January 29, 2021

In this issue…

• Current News
• Family Updates
• Personnel Updates

Current News

CBU planning fall return to campus life, in-person instruction 

California Baptist University is planning to welcome students back to campus this fall after more than a year of disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccinations was a key factor in the decision to resume a more normal campus experience for students, faculty, and staff, CBU officials said. 

“We are continuing to monitor the pandemic closely and will be developing plans that embrace best practices to ensure a safe return to campus life and in-person instruction,” said Dr. Ronald L. Ellis, CBU president.  

Ellis said announcing the decision now will give prospective and current CBU students and their families considerable time to prepare for the return to campus life. Details about classroom instruction, student housing, and regular campus gatherings such as chapel, athletic events, and student clubs will be forthcoming as plans develop, he added. 

 

Students start 2021 spring semester  at CBU

California Baptist University kicked off the spring 2021 semester on Jan. 25.

CBU delayed the start of the spring semester by two weeks due to a surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the southern California region. Classes for the semester will continue to be held primarily through live/synchronous remote instruction.

A drive-thru check-in on Jan. 22 welcomed new students and gave them their welcome packet and other needed materials. New and returning students also moved in that day.

The virtual Welcome Weekend experience featured fun and important information. Videos provided information on topics such as academics, campus offices, Athletics and Spiritual Life.

New students will also participate in First-Year Experience groups, which will help them adapt to campus life, beginning Jan. 27. Gavin Andrew, director of First-Year Experience, said it is still important for the students to feel connected to the campus.

“Connecting with the campus and each other is more challenging due to COVID. However, challenging is not impossible,” Andrew said. “What students put into it really can dictate their experience. We want to help students identify resources that are available to them as Lancers whether they’re on campus or home. We also want to share with them what the campus offers when we’re back to a more normal scenario, so they have things to look forward to.”

Mariah Gonzalez, an early childhood studies junior and a transfer student, said she chose CBU because of the reputation of the school and the Christian community.

“I’ve heard all good things from CBU and I’m a Christian and I value the community here,” Gonzalez said. “The campus is so beautiful, and my professors are very organized so I’m very excited for classes to start.”

Kierna McCallum, a psychology freshman who returned to her campus housing, said she loves living on campus.

“I made a really great group of friends who I absolutely love hanging out with,” McCallum said. “I made a lot of memories on campus. I am really looking forward to the community and my classes. I am also looking forward to making new friends.”

 

CBU Online places high in U.S. News & World Report rankings

CBU Online, the Division of Online and Professional Studies at California Baptist University, placed high in multiple categories in the latest national rankings released by U.S. News & World Report (USN&WR).

CBU Online earned the No. 67 spot among online bachelor’s programs in the 2021 rankings.

CBU Online also ranked high in the USN&WR rankings for “Best Online Master’s in Business Programs (Excluding MBA)” and “Best Online Master’s in Education Programs” as these programs earned a No. 80 and No. 83 respectively. “Best Online MBA Programs” landed at No. 139.

Pamela Daly, vice president for Online and Professional Studies, said CBU Online was excited to be recognized for its programs in a very competitive market.

“CBU Online continues to pursue and deliver outstanding online academic programs to serve adult students who expect flexibility, affordability and technology-driven learning,” Daly said. “While the pandemic has forced many colleges and universities to pivot to remote teaching and learning, OPS has designed and delivered robust, personalized, career-oriented programs for more than a decade.

Daly said that CBU OPS faculty and staff are the force behind this national recognition.

“Their compassion, expertise and excellence ensure that our students achieve their educational and career goals. We are proud to be a part of CBU and the Great Commission work,” Daly said.

CBU Online currently serves approximately 5,200 students online through 26 undergraduate majors and concentrations, 16 graduate programs and concentrations, and three doctoral programs.

For more information on the USN&WR rankings, please visit https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/california-baptist-university-110361.

 

Alumnus teaches and shares his story to encourage others

Growing up in Rubidoux, California, college did not interest Ruben Aguilar (’17, ’18).

He joined the Army after he heard a recruiter speak at his high school.

“I was not a good student. I was not ready for college,” Aguilar said. “I was more like, how I can get out of here as fast as possible?”

