College Assembly, Advising Workshop Kick Off New Year
August 18, 2009
The 2009-2010 academic year kicks off on Friday, August 21, when faculty and staff gather for the Opening College Assembly meeting at 9 a.m. in the Ballroom of the Kennedy Center. College employees join President Thomas V. Chema and senior officers to review accomplishments of the past year and to learn about the goals for the upcoming year. All new faculty and staff are introduced at Opening Assembly.
Then, at 1:30 p.m., faculty and staff reconvene for “Advising Fishbowl,” a panel discussion moderated by Vice President and Dean Cheryl Torsney. A panel of resident experts from the faculty, athletics, student development and student services respond to a series of student advising case studies. Faculty and staff in attendance ask questions and offer comments about best practices in student advising.
While Opening Assembly typically kicks off the new academic year, new and returning students have been arriving to campus since Monday, August 3. Resident assistants, fall athletes and orientation leaders are among the “first wave” of activity on campus. About one-third of Hiram’s students will be on campus by the arrival of new students the week of August 24. The first day of classes is Monday, August 31 (the weekend of August 28 for non-traditional students).
Changes Since You’ve Been Gone
July 31, 2009
104 students to move into first-ever Hiram townhouses
Among the most significant changes this summer is the completion of the 26 townhouses that will house 104 of our returning students for the 2009-2010 year. Each townhouse has four single bedrooms, two baths, a living room, kitchen with breakfast bar and laundry room. Each unit has a separate entrance from outside, and every occupant has an assigned on-site parking space. The construction schedule has been tight, with crews working extra hours to make sure that carpets are installed and paint is dry in time for move-in.
To the benefit of the entire community, the Winrock Road extension is being paved and the parking lot adjacent to the Gelbke Fine Arts Center is being expanded at the conclusion of the student townhouse development project.
Food service revolutionized with 18,000 square-foot dining hall
When you come back from summer break, you’ll immediately notice a substantial improvement to the College’s dining facilities. Our new building is, in a word, spectacular. Serving stations are being installed in July, and AVI employees are excited about using this space to improve the overall quality of the dining experience for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
The new dining hall will be open weekdays from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4:30 to 8 p.m. and 9 to 11:30 p.m. Weekend hours will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. on Saturdays) and 9 to 11:30 p.m.
And the new dining hall is only the beginning
A popular pizza franchise in Northeast Ohio is opening a location in Hiram. Gionino’s Pizzeria is expected to open during the first week of September on the street level of the professional building across from the post office.
A familiar hangout will return to Hiram when Gery’s Place Down Under opens for business just prior to the start of classes. Gery’s Place Down Under will be a restaurant and pub in the location of the former Dropouts and will be owned and operated by Gery Henkels, a respected 36-year veteran of Hiram College and former campus food service manager.
Goodbye yellow brick walls
That’s right, the Hinsdale Hall renovations are nearly complete. The name of the building is about the only thing you will recognize when you return to campus, as the interior has received a new look and a new set of furniture that makes the building a much more comfortable learning space for professors and students.
Speaking of new learning spaces
Faculty and staff members associated with the Garfield Institute for Public Leadership moved into their permanent residence in the new Garfield Meeting House. John Koritansky, Nozar Alaolmolki, Jason Johnson, James Thompson, and Kathy Luscheck have perhaps the most enviable office space on campus. And don’t be surprised if you see the lower-level seminar room as the location of one of your classes this year!
Also ahead for the Garfield Institute
You’ve probably already seen the national news coverage of our statute of President James A. Garfield that stands outside the Garfield Meeting House. Sadly, the statue was vandalized after you left campus in May and he has been headless throughout the summer. However, we received the unexpected and happy news on July 31 that a good samaritan has returned the head to the Hiram Village Police Department! Very soon we’ll have James A. together again.
Summer provides little solitude for Hiramites
The Office of Special Events and Conferencing had a blockbuster summer conferencing season. They hosted 24 groups and three weddings bringing nearly 2,500 guests to campus! Almost every day since commencement, there’s been a band playing, volleyball players practicing, or people meeting somewhere on campus.
