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Enrollment Increases 128% In Six Years - Tiffin University

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Challenge<br />

The Magazine of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

Fall / Winter 09<br />

1,500<br />

2003<br />

<strong>Enrollment</strong> <strong><strong>In</strong>creases</strong> <strong>128%</strong><br />

<strong>In</strong> <strong>Six</strong> <strong>Years</strong><br />

1,634<br />

2004<br />

1,658<br />

2005<br />

1,990<br />

2006<br />

Fall Semester <strong>Enrollment</strong><br />

2,349<br />

2007<br />

2,705<br />

2008<br />

3,422<br />

2009


2 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09


EDITOR’S NOTE<br />

Dear Alumni and Friends of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>:<br />

Welcome to the Fall/Winter issue of<br />

Challenge Magazine 2009. A lot has<br />

happened.<br />

Throughout this magazine, you will find<br />

stories about faculty accomplishments<br />

and campus improvements, an incredible<br />

increase in enrollment, motivated students,<br />

inspiring alumni, dedicated athletic teams<br />

and new countries added to our list of<br />

international education.<br />

Your story is very important to all of us, so do not hesitate to contact me<br />

through our “Tell Us About Yourself” form located at www.tiffin.edu, click<br />

“Alumni” (far right), click “stay connected” (last sentence on page) and don’t<br />

forget to let us know what is happening in your life! The leaves have fallen<br />

and winter is right around the corner, see you in the spring.<br />

Lisa Williams<br />

Editor & Photographer<br />

Executive Director of Media Relations & Publications<br />

HOw TO SEND NEwS TO CHallENgE MagazINE…<br />

Mail: Print out the Tell Us About Yourself form and mail to:<br />

Lisa Williams, 155 Miami Street, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio 44883<br />

Call for interview appointment or story idea: Lisa Williams at 419.448.3444<br />

Email: lwilliam@tiffin.edu (send a photo!)<br />

Web Site: www.tiffin.edu (Click “Alumni”)<br />

Click “Stay Connected”<br />

CREDITS<br />

Photography: Zeng Lei<br />

Contributing Writers: Geoff Schutt, Elaine Ocker<br />

Graphic Design: Mary Ann Stearns<br />

Note: We have made every effort to provide names and captions for each<br />

photo. Please accept our apologies for those that are incomplete.<br />

this issue<br />

Challenge<br />

Equine Business Management<br />

p4<br />

Art<br />

p23<br />

<strong>Enrollment</strong><br />

p28<br />

Homecoming 09<br />

p33<br />

Alumni Focus<br />

p41<br />

Fall / wINTER 09<br />

The Magazine of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

14 > Equine Business Management<br />

11 > CampusScene<br />

14 > New <strong>In</strong>ternational Students<br />

Welcomed<br />

16 > Faculty Accomplishments<br />

23 > Art<br />

24 > Music<br />

26 > Theatre<br />

28 > <strong>Enrollment</strong> Exceeds 3,400<br />

30 > Promoting Student Success<br />

33 > Homecoming 09<br />

38 > AlumniScene<br />

38 > Alumni Focus<br />

43 > ClassScene<br />

46 > <strong>In</strong>Memoriam<br />

50 > SportsScene<br />

53 > Athletic Hall of Fame 09<br />

If this issue of Challenge Magazine is addressed to someone in your household<br />

who has moved, please notify the Alumni office by calling 419.448.3323 or email<br />

KoehlerS@tiffin.edu.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 3


4 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09


Equine<br />

Business Management<br />

TU students have the opportunity for a hands-on experience leading to a dynamic<br />

and challenging career in the horse industry.<br />

As part of the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) – Equine Business<br />

Management concentration, students learn the fundamentals and practices<br />

of equine health and operations management. Through the program, they<br />

receive real world experience in communicating with veterinarians, horse specialists,<br />

and horse owners about the issues related to managing in the industry<br />

such as record keeping, veterinary care and facilities maintenance. The managerial<br />

skills that students acquire make them more marketable in industries<br />

related to horses.<br />

The Equine Business Management concentration began in 2008 in a partner-<br />

ship with Guelph <strong>University</strong> in Canada. During the 2008-2009 academic year,<br />

students took their equine courses online through the Canadian university.<br />

However, TU decided in 2009 to move the courses to the <strong>Tiffin</strong> campus to provide<br />

students with a more direct experience, according to Dr. Perry Haan, Dean<br />

of the School of Business.<br />

“It just seemed to make sense to have the students working with and learning<br />

from local people working in the industry,” he explains.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 5


what’s happening > Equine Business Management<br />

EquESTRIaN BaCkgROuND<br />

Several years before the formal offering of the Equine Business Management<br />

concentration, <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> students, faculty and staff had their first<br />

opportunity to work with horses.<br />

The equestrian interest at TU began in 2005 with an activity for the Adventure<br />

Club – a club on campus that provided students with many opportunities<br />

to engage in a variety of activities. The “Horse Experience” took place with<br />

25 people, including students, faculty, and coaches. Students experienced<br />

how to groom horses, as well learn how to ride English or Western. Many of<br />

the participants were from metropolitan communities and the experience<br />

working with large animals was completely new.<br />

Due to the success of the “Horse Experience,” <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> decided to<br />

start an Equestrian Club. The club was popular immediately, and students<br />

were able to ride for two-hour sessions up to three times per week.<br />

EquESTRIaN TEaM<br />

<strong>In</strong> the fall of 2007, <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> started a varsity equestrian team<br />

to compete in the <strong>In</strong>tercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). This<br />

organization has 29 Regions, 9 Zones with more than 300 member colleges<br />

Hunt Equestrian Team – Back Row: Alison Dittman, Travis Roper, Lindsey McKibben, Taylor Wells, Francesca Moody, Felicia Brewster<br />

Front Row: Morgan Dart, Kassandra Ringle, Emily Marsh, Lauren Stewart, LaTicia Jeffers, Liz Buskey<br />

6 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

in 45 states and Canada, representing more that 6500 riders in both Hunter<br />

Seat Equitation and Western Horsemanship and Reining.<br />

Highly praised for its structure of competition, the IHSA allows riders with<br />

various degrees of experience in the hunter and western rider disciplines<br />

to compete individually or on a team. Competition plays a role, but student<br />

enthusiasm and team spirit are the major objectives. Emphasis is on learning,<br />

sportsmanship and fun.<br />

The Association was founded on the principle that any college student<br />

should be able to participate in horse shows, regardless of their financial<br />

status or riding level. The IHSA attempts to eliminate the expenses of<br />

students owning horses and allows more students to compete.<br />

Riders are able to qualify for the National Championship Horse Show<br />

(Nationals) through a point system. During the year, contestants accumulate<br />

points at local shows to qualify for the Regional Finals in their respective<br />

divisions. The top three riders in each class of the Regional Finals move<br />

forward to the Zone Finals. The top two competitors in each class at Zones<br />

qualify for Nationals.<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s team competes in one of the largest and most competitive<br />

zones in the United States. <strong>In</strong> TU’s initial year, the team of 12 members


anked fourth in Western and fifth in Hunter seat in a region consisting of<br />

10 teams.<br />

The 2008-2009 teams included 22 members and were ranked fourth in both<br />

Hunter seat and Western Riding. Two Western riders qualified for Semifinal<br />

Championship held in Amarillo, Texas. The 2009-2010 teams consist of 28<br />

members. The competition season begins in October and runs through<br />

April.<br />

lOCal VET TEaCHES FIRST laB ON CaMpuS<br />

Dr. Mike Brothers teaches the first two Equine Business Management courses<br />

on the TU campus.<br />

Originally from Mansfield, Ohio, Brothers earned a bachelor’s degree in<br />

Dairy Science from the <strong>University</strong> of Kentucky and a Doctorate of Veterinary<br />

Medicine from The Ohio State <strong>University</strong>. “I’ve been a ‘mixed-practice’<br />

Freshman Lindsey McKibben, English & Western Teams<br />

Dr. Mike Brothers<br />

veterinarian ever since, in that I will<br />

pretty much take care of anything,”<br />

Brothers remarks. His special<br />

interests include horses, as well as<br />

“exotics” like reptiles and ferrets.<br />

The <strong>Tiffin</strong> vet says he was given<br />

a basic outline of what had been<br />

previously taught at the Canadian<br />

university, and then was able to<br />

design the course based on his<br />

personal expertise. “The students<br />

seem to like the coursework,” he<br />

remarks. “It’s exciting to be part<br />

of a new program like this, and<br />

to have so many truly interested<br />

students.”<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 7


what’s happening > Equine Business Management<br />

Tourism Management with the goal of one day managing a stable of my<br />

own. With this major comes the requirement of an internship.<br />

Ali Dittman’s <strong>In</strong>ternship<br />

alISON DITTMaN, JuNIOR<br />

wINTER HaVEN, Fl<br />

From the age of 7, I have loved horses. My aunt and uncle owned a 200plus<br />

acres stable in Kentucky, where they offered trail riding, boarding, and<br />

lessons. I would spend my summer and winter breaks helping them with<br />

whatever chores needed to be done around the barn.<br />

I eventually found a local riding facility where I began working in exchange<br />

for lessons. I worked during the 7th grade and all through high school. I<br />

have never owned my own horse, but I have had the privilege of riding<br />

and gaining experience by showing all different types of horses in different<br />

disciplines and levels.<br />

When I heard about <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s equestrian program, I was astonished<br />

that there were schools that competed on an intercollegiate level. With<br />

the help of my parents, I was able to visit TU’s campus. With such a new<br />

program, we weren’t sure what to expect the first year.<br />

Not only did I discover that TU offered an equestrian team, I also had the<br />

opportunity to study Equine Business Management and Hospitality and<br />

Dr. Brothers physically exams horse during class Morgan Dart (Novice Class at OSU Hunt Competition)<br />

8 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

One day, I received an email stating, “Isn’t Hilton Head relatively close to your<br />

home?” After a little bit of searching, I was so excited to learn about Lawton<br />

Stables, hoping it would be the best place for me to do my internship.<br />

I contacted the owner of the stables who asked me to send her a resume.<br />

The head trainer helped me set up all the details for the summer internship,<br />

including housing, utilities, salary, and most importantly, an opportunity of a<br />

lifetime. I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to see if tourism<br />

with horses would be something I would like to do with my life.<br />

I moved to Hilton Head during spring 2009 to start my internship and worked<br />

through mid-August before returning to TU to continue my education.<br />

My internship responsibilities consisted of working 6 days a week from 7<br />

a.m. to 6 p.m. My summer was split between two different sections of the<br />

barn. The first half of the summer, I worked on the lesson and boarding<br />

side, where I would do the early morning feed and rotate all the horses from<br />

pastures to stalls for the day. Because Lawton Stables is a tourist attraction,<br />

many people would come for one lesson while on vacation. I would help<br />

give these lessons, so that the head trainer could focus her attention on<br />

established clients and their horses.


Also, along with two other assistants, we<br />

ran a summer camp, where children from 6<br />

to 17 years of age could come for a week to<br />

learn horse skills.<br />

The second half of the summer, I worked in<br />

the trail barn. This was a very exciting daily<br />

job. Every day, we would arrive at the barn<br />

before the first trail ride which began at<br />

7:30 a.m. We had 43 trail horses to take care<br />

of, and everyone contributed to running a<br />

very successful business. On average, we<br />

would send out about 80-100 trail riders a<br />

day, so all of the horses had to be taken care<br />

of so that they could perform at their very<br />

best ability. My job was to keep a record of<br />

the daily maintenance of the horses, and<br />

rotate them through a schedule so that<br />

they all earned breaks throughout the day,<br />

as well as weekly vacations.<br />

I was also a trail guide and would speak to<br />

the customers before they would go out<br />

on the trail to teach them how to properly<br />

ride their horse. I really enjoyed working on the trail barn side of Lawton<br />

because it was fast paced and I got to speak with hundreds of people every<br />

day.<br />

The highlight of my summer was learning how to drive a Clydesdale<br />

horse. A dream of mine has always been to work with the Anheuser<br />

Busch Clydesdales. When I contacted Lawton Stables, I told them about<br />

this passion of mine, and I was so excited to hear that they actually had a<br />

Alison Dittman<br />

Clydesdale on the property. Throughout the<br />

summer, I took care of the barn’s gentle giant,<br />

named Harley. Over the course of the summer,<br />

I learned how to drive Harley with the carriage<br />

and when tourists arrived at Lawton Stables, I<br />

would take them out on an hour-long carriage<br />

rides through the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.<br />

At <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, I have been taking<br />

the equine classes to receive a major in<br />

Management, with a concentration in<br />

Equine Business Management and a minor in<br />

Hospitality and Tourism. Originally, the classes<br />

were being taught through Guelph <strong>University</strong>,<br />

but after speaking with Dr. Perry Haan, we<br />

were able to get the classes offered on the<br />

TU campus so that the study could be further<br />

enhanced. Our current professor is a local<br />

veterinarian, Dr. Mike Brothers. Throughout<br />

this new semester, Dr. Brothers has taught us a<br />

lot and is very interesting.<br />

I have already begun to look at new internships<br />

for the summer of 2010. After working at<br />

Lawton Stables, I learned that I would love to work and teach tourists about<br />

the life of horses in their natural environment.<br />

After graduation, I hope to have an opportunity to work in St. Louis with the<br />

Clydesdales. This would involve training young Clydesdales, breeding, or<br />

just taking care of them every day, which is a full-time job. Or maybe I will<br />

return to one of the great locations where I have worked on my internships.<br />

I am excited.<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s Equestrian Team Competitions<br />

THIS YEaR<br />

<strong>In</strong> September, the <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> equestrian team participated in its<br />

second annual community service project at Garlo Heritage Nature<br />

Preserve. Equestrian team members cleared trails using chainsaws, poles,<br />

saws and clippers. They also checked the seven mile trail for holes and<br />

other hazards.<br />

September 26, 2009 marked the grand opening of the dedicated parking<br />

lot for horse trailers. The ceremony was celebrated by the first annual<br />

Horse Poker Run, with proceeds to benefit Garlo Heritage Nature Preserve<br />

Horse trails and the <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> equestrian team.<br />

Tu plaCES FOuRTH IN FIRST wESTERN<br />

COMpETITION<br />

Ten colleges and universities participated in the first Western Competition<br />

of the season during the fall of 2009, including Ohio State <strong>University</strong>,<br />

Ohio <strong>University</strong>, the <strong>University</strong> of Akron, Lake Erie College, the College<br />

of Wooster, Kent State <strong>University</strong>, Kenyon <strong>University</strong>, Denison <strong>University</strong><br />

and Oberlin College. <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> tied with the <strong>University</strong> of Akron for<br />

fourth place in the afternoon’s competition, and placed fourth overall in<br />

the morning competition.<br />

HuNT EquESTRIaN TEaM plaCES THIRD aND<br />

SIxTH IN Fall HuNT COMpETITION<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s hunt equestrian team placed well in the fall 2009 Hunt<br />

Competition, earning both a third- and a sixth-place finished in the twoday<br />

meet. TU competed against Ohio State <strong>University</strong>, Ohio <strong>University</strong>,<br />

<strong>University</strong> of Akron, Lake Erie College, College of Wooster, Kent State<br />

<strong>University</strong>, Denison <strong>University</strong> and Oberlin College.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 9


what’s happening > Equine Business Management<br />

Lawton Stables Owner Didi Summers<br />

For the first time, Lawton Stables decided to have an intern for the summer.<br />

We get very busy during the summer months and always look for extra help,<br />

but this was the first time we were able to provide housing. Out of dozens<br />

of applicants, TU student Alison Dittman was chosen to be our first summer<br />

intern. Ali’s work ethic stood out on her resume and her persistence got her<br />

the job. When she arrived at Lawton, she hadn’t yet found her voice and<br />

she spent the first few weeks struggling<br />

to juggle her workload and her happiness.<br />

She was unclear of what she wanted,<br />

unsure how a business worked in reality<br />

instead of in theory, and found she was<br />

working much more than she had planned,<br />

for less money than she needed.<br />

We have many people at Lawton, from<br />

volunteers to well-paid permanent<br />

employees, and it was up to Ali to let us<br />

know what she expected and needed.<br />

She found her internship had turned into<br />

a full-blown summer job. She wanted to<br />

please everyone and she quickly learned<br />

that this method left it impossible to please<br />

herself. We knew from interviewing her<br />

that Ali had a love for Clydesdales and<br />

expressed an interest in working with our<br />

young Clydesdale, Harley. We gave her full<br />

reign over Harley, from driving the carriage<br />

to cleaning his feathers and exercising him<br />

on a regular basis to keep him toned. It was<br />

when she began connecting with Harley<br />

that she realized her niche at Lawton was<br />

to care for the horses.<br />

At Lawton Stables, we would like our interns to be given the opportunity<br />

to experience every aspect of life in a fast-paced work environment. <strong>In</strong> the<br />

summer months, we manage over 100 trail rides per day, a vigorous lesson<br />

10 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Ali and Harley<br />

Ali had full reign over Harley (the Clydesdale) at Lawton Stables including carriage rides.<br />

program, and a riding camp for children, and several other activities. Our<br />

goal was to acquaint Ali with every aspect of a working barn, and especially<br />

so, by giving her hands-on experience with the business aspect in hopes<br />

that she will find her passion within an equine business.<br />

An intern’s day is long and begins somewhere around 6 a.m. with barn chores<br />

followed quickly with trail rides, horse<br />

care, kids’ camp, and finally night chores.<br />

<strong>In</strong>terns take on plenty of responsibility.<br />

It’s a big job and it requires someone who<br />

lives and breathes the horse world, knows<br />

its “ins” and “outs,” and most importantly,<br />

is business savvy – because at the end of<br />

the day, we are a business.<br />

Once Ali found her niche taking care of<br />

the horses, the happiness and well being<br />

of our 52 horses were in Ali’s hands. This is<br />

where we watched her shine. Under her<br />

supervision, our horses thrived and she<br />

worked with our trail guides, vets, and<br />

professional trainers to develop a system<br />

of caretaking that has now become<br />

standard procedure.<br />

Ali became a fixture at Lawton, working<br />

on her days off by tending to injured<br />

horses, coming back early from lunch<br />

to make sure that everything was being<br />

taken care of. Ali had found her voice<br />

here and it was clear and decisive.<br />

Though her focus was mainly on the horses, we do believe she saw<br />

clearly what it takes to run a business that depends heavily on the tourists<br />

that visit the island. We hope that next summer we are fortunate enough<br />

to find three or four interns just like Ali, and of course we hope she will<br />

return!