Yet after service, Aguilar went to Norco Community College then California Baptist University, ultimately earning a master’s degree. In fall 2020, Aguilar was named Alumnus of the Year by the Riverside Community College District.

He was serving in Iraq when he was injured by an improvised explosive device in 2007. He spent six months in the hospital and has had three shoulder surgeries.

In 2009, Aguilar decided to use his military benefits to attend college. He chose Norco College. At the time, the campus had a Veterans Affairs representative but no veteran resource center. Aguilar and other veterans worked with school administration to create one.

For Aguilar, it was about helping other veterans.

“It’s a place where I can go and where people understand the different things that I’ve gone through. A lot of us at the time, in 2009, were Afghanistan vets or Iraqi vets,” Aguilar said. “Having a place to go, I know exactly what you’ve gone through.”

When Aguilar was injured, doctors told him he would have some physical restrictions. He wanted to know why.

“Why can’t I do this, what are my limitations? How do the muscles inside of my shoulder work?” Aguilar said.

That led him to get an associate degree in health and kinesiology (he also got two associate degrees in other areas). He started looking at and visiting four-year universities.

“I came to CBU and everything lined up for me,” Aguilar said. “We talk about mind, body, spirit. God is at the forefront of my life.”

He earned his bachelor’s, then his master’s. With a wife and four kids, he condensed the two-year kinesiology graduate program into one. During that busy year, his go-to phrase was “it’s time to strap back on the boots.”

After reaching that goal, he became an adjunct at CBU for two years and did a student teaching internship program at Norco College. In fall 2020, he started teaching at Norco full time.

He wants to encourage community college students like his instructors did for him and to recommend that students transfer to a four-year college. There are many reasons why they do not.

“I felt like [community college] was where I wanted to be and where God was calling me to go share my story. I came from this background. I walked the same walk that some of these kids have,” Aguilar said. “I want to teach them and guide them. It’s hard to tell someone we need help. That’s our culture. I want to change the mindset.”

Aguilar also strives to help the youth in Rubidoux. Since 2016, he and friends have worked to get the kids off the street. They connect youth with jobs at a vintage airplane restoration company. Then Aguilar teaches them about health and fitness. A year ago, Aguilar and his friends turned their efforts into a nonprofit, A1 Skyraider Foundation.

Aguilar said he does not work for the recognition, but the alumnus award gave him a spark of motivation.

“Sometimes we feel we’re not making an impact and then getting an award like this, it’s like there are people watching,” Aguilar said. “My wife, my mom, every single faculty member on the Health Science campus and the kinesiology department made me who I am and made me grow to be a better person, and to share God’s gift, God’s Word and to be a leader.”

 

LaGuardia team shares kindness in the homeless community

It was a warm April day when Zachary LaGuardia went to a 99 Cents Only Store to purchase 50 containers of sunscreen to pass out to members of the homeless community in Riverside. He ended up spending over $200.

“The world around us is crazy, but I wanted to still make a difference and impact those who needed help,” said LaGuardia, director of ticketing and sales in Athletics at California Baptist University. “I’ve seen the homeless community grow in the four years that I’ve been here in Riverside. I walked down the aisles and saw other items like ChapStick and water bottles and snacks and realized these were items I used in my daily life but the homeless need these items, too. So, I threw them into my cart.”

He went home and assembled 50 kits to hand out to people experiencing homelessness.

LaGuardia noticed the impact his kits made when he came across one of the homeless men who was still using the kit 10 days after receiving it.

Sharing about his experience through social media and word of mouth, LaGuardia’s effort grew to receive help from more than 500 volunteers who make 200 care packages a month. As more volunteers joined, LaGuardia decided to start a nonprofit organization, Kits With Kindness, that creates monthly care packages for members of the homeless population.

Each kit includes food, hygiene items, socks and a handwritten note.

“The handwritten notes have been a staple from the start because I’ve always loved handwritten notes,” LaGuardia said. “It’s just a personal touch that offer words of encouragement and to remind them that there are people who care about them. They do hold value and there is a future beyond the circumstances they currently find themselves in.”

