31 Aug New Faculty in Nursing and Worship Leadership

Kathy Buck has joined the Huntington University faculty as Instructor of Nursing. Her nursing career has taken her to Tulsa, Okla., and to three cities in Indiana–Muncie, Peru, and Fort Wayne. Her experience includes a number of years in intensive care, along with orthopedics, home health care, hospice, and cardiac rehab. She holds undergraduate degrees from Anderson and Indiana Wesleyan universities in Indiana, and a master’s degree in Nursing Education from Indiana Wesleyan.

Dr. Melanie Ross has been hired as Assistant Professor of Worship Leadership. Ross comes to Huntington University having previously taught undergraduate courses in theology at the University of Notre Dame. Ross holds a doctorate in Liturgical Studies from the Notre Dame. She earned a Master of Arts in Religion at Yale Divinity School and Yale Institute of Sacred Music in 2004.

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.

14 Jul 2010 English Camp Underway

Huntington University’s Institute for TESOL Studies (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), is conducting a three-week program in East Asia. This is the fourth year the University has been involved in this project. They are conducting both teacher training sessions for English teachers and English Camps for students. A broad network of friends has been developed through these efforts, and we would ask for your prayers.

14 Jul HU’s EXCEL Offering 3 New Online Programs

Huntington University’s EXCEL Adult Degree Programs will offer three new online degree programs.

• Associate of Science degree program in Organizational Management (August 2010).
• Bachelor of Science degree program in Business Administration (August 2010).
• Bachelor of Science degree program in Human Resource Management (spring 2011).

All three programs will be entirely online. EXCEL began offering an online bachelor’s degree program in not-for-profit leadership in the spring of 2009.

EXCEL offers online and evening classes tailored to the schedule of working adults. Onsite classes are held one night per week, one subject at a time in Huntington, Columbia City, and Wabash, Ind. Classes last 5-8 weeks.

EXCEL also has the Gateway Program onsite and online, giving adults the opportunity to take continuing education classes for personal enrichment.

Financial aid is available. Options include grants, scholarships, loans, and a Three-Pay Plan. Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), WorkOne, and veteran’s benefits are accepted.

15 Jun Huntington University Grads Finding Jobs

A recent survey of the Huntington University Class of 2009 showed that 72 percent of the 159 graduates surveyed had acquired fulltime employment within eight months after graduation. Another 15 percent are attending graduate school (an increase from previous years), and another 8 percent have found part-time employment.

“Considering this economy, I think our graduating students did very, very well finding jobs,” said Martha Smith, associate dean of student development.

Contact was made with 146 graduates for the survey.

In just two years, the number of HU students attending graduate school has increased from 5 percent to 15 percent. The largest areas of graduate studies for the Class of 2009 were counseling, social work, and theology.

25 May Diversity in Youth Ministry Leadership

Students in the Huntington University Youth Ministry Leadership program meet at the Brick House Grill in Huntington.

On May 15, Huntington University graduated its first students in the Master of Arts in Youth Ministry Leadership program. Four students received masters degrees.

Each class consists of 90 days of online learning in addition to three days of intense, face-to-face class days in one of four locations across the U.S. This structure enables adults currently involved in ministry or other employment to conveniently pursue their advanced degree.

The Youth Ministry Leadership students are a diverse group in terms of gender, ethnicity, and location. Of the students who have enrolled in the program since 2005:

• 18% are women.
• 16% are ethnic minorities.
• The age range is 22-48.
• They come from across the US, with only 12% from Indiana.

Dr. Dave Rahn (right) directs the YML program, and also serves as Vice President of Youth for Christ. He says the program’s diversity helps bring the discussion of youth ministry topics to life.

“It has been more than obvious to me that our increasing ethnic and gender diversity in our YML classes brings a richness of insights that adds huge value to what–and how–we learn together.”

19 May First Youth Ministry Leadership Class at HU

L-r: Eric Carter and Brian Leslie.

Brian Leslie and Eric Carter were two of the four students who graduated from Huntington University May 15 with Master of Arts degrees in Youth Ministry Leadership. This is the first class to graduate from this online hybrid program.

As youth ministers, Leslie and Carter were already skilled in their crafts, but conferences and seminars were not pushing them to the next level. Their online search brought them to Huntington.

“I felt like there was more out there as far as a deeper level of study,” said Carter, 27, who currently works as a junior-senior high youth minister at Plainfield Christian Church in Comstock Park, Mich., outside of Grand Rapids. “Where a conference is okay, this just adds a greater level of depth.”

Leslie, 38, who works as a youth minister in Plainfield, Ind., (an unaffiliated church also called Plainfield Christian Church, oddly enough), said Huntington’s program stood out from all the others. Here, professors dialog with students, the work is more challenging, and camaraderie is created among students.

“For me, it’s about continuing to do youth ministry in my local context but with better tools,” Leslie said.

“I just don’t know if you would get that everywhere,” Carter said.

Carter, interestingly, had previously worked under Leslie as an intern before beginning his fulltime work in ministry in 2004.

Both Leslie and Carter admit that the last four years have not been easy. They have juggled jobs and families on top of classes and other assignments. But they admit, it has been a rewarding experience that they would not trade, especially since they were able to do it together.