March 3, 2016

In this issue…

• Current News
• Family Updates
• Personnel Updates

Current News

Flying high, CBU flight students land jobs before graduating

“I have a job waiting for me when I graduate. That’s such a relieving feeling to have,” expressed Hannah Maria Guajardo, a junior aviation science major at California Baptist University.

ExpressJet recently announced the conditional hiring of four CBU aviation students: Howard Dang, Amanda Snodgrass, Kyle LeVesque and Guajardo.

Guajardo, who is expected to graduate in spring 2017, has received a conditional job offer as a pilot. The offer is conditional based on her graduating from CBU and meeting various regulations and guidelines mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

“I’ve been blessed by my experience at CBU,” said Guajardo, who was one of the first students to enroll in the flight school’s inaugural class in 2013. “The aviation community has been extremely supportive of achieving my dreams.”

For Guajardo, her desire to become a pilot started as a teenager, she said. A family friend who was a pilot for FedEx sparked her imagination.

“I thought about how cool it must be to fly,” she recalled. “I couldn’t get the thought of flying out of my mind.”

By the end of high school, Guajardo, a San Diego resident, was conducting a national search for a flight school. Coming to CBU was a “God thing,” she said.

“It feels good to live out your Christian life at CBU and to know that you have teachers and instructors who you can trust and turn to,” she said in regards to living out her faith.

Dr. Daniel Prather, chair of Aviation Science at CBU, said that as the first aviation science class nears graduation, receiving these conditional job offers are significant accomplishments.

“The industry pathway enhances the credibility of our program and gives students tremendous confidence in their choice of CBU for their flight training and higher education needs,” he said.

 

Accolades mount for CBU basketball teams as playoffs begin

After a successful regular season for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at California Baptist University, the fruit of their efforts are being recognized.

The women’s team recently received a No. 3 national ranking from the USA Today Coaches poll after finishing the year with a 27-1 overall record and a 19-1 mark in the PacWest. Jarrod Olson, head coach for the women’s team, was named PacWest Coach of the Year. Cassidy Mihalko, shooting guard who averaged a conference-best 20.1 points per game, earned a PacWest Conference first team recognition. She was also awarded the 2015-2016 CoSIDA Academic All-American Division II award that recognizes student-athletes across the United States and Canada as top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Mihalko’s teammates Kamille Diaz and Courtney Nelson received All-PacWest second team recognition.

The women’s squad is riding a 20-game winning streak heading into the conference tournament. Since CBU and APU shared the regular-season conference crown with identical records, CBU is guaranteed a first-round bye in the PacWest Tournament, which starts Thursday. They will host the winner of Point Loma Nazarene University and Academy of Art University on Friday, March 3, at 2:45 p.m. at Concordia University.

After finishing tied for first place in the PacWest standings and tying its record for 24 wins in a regular season, No. 18-ranked California Baptist University men’s basketball team put three Lancers on the All-PacWest team, with one picking up the coveted Player of the Year award.

Junior guard Michael Smith was named PacWest Player of the Year. He led the PacWest in scoring with 20.6 points per game. He also received All-PacWest first team recognition.

Gelaun Wheelwright joined Smith on the first team, his second-straight, first-team honor. Jordan Giusti picked up Honorable-Mention recognition.

The Lancers start their run for a PacWest Conference Tournament title on Thursday, opening against Dominican University at 12:30 p.m. The game will be held at Concordia University.

 

CBU students display their talents at Woo Fest

Mix a snippet of “American Idol” with a bit of “America’s Got Talent” and you get the idea of Woo Fest at California Baptist University. More than 1,100 students attended the event held at the Van Dyne Gym on Feb. 26. The Woo Fest featured male students showcasing their talents, not for the admiration of a television audience, but to “Woo” the ladies at CBU.

“I noticed that women were complaining that we only had TWIRP,” said Jay Stovall, director of cultural and commuter programs, referring to The Woman Is Required to Pay week, where women ask men out. “The guys didn’t have anything to step up and do to win them over or spoil them in some sort of way. Thus birthed the idea of Woo Fest. It’s unbelievable the response that it has received over the years.”

Woo Fest has grown since debuting in 2009, when some 230 students watched the inaugural event. With a potential audience now numbering in the thousands, prospective performers must audition a month prior to Woo Fest in order to receive an invitation to the event. The staff of Residence Life narrowed down the performances through the audition and selected 10 routines that featured singing, poetry and various stage tricks.

