inside ivy tech 2014 spring

fluenceAlumnus develops his diverse staff to be critical thinkers.Page 6

spirationInterpersonal Communication classes receive challenge to pay it forward. 2

vestmentGrant funding enables employment opportunity for local refugees. Page 8

dulgenceFoodies rejoice as their favorite books become edible creations

Spring 2014

IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE NORTHEAST

2 | Ivy Tech communITy college norTheasT | Spring 2014

our region

Jerrilee K. Mosier, Ed.D. Chancellor, Ivy Tech Community College Northeast

As we near the end of yet another academic year, it’s important for us to celebrate the success of more than 1,200 graduates that will complete a degree or certificate at Ivy Tech Community College Northeast this May. Of the many standouts, Patrick Herendeen will cross the stage at Commencement and receive associate degrees in computer information technology and information security. He has earned two certificates as well, one in routing and switching and

the other in cyber technology, which he officially completed last year.

Patrick has become a standout in cyber technology, as evidenced by his participation last October in the annual Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders competition. He was one of five Ivy Tech Northeast students—and one of more than 1,000 students in Canada and the United States—to compete in the competition that tests students’ knowledge of computer technology, from network troubleshooting to component identification.

Patrick not only moved on to round two, learning he ranked No. 1 among all of Indiana’s qualifiers, he made it to the competition’s final round, where he ultimately secured 34th-place honors from a pool of 84 finalists.

The College couldn’t be more proud of Patrick and his accomplishments.

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

Believe it or not, there are critics within the framework of higher education who will

consider Patrick’s accomplishments a failure, in a sense. This opinion won’t come as a

personal attack toward Patrick; it will come as a criticism toward the amount of time

it has taken him to complete an associate degree.

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has set a metric for student

success as it pertains to degree and certificate completion. For example, an associate degree should be able to be completed within three years and a certificate program within one and a half years. Exceeding these timeframes equates to failure in the commission’s view.

What these benchmark standards fail to consider is that Ivy Tech, an open-enrollment institution, serves the most complex student body in Indiana’s higher education system. Student-population data gathered as recently as last year spell this out: Seventy percent receive financial aid; 73 percent are working adults; 21 percent are single parents; and so forth.

The majority of students who enroll in Indiana’s competitive four-year colleges and universities attend those institutions directly out of high school. Students who choose Ivy Tech have more diverse life experiences, on average. These experiences often translate into challenges and responsibilities that increase the probability for unplanned stop-outs and part-time attendance. These realities make the commission’s completion timeframe goals improbable.

DEFINING SUCCESS

Patrick represents some of these diverse life experiences. He started college at an area four-year university. While in that environment for two years before transferring here, he says he battled depression and self-esteem issues.

Through his association with Ivy Tech Northeast, he says he has developed himself beyond measure, both personally and professionally. He attributes this growth to the College’s environment, where he says he was encouraged to ask questions, be fearless if things break (within reason, of course), and to learn from others as well as teach them.

Patrick’s graduation will mark not only the beginning of expanded employment opportunities for him, but also a victory against personal struggles that threatened to derail his academic goals. Who is more qualified than Patrick to go forward and change lives and make Indiana great? He defines success.

SUCCESSSTUDENTCOMMUNITY

FOCUSEDSUCCESS

STUDENTCOMMUNITY

FOCUSED

on the cover

contents

Inside Ivy Tech is published four times per year by Ivy Tech Community College Northeast’s Marketing and Communications office.Ivy Tech Community College Northeast

3800 North Anthony Boulevard, Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1430

260-482-9171 s 888-IVY-LINE

IvyTech.edu/northeast

Eighth Edible Book Festival attracts most participants yetBrittney Todd spent more than 14 hours on the final project for her Advanced Decorating and Candies class. In fact, it took up the majority of the hospitality administration student’s weekend, with hours sandwiched between work and sleep.

There was time dying the fondant—in stages, because red dye first turns fondant pink, then coral, then salmon before it is the bright red of the big dog’s fur. There was time making and shaping the Rice Krispies treats into a house form; and making the marzipan; and the red velvet cake; and piping the Crayola-green icing on the entire cake, with a special tool to make the icing come out in thin strands, like grass blades.

After all that work, and after students and community members spent an hour walking past and gushing about the finished product, Todd had to do the unthinkable: She had to cut up her cake.

Ivy Tech Community College Northeast sponsored the Edible Book Festival April 7, from noon to 2 p.m., in the hallways of the Student Life Center. The participating students, staff, and community members picked a favorite book—or maybe just a book with a great foodie connection—and turned that story into a tasty piece of culinary art. Guests browsed the creations for the first hour and dug in for a taste during the second.

The problem? After spending more than 14 hours on her cake, an homage to “Clifford’s Kitten,” by Norman Bridwell, (that’s “Clifford” as in “The Big Red Dog”) Todd didn’t want to cut it up.

“It’s too pretty,” she said, jokingly sticking out her lower lip in a pout.

April’s event was Ivy Tech Northeast’s eighth time participating in the festival, which is put on by the College’s library. Sharon

EDIBLE BOOKS/continued on next page >

3 Eighth Edible Book Festival attracts most participants yet

6 Business leader challenges employees to think critically

8 College provides training for local refugees through St. Joseph Community Health Foundation grant

10 Veteran jump-starts his career through automotive technology field

12 Communication instructor hopes she and her students pay it forward

14 Students appreciate the lessons of agriculture one bite at a time

16 Mystery Basket Competition winners announced

16 Corporate College executive director retires

16 Campus hosts annual cyber defense challenge

17 National program delivers stay-in-school message to West Noble Elementary School students

18 Community partners sponsor a ‘call’ for literacy

18 National speaker on nursing education visits campus

19 Tidbits

20 Commencement 2014

20 New Venture Competition

Hospitality administration major Daleah Hill pets

Jesse James, a Geoffroy cat, during the Exotic Petting

Zoo in the Student Life Center Gymnasium

on Jan. 22.

