Take a Virtual Tour of Campus

Truman has added a new guided virtual walking tour online for prospective students and campus visitors. The tour is a series of video narrations that lead the visitor through a guided tour of the University, showcasing different aspects of the campus and community on each stop. The narrations are coupled with a coordinated slideshow of photographs showing activities that students engage in at each location.

In addition to the tour, visitors can find buttons to change the tour language, share their current tour via social media and request further information about the University. Truman’s tour is offered in English as well as Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, in hopes of accommodating international students whose first language is not English. Full translated video guides and foreign language text labels for each tour stop and interactive map are available to any prospective student wishing to learn more about Truman.

The tour also includes panoramic images, videos and additional photographs on some stops, accessible through an Explore Media tab. During the tour, a small campus map tracks the visitor’s progress around campus and can be used to access stops quickly, or the map can be expanded to replace the slideshow to give visitors a larger view of the campus.

Truman has been awarded the CampusTours Four Star Tour Award for the tour, which can be viewed at tour.truman.edu.

Truman Joins Employer-Educator Compact

Truman is participating in a new national initiative called the LEAP Employer-Educator Compact. Participating campuses and employers will work together through 2014 to showcase employer support for the aims and outcomes of a broad liberal education and to show how higher education is helping students connect college learning with work, citizenship and global challenges.

The compact was developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and by employers working with AAC&U. University President Troy Paino is a member of a special presidential leadership group within AAC&U called the LEAP Presidents’ Trust. Presidents’ Trust members and employers who work with them are the initial signatories to this ongoing national initiative to ensure that today’s students will be well-prepared for economic, civic and global challenges.

For its part in the Compact, Truman has already established partnerships with the Kansas City-based health care company Cerner, as well as Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company. These partnerships are designed to underscore the economic value of liberal education and to provide students with more hands-on learning opportunities to connect their campus learning with real-world contexts and problems.

“I am excited to be a part of this new national effort bringing employers and educators together to ensure that all our students understand what it takes to succeed in today’s workplace and to partner on ways we can provide more opportunities for students to apply their learning in real-world settings,” said Paino. “We are particularly pleased to partner in this initiative with Cerner and Boeing.”

At a Compact forum in Washington, D.C., in April, AAC&U launched the new LEAP Employer-Educator Compact to make high-quality college learning a shared national priority. More than 250 college presidents and business and nonprofit leaders have signed on to the LEAP Employer-Educator Compact. They have pledged to work together to ensure that all college students—including those attending two-year and four-year, public and private institutions—have access to a high-quality liberal education that prepares them successfully for work, life and citizenship.

Extensive surveys and focus groups by the AAC&U have revealed that more than 75 percent of employers want more emphasis on five key areas including: critical thinking, complex problem-solving, written and oral communication, and applied knowledge in real-world settings. For a full list of LEAP Presidents’ Trust members and employers signing the compact, see aacu.org/leap/presidentstrust/compact. Information about AAC&U membership, programs and publications can be found at aacu.org.

Construction Around Campus

Franklin Street Project

Improvements on Franklin Street, between Normal and Jefferson streets, were recently completed and include a newly paved road and bike lanes.

The portion of Franklin Street that runs through the Truman campus from Patterson to Normal streets is getting a new look that includes new pavement, lighting and sidewalks along with the addition of bike lanes in both directions. The plans also include a new center median with trees down the center of the street. The project is partially funded by the Missouri Department of Transportation, and the anticipated completion date is in August 2013.

Kirk Memorial

This summer, Kirk Memorial, a campus landmark which was built in the 1940s, is getting some much-needed repairs. In addition to replacing the cupola, improvements include new shingles and windows, brick tuck pointing and replacement of limestone detailing that has deteriorated. New plantings of trees and shrubs will be in keeping with the original design from the 1940s. Campus Planner Mark Schultz says the goal is to make the building water-tight and prevent further deterioration.

Centennial Hall

Renovation of Centennial Hall includes the dining hall which will have new booths, tables and chairs, and a completely renovated private dining room. The dining room will be available during the evening for students to study and socialize.

Centennial Hall is nearly midway through a major upgrade that is part of the University’s campus-wide housing improvement project. During the first phase of the Centennial Hall renovation, the entire south side of the residence hall was closed for the 2012-2013 academic year. As the finishing touches were being completed on the south side earlier this summer, work began on the main lounge, dining hall and lounge areas. The north side will be closed for the final phase of the project, and the completion date is January 2014.