New faces in the faculty
The College’s new vice president and dean, Cheryl Torsney, formally started her official duties. She is formerly professor of English and associate provost at West Virginia University and a native of Youngstown, Ohio. In addition to Torsney, the following new faculty members join us this year:
Amanda Buzzacco (accounting)
Erin Gentry Lamb (biomedical humanities)
Jon Gordon (communication)
Renee Gutierrez (Spanish)
Cheryl Hunter (education)
James Kercher (chemistry)
J. Paul Louth (music)
Brad Maguth (education)
Steven Merrill (nursing)
Louis Oliphant (computer science)
Arne Weigold (psychology)
Cynthia Willis-Chun (communication)
Time-Warner to provide digital cable services
You’ll notice an improvement in your cable service upon returning to campus. We’ve switched from analog to digital cable, which means more channels and improved reliability. Basic cable channels are available in every residence hall and townhouse, and students may individually pay for upgrades like premium channels (HBO, for example) and DVR service. You do not need any special equipment and Time Warner representatives will be on campus during move-in to answer your questions.
Carol Milani becomes the official voice of Hiram College
Campus Visit Coordinator Carol Milani of the Office of Admission is now the voice of Hiram via our new automated phone attendant. When you call our main switchboard (330.569.3211), you are now greeted by Carol’s voice and prompted to either dial by name or select from a menu of campus offices. The new service increases the availability of the campus switchboard to 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
Of course, you may still dial directly by using the 4-digit extension from a campus phone, or 330.569 followed by the extension if you’re calling from off campus.
What do Argentina, Canada, Germany, Puerto Rico and Sweden have in common? (Besides that they’re all outside of the U.S.)
They’re all places that you can study as part of Hiram’s association with East Central Colleges. Students from Hiram may now sign up for semester-long study abroad exchange programs to any one of these locations. This is in addition to Hiram’s traditional faculty-led study abroad trips and exchange programs with universities in Italy, Japan and Turkey. Visit study abroad for more information. So, where in the world will you travel next year?
Learning that’s more local
Hiram students participate in plenty of curricular and co-curricular learning experiences off campus within the U.S. That won’t change. But now, we have new policies for when Hiram faculty, students and staff may use our 15-passenger vans. The 15-passenger vans are available for destinations for college-approved programs within a 100-mile radius. That means that you can take a 15-passenger van up to 200 miles round-trip. For destinations that are more than 100 miles away, you can still use the 12-passenger vans, mini-vans or cars.
Alumni’s giving is up in a down year
The Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving recently released its year-end figures and the results defy national trends. Total gifts to the Hiram Fund from alumni and friends exceed $1.7 million in 2008-2009, up 14% from the previous year. Experts predict that overall giving to education is likely to decline by 4% for the year. Not at Hiram! Our graduates have responded to Hiram’s growth by supporting the programs that helped make them successful—providing opportunities to a new generation of students.
This is a test. This is only a test.
No, it’s not exam time yet. However, the Campus Emergency Response Team (CERT) has been actively studying and revising its plans for an emergency, pandemic or catastrophic event. Several members of CERT participated in a simulation this summer to test the College’s plans. We’ve also been evaluating new ways to communicate effectively during an emergency, including text messaging. We’ll provide more specific information on that later.
For now, students and families should be prepared in the event that the College closes unexpectedly, as it did during the ice storm of 2008. We’re asking all students to identify where they will go—with names, addresses and phone numbers—if the college closes. Experts tell us that advance preparation is the best response to an emergency.
Please remember that emergency announcements are available at the College’s home page, at 330.569.5959 and via campus e-mail.
Consider the environment before you print that
Going green means using less paper and recycling what you do use. Beginning this year, you’ll be able to print up to 500 pages per year in any of Hiram’s public computer labs (Kennedy Center, Colton 106, Hinsdale 204 and 214, the Library, Gerstacker 124 and all residence halls). If you need to print more than 500 pages, and a vast majority of students never do, you can purchase lots of 50 pages for $3 per lot at the Student Accounts Office. The important thing is to print only when you must, print double-sided and use the recycle bins located across campus for papers you don’t need anymore.