Photo credit: Zeke Bryant

Becky Carpenter and other staff at Country Kitchen SweetArt in Fort Wayne created a cake from the children’s book, “The Mine-o-Saur,” by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. Photo credit: Ward Price.

Award-winning publication

Inside Ivy Tech received a gold medallion at the District 3 National Council for Marketing & Public Relations conference in November 2013.

Spring 2014 | Ivy Tech communITy college norTheasT | 3


EDIBLE BOOKS/continued from previous page

Hospitality administration student Jessica Hessert brought a variety of treats, including a slow-cooker of spaghetti, for the “Adventure Time Encyclopædia,” a story version of the Cartoon Network series.

Ben Proud, a librarian at the Ivy Tech Northeast Library, made a pudding, cake, and graham cracker creation for “Dirt Movers,” by Bobbie Kalman. Photo credit: Kyle Shaw.

Hospitality administration major Teresa Thurston made a cake based on the children’s book “In the Forest,” by Maurice Pledger.

Cayla Veach, who calls baking her hobby, chose one of her favorite childhood books, “The Monster at the End of This Book,” a Sesame Street story by Jon Stone. She made three different cakes to illustrate the story: The first showed the cover of the book (in the lower lefthand corner of the image), and the second, a favorite page from the story, which shows a crumbled brick wall. Veach added a layer to this page by bringing the crumbled bricks off the page, giving them a mini cake base.

Hultquist, the library’s director, first introduced the festival to Ivy Tech Northeast, and since its inception, it has grown each year.

“It’s just such a good way to connect with the community,” she said, pointing out that for the first time this year, another college participated.

Joseph Houston, head librarian at Harrison College in Fort Wayne, had wanted to bring the festival to his college, so he participated in Ivy Tech Northeast’s: He turned “Silence of the Lambs,” by Thomas Harris (you know, the book made famous by Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal the cannibal), into vanilla cupcakes with candy eyes, mini marshmallow “fleece” for the lambs, and tiny black “silent” X’s over their mouths.

“I thought it would be nice to take it in an unexpected direction and make it cute,” Houston said.

While baked goods certainly dominated the festival, there were a few savory treats. Jessica Hassert, a hospitality administration student, made a slow-cooker full of spaghetti, apple pie, and various candy treats to illustrate “The Adventure Time Encyclopædia,” by Martin Olson (a story form of the Cartoon Network’s popular animated series). Her menu featured items that are food staples in the story. Not more than 25 minutes after festival goers started to eat the edible books, Hassert had a sign on her slow-cooker that she was all out of spaghetti.

“Last year when I did something that wasn’t cake, people were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, thank you!’ People want to eat everything because it’s so good, but it’s so sweet,” said Hassert, who last year made beans and fries for the book “Mort,” by Terry Pratchett. (Death, the main character, becomes a cook who makes troll burgers, beans, and fries). “I did run out of both.”

Melinda Allen, a cake decorator at Walmart and who lives New Haven, Ind., has only missed two festivals, she said, and after each festival, she begins to think about what to make next year.

For this year’s edible book, she turned to “The War of Roses,” by Robin Neillands, in part because she loves to make roses. She sculpted them from red and white buttercream to top her cupcakes, and

Students, staff, and community members alike picked a book to turn into an edible creation


she made the gray helmet from cake and icing. Drizzles of raspberry gel icing formed drops of blood on the roses, helmet, and cake board.

As Allen discussed her hobby and job, Chelsea Keen, a library technical assistant major, stopped her.

“I have to say, this is one of my favorites here,” Keen said. “My bachelor’s (degree)

is in history, and British history is my forte.”

This was Keen’s first time attending the festival, and she was amazed at the creativity the participants used to turn a book into an edible creation.

“They’re too pretty to eat,” she said.

Alas, that is the point: At 1 p.m., the eating portion of the festival began, and

Todd had to disassemble her Clifford cake. She removed the tiny blue food dish, full of Peanut Butter Crunch cereal (aka dog food), and the tiny blue water bowl, which had a cat napping inside.

She carefully lifted Clifford’s dog house from the cake, and then removed his head. She posed for a quick photo with the smiling fondant Clifford before pulling a large tackle box from beneath her table. Todd grabbed a large carving knife and asked, “How big do I want to make these slices?” before cutting a small 2-inch square piece of Clifford’s lawn.

It was a good call on the size—as guests tried their best to taste a little bit of everything, they stacked small desert plates of cake and other edible books on top of one another as they settled down to eat.

Planning to come next year? Be warned: The Edible Book Festival is a place where diets go to die a delicious, glorious, and sugary death.

The edible version of “The Piggy in the Puddle” book by Charlotte Pomerantz and James Marshall was created by Liz Kerscher, a librarian at the Ivy Tech Northeast Library, and her boyfriend, Jon Metz. Photo credit: Kyle Shaw.

Hospitality administration major Brittney Todd poses with her “Clifford’s Kitten” cake before she has to cut into the creation.

If a solid reputation takes time to perfect, then Gary Murphy and his employer are in good company. Both have been gaining momentum in the industrial machinery and equipment industry for more than 25 years.

The Ivy Tech Community College Northeast alumnus celebrated his silver anniversary with PHD Inc., last year. And what a career ascend it has been, from customer service representative to vice president of engineering.

Murphy joined PHD after earning an associate degree in digital computer electronics from Ivy Tech. His entry-level duties involved screening all electrical switch calls directed at electrical engineers and managing inside sales responsibilities.