The Centennial Hall renovation includes new heating and cooling, ventilation and sprinkler systems; a new electrical system throughout the building; new elevators; and new paint, carpet and lighting in the public areas. Once completed, the common areas, such as the lounges, dining area and hallways, will have new air conditioning. The floor lounges on the third, fourth and fifth floors are being expanded to more than double their original size, and the main lounge will feature a conference room and game room. In addition, the dining area will have a new serving line and seating area along with an attached private dining space.

A new elevator has been added that will take residents from the main lounge to the dining room entryway. In addition, a new chair lift will allow residents and guests who use a wheel chair easier access between the main lounge and the first floor. The building will be completely ADA accessible.

Other improvements include a new data system for faster wireless Internet, new study rooms on the first floor and remodeled public restrooms. Exterior work is also being done on the roof, as well as the brick and concrete that has worn down over the years.

“Students had input on all of the paint and carpet and wood finishes and this has been a truly collaborative project between the architects, Truman staff and Truman students,” said John Gardner, director of residence life. “We really appreciate the support of the Board of Governors, the President’s Office and the Dean of Students Affairs Office.”

A Special Garden

Jack Bowen’s wife, Melba, was actively involved in the design and planning of the Jack C. Bowen Memorial Garden. She is shown in the forefront of this photo which was taken during the installation of the garden.

Long-time Truman professor and alumnus Jack Bowen was honored posthumously with a dedication ceremony for the Jack C. Bowen Memorial Garden on campus June 2, 2012. For 42 years, Bowen worked in public education, holding positions in teaching, coaching, administration and intramurals. He passed away in March 2011 after a long battle with cancer.

A native of La Plata, Mo., Bowen earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Truman in 1958 and 1961, respectively. He started his teaching and coaching career in 1958 in the public schools in Pulaski, Iowa. In 1960, he took a job with the Davis County public schools in Bloomfield, Iowa, holding positions in teaching, coaching and administration. He accepted a position at the University in 1966 in the Division of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, which is now Health and Exercise Sciences.

Assignments over Bowen’s 34 years at Truman included teaching undergraduate courses, serving as director of intramural recreation sports and as the HLTH 194 activities coordinator, overseeing field experiences for HES students and supervising HES MAE students.

The Bowen Garden was made possible through a generous private donation by the K.C. Summers Corporation and was installed by staff, faculty and students under the direction of Trumascape. Jack’s wife, Melba (Cokerham) Bowen (’61), and members of the Bowen family were actively involved in the design and planning of garden, which is maintained by members of Phi Epsilon Kappa, a professional service organization in the Health and Exercise Sciences.

The Jack C. Bowen Memorial Garden is located near the east entrance of the Pershing Building.

Web extras:

Larry Boleach (’62 ’65), an associate professor emeritus of health and exercise sciences who worked with Jack Bowen for 40 years, spoke at the Jack C. Bowen Memorial Garden dedication ceremony. A transcript of Boleach’s remarks is available at trumantoday.truman.edu/pdf/BowenTribute.pdf.
View photos of the dedication ceremony for the Jack C. Bowen Memorial Garden at http://bit.ly/Yu6WBn.

Making Historical Documents More Accessible

Truman computer science major Sierra Gregg received the Student of Achievement Award from the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired at its Visionary Gala in April for her ingenuity to make historical documents from presidential libraries accessible to the blind and visually impaired.

In the summer of 2011, Gregg, herself visually impaired, was chosen as the social media intern at the Office of Presidential Libraries within the National Archives in Washington, D.C. By July of that year, Gregg started searching around in the National Archives digital catalogs for records relating to the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Signed into law on July 26, 1990, the ADA was a ground-breaking civil rights act for the disabilities community. Gregg found only two records relating to the signing of the ADA in the Archives’ digital catalog and neither of those two records was the Act itself. She could see lists of records relating to the Act, but they had not been digitized, meaning a researcher would either have to travel to the physical location of the record or request a copy.

Because Gregg wanted to increase the number of digitized records relating to the ADA, she submitted a proposal for the Americans with Disabilities records webpage. The scope of the original project grew far beyond what she and her supervisor had first imagined. During the last few weeks of her first summer in Washington, D.C., Gregg helped write the proposal and a request for digitized records that was sent out to the 13 presidential libraries. When the summer ended, she came back to Truman for the school year, and although she did not work directly on the project, she stayed in contact with her supervisor.

