Jeff Vernooy, disability services, and George Gleason, facilities planning and development, served as panelists on “ADA Design Issues in Commercial and Residential Buildings” for the Dayton chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Charles Ryan, educational leadership, and James Tomlin, teacher education and biology, co-authored a research paper that has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Employment Counseling, a journal of the American Counseling Association. The manuscript focuses on infusing systems thinking into career counseling and is targeted at changing the professional behavior of counselors through the use of systems theory and right-directed thinking in their daily practice.

Pascale Abadie and Kirsten Halling, modern languages, organized the annual French Immersion Workshop on August 14. Thirty-three high school and junior high school French teachers from all around the state attended the event, sponsored by Wright State University and the American Association of Teachers of French. The day of conferences and interactive exercises prepared teachers for their return to school. Topics included: “Using Popular French Canadian Music in the Classroom,” “Preparing Students for the French AP Exam,” and “The Best French Teaching Tools on the Internet.” Participants also acted out five plays written by Wright State French honors students. Teachers left the workshop with fresh materials for teaching, new friends and allies in the teaching profession, and renewed enthusiasm for all things French.

Joe Deer, theatre, directed and choreographed A Little Night Music for New Stage Collective, one of Cincinnati’s most adventurous small professional theatres. The cast included WSU Professor of Theatre Bruce Cromer; current WSU musical theatre students Tim Singleton, J. J. Parkey, Kelly Pekar, and Hillary Fingerman; and WSU musical theatre graduate Lindsay Jolin Polasek. A Little Night Music received the Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Musical and the Acclaim Award for Best Independent Production.

Bruce Cromer, theatre, received the Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Salieri in Amadeus at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival. He also received an Acclaim Award for Outstanding Performance in the same role.

Laura Herbert, nursing and health, passed the Family Nurse Practitioner certification exam.

Patricia Vermeersch, nursing and health, passed the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner certification exam.

Beth Sorensen, nursing and health, published “Can Windex Get Off a Wedding Ring?” in the peer-reviewed Association of Peri-Operative Nurses Journal.

Kristine Scordo, nursing and health, announces that the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program (ACNP) is celebrating 10 years of a 100% first-time pass rate for the national certification examination administered by the American Nursing Credentialing Center. ACNPs are readily sought for positions to manage the care of acutely ill patients with multiple complex problems. Research supports that ACNPs provide quality care, decrease length of stay, and improve patient and family satisfaction. WSU graduates are practicing mainly in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, and Indiana, with many in underserved areas.

Gail Moddeman, nursing and health, co-authored “Empowering Nurses to Care for Patients through Clinical Nurse Specialist Consultation and Intervention” in Clinical Nurse Specialist.

Carol Holdcraft, nursing and health, participated in the Ohio Board of Regents Distance Learning Meeting in Columbus. The purpose of the meeting was “to create a nationally recognized systemic plan for distance learning for the State of Ohio through its institutions of higher education.”

Mary Beth Kaylor, nursing and health, attended the National League for Nursing Foundation for Nursing Education’s Scholarly Writing Retreat in Las Vegas.

Mary Lynd, nursing and health, was selected by the National League for Nursing (NLN) to serve as the NLN Ambassador to Wright State University. As an ambassador, Mary will facilitate communication about emerging trends, needs, and concerns in nursing education. The input will be used to design future NLN educational programs, position statements, and other initiatives.

Sherrill Smith, nursing and health, co-authored “High-Fidelity Simulation: Factors Correlated with Nursing Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence” in Nursing Education Perspectives.

Anne Russell, nursing and health, presented “How Individuals with Traumatic Injuries Manage Their Everyday Lives following a Motor Vehicle Crash” at the 5th Annual Cleveland Clinic Nursing Research Conference.

Patricia Martin, nursing and health, presented “Introducing the 2008 Baccalaureate Essentials” at the Baptist College of Health Sciences in Memphis. Martin chaired the American Association of Colleges of Nursing National Task Force for Revision of The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice.

Cindra Holland, nursing and health, presented “Caring for the Heart: Investigating the Link between Pre-Eclampsia and Future Cardiovascular Disease” at the Association of Women’s Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses Conference, Connecting the Heart and Science of Caring, in San Diego.

Jan Belcher, nursing and health, presented “Web-Based Interventions to Support People Globally Who are Diagnosed with Major Depression” and "Sifting for Clarity of Evidence-Based Practice, Research, and Quality Improvement: An Imperative for Global Nursing” at the 20th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice in Cancun, Mexico.

Donna Miles Curry, nursing and health, presented “The Battle for Family Nursing Content in Nursing Education” at the 9th International Family Nursing Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Donna Miles Curry, nursing and health, presented “The Effectiveness of Distraction to Decrease Distress and Improve Coping” at the Society of Pediatric Nurses Annual Conference in Atlanta.

Perla Ilagan, nursing and health, was the invited speaker for the University of Santo Tomas Nurses Association of America (USTNAA) in Chicago. She presented “Violence Against Women and Health” and received the Outstanding Alumna Award from the USTNAA.

Beth Sorensen, nursing and health, published “Debunking the Myth of Pregnancy Doping” in the Journal of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Barbara Fowler, nursing and health, served as a member of the Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence Research Advisory Committee in Columbus. The mission of the organization is to enhance the quality of care in Ohio’s behavioral health system and to incorporate cultural competence into systems and organizations that provide care to Ohio’s most vulnerable and at-risk populations.

Mary Beth Kaylor, nursing and health, co-authored “Dental Services Utilization by Women of Childbearing Age by Socioeconomic Status” in the Journal of Community Health.

Donna Miles Curry, nursing and health, published “Position Statement on the Family-Centered Care Content in the Nursing Education Curriculum” in Journal of Pediatric Nursing.

Kristine Scordo, nursing and health, was the invited speaker at the American Academy of Nurse Practitioner’s 2009 National Conference in Nashville. She presented lectures on “Hypertension in the High-Risk Patient,” “Exercise Stress Testing: It’s More Than the EKG,” and “Valvular Heart Disease.”

Kathy Keister and Anne Russell, nursing and health, were second and third co-authors for “Prevention of Sepsis after Splenectomy” in Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing (scheduled for the March/April 2010 issue). First author was Rizalea Aguilar, the second BEACON student who has had a manuscript accepted for publication.

Kristine Scordo, nursing and health, was elected chair of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Expert Content Panel for Acute Care Nurse Practitioners.

Kathy Keister, nursing and health, was selected as a participant in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Leadership for Academic Nursing Program in Kansas City.

Donna Miles Curry, nursing and health, is a member of the coordinating committee formed to lay the groundwork for the International Family Nursing Association. The mission of the proposed association is to promote the individual and collective development of nurses involved in the promotion of health care to families.