What’s Happening<br />

CampusScene<br />

Campus<br />

Update<br />

OVERSEaS ExpaNSION<br />

TU has offered its Master of Business<br />

Administration (MBA) degree in Bucharest,<br />

Romania for several years and in Timisoara,<br />

Romania for the past two years. This fall, the<br />

<strong>University</strong> began delivering both the MBA and<br />

the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)<br />

degrees in Prague, Czech Republic, with 73<br />

students enrolled. Also, TU has received approval<br />

to offer the MBA in Taiwan and in two locations<br />

in Poland, and student recruitment is underway<br />

for those locations.<br />

Wei Peng from Nanjing Normal <strong>University</strong> Visits TU<br />

President Marion visited Timisoara in June and<br />

met with current students, prospective students,<br />

and faculty and staff members. Dr. Perry Haan,<br />

President Marion joins MBA Students in Timisoara<br />

Dean of TU’s School of Business, and Dr. Laura<br />

Mays, Assistant Dean for <strong>In</strong>ternational Programs,<br />

traveled to Prague in October for the opening<br />

ceremony for the start of the programs in Prague.<br />

All of TU’s programs in business are accredited<br />

by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools<br />

and Programs and the European Council for<br />

Business Education.”<br />

uNITED waY<br />

This year, <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> employees donated<br />

$15,627 for the United Way Campaign.<br />

DENIM DaY<br />

TU employees were allowed to wear denim<br />

on October 2 if they made a donation to The<br />

Women’s Cancer Programs to support the fight<br />

against breast cancer.<br />

Denim Day Participants<br />

VETERaN’S<br />

DaY<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

c e l e b r a t e d<br />

Veteran’s Day to<br />

honor all <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong> faculty,<br />

staff, students,<br />

and local area<br />

c o m m u n i t y<br />

Captain Elliott Peterson members who<br />

have served in one<br />

of the branches<br />

of the United States armed forces. The keynote<br />

speaker for this year’s celebration was Captain<br />

Elliott Peterson, representing the United States<br />

Marine Corp. Peterson accepted his commission<br />

to the U.S. Marine Corps in 2004 and was<br />

deployed to Iraq in 2006 and 2007.<br />

He became a selection officer in 2008 and is<br />

enrolled in TU’s Master of Criminal Justice degree<br />

program. Peterson remembered receiving a TU<br />

sweatshirt and said he was impressed with the<br />

graduate program. “I decided to go to school<br />

here,” he said.<br />

Peterson reflected on his overseas duty and<br />

said Iraq is full of children who view Americans<br />

as an armored version of Santa Claus. “I have so<br />

many fond memories of the people in Iraq,” he<br />

said. Peterson told a story about a time when a<br />

bomb detonated under a Humvee and resulted<br />

in death. The scene, he said, was terrible.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 11


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

NaTuRE pRESERVE<br />

An appreciation celebration was held in<br />

November in recognition of the handicapped<br />

accessibility enhancements at the <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong> Nature Preserve. The Nature Preserve<br />

is a partnership between TU, Seneca County<br />

Park District, Seneca County Commissioners, the<br />

Hopewell Township Trustees, the <strong>Tiffin</strong> Charitable<br />

Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and<br />

the City of <strong>Tiffin</strong> with the supporting funds from<br />

the Clean Ohio Grant Fund.<br />

A paved trail and a gazebo highlight the Access to<br />

Recreation project. The paved portion extends<br />

to a bridge over a creek. “It benefits our students<br />

and employees, but also the citizens in our part<br />

of the state,” said TU’s President Paul Marion<br />

during his remarks. “It’s been a great partnership.”<br />

A walking trail loops through a wetland and<br />

wooded area, which was part of an earlier project<br />

undertaken with Clean Ohio funds. The park is<br />

open to the public.<br />

During his remarks, Roland Zimmerman, director<br />

of the Seneca County Park District, said the<br />

nature preserve provides a much-needed park<br />

area. “There’s been a great need in this part<br />

of the county for passive parks,” he said. “<strong>In</strong><br />

passive parks you can look out and see nature.”<br />

Zimmerman also presented a tactile sign made<br />

from recycled material to be placed at the park<br />

that is to allow people with visual impairments<br />

to find their way.<br />

Dr. Mike Grandillo, TU’s vice president for<br />

development and public affairs, said the project is<br />

the latest in $29 million in improvements made by<br />

TU along Miami Street during the past few years. The<br />

preserve is next to the Paradiso Athletic Complex.<br />

12 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

gREEN COMMITTEE<br />

The American College & <strong>University</strong> Presidents’<br />

Climate Commitment is a high-visibility effort to<br />

address global warming by garnering institutional<br />

commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas<br />

emissions, and to accelerate the research and<br />

educational efforts of higher<br />

education to equip society<br />

to re-stabilize the earth’s<br />

climate.<br />

Building on the<br />

growing momentum<br />

for leadership and<br />

action on climate change,<br />

the Presidents Climate Commitment provides<br />

a framework and support for America’s<br />

colleges and universities to go climate neutral.<br />

The Commitment recognizes the unique<br />

responsibility that institutions of higher education<br />

have as role models for their communities and in<br />

training the people who will develop the social,<br />

economic and technological solutions to reverse<br />

global warming.<br />

The college and university presidents and<br />

chancellors who have joined the Commitment<br />

believe that exerting leadership in addressing<br />

climate change will stabilize and reduce their<br />

long-term energy costs, attract excellent<br />

students and faculty, attract new sources of<br />

funding, and increase the support of alumni and<br />

local communities.<br />

What has TU done already?<br />

n Grant/ paper recycling program<br />

n Two earth day events<br />

n Going tray-less in food service<br />

n ITS computer power-down program<br />

n New building construction (meeting LEED<br />

construction standards)<br />

n Commitment of administrative offices to go<br />

“paperless” as much as possible.<br />

DRagON RaDIO aNNOuNCED<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> is proud to announce the debut<br />

of Dragon Radio Live, a monthly radio program<br />

that will also feature live broadcasts throughout<br />

the year hosted by area restaurants. The show is<br />

part of a continuing partnership between <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong> and WMJK 100.9 FM and provides<br />

insight into Dragons Athletics as well as highlights<br />

the continuing development of the program and<br />

institution through the construction of the new<br />

Recreation Center and other initiatives. Alumni<br />

and Friends of the <strong>University</strong> are invited to join<br />

in the fun of a “live” show. Doors open at 5 p.m.<br />

WMJK is the home of Dragons football,<br />

broadcasting all 11 games while also providing<br />

an internet stream for fans to listen to abroad.<br />

Dragons Radio will be a monthly feature<br />

highlighting all Dragons Athletic teams along<br />

with their sponsors and supporters, with a total<br />

of three broadcasts being live events from local<br />

establishments. Voice of the Dragons Frank<br />

Barber, entering his 15th year working with <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong>, is the host of the show, while a wide<br />

variety of coaches, administrators, and players<br />

will receive exposure and provide interesting<br />

insight into <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />

On the<br />

Move<br />

lIVINg lEaRNINg COMMuNITY<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> hosted an open house at its<br />

new student Living Learning Community in<br />

August. The ribbon cutting honored developer-<br />

philanthropist Frank Murphy and the community<br />

of <strong>Tiffin</strong> was included in the celebration.<br />

The new student apartment complex was<br />

once home to the Rosenblatt scrap yard.<br />

The apartment buildings and a parking lot,<br />

developed for juniors and seniors, will soon face<br />

Paul Marion, Frank Murphy and Mike Grandillo at<br />

Living-Learning Open House Celebration<br />

Frank Murphy and President Marion open Living-<br />

Learning Community


a new recreation center that will be constructed on<br />

the north side of Miami Street.<br />

Each building has 12 units and each unit has with<br />

five single bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen,<br />

and a living room. Also included are two multipurpose<br />

rooms in the community which serve<br />

as classrooms. The project restored 4.15 acres of<br />

contaminated property.<br />

Living-Learning Community<br />

Remediation on the north side of Miami Street<br />

has already begun and will be followed by<br />

construction of the recreation center. The Living-<br />

Learning Community and recreation center will<br />

help increase enrollment, which in turn, means<br />

more dollars spent at local businesses.<br />

Two additional apartment buildings are currently<br />

under construction on the south side of Miami<br />

Street. When completed, approximately $25<br />

million will have been invested in the construction<br />

of the recreation center and the four apartment<br />

buildings.<br />

MIaMI STREET IMpROVEMENT<br />

pROJECT<br />

The federally-funded Miami Street Improvement<br />

Project is near completion. The TU campus and<br />

area around Jackson and Miami streets will include<br />

decorative lighting, trees, improved sidewalks and<br />

a landscaped median.<br />

Miami Street Project<br />

From Police Chief<br />

to Teaching<br />

At first glance, his professional experience may seem at odds with<br />

his new post at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>. Yet, it was the influences from a<br />

long line of teachers that propelled Kevin Cashen from police chief to<br />

teaching undergraduates in criminal justice and homeland security<br />

studies. A police chief in Norwalk, Ohio for seven years, second in<br />

command for 10 years before that, a sergeant for two years and a patrol<br />

officer for six. An Ohio State <strong>University</strong> graduate, Kevin originally<br />

hails from Oregon, Ohio.<br />

“I came from a long background in education and teaching,’’ he<br />

explained. “My grandfather was a teacher and principal, my grandmother<br />

was a teacher, my mother and two aunts were teachers.”<br />

When Kevin was in high school, he wanted to do something different. “I wanted to do something<br />

more exciting,” he said with a grin. “So, to my family’s chagrin, I had to go into law enforcement.” Kevin<br />

now feels that he has come full circle in his professional life. “I’m probably where my family would<br />

have liked me to be in the first place,” he added. “I like being back on campus, I like working with<br />

students to prepare them for a professional career in criminal justice or homeland security,” he said.<br />

“It’s a pleasant change from working with the other part of society.” He believes that he is helping to<br />

create a better world by shifting to education. “I’m in a better position to help build a better society<br />

through education opposed to a career in protecting society through law enforcement,” he said.<br />

This isn’t Kevin’s first stint in higher education; in the 1990’s, he was an adjunct professor at Ashland<br />

<strong>University</strong>. “I enjoyed the experience, but a family obligation made me give up teaching,” he recalled.<br />

“After earning my first master’s degree, I started teaching online courses at the <strong>University</strong> of Maryland,<br />

and I enjoyed that experience.<br />

Helping his son research colleges, Kevin saw a job opening posted on <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s website. “I<br />

thought, ‘What the heck...I had not anticipated the speed of how things work. I got the job offer, and I<br />

decided to retire and return to education.” During the fall semester, Kevin taught a number of classes,<br />

such as Law Enforcement Supervision, <strong>In</strong>telligence and Covert Action and the Constitutional Rights<br />

of Prisoners.<br />

He especially enjoys the classroom discussions, which have allowed him to bring out information<br />

from his background and expertise to share with students. “I try to couple what they are learning in<br />

class with real life experience,” he said. “I share either some of my experience with them, or from the<br />

careers of others that I have associated with in the last 25 years. I bring with me a commitment to<br />

lifelong learning that I hope to pass along to my students,” he said. “With today’s job market, if you are<br />

not committed to lifelong learning, you can find yourself left behind as the market changes.”<br />

He is excited to be part of TU as it grows in both facilities and student enrollment. “It’s exciting to be<br />

a part of that growth,” he said.<br />

“I know that I have a strong desire to see young people succeed,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed raising my<br />

children (three still at home). I have three boys that play basketball, so I’ve coached basketball--we<br />

are busy as a family, which is quite enjoyable.”<br />

“I have learned that I enjoy teaching and coaching, and whether you are teaching on-line or face to<br />

face,” Kevin added, “I have a desire to see all students succeed. I believe it is important for our students<br />

to be challenged.”<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 13


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

Events<br />

auTHOR SpEakS aT FRESHMEN<br />

CONVOCaTION<br />

Best-selling author Shoran Reid was the guest<br />

speaker during <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s annual<br />

Freshman Convocation, held in August at<br />

Ebenezer United Methodist Church.<br />

Author Shoran Reid<br />

Reid’s book, Waking the Sleeping Demon: 26<br />

Hours of Terror in Atlanta (Rella Publishing Trade<br />

Paperback), was required reading for the new TU<br />

students. The book follows the infamous Atlanta<br />

Courthouse shootings by Brian Nichols, but is<br />

told from the unique perspective of the victims.<br />

<strong>In</strong> March 2005, Nichols, who was to appear in<br />

court for the rape and kidnapping of his exgirlfriend,<br />

was able to break free of his captors<br />

and go on a killing spree, which included a<br />

judge and a prosecutor. Both in her book and in<br />

her talk to the TU students, Reid remarked that<br />

she wanted to change people’s way of thinking<br />

“in a way that would make us all stop and ask<br />

what kind of society we live in if we continually<br />

dismiss peoples’ bone-searing pain, yet relish<br />

in stories of ‘why’ their tormentors committed<br />

such atrocities.”<br />

Reid was a successful civil trial attorney in<br />

Atlanta for nearly a decade before turning her<br />

attention to writing.<br />

BlaCk SwaMp COllEgE FaIR<br />

<strong>In</strong> October, TU invited high school students,<br />

family and friends to the Black Swamp Area<br />

College Fair held on campus. The event allowed<br />

prospective students to meet with multiple<br />

college representatives. Students received<br />

printed materials about many schools and<br />

talked with admissions representatives. More<br />

than 50 colleges and universities participated.<br />

14 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

New <strong>In</strong>ternational<br />

Students Welcomed<br />

President Paul Marion officially welcomed new students from, China, Russia, Cameroon, Canada,<br />

Brazil, Central African Republic, and Nigeria during the <strong>University</strong>’s annual <strong>In</strong>ternational Flag<br />

Ceremony in October. <strong>In</strong>ternational students new to <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> presented their countries’<br />

flags to President Marion and returning international students celebrated their reunion. The <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong> Choir presented a special performance during the ceremony.<br />

Exchange Scholars from Beijing Normal <strong>University</strong><br />

Freshman Leonid Vladimirov from Russia Ryan Miller, Director of <strong>In</strong>ternational Student Services<br />

Community<br />

COMMuNITY TRICk OR TREaT<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong>-area children were invited to “Get Your Spook On” at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s annual community<br />

trick or treat event in October. Some of the festivities included pumpkin decorating, s’mores in the<br />

courtyard, and games. TU’s Greek Life hosted a Haunted House and residence life members passed<br />

out candy at several residence halls and campus houses.<br />

DRagON STuDENT DaY<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> hosted Dragon Student Day at the first<br />

home football game in September. All local elementary,<br />

middle, and high school students who wore a jersey<br />

or <strong>Tiffin</strong> T-shirt were admitted free of charge. Those<br />

who attended made a tunnel for the Dragons to run<br />

through when they entered the field.<br />

Dragon Student Day Fan, Nathanial Harple


Mengdi Chen,<br />

Hang Zhou, China<br />

TU Junior Majoring in Finance<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 15


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

Faculty<br />

Accomplishments<br />

OuTSTaNDINg pERFORMaNCE<br />

Michael Herdlick, <strong>In</strong>structor of Mathematics<br />

at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, was honored by the Ohio<br />

Water Environment Association’s Annual<br />

Meeting, held in Cincinnati this summer.<br />

He was honored with the Crystal Crucible<br />

(C2) Award for outstanding performance,<br />

professionalism, and significant contributions<br />

to the water/wastewater quality analysis<br />

profession. The C2 award is given to those<br />

professionals who have been active in<br />

teaching, education, or research in the water and/or wastewater fields. The<br />

