Hi All,



Three quick announcements:



Congrats and thanks to all who gave so much time, energy, and effort to produce West Side Story. It was an incredible and difficult play to produce, and it could not have been done without our great faculty and staff. Kudos to all!



Just found out some additional news and clarification about Yonna’s award:

Yonna did receive an inaugural award at APCA in Atlanta, GA last week. The award is named in her honor--the Yonna Pasch Heart of APCA award.



In addition, our Panhellenic Council, which Natalie Laurence advises, won the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference Community Service Award and was the only Panhellenic in the Southeast to be awarded that accolade.



Have a great break:)

Lisa





Dr. Lisa Abney

Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

Northwestern State University

Roy Hall

200 Central Avenue, Suite 104

Natchitoches, LA 71497

Voice: 318.357.5361

Fax: 318.357.4517

abney@nsula.edu

Confidentiality notice: The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender at 318-357-5361 and delete the material from all computers.

Hi All,

I want to take a moment to wish you all a wonderful break and Happy Easter or Passover. I suspect everyone is ready for a little time off to rest and renew. Be safe if travelling.



This week has been especially hard for our staff in the Student Services building; please keep them in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days.



Many of our Northwestern Faculty and Staff have been doing some amazing things over the last few weeks and have received some important recognition. I’ll be posting more of these notices during the semester, so if I missed your event or award, please remind me so that I can include it in the next round. See below:)



Accolades:

Congrats go to Ms. Yonna Pasch for her great work with the St. Jude’s Up ‘Til Dawn Fundraiser. It was amazing to see almost 1,000 of our students working together to raise money for St. Jude’s. If you haven’t had the chance to attend the event, it is worthwhile to drop by for a bit next year. Yonna also was given an Award earlier this week in Atlanta for her work with the Panhellenic council.



A big pat on the back to our Language and Communication colleagues with special thanks to Michelle Pichon for hosting a wonderful Spring Read this year--another amazing year of great reading!



Last night was also Andrej Kurti’s performance of his new album. Congrats to Andrei for his fine work—it’s a wonderful CD.



About a week ago, Dr. Brenda Hanson received the “Marlin C. Young Outstanding Teacher 2013” at the Federation of Business Disciplines conference awarded by the Association of Business Communications. Congratulations, Brenda!



Dr. Fran Lemoine in Biology recently published an article, “Activation of WIP1 Phosphatase by HTLV-1 Tax Mitigates the Cellular Response to DNA Damage” in Plos One. Great work, Fran. Also, Fran and husband, Dean, welcomed a new addition to their family last month, Patrick.



Over the past two months, many of our Academic and Student Affairs staff members have been working on an Office of Civil Rights Audit Report—this was a huge report encompassing almost every aspect of the University. Dr. Darlene Williams led this effort as this is part of our Carl Perkins Compliance Certification. Thanks go to ASA staff—our Academic Department Heads/Directors, Ms. Frances Conine, Ms. Andrea Maley, Ms. Kristi Waters, Ms. Lauren Potter, Mr. Greg Ross, Ms. Rebecca Boone, Ms. Catherine Fauchaux, Ms. Lori LeBlanc, Ms. Susan Hussey, Ms. Roni Ramirez, Mr. Curtis Penrod, Ms. Lily Pharris, and Ms. Reatha Cox for pulling together tremendous amounts of data and material. I truly appreciate your help with this project.



News:

Work on our Grad Act report continues. I’ll share the completed report with you as soon as we complete the final draft.



The updated University retention plan will be posted within the day on the Provost’s page at provost.nsula.edu.



April 4, Dr. Webb, Mr. Carl Jones and I will be in Baton Rouge to attend the committee meetings/hearings regarding HB1, which is the budget bill. I’ll be hosting a Faculty-Staff Forum when we get back from break to share information.



Again, thank you for all you do. Your work with our students and your dedication to the University is amazing. Our students remark often on the fact that our staff members and faculty care about them. I am truly grateful to you all for this.



Again, have a wonderful break!

Take care,

Lisa





















Dr. Lisa Abney

Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

Northwestern State University

Roy Hall

200 Central Avenue, Suite 104

Natchitoches, LA 71497

Voice: 318.357.5361

Fax: 318.357.4517

abney@nsula.edu

Confidentiality notice: The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender at 318-357-5361 and delete the material from all computers.

Hi All,

I know you have likely seen Ms. Bell’s messenger about this, but in case you haven’t, please keep the McClung family and our Registrar’s Office Staff in your thoughts and prayers. I have pasted Ms. Bell’s note from messenger below.

Take care,

Lisa



Melinda McClung, a university records analyst coordinator in the Registrar’s Office, was killed in a traffic accident Sunday. Her husband Philip, a teacher at the NSU Middle Lab School, and a son were seriously injured and are being cared for at Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria. Funeral arrangements for Melinda are pending. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time.





Dr. Lisa Abney

Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

Northwestern State University

Roy Hall

200 Central Avenue, Suite 104

Natchitoches, LA 71497

Voice: 318.357.5361

Fax: 318.357.4517

abney@nsula.edu

Confidentiality notice: The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender at 318-357-5361 and delete the material from all computers.

Hi All,

Take a look—this might be of interest.

Best,

Lisa

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2013/03/the_fiscal_hawks_swoop_part_2.html#incart_river



Dr. Lisa Abney

Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

Northwestern State University

Roy Hall

200 Central Avenue, Suite 104

Natchitoches, LA 71497

Voice: 318.357.5361

Fax: 318.357.4517

abney@nsula.edu

Confidentiality notice: The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender at 318-357-5361 and delete the material from all computers.

Hi All,

Just wanted to take a moment to remind you that 10 week grades are due Monday before 11:55 pm.



We are about to undertake a campaign called “Ready, Set, Register” which we hope will encourage students to register for Fall before they leave campus for summer. Students will soon get emails about early registration. Facebook posts and website posts and press releases will also help us get the word out. Please remind students in your courses to see their advisors and to register.



Like you, we are still awaiting information about next year’s budget. Based on the articles in the press, it looks as through higher education and health care may see cuts for the coming year. At this time, we have not been asked for any data from the ULS or BOR about scenarios, and there has been no information shared with us about the budget. As I hear updates, I will share them via email or forums.



Congratulations to the Radiological Sciences program; the faculty/staff/students/alumni in that area are celebrating 40 years this weekend, and the Louisiana Scholars’ College marks its 25th anniversary this weekend as well. Congrats to both units! The Demon Basketball team is having success and is participating in the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas this weekend. Additionally, Research Day was held a couple of weeks ago, and again, it was a great success thanks to you and your students. Special thanks to the RD committee and Dr. Betsy Cochran. Quiz Bowl will begin tomorrow—thanks go to the library staff and Ms. Abbie Landry for their fine work with this huge undertaking. Literary Rally will take place next weekend—thanks to Rebecca Boone and all of you who make this great event so successful.



Finally, Dr. Julie Kane and Dr. Andy Crank have worked diligently to bring Benh Zeitlein, Director of Beasts of the Southern Wild, to campus on April 17. Please help spread the word about this. More details coming:)



Have a great weekend and enjoy the pretty weather.

Best,

Lisa





Dr. Lisa Abney

Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

Northwestern State University

Roy Hall

200 Central Avenue, Suite 104

Natchitoches, LA 71497

Voice: 318.357.5361

Fax: 318.357.4517

abney@nsula.edu

Confidentiality notice: The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender at 318-357-5361 and delete the material from all computers.