December 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Associate Professor of Nursing Victoria Folse has been awarded a State of Illinois Nurse Educator Fellowship from the Illinois Center for Nursing (ICN). The purpose of the Nurse Educator Fellowship Program is to ensure the retention of well-qualified nursing faculty at institutions of higher learning that award degrees in nursing. Folse will receive $10,000 to be used for faculty development.

Earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Illinois Wesleyan in 1986, Folse received her master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1989, and her doctorate from Saint Louis University in 2002. She came to Illinois Wesleyan in 2002, after teaching at Bradley University and coordinating programs for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, both in Peoria.

A member of the Academy for Eating Disorders, the International Orem Society, and the Midwest Nursing Research Society, Folse has been honored as a Leadership for Academic Nursing Program 2008 Fellow from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. She is also a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Assistant Professor of English Joanne Diaz has been awarded a $25,000 fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) for her poetry.

Diaz is one of only 42 writers across the nation receiving the NEA Literature Fellowships for 2009. The NEA calls the fellowships “the most direct investment in American creativity.” NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, “These grants are an investment in our nation’s culture, and I’m proud to say that the return on that investment benefits Americans from coast to coast.”

Joining the Illinois Wesleyan English Department in 2008, Diaz teaches courses in creative writing and literature.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Frank Boyd, the associate dean of faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University, has accepted the position of associate provost for academic planning and standards. Boyd will assume the post in August of 2009, replacing Roger Schnaitter, who returns to the classroom as a member of the psychology faculty.

Boyd joined the political science faculty at Illinois Wesleyan in 1995, and later served as the department chair. Prior to coming to the University, he taught at Olgethorpe University in Atlanta, Ga., and Georgia State University. Boyd earned his bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Alabama in 1989, and his doctorate in political science from Emory University in Atlanta in 1996.

A popular teacher on campus, Boyd was named Illinois Wesleyan Professor of the Year by the Student Senate in 1997 and again in 1999.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Provost for Academic Services Jeff Frick has been named a consultant-evaluator in the Peer Review Corps of The Higher Learning Commission.

The Commission is an independent corporation recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, which evaluates and offers guidance to higher education institutions working toward accreditation. As a consultant-evaluator, Frick will travel to colleges and universities as part of a team of Peer Review Corps members to determine if criteria for accreditation are being met.

“The idea behind accreditation is to ensure universities and colleges are meeting expectations in areas such as integrity, student learning, effective teaching and service,” said Frick, who finished the intensive training to become a consultant-evaluator in November. “More than a checklist of what they do and don’t need to have, accreditation is proof that an institution is working to meet the needs of its various constituents.”

Frick will travel to one or two peer institutions a year within the 19 states covered by The Higher Learning Commission. Along with evaluating institutions, Frick and his fellow consultants will provide ideas to help with improvement. “A major focus of the Commission is continuous improvement,” said Frick. “We will be there to offer suggestions and help institutions think toward the future.”

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – While many students will be bundling up to ring in the New Year, Illinois Wesleyan University junior Aislinn Lowry’s plane will be touching down in Egypt, taking her to excavations of the ancient world.

Lowry, a Greek and Roman Studies major, has been accepted into Excavations at Amheida program through New York University. She is one of only 10 undergraduate students chosen from across the nation, and is the first Illinois Wesleyan student admitted into the program.

“To say this is an opportunity of a lifetime is an understatement. I’ll be learning from the most innovative minds in the field today,” said Lowry, a Jefferson City, Mo., native. She will arrive in Egypt on Dec. 31 and will return in late March 2009.

The Excavations at Amheida program combines classroom seminars, field trips and work on a functioning archaeological dig site. Nestled in the Dakhleh Oasis in western Egypt, the site draws professionals from around the world. “When we are working on the site, we will be there from sun-up to sun-down, and staying at the field house at night with some of the top archaeologists in the world,” said Lowry.

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