Ohio Water Environment Association is an organization that works with<br />

wastewater treatment facilities in hopes to curb pollution and help industries<br />

regulate waste.<br />

SOCIal NETwORkINg<br />

Professor of Communication and Dean<br />

of Graduate Studies Dr. Jan Samoriski<br />

emphasized caution on the implications<br />

of social networking before participants<br />

at a conference on social media in Suffolk,<br />

Virginia.<br />

During his briefing to public affairs<br />

representatives from different branches<br />

of the Department of Defense, Samoriski<br />

praised the work that’s being done by the military in communicating their<br />

messages through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but<br />

also warned about the social and legal implications of doing so. According<br />

to Samoriski, “What we do online in an open environment can have serious<br />

consequences.”<br />

Samoriski urged caution in how much information is put on social networking<br />

sites and the implications for national security. He also emphasized the<br />

nature of technological innovation and how volatile the <strong>In</strong>ternet is as a new<br />

technology. “We’re dealing with a new generation that can’t imagine life<br />

without the <strong>In</strong>ternet and a cell phone,” said Samoriski. “We are inundated<br />

with communications technology. At some point we’re going to reach a<br />

saturation point,” Samoriski said. “We have to put social networking in<br />

perspective.”<br />

16 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

NaTIONal aND lOCal<br />

SECuRITY<br />

Professor Michael Lewis participated in the<br />

Kennedy School of Executive Leadership<br />

in Higher Education Program at Harvard<br />

<strong>University</strong>. Lewis, Chair of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s<br />

Bachelor of Criminal Justice (BCJ) Degree<br />

Completion Program, took part in the<br />

advanced crisis leadership and management<br />

strategies sections expanding his knowledge<br />

relating to the most current issues in<br />

national and local security. “As a result of this experience, I have developed<br />

a global perspective on how to manage major critical incidents effectively<br />

and decisively while maintaining a focus on leading and motivating teams<br />

through a variety of extraordinary circumstances,” Lewis says. He adds that<br />

his experience added relevance for TU students in the classroom setting.<br />

gaNgS aND ExTREMIST<br />

gROupS<br />

U.S. Department of Homeland Security<br />

veteran and <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> adjunct faculty<br />

member Dr. Charles Williams has written<br />

an article examining gangs and extremist<br />

groups for the journal, “Policing,” published<br />

by the Oxford (England) <strong>University</strong> Press.<br />

Williams, who teaches in <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s<br />

online Master of Criminal Justice in Homeland<br />

Security program, was a supervisory special<br />

agent for the Department of Homeland Security before his recent retirement.<br />

He remains an outside consultant in Homeland Security. “Policing Gangs<br />

and Extremist Groups: A Different Viewpoint” suggests that new, informal,<br />

horizontal intelligence-sharing networks should be created and utilized to<br />

respond to these organizations. Williams says the groups present a “clear<br />

and present danger to local, county, state, federal and international policing<br />

cooperation.”<br />

SIxTH EDITION puBlISHED<br />

McGraw-Hill recently published the sixth edition of the popular textbook,<br />

“<strong>In</strong>troduction to Criminal Justice.” Keith Haley, Professor of Criminal Justice<br />

and Chair of the MSCJ program, wrote the book with co-author Robert<br />

Bohm.<br />

According to McGraw-Hill, “<strong>In</strong>troduction<br />

to Criminal Justice is the perfect text<br />

for students interested in pursuing a<br />

career in criminal justice and for those<br />

who simply want to learn more about<br />

this important social institution.<br />

The authors’ more than 50 years of<br />

combined experience in teaching<br />

introduction to criminal justice as well<br />

as working in the field – Robert Bohm as<br />

a correctional officer and Haley as a police officer – come through i n<br />

their accessible yet comprehensive presentation.” The publisher adds that<br />

Bohm and Haley “make it easy for readers to understand that much of what<br />

the public ‘knows’ about criminal justice in the United States is myth, and<br />

help students to learn the truth about the U.S. criminal justice system.”


gREEN MaNagEMENT<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> faculty members Laura<br />

Ketter and Debra Gatton conducted a special<br />

“greening” session at the annual meeting<br />

of the Academy of Management in August<br />

in Chicago. Ketter is Assistant Professor of<br />

Computer and <strong>In</strong>formation Systems and<br />

Management and Dr. Gatton is Professor of<br />

Management for TU.<br />

The program, entitled “Greening the<br />

Curriculum: How Do We <strong>In</strong>fuse Green<br />

Management into a Business School<br />

Curriculum– More Than Reduce, Reuse and<br />

Recycle,” fit into the overall theme of the<br />

conference, “Green Management Matters.”<br />

“Teaching in a business curriculum has many<br />

challenges,” Ketter says. “<strong>In</strong> addition to the<br />

discipline-specific content delivered to the<br />

students, faculty must also spend time on<br />

foundational skills such as critical thinking,<br />

communication and argumentation, among<br />

others. For most educators, it is a challenge<br />

Debra Gatton<br />

to fit these requirements into the contact<br />

hours available. How, then, do faculty add<br />

green awareness and principles without crowding out other content?”<br />

She explains that the answer can be found in infusing the current curriculum<br />

and course content with green concerns, principles, applications and case<br />

studies. During their session, Ketter and Gatton discussed specific ways to<br />

weave ‘green’ into classic management constructs and theories.<br />

pROFESSOR RECOgNIzED IN<br />

MIlITaRY JOuRNal<br />

NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre has recognized<br />

TU Professor R. James Orr for his leadership<br />

during a military training exercise in May<br />

2009. Orr, Assistant Professor of Criminal<br />

Justice and Security Studies, is featured in the<br />

military journal, “Three Swords,” published by<br />

the Stavanger, Norway-based NATO training<br />

center.<br />

Laura Ketter<br />

Dr. Orr served as the United Nations Political/Legal Advisor of the “Grey Cell”<br />

for the Steadfast Juncture 09 Exercise. Orr worked with the exercise control<br />

group.<br />

According to the article in “Three Swords,” the exercise highlighted the role of<br />

the military in a modern peace operation and with humanitarian assistance.<br />

Emphasis was placed on the challenges of interdependence of civilian and<br />

military organizations in complex emergencies.<br />

Prior to joining the TU faculty, Orr served for 24 years as a U.S. Navy Judge<br />

Advocate, retiring with the rank of Commander. During his last assignment,<br />

he served as the Deputy Legal Advisor for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander<br />

Transformation (SACT).<br />

OVERCOMINg DEpRESSION<br />

Dr. Fang-Mei Law co-authored a new<br />

book, Overcoming Depression: Counseling<br />

Strategies for Depression. Law, Assistant<br />

Professor, School of Criminal Justice & Social<br />

Sciences, wrote the book with her husband,<br />

Dr. Gwo-Jen Guo, Associate Professor at<br />

National Changhua <strong>University</strong> of Education<br />

in Taiwan. The book has been published<br />

by the Psychological P u b l i s h i n g<br />

C o m p a n y ,<br />

based in<br />

Taipei, Taiwan. The new work is targeted to<br />

professionals as a reference to assist in the<br />

diagnosis and treatment for their clients who<br />

suffer from depression, and ultimately, to<br />

help their clients overcome depression and<br />

“develop a new perspective on life.”<br />

Law, a highly respected researcher in the<br />

field of depression, was a presenter at the<br />

117th Annual Convention of the American<br />

Psychological Association, held in August in Toronto, Canada. Her<br />

presentation was entitled, “Cross-Cultural Impact on Anger-Expression,<br />

Depression, and Anxiety of College Students.”<br />

NONVIOlENT<br />

COMMuNICaTION<br />

Dr. Colleen Vallo, Assistant Professor<br />

of Communication, recently attended<br />

three days of workshops on nonviolent<br />

communication. The workshops focused<br />

on creating safe communities and Speaking<br />

Peace: Foundations of Compassionate<br />

Nonviolent Communication.<br />

Nonviolent communication gives people a<br />

concrete set of skills to live more peacefully. These skills apply to thoughts,<br />

language, and using our power in a way that honors everyone’s needs.<br />

It is a learnable process for transforming conflict, creating harmony in<br />

relationships, and building a world where everyone’s needs are honored<br />

through compassionate giving, without the use of coercion or violence.<br />

Nonviolent communication involves expressing ourselves honestly, listening<br />

with empathy, and developing a more compassionate inner relationship.<br />

Nonviolent communication was created by clinical psychologist and<br />

international peacemaker Dr. Marshall Rosenberg. He has taught the process<br />

in more than 35 countries and his work is supported and promoted by the<br />

Global Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC).<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 17


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

pROFESSOR pRESENTS aT<br />

aNNual CONVENTION<br />

Matt Bereza, Assistant Professor of<br />

Psychology at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, has been<br />

selected to present his data at the upcoming<br />

Ohio Psychological Association’s annual<br />

convention in Columbus. Dr. Bereza’s<br />

presentation, ‘Psychology, Nutrition, and<br />

Barriers to Growth,’ will cover his current<br />

line of research. “My areas of expertise are<br />

cross-cultural psychology, Spanish speaking<br />

populations, health psychology, biological basis for behavior and cognition,<br />

and gay and lesbian issues in psychology. I primarily conduct research in the<br />

areas of nutrition and how psychology intersects,” said Bereza.<br />

pROFESSOR puBlISHES<br />

aRTIClE<br />

Dr. Sherry Truffin, Associate Professor of<br />

English, has published an article in Reading<br />

Chuck Palahniuk: American Monsters and<br />

Literary Mayhem. Truffin’s article is titled,<br />

“This is What Passes For Free Will: Chuck<br />

Palahniuk’s Postmodern Gothic.”<br />

<strong>In</strong> her article, Dr. Truffin notes that the<br />

popular Fight Club author has a penchant<br />

for writing about freakish characters, such as a refugee from a suicide cult<br />

in love with a barren psychic who hires herself out as a surrogate mother<br />

(Survivor, 1999), a disfigured former model who hides beneath a veil and<br />

plots revenge against those who have wronged her (<strong>In</strong>visible Monsters,<br />

1999), and a reporter who faces down strange supernatural forces in a quest<br />

for redemption after inadvertently killing his wife and their child with a poem<br />

(Lullaby, 2002).<br />

Dr. Truffin argues that Palahniuk uses freakish characters to update the Gothic<br />

tradition for a postmodern age that seeks perfection in miracle “makeovers”<br />

of all kinds. <strong>In</strong> Survivor, <strong>In</strong>visible Monsters, and Lullaby, a character confronts<br />

traumatic experiences from the past while feeling trapped in a conformist,<br />

image-oriented, mass-media-saturated culture.<br />

<strong>In</strong> the course of each novel, the character becomes paranoid and monstrous,<br />

ultimately transgressing the bounds of law, reason, and good taste in an<br />

effort to gain a sense of freedom and control in his or her life. Ultimately,<br />

such gestures turn out to be violent, destructive, partial, and compromised.<br />

For Dr. Truffin, Palahniuk’s fiction suggests a bleak view of contemporary<br />

America as an incarcerating place in which the only possible expressions of<br />

free choice are destructive to self and others. Dr. Truffin’s view is that Gothic<br />

works always express the underlying fears and anxieties of a culture. Chuck<br />

Palahniuk’s very popular books suggest that there is a dark side to our “selfhelp”<br />

culture.<br />

18 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

DaNgEROuS lIVES<br />

Dr. James Rovira presented “The Dangerous<br />

Lives of Unbound Pages in Chris Fuhrman<br />

and William Blake” at the American<br />

Literature Association’s Fiction Symposium<br />

in Savannah, Georgia in October. Dr. Rovira<br />

argues that Chris Fuhrman’s The Dangerous<br />

Lives of Altar Boys and William Blake’s The<br />

Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793) present<br />

post-Enlightenment conceptions of reason<br />

—embodied in the academic institutions<br />

that legitimate and perpetuate them and<br />

the books these institutions produce — as tyrannical forces that blind<br />

people from initially painful but ultimately liberating truths excluded from<br />

the Enlightenment tradition. <strong>In</strong> both authors, the post-Enlightenment<br />

era book—the physically bound book as opposed to the unbound pages<br />

of a manuscript or a comic book—comes to symbolize the oppressive<br />

practices of Britain’s church/state complex (in Blake) and the Catholic school<br />

institution (in Furhman). Blake’s Medieval-style illuminated books represent<br />

to Fuhrman’s characters visionary emancipation from these structures and<br />

inspire them to engage in similar resistance through the production of comic<br />

books.<br />

EMERgENCY MaNagEMENT<br />

TRaININg<br />

Dr. Allen Smith, School of Criminal Justice<br />

and Social Sciences, taught 28 Ohio Military<br />

Reserve Officers the ICS 300-400 series at<br />

the Annual Training at Camp Perry. The<br />

training was designed to satisfy significant<br />

training requirements for the new mission as<br />

the 6th Brigade of the Ohio National Guard.<br />

Dr. Smith is working in the Brigade Training<br />

Academy to develop courses in incident<br />

command and related issues. The primary responsibilities as an organization<br />

will be providing support services to the guard for ESF’s 6 & 7 of the National<br />

Response Framework that relates to the National Response Plans for disasters.<br />

The organization will deal with mass casualties and volunteer organizations<br />

responding to declared emergencies.<br />

Warrant Officer 2 “Boats” West and Dr. Smith have the required certification<br />

from FEMA to conduct this training.


EDuCaTIONal STaNDaRDS<br />

The Ohio Academy of Science has appointed<br />

three <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> faculty members<br />

to a science and mathematics education<br />

standards review team.<br />

Dr. Sushmita Ghosh, Associate Professor<br />

of Science, Mike Herdlick, <strong>In</strong>structor of<br />

Mathematics, and Dr. Vicki <strong>In</strong>galls, Assistant<br />

Professor of Mathematics, were selected<br />

from 38 colleges and universities across the<br />

state to join the elite task force. The Science,<br />

Technology, Engineering and Mathematics<br />

Teacher Advisory Committee (STEM-TAC)<br />

will review current educational standards,<br />

as well as advise the Academy of Science on<br />

evidence-based educational policy for the<br />

Ohio School Funding Advisory Council.<br />

STEM-TAC’s mission has several mandates,<br />

including:<br />

n to examine how well the draft science<br />

education standards address scientific<br />

inquiry and technological design, the<br />

central focus of the standards;<br />

n to assess the scientific accuracy of the<br />

PreK-8 content statements;<br />

n to consider how the draft standards<br />

will help prepare high school<br />

students for college introductory<br />

science, technology, engineering and<br />

mathematics classes;<br />

n and, to determine how effective the<br />

mathematics standards will be to help<br />

teachers teach science at the<br />

pre-college and college level.<br />

Dr. Sushmita Ghosh<br />

Mike Herdlick<br />

Dr. Vicki <strong>In</strong>galls<br />

New Academic<br />

Programs<br />

New academic programs offered by TU include the Bachelor of Arts in<br />

Professional Studies, an undergraduate major in General Science, a minor<br />

in Sports and Recreation Management, and concentrations in Healthcare<br />

Administration within the MBA, BBA, and ABA degree programs. Also, the<br />

<strong>University</strong> now offers graduate certificates in 11 academic disciplines and a<br />

new undergraduate major in Cyber-Defense and <strong>In</strong>formation Security.<br />

The Bachelor of Arts in Professional Studies degree is designed for students<br />

who have already earned an associate’s degree in a technical or professional<br />

field who wish to continue their education with a bachelor’s degree that is<br />

designed around their curriculum. The new major is taught through the<br />

accelerated degree completion program in both a seated and online format.<br />

The program is completed during four semesters with the courses offered in<br />

a modular sequence.<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> has partnered with the Advanced Technical <strong>In</strong>telligence<br />

Center for Human Capital Development (ATIC) to offer the Cyber-Defense<br />

and <strong>In</strong>formation Security degree program. The new major is housed within<br />

the School of Criminal Justice and Social Sciences and is focused on the<br />

specific threat of cyber-terrorism and cyber-based crimes.<br />

The major is designed to provide a strong foundation in the technical<br />

aspects of computer systems and cyber-defense. Graduates of the program<br />

are qualified to manage and support operations of federal environments,<br />

network environments, and enclave environments in accordance with<br />

Department of Defense mandates and guidelines for information, computer,<br />

and network security.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 19


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

20 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09


What’s New<br />

for Students<br />

auDIO ENgINEERINg TEaM<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s new Audio Engineering Team (AET) provides live sound<br />

support and recording services for concerts and other events on campus<br />

and around the community. Students on the AET team serve as audio<br />

engineers for live performances, serve as recording, mixing<br />

and mastering engineers in the recording studio, and<br />

provide equipment maintenance and repair services.<br />

AET members get a variety of experience working with<br />

sound reinforcement equipment, recording studio<br />

equipment, and portable recording workstations,<br />

attend regular training sessions, and work with both<br />

campus bands and organizations and with groups<br />

from the greater community. The AET is open to<br />

students majoring in Arts Administration, Business,<br />

Communication, and other related fields.<br />

CONCERT pRODuCTION TEaM<br />

The Concert Production Team (CPT) at <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong> provides students the opportunity<br />

to develop leadership and professional<br />

skills and increase their own skill and<br />

understanding of the music industry through planning<br />

and coordinating concerts, festivals and other events.<br />

Members of the CPT can be involved in booking artists, providing backline<br />

support in the areas of sound, lighting and logistics, promoting events, and<br />

handling business, financial and legal affairs. The CPT is open to students<br />

majoring in Arts Administration, Business, Communication, and other related<br />

fields. The Mission of the CPT is to bring <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> and its surrounding<br />

community together through the arts while also positively enhancing the<br />

level of activity on campus.<br />

BuSINESS CluB<br />

A new Business Club has been created<br />

on campus designed to give students<br />

a head start on developing their future<br />

career success. The club will hold monthly<br />

meetings and feature specific themes,<br />

along with guest speakers – all experts in<br />

their fields. As a result, students will have<br />

opportunities to develop networking and<br />

leadership skills, find job leads, and even take<br />

part in a self-marketing makeover.<br />

Dr. Bonnie Tiell<br />

“The <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Business Club provides<br />

the means to impact the culture of our business students so that they<br />

become accustomed to a dynamic, yet structured, environment with<br />

continuity in its focus towards career preparation,” remarks Dr. Bonnie Tiell,<br />

