26 Aug HU Hires New Director of Digital Media Arts

Phillip Hall has come aboard the Huntington University faculty as Director of the Digital Media Arts Program and Assistant Professor of Digital Media Arts. He brings a wealth of experience in animation.

He realized his dream to animate on feature films when he was hired to work at Blue Sky Studios on “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” He then went on to work at Rhythm and Hues Studios on “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” and “Yogi Bear.”

Hall has also worked on next-gen games for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 as a cinematics animator for Vicarious Visions (a subsidiary of Activision) on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. He also worked as a facial animator at Image-Metrics, contracted by Rockstar Games for “Red Dead Redemption.” Moreover, he has taught a variety of character animation classes as a fulltime instructor at the Art Institute of California–San Diego.

Professor Hall started his career as a 3D Generalist/ Character Animator at International Game Technology where he worked on various licensed games including “Indiana Jones,” “Back to the Future,” “Soul Train,” and “The Addams Family.” In February 2008, he short animation “Bupkis, My Dear Watson” won the monthly character animation competition on  11Secondclub.com.

Hall  graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and earned a Masters from the Miami International University of Art and Design.

25 Aug HU Changes in Psychology and Social Work

After 24 years as part of the Huntington University community, Steve and Twyla Lee have relocated to Colorado Springs. They are now professors in the Focus Leadership Institute. Their actual title is “Senior Fellows for Marriage and Family Life Studies.”

Steve chaired the HU Psychology Department for 24 years. Twyla, after 11 years as Director of Social Work Education at Taylor University, transferred to HU six years ago to develop a new program in Social Work. During those years, they served the UB denomination in various ways.

Huntington University appointed three new faculty members to teach in the Psychology and Social Work areas.

Tanner Babb, Instructor of Psychology (undergraduate and graduate levels). Babb spent three years as a child and adolescent case manager and as a marriage and family therapist with the Bowen Center in Huntington, Ind. After earning a Psychology degree from Huntington University, he went on to obtain a Master’s in Education, with a focus in marriage and family therapy, from Indiana University. He is currently finishing his dissertation for his PhD in counselor education and supervision at the University of Toledo. Babb is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Associate.

Rev. Rick Leone, Assistant Professor of Social Work. Leone has worked in a variety of places, accumulating an interesting resume:

• Taught in the Human Services and Sociology departments of Indiana colleges.
• Worked at SouthernCare Hospice, providing pastoral care, social services, and bereavement services for clients and families.
• Served at Crossroad Children’s Home as the director of pastoral care.
• Worked as an outpatient therapist for TriCity Mental Health Care in East Chicago, Ind., where he also served in the Intensive Outpatient Program.
• Worked as an inpatient therapist for Charter Hospital in Hobart, Ind.

Leone received his Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees from Valparaiso University and Loyola University in Chicago, respectively. In addition, he holds a Master of Divinity from California’s Anglican Theological Seminary. He pastors Our Glorious King Anglican Church in Huntington, Ind., and the Anglican Fellowship of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Dr. Laura Gerig, part-time Instructor in Psychology. Gerig will teach half-time in the psychology department. She has previously taught psychology at Taylor University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Taylor University, and a master’s degree and a PhD in school psychology from Ball State University. Her doctorate specialized in neuropsychology. Her areas of interest are child development and psychological assessment.

24 Aug HU Makes US News Top Ten List

US News & World Report ranks Huntington University 8th in its list of the Best Regional Colleges in the Midwest. This is the fourth consecutive year HU has made the Top Ten.

In-state rival Taylor University topped the list, and Bethel University in Mishawaka ranked 19th.

Huntington also ranked fifth in the “Best Values” ranking for the Midwest (right behind Taylor).

Highlights of the college rankings will be published in the September issue of U.S. News & World Report, available on newsstands Aug. 31. The 2011 Best Colleges guidebook will be on newsstands Aug. 24.

US News divided schools into these categories: National Universities (Harvard, Stanford), National Liberal Arts Colleges (Williams College, West Point), Regional Universities (Creighton, Butler), and Regional Colleges. Many of the schools in the “Best Colleges” list actually bear the “university” name, as does HU. And some schools in the “university” category bear a “college” name (like Emhurst College).

To rank schools, U.S. News first organizes colleges and universities by category and then ranks them within each group. Rankings are based on the following criteria: peer assessment (25 percent), graduation and retention rates (25 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (15 percent), financial resources (10 percent), and alumni giving (5 percent).

12 Aug Forbes.com Rates Huntington University

Huntington University has been listed as one of America’s Best Colleges by Forbes.com.

Huntington University was ranked 289th overall and ninth in the state of Indiana. Huntington was ranked among other top Indiana schools, including Taylor University and Goshen College, and above some state schools, including Purdue University and Ball State University.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are more than 4000 college campuses in the United States. Forbes.com ranked only the top 15 percent of all undergraduate institutions.

The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, in conjunction with Forbes, compiled its college rankings using five general categories:

1. Student satisfaction.
2. Postgraduate success.
3. Student debt.
4. Four-year graduation rate.
5. Competitive awards from outside data sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, RateMyProfessor.com and Payscale.com.

This is the third year for the Forbes.com rankings.