Thoughts from our Campus Pastor
Under the Shade of an Oak Tree
When they walk off the stage at Mariners’ next week, they will be walking out of your arena of influence. By the Lord’s sovereignty, these graduating seniors spent countless hours (although probably less than was required) listening to our lectures, completing assigned projects, taking exams that we constructed and reading the books that we assigned. Did it matter? What significant contribution did we make on these students that are exiting stage right? Truth be told, we will probably never know. Every so often, a shining testimonial emerges from the ranks of alumni that signifies the significance of our role in a particular student’s formation. However, this revelation is typically the exception.
Recently I read a news story of a 600-year white oak tree at Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards, New Jersey being cut down because it was no longer alive. Since the town’s establishment in the 1700’s, this tree served as a community gathering spot. Even George Washington was said to have rested under the shade of its branches. Though it is unlikely that any human hand had a role in the planting of this white oak tree, as a tender sapling, it’s future shade and community prominence would be completely unknown in the beginning. There’s an ancient Greek proverb that says, “A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.” Fifty years from now most of us will have already exited our time on earth. However, the knowledge, values, and exemplification of truth that we impart into our students will prove to be oaks of shade for the future generations. Grandiose? Perhaps. But then, one oak lasted 600 years. Never underestimate the significance of one student that you influence.
A Word from the Provost
Greetings Everyone:
I want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to each faculty and staff member for a great year together. I want to acknowledge your very hard work and your love for our student’s success. The growth they have made this year academically is representative of your commitment to education, Godly testimony, and your passion for advancing future leaders for our society. Many of you have shared exciting accomplishments of your students and have seen the lights turn on as principles of truth were revealed during your class. Throughout the year sharing in the lives of students and hearing their appreciation for their learning experience at Vanguard was a reminder why we are called to serve. Your instructional leadership is the reason we will commend students at graduation for “finishing well.”
Our year has not been without challenges, grief, pain and disappointments. Our loss became heaven’s gain of two of our colleagues, Dr. Sheri Benvenuti, tenured Professor in Religion and Coach Walt Simon, former assistant Coach for both Men’s and Women’s Basketball. The Lord provides continual space to mourn together as we remember the influence of their lives on us and the students of Vanguard University.
We labored under the load of the Reaffirmation visit by WASC Senior Colleges and University Commission (WSCUC) both in September and onsite on February 28- March 2nd. We look forward to June 22nd when we receive the outcome of the years approved as an accredited University. While there is work ahead for us, we have seen God’s great hand upon us as he sustained those who were deeply entrenched in the process. I am grateful to my office staff, Celina Camarillo and Dalila Toledo Perea. Major contributors from the accreditation core team and onsite visit accolades are extended to President Beals, our ALO, Dr. Ludmila Praslova, Shree Carter, Amanda Lebrecht, Mike Wilson, Dan Toro, Laura Depin and Andre Abrantes, Diana Avans, Mary Wickman, Julie Cowen, Kim Johnson and Jeremy Moser. I extend gratitude to the full community!
As Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, I look to our future with anticipation, hope and great opportunity through the lens of the prayer of Jabez.
Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me (us) and enlarge my (our) border, and that your hand might be with me (us), and that you would keep me (us) from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked. 1 Chronicles 4:10
May God grant you rest, solitude, renewed vision for your call to Vanguard University. Summer is a great opportunity to take advantage of scholarship, service, sacred moments of making memories with your families. May God bless you and let us pray for one another.
Dr. O’Quinn
Baccalaureate and Commencement
Please visit http://www.vanguard.edu/commencement/ and click on the left-hand side bar for Faculty information for both Baccalaureate and Commencement services details. We are looking forward to celebrating with you, our students and their families.
Cinco de Mayo![cinco-de-mayo]()
Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May) commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over France at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th in 1862. At the time, Mexico was in financial debt to several European nations including Britain, Spain, and France. Mexico, led by president Benito Juárez, was able to negotiate a settlement with Britain and Spain, but France, under the leadership of Napoleon III, instead made the decision to attack a beleaguered Mexico through the port city of Veracruz with a larger and far better supplied number of troops. However, the undermanned Mexican army, composed of loyal citizens under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza, was able to accomplish an unlikely victory over the French in a remarkable display of courage. The victory is reminiscent of David’s defeat of Goliath in the Bible and it provided a much needed boost in morale to the Mexican people and one that became a source of national pride and unity.
