Winter 2011/2012 - Tiffin University

Freshmen” at the All Ohio CounselorConference in November.As the lead author of the newbook, Law – who teaches in TU’s Schoolof Criminal Justice & Social Sciences –emphasizes that although it is good tohave dreams in life, the inability to attainthose dreams may lead to depressionmore often than to happiness.“This is because fulfillment of adream is quite complex, but with asystemic approach, dreams can be attained,”the TU professor says. “Suchan approach includes transferring thedream into a concrete goal, setting up apathway for its attainment, and followingthe pathway step-by-step to reach thegoal. This is called the Hope Theory.”Perry-Nause PresentsDuring National DiversityAwareness MonthDr. Sharon Perry-Nause served as thekeynote speaker for National DiversityAwareness Month at Marathon PetroleumCorporation in Findlay, Ohio inOctober. She is Director of InstitutionalDiversity and Assistant Professor ofManagement at Tiffin University. Herspeech, “Diversity and OrganizationalChange” focused on how one mustdevelop the appropriate diverse relationshipsthat cultivate organizationalcommitment to diversity and aide inorganizational transformation.“The opportunity to share theDr. SharonPerry-Nausesignificance of commonalities and differencesand how the successful alignmentof the characteristics foster commitmentto diversity was truly welcomed,” Perry-Nause says. “It was truly an honor to beselected as the keynote speaker for suchan event.” She noted how diversitycompetentinstitutions accept theirrole as catalysts – as agents for societalchange and transformation.“They engage in consultations tofurther the course of diversity in organizationsand communities. They engagein empirical investigations to learn moreabout the benefits associated with humandifferences, institutional policies,procedures, and practices gauge thelevel of commitment to diversity efforts,”she explains. “The presentationsought to broaden knowledge and supportfurther diversity efforts.”National Diversity AwarenessMonth began in 2005. It is a time to vowacceptance and tolerance. It is a timeto celebrate and embrace who we are,despite our differences, no matter whatrace, religion, gender, sexual orientation,age, nationality, or disability. It is atime to reflect on and gain knowledgeof about different ideologies and cultures(www.nationaldiversityday.com).Dr. Canchu LinLeadership Emergence inVirtual TeamsDr. Canchu Lin presented “LeadershipEmergence in Virtual Teams: Communicationand Uncertainty Reduction,” whichhe co-authored with Dr. James Olufowoteof Boston College, at the annualconvention of National CommunicationAssociation in New Orleans in November.Using the uncertainty reductionframework, this study investigated uncertaintyreduction functions of emergentleaders’ communication behaviorsin twenty four virtual teams.A qualitative analysis of the emergentleadership communication behaviorsrevealed four major functions in emergentleadership communication: initiation, taskmanagement, information management,and operational coordination.The discussion of the findings revealedimportant implications for theoryand practice regarding leadership emergencein virtual teams.Golden Opportunitiesfor School of BusinessDean of Graduate Studies Bonnie Tiellvisited Paris, France and Lausanne,Switzerland over Thanksgiving break. Aguest of two-time Olympian Dr. FrancisDove Edwin of Sierre Leone (Africa), Tiellpresented the Tiffin University OlympicAcademic Experience to 150+ Olympiansand members of the IOC at the 2011World Olympians Association (WOA).Seventeen students and threeprofessors from nine universities will joinTiell and Edwin in London next summer.Tiell also visited Paris to meet withHorizons University President, RobertaGrossi. Grossi and Tiell are collaboratingon academic projects dealing withshared curriculum for a graduate certificate,study-abroad opportunities, andglobal internships.While in Paris,Tiell toured theNationalArchives, ParisTown HallGovernmentbuilding, NotreDame Cathedral,and the Place dela Bastille whichmarked thebeginning ofthe FrenchRevolution.CampusSceneWINTER 2011 / 12 | CHALLENGE | 23