“You would be amazed by how much you can learn if you keep quiet and listen to the explanation from an engineer when you don’t have the answer,” he quips.

Murphy’s on-the-job access to mechanical devices, combined with his fondness for math, expanded his curiosity and initiative for discovering how things worked. He says he felt inspired to learn about the organization’s complete product line and also further his own educational opportunities.

“PHD was extremely supportive of me continuing my education,” says Murphy, who went on to earn additional degrees in electrical engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology, and ultimately an MBA from area universities. “As I grew in my positions, I felt it was my duty to PHD to learn more about the mechanical side of the business, which is a big chunk of what we do.”

And while PHD is well-known as a local entity, its greater footprint is cast on the global marketplace through the manufacture of air-, hydraulic-, and motor-

Social engineering

“I challenge my direct reports by asking them to think about what we

need to do to address a problem.” —Gary Murphy, vice president of engineering

Murphy discusses a next generation electric -powered gripper device with PHD Project Development Manager Cale Reese. Photo

credit: Rebecca Hutchins

Business leader challenges employees to think critically


driven robotic devices that make or move objects. PHD’s actuators, for example, mimic human movements, where they grip like a hand, turn like a wrist, or move back and forth like an arm.

The organization’s automated technologies are ubiquitous: PHD’s grippers are on the ends of many robot arms that build automobiles. PHD’s actuators can be found behind the cup-dispensing equipment at select fast-food chains. PHD’s pneumatic cylinders operate numerous sliding glass entry and exit doors at supermarkets.

Murphy’s commitment to the organization has been wide-ranging, from streamlining the quote process to reducing response time by about 80 percent to new product development involving more environmentally friendly concepts.

“Gary’s most significant contribution has come from his overhaul of PHD’s Custom

Products area,” says Walt Hessler, vice president of sales and marketing and an Ivy Tech Northeast graduate himself. “Now called PHD Unlimited, this area has repositioned PHD as a unique solutions provider and helped set us apart from our competition. The willingness of the Unlimited group to take on customers’ special requirements has helped grow PHD’s market share and allowed us to enter new markets.”

Murphy says his leadership philosophy is an important factor in providing excellence from his engineering team.

“I challenge my direct reports by asking them to think about what we need to do to address a problem. I want critical thinkers,” Murphy says. “I know what I think needs to be done, but I want to hear it from the team. Nine times out of ten, the team has better ideas than I do.”

In 2013, Ivy Tech Northeast alumnus Gary Murphy celebrated his silver anniversary with PHD Inc. He began as a customer service representative and has advanced to vice president of engineering for the industrial automation-based company. Photo credit: Rebecca Hutchins

Win–Win Situation Several years ago, PHD increased its community engagement pledge by providing advisory board leadership to Ivy Tech Northeast’s Advanced Manufacturing program and by routinely donating actuators and sensor technology to School of Technology students for their lab work.

“These projects are not inexpensive in any way, shape, or form, so we’re grateful to companies like PHD that have helped provide the materials we need to take these projects to a more advanced level,” says Robert Parker, chair of the Industrial Technology and Manufacturing Production and Operations programs. To date, PHD has donated more than $20,000 in technology to the College.

Bottom photo: Murphy examines the specifications of a manifold blade with PHD associate Matt Roberts, a new product designer. Photo credit: Rebecca Hutchins

Top photo: Murphy visits with PHD associate Bruce Letham, a CNC operator, as he programs a vertical milling machine. Photo credit: Rebecca Hutchins


When Sanda Marlow walked into the YWCA in Fort Wayne, she did not know that, finally, at least one thing in her life was going to go easily.

Marlow is from Myanmar (formerly Burma), and her family still lives there. She is mostly alone in Fort Wayne, and she has used the YWCA for various services and help to get settled in town. On this particular day, she visited the center for a reason that, she thought, had nothing to do with education.

“What do you need?” the caseworker asked Marlow, who named three things:

1. $1,000-plus to afford a green card, which would require …

2. A job

3. Specifically, a job in healthcare.

“When I was a child, I was with adults every day,” she says. “I like to be with the old people. I like to talk with them, listen

to them. And I like that environment, and they also like me a lot. Whenever I go around old people, they become very attach with me.

“My caseworker said, ‘Oh, you are so lucky.’”

She proceeded to tell Marlow about a new grant program at Ivy Tech Community College Northeast. Indiana’s Office of Family & Social Services awarded a grant to the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation late last year, earmarked for refugees to receive Certified Nursing Assistant, or CNA, training from the College.

While Marlow is not technically a refugee, she met all the qualifications for the grant:

• She’s been in the country for more than six months and less than five years.

• She lives in northeast Indiana, moving here after stints in California and Michigan.

• She is older than 16.

• She has reliable transportation. Marlow, who currently lives with whichever friends can host her, also relies on them to drive her.

• She achieved a high enough score on an English placement test. Marlow spoke English growing up in Burma.

She is scheduled to begin classes in May, and at the conclusion of the five-month long program and following a state exam, she will be qualified to enter the workforce as a CNA, individuals who often work in long-term care facilities or at-home and/or live-in care environments. One-hundred percent of her course work, and others’ in the program, is covered by the grant.

College provides

training for local refugees

through St. Joseph

Community Health

Foundation grant

Sanda Marlow, who is originally from Myanmar (formerly Burma), has been in Fort Wayne for six months. During that time, she has lived with a half dozen friends, moving from home to home until she can save enough money for her own lodging.

It may be her lucky break ... finally


Clockwise from top: Tin Tin Htway, Hser Moo, and Khin Htway Thaw are students from Heritage High School in Monroeville, Ind., who are taking classes at Ivy Tech Northeast through the grant that provides certified nursing assistant, or CNA, training for refugees. Here, they are in an English as a second language class as part of the training.