“It was just a really fun night. It felt like prom again getting all dressed up with the girls on my hall,” said Adrianne Canady, a marketing freshman. “Once we got there, everything was so beautifully decorated and the acts were hilarious. I can’t wait to go next year.”

Stovall said that the evening has become a spectacle.

“It’s incredible and the memories of seeing guys step out of their comfort zones and display the gifts God has given them has been awesome,” Stovall said. “It’s just been a great way to bring the campus together and celebrate the gifts that God has given these guys and create a lifelong experience not just for the performers but for the audience as well.”

 

CBU earns repeat Tree Campus USA recognition

For the second consecutive year California Baptist University has earned a Tree Campus USA recognition.

To obtain this distinction, CBU met five core standards set by Tree Campus USA in order to maintain an effective campus forest management. The requirements consist of having a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and a student service-learning project.

“Your entire campus community should be proud of your sustained commitment to environmental stewardship,” said Mary Sweeney, program manager at Arbor Day Foundation, in an email to CBU on the award.

Tree Campus USA, a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota, honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.

“Tree Campus USA is a distinction that the Arbor Day Foundation has come up with that says ‘We are all about trees,’” said Ed Schmachtenberger, manager of grounds and landscaping at CBU.

In December, for Autumn Arbor Day, CBU students, faculty and staff planted trees in parking lots and cultivated areas around existing trees.

Schmachtenberger said CBU has plans to plant up to 50 additional trees around campus.

 

Growing career fair brings job opportunities to students

Students packed the gym at California Baptist University’s Recreation Center as businesses and government agencies in Southern California presented various internship and job opportunities at the Business, Engineering and Communication Studies Career Fair on Feb 24.  In a span of three years, the fair has become the largest career fair on campus, growing from about 15 businesses that participated to more than 110 this year.

A couple of years ago the Career Center decided to bring the event to a different level, said Mike Bishop, senior director of the Career Center. CBU staff became focused on networking with local employers and government agencies.

“We’ve been deliberate and focused about networking within the community because a lot of these employers are very interested in CBU, not only because of the educational piece, but they also recognize that our students have strong character and integrity, and that’s appealing to employers,” said Bishop.

All the employers in attendance offered internships, part-time jobs or full-time jobs, Bishop said.

Addison King (’15) could be a walking advertisement for the career fair.

He attended the event last year and got a summer accounting internship with ESRI, a mapping software company in Redlands. His role transitioned into a part-time job in the fall, and when he graduated from CBU in December, he started working at ESRI full time as an accountant.

King, who was one of ESRI’s representatives at the fair, said he used these events to practice and rehearse potential interview questions,

The Naval Surface Warfare Center, an independent assessment agency for the U.S. Navy, was offering internships and full-time jobs in engineering.

“We can get face-to-face with the students,” Eric Villanueva, branch head of engagement systems at the agency, said about the event. “It shows good support for the community. We want to employ our local engineers because we might as well pick from our own backyard.”

The career fair continues to add to the positive reputation that CBU has in the community, Bishop said.

“The school already has a lot of great visibility, but in the community, the more employers that are exposed to our students, the more attractive we become because the employers really do see we have a good quality of students,” he said.

 

Students feel “close to Christ” during evening of worship

For All Seasons filled the Van Dyne Gym with praise music as more than 400 people participated in worship at California Baptist University on Feb. 23.

Community Life and the Office of Spiritual Life collaborated to host the evening of worship.

“[For All Seasons] is obviously very talented, but their desire to honor the Lord, lead others in worship, and highlight truth from scripture was another huge reason we wanted to have them on campus,” said Julie Dobbins, assistant director of chapel and compassion ministries.

For All Seasons began leading worship at Biola University in 2007. In the summer of 2014, after spending several years leading worship at Hume Lake Christian Camps in central California, members of the band decided to devote all of their time to touring and releasing original songs. The band’s self-titled album, “For All Seasons,” debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Christian/Gospel charts.

“Worship reminds us of what our true identity is,” said Emily Hamilton, lead vocalist and songwriter. “I pray that the walls that we may have built to keep others out, or the pressure we feel to be perfect or to perform a certain way, that all of that would crumble as we continue to seek after (God).”

Throughout the night, the band played worship songs, along with original music from its first album, including “Great God” and “Made for This.” They also played a few songs from the newest album, which is expected to be released in late 2016.

“This was honestly exactly what I needed tonight,” said Nicole Osoto, an exercise science senior. “The songs For All Seasons played really put my heart in a place of worship and allowed me to feel close to Christ. My life has been crazy lately, so it was nice to just slow down and worship.”