Interestingly, today Cinco de Mayo is not widely commemorated outside of the Mexican state of Puebla, it is not a Federal Holiday in Mexico, and it is often confused with Mexico’s Independence Day that takes place on September 16. Of further interest is how Cinco de Mayo has grown in popularity in the United States over the years and in areas with strong concentrations of Mexican-Americans like southern California. However, with the overall growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S., Cinco de Mayo has become an opportunity to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture on a wider scale through fiestas, parades, mariachi music, regional dances such as baile folklórico, and of course, good food. Locally, both the City of Los Angeles (Plaza del Pueblo de Los Angeles near Olvera Street) and the City of Santa Ana sponsor events to celebrate the occasion.
Given the standing of Vanguard University as a Hispanic Serving Institution and the high numbers of Latinos enrolled at the school and living in the region, the chances to learn about the history, heritage, and culture of the largest ethnic minority group in the country are all around us. Yes, Cinco de Mayo represents a strategic opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to learn, but also to experience and celebrate Mexican culture.
Submitted by Dr. Pete C. Menjares, Sr. Director of the Institute for Faculty Development
News from Accreditation
Greetings, colleagues. Please be aware that WSCUC is making significant modification to the Substantive Change process. While the updated Substantive Change Manual is forthcoming, many changes are already being implemented. Please submit information on any forthcoming new program development (including non-degree programs), significant change to existing program affecting more that 25% of program’s lengths or content, new site development, etc., to ALO very early in the process so it can be determined whether the change will require Substantive Change proposal under new guidelines.
News from Institute for Faculty Development
Congratulations to all the Vanguard faculty who attended and presented at conferences in the 2016-2017 academic year.
2016-2017 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
All the names of faculty who received professional development funds in 2016-2017 may be found on the IFD site, along with the associated conferences/events/programs.
FACULTY BLOG POSTS
Pentecostalism and Culture, by Derek Rosenoir
Serving Children, Adolescents, and Families, by Jackie Parke
Women in Leadership, by Liz Powell
Developing the Mind and Brain, by Michael Hanna
The Hidden Curriculum of Christ in Schooling, by Alex Lin
Soaring to New Heights, by Seon Chun-Burbank
Navigating the (Overwhelming!) Society of Research in Child Development, by Alex Lin
PURSUING PROMOTION AND/OR TENURE?
For those of you who might be working on your teaching portfolio over the summer, here’s a resource for developing your teaching philosophy section.
AN ANECDOTE TO SEEING STUDENTS AS ADVERSARIES
This is a powerful look at the temptation to see our students are adversaries, or for school to seem like an adversarial process, by John Warner in Inside Higher Ed.
News from Registrar
Happy end-of-the-year from the Registrar’s Office! We thank you in advance for getting your grades in no later than Friday, May 12th at noon. Students will be able to view their grades on myVU at 12am Wednesday, May 17th. Many people, not the least of which are the students, appreciate your timeliness!
News from Global Center for Women and Justice
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
For Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Global Center for Women and Justice, Spiritual Formation, the Global Education and Outreach, and Diversity and Inclusion hosted guest missionary, Amy Farley. She spoke to students about her personal experience while doing missionary work in Africa. Sexual violence is a major public health, human rights, and social justice issue. Many students were impacted by her authentic transparency.
“I have LOVED being at Vanguard. Speaking at Excavate, Chapel, and being part of the Courageous Conversations Panel. What an incredible university with some incredible leadership. Love the heart of this University.” Amy
Where is the Anti-Trafficking Movement Going?
In the episode 142 of the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast, Dr. Sandra Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interviewed Dr. Laura Lederer, President and Founder of Global Centurion. Dr. Lederer shares about the development of the abolitionist history in the anti-trafficking movement during our contemporary time. Her new book about slavery in the 21st century explains the complexities of the anti-human trafficking movement over the years. Although it has been 10 years since the Trafficking Victims Protect Act was enacted, Dr. Lederer still believes they are at the beginning of the movement. Dr. Lederer suggests that it is important to assess what has been done so far in research and examine what works and what is not working. A critical view can help direct the movement in a more thoughtful way.
EH Podcast 142: http://www.vanguard.edu/gcwj/eht-142/
Solidarity Sleepout
Live2Free hosted its annual Solidarity Sleepout on Friday, April 7 to experience what it is like to be homeless for a night. A group of students gathered on Friday night for a time of worship, hear from a guest speaker, do community prayer, and slept through the night in the Scott Courtyard. This is a great opportunity to bring awareness about youth homelessness in Orange County.
