“Spotlight” Series Showcases Grant-Funded Research & Student Opportunities

MACOMB, IL — A five-year, nearly $1,000,000 project that helps future teachers in Illinois serve the state’s large population of English language learners. A $500,000 alternative crop research project that provides students with plant-breeding internships, as well as future green-energy career possibilities and has implications for helping displace many petroleum-based products. A $240,000 grant that helped to enable the construction of a new facility at a biological research and teaching station on the Mississippi River, which has allowed scores of students, PreK-college level, learn and experience how human activities impact ecosystems.

These projects, with the help of the Western Illinois University Office of Sponsored Projects, are ones that WIU’s innovative faculty members have carried out (or are currently working on) and support the University’s core values of academic excellence, educational opportunity, personal growth and social responsibility.To showcase these projects, and ones like them at WIU, the Office of Sponsored Projects and University Television (UTV3) are co-producing the “Spotlight” Series, designed to highlight the grant-funded work of Western’s faculty and staff. Conceived during a casual conversation between Michael Thompson, UTV associate director, and Beth Seaton, the director of the WIU Office of Sponsored Projects, the series is comprised of 30-minute programs hosted by Seaton.

“There are a lot of people on campus who are doing some amazing research and public-service projects that fall outside of what we think about when we think of the traditional college classroom experience,” Seaton explained. “Oftentimes, these projects have the ability to vastly enhance student learning through opportunities for hands-on research and outreach to the community and schools.”

Three of the programs showcased in the “Spotlight” series can be viewed on WIU’s YouTube Channel, via the “Spotlight” playlist at www.youtube.com/playlist?listPLA66837035BA8F66B, as well as on WIU-TV3 in the Macomb area.

Project Estrella

In the “Spotlight” episode covering Project Estrella—the five-year nearly $1,000,000 project funded by the U.S. Department of Education—WIU Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies (EIS) Professor and Project Co-Director Gloria Delany-Barmann explains how the grant funding serves WIU students enrolled in the bilingual/bicultural education, as well as how funding is also available to in-service teachers seeking Illinois Bilingual Teacher Certification and ESL (English as a Second Language) endorsements.

“I would say over 75 percent of that money goes to student support, in terms of tuition. They get up to $2,000 a semester in tuition waivers. We provide them a $300 per month stipend. We also have a significant amount of our budget dedicated to professional development for the students, such as field trips, and we visit model programs, too,” Delany-Barmann explains.

“The undergraduates receive the largest portion of the financial support [through Project Estrella]; however, the graduate students also receive $450 for every WIU course they take that goes toward their bilingual or ESL endorsements.”

In this “Spotlight” episode, Delany-Barmann tells Seaton that Project Estrella provides a wonderful opportunity for undergrad students on the Macomb campus, as well as for graduate students who are studying outside of Macomb.

“We offer courses in the Quad Cities for graduate students, as well as here in Macomb. We also have some onsite courses that we do with different cohorts. We just finished up a cohort in Beardstown [IL]. I think practically every teacher in that school who works with English language learners has gone through our program,” she tells Seaton.

Also interviewed in this “Spotlight” episode are Project Estrella Co-Director and WIU EIS Professor Carlo Paciotto, as well as in-service teachers in the Beardstown school district who have benefited from the project.

The episode can be viewed on Western Illinois University’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?vuRnZgL22pck.

Alternative Crop Research

In the “Spotlight” episode about alternative crop research at WIU, School of Agriculture Professor Win Phippen talks about a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded grant that is helping him research the possibilities of the alternative crop pennycress and is providing students with practical in-field opportunities to learn about plant breeding.

“It’s very unique. It’s not a hard-core science research project; it’s more plant-breeding education, with a component of science related to it. And the real neat thing about it is that is has lots of opportunities for students,” Phippen explains in the episode. “A lot of private seed companies, especially for corn and soybeans, are trying to get students re-energized about the field of plant breeding. This grant allows for students to do internship projects, during an entire summer, at these private companies, as well as at other universities in Illinois and Iowa.”