“It will improve my future a lot,” she says, and she laughs. “It will be a very good help for me because I am a zero now, so at least I can become a hero after (training).”

The grant’s greatest benefit is that the certification and eventual job will provide Marlow with an income. Currently, she struggles financially. She moved to the United States a widow—her husband in Burma was 40 years her senior—leaving her three children with her mother.

She wants to move them to Fort Wayne, too, but she is having difficulty obtaining the required paperwork in Burma. Often, IDs are obtained through bribes, she says, and visas expire quickly, leaving her children a narrow timeframe to join their mother.

She may have been able to help them financially, but any money she had is gone: Six months after moving to the

country, Marlow married a man who was controlling and abusive. Because she had not yet received her green card, she was unable to open a bank account without her husband’s name, and he took any money she saved.

Marlow is now divorced, and her green card has been approved. In a half year’s time, she’ll be qualified to work in a profession she enjoys through a program geared specifically to people like Marlow and the challenges they face.

“At the same time while they are using their language skills, they are learning a healthcare profession,” says Cindy Chenoweth, program chair of Health Care Support. “Once they receive their certification, maybe they will be able to go out and find employment.”

Some students will stop after receiving their certificate, Chenoweth says, while

others will want to continue on and become a nurse.

Currently 16 students are enrolled in the program, ranging in age from current high school students to early 30s. The next group of students, which will include Marlow, has a student in his 50s.

Marlow graduated from the Burmese equivalent of high school, but she hasn’t been in classes in more than 20

years, she says. She’d like to receive further certifications, degrees, or both, but it will largely depend on how it goes at Ivy Tech Northeast.

“I am out of touch with my education,” she says. “I will have to see how it goes with this CNA. If I am fine with this … I think I will go further with my studies. I wish to. Not that I want to just stop with this.”

It may be her lucky break ... finally


Following his retirement from military service, Stephen Stuber selected Ivy Tech Northeast in order to pursue a career in the automotive technology field.

Background photo and page design credit: Ron Gephart, visual communications student

military maneuversVeteran jump-starts his career through automotive technology field

Watch out, Uncle Sam. There’s a new face that could provide a contemporary look on America’s military recruitment posters.

That likeness belongs to Stephen Stuber, an Ivy Tech Community College Northeast automotive technology major who retired from the military following a nearly 21-year career.

During that time, he served in not one but three branches of the military: the Air Force, the Army, and the Navy.

His Air Force ties include separate terms of service in the Air National Guard, between two states,

Indiana and Missouri.

Stuber says he first pursued military service given its reputation for creating structure and building self-discipline.

“I knew I wasn’t ready for college after high school because I never really applied myself, but I did want some kind of trade skill I could use in the civilian world,” Stuber says.

Once his military skills were developed, various assignments led him to service obligations in 14

countries and numerous states, from Saudi Arabia and a non-

combat support role in the southern Iraqi no-fly zone

during Operation Desert Storm to Louisiana

and clean-up assistance following Hurricane Katrina.


Ivy Tech ranks as military-friendly college

Branch

Rank

Service Dates

Indiana Army National Guard (1/293rd C Company)

Specialist (E–4) 12/31/86–8/10/91

U.S. Navy (U.S.S. Boston, SSN-703)

Petty Officer Third Class (E–4)

8/11/91–8/11/1995

Indiana Army National Guard (1/293rd B Company)

Specialist (E–4) 8/28/95–3/1/98

Indiana Air National Guard (122nd Fighter Wing Division)

Tech Sergeant (E–6) 3/2/98–3/2/99

Missouri Air National Guard (122nd Fighter Wing Division)

Tech Sergeant (E–6) 3/3/99–9/30/07

Veteran Stephen Stuber served in three distinct branches of the U.S. Armed Forces during his nearly 21-year military career, including the Indiana Army National Guard, U.S. Navy, Indiana Air National Guard, and Missouri Air National Guard.

Veteran Stephen Stuber’s military career included service on the U.S.S. Boston (SSN-703), a Los Angeles-class nuclear-attack submarine, and an incentive flight in an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet. Photo credit: Stephen Stuber.

Ivy Tech Community College has been named to the 2014 Military Friendly Schools® list by Victory Media. The list honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities, and trade schools in the country that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans, and spouses and ensure their success as students.

Ivy Tech has served more veterans than any other college or university in the state. Currently, the College serves more than 6,300 veterans.

Ivy Tech is committed to providing extensive resources to help veterans succeed. The College froze tuition for the past three years for all Hoosier veterans eligible for the GI Bill, members of the Indiana

National Guard, Hoosier veterans, and Indiana members of the federal military reserve. In addition, a military service transfer credit “crosswalk” is in place for selected college courses.

Now in its fifth year, the Military Friendly Schools list is compiled through extensive research and a data-driven survey of more than 10,000 schools nationwide approved for VA tuition funding. Victory Media is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business that has been serving the military community since 2001.

militaryfriendlyschools.com

Aside from high-jeopardy assignments, Stuber says he maintains a certain fondness for several of his military experiences, particularly a “Top Gun” moment.

In 2005, Stuber was given the opportunity to participate in an incentive flight—an honor traditionally offered to top military performers. At Nellis Air Force Base northeast of Las Vegas, Stuber embraced his moment, climbing into the cockpit of an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet. The pilot generously let him take over the controls for rapid side-to-side and upside down maneuvering, Stuber says. They stopped shy of breaking the sound barrier on that flight.

