Challenging Summer Camp Featured in Crain's Cleveland

The summer enrichment program started by BW's problem-solving champion and physics chair Edwin Meyer has caught the attention of Crain's Cleveland.

In a story profiling innovative pre-college summer programs for high school students, the weekly business magazine shines a light on Meyer's Gedanken Institute for Problem Solving, a day camp experience that challenges students ages 12 to 16 with real-world problem-solving exercises and games. “It's the week I look forward to all year,”  Meyer told Crain's. “It's exhausting, but the students have a blast. To work with young people, when you see the light go on, it's worth it.”

“This can be a life-changing event for a student,” Meyer said. “It's also an opportunity for them to develop social capital: to get to spend eight or nine hours a day with people who think like them.”

BW is welcoming students of all ages to campus this summer. For more information on the problem-solving camp and many others, visit the BW camp listing page online.

US News Recognizes BW's Hybrid MBA on "Best for Veterans" List

US News has named BW's Hybrid MBA one of the Best Online Graduate Business Programs for Veterans in the country. BW is ranked at number 14 on the national list that recognized "online master's in business degree programs that offer a wide range of benefits for veterans." BW is the only Ohio school recognized.

Most coursework for BW's six semester Hybrid MBA program is completed online, with students meeting on campus for just seven weekends, usually between academic terms in the months of August, December and April.

BW Student Performs In Innovative Cleveland Orchestra Opera

The "grasshopper" on stage in a recent groundbreaking production at Severance Hall was also a Yellow Jacket!

The Cleveland Orchestra's innovative production of Leoą Janáček’s opera, The Cunning Little Vixen, featured BW sophomore Miranda Scholl '16 who says, "It was a surreal experience to be performing on stage with Martina Jankova, and backstage sitting with Jennifer Johnson Cano!"

Mixing projected animation and live action, Vixen earned positive reviews from a variety of newspapers including The New York Times and Cleveland Plain Dealer, which dubbed it "a veritable feast, a dynamic and groundbreaking spectacle."

Scholl, a psychology and theatre double major who auditioned and won the featured roles of Grasshopper/Frantík, is pictured at right in the production photo below. The young soprano says she feels incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity.

"I distinctly remember being in the audience for the Cleveland Orchestra's performance of The Seasons by F. Joseph Hayden, watching the soloists and promising to myself, 'I will someday solo for the Cleveland Orchestra.' Never in a million years did I think it would be this soon!"

BW Student Veteran Promotes Awareness for the Gold Star Pin

On this Memorial Day weekend, the family of BW student, veteran and military widow Kimberly Hazelgrove is featured in a new U.S. Army PSA recognizing the service and sacrifice of surviving military families who wear the Gold Star Pin. 

Kimberly's husband, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Brian Hazelgrove, died in Iraq in 2004. Her son Brandon is a prominent part of the poignant video and other members of the family are featured as extras in the background.

Kimberly and Brian Hazelgrove

Gold Star Pins are presented to "the surviving families of our brave men and women in uniform who die while in service to our nation. The families of service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice deserve our respect, gratitude and the very best support we can provide."

Kimberly is an eloquent spokesperson for surviving families. She authored a commentary, "Not Another Weekend" two years ago on Memorial Day," encouraging reflection on the sacrifice represented by the national holiday.

BW President Touts Experiential Learning in Cool Cleveland Video

In a new video interview with Cool Cleveland's Thomas Mulready, BW President Bob Helmer highlights how the University's strong partnerships and hands-on student involvement in Northeast Ohio provide valuable "experiential learning" opportunities for students... and help to make Cleveland "cool!"

BW students are plugged in across Northeast Ohio and beyond, applying what they learn in the classroom through service, internships, business collaboration, research, artistic performance and much more.

Growing Ovation Day Highlights Student Success

In an expanded format and new location BW's 2014 Ovation celebration set records for the number of projects, number of participants, number of volunteers, number of reviewers and number of attendees. When the reviews were tallied, this year's Ovation Presentation Awards went to: 

• "We All Want to Change the World: A Deconstruction of the 'White Album'" by Patrick Hyzy with support from faculty sponsor Beth Hiser, Conservatory
• "Exposure to NMDA Receptor Antagonists at P7 Alters Prepulse Inhibition at P21 in Rats" presented by students Janace Gifford and Rachel Zacharias; faculty sponsor Brian Thomas, Psychology
• "SPROUT: Long-Term Impacts of Residential Programs for Single-Parent Students in Higher Education," presented by student(s) Rebecca Shisler, Brook Hradisky, faculty sponsor Jill Stephens Fleisher, Sociology

The Greek Life Award was presented to Katie Nadson from Alpha Gama Delta for her project, "Seasonal Patterns of Anthocyanin Production in NE Ohio Plants," and the People’s Choice Awards went to "YJ4L."

