. A third campus we visited is a large state institution that is consistently ranked as the top program in the country, and while they also emphasize quality, they also pride themselves on variety and convenience.”

Strimkovsky also visited the top 10 schools with Todd and saw more students involved in the dining service as well.

“We saw more made from scratch cooking, more use of locally sourced foods, higher quality of food offered, more students employed by the operation, meal plans that better met the student needs and hours of operation that better met the student needs,” Strimkovsky said.

Chartwells is still allowed to bid during the process, and Steve Ishmael, senior director of dining for Chartwells, said he fully believes in the relationship between the program and school.

“Chartwells is proud of our relationship with Ohio Wesleyan University and very much looks forward to being part of the bid process,” Ishamel said. “The University is making a smart business decision in ensuring they have the right partner for the future of dining at OWU. We welcome the opportunity to tell our story and working to continue our partnership.”

Ishmael said he also believes that the some of the changes made this year have been a success.

“It is a continual process,” Ishmael said. “You can look around all of the facilities to see some of the physical changes we have made this year from painting, pictures and menu boards in Bishop Café, to the upgrades in Smith, plus the big efforts on social media to continue to keep students informed about what is happening in dining services.”

Chartwells has increased their salary every year since 2011, going from $4,956,674 that year to$6,163,317 in 2015.

“If Chartwells isn’t chosen in the bidding process, the school could lose money,” President Rock Jones said.

An in-house dining service could be a possibility to look into, but Strimkovsky said she believes it would be better long-term.

“An in house dining program could be a possibility in the future, but not in the short term,” Strimkovsky said. “Running a food service operation of this size is complicated and would need extensive strategic planning to bring on line. Our plan is put out the Request for Proposals, select a food service provider that is able to provide the quality food service program we want to offer to students. We will then assess, down the road a year or so, whether we want to consider a self operating dining service.”

Career Services offer after hours help

By Meghann Dunning, Transcript Correspondent

Students of Ohio Wesleyan University are now being offered career help . . . after hours.

With students having busy schedules during this time of the year, the Career Services office is offering help 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays in either Beeghly Library or Stuyvesant Hall.

Regular office hours for Career Services are still from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center in Room 324.

Career Services “provides career development, planning and job search assistance to students and alumni,” according to the Office of Career Services’ mission statement.

“Through individual counseling, creative programming and technological services, we help students to identify and enhance networks and skills necessary to achieve career goals and to become actively engaged in a global society.”

Career Services has been offering help to students for many years. Career help after hours gives members of Career Services a chance to connect and implement services to meet the needs of the campus.

“We decided to bring back career help after hours as we have in previous years as an opportunity to meet students and provide assistance during times they may be more available,” said Joshua Lisko, OWU’s career coach.

“We know that office hours work for many students, but some just cannot make it in during the time frame we have now, so we are doing more to come to students.”

The student staff members of Career Services have been trained to supply a high level of career related services sothey can assist in meeting the needs of their fellow classmates.

“I think it is very helpful and useful,” Kayla Richard, a senior at OWU, said. “I have classes all day and play two sports; I don’t really have enough time to get the career help I need, but now that it is later, I can finally go.”

Richard went to Career Services for her resume. They helped her update it with correct content, articulation and better structure. She learned on to how to best present herself to an employer.

As a result of adding more hours for career help, career services are hoping to connect to more students and provide them with assistance.

OWU wrestling team appoints new head coach

By Aleksei Pavloff, Sports Editor

The Ohio Wesleyan University coaching staff adds one more to the family, with the hiring of experienced head wrestling coach Paul Reid.

Reid’s first day on the job was Nov. 1 and the administration is excited to see wrestling back after being absent from OWU athletics since the mid-80s.

“I am pleased that OWU will once again offer men’s wrestling as one of our varsity athletics programs,” said OWU President Rock Jones. “Many alumni who competed on the wrestling team in previous decades now are leaders in business, industry, medicine and academic life.”

Jones also said this will help attract more students to the university and is also confident that Reid is a good fit for the new program with his wealth of experience as a coach and a recruiter.

“Coach Reid is ideally suited to lead the program as it returns to OWU,” Jones said. “He has good experience, will be an effective recruiter and will quickly build a competitive program that attracts student athletes who reflect OWU’s values.”

Reid said one of the reasons he came to OWU was “the opportunity to reinstate” the new program.

“It is a very rewarding experience,” said Reid.

This is not the first time Reid has helped a program get on its feet. Before coming to the university, Reid helped build a wrestling program at Alfred State College where he served as the head coach.

Reid’s experience with wrestling extends way back to his childhood days. From wrestling at a young age through high school, Reid competed at Coe College, which is a division III private school located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Reid went to the University of North Carolina Pembroke, a division II program, where he studied his master’s as a graduate assistant.

He then was an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and was the head recruiting coordinator for two years.

After his time at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Reid took the position as head assistant coach at Iowa Western Community College for three years. There, he helped start a new wrestling program. The program is now in the top 10 for junior colleges according to theopenmat.com.