Chair of TU’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program.<br />

The guest speaker in November was TU Trustee Terry Collins, founder of<br />

the Papa Murphy’s pizza chain. Dr. Collins discussed “Making the Most of<br />

Opportunities.”<br />

‘HOw TO STaRT aND SuRVIVE<br />

aS aN ENTREpRENEuR’<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Trustee Dr. Terry Collins,<br />

founder of the Papa Murphy’s pizza chain,<br />

was the featured guest speaker during the<br />

“Cool Solutions” Community Business Forum<br />

in November.<br />

A cooperative project of the <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

School of Business, Heidelberg <strong>University</strong><br />

and the <strong>Tiffin</strong> Area Chamber of Commerce,<br />

“Cool Solutions” is sponsored by Fifth-Third<br />

Bank.<br />

Dr. Terry Collins<br />

During Terry Collins’ presentation, “participants were delighted by the wit<br />

and humor of a practical genius who made innovative strides to capture a<br />

huge share of the pizza marketplace,” according to Dr. Bonnie Tiell, Chair of<br />

TU’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program. “Dr. Collins<br />

proved how imagination and perseverance can lead to business prosperity.”<br />

Papa Murphy’s is the fifth largest pizza chain in the United States, with more<br />

than 1,000 locations in 30 states. It also has multiple locations in Canada. The<br />

chain is the world’s largest “take-and-bake” pizza company and pioneered<br />

the concept.<br />

<strong>In</strong> 2003, Papa Murphy’s was voted “Best Pizza Chain in America” by Restaurants<br />

and <strong>In</strong>stitutions Magazine, and has won the honor every year since. <strong>In</strong> 2006,<br />

it won the Platinum Award for Consumer’s First Choice in Pizza Chains.<br />

<strong>In</strong> 1995, Comurphyco and Papa Aldo’s <strong>In</strong>ternational merged into a single<br />

entity named Papa Murphy’s <strong>In</strong>ternational, <strong>In</strong>c., a privately held corporation<br />

based in Vancouver, Washington. Dr. Collins was elected to <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s<br />

Board of Trustees in January.<br />

The 2009-2010 series will culminate with the <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Business Expo<br />

in April with the theme, “Business 2010: Adapting to the Economy.”<br />

“Our ‘business’ is to get the students to think and dream about their<br />

‘business,’” Tiell adds. “The new club is a stepping stone to creating a<br />

unified business-minded culture, which springboards into smaller breakouts<br />

according to the student’s major. Goals of the club include facilitating<br />

a greater level of communication, providing greater access to faculty outside<br />

of the classroom, inspiring students to spend the necessary time developing<br />

their self-marketing materials, and prospecting for the best-suited graduate<br />

school or a career avenue.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 21


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

DRagON DElI<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> now offers more<br />

food in a new place on campus.<br />

The grand opening of The Dragon<br />

Deli located in Franks Hall took<br />

place in October.<br />

According to Tracey Kardotzke,<br />

Director of Operations of AVI Food<br />

Systems, <strong>In</strong>c., “A made-to-order deli<br />

section and a grab-and-go case<br />

full of pre-made, non-traditional<br />

items are now available to students,<br />

faculty, and staff.”<br />

Also included are multiple flavors of<br />

coffee and cappuccino, specialty muffins, freshly made granola bars, chips,<br />

and many other snack items are also available for sale.<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> and AVI Food Systems, <strong>In</strong>c. began a tray less dining operation<br />

last year. The substantial savings and reciprocal funds as a result of the tray<br />

less effort, aided in creating such a great deli.<br />

“We are currently reducing up to 300 lbs of solid waste per day,” said<br />

Kardotzke, “and over 300 gallons of water usage, not to mention the food<br />

waste and consumption as well as the chemical and labor reduction for AVI<br />

and TU. We have focused on healthy life choices and sustainability in the<br />

deli, by utilizing local vendors (i.e. Ballreich chips and Smith Foods located in<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong>, Tiny Tortes and Treats in Clyde) as well as Green Mountain Coffee. We<br />

are using recycled goods (napkins, cups, cup holders, etc.) and make fresh to<br />

order products daily. We are excited to partner with TU in this venture and<br />

are pleased with the success so far.”<br />

22 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

HIgHER lEaRNINg COMMISSION TO VISIT Tu<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit in March by<br />

a team representing The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central<br />

Association of Colleges and Schools. <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> has been accredited by<br />

the Commission since 1983. The Higher Learning Commission is committed<br />

to developing and maintaining high standards of excellence and is one<br />

of six accrediting agencies in the United States that provide institutional<br />

accreditation on a regional basis. <strong>In</strong>stitutional accreditation evaluates<br />

an entire institution and accredits it as a whole. Other agencies provide<br />

accreditation for specific programs. Accreditation is voluntary.<br />

Accreditation by the Commission and by other nationally recognized<br />

agencies provides assurance to the public, in particular to prospective<br />

students, that an institution meets the agency’s clearly stated requirements<br />

and criteria and that there are reasonable grounds for believing that it will<br />

continue to meet them.<br />

The Commission concludes that an institution meets its requirements only<br />

after a peer evaluation is conducted. For <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, the process of<br />

accreditation provides an opportunity for critical self-analysis leading to<br />

improvement in quality and for consultation and advice from persons from<br />

other institutions. The Commission last visited <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> in 2000.<br />

For the past two years, <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> has been engaged in a process<br />

of self study, addressing the Commission’s requirements and criteria for<br />

accreditation. The evaluation team will visit the institution to gather evidence<br />

that the self-study is thorough and accurate. The team will recommend to<br />

the Commission a continuing status for the <strong>University</strong>. Following a review<br />

process, the Commission itself will take the final action. The public is invited<br />

to submit comments regarding the <strong>University</strong> to: Public Comment on <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong>, The Higher Learning Commission, 30 North LaSalle Street, Suite<br />

2400, Chicago, IL 60602<br />

Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the<br />

institution or its academic programs. Written, signed comments must be<br />

received by February 15, 2010. The Commission cannot guarantee that<br />

comments received after the due date will be considered. Comments should<br />

include the name, address, and telephone number of the person who is<br />

providing the comments. Comments will not be treated as confidential.<br />

Note: <strong>In</strong>dividuals with a specific dispute or grievance with an institution<br />

should request separate Policy on Complaints document from the<br />

Commission office. The Higher Learning Commission cannot settle disputes<br />

between institutions and individuals. Complaints will not be considered<br />

third party comment.


Diane Kidd<br />

Gallery<br />

Artist John Emery<br />

FIguRE, FaNTaSY, FauNa:<br />

MOSaICS aND pRINTS<br />

TU’s Diane Kidd Gallery featured the works of<br />

Beth Holyoke and Sherraid Scott with an exhibition<br />

entitled “Figure, Fantasy, Fauna: Mosaics<br />

and Prints” in October.<br />

SCRapS & FRagMENTS<br />

The Diane Kidd Gallery featured John Emery’s “Scraps and Fragments”<br />

as the opening exhibition of the new 2009-2010 season.<br />

“My fascination with the scraps and fragments of how things<br />

record memories started when I was a child. I spent hours exploring<br />

my grandparents’ long forgotten trunks,” Emery says.<br />

“Old notebooks, faded papers, postcards and bits of string<br />

attracted me. But it was always the undefined fragment of<br />

an object or the battered leather cover of a journal that fired<br />

my imagination.” The artist remarks that he continues to be<br />

drawn to the visual power of journals, maps, and the typography<br />

of recording a time and place. Emery is a Midwest native,<br />

though for the past 20 years, he and his wife, Kathy, have<br />

split their time between Ohio and New Zealand, where they<br />

recently establish a second home and studio.<br />

Eyes by Sherraid Scott<br />

“Yellow Springs, Ohio, artists and longtime family<br />

friends Beth Holyoke and Sherraid Scott are literally<br />

and figuratively sharing their mutual interest in both<br />

Pink Man by Beth Holyoke<br />

fantasy and realistic settings with their new show,” remarks<br />

Marsha Pippenger, Diane Kidd Gallery Director.<br />

“Holyoke’s mixed media clay tiles place human figures among imaginative settings enhanced with glass<br />

and other found objects. Scott allows her printmaking tools to lead her hand as she creates her sometimes<br />

realistic, sometimes abstract – and sometimes both – relief prints, intaglios and lithographs. The<br />

artists draw inspiration from past experience and present surroundings, and both enjoy and respect the<br />

power of color, shape and line.”<br />

COluMBIaN HIgH SCHOOl aNNual ExHIBITION<br />

The Diane Kidd Gallery hosted the annual Columbian High School Student Artists Exhibition in December.<br />

The new exhibition featured the works of fourth-year art students taught by Bob Johnston. “The<br />

students are in a fully independent course call Senior Portfolio. They focus their efforts on thematic usage<br />

in art,” Johnston remarks. “Many of the students use creative and inventive themes called formalism.<br />

Painting, drawing, printmaking and computer design are my students’ favorite media areas.”<br />

Arts &<br />

Angles<br />

“a SINglE wOMaN”<br />

“A Single Woman” was the topic of the first<br />

program in the 2009-2010 <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

Arts & Angles series. Professor Patrick McLeod<br />

presented the inaugural program in the new<br />

season. “The movie introduced the audience<br />

Patrick McLeod<br />

to one of the forgotten heroes of U.S. history,”<br />

he says. “A Single Woman” is about a woman,<br />

who along with Elizabeth Stanton and Margaret<br />

Sanger, helped revise the view of women’s role<br />

in American society.<br />

‘a wEDNESDaY’<br />

Dr. Sushmita Ghosh screened the film “A<br />

Wednesday” during TU’s Arts & Angles program<br />

in November. “The film is about terrorism and<br />

what effect it<br />

can have on<br />

the common<br />

man,” Dr. Ghosh<br />

explains. “This<br />

is an <strong>In</strong>dian<br />

movie based in<br />

Mumbai, <strong>In</strong>dia<br />

and is an hour<br />

long. The story<br />

portrays certain<br />

events that Sushmita Ghosh<br />

unfold between<br />

2 and 6 p.m. on a particular Wednesday – events<br />

that deeply affect the lives of those involved.<br />

The movie is in Hindi and English with English<br />

subtitles.”<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 23


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

Music<br />

STuDENTS pERFORM<br />

wITH ROCk STaR<br />

Nelly Arnett, a <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

senior from Toledo, and Shanna<br />

Litton, a freshman from Lima,<br />

performed as background<br />

vocalists with rock singersongwriter<br />

Ben Folds in his<br />

concert with the Columbus<br />

Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Arnett and Litton, both Arts<br />

Administration majors at TU,<br />

joined with six other Ohio<br />

singers for a day of rehearsal<br />

with Folds and the orchestra,<br />

and then performed a concert<br />

of his music to a sold-out crowd Nelly Arnett and Shanna Litton<br />

of screaming fans at Veterans<br />

Memorial Auditorium. The appearance was among the final concerts of a<br />

nine-stop, six-week tour that also included gigs with the National Symphony<br />

in Washington, D.C., the Dallas Symphony and the Boston Pops Orchestra.<br />

“It was so exciting to walk onto that stage with a full orchestra and all those<br />

lights and that huge crowd,” said Litton. “I never dreamed I’d have an<br />

opportunity like this, and it’s really got me excited about pursuing a career<br />

in music.”<br />

“The music chosen was really interesting,” said Arnett. “Before this gig, I<br />

wasn’t that familiar with Ben Folds’ music, and I had to do a bit of listening to<br />

get to know his style. What makes Folds’ music so cool is that it works both<br />

in the pop-rock world and with classical musicians. Even his solo rock piano<br />

stuff sounds really orchestral a lot of the time.”<br />

Arnett and Litton are both members of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s award-winning a<br />

cappella group Up in the Air, which is produced and directed by Brad Rees.<br />

“The experience they have with Up in the Air really helped them excel in a<br />

situation like the Ben Folds show,” said Rees. “<strong>In</strong> one tune they were asked<br />

to mimic Ben’s rock vocals, in another to sound like an old warbly traditional<br />

choir, and in another to imitate a Dixieland band style. The diversity of styles<br />

the girls get to sing at TU made them much more effective on this gig than<br />

most students would be.”<br />

This experience was exactly what Arnett needed, as she plans to pursue<br />

background singer opportunities in Nashville after graduation. “Who knows<br />

what might become of this,” said Arnett. “Ben Folds is based out of Nashville,<br />

as is the conductor of the Columbus Symphony (Albert-George Schram).<br />

You never know where these connections might lead.”<br />

“It was so much fun,” said Litton. “If I had not chosen to pursue music at <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong>, I never would have had this kind of opportunity so quickly. I can’t<br />

wait to see what the next four years bring.”<br />

24 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

MaRCHINg BaNDS uNITE<br />

The Second Annual <strong>Tiffin</strong> Columbian-<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Marching Band Festival<br />

was held in October. The festival, hosted by TU and Columbian High School<br />

also featured bands from Calvert, Hopewell-Loudon, Clyde, and Bucyrus<br />

schools. The festival was a non-competitive event designed to showcase<br />

each band at their best.<br />

HOlIDaY CONCERT<br />

TU’s Concert Band<br />

TU’s Concert Choir<br />

The <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Musical Arts Program presented its fourth annual<br />

Holiday Concert at The Ritz Theatre in December. The concert was free and<br />

the public was invited. TU’s Concert Choir, Gospel Choir and Concert Band<br />

was joined by the instrumental touring combo Front Street, the a cappella<br />

groups Up in the Air and Higher Ground, two new groups to TU, the vocal<br />

group ENP and the jazz combo Grey Sunday. All proceeds from the concert<br />

were donated to <strong>Tiffin</strong>’s First Call for Help, and Charity: Water, a global nonprofit<br />

organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in<br />

developing nations.


www.tiffin.edu > 25


what’s happening > CampusScene<br />

... and the<br />

Band played On!<br />

The TU Marching Band performed the<br />

National Anthem at 5/3 Field in Toledo.<br />

The Mud Hens hosted the <strong>In</strong>dianapolis <strong>In</strong>dians.<br />

26 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Theatre<br />

aN EVENINg OF CulTuRE’<br />

A hammer pounds to finish the set, the phone rings, the cast and crew are<br />

not sure of their cues and a dog keeps barking offstage. So begins “An<br />

Evening of Culture,” the fall production of the Dragon’s Den Players at <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong>.<br />

“Though we usually choose something<br />

more serious for the fall production, we felt<br />

that comedy would be welcomed during<br />

these hard economic times,” remarks Dr.<br />

Mary Grennen, Assistant Professor of English<br />

and Director of Theatre Arts.<br />

Written by Mark Landon Smith, the comedy<br />

revolves around a community theater<br />

Shakespeare production. The actors and<br />

director assemble for opening night of<br />

“Romeo and Juliet.” The stage is set with a<br />

lovely castle scene, complete with a central<br />

Dr. Mary Grennen<br />

arch, columns and turrets, but the audience soon learns the show is far from<br />

ready for prime time. But, as the saying goes, “The show must go on.”<br />

Some of the cast members have dual roles as a thespian and a play character;<br />

their personal lives spill over into the scenes of the play, turning the tragic<br />

story into a farce. Adding to the fray are technical problems, such as<br />

microphones that work too well, missed light cues, “wardrobe malfunctions,”<br />

remarks and word plays that are not part of the script, and set pieces that<br />

do not work properly. When a door does not open, Juliet makes her first<br />

entrance by bursting through a flat and a tree that was not placed before the<br />

lights come up scoots onto the stage during the opening scene.<br />

Evening of Culture Set<br />

<strong>In</strong> addition to backstage yelling and barking, the audience was treated to<br />

onstage antics. Ruthann can’t get a word in edgewise as she tries to introduce<br />

the show. Luther adjusts a “wedgie” and later bangs his head on the archway.<br />

Delbert fixes the steps in the middle of the famous balcony scene. Mrs.<br />

Capulet tries to sell cosmetics as she discusses Juliet’s engagement.