“I love For All Seasons, so having them play at CBU was the best,” said Hannah Wilson, a Christian studies freshman. “Their songs were awesome, and it was cool being able to hang out with friends afterward and talk about how they felt after the concert. It was a night that I felt close to Christ.”

 

Let gift of grace shape ministry perspective, theologian urges

Purchased grace is a gift that was accomplished and is now available to believers based on what Christ did, Dr. John Mahony told a California Baptist University audience on Feb. 23.

Mahony is a professor of Theology at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Cordova, Tennessee. He also has served as a pastor, and has written essays for the Theology in Community book series. The CBU School of Christian Ministry hosted his lecture.

Mahony said purchased grace is the work of Christ throughout his life, his death on the cross, his resurrection, his ascension and his mediatorial work in heaven. This grace brings righteousness, blessings from God, and comes through Christ’s active obedience in the way He lived His life, he explained.

“Your salvation, your relationship with Christ is not based upon what you did at the moment of conversion, it’s based on what He did,” he said. “It’s grounded in Him … remember it’s grace purchased.”

Mahony referred to Romans 6, which states that believers have died with Christ and are now raised up with Him in a new life. Christ’s obedience benefits believers because they stand before God completely righteous. This grace shows the unconditional nature of God’s love, Mahony said. People have nothing to offer Him, yet He chooses to bless.

“This purchased grace highlights the undeserved quality of God’s grace. He chooses and blesses those that he should rightfully judge,” he said. “Grace makes no sense from a human perspective.”

What this means for believers is several things, Mahony said. Believers walking in grace should rest in their acceptance before God. It also should change their perspective on ministry.

“Please get over the notion ‘it’s my ministry, it’s my work.’ It’s His,” Mahony declared. “It’s about His church, it’s about His body, it’s about what he’s doing in His body. You, in grace, have been brought into that body and in grace have been gifted for the rest of us.”

 

CBU “Scholarship and Service 2015-2016” now available online

Service learning, community service, and faculty research that enhances teaching are featured in the 2015-2016 edition of Scholarship and Service, published this month by California Baptist University.

The 36-page booklet focuses on some of the programs and people helping to actualize the CBU vision of “a University committed to the Great Commission.”

Articles in this issue of Scholarship and Service feature:

• Dr. Andrew Herrity, recipient of the Trustees Scholar Award, is conducting research that will benefit students and help them prepare for careers after college.
• Dr. Candace Vickers involves her students in helping aphasia patients recover their speech.
• Dr. Keanon Alderson developed a class to pique students’ interest in business and showed them that business can benefit society by impacting the lives of those less fortunate.
• Music majors learn their craft at CBU as they serve others in a variety of ways.
• Dozens of CBU students “adopt” a grandparent at the Magnolia Village senior living facility near campus.
• Hundreds more volunteer each year for the university’s flagship International Service Projects/ U.S. Projects/ Summer of Service programs.

Read the publication online here.

 

Mental illness is a focus for medical director at Patton hospital

One of the true signs of mental illness is auditory hallucinations, Dr. Kayla Fisher, medical director of Patton State Hospital (PSH), told a California Baptist University audience on Feb. 18.

Dr. Kayla Fisher is a physician who specializes in forensic psychiatry. PSH, located in Patton, California,  provides treatment to about 1,500 forensically and civilly committed patients. She spoke as part of the School of Behavioral Sciences’ Culture and Justice Lecture Series.

Fisher addressed the symptoms of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or psychosis.

“The things that you hear when you are schizophrenic are instructive,” she said. “Oftentimes people think they are hearing the voice of God. Now in a Christian community where we believe people do hear the voice of God, we have to be very careful when approaching these people.”

Fisher cited an example of a woman who killed her children because “God told her to do so.” Fisher said that is indeed an example of mental illness because no religious culture believes it is appropriate to kill children.

She also explained how to tell if someone may be suffering from mental illness.

“You look for changes. These are not going to be good changes,” Fisher said. “These changes will include becoming more inclusive. Their speech will change, what they talk about, and also their beliefs will change. We must remember that those who are ill do not recognize that they need treatment.”

Dr. Jacqueline Gustafson, dean of the School of Behavioral Sciences, said the lecture’s topic is important in seeking to understand the intersection of religious experiences and manifestations of mental illness.

“There is a long history of mental illness being misunderstood as religious manifestations,” she said. “In addition, this is considered by some an issue of a bygone era, conjuring images of exorcisms. However, as Dr. Fisher demonstrated, this is very much also a contemporary topic worthy of careful consideration within our professional field.”

