Changes and spring go hand in hand and here at the FHSU Alumni Association we are adapting as quickly as possible. Umbrellas have replaced snow shovels – green and growing has replaced dry and dormant – sandals have replaced shoes – and graduates are replacing students. 

With FHSU graduation just around the corner - 10 a.m., May 17, Gross Memorial Coliseum -  the Alumni Association is making final preparations for the Graduate/Faculty Brunch and 2008 Gradfest both scheduled for May 16. For those of you who are returning to Hays for graduation, don’t forget to stop by our new home at the Robbins Center and see for yourself all the amenities a membership to the Alumni Association can offer.

Forty-seven faculty members at Fort Hays State University have been nominated by graduating seniors for the 2008 Pilot Award. The award is given annually by the Alumni Association to an outstanding faculty member. Nominations for the 2008 award are made by seniors graduating in December 2007 or in spring or summer 2008. 

Thirty-nine graduating seniors at Fort Hays State University have been recognized as 2008 Torch Award nominees. The award is given annually by the FHSU Alumni Association to an outstanding senior based on leadership, high personal standards of conduct, commitment and outstanding academic achievement. Students are nominated by faculty and staff members.

The winners will be announced at the Graduate Faculty Brunch at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 16 in the Memorial Union's Fort Hays Ballroom. The brunch honors all FHSU graduating students and is sponsored by the FHSU Alumni Association. The association, established in 1916, is dedicated to identifying and serving the needs of more than 44,000 graduates living throughout the United States and 64 foreign countries.

The Sternberg Museum wants you to get ready for a T.rexiting adventure!  This never-before-seen T.rexibition features the T.rex “Stan” along with many other skeletons from the age of dinosaurs.  This T.rextensive collection, cast from five continents, spans the entire Mesozoic Era – from early primitive dinosaurs to the diverse fauna that immediately preceded the great extinction. (And beyond – you’ll find one menacing monster that suggests not all dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago!)  Come T.rexplore this long-lost world.  You’ll come face-to-face with Velociraptor and its larger cousin, Utahraptor.  You’ll discover armored dinosaurs, horned dinosaurs, duckbilled dinosaurs, and more.  You can T.rexamine representatives of every major group of dinosaur that walked the Earth. And, it’s not just dinosaurs!  You’ll also meet monstrous reptiles that ruled the seas and commanded the skies.  Opening May 24, it’s a T.rexperience you won’t want to miss. Questions call (785) 628-5502.

Pictured are a group of 5th graders from Stafford Elementary School viewing an Archelon (giant sea turtle).

Beat the summertime heat by joining the education staff at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History on Thursday afternoons as they explore the critters that roam, crawl, or fly across the Kansas prairie.  Programs will accommodate children in preschool (age 4) to those entering 6th grade. There are two distinct age groups for each program targeting the specific comprehensive level of children in each age group. 

Two programs will be offered each Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The 1 p.m. program is designed for preschool kids (age 4) to entering 2nd grade for the ‘08/’09 school year. The 3 p.m. program is designed for kids entering 3rd to 6th grade for the ’08/’09 school year. Children age 4 – entering 2nd grade must be accompanied by a responsible adult who will stay with the child during the program. There is no minimum class size.  Maximum class size is 25. The registration deadline for each program is the Monday prior to the program. All programs are free of charge (with the exception of Monarch Madness, $5 per child; museum members free). Donations are greatly appreciated. For registration and/or additional information, contact Brian Bartels ‘07 at (785) 628-5502, bcbartels@fhsu.edu. 

-June 12, Dino-mite Dino-saurs!

-June 19, My, what big teeth you have!

-June 26, Build your bird brain!

-July 24, Who’s New?!

-July 31, Leapin’ Lizards, Sneakin’ Snakes!

-August 7, Bugzzz Galore!

-August 14, Monarch Madness!

Attention Alumni Members!  More job listings are available to you for FREE! FHSU Career Services has launched a consortium web site to benefit employers, students, and alumni FHSU. Career Services, in collaboration with the 4-year public universities in Kansas, has launched HireKansasTalent, an easy-to-use web site that enables employers and school districts to post job listings at one site and have them automatically distributed to all member schools. As a result of implementing this system, students and alumni benefit from seeing a much larger number of opportunities from both in-state and out-of-state employers and school districts for FREE.

“We are pleased to be a part of this consortium and are very excited about the additional opportunities it will provide our students and alumni,” said Dan Rice ‘66, Director of Career Services. “We hope our students and alumni will take advantage of this expanded job search opportunity.” 