During intermission, a crew member tapes<br />

the damaged flat for the start of Act II. Before<br />

the play resumes, Faye recites an emotional<br />

poem about being dumped by her boyfriend.<br />

A trumpet fanfare blurts into the second act<br />

prologue that begins with five actors. One by<br />

one, they leave the stage, leaving only Mildred to<br />

finish the speech.<br />

Back left to right - Devin Weaver, Coty Rexford<br />

Front left to right - Jenna Trillet, Chelsea Garza, Lynne<br />

Wagner (Photo courtesy of The A-T)<br />

Actor Chelsea Garza<br />

During the death scene, Juliet is interrupted by a<br />

phone call from home. When she resumes, she<br />

must prompt the lighting person when she is<br />

finally dead. Enter Romeo, who can’t remember<br />

his lines. When he finally stabs himself, he must<br />

move a tombstone so he can collapse.<br />

The (real) sound crew stays on its toes to keep<br />

the dog barking and the music playing at the<br />

right (and wrong) times during the action.<br />

This article appeared, in part, in The Advertiser-<br />

Tribune<br />

Good Morning World<br />

THE BIggEST OBSTaClE TO<br />

TEaM BuIlDINg<br />

Larry Siegfried, member of the 1960 Ohio<br />

State national championship basketball team<br />

and five-time NBA Boston Celtics champion,<br />

presented “The Biggest Obstacle to Team<br />

Building,” during <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s first Good<br />

Morning World breakfast lecture of the season.<br />

Larry Siegfried was born and raised in Shelby, Ohio, where most of his youth was spent farming and<br />

playing basketball. As a high school senior, he was honored as an All-Ohio and All-American basketball<br />

player. After high school graduation, Larry continued his basketball career at The Ohio State <strong>University</strong><br />

where he was able to achieve All Big-Ten and All-American status. <strong>In</strong> 1960, the Ohio State won the<br />

National Championship.<br />

Upon graduation from Ohio State, his basketball journey took him to the Boston Celtics, where he was a<br />

key player in five world championships. After an exciting career in basketball, his greatest achievement<br />

and satisfaction came from spending many years teaching faith-based classes in prisons. Today, most<br />

of his time is spent helping others through and from the life experiences that have shaped my life.<br />

CROSSINg THE gOal lINE TO<br />

SuCCESS<br />

Dick Schafrath, former all-pro player for the<br />

Cleveland Browns and former Ohio State<br />

Senator, presented “Crossing the Goal Line to<br />

Success” during November’s breakfast lecture.<br />

Dick Schafrath was born and raised on an<br />

Ohio dairy farm. <strong>In</strong> high school, he lettered in four sports. He captained The Ohio State <strong>University</strong><br />

football team and played professional football for 13 years and was an All-Pro offensive tackle. Dick<br />

was an assistant coach with the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. He owned a recreational<br />

business for 27 years. An extremely humorous motivational speaker, Schafrath’s presentation focused<br />

on four talking points: association, attitude, teamwork, and finish.<br />

His speech was titled “Crossing the Goal Line to Success,” and he offered four ways to score a touchdown.<br />

The first was association. People must take everything they learn in life and share it with someone, he<br />

said. He said children grow up in the electronic age, and the technology was not available until the 1980’s.<br />

He said they are not learning the values, principles and work ethic of life as much as he thinks they could.<br />

The second way to score a touchdown is by having an idea about respect. Schafrath said his idea of<br />

respect came from his parents. “They lived on the honor system,” he said.<br />

The third way to score six points is by having a sense of teamwork. Schafrath recalled Hayes saying,<br />

“Show me a crowd that doesn’t care who gets credit, and I’ll show you a winner.” “I believe through the<br />

huddle system or the team system, that’s how you win,” Schafrath said.<br />

When he addressed the fourth way to score the touchdown, he spoke about other people helping him<br />

in college. He recalled living like a player when current coach Jim Tressel let him serve as a part-time<br />

coach. He went in the dressing room and ran out onto the field with the team.<br />

Schafrath now works in Fremont and coached Sandusky High School’s football team. He said everything<br />

he did was in Ohio. He grew up, operated a business, played for the Browns, served as a senator and<br />

lives in Ohio. “I love this state,” he said.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 27


28 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09


<strong>Enrollment</strong> Exceeds 3,400<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s total enrollment for the 2009 fall semester is 3,422 students, which represents a one-year increase of 27% over the<br />

total of 2,705 enrolled last fall and a six-year increase of <strong>128%</strong> over the 1,500 enrolled in the fall of 2003. According to <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

President Paul Marion, “The fact that enrollment has more than doubled in six years reflects the positive reputation that<br />

TU has achieved for providing a high quality educational experience.”<br />

The student body includes 1,053 graduate students and 2,369 undergraduates. There are 974 students from 47 states other than<br />

Ohio and 240 students from 27 foreign countries. This fall’s entering class of 493 new undergraduates on the <strong>Tiffin</strong> campus is<br />

16% higher than the total of 426 new undergraduates who enrolled on the <strong>Tiffin</strong> campus last fall.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 29


Promoting<br />

The issue of “student retention” is a hot topic among colleges and<br />

universities across the country.<br />

As Annette Staunton, <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s Chief Retention Officer, explains,<br />

“Everyone recognizes that they could be doing more to ensure student<br />

success.”<br />

However, student success – leading to graduation, a career, or a postgraduate<br />

degree – isn’t all about what happens in the classroom. Other<br />

potential roadblocks to ultimate success include social affiliations, the cost of<br />

a college education, and overall satisfaction with the collegiate experience.<br />

“We act as advocates for students,” Staunton explains. “We have developed a<br />

systematic approach to reach out to our students at three different levels to<br />

improve student retention. These include issues addressing the needs of the<br />

individual student, issues meeting the needs of special student populations,<br />

30 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Student Success<br />

and issues that can have a broad impact on most of our student population.”<br />

Staunton is responsible for coordinating retention strategies for traditional<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> campus students. She also serves as the Executive Director of <strong>Enrollment</strong><br />

Services, overseeing the Registration and Records Office, Financial Aid Office,<br />

the Director of the Adult Student Services, the Director of Student Retention<br />

Services, Success Coaches and the MINIYA Program.<br />

“Regular personal interactions with students are necessary to identify and<br />

resolve the student’s challenges,” she says. “With frequent communication,<br />

students are more likely to remain in school and obtain their degree. We<br />

communicate with students through direct contact, including one-on-one<br />

support, phone calling, emails and postcards.”


THE STuDENT SuCCESS CENTER<br />

“The Student Success Center helps students become more effective and<br />

efficient learners. It provides access to in-person and online academic<br />

support. <strong>In</strong> this way, it serves the <strong>University</strong>’s goal to retain students by<br />

helping them be successful in their academic work,” comments Dr. Gene<br />

Crutsinger, Director of the Student Success Center and Associate Professor<br />

of English.<br />

Located in Friedley Hall, Crutsinger says the Student Success Center provides<br />

its assistance in different ways.<br />

“One is through individual and small group tutoring. Students visit the<br />

Center to get personal help on academic papers or quantitative assignments<br />

– such as math, accounting, or computer science. Another form of help<br />

comes through the English workshops held in the Center,” he adds.<br />

Tutors and professors lead these workshops on subjects like grammar,<br />

documentation formats, and how to prepare for midterm and final exams.<br />

Students also have monitored study time. “Students from athletic teams,<br />

campus organizations, and other academic support programs are required<br />

to spend specific amounts of time studying in the Center,” Crutsinger says.<br />

“All of these services focus on helping students succeed in their academic<br />

work.”<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 31


what’s happening > Student Success<br />

SuCCESS COaCH pROgRaM<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> introduced an innovative success coach program beginning<br />

in the fall of 2007 for incoming freshmen placed on academic probation. <strong>In</strong><br />

spring 2008, TU added continuing students placed on probation.<br />

The primary responsibility of a success coach is to meet one-on-one with<br />

at-risk students to help prevent them from dropping out, and ultimately,<br />

mentoring the students and providing them with the tools they need in<br />

order to graduate.<br />

Success coaches, who are part-time employees, help students learn about<br />

college, assist in locating materials, places, and people on campus, and<br />

perhaps most important – offer support, encouragement, and positive<br />

reinforcement.<br />

Students meet with their assigned success coach one hour each week, and<br />

the success coach provides<br />

guidance, helps the student set<br />

goals and address challenges.<br />

Success coaches also offer<br />

assistance and guidance to<br />

students in preparing required<br />

<strong>University</strong> paperwork – from<br />

financial aid to drop/add class<br />

forms, to change of major<br />

forms.<br />

“Coaching sessions are<br />

focused on providing<br />

personal development, and<br />

assistance with planning<br />

and organization,” Staunton<br />

says. “Success coaches also<br />

provide a variety of methods<br />

to enhance study skills.”<br />

Should a student do poorly<br />

on quizzes or writing papers,<br />

the coaches will help create<br />

improvement plans and<br />

then monitor the student’s<br />

academic success, utilizing<br />

progress reports, and midterm<br />

reports.<br />

Success coaches also help<br />

students develop better<br />

time management skills and strategies, identify strategies to make social<br />

connections with peers, and instill a healthy lifestyle in regards to diet,<br />

nutrition, rest, exercise, and leisure time.<br />

“Our success coaches are here to guide students through problem resolution<br />

and match students with appropriate support services on campus,” Staunton<br />

remarks. “They connect the dots and find the right services on campus to<br />

help students.”<br />

32 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

FRE 150 COuRSE<br />

<strong>In</strong>coming freshmen who are admitted on academic probation enroll in<br />

the FRE 150 course, which provides an introduction to college life, study<br />

skills, time management, and “life lessons.” The “life lessons” component<br />

of the course focuses on making positive choices, understanding the<br />

consequences of one’s behavior, making ethical decisions, preparing for a<br />

career after graduation, and the importance of overall wellness.<br />

FINaNCIal aID<br />

Another important role of TU’s Student Retention Office is to work with<br />

students to help handle financial costs of attending college, including the<br />

following:<br />

n Serving as a liaison between the student, the Financial Aid Office and the<br />

Bursar’s Office on matters relating to student accounts. TU has established a<br />

“Save the Student Campaign,” which works closely with both of these offices.<br />

“We evaluate each individual<br />

student situation, and help<br />

to implement a workable<br />

solution,” Staunton says.<br />

n Helping students and<br />

families resolve financial aid<br />

challenges and concerns.<br />

n Monitoring progress of<br />

new and current students<br />

with submitting missing<br />

documents to the Financial<br />

Aid Office.<br />

n Assisting with TU-sponsored<br />

events that require financial<br />

aid representation. This<br />

includes orientations, open<br />

houses and campus visits for<br />

new students.<br />

n Updating and maintaining<br />

email communication plans<br />

for financial aid and retention<br />

purposes for students.<br />

FROM ENROllMENT<br />

TO gRaDuaTION,<br />

ONE-ON-ONE<br />

STuDENT<br />

INTERaCTION<br />

The retention process begins<br />

the moment the student enrolls at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, and continues through<br />

graduation.<br />

“We provide the help needed to transition from high school to college,”<br />

Staunton says. “<strong>In</strong> addition, we provide information, awareness, and<br />

exposure to <strong>University</strong> services and activities to help enable students to make<br />

reasoned and well-informed choices. We want to create an atmosphere that<br />

minimizes anxiety, promotes positive attitudes and stimulates learning. We<br />

also work to improve motivation and effectiveness so students stay at <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong> and meet and exceed their personal goals.”


Homecoming<br />

09<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 33


what’s happening > Homecoming 2009<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s Homecoming took place October on 9-11. The 2009 Hall of Fame honorees were: Greg Gaskin, 1998; Wesley Russell, 1999; Coach Bonnie<br />

Tiell, 1988 to 2005; Gary DuPlessis 1998 and 1999; and Dave Rosen, 1950.<br />

On Saturday, the Alumnae Softball Game took place at the Paradiso Athletic Complex and the Alumnae Volleyball Game took place The Gillmor Student<br />

Center. The Dragon football game against Saginaw Valley State was played at Frost Kalnow Stadium.<br />

Prior to the football game on Saturday, a tailgate party and children’s games and crafts took place. Additionally, TU introduced the Homecoming Court<br />

and recognized the Athletic Hall of Fame members. After the football game, festivities continued at the Madison Street Tavern in downtown <strong>Tiffin</strong>. A class<br />

reunion also took place on Saturday evening. On Sunday, the Alumni Baseball Golf Scramble and Lunch took place at Seneca Hills Golf Club.<br />

34 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Homecoming 2009<br />

From left to right, bottom row: Lauren Williams ‘08, Melissa Bowie ‘07.<br />

Back row: Monica Gerace ‘07, Kristen Barbernitz ‘07, Christen Wilhelm ‘04, Shannon Neumann ‘06 and ‘08, Stephanie Turvene ‘08, Katie Rorick ‘07 and Camille Mazzei ‘04


www.tiffin.edu > 35


what’s happening > Homecoming 2009<br />

36 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09


www.tiffin.edu > 37


Calling all SIgS!<br />

Alumni members of Sigma Omega<br />

Sigma have contacted the Alumni &<br />

Development Office to express their<br />

concern about the discontinued status<br />

of their fraternity on the TU campus.<br />

Many have asked that the fraternity<br />

be re-instated and have offered their<br />

assistance in helping our current<br />

undergraduate men organize under the<br />

Sigma Omega Sigma fraternity banner.<br />

Due to this interest, TU has committed to<br />

developing a plan to provide a pathway<br />

for the re-colonization of Sigma Omega<br />

Sigma on campus.<br />

Tu On The Road<br />

If you are an Ohio resident, you can show pride in <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> through the Collegiate<br />

License Plate Program sponsored by the State of Ohio.<br />

The cost to participate in the program (in addition to any normal renewal fees) is<br />

$35 annually. Of this $35 fee, $25 is directed to <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> in the form of a charitable<br />

donation to the General Scholarship Fund in your name.<br />

Due to a change in the Drivers Privacy Protection Act, Ohio Revised Code 4501.27, the release of personal information<br />

will not be provided without written consent by the individual. Therefore, you must provide proof of your participation in the collegiate license plate<br />

program in order for <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> to recognize your contribution to the TU General Scholarship Fund.<br />

If you have questions regarding the Collegiate Plate Program, contact TU’s Alumni Relations Office at 419-448-3282 or your local Bureau of Motor Vehicles.<br />

38 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Update<br />

AlumniScene<br />

If the Sig fraternity brothers take seriously<br />

this charge to reinstate their fraternity at TU, we feel it could lead to a<br />

renewed Sig presence on campus and an even stronger <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />

More information will follow to Sig alumni with valid mail or e-mail<br />

addresses. To update your alumni record or to assist with this endeavor,<br />

please contact Celinda Scherger, Director of Alumni Relations, at 419-448-<br />

3313 or schergercm@tiffin.edu<br />

Athletic Hall of Fame<br />

The TIFFIN uNIVERSITY aTHlETIC Hall OF FaME was instituted to<br />

honor former TU coaches, stand-out athletes, distinguished administrators,<br />

and significant contributors to the <strong>University</strong>’s mission and the mission of<br />

the athletic department. The Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes persons from<br />

all sports in which TU competed as a recognized intercollegiate athletic<br />

event throughout its history. Eligibility for induction is open to both living<br />

and deceased members of the TU community.<br />

Nominations can be offered by anyone except the person being nominated.<br />

The Selection Committee will discuss each nominee, making sure he/she<br />

meets the criteria established for induction. Those nominated and receiving<br />

the approval of the selection committee will be inducted, subject to<br />

administrative approval.<br />

The committee uses the following criteria to make its selection each year:<br />

n Outstanding athletic achievement as an undergraduate;<br />

n Outstanding contribution to their community and profession<br />

representing the values and tradition of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Athletics;<br />

n As an alumnus, significant evidence demonstrating the use of their<br />

time, talents and treasures to advance TU and its athletic program.<br />

While only a select few are chosen for the Hall of Fame, all nominations are<br />

considered at the time they are submitted and remain active for five (5)<br />

years.<br />

Please use the form on page 39 to submit your nomination for the TU<br />

Athletic Hall of Fame. The deadline for submitting nominations is April<br />

30. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to<br />

contact Celinda Scherger, Director of Alumni Relations at 419-448-3313 or<br />

schergercm@tiffin.edu.


