Tricia has been rocking it in the academic world, and I’ve got a lot to report to get everyone caught up on her most recent achievements!

Having started as an Assistant Professor at Montana State University in 2014, Tricia was awarded the 2016 Outstanding Research Award from the Department of Education at Montana State University, and has already climbed into the role of Department Head of Education.

She is a co-author of the soon-to-be-released How College Affects Students: 21st Century Evidence that Higher Education Works, Volume 3, and an Associate Editor of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Journal of College Student Development.

In March, Tricia present at ACPA’s 2016 convention in Montreal, as part of a Pecha Kucha session. Her talk, Success Isn’t Linear: It’s Geometric, is available for your viewing pleasure at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXIq7YPkdUQ.

Prior to moving to Montana, Tricia spent several years in Canada, where she was an Assistant Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. While in Toronto, she started the Supporting Student Success Project, a multi-instituional study examining the relationship between organizational structure and culture and student success in colleges across Canada.

Last fall, Tricia won the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services’ CACUSS Award of Honor. The award is given for significant achievement and distinguished contribution to the development and promotion of student services and/or active participation within CACUSS.

For those of you who have kids getting ready to go to college, her research team at Montana State has a Facebook page called Blueprints for Student Success – Montana where they answer questions that high school seniors have about what it takes to be successful in college. They also tweet at @Blueprint4Success (@_blueprints), and Tricia’s twitter handle is @TriciaSeifert.

Phew! I think that covers the most recent highlights, but Tricia will undoubtedly keep me on my toes as she continues to follow her calling – helping students succeed in following theirs!

Kim Bankston recently completed her postgraduate studies at Illinois State University, earning her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Bankston is a Family Nurse Practitioner at Bloomington Primary Care.

Congratulations Kim!

On August 10th, Faizal Chaudhury, a vice president at Sallie Mae Bank, was one of four Sallie Mae managers presented with the Patriot Award by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). The Patriot Award recognizes managers and supervisors for their support of military service member employees.

At the award ceremony, Sallie Mae also formally renewed its Statement of Support for the Guard and Reserve, pledging to give managers the tools they need to effectively support employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve; to encourage employment opportunities for active, transitioning, and veteran service members; and to continually recognize and support service members and their families in peace, in crisis, and in war.

You can read more about it at http://news.salliemae.com/press-release/banking/sallie-mae-managers-recognized-support-military-employees.

Congratulations Faizal, and thank you for your efforts supporting military service members at Sallie Mae!

End of Fall, written and directed by Joselito Seldera, has been accepted into both the Wild Rose Independent Film Festival (May 12-19, 2016) and the High Desert International Film Festival (May 26-29, 2016).

Jose has written, directed, and produced several independent films since 2008, but End of Fall is his first feature film. Jose brought this film home, shooting it around the Lake Geneva area in the autumn of 2014.

Jose received his Master of Fine Arts degree in film production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts in 2012.

You can follow movie news at https://www.facebook.com/endoffallmovie/.

This is the fourth annual All In For Wesleyan one-day giving challenge! It’s a day celebrating everything that makes Illinois Wesleyan great, including alumni and friends like you who carry IWU forward.

All gifts made today will be matched, dollar for dollar (up to $100,000) by an anonymous alum from the 1990’s, doubling your impact on IWU students! There are sure to be additional matching grants unlocked throughout the day giving your individual donation even more impact!

Make your donation today!

Emily Fleischmann recently accepted a position as Senior Director, Global Marketing at the Almond Board of California. The Board represents the over 6,000 almond growers and over 100 handlers in the State of California where 82% of the worlds almonds are grown. Under a Federal Marketing Order, the Board engages in research, advertising and promotion in domestic and international markets.

Congratulations Emily!

Bottleneck Management, operated by three Illinois Wesleyan alumni – Chris Bisaillon ’93, Jason Akemann ’96 and Nate Hilding ’96 – has been named among Restaurant Hospitality’s top 25 multiconcept restaurant companies in the U.S. in 2015.

Bottleneck Management owns and operates vibrant, high energy restaurants and taverns across the U.S.

If you remember back to August 2014 (if not, I’ll remind you with a link), Cimfel and White’s horror screenplay was just entering production.

Less than a year later, Shut In was selected for screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival where it received great reviews! Links to two of these reviews are found below.

Next up, Shut In has been selected for Film4 FrightFest, the U.K.’s leading genre film festival, which runs August 27-31.

Fingers crossed a distributor will pick it up and we’ll all be able to see it in wide release!

Reviews:

LAFF 2015 Review: ‘Shut In’ is a Desperate House Party

LA Film Fest: Two Scary Ladies – Sophie Lowe and Beth Riesgraf Turn Clichés on Their Heads