LaGuardia said the nonprofit focuses on relationship building rather than just handing out the kits, and that the team effort is what makes the difference.

“There’s a team of drivers who hand deliver these kits, but we make sure to ask [the homeless] how they are and begin to build a relationship with them. This is not transactional but focused on making a lasting difference to remind them they still matter and we still care,” LaGuardia said.

Each month, Kits With Kindness asks for a bigger item to be donated along with the smaller items. In December, the nonprofit wanted blankets. In January it is sleeping bags.

Geby Rawung, a business administration senior, oversees mask donation on LaGuardia’s team. So far, Rawung has secured over $5,000 worth of masks and supplies.

“During this pandemic, people are only a bill or paycheck away from losing their next meal or shelter,” Rawung said. “Those experiencing homelessness are sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and not just junkies. It doesn’t hurt to be kind. There are so many reasons that people can become homeless, which means that there is no single solution in addressing the issue, but there is always a way that we can help.”

Rawung added that, being a college student, she was not able to donate a lot of money to the nonprofit so she used her business skills as a way to help.

Volunteers meet once a month to pack the kits. Those interested can find more information on getting involved at kitswithkindness.org.

 

Family Updates

Ashley Sonke, nursing student services coordinator, co-authored a paper published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The title was Promising Practices in Holistic Admissions Review: Implementation in Academic Nursing.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jim Buchholz, professor of mathematics and physics, and Cecily Dussell, laboratory coordinator for Natural and Mathematical Sciences, hiked up Mount Rubidoux with telescopes and cameras on Dec. 21 to observe the closest observable conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in almost 800 years. The planets were only about 0.1 degrees apart that night as observed from Earth. The German astronomer Johannes Kepler had suggested that the Christmas Star was actually an extremely rare triple conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn that would have guided the wisemen to Bethlehem.

 

Dr. Gretchen Bartels-Ray, associate professor of English for Online and Professional Studies, published a poem in KAIROS Literary Magazine (Jan. 13). It was titled Cracking Wolf.

 

 

 

 

Andrew Cress, director of special projects in the Office of Educational Effectiveness, published a book review in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (December 2020). It was a review of Jesus, Skepticism, and the Problem of History: Criteria and Context in the Study of Christian Origins.

 

 

 

Dr. Jenifer N. Nalbandian, assistant professor of chemistry, and CBU’s Chemistry Club were recognized at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National ChemLuminary Awards on Dec. 9 for hosting the Best National Chemistry Week Event Organized by a Student Group. For the event, Nalbandian organized over 80 volunteers from student chemistry clubs from four counties throughout the Southern California region. The volunteers ran booths with chemistry demonstrations and hands-on activities. Hundreds of people, including K-12 students, parents and teachers, gathered on the CBU Front Lawn and in the CBU chemistry labs for ACS National Chemistry Week 2019.

 

Andrés D. Vera, assistant professor of New Testament, presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society on Nov. 19. It was titled Am I First or Last?: Rewards and Self-Perception in the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-16).

 

 

 

Amy Nantkes, adjunct professor of history and government for Online and Professional Studies, received the 2020-2021 Claremont Graduate University Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Award. It is given yearly by the faculty research committee.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Namhee Kim, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders, published a research article in the Journal of Speech-Language Hearing Research (Jan. 14). The article was titled Vowel context effects on consonant repetition in early words.

 

 

 

Dr. Mark Kling, associate professor of criminal justice, and Dr. Linda-Marie Sundstrom, associate professor of public administration, both for Online and Professional Studies, had an article published in the PA Times (Jan. 15). It was titled Defund the Police or Invest in Human Capital:  A Framework for Community Safety.

 

 

 

Dr. Amanie Abdelmessih, professor of mechanical engineering, served at the 2020 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition on Nov. 16-19. She was a topic organizer for the Electronics Thermal Management session.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Robin Duncan, dean of the School of Education, co-wrote an article that was published in the Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education (Winter 2020). It was titled Bridging the Gap Between Secondary and Tertiary Education for Students with Refugee Backgrounds with Bourdieu: A Case study from Malaysia.

