August 31, 2017

In this issue…

• Current News
• Family Updates
• Personnel Updates

Current News

Ensembles tune up at Rehearsal Camp ahead of new semester

A week before the fall semester begins at California Baptist University, nearly 450 students involved in various music ensembles already are on campus for Rehearsal Camp, prepping for a busy academic year.

Dr. Dawn Gilmore, assistant professor of music, said the camp hosted by the Shelby and Ferne Collinsworth School of Music from Aug. 28-31 helps students prepare new music and review old favorites for upcoming concerts.

“As each conductor works with their groups, the voices begin to learn to blend together to make that beautiful, warm and sparkly tone that CBU music groups are known for,” Gilmore said. “The end goal of Rehearsal Camp is to bring together in a group what cannot be accomplished by individuals working alone.”

During the previous academic year, student groups performed more than 220 concerts. Ensembles at CBU include large groups such as the University Choir and Orchestra, with more than 150 vocalists and instrumentalists, and smaller groups such as the Jazz Band and New Song. The groups perform at a variety of venues including university campuses, community events, local high schools and churches. They also participate in multiple concert tours each spring.

Dr. Guy Holliday, assistant professor of music and director of bands, said the camp is an important part of the preparation process for musicians.

“This is a time for beginning new relationship with incoming students and renewing existing relationships with returning students,” Holliday said. “They are also learning how to carry themselves as collegiate musicians, how to consistently perform at a high level of excellence, how to follow the direction of the conductor and how to use their gifts and talents in worship to God and in service to the others.”

Morganne Warner, a freshman majoring in worship leadership, said the camp is helping her become a part of a vocal team.

“It’s going to help me understand the [different roles] and learn the songs quickly before we have an actual concert,” Warner said.

Grace Wanyama, a junior double majoring in public relations and international studies, said the camp is a rewarding experience.

“I enjoy meeting new people,” Wanyama said. “I also enjoy learning the music. It’s hard and it’s exhausting, but it’s really encouraging.”

 

CBU welcomes students from around the world

More than 90 new international students are being welcomed at California Baptist University this week as part of International Orientation.

The orientation, held Aug. 28-31, helps prepare international students to adjust to life at CBU and in the U.S., said Leslie Shelton, director of International Student Services. For many students, it will be their first time in the country and they can experience culture shock, she added.

“Incoming international students often face a lot of different transitions than your traditional freshman or transfer student,” Shelton said.

Shelton said the orientation will introduce the international students to the CBU campus and explain how to get connected. It also includes general information on the City of Riverside in addition to relevant issues such as health insurance and immigration support. The students also undergo an English evaluation at the orientation to determine if they are proficient in the language or if they need to enroll in the Intensive English Program.

Social activities such as a barbecue and bowling also are planned during orientation to help the students get acquainted and connected with staff and their fellow international students.

“We really just want to set them up for success as best we can in transitioning to the U.S. but also transitioning to an education system that is completely different from their own,” said Shellyn Beltran, assistant director of International Student Services.

International students registered at CBU this fall come from Asian countries including China, India, Indonesia and Japan as well as nations in Europe and Africa.

“I’m looking forward to learning new cultures and making friends from other parts of the world,” said Ane Olaeta, a freshman from Spain, who came to CBU to be a part of the women’s basketball team.

Olawumi “Rebecca” Omofomah is a graduate student from Nigeria, who is pursuing her master’s in leadership and organizational studies. Omofomah said she is interested in a new educational experience.

“One of the things that made me enroll at CBU is that I wanted international exposure outside my country. I also wanted to meet other people and learn about different cultures,” Omofomah said. “I would love to be able to impact others with the knowledge and the skills that I acquire here.”

International Student Services plans events throughout the year to help international students feel welcome and connected to the CBU community by hosting cultural events such as Taste the Nations, Festival of Colors and the Lunar New Year, Shelton said.

“We want to honor our students and their culture and celebrate that with them,” Shelton said. “We also want to get our domestic students to the events, too, because it is fun to learn about [other] cultures.”

International Student Services also offers students one-on-one support. For instance, international students can be matched with an American peer to practice English. Additionally, International Student Services matches students with host families that connect with them on a regular basis including hosting meals and holiday activities.

Shelton said CBU International students also have chapel services, consisting of Bible teaching and small group discussion. CBU wants to help international students thrive not only academically but socially, emotionally and spiritually, she explained.

“We strive to make sure our students feel acclimated, that they feel accepted and that they’re a part of CBU,” Shelton said.

 

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences adjusts concentrations

The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at California Baptist University will offer six undergraduate concentrations, starting in the fall semester, that will help students explore the diverse behavioral and social sciences field.

The college will offer concentrations in forensic psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, medical anthropology, lifespan development, social work and sports psychology.

“These concentrations will have an exploration aspect for a student’s academic career and will also allow students to explore new aspects of the behavioral and social sciences,” said Dr. Veola Vazquez, associate dean for undergraduate programs.

Vazquez said the college offered several certificate programs in the past. However, the college decided to eliminate the certifications and revamp the undergraduate concentrations, therefore allowing students to declare a concentration that is focused.

Vazquez said that a declared concentration would also benefit students with their post-graduate pursuits.

“These concentrations were developed with the student’s career and educational goals in mind,” Vazquez said. “The students completed concentration will go on a student’s transcripts, which will help employers or graduate school admission counselors identify specific courses student completed.”