BW Provost Steve Stahl said the Ovation performances and presentations embodied BW's mission. "We demonstrated our commitment as an academic community to the liberal arts and sciences; we conducted rigorous scholarship and illustrated the excellence in teaching and learning within a challenging and supportive environment."

One 2014 Ovation presenter, Jenn Lenart, had her work with biology professor Chris Stanton and other students featured in the Plain Dealer.  Follow this link to see full list of awards and scholarships presented at Ovation's Honors Ceremony.

Commencement Celebrates Resilience and Persistence

"Resilience and persistence" were key themes at this year's the 2014 Baldwin Wallace Commencement ceremonies. Both commencement speakers, Mark Shapiro, president of the Cleveland Indians, who delivered the undergraduate address (now posted on BW's YouTube Channel), and Dr. William T. Hiller, executive director of the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation who spoke to graduate students, urged determination in the face adversity.

Certainly, the Class of 2014's scholar, Cheryl Sebjenics, displayed persistence and determination in her slow and steady march to commencement day. Sebjenics earned a perfect 4.0 while taking one course at night or on weekends almost every semester -- Fall, Spring, Summer -- since the year
2000! Sebjenics said she "loved every minute" of her 14-year journey, chronicled in Sunday's Plain Dealer.

BW Financial Aid Officer Recognized for Dedication to Students

A BW administrator who works hard every day to help students maximize sources of funding for their education has been recognized as one of the best in the state!

At the spring conference of the Ohio Association of Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA), Cheryl Willard, associate director of BW Financial Aid was presented with the James W. White award.

The award is given annually to a member of the 45-year-old OASFAA who exemplifies "dedication to students, to the aid community, and to the local community."

Willard, a past president of the organization, is pictured with current president Randy Green.

BW Student Performers "Light It Up" at Dazzle the District

Photographer: Ken Blaze

 

 

When PlayhouseSquare, the second largest theatre district outside New York City, planned its recent Dazzle the District event, Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre students were among a select list of performers invited to entertain nearly 20,000 people who jammed the district for Dazzle. The event celebrated the lighting of the largest outdoor crystal chandelier in the world,  part of a district revitalization effort.

Follow this link to watch a replay of the BW performance taken from live coverage by WEWS-TV. The link is cued to play at 7:10 mark, where BW's "Light it Up" song and dance number takes the stage and wows the crowd!

Faculty-Student Research Delves into Affordable Care Act

According to the findings of a BW student-faculty research project, only about 40 percent of young people say they know anything at all about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (also known as "ObamaCare"). Senior Jesper Zuber partnered with Dr. Dr. Emilia Lombardi, assistant professor of Health & Physical Education, for her project, "Young Adults and their Beliefs about the Affordable Care Act, "as a part of BW’s Faculty-Student Collaboration Program.

As a part of their study, Jesper and Dr. Lombardi collected an internet-based convenience sample of nearly 100 young people between the ages of 18 and 32, asking about their current and future health insurance status, and their attitudes and opinions about the new health care law.

Based on their findings, the BW researchers recommend that greater resources and easy to understand information be made available to young people. Zuber presented the results of her study at Ovation.

Zuber said “The faculty-student collaboration has been a liberating experience for me. I gained a different perspective on myself as a student and a professional. It helped to enhanced my problem solving skills and gave me a greater ability to work under pressure."

Student Service Takes Center Stage for Sociology Club

The spirit of service instilled in BW Yellow Jackets is alive and well in the Sociology, Criminal Justice & Forensic Science (SCF) Club. The organization launched three successful donation projects this past semester.

The first, "Donate a Can and a Piece of Your Heart," ran in February and involved hosting a donation table in the Union where students could donate canned goods and create a valentine to accompany them. All food and valentines were donated to the Cleveland Food Bank in hopes of warming many hearts.






The spring "University Settlement School Supply Drive" focused on collecting school supplies for University Settlement's annual Back to School Fair.