 

 

 

Dr. Robert Crosby, associate professor of psychology for Online and Professional Studies, Dr. Erin Smith, associate professor of psychology, and Dr. Jeff Gage, professor of nursing, co-authored a paper that was published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma (January 2021). It was titled Trauma-informed children’s ministry: A qualitative descriptive study.

 

 

Dr. Steve Posegate, professor of music education, gave a virtual presentation at the University of Southern Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago on Nov. 11. The topic was Helping Others Succeed: The Life of a Music Education Professor. Posegate’s host for the event was Kerron Hislop, a former graduate student of Postegate’s at CBU.

 

 

 

Dr. Keanon Alderson, professor of management, wrote a book review that was published in Family Business United (Jan. 11). The book was The Company I Keep: My Life In Beauty by Leonard Lauder.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Erin Smith, associate professor of psychology, was interviewed for the American Scientific Affiliation’s Diving Deeper Discussions on Jan. 9. The discussion focused on Smith’s paper The Role of Psychology in Advancing Dialogue between Science and Christianity.

 

 

 

Dr. Jacob Avila, adjunct professor of business and management, and Dr. Scott Dunbar, associate professor of human resource management, both for Online and Professional Services, co-authored an article published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (February 2021). It was titled Burnout and Worklife in Disaster Restoration: Maslach Burnout Inventory and Areas of Worklife Survey.

 

 

Dr. Dominick Sturz, professor of public health for Online and Professional Services, presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Conference on Oct. 24-28. The title of the presentation was Firearm policies: Whose rights deserve protection?

 

 

 

Dr. David Hernandez, adjunct professor of public administration, received the 2020 National Firefighter Award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars in recognition of his service at the Victorville Fire Department. Hernandez was first selected as Firefighter of the Year at a VFW post in Riverside, then statewide before being selected for the national award. He served 30 years in the fire service before recently retiring.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ogbochi McKinney, associate professor of public health for Online and Professional Studies, spoke to a Girls in STEM Los Angeles Chapter on Jan. 13. She talked about college preparation, careers in STEM and her work with myCovidMD, an initiative that aims provide Covid-19 pop-up drive-thru Testing for  vulnerable populations.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Mark Blincoe, associate professor of history, had an article published in the Haskins Society Journal (Volume 31). It was titled Political Identity and the Succession of Henry II.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Nathan Iverson, assistant professor of psychology, presented at the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce: Business in Action committee on Jan. 20. The presentation was titled Undiscovered Human Potential.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ogbochi McKinney, associate professor of public health, and Dr. Dominick Sturz, professor of public health, both for Online and Professional Services, Heather Toki (CBU student) Lindsay Brown and Ellen Van Druten (both CBU alumni) published an article in the Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology (December 2020). The article was titled Effectiveness of the medical response teams to the 2014 Ebola outbreak: African immigrants’ perceptions.

 

 

Christopher Kern, assistant professor of photography, designed a 2021 calendar featuring student work from 2020. The calendar is part of a fundraising effort by the photography program. Donors will receive a calendar for a donation of $100 or more.

 

 

 

Psychological Services of Riverside—the CBU Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology Program’s community clinic—is offering teletherapy services to CBU faculty and staff (and dependents) at a discounted rate of $30 per psychotherapy session. Services are provided by second-year PsyD students, who are being supervised by licensed psychologists affiliated with the CBU PsyD Program. For an appointment, please call the office at (951) 552-8137.

 

Megan Sais, graduate admissions counselor/recruiter, appeared on the “Wheel of Fortune.” The episode aired Nov. 27.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Michelle Nielsen Hernandez, associate professor of mathematics, and her husband, Josue, welcomed a son on Dec. 12. Josiah Nikolas Hernandez weighed 7 pounds, 3.7 ounces and measured 18.5 inches. He joins sister, Isabella, 19 months.

 

 

 

Kristin Holderman, director of campus activities, and her husband, Donnie, welcomed a son on Jan. 8. Boone Louis Ezekiel weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 21¼ inches. Boone joins brothers Finn, 3½, and Crosby, 1½.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ted Grant, visiting professor of physics, and his wife, Diana, welcomed a daughter on Dec. 6. Giana Maria Grant weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces and measured 20.5 inches.

 

 

 

 

Personnel Updates