Priceless Luncheon
The Priceless committee will be working through the summer planning this year’s Luncheon on September 16, 2017 at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach. This year’s keynote speaker is John Cotton Richmond who also was the keynote speaker at Ensure Justice. For more information on the luncheon and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.Priceless2017.com
Trailer Video: https://youtu.be/bJPJSWPY5tI
News from Summer Bridge
News from the Academic Resource Center
As we wrap up the year we would like to congratulate Tom Shirey, our Tutorial Center Coordinator who received the much-deserved Staff Member of the Year distinction at last week’s awards chapel. Here is an excerpt from the SGA President’s speech-
“Since attending Vanguard University as a student, this staff member has always been heavily involved on campus. From his service as a worship leader to his membership in the Delta Kappa Honor Society. Since returning as a staff member, he has been an immense blessing to this campus and has had a lasting impact on the students. A staff member put it best when they said, “he creates an environment where “Your Story Matters” rings true. We are lucky to have such a dedicated individual and alum on our staff.” His caring heart and encouraging spirit has shaped the lives of many here on campus.”
Please take a moment to congratulate Tom and thank him for his service.
Supplemental Instruction (SI)
What a phenomenal year this has been for our pilot program in Supplemental Instruction! At the completion of fall 2016, we discovered that grades in selected Stats classes had improved by half of a letter grade due to participation in SI. We’re anxious for spring 2017 grades to be posted and are hoping to see similar or even better results. Amanda Lebrecht attended the Association for Hispanic Serving Institutions Educators (AHSIE) Best Practices Conference where she sat in on an SI presentation and was excited to confirm that we are providing an excellent experience for our students. This summer, we will be working towards becoming an accreditation site through the International Center for Supplemental Instruction at University Missouri Kansas City. We want to thank the faculty who made this first year a huge success.
Tutorial Center
We fulfilled 169 tutorial requests in 2012/2013, 233 in 2013/2014, 403 in 2014/2015, and surpassed our goal of 600 in 2017/2018 with a of total 609 requests fulfilled! We feel honored and blessed to be able to help so many of our students, which would not be possible if not for the diligence of our excellent tutors!
Our Tutor of the Month for April is Montana Mellody – not only is she brilliant in many science subjects, she is one of the most positive and kind-hearted people you will ever meet. It is tutors like her that help our students to excel in their own coursework and give them the confidence to continue asking for the help that they need to succeed!
WE ARE SEEKING NEW TUTORS: 18 of our most talented tutors are graduating seniors and we need your help replacing them. YOU, the faculty, are our best resource when it comes to recruiting new tutors so please send the names of students who have excelled in your courses to tom.shirey@vanguard.edu or tutorial@vanguard.edu . THANK YOU in advance!
News from the Library
Summer Hours for the Library May 8-August 21, 2017
Monday – Wednesday 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Thursday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday 9 a.m. – 5p.m.
Closed weekends
Closed Memorial Day and 4th of July
Monday, May 1, the Library personnel will host a finals week coffee and goodies for students studying in the library. The students look forward to the free coffee!
News from the Office of Institutional Research
This semester, the Office of Institutional Research (IR) conducted the HERI Faculty Survey. This survey provides information regarding faculty satisfaction, goals, and experiences. The survey results will allow us to analyze the progress and help us identify the areas in need of improvement. We congratulate the following seven participants out of 107 on winning one of the raffles for filling out the HERI Faculty Survey: Deidre Jones, John Terhorst, Edwin Westbrook, Kimberly Greene, Joshua Thompson, Laurie Hatch, and Lorry Perez. Thanks for your participation and valuable inputs. The full results will be available at the beginning of this fall.
The IR team serves Vanguard University by supporting evidence-based decision making and planning, and strengthening educational effectiveness and quality assurance to fulfill its vision. The IR team collects, processes, and presents Institutional Data for external reports (accreditation, government, marketing publishers) and for internal needs by administrating and analyzing institutional surveys, standardized tests, and other assessment instruments as well as benchmarking studies. Also, the IR team manages the course evaluation process, distribution of reports to academic departments and individual faculty, and communication with vendor. You can meet our team at http://www.vanguard.edu/provost/ir/staff/