All job vacancies received, both from the consortium and other sources, are posted through the FHSU Career Services recruiting website “Careers for Tigers”. For access, alumni and current students can create a FREE Careers for Tigers account on-line from the Career Services homepage www.fhsu.edu/career. Please contact Career Services at 785-628-4260 or careers@fhsu.edu with any questions.

The Fort Hays State University team of Laura Voran, Cimarron, Levi Salmans, Hanston, and Ryan Vavricka, Ness City, placed third behind Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, and the University of Georgia, Athens, in the National Collegiate Financial Planning Championship from April 23-26 in Minneapolis, Minn. The competition, sponsored by Ameriprise Financial, the CFP Board of Standards and the Financial Planning Association, is open to those universities that have CFP Board-registered undergraduate programs. 

"This is the eighth year that we have participated in the competition, and we have finished in the top five in the nation every year, winning the national championship twice," said Dr. Tom Johansen ‘80, associate professor of finance and director of the financial planning program at FHSU. 

The competition has three phases: a written financial plan, an oral presentation of the plan, and a game show competition similar to "Jeopardy." The teams with top eight written financial plans in the country advance to the finals to present their plans and participate in the game show. Pictured are from left to right:  Sarah Arnold (Ameriprise representative), Ryan Vavricka, Laura Voran, Levi Salmans, Dr. Tom Johansen 

Several social work faculty from Fort Hays State University attended the recent Bachelors Program Director in Social Work Conference in Destin, Fla.. Scott Anstadt, assistant professor, presented "Transgenerational Groups; Rediscovering our Legacy,” which covered a program called Community Connections, a partnership between FHSU and the Center for Life Experiences. Anstadt said the program's purpose is to create a "community culture" and share cultural experiences between local older adults, multicultural students and international students.  

Dr. Tim Davis ‘93, assistant professor, presented "Relationship Between Wellness Behavior and Subjective Wellbeing," which is about the relationship between quality of life and several life domains -- social, physical, occupational, spiritual, intellectual and emotional. Davis' research found that there is a strong connection between people who feel that they have a high quality of life and the spiritual life domain.  

Dr. Patricia Levy, associate professor, presented "Assessment Factors of Spirituality with Culturally Diverse Chronically Ill Patients and Their Families," which addressed a model that is a cross-cultural and cross-diagnostic application for assessing coping strategies used by the chronically ill. Judith Caprez, director of the Social Work Program, also attended the conference.

Seven Fort Hays State University student writers were honored at the Second Annual Writing Tigers ceremony held April 21 in the Memorial Union's Cody Commons. Dr. Cheryl Duffy ‘84, chair of the English Department, presented individual cash awards to the students, whose essays were written during fall 2007 or spring 2008 English composition classes. Following the award presentations, recipients read excerpts from their works. The Writing Tigers Composition Contest, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the assistant provost for quality management and the Department of English, was held in conjunction with the Fourth Annual FHSU Research and Creative Activities Week.  Winners in the two categories are listed by place, monetary award and name, with hometown and title of the essay. 

Composition 102 -- research essays: First place, $75 cash award, Klint Spiller, Lindsborg: "The Pledge of Allegiance: Unnecessary, Underanalyzed and Unpatriotic.”; Second place, $50 cash award, Jakki Puent, Norton: "Educators Need to Abstain from Abstinence-Only Education"; Third place, $25 cash award, Andrew Bauer, Salina: "Election Reform: Raising the Value of the Average Vote."; Third place, $25 cash award, Brian Keller, Ellis: "The Light of Literacy."  

Composition 101 – essays: First place, $75 cash award, Carly Reed, Larned: "A New Appreciation"; Second place, $50 cash award, Joseph Boeckner, Hays: "Incoming!"; Third place, $25 cash award, Kurtis Meier, Beloit: "Chain-Driven Ambition."

Mike Walker, assistant director of Fort Hays State University's Docking Institute of Public Affairs and an instructor of sociology, recently made an economic development presentation for the Miami County Economic Development Department. The presentation covered a retail shop survey focusing on which retail items people buy in Miami County and which items people buy out of town. The presentation also looked at the number and composition of workers available for new or different employment in an eight-county area and produced technical reports for five communities. 

Walker also presented a Rich County labor basin analysis at a Fall City, Neb., town meeting. The study, covering eight counties in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, examined the labor support, skills and desired wages of the available labor pool. Walker also took part in a Harvey County, Kansas, presentation on the county's five-year planning and direction project.

Other presenters were Dr. Brett Zollinger, director of the Docking Institute; Dr. Mark Bannister ‘85, chair of FHSU's Department of Information Networking and Telecommunications; and Dr. Jian Sun, assistant professor of political science.