Since his military retirement, Stuber has taken on a challenge of a different nature—an academic one, enrolling at Ivy Tech Northeast last summer. He says a desire to comprehensively repair his own car, along with the promise of continuing education by working for a dealership, have led him to the College’s technical certificate in automotive technology.

“One of the things you learn in the military is that you can learn any position. Boots on the ground and you go,” Stuber says.

Automotive Technology Chair Robert Huffman, who has the veteran in his spring ABS Braking Systems class, agrees with Stuber’s quick-readiness philosophy.

“I would say that Stephen learns things a little faster than most students,” Huffman says. “It could be suggested his military background has had some affect on that trait.”

It’s a trait that would make Uncle Sam proud.

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that kindness is one of the “most curative herbs and agents” in human discourse. Communication instructor Tonia Pankop challenges her students at Ivy Tech Community College Northeast to personify this belief.

As an individual long committed to volunteerism and its virtues, Pankop has made service learning a mainstay in her course curricula. Inspiration for doing so came from her experiences as a teaching assistant while earning a master’s degree in professional communication at IPFW.

“I was seeking something tangible and hands-on at that time. Instead of just talking about the ways we can display good personal communication, I wanted a way to put it into action,” Pankop says.

The result has become her random-acts-of-kindness activity, or RAK project. The assignment is Pankop’s way of paying it forward, particularly for her Interpersonal Communication classes each semester.

“In the beginning, there is a percentage of students who say, ‘Oh my gosh! This is just more work for me to do,’” Pankop says. “Without exception, however, by the end of the project, every student says thank you.”

To satisfy the RAK project’s requirements, students often select a partner and then participate in a three-hour or greater service-learning activity of their choosing, which culminates in a public speaking presentation that highlights communication concepts studied in class.

Through the years, Pankop says students have volunteered

at a number of nonprofit agencies, such as the Humane Society of Allen County, and even with helping disadvantaged neighbors, citing a team that winterized the home of a single mother who had cancer.

“I’ve been asked how long I plan to keep on doing this and I’ve said, ‘Always.’ Kindness doesn’t run out of style,” Pankop says.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

The search for a meaningful RAK project for general studies major Eric Merrill didn’t require a lengthy analysis this spring.

Along with his classmate, Cindi Furney, an early childhood education major, the two agreed to assist Merill’s parents, Richard and Barbara.

Richard, who is a Type II diabetic, is largely sedentary following his open-heart surgery. Barbara is legally blind as a result of macular degeneration.

Merrill and Furney divided cleaning duties in the

A little kindness goes a long wayCommunication instructor hopes she and her students pay it forward

Ivy Tech Northeast communication instructor Tonia Pankop (middle) taps her commitment to volunteerism as the basis for a service-learning assignment in her Interpersonal Communication classes. Joining her, from left, are students Cindi Furney, Brandon Lapp, Eric Merrill, and Breeann Sumner.


Tonia Pankop

Barbara Merrill practices leg lifts based on an exercise program developed by her son, Eric Merrill. Eric’s classmate, Cindi Furney, prepared about a half-dozen microwaveable meals for Eric’s parents. The classmates also cleaned his parents’ home to satisfy their service-learning assignment. Photo credit: Eric Merrill

Student Chelsea Ehrhardt paints the fingernails of a teen mother who participates with YoungLives, a national mentoring organization and ministry. Ehrhardt and her classmate, Sarah Erman, also provided donated clothing and baked treats for the girls. Photo credit: Sarah Erman

LIghtS. CAmerA. ACtIon.Ivy Tech Northeast communication instructor Tonia Pankop also

hosts her own casual-flair talk show featuring community education

topics. Through “Wanna Tell Your Story?” Pankop has hosted guests as

diverse as a Buddhist monk to staff and patrons from the Turnstone

Center for Disabled Children and Adults during the show’s 14-year

run. Her true passion for the show is tied to nature education. “I want

to offer what Bill Nye the Science Guy does for science,” Pankop says.

The cable-access program is taped at the Allen County Public Library

and airs sporadically throughout the year on Access Fort Wayne. Visit

acpl.lib.in.us/afw for the broadcast schedule.

couple’s home. Afterward, Furney prepared about half a dozen meals that could be frozen and later reheated in a microwave, while Merrill developed a low-impact aerobic exercise program for both of his parents.

“The services rendered were received with gratitude,” Merrill says. “In fact, my dad offered to pay us. Of course, we didn’t accept any payment.”

QUEENS FOR A DAY

Chelsea Ehrhardt, who is pursuing both pharmacy technician and electrocardiograph technician certificates, decided to volunteer at YoungLives for her RAK project this spring. This national organization and ministry for teen mothers operates locally from meeting space donated by Fort Wayne’s Heartland Community Church.

Together with her classmate, Sarah Erman, a hospitality

administration and business administration major, the women arrived with assorted baked treats and donated clothing for the girls at the ministry to “shop” through. Ehrhardt also staffed an area where the girls could be pampered further by having their fingernails painted, if desired.

“I hope for myself and my classmates that this project has a lasting effect. Volunteering doesn’t just have to be a one-time thing,” Ehrhardt says. “Sometimes volunteering requires stepping outside of one’s comfort zone; it often does for me. That’s OK if it’s true, but don’t let that be a reason not to do it. Helping someone else in whatever capacity will be an encouragement to you and them.”

“I’ve been asked how long I plan to keep on doing this and I’ve said, ‘Always.’ Kindness doesn’t run out of style.”

—Tonia Pankop, communication instructor


It’s a good thing Tyler Heath does a better job at preparing french fries than he does a Thanksgiving turkey, otherwise

Kelli Kreider’s cooking oil comparison lab could have yielded disastrous results.