In the program, Phippen tells Seaton that the grant has enabled the WIU School of Agriculture to create a new minor in plant breeding, which educates students about traditional plant breeding and new biotechnology plant breeding. Phippen also explains how the grant is funding the scientific research he and scientists at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture are doing with pennycress, a cover crop that can be planted in Illinois’ corn and soybean fields in the late fall and that grows throughout the winter months.

“Not only does pennycress provide off-season production, but it also gives benefits back to the field for growing corn and soybeans. It gives us field coverage, so we don’t get a lot of erosion in the fields during the winter months. In addition, pennycress seeds have a lot of oil, about 40 percent oil. So the intent of this is to help displace a lot of petroleum-based products. That could be fuel—it could be crushed to get out the oil to make a bio-diesel product. Or you can take this seed and add it to, let’s say, plastics and other petroleum-based products. It’s not going to alleviate us completely from the dependency on foreign oil, but it is certainly a step in the right direction,” he tells Seaton.

Also shown in this episode of “Spotlight” is a pennycress field day event at WIU.

This episode can be viewed on Western Illinois University’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?vzwGRnyEtL-Q.

Kibbe Life Science Station

In the “Spotlight” episode about WIU’s biological research and teaching station on the Mississippi River, the Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Station near Warsaw (IL) is showcased. Seaton interviews WIU Biological Sciences Associate Professor and Director of the Kibbe Life Science Station Sean Jenkins, who gives Seaton a bit of background about the field station, as well as tells her about how a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) helped fund an expansion of the original facilities at Kibbe.

“Alice Kibbe was a botanist like me. She was a biology teacher at Carthage College in Carthage [about 20 miles east of here]. She was also chair for quite a few years during the 35 years she taught there. She initially bought the first 215 acres out here and used the land as a natural laboratory for her classes. She would bring her students out here, and they would stay in the Frank House, which is our oldest building on the facility,” Jenkins explains to Seaton. “In 1962, the college administration decided they were going to move the college to Wisconsin, so when it moved, she donated the land to Western Illinois University, with the understanding that we would open up a field station for the education of the children in the area and for college students at Western.”

Jenkins goes on to explain to Seaton that the NSF Field Station Marine Laboratory Directorate grant has helped the biological sciences department construct a multi-use building at the Kibbe field station, where meetings can take place and where students can stay when they are taking courses at Kibbe.

In the episode, Seaton also interviews Jim Lamer, the field station manager, as well as WIU students who take courses at Kibbe. Seaton, Lamer and the WIU students also take a boat ride on the Mississippi River, where Lamer shows Seaton how they conduct long-term monitoring of the species and habitat along this part of the Upper Mississippi River.

You can view the “Spotlight” episode about Kibbe on Western Illinois University’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?vFnhn46JWn7A.

Seaton added that these funded grant projects — which are conceived by faculty members, who then apply for competitive grant funds — are a testament to the faculty members’ work.

“Many times, their ideas are funded because they are doing something really important to the external agency’s mission of research or instruction, or the projects have some sort of public benefit. We have some really great faculty members involved in some very innovative and interesting things, and ‘Spotlight’ is a great way to showcase them, their work and the opportunities they provide for WIU students,” Seaton said.

For more information about the Office of Sponsored Projects and the research projects that it helps administer at WIU, contact Seaton at (309) 298-1191
or via email at B-Seaton@wiu.edu, or visit the Office of Sponsored Projects website at www.wiu.edu/sponsored_projects.

For information about upcoming “Spotlight” programs on UTV Channel 3, contact Thompson at (309) 298-1880
 or via email at MR-Thompson3@wiu.edu. Learn more about University Television at www.wiu.edu/UTV.

Copy By: Teresa Koltzenburg

MACOMB, IL — Western Illinois University students have produced the fall/winter 2010 issue of Western Illinois Magazine, a bi-annual publication that showcases interesting people, places and things in the Western Illinois region.