Lastly, the Aluminum Cans for Burned Children (ACBC) project is an ongoing fundraiser to help child burn victims. Aluminum cans are collected outside the computer lab in Malicky Center and taken to a local fire station where they are sold. The money raised is used by firefighters for summer camp tuition assistance for burned children and to purchase necessary equipment.

BW Alumnus Jesse Martin Creates the Avon Electric Orchestra

Avon music teacher Jesse Martin, who studied at BW's Conservatory of Music, has founded the Avon Electric Orchestra (AEO) with the aim of providing more creative opportunities for string players participating in music programs in Avon Local Schools.

The school district helped raise $6,000 to purchase new electric string instruments to support Martin's innovative dream.

The AEO group consists of 32 students who are all excited about the formation of the ensemble, with a sound modeled on groups like the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

Habitat Build Brings BW Community Together in Service

For the second year in a row, BW's Habitat for Humanity chapter organized a "Building Walls" construction project that saw a fully-framed home rise in the parking lot of Bond Hall in single day. 

In partnership with “Crossroads Mission” and powered by 130 volunteer students, staff, alumni and faculty, the group constructed and donated the interior and exterior walls for a deserving family to be selected by the Medina County Habitat affiliate. The group also constructed 7 sheds for homeowners in Cuyahoga County.

Photo Credit: Deborah Petit Frere '14;  More photos on Flickr

The time-lapse video below, by Justin Schultz '14, shows the whole process from delivery of materials, construction of the walls and loading them up for the trip to Medina County.

BW Professor Featured at Elite City Club Forum on Biomimicry

BW Business Division professor Dr. Ven Ochaya was a featured panelist on a City Club of Cleveland discussion on biomimicry, which looks to nature to inspire innovation and solve problems. The presitgious City Club Friday Forum, the longest uninterrupted independent forum series in the country, is  broadcast to radio listeners in more than 40 states from Maine to Alaska.

Ochaya who directs BW's MBAs in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, also serves as a member of the Great Lakes Biomimicry leadership team with the responsbility for with responsibility for education  services  and  networking. Great Lakes Biomimicry has been working with BW to introduce biomimicry into course offerings for students.

The City Club panel discussed the growth of biomimicry both as a science and as an industry in Northeast Ohio. "If we want to truly emulate nature, we have to be collaborative," Ochaya urged.

You can listen to the entire April 18 discussion in the City Club's podcast archives. 

BW Recognized as One of the Top Network Security Schools in US

Education Portal has recognized BW as one of the "Top Network Computing and Information Security Schools" in the country. Just 22 schools made the list!

Education Portal describes the in-demand field of network security as "the area of computer science tasked with planning and maintaining security for an organization's computer network. Those who work in network security can install security software, monitor networks for security issues, and gather data for prosecuting cyber crimes."

BW's Computer Science Department offers a comprehensive computer science major that utilizes a generalist approach combining theoretical study in computer science and mathematics with applications in software development, database systems, and systems design.

SigEp Crowns BW's "Queen of Hearts" at Philanthropy Event

Although Alice was nowhere to be found, Sigma Phi Epsilon Ohio Zeta chapter crowned a new Queen of Hearts on April 16 at the Student Activities Center. This year, Paige Zilba '16 won the crown after stunning the audience with her beat-boxing talent. She joins last year's Queen of Hearts and BW alumna, Becca Wagner '13.

Despite the laughs and the talent on stage (one participant even performed a chemistry experiment), the event served for a greater purpose: to support SigEp's national philanthropy, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS). BBBS seeks to match mentors with children for healthy development and friendship. The event raised over $900 for the organization.

Food Entrepreneur Shares Trial and Error with Business Students

Students in business professor Phil Bessler's "Business Plan Development" class, which is required for the Entrepreneurship minor and major, recently met and talked with Al "Bubba" Baker to learn about his transition from a NFL football star to food entrepreneur.  Baker shared his motivation and trial and error along the way.

Bessler, who has advised Baker through BW's Business Clinic, also got a gratitude shout-out from Baker in a recent Plain Dealer follow-up article on the big bounce his boneless ribs product received from a successful appearance on the TV show "Shark Tank."

Future Yellow Jackets Make a Wise Decision!

At a May 1, "College Decision Day," event at Saint Joseph Academy, six successful seniors celebrated their choice to attend Baldwin Wallace University. These young ladies join hundreds of other students who will become a part of the YJ4L family in the fall.

For students who haven't made a choice (or who have a change of heart), BW works on a rolling admission, meaning there's still time to enroll for the fall semester.