Name<br />

Address<br />

City State Zip<br />

Year of Graduation Major<br />

Advanced Degree Year College Field<br />

Advanced Degree Year College Field<br />

Sports Played Year(s) Letters Received<br />

College Athletic Record and Highlights:<br />

Athletic Hall of Fame<br />

Nomination Form<br />

Athletic Achievements after College (include coaching and service to athletics):<br />

College Extracurricular Activities (other than athletics)<br />

DEaDlINE FOR SuBMITTINg NOMINaTIONS IS apRIl 30, 2010<br />

Nomination forms should be mailed to:<br />

Shane O’Donnell, Sports <strong>In</strong>formation Director – <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, 155 Miami Street, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, OH 44883<br />

TIFFIN<br />

UNIVERSITY<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 39


update > AlumniScene<br />

40 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Homecoming<br />

2009


Alumni<br />

Alum Justin Setty Credits TU For His Success as Peace Corps Volunteer<br />

Focus<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> alumnus Justin Setty could have easily utilized his criminal<br />

justice degree upon graduation and immediately started a long and distinguished<br />

career. <strong>In</strong>stead, the May 2009 forensic psychology major decided<br />

first to give back to his country by joining the Peace Corps.<br />

His assignment led him to <strong>In</strong>eu, Romania – a small town of approximately<br />

9,000 residents near the Hungarian Border. His job is to teach English at an<br />

industrial high school.<br />

Justin says his experience as a tutor in TU’s Learning Center (recently renamed<br />

the Student Success Center) helped him secure the teaching role<br />

with the Peace Corps.<br />

When I first applied, I wondered what I could do, since my criminal justice<br />

education didn’t directly relate to the Peace Corps programs,” he says. “But I<br />

really loved tutoring, and I was placed in the education sector.”<br />

He explains, “There are aspects of the forensic psychology program that<br />

have helped me in particular. I believe the psychology courses helped a<br />

lot in navigating my new role as a teacher. My experience here has led me<br />

to conclude that psychology is an extremely important tool to be used in<br />

teaching.”<br />

Justin says that the emphasis placed on research by his professors in the TU<br />

School of Criminal Justice and Social Sciences is another aspect of his education<br />

that helped him to prepare for his service.<br />

“Research trains you to take an idea and work with it over a very long span<br />

of time to reach a final result,” he remarks. “While I may not be working in<br />

criminal justice here, the long road of language acquisition, cultural integration,<br />

and working towards becoming an effective teacher honestly felt very<br />

similar.”<br />

<strong>In</strong>terestingly, Justin also credits his TU athletic career in preparing him for his<br />

Peace Corps assignment. “Being a Dragon taught me a lot about overcoming<br />

challenges to gain results,” he explains.<br />

IT’S THE HaRDEST JOB<br />

YOu’ll EVER lOVE’<br />

by Justin Setty<br />

October 28, 2009 – As fall comes to my<br />

home in the States, it also comes to Romania.<br />

It’s comforting to experience my<br />

favorite season, but in a different way.<br />

<strong>In</strong>stead of spiced apple cider, it’s spiced<br />

red wine. <strong>In</strong>stead of easy-to-make food<br />

from a box, it’s figuring out what really<br />

goes in all those foods. <strong>In</strong>stead of crosscountry<br />

meets on golf courses in crisp autumn air, it is Tuesday afternoon<br />

soccer games with my co-workers before the early sunset. The members<br />

of Peace Corps Group 26 have been at their respective sites for about two<br />

and a half months. The previous groups that came to Romania before us<br />

have entered their second or third year of service. I’ve learned a great deal<br />

since arriving in <strong>In</strong>eu, but the need to learn much more is still there and<br />

will be there until “close-of-service.”<br />

On the language side of things, I feel pretty confident in saying that my<br />

skill with the Romanian language has improved since I arrived in <strong>In</strong>eu. It<br />

is very hard to measure what constitutes “improvement” though. Sometimes<br />

I can maintain prolonged interaction using Romanian and then<br />

sometimes it is a challenge to simply say, “No, thank you.” I tend to study<br />

Romanian alone in a lot of my free time. Not having a TV connection<br />

has led to more studying, a lot of book reading, and more time spent in<br />

the kitchen. I try to meet with a tutor for about an hour a week to clarify<br />

grammar and verb usage. <strong>In</strong> addition to the obvious need to gain fluency<br />

within the community, there is the need to gain fluency within my<br />

classroom (where Romanian is needed to lead into English).<br />

As I write these words, it is currently the seventh week of the fall Semester.<br />

The complete and utter confusion from the first two weeks has cleared<br />

and revealed that the biggest challenge is before me. The highs of teaching<br />

students who want to learn have been mixed with the lows of attempting<br />

to teach the students who do not. Discipline issues and disruptive<br />

social dynamics are present in every school whether it is in America<br />

or Romania, including mine. At this point in my service, the biggest question<br />

is this: “How do I address the unique discipline issues of my school in<br />

such a way as to create a positive learning environment for each student?”<br />

Having the ability to take half of each class to my own classroom has been<br />

a strong piece to this puzzle. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a<br />

smaller piece than I originally thought. Now is the time to dig deeper,<br />

gain better insight into how my school operates, and review our training.<br />

They did say, “It’s the hardest job you’ll ever love.”<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 41


update > AlumniScene<br />

Upcoming event<br />

Cruise – 12-Day South america passage<br />

Proposed for February 2011<br />

ports of Call: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; Pt. Stanley, Falkland Islands;<br />

Scenic cruising Cape Horn; Ushuaia, Argentina; Cockburn and Beagle Channels; Punta Arenas,<br />

Chile; Strait of Magellan; Amalia Glacier Canal Sarmiento; Darwin Channel Chilean Fjords;<br />

Puerto Montt, Chile; Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile<br />

Departure port: Buenos Aires, Argentina<br />

*Exact dates and prices will be furnished when they become available.<br />

Point.click.<br />

Give.<br />

with our secure server, investing in<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> has never been easier. Just<br />

point and click, and your gift – whatever its<br />

size – helps TU provide access and opportunity<br />

for individuals, and facilitates their preparation<br />

for successful careers and for productive and<br />

satisfying lives. We invite our friends and supporters<br />

to join us at<br />

www.tiffin.edu where Real Connections yield<br />

Real Results.<br />

42 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

SHaRE<br />

your pride<br />

How many of you have your diploma hanging<br />

in your office? Do you wear <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> apparel<br />

when you are traveling or on vacation? Do<br />

you have a TU license place on your car? Does<br />

a TU Alumni license plate holder display your<br />

license plate?<br />

EVENTS<br />

Summary<br />

Upcoming event<br />

CEDaR pOINT DaY<br />

The Office of Alumni Relations hosted the 12th<br />

annual <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Day at Cedar Point in<br />

July. As always, discounts were made available<br />

to <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> employees, their families and<br />

the community of <strong>Tiffin</strong>.<br />

Join TU Alumni & Friends at the<br />

Columbus Zoo & Aquarium<br />

and Zoombezi Bay Water Park!<br />

Upcoming event<br />

Join TU Alumni & Friends at the<br />

Columbus Zoo & Aquarium<br />

and Zoombezi Bay Water Park!<br />

Columbus Zoo Day<br />

Sunday, July 12<br />

Columbus Zoo Day<br />

Sunday, July 12<br />

Special TU COluMBuS fun-day package zOO includes: DaY<br />

Participating in small activities like these helps<br />

n Admission for the Zoo & Aquarium (9:00 - 6:00)<br />

promote your alma mater. Who knows when <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Day at the Columbus Zoo took<br />

n Admission to Zoombezi Bay Water Park (10:00 - 8:00)<br />

the next prospective student (or parent) will place in July. The Alumni and Development<br />

n Lunch will be served at Colo’s Cove (Facility is open<br />

notice that you graduated from <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>? Office offered a special TU Zoo package which<br />

from 1 - 3:30; Lunch will be served from 1:30 - 2:30)<br />

included admission to the Columbus Zoo,<br />

Package prices Special are: TU fun-day package includes:<br />

Columbus Aquarium, Zoombezi Bay Water Park,<br />

Adult: $26.00 n Admission • Junior/Senior for the (ages Zoo & 2-9 Aquarium or 60 plus): (9:00 $22.00 - 6:00)<br />

and a picnic lunch.<br />

n Admission to Zoombezi Bay Water Park (10:00 - 8:00)<br />

For more n information Lunch will be or served to purchase at Colo’s your Cove Zoo (Facility Pack, is open<br />

contact the Alumni from 1 & - Development 3:30; Lunch will Office be served at 419.448.3282.<br />

from 1:30 - 2:30)<br />

Package prices are:<br />

Adult: $26.00 • Junior/Senior (ages 2-9 or 60 plus): $22.00<br />

TIFFIN<br />

UNIVERSITY<br />

For more information or to purchase your Zoo Pack,<br />

contact the Alumni & Development Office at 419.448.3282.


1920’s<br />

paul Seitz,<br />

Class of 1929,<br />

Ft. Pierce, Florida,<br />

celebrated his<br />

100th birthday<br />

in June. A<br />

great friend<br />

and long-time<br />

member of <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

U n i v e r s i t y ’ s<br />

President’s Club,<br />

Paul is a native<br />

of Republic, Ohio. Seitz Hall, on TU’s campus, is<br />

named for Paul Seitz.<br />

1960’s<br />

alan Smith, Class of 1967, Heath, Ohio, wrote,<br />

“After graduating in 1967, I took a job with Ohio<br />

Highway Department and became Treasure<br />

Manager of their Credit Union in 1968. After three<br />

years, I went to work at the Ohio Credit Union<br />

League in Columbus for twelve years in various<br />

positions and in 1983 moved to Hopewell FCU<br />

as President/CEO and will retire from there next<br />

year.” Alan and his wife Janice, have five children<br />

and fifteen grandchildren.<br />

1970’s<br />

Tell Us About Yourself<br />

ClassScene<br />

arlene Tjaden garvin, Class of 1978,<br />

Pemberville, Ohio, is a Receptionist for Wood<br />

Haven Health Care in Bowling Green.<br />

1980’s<br />

Carol Brickner, Class of 1986, <strong>Tiffin</strong>,<br />

Ohio, recently celebrated her 30th wedding<br />

anniversary with her husband John. She works<br />

as the Assistant Manager of the McDonald’s in<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong>. John is a QMRP at the <strong>Tiffin</strong> Developmental<br />

Center. They have three sons.<br />

Ted link, Class of 1986, Kettering, Ohio, is<br />

employed at Liberty Savings Bank as a Bank<br />

Manager in Fairborn.<br />

gary gruss, Class of 1987, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio,<br />

celebrated 20 years of tax preparations services<br />

this year. Twenty years ago, he began his<br />

business, CF Professional, as a one-person office<br />

that worked on computer programming and tax<br />

preparation in <strong>Tiffin</strong>. “Today, we don’t do any<br />

computer work at all,” said Gruss. “We’ve added<br />

financial planning and life insurance.”<br />

1990’s<br />

Mustafa Mehmet Eser, Class of 1990, Mersin,<br />

Turkey, works in Exports for Marsan in Adana,<br />

Turkey.<br />

aaron Hetrick, Class of 1990, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio, was<br />

hired as the Corporate Manager of Ballreich Bros.<br />

<strong>In</strong>c. in <strong>Tiffin</strong>.<br />

Mary Rosengarten Shaffer, Class of 1990,<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio, is a Systems/Database Analyst at<br />

Heidelberg <strong>University</strong> in <strong>Tiffin</strong>.<br />

Bob Spies, Class of 1995, Lakewood, Ohio, is<br />

the Vice President of Sales for Prostar Marketing<br />

in Bay Village, Ohio.<br />

linda Stine, Class of 1996, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio, was<br />

named first runner-up in the Mrs. Ohio pageant<br />

in May. Additionally, she was announced the<br />

“Mrs. Face of Arbonne.” Linda is an assistant<br />

professor, teaching accounting and business<br />

administration, at Heidelberg <strong>University</strong>. She<br />

also operates her own business as a certified<br />

public accountant.<br />

Renae Meggitt, Class of 1997, is the new<br />

pastor at North Lima Calvary United Methodist<br />

Church. She attended Ashland Seminary, then<br />

Methodist Theological School of Ohio, where<br />

she received her Master of Divinity degree in<br />

2009. Pastor Meggitt is a member of Protestant<br />

Committee for Boy Scouts and is the recipient of<br />

the Silver Beaver Award in Scouting, the highest<br />

honor for volunteers. She also served as an oncall<br />

chaplain at Med-Central Hospital.<br />

Corey Dauber, Class of 1998, Toledo, Ohio, is<br />

a Quality Assurance Specialist for Quality Care<br />

Product in Holland, Ohio. He played football for<br />

TU under the leadership of Bob Wolfe.<br />

Cory Baker, Class of 1999, recently re-opened<br />

a popular family landmark, Johnny Apple-<br />

Cheese. His father, Mark, opened the produce,<br />

deli, and bakery in 1977 when Cory was just<br />

learning to walk. Cory said, “It’s an honor to<br />

make this a great positive comeback.” The<br />

business sprang from the Sunnyslope Orchard<br />

founded outside Navarre in 1929 by Cory’s greatgrandfather.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 43


tell us about yourself > ClassScene<br />

Richard geyer, MBa 1999, Fremont, Ohio, was<br />

recently conferred with a Doctorate in Business<br />

Administration degree, with a specialty in<br />

marketing, from Nova Southeastern <strong>University</strong>,<br />

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. <strong>In</strong> recognition of high<br />

scholastic achievement, he was inducted into<br />

the Sigma Beta Delta <strong>In</strong>ternational Honor Society<br />

in Business, Management, and Administration.<br />

Geyer is currently employed as Assistant<br />

Professor of Marketing at the <strong>University</strong> of<br />

Northwestern Ohio.<br />

David little, MBa 1999, Marion, Ohio,<br />

President of Ohio American Water, was elected<br />

President of the National Association of Water<br />

Companies (NAWC), Ohio Chapter in May. He<br />

is an active member of the Marion Chamber<br />

of Commerce, Rotary, Marion Can-Do, which<br />

promotes economic growth in Marion, and Ohio<br />

GATE. David is also an instructor of the Operators<br />

Training Committee of Ohio (OTCO).<br />

2000’s<br />

lewie Montgomery, Class of 2000, Roswell,<br />

New Mexico and his wife Emily, welcomed a son,<br />

Samuel Lewis, in January. He writes, “Thankfully<br />

he gets most of his DNA from his mother, but has<br />

his dad’s ordinary grin.”<br />

Josh Martin, Class of 2001, East Liverpool,<br />

Ohio, is the County Administrator for Columbiana<br />

County Board of DD.<br />

Shawn Stoll Newton, Class of 2001, Ashland,<br />

Ohio, and her husband Don, became the proud<br />

parents of daughter, Ella, in February.<br />

Rebecca Rowe, Class of 2001, Cheektowaga,<br />

New York, recently graduated with her MBA<br />

and was named one of the Business First Top<br />

40 Under 40 in Western New York. She is the<br />

Director of Program Operations for Boys & Girls<br />

Clubs of Buffalo.<br />

Connie Hannah-willis, Class of 2001, Euclid,<br />

Ohio, has joined the administration of Alcorn<br />

State <strong>University</strong> as the Associate Vice President of<br />

Student Affairs. Prior to joining Alcorn, she was<br />

the Director of Title III, HBCU and HBGI at Clark<br />

Atlanta <strong>University</strong>.<br />

44 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

amy Baker, Class of 2002, has joined Ohio<br />

American Water as Senior Human Resource<br />

Generalist. She is responsible for supporting and<br />

helping drive business change and providing<br />

human resource services throughout the<br />

company’s districts in Ohio. Amy has more than<br />

nine years of related experience.<br />

Michael Crum, MCJ 2002, was inducted into<br />

the 2009 Midview Athletic Hall of Fame at its<br />

ninth annual banquet in October.<br />

phillip Epstein, Class of 2002, Solon, Ohio,<br />

writes, “It’s been a great year. I completed my<br />

MBA in Business Administration from Cleveland<br />

State <strong>University</strong> in May. I started a new job at<br />

Advanced Network Services and my wife and<br />

I visited Italy for two weeks.” His son, Michael,<br />

graduated from Ithaca College in New York<br />

and accepted the position of Receivers Coach<br />

for the SUNY Brockport (NY) football team.<br />

Phillip’s daughter Alyssa is attending Kent State<br />

<strong>University</strong>, majoring in Bio-Chemistry.<br />

kip Huntsberger, Class of 2002 and his wife,<br />

Erica, Sylvania, Ohio, welcomed a daughter,<br />

Cayla, in June.<br />

Stacia Travis-<br />

Tate, Class<br />

of 2002,<br />

Euclid, Ohio, is<br />

the Financial<br />

A c c o u n t a n t<br />

for Hickok<br />

<strong>In</strong>corporated in<br />

Cleveland. She<br />

wrote, “I recently<br />

got married in<br />

May in Euclid<br />

and I also earned a Master’s Degree in Accounting<br />

& Financial Management in 2008. I look forward<br />

to life with my hubby and advancing my career<br />

in the Accounting field.”<br />

Jeremy Crall, Class of 2003, Cape Coral,<br />

Florida, is employed by Regions Bank. His wife,<br />

Elizabeth, is a Registered Nurse for Lee Memorial<br />

Health System. They have a son, Brett, age 3.<br />

Zach King, Class of 2003, Vail, Arizona, and his<br />

wife, Lisa, welcomed a daughter, Lilly, in June.<br />

andy Faber,<br />

Class of 2003<br />

and andrea<br />

Howse Faber,<br />

Class of 2004,<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio,<br />

w e l c o m e d<br />

a daughter,<br />

Savannah, in<br />

October.<br />

Jared Shank, MBa 2003, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio, is the<br />

Senior Buyer for Webster <strong>In</strong>dustries in <strong>Tiffin</strong>.<br />

aaron wood,<br />

Class of 2003<br />

and amy Bumb<br />

wood, Class<br />

of 2003, Carey,<br />

Ohio, welcomed<br />

a daughter,<br />

Grace, born in<br />

June.<br />

Brian Bott, Class of 2004, Amherst, Ohio, is a<br />

Business Banker for First Merit.<br />

Matthew Coleman, MBa 2004 and Jamie<br />

long Coleman, Class of 2003, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio,<br />

welcomed a son, Tucker, in July.<br />

Emily gillock<br />

green, Class<br />

of 2004,<br />

Columbus, Ohio,<br />

writes, “Troy and<br />

I were married<br />

in October. We<br />

had a beautiful<br />

wedding in<br />

North Ridgeville<br />

and then<br />

honeymooned<br />

in the Grand Cayman Islands. Troy is a small<br />

business owner and operates an asphalt<br />

business doing commercial work. I was recently<br />

promoted to supervisor at Franklin County<br />

Children Services, supervising child welfare<br />

caseworkers. We are truly blessed and are<br />

excited about starting our life together.”