His most recent job was at Alfred State College where he was the head wrestling coach for three years and help the program through an “extensive rebuild.”

Reid was first contacted by OWU in late September and said that the mix of academics and athletics was something that he admires about the university.

“That is what division III is all about,” Reid said. “You want a good, well-rounded education but you want a well-rounded experience also.”

Now, Reid is the head wrestling coach at OWU and said he is ready to get to start recruiting and build the program from the ground up.

Reid is planning to “get after it” with recruiting for the 2018-19 wrestling season. He said that Ohio has a “rich talent pool,” but hopes that OWU national reputation will assist him in going to tournaments outside of the state of Ohio.

HBC and Branch Rickey renovations coming soon

By Aleksei Pavloff, Sports Editor

Ohio Wesleyan University administration approved plans to renovate the House of Black Culture and Branch Rickey Arena.

In late October, many alumni, students and parents enjoyed a festive homecoming while also celebrating the university’s 175th anniversary. With this celebration, the school also announced that OWU’s Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign raised more than $140 million in donations.

“Our goal for the leadership phase of the campaign had been $125 million,” said OWU president Rock Jones in an email sent to OWU faculty. “So this is, indeed, a milestone to celebrate.”

Along with the celebration, announcements were made that have some people on campus still celebrating. The Board of Trustees approved the rebuilding of the Butler A. Jones House of Black Culture (HBC) and plans to renovate Branch Rickey Arena.

This is a part of the university’s 2017-18 objectives and plan for 2020.

Through this approval, the board is aiming to raise at least $161 million for the Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign by late June 2018. Along with donations, the objective included completing fundraising and beginning construction of HBC. Along with the rebuilding of HBC, the objectives included finalizing the design for Branch Rickey and launching fundraising.

HBC has been a part of the OWU community since the 1970s. The current house is located on Oak Hill Avenue and Jones has said the new building will be in the same location.

He also added that students have assisted in reviewing plans for the new house in efforts to serve “the needs both of the students who live in the house and of the larger community that gathers at the house.”

With the announcements made about plans for HBC and Branch Rickey, some recent alumni are excited to hear about the news.

“I think it’s great that (Branch Rickey Arena) is getting renovated,” said Ben Simpson ‘17, a former member of the OWU basketball team.“This program that has been built over the years definitely deserves it.”

Simpson also mentioned that his memories of playing in Branch Rickey were great.

“It was awesome playing in Branch Rickey,” Simpson said. “The combination of great fans and a great atmosphere makes it fun to play in.”

Branch Rickey Arena is one of the best places to watch and play sports, but according to President Jones, it is time for improvements.

“The time has arrived when much-needed renovation must occur, including replacing the aging floor and bleachers, refreshing the entry and public restrooms, upgrading the training room, and creating a venue that reflects the quality of the programs that compete in Branch Rickey Arena,” Jones said.

The administration has worked with new athletic director Doug Zipp, coaches, trainers and faculty from the health and human kinetics department to identify what needs to be improved.

“This is the most pressing need for renovation among all of our athletics facilities,” said Jones.

OWU looks back on Russian Revolution

By Nicole Popovich, Transcript Correspondent

Be on the lookout for poems attached to red helium balloons tied up around campus.

Starting on Nov. 7 and going through Nov. 10, the comparative literature department will be having events pertaining to the 100-year anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

On Tuesday, Nov. 7 in the Beeghly Media Center, there was a showing of the eighth greatest film ever made , according to film critics from the British Film Institute: Man with a Movie Camera directed by Dziga Vertov.

On Wednesday, Nov 8, Mimi Ginsberg from the University of Maryland gave a lecture on the first woman art gallery owner, Nadezhda Dobychina.

Ginsberg is the sister of a professor in the comparative literature department, Sally Livingston.

“All of the events are going to be great, but I am especially excited for my sister to talk at a couple events that are happening,” Livingston said.

In the Beeghly Library on Thursday Nov. 9, professors Mark Gingerich (Russian history), Sean Kay (Soviet and Russian politics and government) and Stephanie Merkel (Russian language and literature) had a discussion panel.

Gingerich, Kay and Merkel spoke about the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in the Bayley Room at noon. The discussion debated whether the revolution was good or bad and if it is over.

On Friday, Nov. 10, professor Anne. E. Sokolsky, the chair of the comparative literature department, will be speaking about her forthcoming book, “They Call Him Sok: A Granddaughter’s Search for Her Grandfather Journalist George Sokolsky through Archives, Memorabilia, and Family Lore.”

“Professor Sokolsky is giving a talk about her family’s connection to the Russian Revolution through her grandfather, George Sokolsky, who was a journalist then,” said Merkel.

These events have been being planned for many months. “Professor Livingston and I talked about it over a glass of wine on a Delaware July evening, and the whole thing took off from there,” Merkel said.

Education department welcomes new professor

By Reilly Wright, Photo Editor

The newest assistant professor of education at Ohio Wesleyan, Sarah J. Kaka, comes armed to teach those to teach.