When Gregg returned to Washington, D.C., in 2012, almost all of her time was devoted to completing the project. By then, the libraries had sent back a list of more than 50 different records, including pictures and text documents, relating to Americans with disabilities. Each library’s records illustrated that president’s work with people with disabilities. For example, the Roosevelt Library’s records focused on Polio, and the Kennedy Library’s records focused on mental impairments. Gregg helped coordinate getting these digitized records listed in the online catalog and the development of the webpage. In July 2012, the Office of Presidential Libraries did a series of posts to all of its social media outlets about the launch of the new webpage.
Even though Gregg will not be working for the National Archive this summer, she hopes the webpage continues to grow to include more records from the presidential libraries, she and would like to have the opportunity to work with them again. Her experiences working for the Office of Presidential Libraries have reinforced her desire to work in a library/archives environment.

“I am truly honored that the Society for the Blind has awarded me the Student of Achievement Award, but I am not the only one that needs to be recognized for creating this new resource,” she said. “Everyone who works for the Office of Presidential Libraries, the archivists that collected the records and numerous other people who work for the National Archives helped make this webpage possible,” said Gregg. “Without them, these important historical records would not be accessible to everyone interested in learning more about disability history.”
Gregg’s project can be found online at www.archives.gov/research/americans-with-disabilities/.

Truman Mobile App

Truman Mobile, the official mobile application of Truman State University, allows users to follow the latest University news and events. Students can check their grades and class schedules, find an available computer and much more. Visitors can also use it to navigate the campus.

Other features include Truman Master Calendar events; Truman Today stories; Truman Index stories; Truman’s YouTube channel; department blogs; campus map; library catalog search; and a Truman faculty, staff and student directory search. More features will be added in the future.
Truman Mobile was designed by Truman alumnus Huan Truong (’11) and Truman student Prasang Chhetri. Truong worked for the University’s IT Services full time after graduating from Truman in December 2011 until leaving for graduate school. Chhetri is currently a student worker for Truman’s Web Services team. Truong and Chhetri also received support from IT Services staff and other members of the campus community.

Truman Mobile works with iOS and Android devices and is available for free on Amazon and the Google Play Store. To download the installation instructions, visit m.truman.edu/app/docs.

Truman included on President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for Sixth Time

Truman has once again been included on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2013. The Honor Roll, compiled by the Corporation for National and Community Service, recognizes higher education institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.

The 2012 Big Event, the 2012 Big Week of Giving and the 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Collegiate Challenge were among the service events that were included in the application as exemplary samples of service performed by the Truman community in 2012.

Truman has received this recognition every year since the inception of the Honor Roll in 2006. The entire list of schools named on the Honor Roll is available at nationalservice.gov/about/initiatives/honorroll.asp.

Students Work with Children in After-School Program

For the past two years, a number of Truman students have been donating their time in the Kirksville community to inspire a love of learning in children ages 4-14 through the Peace program. Peace is a non-profit after-school program that involves volunteers going to the Devlin Place housing complex located several blocks southwest of campus to mentor neighborhood children.

While about 20 children attend regular sessions, which take place from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, the program saw more than 100 different children over the course of the last year.

Kirksville’s Peace program was established in 2010 and modeled after a similar program in Columbia, Mo. According to Amy Burbee, a Peace program coordinator, the decision was made to introduce the program in the Devlin Place area after a group of students spent a summer volunteering and distributing lunches through the Food4Kids program in a nearby park. After building a relationship with the families in the area, these students saw a need for the program.
Peace volunteers provide children with homework help, healthy snacks and fun activities. The program is provided at no cost to the children or their parents, and the volunteers go to the students’ neighborhood for all activities.

Peace is staffed completely by volunteers, mainly Truman students and members of the Life Church High School.

It is affiliated with the University through the campus organization Equipped, but participating Truman students do not receive course credit or scholarship hours, they simply do it for the experience.

“The most rewarding part of the program is seeing the growth of the kids,” Burbee said. “For example, seeing students who have been getting C’s start to get A’s and B’s, or seeing a student gain more confidence in math or watching their social skills grow.”

Peace is supported entirely by donations. Last fall, Truman students sold kettle corn to help raise funds. All financial donations go toward food, supplies and other basic necessities for the program. More information about the Peace program is available online at peacekv.org. The site includes ways to make donations and also has steps for anyone wanting to volunteer as a tutor.

Family Day 2013

Middle Schoolers Explore Future Careers

A Truman student helps a group of middle school students in the Nursing Lab in the Health Sciences Building.

Last October, approximately 120 seventh- and eighth-grade students from Green City, Mo., and Milan, Mo., spent a day touring the Truman campus and attending presentations from Admissions, ROTC, Upward Bound and the School of Health Sciences and Education departments. The programs provided students with information about topics of their interest in health professions and education and possible careers in the fields. Members of the School of Health Sciences and Education dean’s team facilitated the day.

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