Matt kalnicki, Class of 2004, Parma, Ohio, is<br />

the Lead Financial Analyst for Key Bank.<br />

Miranda Conley lafary, Class of 2004,<br />

Mechanicsburg, Ohio, is a Supervisor/Dispatch<br />

for Champaign Countywide 911 Communication<br />

Center in Urbana. Her husband, Roy, works as<br />

a Welder for the CSX Railroad. They welcomed<br />

their first child, Crew Eben, this year.<br />

Todochi wells, Class of 2004, Lima, Ohio, is<br />

the Marketing Territory Manager for Marathon<br />

Petroleum Company in Findlay. He wrote, “I<br />

recently accepted a Commercial Account’s TM<br />

position. My previous position as a Commercial<br />

Real Estate Representative was located in<br />

<strong>In</strong>dianapolis, IN. I plan to take over the recruiting<br />

efforts for Marathon at TU this Fall for interns, coops<br />

and 2010 new hires.”<br />

laShan Renee Carter, Class of 2005, Oviedo,<br />

Florida, is working as a Forensic <strong>In</strong>vestigator for<br />

District V Medical Examiner’s Office in Leesburg,<br />

Florida.<br />

Chris Chase, MBa 2005, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio, is the<br />

new owner of MST Pub & Grub (former Madison<br />

Street Tavern) in downtown <strong>Tiffin</strong>.<br />

anthony Hunter, Class of 2005, Tampa,<br />

Florida, is the Accounting Services Supervisor for<br />

Pinellas County of Florida.<br />

David Moody,<br />

Class of 2005,<br />

Circleville, Ohio,<br />

married his<br />

wife, Allison, in<br />

May. He wrote,<br />

“While I was at<br />

TU, I was active<br />

on the football<br />

team and<br />

head resident/<br />

r e s i d e n t<br />

assistant for residence life, as well as a Nightwatch<br />

member.” David is the Assistant Vice President<br />

for Citizens Bank of Ashville.<br />

Mandi Balduf, MBa 2006, Suffolk, Virginia, is<br />

the Head Softball Coach for Chowan <strong>University</strong><br />

in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. She wrote, “I<br />

am currently heading into my third season. Last<br />

season, the Hawks softball program won the<br />

NCAA South Region and I was named the Coach<br />

of the Year. We finished with a 30-23 record, the<br />

first thirty win season in school history. I recently<br />

was named Director of NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills<br />

for Chowan <strong>University</strong>. I am excited to get this<br />

program up and running for the student athletes<br />

of Chowan.”<br />

Mark kalnicki, Class of 2006, was accepted<br />

into the <strong>University</strong> of Akron School of Law.<br />

a m a n d a<br />

w i l l i a m s<br />

Clarke, Class<br />

of 2007,<br />

Daytona Beach,<br />

Florida, married<br />

Michael Clarke<br />

in a doublering<br />

ceremony<br />

in Jamaica. She<br />

works the front<br />

desk at Ocean<br />

East Resort and Michael is a self-employed<br />

construction worker.<br />

andrea guthrie, Class of 2007, <strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio,<br />

opened the <strong>Tiffin</strong> Nutritional Center in April.<br />

While attending TU, she worked at General<br />

Nutrition Center in the <strong>Tiffin</strong> Mall and decided to<br />

pursue her passion for helping people become<br />

healthier by finding the right vitamins and<br />

supplements for them. She said, “I thought it<br />

would be more fun to own my business rather<br />

than work for a big business because I can make<br />

it a lot more personal.”<br />

Rhyan pegues, MBa 2007, Youngstown, Ohio,<br />

recently graduated from Basic Training for the<br />

United States Army.<br />

Jessica Ruby Schult phillips, Class of 2007,<br />

Cbeyond, Atlanta, was married to Christopher<br />

Delyn Phillips in June. She is employed as<br />

a Senior Sales Consultant. Her husband is<br />

attending chiropractic school at Life <strong>University</strong><br />

in Marietta, Georgia.<br />

James Sosinski, MCJ 2007, and Brandi<br />

wright Sosinski, Class of 2005, Alexandria,<br />

VA, were married in August. James has been<br />

working for the Naval Criminal <strong>In</strong>vestigative<br />

Service (NCIS) since June 2008. Brandi works at<br />

Grant Thornton in McLean.<br />

Trent M. Shoemaker, Class of 2007, graduated<br />

from basic military training at Lackland Air Force<br />

Base in San Antonio, Texas.<br />

Nancy Valenti, MCJ 2007, Louden, New<br />

Hampshire, recently started a full-time job as the<br />

Training Development Manager with the New<br />

Hampshire Department of Justice/Office of the<br />

Attorney General. She is working under a threeyear<br />

ARRA/Byrne grant.<br />

kevin Hehmeyer, Class of 2009, graduated<br />

from boot camp and is currently at Naval<br />

Service Training<br />

Command in<br />

Chicago, Illinois.<br />

He wrote, “If I<br />

get the chance<br />

to stop by<br />

the campus<br />

before I leave<br />

the Midwest, I<br />

definitely will. I<br />

miss <strong>Tiffin</strong> a lot.”<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 45


our deepest sympathies > <strong>In</strong>Memoriam<br />

Trustee<br />

C l a u d e<br />

Young, who<br />

served as a <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong><br />

Trustee from<br />

1995 to 2009,<br />

died in November.<br />

He is<br />

survived by his<br />

wife, Carolyn<br />

(Solze) Young.<br />

Claude graduated from Green Springs High<br />

School in 1950 and attended Baldwin-Wallace<br />

College. He worked at Clyde Porcelain Steel and<br />

at Whirlpool Corporation, before becoming a<br />

partner and, later, the sole owner of Progress<br />

Plastic Products. He served in the U.S. Navy from<br />

1951 to 1954 during the Korean conflict. Also during<br />

that time, he sang on the “Ed Sullivan Radio<br />

Show” with the Navy quartet.<br />

Claude deeply loved his family and treasured<br />

his many friends. He enjoyed hunting and had a<br />

great interest in local history. Claude enjoyed his<br />

church family, singing in the choir and serving on<br />

the council for many years.<br />

46 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Faculty<br />

Dr. John<br />

“Jack” Collins,<br />

72, former<br />

dean of<br />

the School of<br />

Criminal Justice<br />

at <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

U n i v e r s i t y,<br />

passed away<br />

in November,<br />

after a<br />

short illness.<br />

Dr. Collins had a long and distinguished record<br />

of leadership in law enforcement and strong academic<br />

credentials in his field.<br />

He joined TU’s faculty in the fall of 1999. Prior to<br />

coming to <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Dr. Collins worked in<br />

the public sector as Police Chief for the City of<br />

Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and as director of court<br />

services. He served as a police officer for the<br />

city of Cincinnati, Ohio, for more than 20 years<br />

as well as chief probation officer for the Hamilton<br />

County and the Municipal Common Pleas Courts<br />

also in Cincinnati.<br />

Dr. Collins was widely published on a variety of<br />

criminal justice and law enforcement issues, and<br />

was a member of a number of national professional<br />

organizations, including the Academy of<br />

Criminal Justice Science and the Fraternal Order<br />

of Police.<br />

1940’s<br />

Marjorie Shook, Class of 1941, Bloomville,<br />

Ohio, passed away in September. She was a secretary<br />

and bookkeeper for Lloyd Dellinger, and<br />

also a bookkeeper for Bliss Memorial Library. Mrs.<br />

Shook was a member of the Bloomville United<br />

Church of Christ and the Women’s Guild, taught<br />

Sunday school for 60 years, was a former treasurer<br />

for the church, and was very active in church<br />

activities.<br />

1950’s<br />

paul phillips, Class of 1958, Marion, Ohio,<br />

passed away in May. He graduated from Rising<br />

Sun High School, where he met the love of<br />

his life, Fairie M. “Peggy” Putman. Paul worked<br />

as an accountant for Northern Ohio Telephone<br />

Company until he was transferred to GTE in 1976.<br />

He and his wife raised four children. Paul was an<br />

avid fisherman, enjoyed woodworking and gardening,<br />

and adored spending time with his ten<br />

grandchildren.<br />

1980’s<br />

pamela Shaw, Class of 1987, passed away in<br />

November. <strong>In</strong> addition to <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Pamela<br />

was a graduate of <strong>Tiffin</strong> Columbian High<br />

School. She was the treasurer’s assistant for<br />

Hopewell-Loudon Schools for the last 10 years.<br />

For 10 years prior to that, she had worked in the<br />

Human Resources department at Mercy <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

Hospital. She was a member of Moose Lodge<br />

No. 846. She loved spending time with her family,<br />

camping and mushroom and arrowhead<br />

hunting.<br />

Tell Us<br />

about Yourself<br />

www.tiffin.edu


www.tiffin.edu > 47


Fall Reviews<br />

VOllEYBall<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s volleyball team ended the season with a victory, beating<br />

Davis & Elkins in their final match of the year, but wins were few and far<br />

between in 2009. The season ended with 4-29 (0-16 GLIAC) record. However,<br />

with only one senior on the roster, the Dragons will look to build on the<br />

experience the young team gained this year.<br />

Brooke Bernabei led the Dragons offensively with 306 kills, earning All-<br />

GLIAC honors in the process, while Brittany Teaford chipped in with 287<br />

and Margaret Betz added 231. Jessica Adams handed out 942 assists for TU.<br />

Bernabei’s 26 serving aces were good for a team high.<br />

Amanda Marquardt had a solid season on the defensive side of the net. The<br />

junior registered 378 digs for a 3.20 average per set. The Dragons also got<br />

a solid contribution on digs from Bernabei (316) and Lindsay Heller (290).<br />

Teaford recorded 34 of the Dragons’ 55 blocks.<br />

48 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Sports at TU<br />

SportsScene<br />

Brooke Bernabei was another All-GLIAC selection for TU in 2009, as she led the<br />

Dragons volleyball squad in kills with 306.<br />

wOMEN’S SOCCER<br />

The Dragons women’s soccer season ended after a loss in the GLIAC<br />

Semifinals, but TU turned in an 11-7-2 (8-4-2 GLIAC) season while allowing<br />

the young players to develop.<br />

Freshman Ashley Davis was the lone Dragons player that earned All-GLIAC<br />

honors, landing a Second Team citation. Davis scored 11 goals this season<br />

while also contributing 10 assists. Danielle Eaken and Alexandra Sevastakis<br />

each added four goals for <strong>Tiffin</strong>, while Eaken added nine assists. Shelly<br />

Rogers and Lauren Turkington each recorded five assists.<br />

Lindsay Gallagher and Emily Demorest both spent time in goal for the<br />

Dragons. Gallagher (10-4) allowed 16 goals while making 63 saves. She also<br />

recorded three shutouts.<br />

TU’s Ashley Davis was named All-GLIAC in her freshman season. She led the team<br />

with 11 goals and 10 assists.


<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s men’s soccer team won the GLIAC Tournament Championship for<br />

the second consecutive year. <strong>In</strong> addition, Rhys Cannella was named GLIAC Offensive<br />

Player of the Year and Tony Iyayi was named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year.<br />

MEN’S SOCCER<br />

For the second year in a row <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> won the GLIAC Men’s Soccer<br />

Tournament Championship, but missed out on the NCAA National<br />

Tournament. The Dragons defeated top-seeded Ashland in a dramatic 3-2<br />

victory, but just missed selection by the committee overseeing the national<br />

tourney. Despite not making Nationals, the Dragons turned in a solid 15-4-1<br />

(5-2-1 GLIAC) season and picked up many postseason honors in the process.<br />

Rhys Cannella was the 2009 GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year, following<br />

Ashton Campbell’s similar honor in 2008, while Tony Iyayi earned the GLIAC<br />

Defensive Player of the Year award. Cannella scored team high 15 goals while<br />

adding six assists. Iyayi also helped on the offensive end, scoring five goals<br />

while contributing two assists. Michael O’Neill (three goals, 9 assists) and<br />

Ashton Campbell (11 goals, 6 assists) were also honored by landing on the<br />

GLIAC First Team.<br />

The Dragons also landed two players on the Second Team. Defender<br />

Roger Kummer and goalkeeper Jeff Frisch earned the second team honors.<br />

Kummer scored 2 goals and added 2 assists on offense. Frisch (15-4-1) made<br />

80 saves while allowing 14 goals. He also recorded nine shutouts.<br />

FOOTBall<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s football team ended the season with a 0-11 (0-10 GLIAC)<br />

record. However, with a schedule filled with ranked opponents, the young<br />

Dragons now know what needs to be done in the off season.<br />

Freshmen Nate Scully took most of the snaps for the Dragons at quarterback.<br />

He completed 52.5 percent of his passes for 1,197 yards and 12 touchdowns.<br />

His two favorite targets were All-GLIAC selection junior Trey Williams and<br />

senior Greg Raspberry. Williams hauled in 40 passes for 365 yards and one<br />

touchdown while Raspberry caught 39 for 470 yards and one touchdown.<br />

Junior David Singleton caught 23 passes on the year, five of which were<br />

touchdowns.<br />

Alvin McKnight did a lot of the Dragons’ work on the ground. The senior<br />

rushed for 311 yards and a touchdown. Senior Chris Ivory’s season ended<br />

after an injury in week five. His 44.6 yards per game was good enough to lead<br />

the Dragons. Freshman Brett Koepp scored two rushing touchdowns while<br />

picking up 128 yards in his rookie year.<br />

Senior Arthur Allen fueled the Dragons’ defense, making 71 total tackles, six<br />

for loss. He also picked off two passes. Jackson Davis made 66 tackles while<br />

picking off a pass and recovering a fumble. David Pickeral made 64 tackles<br />

while David Rumley collected 56, two of them being sacks of the opposing<br />

quarterbacks.<br />

Trey Williams was an All-GLIAC selection in 2009, leading the Dragons in receptions<br />

and finishing second in all-purpose yardage.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 49


sports at TU > SportsScene<br />

wOMEN’S TENNIS<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s women’s tennis team wrapped up their fall season at 0-13.<br />

The Dragons will now prepare for the spring season.<br />

<strong>In</strong> singles action, Taylor Cooper won two matches for the Dragons. Teauana<br />

Long also won a singles match for TU.<br />

Cooper and Jessie Stefanov went 3-7 in doubles action. Long and Beth Clark<br />

also added a win in their 1-1 record and Long also picked up a victory with<br />

teammate Renee Mattson.<br />

CROSS COuNTRY<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Cross Country finished their season with a 14th place finish<br />

in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships. Junior Mike Eblin<br />

was the first Dragon to cross the finish line in the meet. He finished in 42nd<br />

place in a race that hosted 128 runners. Atlantis Troutman (53), Dominique<br />

O’Neal (77), and Brock Lloyd (89) all also finished in the top 100.<br />

The meet wrapped up a season that consisted of six races. Previously in the<br />

GLIAC meet, the Dragons finished eighth out of 11 teams. Eblin finished 42nd<br />

again while Nick Thomas finished 55th.<br />

The <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Women’s Cross Country season ended with a 17th place<br />

finish in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships. Freshmen<br />

Carly Reese led the way for the Dragons, finishing 34th out of 134. The<br />

Dragons also got top 100 finishes from Rebecca Miller (61) and Heidi Kiesel<br />

(90).<br />

The Lady Dragons finished 10th of 12 in the GLIAC Championships. Miller led<br />

the way for TU finishing in 28th place while Reese (30), Kiesel (61), Maria Shaw<br />

(66), and Tichelle Brant (70) rounded out the scorers for the Dragons.<br />

50 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

Winter Preview<br />

MEN’S BaSkETBall<br />

The <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Men’s Basketball team looks to take things in a new<br />

direction with a new head coach and many new faces as the team enters its<br />

second season in the Great Lakes <strong>In</strong>tercollegiate Athletic Conference.<br />

John Hill takes over the program, returning to <strong>Tiffin</strong> as Head Coach following a<br />

26 year career as Head Coach at Heidelberg College. Hill won 357 games with<br />