As Heath lowered a wire basket of frozen crinkle-cut potatoes into a countertop deep

fryer—a nonscientific taste test and frying analysis activity in Kreider’s Introduction to Agriculture class—he burst into a sinister laughter. He justified his high spirits to classmates by publicly recalling his first experiment with deep frying a turkey a few years ago.

Undeterred by the reality of dealing with a partially frozen turkey, Heath sidestepped common sense that day by submerging the bird into a hot oil fryer in his garage. The planned holiday

dinner immediately took flight, shooting several feet into the air before it smacked

the drywall.

“I told my mom, ‘You’d better go back to the grocery store and pick-up another turkey,”

Heath concluded.

Fortunately for Ivy Tech Community College Northeast and its agriculture students, Kreider’s

experiments are much better controlled.

On this particular late March morning, Kreider, instructor and chair for the Agriculture program, was operating three simultaneous labs in the College’s Farm Credit Mid-America Laboratory to illustrate a unit on food science.

Students began their first lab by studying the properties of a number of cooking oils, including a newly marketed formulation of soybean oil made by Pioneer and supplied by a classmate and his employer. French fries cooked in this oil won the class’ approval by the widest margin.

A butter-versus-whipped cream lab followed, as Kreider worked with her students to demonstrate that both products share the

Students appreciate the lessons of agriculture one bite at a time

Food for thought


For more infoVisit IvyTech.edu/agriculture to learn more about

the Agriculture program at Ivy Tech Northeast.

Ivy Tech Northeast’s Agriculture Chair and instructor Kelli Kreider watches student Sam Kratzer remove french fries from a countertop deep fryer during a cooking oil comparison lab. Classmates (l–r) Isaac Wyss and Tyler Heath await their turn to taste the results.

Right: Agriculture major Isaac Wyss tastes the butter he made during the butter-versus-whipped cream lab. Far right: Ivy Tech Northeast’s North Campus greenhouse may soon feature a pizza garden, where agriculture majors will be able to use tomatoes, basil, oregano, and wheat, for example, in their food labs.

same primary ingredient: heavy cream. To produce butter, student Isaac Wyss vigorously shook a yogurt-sized container of cream over a sink for several minutes. To make the whipped cream, Kreider used an electric mixer to fold air into a small bowl filled with cream.

Lastly, all students embraced the opportunity to make and bake a personal pizza from scratch, with the dough and topping choices donated by Albion (Ind.) Pizza Depot. In the future, Kreider says she wants to maintain a pizza garden with the students, where fresh tomatoes will be used for the sauce, basil and oregano will add zest, and wheat may be ground to make the crust.

“I have a real passion for agriculture. It’s who I am. I even have a bumper sticker in my office that reads, ‘If you eat, you’re involved in agriculture.’ My students seem to like that,” says Kreider, who grew up on a diversified livestock and crop

farm in Whitley County and is currently in her sixth year of teaching.

Kreider’s knack for the profession has not gone unnoticed.

“She’s very enthusiastic in what she’s teaching, and that gets you more interested in the material,” says student Janelle Alford.

In Kreider’s introductory course alone, students learn about the full spectrum of employment opportunities that await them: business operations, climate forecasting, crop farming, horticulture, landscaping, and livestock husbandry, to name a few.

Ivy Tech Northeast’s Agriculture program was launched last fall, and it has already more than doubled its initial enrollment. No other college or university

in northeast Indiana offers a degree program in agriculture.

The associate of science track with Ivy Tech’s

agriculture degree transfers seamlessly to the bachelor’s degree program at Purdue University West Lafayette, where Kreider coincidentally earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture education.

As Kreider wrapped up the day’s lecture and lab work, she received playful feedback from Heath, one of her more entertaining students.

“I’m disappointed in you,” he said.

“Why?” Kreider asked.

“You didn’t let me bring in my turkey deep fryer,” he replied. “C’mon. Go big or go home.”

Kreider laughed.


brief

James Aschliman


Mystery Basket Competition winners announcedThe Hospitality Administration program at Ivy Tech Community College Northeast conducted its annual student culinary competition on Jan. 10: the Mystery Basket Competition. From among 23 culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, and event management student competitors, eight were selected to travel to France to study French cuisine in May.

Culinary arts students were given four hours and 15 minutes to create a trio of dishes from a surprise assortment of pre-selected ingredients. They were also tasked with preparing a fish entree. Baking and pastry arts students created an assortment of baked goods,

including filling an order for a decorated cake. This is the second year event management students were invited to participate. They must schedule an event for 200 people including food, location, keynote speakers, and further details.

Culinary arts winners were Eric Sauer, Adam House, and James Cole Huffman. Baking and pastry arts winners were Bryce Verfaillie, Caitlin Ruth Song O’Mara, Patricia Pereira Pee, Sarah Marie Fox, and Glenda Hinton.

The trip is financed through Ivy Tech Foundation scholarship funds, most of which are raised through the annual A Reason to Taste banquet.

Campus hosts annual cyber defense challengeIvy Tech Community College Northeast hosted Indiana’s Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, or CCDC, on Feb. 8. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology won, competing against Indiana Tech, Indiana University Southeast, and Ivy Tech Northeast.

The four teams inherited an “operational” network from a fictional business complete with email, websites, data files, and users. Teams were required to correct problems on their network, perform typical business tasks, and defend their networks from a red team that

generated live, hostile activity continuously. Points were awarded based on how well the students maintained and defended their services.

Ivy Tech Northeast’s team consisted of Matthew Bearman, Joseph Crandal, Andy Havens, Jacob Heckman, Kevin Miller, Korey Miller, Cary Snyder, and Johnathan Thomas.

Last year, Rose-Hulman placed first in the state competition, first in the regional competition, and third in the national competition.