The free publication, available in Western Courier newspaper racks on the WIU campus and in various locations in Western Illinois, includes a profile of Western Illinois University head football coach Mark Hendrickson, as well as a feature on Nauvoo’s Baxter Winery.

Other features in the issue include an overview of the Underground Railroad in Western Illinois, profiles of WIU professor and modern fiction writer Charles McLeod and a look back at the great poets of the 20th century who hailed from Western Illinois, including Carl Sandburg and Edgar Lee Masters.

The student-run magazine is produced once each semester. The editor in chief for the 2010-2011 year is Matt Kosek, a senior journalism major from Naperville (IL), while the managing editor is Vince Veltre, a junior journalism major from Pittsburg (PA). Advisers include WIU journalism professor Bill Knight and Director of Student Publications Rich Moreno.

For more information, contact the Western Courier office at (309) 298-1876, ext. 1.

Copy By: WIU

According to Bookstore Director Jude Kiah, the University Bookstore is working in conjunction with the store’s distributor to begin offering the rental program for 50 to 100 titles this fall. Kiah said it’s their goal to rent 95 percent of the school’s necessary texts by Spring 2011.

“This program is completely unlike the traditional textbook purchase. There’s a huge difference in how this operates and how we will need to do business, which is why we’re starting on a small scale basis this fall,” he noted. “Textbook rental is by far one of the cheapest options for students – and really for bookstores who work with large-scale distributors like we do – at the front end. This takes the risk out of buybacks for the student, and they receive their $20 deposit back when the book is returned.”

Students will be able to rent certain titles this fall at the bookstore or through the distributor via the bookstore’s website.

“Because of the costs involved with new books, these sales are declining. A rented textbook is a far more affordable option for students. And we expect these books to be highlighted or to have notes in the margin. Those things won’t affect the deposit,” Kiah said. “This is all about ‘we own the book, but you’re using it for awhile.’ But if a book isn’t returned, the student forfeits the deposit and his or her account will be charged.”

According to Kiah, the bookstore’s partnership with a major textbook distributor allows the University to participate in a rental program, which provides yet another option for students.

“The bookstore is an extension of the University’s services. We are here for the students and to provide a value for our students,” he said.

If students choose to purchase new or used texts over renting their school books, Kiah noted that the bookstore has changed its buyback options so students are getting more money back at the end of a semester.

“In addition to getting more money back we’re also offering students coupons to use in the bookstore for apparel and other merchandise, giving away prizes and price-matching our competitors,” he added. “We want to provide affordable services, combined with outstanding customer service. We’re selling services, not just commodities. And it’s important to point what many might not know: we’re a not-for-profit agency, and all of the money the bookstore makes goes directly back to the University for programming in the Union and within student services.”

For more information on the textbook rental pilot, contact the bookstore at (309) 298-1931 or visit bookstore.wiu.edu.

Copy By: Darcie Shinberger

MACOMB, IL — Illinois is poised to take advantage of some sectors of the new green economy, according to a recent Rural Research Report from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. The report, “Which Green Jobs Look Promising for Rural Illinois?” defines green jobs and suggests opportunities that are easily within the grasp of Illinois communities because many of the necessary skills for these positions are already available in the workforce. Authors John Gruidl and Ilya Markov, both from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, conclude that rural Illinois is well positioned to capture many green jobs, particularly in the construction and agricultural sectors.

According to the report, green jobs are associated with green products or services that use resources more efficiently, provide renewable sources of energy, lower greenhouse gas emissions or otherwise minimize environmental impacts of human activities. The overwhelming majority of green jobs are in occupations that many people already work in today.

For example, increasing the energy efficiency of buildings requires construction managers, roofers and heating/air conditioning installers. Manufacturing wind turbines requires machinists, sheet metal workers and truck drivers. Producing new crops for bio-fuels requires farmers, truck drivers and farm-product suppliers. In addition, all these industries require support activities performed by lawyers, accountants, office clerks and salespeople.