Heidelberg and looks to bring the same level of success and competitiveness<br />

to the Dragons. “This year our emphasis is on having a new look and a new<br />

attitude,” Hill noted. “This is a chance for the program to head in a new<br />

direction and get a fresh start with a new year.”<br />

TU’s Rafael Cuellar is a captain for the Dragons in 2009-10 and is one of three<br />

returning players. Cuellar averaged 10.4 ppg and led the team in rebounding last<br />

season.<br />

Three returnees bring experience to the floor this season. The returnees are<br />

led by guard Brian Scott (8.2 ppg), post players Rafael Cuellar (10.4 ppg, 5.2<br />

rpg) and Mohammed Fall (5.1 ppg, 4.2 ppg). But for the Dragons to succeed<br />

this season, they will need contributions from many of the new faces brought<br />

in by Coach Hill and his staff.<br />

Leading the new standouts for TU are Brandon Harris, DeAngelo Jordan,<br />

Keenan Barlow, and Austin Smith. Harris (6-10, 245 lb. post) attended<br />

Duquesne <strong>University</strong> in Pittsburgh as a red shirt freshman. His sophomore<br />

year he transferred to Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana where<br />

he played in 20 of 31 games. Jordan (6-6, perimeter) last attended Owens<br />

Community College in Toledo. He has a strong perimeter shooting game<br />

and was team MVP for Owens last season, earning All-Conference honors<br />

and the team Captain’s Award. He averaged 14 ppg and 9 rpg for the Express.<br />

Barlow (6-5, 220 lb. post) is a sophomore transfer from <strong>In</strong>diana State.<br />

After red shirting in his first season, Barlow played in 16 games for<br />

the Sycamores last year. As a high school standout, Barlow was First


Team All City and All-State Honorable Mention, averaging 12 ppg with 8<br />

rpg. Smith (6-5, 185 lb. perimeter) gives the Dragons needed depth on the<br />

wing. A left-handed shooter, Smith tallied 18.5 ppg and 7 rpg as a Special<br />

Mention All-Ohio player for Colonel Crawford. He also earned Player of the<br />

Year honors in District VI.<br />

Also looking to make significant contributions this season are 6-4 guard Ryan<br />

Cosgray, 6-1 guard Mike Hammonds, 6-2 guard Brandon Amann, and 6-5<br />

forward Ryan Davis.<br />

wOMEN’S BaSkETBall<br />

One year in the GLIAC is all it took for the <strong>Tiffin</strong> women’s basketball team<br />

to realize what it takes to be a contender in the NCAA Division II ranks.<br />

Coming off a 7-20 record, with many of those losses by 10 points or less, the<br />

Dragons know that not only does it take prime physical conditioning but also<br />

complete mental focus to get to the top. Now with the knowledge of what<br />

to expect in the GLIAC, Head Coach Pam Oswald has set the bar very high<br />

but with very reachable goals in mind.<br />

This year’s <strong>Tiffin</strong> squad is very young, returning 2 seniors and 2 juniors while<br />

adding 5 freshmen to the mix. Two returning starters anchor the Dragon<br />

attack in junior guard/forward Holly Focke and sophomore guard Mandy<br />

Jaeb. Senior center Katrina Clark looks to rebound from only 13 games a year<br />

ago and provide a physical presence in the paint. Junior guard Samantha<br />

McCall and sophomore guard Jennifer Johnston look to provide their threat<br />

from the 3 point line and knowledge of the system to spark the Dragons.<br />

After a season ending injury last year, red shirt freshman center Jessica Harris<br />

looks to put what she learned last year to use on the court. Rounding out the<br />

squad is freshmen guards Karli Mast, Melissa Gilliland, Stephanie Kelly, Jordan<br />

Jenkins and center Jonette McQueen.<br />

This year’s strength again lies in the backcourt. The 2009-2010 backcourts<br />

are young with only one upperclassman. It is comprised of 1 junior, 2<br />

Mandy Jaeb is the top returning player for the Lady Dragons basketball team, as she<br />

leads a team of young players in GLIAC competition in 2009-10. Jaeb averaged 10.5<br />

ppg in her freshman season.<br />

sophomores, and 4 freshmen. Although young, Mandy Jaeb started almost<br />

every game last season and is the leading returner in scoring. Jennifer<br />

Johnston was one of the first players off the bench from a year ago and<br />

Samantha McCall brings with her 2 years of experience in Coach Oswald’s<br />

system. Although 4 freshmen added to the backcourt seems like a lot of<br />

inexperience, each player comes from an elite high school program and has<br />

had plenty of success at the state level.<br />

Sophomore point guard Mandy Jaeb is looking to build upon last year’s<br />

season. As the returning leading scorer with 10.5 ppg, Jaeb is also looking<br />

to fill the assist column as the floor general. Jaeb’s definite strength is her<br />

quickness on defense, compiling 44 steals just a year ago. Jaeb has worked<br />

hard in the off season on taking the ball to the hoop and drawing contact<br />

to get to the foul line. Opponents will want to keep her off the line after<br />

shooting a team high 86% from the charity stripe.<br />

Junior forward Holly Focke provides a versatility that can prove to be very<br />

difficult for opponents. Averaging nearly 7 ppg, Focke was also second on<br />

the team in rebounding at 6 rpg, third on the team in steals with 34, and<br />

second on the team in assists with 75 and blocked 11 shots. Focke not only<br />

possesses the quickness in the post to take opponents off the dribble, the<br />

strength to get points with her back to the basket, but also can hit the trey,<br />

shooting 38% from behind the arc.<br />

Senior center Katrina Clark is entering her second season with the Dragons.<br />

Only playing in 13 games a year ago with 10 starts, Clark is looking to use<br />

her aggressive style of play to anchor the post. Having a year in the <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

system will help Clark establish herself more on the court and in the battles<br />

down low. Jessica Harris is entering her second year with the Dragons. After<br />

a season ending injury early in the year, Harris is looking to bounce back<br />

and use that year of experience watching and coaching her teammates on<br />

the court. The only newcomer to the frontcourt is freshman center Jonette<br />

McQueen, who looks to make her 6 foot 3 inch presence felt down low.<br />

Conley Named<br />

Tennis Coach<br />

Philip Conley enters his<br />

first year as Head Men’s and<br />

Women’s Tennis coach at <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong>. Phil is a graduate<br />

of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>. While<br />

at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Conley<br />

played #1 singles. He was All<br />

AMC three years in a row for<br />

singles, finishing fourth in the<br />

Midwest Regional NAIA ITA<br />

tournament his Junior year. <strong>In</strong><br />

2007, Conley’s junior year, the<br />

team finished # 26 in the nation<br />

in NAIA and finished second in<br />

the conference. Conley taught tennis at Baywind Athletic Club under<br />

former Head Coach Pat Ortner. While at Baywind he helped with the<br />

junior program.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 51


sports at TU > SportsScene<br />

Head Football Coach Dave Walkosky<br />

52 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09


Athletic Hall of Fame 09<br />

DaVE ROSEN<br />

Dave Rosen played during a different<br />

era for <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />

“There was no pressing allowed at<br />

that time,” Rosen recalled. “We had a<br />

young team and tried to fast break a<br />

lot. I passed a lot as a center. We had<br />

very little compared to today’s players,<br />

but we did a lot with what we<br />

had.”<br />

Rosen’s trip to <strong>Tiffin</strong> was also not the<br />

norm for most of TU’s basketball players<br />

from that period.<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> enjoyed another Homecoming Weekend in 2009, as five more individuals were<br />

honored for their contributions to TU’s athletic history with induction to the Athletic Hall of<br />

Fame. Nearly 250 in attendance enjoyed the inductions in October. The event marked the 15th<br />

year that the Hall of Fame has been in existence, and the night was as enjoyable as ever as<br />

former inductees, alumni, staff, faculty, and students came together to celebrate TU’s history.<br />

“I was from New York and had been looking at different schools,” Rosen recalled.<br />

“(Dragons Coach) Dick Routh was there watching a NCAA game and<br />

he approached me about playing at <strong>Tiffin</strong>. He sold me on the school, and<br />

so I went there.”<br />

Rosen came to TU in 1950, starting a collegiate career that few basketball<br />

players achieve. He was an NAIA All-American men’s basketball player who<br />

helped lead <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> to its first appearance in a national tournament<br />

in 1951.<br />

Dave was the leading scorer and Most Valuable Player for a Dragons squad<br />

that won the Tri-State Championship. Dave also earned All-Division All-Ohio<br />

selection in 1951. Dave is a three-time All-Conference player who finished<br />

with 2051 career points.<br />

BONNIE TIEll<br />

Bonnie Tiell coached for <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> from 1988-2005, the longest coaching<br />

tenure for a female coach in school history. She started in volleyball, then<br />

coached softball before finishing her coaching career as a women’s tennis<br />

coach. She found success in all three arenas.<br />

Tiell amassed 425 collegiate victories<br />

in those three sports and is the volleyball<br />

coach with the most wins in<br />

school history. She led the softball<br />

team to the 1993 NAIA National Tournament,<br />

Bi-District 15 title, and also<br />

won the MOC Championship in 1991.<br />

She took a women’s tennis team that<br />

was low in numbers and hard-pressed<br />

to find victories and built them into a<br />

regional NAIA power that also reached<br />

the NAIA National Tournament shortly<br />

after her departure.<br />

Beyond her coaching acumen, Tiell left her mark as an administrator, serving<br />

as Assistant Athletic Director, Senior Woman Administrator, and Hall of Fame<br />

Coordinator. Spearheading gender equity initiatives during her time in the<br />

athletic department, she still serves as Faculty Athletic Representative.<br />

<strong>In</strong> recent years, Tiell has been a national leader fronting the Women’s Leadership<br />

Symposium, and working with various NCAA institutions on gender<br />

related issues.<br />

gaRY DuplESSIS<br />

Gary DuPlessis continues the long line of standout men’s soccer players at<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>. No athletic program has more All-Americans than men’s<br />

soccer, and DuPlessis shared in those<br />

achievements.<br />

He was a two-time NAIA All-American<br />

from 1995-97. He also garnered three<br />

All-Region, District, and Mid-Ohio<br />

Conference citations during that period.<br />

Helping to lead the Dragons to the<br />

1995 MOC Championship was the<br />

start of DuPlessis’s career. He finished<br />

his career 9th in overall scoring.<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 53


sports at TU > SportsScene<br />

“Soccer is a team sport so not only do you have to have great players to be<br />

competitive but you also need great teammates and we had that at <strong>Tiffin</strong>,”<br />

DuPlessis said. “All training sessions were extremely competitive and everyone<br />

on the team gave their best on match day. Coach Ian Day made sure we<br />

stayed very sharp on the field.”<br />

With the passage of time, DuPlessis appreciates more each year the special<br />

times he enjoyed at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />

“The experience at TU was challenging but very rewarding,” DuPlessis said.<br />

“TU provided me with the confidence to enter into and win in an ever changing<br />

business environment. Since graduation, I have built a career selling software<br />

to Fortune 500 companies. This industry is dynamic and challenging,<br />

but the rewards support my family with a comfortable life style.”<br />

gREg gaSkIN<br />

Greg Gaskin manned the post for <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong> from 1994-98, helping to<br />

lead the Dragons to successful campaigns<br />

over that span.<br />

<strong>In</strong> Gaskin’s freshman season, the Dragons<br />

won 9 games. Over Gaskin’s final<br />

two seasons, the Dragons won 36<br />

games, including 19 games in his senior<br />

season. While numerous players<br />

contributed to the turnaround, it was<br />

Gaskin who was the heart and soul of<br />

those teams.<br />

Gaskin earned NAIA All-American honors while also garnering four All-Mid-<br />

Ohio Conference citations during his career. He is eighth in scoring with 1444<br />

points and is fifth in career rebounds. He factors in the top 10 of seven different<br />

categories.<br />

Gaskin has also taken his TU experience and shared it with others in his community.<br />

“I would sum up my TU experience as fantastic,” he said. “Since graduation,<br />

I always continue to tell people about TU and what a great education<br />

you can get. I also take my experiences and teach youth basketball clinics<br />

and coach youth leagues at a YMCA in Cleveland.”<br />

wESlEY RuSSEll<br />

Wesley Russell started his <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />

football career the year after the<br />

Dragons reached the NAIA Elite Eight.<br />

While the teams he played on never<br />

reached those heights, it wasn’t due<br />

to the performance of Russell. Russell is<br />

one of the best defensive backs in TU<br />

history.<br />

Russell holds the career interceptions<br />

record with 15 from 1995-98. He also<br />

ranks fifth in career tackles and holds<br />

the career record in blocked kicks. He is second in career pass deflections.<br />

Russell, who ranks in the top five in four different defensive categories, was<br />

54 CHALLENGE > Fall / Winter 09<br />

a Second Team Football Gazette All-American. He also earned four All-Mid-<br />

States Football Association honors during his playing career.<br />

“One of my favorite moments at TU was when we played Walsh at home<br />

and I intercepted a pass to set up the game winning field goal,” Russell recalled.<br />

“There were many great players and friends on those teams. One of<br />

my greatest associations was with Fred Parker, along with Tony Ferkel. Parker<br />

motivated me during and before games, while Ferkel was a great friend and<br />

helped me gets used to the City of <strong>Tiffin</strong>.”<br />

Russell learned much from his <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> experience. It taught him life<br />

lessons apart from the playing field.<br />

“My TU experience helped me become a well rounded individual and look<br />

outside the box,” said Russell. “It also helped me gain independence. Since<br />

leaving <strong>Tiffin</strong>, it affected me in a positive way to continue to stay close with<br />

friends far and near.”<br />

Voice of<br />

the Dragons<br />

Frank Barber has been the Voice<br />

of the Dragons for 15 seasons.<br />

He first became recognized<br />

on Dragons football and<br />

men’s and women’s basketball<br />

broadcasts in 1995 working<br />

for AM 1600 WTTF. While at<br />

WTTF, he was instrumental in<br />

expanding coverage of local<br />

colleges, eventually resulting<br />

in all college football games<br />

being broadcast both on air<br />

and over the internet.<br />

Barber continued to grow in his relationship with TU, working closely<br />

with the Sports <strong>In</strong>formation Department on projects such as First and<br />

10, a weekly Dragons football on-line coaches interview show; Monday<br />

Night Sports Talk, an area sports talk show on WTTF that regularly<br />

featured Dragons coaches and players; and is a regular fixture at the<br />

annual Hall of Fame inductions, interviewing the inductees for on air<br />

and online promotions.<br />

After leaving WTTF, he continued to work with <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, hitting<br />

the road to cover all 11 football games on www.tiffin.edu when the<br />

university webcast their games exclusively online in 2008. Most recently,<br />

Barber has been the host of Dragon Radio LIVE, a partnership between<br />

TU and WMJK 100.9 FM that produces a monthly TU-centered sports<br />

talk show. Numerous broadcasts of the show are done live from area<br />

restaurants. Barber, who is now retired from active broadcasting,<br />

continues to assist the athletic department with a variety of sports<br />

broadcasts, including the video webcasts of all home football and<br />

basketball games on the B2 Network.


Earn <strong>In</strong>come and<br />

Help TU Students<br />

As a nation of generous people and friends of <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>, we all understand<br />

the importance of charitable endeavors in our society. As a result,<br />

many people support our goals and our academic programs. However, our<br />

natural instincts also tell us that we must first be concerned with our personal<br />

and family security before we consider being of financial assistance to<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />

The Charitable Gift Annuity makes it possible for you to satisfy this dual<br />

objective of personal and family security and financial support of <strong>Tiffin</strong><br />

<strong>University</strong>. Our Charitable Gift Annuity allows you to make an immediate<br />

gift to us without loss of income. <strong>In</strong> many instances, the gift annuity can<br />

actually increase your spendable income.<br />

<strong>In</strong> exchange for your gift of money, real property or securities,<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> will pay you a certain specified annuity for life. The<br />

annual amount of annuity is fixed at the time of the gift, usually more than<br />

typical dividends or interest and remains stable throughout your life. It<br />

will not fluctuate with the economy, so you will know exactly how much<br />

income you will receive. What’s more, you have no investment worries<br />

because the annuity payments are guaranteed until your death. Many TU<br />

alumni and friends are using this attractive program because it allows you<br />

to make a significant gift to the <strong>University</strong> and still get the equivalent of the<br />

income from the money as long as you or your spouse survive. The Charitable<br />

Gift Annuity at <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> is highly flexible and very personalized<br />

to your needs.<br />

Please call Michael A. Grandillo, Vice President for Development and Public<br />

Affairs at 419.448.3282 or email mgrandil@tiffin.edu.<br />

A <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> Charitable Gift Annuity can:<br />

n <strong>In</strong>crease your spendable income<br />

n Provide joint and survivor annuities and deferred gift annuities<br />

n Ease capital gain taxes<br />

www.tiffin.edu > 55


TIFFIN<br />

UNIVERSITY<br />

155 Miami Street<br />

<strong>Tiffin</strong>, Ohio 44883<br />

800.968.6446<br />

www.tiffin.edu<br />

Women Cross Country Team Celebrates Clash Day<br />

NON-PROFIT ORG.<br />

US POSTAGE<br />

paID<br />

TIFFIN<br />

UNIVERSITY<br />

During the week of October 5-9, <strong>Tiffin</strong> <strong>University</strong> students celebrate “Spirit Week”. Activities include Hat Day, Clash Day, Twin Day, <strong>In</strong>volvement Day and Go Green Day.

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