Corporate College executive director retires

James (Jim) Aschliman, executive director of Ivy Tech Corporate College for northeast Indiana, retired effective Jan. 31. Aschliman served Ivy Tech Community College Northeast for more than 27 years, working

as director of Student Support and Advising Services and director and later executive director for Workforce and Economic Development, which became Corporate College in 2011.

Through Corporate College, Aschliman oversaw the College’s partnerships with local workforce agencies in Ivy Tech Northeast’s nine-county region.

“It is hard to believe more than 27 years have passed since starting at Ivy Tech. It has been great to be part of the change and growth that has taken place at the College,” Aschliman says. “While I will miss working with my colleagues and community partners, I plan to continue promoting educational attainment and life-long learning.”

Aschliman resides in Huntington County with his wife, Brooke, and daughter, Alexandria, and has volunteered in various Huntington community organizations. He is a board member of Life-Long Learning of Huntington County and is retired from the Air National Guard, where he served 23 years, including time as the state human resources advisor for the Adjutant General’s staff.

He possesses a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in education, both from Indiana University.

“It has been my pleasure to work with Jim for the last three and a half years,” says Ivy Tech Northeast Chancellor Jerrilee K. Mosier. “During this time, he has provided leadership for several key Ivy Tech Northeast partnerships. These include the Fort Wayne Metals Advanced Manufacturing Certificate program; the development of the Prometric Certification Testing Center; and the development of the Commercial Driver’s License program in partnership with SIRVA.”

Eight Ivy Tech Community College Northeast students won the Hospitality Administration program’s Mystery Basket Competition on Jan. 10. They will travel to France to study French cuisine for two weeks. They are, from left: Patricia Pereira Pee, Sarah Marie Fox, James Cole Huffman, Caitlin Ruth Song O’Mara, Adam House, Glenda Hinton, Bryce Verfaillie, and Eric Sauer.

Fatima Al Timeemy is a college student, but on this particular day, she’s playing with colored pencils, markers, and crayons.

And it’s all for the benefit of elementary school students.

Ivy Tech Community College Northeast students in the Associate Accelerated Program, or ASAP, have third-grade pen pals at West Noble Elementary School in Ligonier, Ind.

The college students had fun with their letters, referring to their pen pals as “minions” and “little sunshines.”

The letter-writing satisfies a correspondence activity for No Excuses University, a national program that pairs elementary schools that have a high number of students on free and reduced lunch with colleges and military personnel to encourage the elementary students to stay in school and view a college education as viable.

“You’ll be superstars,” Kim Myers, Ivy Tech Northeast’s coordinator of non-traditional academic programs, told her ASAP students before they began writing their first letters in early February. “They’ll be so excited to meet you because you’re in college.”

That face-to-face encounter with “stardom” occurred April 3, as more than 40 students from Angie Beers’ and Rachael Givens’ combined third-grade classes arrived at Ivy Tech Northeast for a little formal education and fun.

The third-graders toured automotive technology and advanced manufacturing labs at the College before connecting with the ASAP students in the Student Life Center Gymnasium for an ice cream sundae bar and a variety of games.

“My students are so excited to meet their pen pals,” Beers says. “For them to see Ivy Tech and the college students, it helps them realize that college is all the more attainable.”

Ivy Tech Northeast Assistant Director of Community Outreach Tanya Young has visited Beers’ class as a No Excuses University partner three times this spring, often bringing a variety of program chairs with her to speak about career possibilities.

“This has been a sharp group of students to work with,” Young says. “Everyone has an idea of a career he or she would like to pursue. No one in Mrs. Beers’ class has said, “I don’t know what I want to do.’”

National program delivers stay-in-school message to West Noble Elementary School students

ASAP student Fatima Al Timeemy leads her West Noble pen pals in a game of Jenga in the Student Life Center Gymnasium following their tour of Ivy Tech Northeast.

Associate Accelerated Program students composed stay-in-school letters for their third-grade pen pals in the No Excuses University program at West Noble Elementary School in Ligonier, Ind.

Machine tool instructor Andy Varga shows the West Noble students a CNC Citizen Swiss Lathe in the Advanced Manufacturing Lab that can be used to machine and fully assemble a slide whistle made of brass.

IVY TECH IS THE ANSWERAdvance in your career. Advance to Ivy Tech Northeast.Ehren Schouweiler is working toward a technical certificate in computer information systems to supplement his MBA.

“I’m a financial analyst by trade. My profession has changed from the time I first entered it. Now, computer science has become an increasingly important aspect. I returned for the certificate program to update my skills and make myself more marketable.”

Advance today, right here.IvyTech.edu/northeast • (888) IVY-LINE


Nx ExcusEs

our region

Nurse educator and training consultant Keith Rischer raised a small book above his head toward the beginning of his full-day “Think Like a Nurse” presentation at Ivy Tech Community College Northeast. His objective was to illustrate how knowledge in the nursing profession has expanded exponentially since its formal development began in the 19th century.

The nearly half-an-inch-thick primer on nursing education—a rare thrift store find for Rischer—was an early edition of “Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not,” first published in 1859 by the pioneer of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale.

“This book covers far less than what you’d find in a single textbook chapter from a nursing course today,” Rischer said, addressing an audience of about 30 nurse educators from northern Indiana on March

6 in Ivy Tech Community College Northeast’s Joan B. McNagny Auditorium on the Coliseum Campus.

Rischer, who has practiced in a wide variety of clinical settings for almost 30 years, is the founder of KeithRN, a consulting company dedicated to promoting excellence in nursing education by emphasizing the three C’s: caring, critical thinking, and clinical reasoning.