Currently, Kaka teaches the introductory course to education, the role of the school, but her concentration is in secondary education with seventh through 12th grade. OWU students are enrolled in her secondary social studies courses and adolescent to young adult and multi-age education program field experiences.

“I get to go out and observe student-teachers in the field and see what’s happening,” Kaka said. “And I’m able to keep current and relevant on trends in schools today because I’m out in the field.”

Kaka spent her undergraduate at Illinois State University before attending the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, to get her master’s in curriculum and instruction and her Ph.D. in educational leadership, research and policy.

With published work in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at local and international conferences, Kaka’s research concentrates on improving educator preparation programs.

“Kaka was highly experienced,” said Amy McClure, the department chair of education. “She has worked with accreditation and the edTPA, a rigorous national assessment all our students must complete, supervised students in field experiences and student teaching.”

Before teaching higher education, Kaka taught high school social studies in Virginia and Colorado for 10 years before realizing she wanted a larger hand in the classroom. In graduate school, she found she was on a path toward more administrative positions, such as a dean or principal, instead of teacher.

“When I was doing all the director stuff, I was only teaching one class a semester,” Kaka said. “The rest of it was all administrative. I missed teaching.”

After years of attending and teaching in a larger graduate audience, Kaka says the change to a small midwestern campus is a welcome for her, her husband and two children to set roots.

“When I saw this job … I jumped at it because it’s a small institution and it’s heavy on the teaching,” Kaka said. “I’d teach three classes each semester and still be able to do the research and the scholarship that I love doing.”

Kaka said she loves getting to know her students individually and understanding their diverse backgrounds as they learn and gain experience.

“I feel incredibly blessed to be here and lucky and just happy,” Kaka said. “My colleagues have all been so supportive.”

The Historian to depart from OWU

By Kiersten Bender, Transcript Correspondent

The editorial staff of The Historian are slowly clearing the shelves, editing one book at a time, in preparation to terminate a historical organization that has operated at Ohio Wesleyan University for 25 years.

The Historian will be leaving OWU in the fall of 2018, ending 25 years of connecting students with universities, historians, and authors from all over the country. Richard Spall Jr., professor of history, has been the editor of the book review section of The Historian since it arrived at Ohio Wesleyan in 1993.

The Historian is a quarterly journal published by the national honor society for history, Phi Alpha Theta.

Phi Alpha Theta encourages the research, publication and teaching of history, which is why the journal includes articles and book reviews that discuss all fields of history.

The journal allows students, historians and teachers from around the world to make connections, according to The Historian’s website.

The contract with Phi Alpha Theta connecting OWU and The Historian included a six-year term with Spall as editor. Ending his fourth term, Spall is ready to pass the torch to someone else and continue teaching.

The journal was initially intended to leave in the fall of 2017.

But when the person who was intended to replace Spall as editor declined, the OWU staff had to keep the book review section operating for another year. Meanwhile, Phi Alpha Theta has been searching for a different editor willing to take on the responsibility.

Since its establishment in 1993, The Historian has provided Ohio Wesleyan students with $475,000 in scholarships and more than $1.3 million in books. In addition, 32,654 history books have been added to Beeghly Library.

“The history collection is as good or better than any other,” Spall said.

Along with the extensive list of contributions, The Historian has provided jobs to OWU students through work study opportunities provided by the school.

The OWU editorial staff currently includes six editorial assistants and four senior editorial assistants. Spall said the book review section has had up to 21 students working for it at one time.

Both junior Alyssa DiPadova and senior Kyle Rabung said their experiences as senior editorial assistants have provided them with skills and relationships that they would not have received anywhere else.

“I cannot stress enough how proud this campus should be over the 20 plus years of excellence that we have contributed to a nationally circulating academic journal,” Rabung said.

2018 WCSA election results announced

By Gopika Nair, Editor-in-Chief

The Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) has elected its first female black student body president.

Senior Cara Harris will serve as the WCSA president in 2018 and sophomore Peyton Hardesty was elected vice president.

The 2017 WCSA elections yielded other firsts, as well.

Compared to last year’s 29 percent, this year, 46 percent of the Ohio Wesleyan student body voted, which was “the highest turnout in memory,” said senior Chris Dobeck, current president of WCSA.

Additionally, junior Will Ashburn is the first elected treasurer since Graham Littlehale ‘17, who served as the WCSA treasurer in 2015.

“The election was incredibly close,” Dobeck said. “Of all four presidential tickets, the highest voted candidate and the lowest voted candidate only had a 37 vote difference.”

The election took place on Friday, Nov. 10.

The complete list of results are as follows:

President

Cara Harris

Vice President

Peyton Hardesty

Secretary

Mollie Marshall

Treasurer

Will Ashburn

Class of 2019 Representatives

Jackie Arnott

Megan Klick

Class of 2020 Representatives

Gretchen Weaver

Maxwell Aaronson

Class of 2021 Representative

Max Berry

Student Inclusion Advocacy Committee (SIAC) members

Cindy Hyunh

Ahmed Hamed

Mahnoor Ansari

Josselyne Ramirez

Benji Acuna

Daniela Black

Marisa Grillo

Spencer Zhang