The next Culture and Justice Lecture Series event, “Relationships Matter: What NFL Relationships Teach Us about Love,” will take place on March 3 at 6:00 p.m. in Innovators Auditorium.

 

Bonner ending tenure as dean, will remain on CBU music faculty

Dr. Judd Bonner has announced that he will step down as dean of the Shelby and Ferne Collinsworth School of Music at California Baptist University but remain as a member of the CBU music faculty he joined in 2003 and has headed since May 2012. The change is effective June 30, 2016.

In his early days at CBU, Bonner developed the popular 90-member Male Chorale with brass and rhythm. He accepted the position of associate dean in 2006 and served in that capacity until the retirement of the founding dean.

Since becoming dean, Bonner has conducted the University Choir and Orchestra in over 200 concerts for more than 100,000 audience members around the world. He conducted and produced three studio CDs with the University Choir and Orchestra, one live DVD, and two live CDs. Most recently, he produced the first-ever, CBU Small Group CD, which features music composed and arranged by CBU students.

Annual High School Choral Festivals conducted by Bonner and the CBU music faculty have attracted more than 900 participants since 2013.

Bonner was honored as Professor Emeritus at Dalian University, China in 2014 and invited to be the guest conductor at Jiangsu Theater for Chinese New Year.

In 2015, Bonner led the National Association of Schools of Music accreditation review for the Collinsworth School of Music and wrote the Optional Response to the NASM report.

Other notable achievements during Bonner’s three and a half year tenure as dean include:

• Creation of the CBU Symphony Orchestra
• Introduction of a new Master’s degree in Music Composition;
• Completion and state approval of a Single Subject Matter Competency in music
• Development of the “Meet the Composers” series, providing CBU student musicians a glimpse into the Christian music industry and building relationships with world-renowned, award-winning Christian composers and arrangers.

Dr. Charles Sands, CBU vice president for academic affairs and provost, expressed appreciation for Bonner’s leadership of the Collinsworth School of Music, and said a national search is underway for a new dean.

 

Family Updates

Dr. Candace Vickers, associate professor of communication disorders, recently taped a webinar on Interprofessional Collaborative Practice and Person-Centered Care Using the ICF Framework for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

 

 

 

 

Cynthia Anderson, assistant professor at the School of Nursing, was recently appointed critical care nursing specialty leader for the U.S. Navy Reserve.  She will advise the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy Reserve on matters related to critical care nursing and to assure competency, clinical expertise, mentoring and operational readiness for the critical care registered nurses of the U.S. Navy Reserve. She will serve in this role for three years.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jeff Cate, professor of New Testament, presented a paper, Martin Luther and the Reliability of the NT Manuscript Tradition, at Houston Baptist University on Feb. 26 during its theology conference, Ad Fontes, Ad Futura: Erasmus’ Bible and the Impact of Scripture.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Derek Updegraff, assistant professor of English and Creative Writing, gave a poetry reading at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, on Feb. 18 as part of the Windhover Writers’ Festival. His poems have recently been published in the journals Windhover, The Rotary Dial, and The Front Range Review; and his short stories have recently been published in Rosebud and Posit: A Journal of Literature and Art.

 

 

 

Victoria Brodie, adjunct in public relations for Online and Professional Studies, spoke to the Public Relations Student Society of America, California Baptist University chapter on Feb. 16. The presentation explored the necessity for agility inside the ever-evolving public relations landscape from a practitioner’s perspective.

 

 

Dr. Jacob Lanphere, assistant professor of environmental science, co-authored two poster presentations and one oral presentation given at the 8th Natural and Mathematical Sciences Research and Internship Seminar at CBU on Feb. 20. Student Stephanie Lara presented the poster Environmental Effects of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Inside a Model Colon. Student Cooper May presented the poster Potential Phytotoxicity and Uptake of Titanium Dioxide Nanomaterials in Food Crops. Student Melissa Varela gave the oral presentation Fate and Aggregation Behavior of Graphene Oxide Nanomaterials in Aquatic Environments.

 

 

Heather Ontiveros, assistant professor of physician assistant studies, and Jennifer Zamora, assistant professor of physician assistant studies, helped coordinate and run collaborations in problem-based learning at the Keck Graduate Institute Pharmacy School in Claremont on Feb. 12. They guided the pharmacy students through cases and various learning objectives. Zamora was also one the main speakers, along with Dr. Allan Bedashi, professor of physician assistant studies, for high school seniors and college students at a STEM conference Feb. 9 at Norco Community College.