He is the author of “Think Like a Nurse: Practical Preparation for Professional Practice” and is a regular speaker at the annual Elsevier Faculty Development Conference in Las Vegas.

Ivy Tech Northeast Assistant Professor of Nursing Maria Hines helped make Rischer’s appearance possible for colleagues. She donated the honorarium from her regional

2013 President’s Award for Excellence in Instruction, which was combined with Perkins Grant professional development funding.

Rischer’s multi-topic presentation covered facets of building the “living” house of professional practice as well as transforming classroom and clinical experiences.

“I liked that he had practical suggestions about helping us to promote deep learning with our students and to bridge the divide between the classroom and clinical,” says Hines, a nurse educator for the past 21 years. “It is imperative to us as nurse educators that we teach our students to think like a nurse. Keith’s presentation didn’t just tell us that, but it taught us how to do that.”

National speaker on nursing education visits campus

Nurse educator and training consultant Keith Rischer delivered his “Think Like a Nurse” presentation to more than 30 nurse educators from northern Indiana at Ivy Tech Northeast on March 6.

“The Call of the Wild” has echoed across the Summit City for the past eight months, as Jack London’s Klondike Gold Rush epic continues to captivate readers as a community book read selection.

Arts Midwest and the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Easter Seals Arc of Northeast Indiana with its first Big Read grant last year, permitting the organization that serves consumers with intellectual and developmental disabilities to choose “The Call of the Wild” from a list of NEA-approved titles.

“It’s a classic text that many people have read,” says Allison Ballard, Big Read project coordinator. “It’s the story of a dog, and many of

our consumers have pets or can relate to animals. Because the book was written from a dog’s point of view, it gives us the opportunity to talk about abstract

concepts from a very concrete place.”

Easter Seals Arc immediately partnered with Ivy Tech Community College Northeast, the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne’s Cinema Center, and the Jesters at the University of

St. Francis to extend the reach of the literacy initiative.

Cinema Center screened the 1972 movie adaptation starring Charlton Heston last September to launch the book read. And participants in Learn to Read, Ivy Tech Northeast’s specially designed reading program for Easter Seals Arc consumers, began reading the title in October.

Four community discussions and a multimedia performance piece are being staged around Allen County between mid-April to early May. The piece is inspired by the book and co-created by Easter Seals Arc consumers in collaboration with the Jesters.

The community book read will culminate with a graduation

ceremony for Easter Seals Arc consumers at Ivy Tech Northeast’s Student Life Center Gymnasium on the North Campus (3701 Dean Drive) on May 19 followed by a two-week visual art exhibit in the Allen County Public Library’s Great Hall between May 19–26, featuring drawings, paintings, and 3-D renderings by Easter Seals Arc consumers that relate to the book.

For more info

Individuals with questions about the community book read or who want to request a free standard-print, large-print, or adapted-readers edition of “The Call of the Wild” should contact Allison Ballard at 260-745-3107 or [email protected].

Community partners sponsor a ‘call’ for literacy


tidbits

Assistant Director of Diversity Affairs Diana Jackson (center, purple dress) joins Ivy Tech Northeast students representing their native countries during a multicultural showcase to highlight artifacts, clothing, and food samples. Student Life sponsored the event in conjunction with Diversity Affairs and the International and Multicultural Student Organization.

From left, Arqam Tariq and Myo Kyaw Lwin visited Ivy Tech Northeast as 2014 Humphrey Fellows from March 31–April 4. Tariq is a civil service official from Pakistan, and Lwin is healthcare program manager from Myanmar (formerly Burma). Both men wanted to learn more about community college operations. The Humphrey Program brings accomplished mid-career professionals to select colleges and universities in the United States for public service, advanced service, professional training, and work-related experiences.

Associate Accelerated Program students (from row, from left) Fatima Al Timeemy, Amber Puran, Cassius Stallings, (back row, from left) Brian Motley, and Jason Bontrager visited Purdue University West Lafayette on March 28. They took a campus tour and met with staff and students to find a “right-fit” four-year institution after they complete their associate degrees.

Hospitality administration major Haley Strickler prepares to serve German fare during the annual Fort Wayne Sister Cities dinner and auction in the Student Life Center Gymnasium on Feb. 22. Fort Wayne’s four sister cities include Gera, Germany; Plock, Poland; Taizhou, China; and Takoka, Japan.


National speaker on nursing education visits campus

Ivy Tech Northeast’s Class of 2014 respiratory care students met with state representatives and senators at the Indiana

Statehouse for a legislative breakfast on Feb. 19. The students discussed their profession and related healthcare laws at the

event sponsored by the Indiana Society for Respiratory Care. Photo credit: Jennifer Brink

More photos at IvyTech.edu/northeast

More photos at IvyTech.edu/northeast

Photo credit: Kim Myers

Commencement 2014Friday, May 9 • 7 p.m.

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum4000 Parnell Avenue • Fort Wayne, IN 46805

Join our college faculty, staff, and administration in celebrating more than

1,200 Ivy Tech Northeast graduates!

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Do you know a great Ivy Tech story?If you or someone you know has a personal story about Ivy Tech to share, we want to hear about it. Contact Dane Hawley at [email protected] or 260-481-2249.

For more information

Jim Tolbert Faculty, Business Administration 260-480-4249 • [email protected]

One Ivy Tech student or alumnus will earn At least $20,000 for a dream businessIvyTech.edu/northeast/newventure

Dream Big!New Venture Competition

This opportunity is arranged through Ivy Tech Northeast’s School of Business and its efforts to educate students who create jobs — not simply get jobs.

Special thanks to our New Venture Competition sponsor

In collaboration with Fort Wayne SCORE

Y E A R 4 : B U S I N E S S P l A N C O N T E S T

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