Three green sectors seem particularly well suited to rural Illinois:building retrofittingwind poweradvanced bio-fuelsRural Illinois has basic locational characteristics required for businesses to succeed in these industries, including a skilled workforce for building retrofitting, sites with sufficient wind speed and wind power, as well as fertile and abundant agricultural land for growing biomass for bio-fuels.

Green jobs span a variety of skills and educational backgrounds. But many of these jobs are “mid-skilled” jobs that require education past high school but not a college degree. Green jobs in engineering and construction will be modifications to existing jobs, likely requiring learning new skills and methods. Community colleges and universities in rural regions can change training programs, in such fields as construction and engineering, to incorporate green technologies and techniques.

Furthermore, the greening of the economy will provide entrepreneurial opportunities, such as auditing the energy efficiency of buildings and designing and installing new green products to reduce energy consumption.

In the long run, greening the economy could benefit small towns in Illinois. Young people often move from their hometowns because of limited job opportunities. By expanding rural employment in construction and agriculture, among other fields, the green economy may enable more young people to remain or return to their rural communities.

You can obtain a copy of the report by contacting IIRA at the phone number below or download the report (PDF file) from our website at www.iira.org/pubs/publications/IIRA_RRR_711.pdf.

Western Illinois University is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity institution. For more information about the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, see www.IIRA.org. If you care to comment about this column, contact Collins at (800) 526-9943 or T-Collins@wiu.edu.

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MACOMB, IL — Mark your calendars and join faculty and staff members from several Western Illinois University departments and west central Illinois education and business communities to celebrate WIU’s College of Education and Human Services’ Eleventh Annual Tech Fest on Wednesday, April 21.
 Slated for 11 a.m.–1 p.m. in the Horrabin Hall gym, “Technology Theater: Tech Fest 2010″ will feature an array of exhibitors and participants, including exhibits and presentations from students at Macomb High School, representatives from the Illinois Virtual School, McDonough District Hospital and Apple, Inc.

In addition, various disciplines and departments at WIU will be showcasing their forays into, and innovations in, technology, with exhibits from education; geography; art; broadcasting; law enforcement and justice administration; instructional design and technology; dietetics, fashion merchandising and hospitality; health sciences; and the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) and the University Relations office. At 1 p.m., there will be a drawing for an Apple iPad. Contestants must be present to win.


“Technology increasingly impacts education and human services — from the systems we use to provide students with instruction and to get work done, to the ways that we share educational, instructional and professional information. Tech Fest provides us with an excellent venue through which to demonstrate how technology connects the many disciplines within the University, as well as how the University and its many entities are connected to the Macomb community and west central Illinois region and beyond,” said College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) Dean Nick DiGrino.

Tech Fest 2010 will be held during COEHShowcase: COEHS Week 2010. For more information about COEHS Week, see wiu.edu/coehs/showcase.

For more information, visit wiu.edu/coehs/TechFest/ or contact Dana Moon, director of marketing and community relations, at (309) 298-1690 or DM-Moon@wiu.edu.

Copy By: Teresa Koltzenburg

MACOMB, IL – - Miss Illinois 2009 Erin O’Connor, who is a Western Illinois University theatre-acting major and dance minor, was interviewed on ABC7 Chicago (WLS-TV) Jan. 11 by Hosea Sanders.

The interview, which is available at http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectionresources&idr11510, includes a look at the upcoming Miss America Pageant (www.missamerica.org) at 7 p.m. (CT) Saturday, Jan. 30 in Las Vegas, which will be televised live on TLC; as well as O’Connor’s platform, which is skin cancer education and prevention. The 20-year-old lost her mother to melanoma in May 2007.

“Since that time, I have devoted myself to skin cancer prevention by working as an advocate for the American Cancer Society,” said O’Connor, who was a team captain in a Spring 2009 Relay for Life event at Western that raised $1,500 for cancer research. She also speaks to schoolchildren about skin cancer prevention.