 

 

Dr. Elizabeth Morris, professor of education, Scott Dunbar, assistant professor of human resource management, Richard Ardito, assistant professor of accounting and Dr. Riste Simnjanovski, assistant professor of public administration, all with Online and Professional Studies, presented a paper, Trashing Your Textbook: Self-Regulated Learning Through the Use of Vignettes, Cases, Primary Sources and the Real World as an Alternative to Publisher Texts, at the 14^th annual Hawaii International Conference on Education in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Jan. 3-6.

 

Frank Mihelich, assistant professor of theatre, directed an original 10-minute play as guest stage director at the region eight Kennedy Center of American College Theatre Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii, Feb. 10-14. He worked with the play’s author, Taylor Hatch, a graduate playwriting student at the University of California at Riverside. While at the festival, Mihelich led a team of actors and a stage manager to bring the play, Pants, to the stage for the first time.

 

 

 

Dr. Nicole MacDonald, associate professor of kinesiology, and Dr. Jolene Dickert, associate professor of athletic training, gave a presentation on Inter-professional Collaborative Practice at the California Athletic Trainers Association 6^th Annual State Symposium in Sacramento, California, Feb. 20-22.  Twenty-nine Athletic Training students and one other faculty member attended the event, including 15 second-year students who participated in poster presentations of their research topics. Twenty-five students and three faculty members also took part in the seventh annual California Hit the Hill event on Feb. 22.  The event took place at the state capitol in Sacramento, where they met with legislators to support AB 2007, a concussion and youth sports safety bill.

 

 

Ground has been broken and concrete has started to be poured on the 153,000-square-feet multi-use event center scheduled to open at CBU in April 2017. The $73 million project will result in a 5,050-seat arena that will showcase some of the CBU athletics teams and provide much needed space for CBU’s chapel program.

 

 

 

 

The Department of Natural and Mathematical Sciences held its 8^th Annual Natural and Mathematical Sciences Research Seminar Feb. 20. About 100 students and 15 faculty attended. Dr. Lubo Zhang, director of the Center for Perinatal Biology and professor of physiology and pharmacology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, gave the keynote address. NMS students also presented their research with 10 poster presentations and 14 oral presentations.

 

Dr. Jim Buchholz, professor of mathematics and physics, gave a talk, Science in Entertainment, at the Department of Natural and Math Sciences Monthly Colloquium on Feb. 17.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Monica O’Rourke, visiting professor of kinesiology for Online and Professional Studies, was a guest speaker at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville, Tennessee. She spoke about unwavering faithfulness to God, a testimony of Jeremiah (Lamentations 3:1-23) and Paul’s (II Corinthians 11 & 12) faithfulness in the midst of trials on Feb. 25.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jong-Wha Bai, associate professor of civil engineering, and 10 civil engineering students visited the Simpson Strong-Tie to learn about its research labs and manufacturing facility on Feb. 12. The Riverside company makes structural products including connectors, fasteners and anchors for homes and buildings. Bai also presented a paper, Seismic Fragility Analysis for Semi-Actively Controlled Structures Using MR Dampers, at the 2016 Geotechnical & Structural Engineering Congress in Phoenix, Arizona, on Feb. 15.

 

 

Dr. David Poole, vice president for Online and Professional Studies, was the featured speaker at the November 2015 County of Riverside Executive Leadership Workshop where he lectured on Changing the Culture to Build a Legacy.  In December, he provided training to more than 300 managers and supervisors for the County of Riverside Department of Public Social Services at its Self Sufficiency Leadership Forum.

 

 

 

Dr. Daniel Prather, professor of aviation science, taught a four-day airport operations course to 50 airport professionals for the Hawaii Department of Transportation Aviation Division in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Feb. 22-25.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Erin Smith, assistant professor of psychology, and students Guadalupe Buitron and Jake Love presented a poster, Analysis of California Baptist University’s Science and Religion Club, at the Practical Applications of Faith and Science conference held Feb. 27 at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. The Southern California Christians in Science, American Scientific Affiliation local chapter, and Fuller Seminary’s Science and Religion Club co-hosted the event. Smith also presented a talk, Student Characteristics and the Science-Religion Dialogue, at the event.

 

 

 

Dr. Lesley Mayne, professor of communication disorders, provided a workshop titled Augmentative Alternative Communication at a NSSLHA Communication Disorders student club professional workshop series on campus on Feb. 18.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Namhee Kim, assistant professor of communication disorders, and 12 communication disorders students volunteered at the SOS Parent Night Out program for special needs children at The Grove Community Church in Riverside on Feb. 19.

 

 

 

 

Personnel Updates