WSU Community Service Recognition

Winona State University has been named to the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) for the sixth consecutive year. In 2012-13, more than 5,100 WSU students contributed over 200,000 community service hours.

The Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to community, service- learning, and civic engagement.

It highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement.

Carnegie Foundation Recognizes WSU

Winona State University has been selected to receive the 2015 Community Engagement Classification from
the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a national policy and research center for higher education.

“The community engagement classification reaffirms our commitment to our mission. We are truly a community of learners improving the world,” said Patricia L. Rogers, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

According to Rogers, community engagement at Winona State is about connecting students to purpose-driven work that applies their learning from the classroom to the community they

live in. WSU students have contributed more than one million volunteer hours since 2007, with more than half of WSU students involved in service to the community.

McVay Accepts Shingo Award

Gloria McVay, department chair and professor of accounting at Winona State University, received the Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award for her collaboration on the workbook, Accounting in the Lean Enterprise.

The workbook is designed to provide a clearer understanding of the fundamentals of strategic Lean philosophy. McVay also received the Excellence in Lean Accounting Professor Award from Lean Enterprise Institute in 2007. McVay has presented her research at numerous international conferences in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe.

 

Oness Novel Awarded Brighthorse Prize

The editors of Brighthorse Books have selected Winona State University English Professor Elizabeth Oness’ novel, Leaving Milan, for the 2014 Brighthorse Prize.

Oness’ work has appeared in The Hudson Review, Crazyhorse, Glimmer Train, The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review, and other literary magazines. She has received an O. Henry Prize, a Nelson Algren Award, and the Iowa Short Fiction Prize.

Oness teaches composition, literature, and fiction writing at WSU. She is also the marketing director for a literary fine press, Sutton Hoo Press.

Leaving Milan, published last December, is Oness’ first novel set in the Upper Midwest.

Accreditation Granted

The Winona State Social Work Department recently received accreditation until 2021 through the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The department has been accredited continuously by CSWE since 1984.

Cathleen Faruque is a 1982 graduate of the WSU Social Work Department and currently serves as a Professor of Social Work and as the Department Chair. Faruque said CSWE accreditation highlights the excellence of the program.

“Our students are able to apply for state social work licensure, as well as advanced standing for Master of Social Work programs,” Faruque said. “Our program is known in the Midwest for its excellence because of our faculty and student engagement in the community and service learning.”

Alumni Program Receives Honor

Winona State University received a Bronze Award for Best Student Alumni Programming at the 40th Annual CASE District V Regional Conference held in December in Chicago.

The award recognizes the merits of WSU’s “Alumni College: Professor for a Day” alumni engagement program. Twice a year, Winona State invites alumni back to campus to share professional and personal experiences with students. The program represents an opportunity for WSU alumni to remain connected with the university and at the same time engage with students preparing for careers in similar fields. In 2014, Alumni College sponsored 40 speakers in 83 classes, sharing valuable insights with approximately 2,500 current WSU students.

The Power Within

Wayne Wicka ‘93, WSU Program Director in Advising Services, released his first online book, The Power of Human Potential: It’s In You!

Wicka tells the story of struggle and triumph in his quest to overcome failure and discover success. Enduring the lessons of low self-esteem, poor self-image, academic and athletic futility in high school, Wicka shares
the painful lessons of hard knocks with the life-changing lessons of success learned from his many mentors who have shaped and transformed his life for the purpose of empowering others.