Each concentration includes four courses (some may require additional prerequisites), which would otherwise be taken as electives, Vazquez indicated.

In four out of the six concentrations, students can pursue a master’s in a related field at CBU. The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences is offering master’s programs, for the first time this fall, in industrial-organizational psychology and social work. Next fall the college will launch a sports and performance psychology master’s program. The college already offers a master’s in forensic psychology. In total this fall semester, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences will have five majors with six concentrations, five minors and five graduate programs.

For more information on the concentration options within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences please contact 951-343-4676.

 

CBU faculty and staff pause to view solar eclipse

California Baptist University faculty and staff members used special eyeglasses and telescopes equipped with protective filters on Aug. 21 to view a solar eclipse described as the most observed in history. While the eclipse was total in a 70-mile wide band stretching from Oregon to South Carolina, the moon obscured about 62 percent of the sun’s surface at the CBU campus in Riverside.

“Eclipses are demonstrations of God’s glory” and serve as “yet another example of creation pointing back to our Creator,” Dr. Kyle Stewart, associate professor of physics, told Baptist Press, the news agency of the Southern Baptist Convention.

 

 

 

Family Updates

Dr. Hyun-Woo Park, professor of biology, and Dr. Dennis K. Bideshi, professor of biology, helped organize the 50^th Annual Meeting and Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, held Aug. 13-17 in San Diego. In addition, collectively they co-authored three presentations made at the meeting: Cry11B enhances efficacy significantly to Aedes aegypti when added to a Bacillus thuringiensis strain producing the Cyt1A-BinA chimera; Ascovirus P64 Homologs: A novel family of large cationic proteins that condense viral genomic DNA for encapsidation; and Comparative study of fast-killing versus slow-killing Spodoptera frugiperda ascovirus isolates.

 

Dr. Ed Garrett, associate professor of sports, recreation and fitness management for Online and Professional Studies, conducted a seminar with the senior team for the Mississippi Department of Human Services on June 19 in Jackson, Mississippi. He spoke on developing leadership and motivating others.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Juliann Perdue, professor of nursing, spoke at the Animal-Assisted Interventions 2^nd Annual Conference in Rochester, Michigan, on Aug. 11. She spoke on Integrated Curriculum for Animal-Assisted Interventions: A Nursing Case Study.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Trevor Gillum, associate professor of kinesiology, and Zach McKenna, a kinesiology graduate student, published an article in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (February 2017). The article was titled Effects of exercise induced dehydration and glycerol rehydration on anaerobic power in male collegiate wrestlers.

 

 

 

Dr. Fred Pontius, professor of civil engineering, met with faculty and graduate students and gave a presentation on microbiology in engineering at the School of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, in Qufu, China, on July 28.

 

 

 

 

Ashley Sonke, director of nursing student services, was invited to be a part of a consultant group for the  American Association of Colleges of Nursing. This group of nursing school administrators and nursing admissions experts was selected because of their innovative work with holistic admissions review as it relates to diversity in academic nursing programs. The group met in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18 to develop a toolkit to equip each member to train other schools/colleges of nursing on holistic admissions review best practices.

 

 

Dr. Jim Buchholz, professor of mathematics and physics, presented a paper at the annual American Scientific Affiliation Meeting in Denver held July 28-31. The paper was How Different Philosophies of Science Affect your Faith and Worldview. As part of the event, he also visited the National Ice Core Lab, where ice core samples from Antarctica and Greenland are kept. Buchholz also traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, for the Total Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21.

 

Dr. Erin Smith, associate professor of psychology, made a panel presentation at the International Association for the Psychology of Religion in Hamar, Norway, on Aug. 23. Her presentation was titled The naturalness of religion and science: A comparison of American and Chinese Adolescents.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jong-Wha Bai, associate professor of civil engineering, co-authored and presented two papers at the 12^th International Conference on Structural Safety and Reliability in Vienna, Austria, on Aug. 6-10. The titles were Vulnerability Assessment of Smart Bridge Piers due to Vehicle Collision and Probabilistic Model for Predicting Early Creep of Self-Consolidating Concrete Containing SCMs.

 

 

 

Dr. Jeff Cate, professor of New Testament, presented a paper at the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Berlin, Germany, on Aug. 11. The title was Exegetical Insights from Minor Variant Readings in the Apocalypse. He also presented a paper at a conference on Herman Hoskier and the Future of Textual Scholarship on the Bible, at Dublin (Ireland) City University on Aug. 29. The title was Concerning the Text of the Apocalypse (1929): Herman C. Hoskier’s Lasting Legacy.

 

 

 

 

Stefani Plummer, director of the Recreation Center, and her husband, Christopher, officially adopted their son, Jacob Curtis Plummer, 3.5 years old, on Aug. 11.

 

 

 

 

 

Crystal Chavez, director of physical activity program, and her husband, Joseph, welcomed their daughter on June 15. Kyra Linux Chavez weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 20.5 inches. She joins brother Kruz Dean, 2.

 

 

 

Dr. Patrick Schacht, assistant professor of biochemistry, and his wife, Karen, welcomed a son on Aug. 21. Peter Christopher Schacht weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 21 inches. His older sisters are Rebecca, 4, and Mary, 2.

 

 

 

 

Jeff Keneaster, academic support coordinator for Online and Professional Studies, and his wife, Carrie, welcomed a son on Aug. 4. Sam Wesley Keneaster weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 21 inches.

 

 

 

 

 

Personnel Updates