Reality check
If all the changes seem too good to be true, then keep in mind all of the positive growth that has been a part of Hiram during the past six years. While these changes would have stretched our imagination just a few years ago, today they are a part of a normal summer at Hiram College. However, we’ve stretched our crews to their limits and have postponed a few projects so that we can devote the time we need to do them right.
We plan to begin renovations for a Bistro on the first floor of the Kennedy Center this fall. We are also delaying the start of our renovations for the Black Box Theatre. We have a few generous donors who have made this project possible, and we will begin work when the dust settles from our massive undertakings in other areas of campus.
Finally, we also postponed a few minor updates to our existing residential facilities, however we have moved forward on the work that was most meaningful to enhance the student experience and will continue our renovation plan moving forward.
Important dates to start the year
Returning students move back into the residence halls on Saturday, August 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. for express check-in and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 30. Early arrivals are scheduled for resident assistants (August 16), soccer, cross country and volleyball players (August 18), football players and Terrier Sound members (August 19), cheerleaders (August 20), orientation leaders and movers & groovers (August 24), and new students (August 26).
Classes begin Monday, August 31. (Weekend College courses begin Friday, August 28.) We will not have classes on Monday, September 7, to observe Labor Day. Opening convocation is Thursday, September 10.
Visit Hiram College News to keep up with news and events at Hiram. Subscribe to the daily e-mail summaries by entering your e-mail address in the box on the upper-right side of the page and clicking “go.” Whatever happens on campus, you’ll know about it.
Torsney Named Hiram College’s VP and Dean
November 10, 2008
Hiram College President Thomas V. Chema has announced the appointment of Dr. Cheryl B. Torsney as the institution’s next Vice President and Dean of the College. Torsney, professor of English and associate provost for academic programs at West Virginia University, will assume her new responsibilities on June 1, 2009.
Dr. Cheryl B. Torsney
Torsney has been an associate provost at WVU since 2003 where she has significant responsibility for academic programming, assessment, enrollment management and retention. She serves as a member of the president’s cabinet and directly oversees undergraduate advising, the Honors College, civic engagement and graduate education at WVU.
“Cheryl has a proven track record in data-driven strategic planning and brings experiences in academic affairs that are crucial to maintaining Hiram’s positive momentum,” said Chema. “She impressed the people who met her during the search process, and the Board of Trustees communicated how much they look forward to working with her in the future.”
“I am honored and humbled by my selection,” said Torsney. “As a beneficiary of a liberal arts education, I have long admired the Hiram tradition, and I look forward to participating in the life of the College.”
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Torsney earned her B.A. from Allegheny College with majors in English and French, her M.A. in English from Louisiana State University and her Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida. She has 25 years of experience in university-level teaching and has published numerous books and articles. She is a scholar of the works on Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840-1894), who grew up in Cleveland.
Torsney and her husband, Eric Hansmann, a graduate of Allegheny, have two children. Benjamin Torsney, 22, is an Allegheny graduate and AmeriCorps volunteer in Pittsburgh, and Edward Torsney, 18, is a first-year student at Allegheny.
With such strong family connections to Allegheny, Torsney understands the value of a liberal arts education for undergraduate students in an intimate learning environment. “During my visit, I was especially impressed by the students I met. Their energy and their commitment to Hiram are remarkable. They are smart, articulate, and fun,” Torsney added.
Torsney will assume her deanship at Hiram during a time of rapid growth and development at the College. In the past five years, Hiram’s enrollment has surged 50%, to 1,100 students, toward the goal of sustaining a full-time traditional enrollment of 1,300 to 1,400 students. Torsney will lead the academic affairs division which has recently added a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program and six Centers of Excellence, and houses the Weekend College, the oldest continuing weekend degree program for non-traditional learners in the country.
Hiram College Men’s Basketball Outlasted by Allegheny (Pa.) College, 80-76
February 13, 2008
The Hiram College men’s basketball team couldn’t quite overcome a 13-point second half deficit losing to Allegheny College, 80-76, tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 13) in a North Coast Athletic Conference game at the David V. Wise Center in Meadville, Pa. [Game Box] Read more
