New contract a done deal for Lake State faculty

NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY

************************* SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - Lake Superior State University's board of trustees focused on faculty during its regular meeting today by granting tenure to three professors and approving a labor contract with university instructors.

The board voted unanimously to grant tenure to Profs. Chad Barbour, Maureen O'Shea and Geoff Steinhart and also unanimously approved a three-year contract with the Faculty Association, which is the bargaining unit for all LSSU teachers.

Also, the board heard reports on enrollment, finance and academic and student affairs, as well as a report from its development committee.

In addition, upon hearing a report on recent fund-raising events for a scholarship in the name of a student-athlete who died on campus this semester, board members made donations that put the scholarship within reach of its $25,000 goal.

In recommending tenure for Barbour, O'Shea and Steinhart, LSSU Provost and Executive Vice President Morrie Walworth said all three have been teaching at LSSU since 2006, are noted for teaching skills and all receive excellent evaluations from their students.

Barbour holds a PhD in English from University of Kentucky.

Besides teaching many of the courses that are offered in the English and literature degree program, he has become the primary instructor for Honors English sections.

His interests are in American literature before 1865, Native and children's literature, comics and graphic novels.

"As the advisor to the English Club and the student-run and -edited literary and art magazine Blurb, Dr. Barbour has guided students to reinvent this popular periodical and update its image and impact," said Walworth. "He is well respected by his peers and performs well in the classroom."

O’Shea, who holds a bachelor of science in nursing from LSSU and a master's degree in nursing from Michigan State University, is well-known on both sides of the St. Marys River.

She teaches a wide variety of nursing courses with a special interest in pharmacology and women's health.

"Professor O’Shea is a nationally board certified family nurse practitioner who has provided, or continues to provide services for a wide variety of health care providers throughout the region including War Memorial Hospital, the Chippewa County Health Department, Sault Area Hospitals and General Hospital, in Sault, ON, Matthews Memorial Public Hospital in Ontario, and many more," said Walworth.

Besides teaching fisheries courses at LSSU, Steinhart is co-director of LSSU's Aquatic Research Laboratory.

He holds a PhD in aquatic ecology from Ohio State University and had finished post-doctoral studies at Cornell University before accepting a position with LSSU.

"Dr. Steinhart’s use of the LSSU fish hatchery, located in the Aquatic Research Laboratory, allows him to provide students with real-world applications to complement much of the theoretical material that he teaches in the classroom," said Walworth, who noted that Steinhart and his colleague and co-director Ashley Moerke PhD have been active grant writers in the ARL, accounting for about $275,000 in funded grants in the last three years.

Steinhart has also served as the associate editor for the Journal of Great Lakes Research, and is president-elect for the Michigan Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.

Following board approval of their tenure, LSSU Board Chair W.W. "Frenchie" LaJoie invited the board to recognize the three individually before the meeting continued.

Also during his report, Walworth highlighted a 20-page faculty activity synopsis and announced a new LSSU Speakers Bureau which lists LSSU employees and students who can make presentations in area classrooms and to community service groups.

The list of available speakers, which is growing, may be found at this website.

During his comments to the board, LSSU President Tony McLain said he attended a recent meeting of the Presidents Council of State Universities of Michigan and said the state's universities are ready to work with the new legislature and Governor-elect Rick Snyder in helping Michigan return to economic prosperity.

"The new governor is motivated by a business turnaround in the state," McLain said, noting that state universities will be charged with helping turn the state around and increasing graduates in science, technology, engineering, math and other subjects, as well as improving services to military personnel and more.

He said LSSU is already committed to these goals and is in a good position to assist.

Beverly White, LSSU director of Human Resources, presented the board with the new LSSU-Faculty Association contract, a three-year agreement that she said was negotiated easily in recent weeks.

"Our negotiations were a very amicable, common-sense approach to what the university can do, and that agreement has been ratified by the Faculty Association," White said. The board approved the contract unanimously.

"We're very appreciative of the faculty and everyone involved with this contract negotiation," said LSSU Board of Trustees Chair W.W. "Frenchie" LaJoie. "This was completed fairly quickly and we're thankful for the efforts and sacrifice of the faculty in putting this contract together."

LSSU Vice President of Enrollment Services Bill Eilola provided an enrollment report to the board that indicates LSSU recruitment continues to see improvement, with freshmen applications for fall 2011 well ahead of what they were this year, when enrollment increased substantially.

He also said applications from students in Ontario are double what they were last year at this time.

"We're seeing a very positive trend," Eilola said, noting that admissions counselors are following up with students who applications are missing pieces of information in an effort to bring them into the fold. "It appears that our efforts are beginning to pay off."

Eilola said LSSU continues to see many applicants in nursing and health sciences, biology, chemistry, environmental health and several other areas, including substantial increases in applicants in the social sciences, primarily in psychology and political science.

In his report to the board, LSSU Vice President of Student Affairs Ken Peress echoed Eilola's enrollment report, noting that LSSU housing stands at 91 percent occupancy, compared to 82 percent in 2009-2010.

Peress also complimented several LSSU students for their work on a recent concert to benefit the Dillon Menard Memorial Scholarship, a fund named after track student-athlete Menard, of Negaunee, who died of heart failure just before the fall semester began.

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