For her talent, O’Connor (Evergreen Park, IL) will perform ballet en pointe to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

O’Connor was crowned the 2009 Miss Illinois June 20 at the Miss Illinois Pageant in
St. Charles.

She has performed in University Theatre productions, unrehearsed Shakespeare plays through the theatre department and two major dance shows each year. O’Connor plans on returning to Western to finish her degree in theatre and possibly pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree.

She is the daughter of Terrence O’Connor and the late Mary Kay O’Connor of Evergreen Park and a graduate of Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School (Chicago).

Copy By: Bonnie Barker

Fall 2009 Enrollment

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – Western Illinois University’s Fall 2009 new transfer student and Quad Cities enrollments have increased, while total enrollment for the University declined, according to 10-day enrollment reports.

Total new transfer student enrollment for Fall 2009 increased 4.6 percent to 1,332, up 59 students from last year. Quad Cities enrollment is up 1.5 percent, to 1,413 in Fall 2009 from 1,392 in Fall 2008. The Fall 2009 student headcount of 10,487 at the Western Macomb campus is down from 10,785 in Fall 2008. The number of new freshmen for Fall 2009 is 1,641 compared to 1,816 in Fall 2008.

The number of full-time enrolled students went from 10,648 in Fall 2008 to 10,446 in Fall 2009. Much of the decline; however, is related to a significant increase in the graduation rate and larger graduating classes, as well as significantly reducing off-campus graduate sponsored-credit courses. Fall 2009 enrollment is 12,679, compared to the Fall 2008 total of 13,175.

“We are pleased that transfer students are selecting Western Illinois University to finish their degree and that our Quad Cities campus continues to grow. However, one of the most important factors in our success is the retention of our students. This year our graduation rate was the highest in the University’s history at 59.3 percent,” said President Al Goldfarb. “It is our mission to support students and provide the resources they need to succeed, including such factors that recently allowed us to retain our top tier ranking by U.S. News and World Report, such as our high graduation rate, small classes, a low student-faculty ratio and an affordable education.”

In addition to the recent U.S. News and World Report, in which Western continues to be ranked in the top tier of Midwest Universities Master’s-granting institutions for the fifth consecutive year, Western has also been named a Best Midwestern College by the Princeton Review and was recently designated as a “Military Friendly School” by G.I. Jobs Magazine.

Despite a decline in the number of new freshmen enrolling at Western, new freshmen ACT average scores have increased, from in 21.2 in Fall 2008 to 21.3 Fall 2009 and the percentage of new students in top 25 percent of their graduating class has increased to 24 percent this fall, from 22 percent in Fall 2008.

Fall 2009 extension enrollment is 840, compared to 1,030 in Fall 2008. However, extension enrollment for undergraduate-level courses is up 121 students, from 355 in 2008 to 476 in Fall 2009. Graduate student enrollment increased on the Macomb campus to 1,080, from 1,076 in Fall 2008. WIU-QC graduate student enrollment is 682, down seven students from last year.

“While Western remains successful, we do still face some considerable challenges. We must focus on increased freshmen recruitment and retention,” Goldfarb added. “We must carefully review our recruitment procedures, and we must focus on making freshmen recruitment a Universitywide priority.”

Also, as a result of benchmarking enrollment reporting practices, Western Illinois University now reports total enrollment for on-campus and extension (off-campus) students by campus served to be consistent with updated reporting standards.

According to Joe Rives, vice president of Quad Cities, planning and technology, as part of Western’s institutional self-study for reaccreditation from the Higher Learning Commission-North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the University benchmarked enrollment reporting practices at peer institutions, as well as with state and federal standards.

“As a result of this process, the University is now reporting on-campus and extension (off-campus) enrollment by campus, while total enrollment now reflects enrollment at both Western Illinois University campuses,” Rives added.

Copy By: Darcie Shinberger