Office of University Communications
Finance, general business faculty awarded for research excellence
Additional faculty and staff accomplishments noted
Date: November 30, 2007
The award was given in recognition of their article, “Law-Based Degree Programs in Business and Their Departments: What’s in a Name?” which was published in the Journal of Legal Studies Education. Only one article receives recognition for this honor each year.
“As an educator, I am intrigued by curricular issues,” Crain says. “Administrators and faculty alike can benefit from knowing how and why universities construct their programs in a particular way given limited resources and other constraints. I am delighted that our peers have recognized the value of our endeavor.”
Miller says the research project was a great experience and hopes it will change the national baseline for universities in the future.
“It is gratifying to be honored by my colleagues in the Academy of Legal Studies in Business for our JLSE article, which we hope can serve as a national baseline for many years to come for universities developing business law of legal studies programs and curriculum,” Miller says.
Missouri State University’s Office of Disability Services and its director, Katheryne Staeger-Wilson, each received the Inclusive Business of the Year Award from the Southwest Center for Independent Living (SCIL) during its annual meeting and banquet.
SCIL recognized initiatives that involved on-campus and off-campus collaborations, which included: a disability pride poster campaign; the initiation of a paradigm shift to incorporate universal design on campus; establishment of the Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society for students with disabilities; mentoring youth with disabilities; and Staeger-Wilson’s efforts to establish the University’s commitment to utilize principles of universal design within curricula, programs, services and architecture.
“I feel that the awards validate the important steps we are taking to adopt this new paradigm of how we perceive disability and how we proactively plan for people with disabilities,” Staeger-Wilson said. “Once we get people to change how they think about disability and utilize universal design, only then will we truly have equal access for everyone. We have a plan in place for the University to begin to incorporate these principles of universal design. We are in hopes that these endeavors will extend into the surrounding community.”
SCIL is a non-profit agency that serves eight counties in the region. The mission of SCIL is to promote a barrier-free environment for all disabilities through public education and advocacy for social change, and to provide a full range of independent living services which will assist each in meeting his or her goals for independence.
Dr. John Schmalzbauer, associate professor of religious studies and Blanche Gorman Strong Chair in Protestant Studies, received a $6,781 grant from University of Iowa for the Study of Ministries to College and University Students project.
Schmalzbauer is working on the project with Dr. Betty DeBerg, professor of religion and director of National Study of Campus Ministries at the University of Northern Iowa.
“The goal of our project is to provide a detailed map of the campus ministry landscape,” Schmalzbauer said. “This is the first major study of the profession of campus ministry since the 1960s. Through a survey of 1,600 campus ministers in six denominations and two non-denominational groups, site visits to a dozen campuses, and telephone interviews with 75 chaplains at religious colleges, we hope to paint a comprehensive portrait of the field. We have finished collecting our data and are in the process of writing up our results.”
More information can be found at www.campusministrystudy.org.