PNW Pridecast: Campus members recognized for furthering gender equity, university mission
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Episode Script
Greetings, Purdue Northwest colleagues! We welcome you back to the PNW Pridecast, your internal channel for PNW’s faculty and staff news.
I’m Kale Wilk, Communications Specialist in Marketing and Communications, and we have several great topics on tap to share with you.
PNW members recognized for furthering gender equality under Title IX
During the 2022-23 academic year, and particularly during March as we celebrate Women’s History Month, PNW has recognized the 50th anniversary of Title IX and reflected on its multifaceted impact on higher education. The landmark legislation, passed in 1972, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity that receives federal funds.
Within this recognition, three PNW staff members and an alumna were among those honored through system-wide Title IX Distinguished Service Awards for their commitment to advancing gender equity in higher education. The award is given system-wide every five years by Purdue West Lafayette’s office of Institutional Equity.
PNW’s honorees included Dr. Lisa Goodnight, vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement, Chief of Staff, professor of Communication, and chair of PNW’s Intercollegiate Athletic Advisory Committee; Stacie Reardon, student affairs specialist; Oriana White, alumna and former Student Government Association president; and Julie Wiejak, executive director of Undergraduate Admissions. Each of PNW’s honorees were recognized for their various individual efforts to support gender equality on campus, with initiatives and support that encompass academics, student affairs, student life, athletics, and more.
Vice Chancellor Goodnight was recognized for her scholarship and advocacy supporting gender equality. As a faculty member, she co-authored Communication: Embracing Difference with fellow Communication professor Daniel Dunn, and the textbook reflects diverse student populations at many different kinds of universities and colleges across the nation.. As a faculty member she also developed faculty training to support pregnant women students and led the implementation of events during PNW’s annual Women’s History Month celebration. In a previous role as Dean of Students, Goodnight instituted the Step Up program, a bystander intervention initiative, and Safe Zone Training, an ally development program intended to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Here’s Goodnight with more on what this honor means to her:
“To help someone reach their potential, many times it’s about opening the doors and helping students or young professionals see the opportunities ahead of them and encouraging them to take the risk of walking through that door. I often say to students and young professionals, ‘I can open the door for you, but I cannot make you walk through it, but let us talk about the risks and possible rewards if you walk through that door.’ And then assuring them that I will be there to discuss any hesitations or obstacles that come in their path because that is going to happen. And letting them know that they are not alone, and they are not walking their career path by themselves — someone who is there to listen, offer advice when needed, but mostly to encourage and be a positive force for that person.
“Whenever I am teaching a class it is about getting to know each student as best I can, or as best as they want me to know them, and then helping them figure out where they want to be, where they want to go, but also showing them other avenues they may not have thought about. That’s the joy — getting students to see themselves in different ways so that they can imagine a different future has been very intentional for me, both as a faculty member and as an administrator.”
Vice Chancellor Tim Winders appointed to system-wide role
Vice Chancellor of Information Services Tim Winders has been selected to serve in an expanded role within the Purdue system that will integrate information technology (IT) across the regional campuses. Winders will remain the Vice Chancellor for Information Services at PNW.
Earlier in the spring semester, Purdue’s information technology organization was rebranded to Purdue IT. The move also involves a user-focused experience that will embed local support for specialized academic IT needs and provide the infrastructure, personal service, information security, and responsive solutions necessary for supporting innovative teaching and learning.
Winders is tapped to lead Distributive Services under this IT transition, where he, as assistant vice president of Distributed Services and deputy CIO, will help integrate these resources across the regional campuses.
“The idea is to ensure that the campus maintains its identity, service delivery standards, and excellence while being under the umbrella of Purdue IT so that we can share our excellence bidirectionally.
“You have probably heard President Chiang use the expression ‘excellence at scale,’ and that is what this really is. How do we take our excellence that we do at PNW and deliver that across the entire system? And, what does Purdue IT do that we can learn from or leverage just because it is a much larger organization? While we have 35 IT employees at PNW, the entire Purdue IT organization will have 700. So we are able to leverage that scale across the entire system.”
Winders’ selection is credited to his demonstrated leadership in adopting system-wide initiatives across a decade of working at PNW, including being instrumental in the implementation of the Purdue System Cloud. At PNW Winders has also implemented IT strategic planning, governance, and security, implemented digital accessibility standards and training, and established student employee standards and benchmarks. Winders also recently completed his PhD in Technology, Leadership, and Innovation from Purdue West Lafayette.
IT resources at PNW will not be impacted with this change. However, as part of the transition, effective July 1 the PNW Libraries will report to Dr. Rebecca Stankowski, associate vice chancellor of Academic Affairs.
Founders Day celebrates standout accomplishments
PNW faculty and staff members, as well as students, recently gathered to celebrate Founders Day. The annual celebration marks the university’s founding and reflects on its mission to provide transformational and impactful change for Northwest Indiana.
Founders Day also provides a setting to recognize standout faculty, staff, and students, all nominated by their peers, for their exemplary accomplishments. Honorees are campus members who have advanced PNW’s mission through academics, scholarship, and service to the campus community and Northwest Indiana.
Lizzy Campuzano, a fourth-year Psychology major, won the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award for her on-campus leadership. Campuzano says she feels a sense of belonging at PNW thanks to her support network of student and staff peers.
“I’m super honored,” said Campuzano. “There were so many amazing people who were nominated. It was an honor to be nominated in and of itself, but to win the award, it means everything. So many people have done great things for me, not only at PNW but the community I have built around PNW as well. It is to be a part of something bigger than yourself. It is being able to make small changes in everyday students that impact the community as a whole.
“The support system I have is one that I hold very close to my heart. I have PNW to thank for that. I remember walking on campus and feeling right at home, and that was as a senior in high school. Just having my community, having the people that I surround myself with, having them is the most amazing thing.”
Congratulations to all those nominated for this year’s awards! To view a full list of Founders Day award winners and years of service honorees, you can visit pnw.edu/founders-day.
Recent news
We have a couple items we’d like to close out with here:
- A dozen PNW faculty members representing the colleges of Engineering and Sciences, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, and Nursing will present Friday at the Midwest Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. The conference focuses on research related to the teaching and learning process.
Attending faculty include: Matthew Bauman, assistant professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management; Mohammed Errihani, associate professor of Linguistics; Farai Gombedza, assistant professor of Biochemistry; Dianne Hoekstra, clinical assistant professor of Nursing; Hubert Izienicki, associate professor of Sociology; Patrick Keegan, assistant professor of Education; Jamie Kozel, clinical assistant professor of Nursing; David Nalbone, professor of Psychology; David Pratt, associate professor of Education; Debra Pratt, lecturer of Elementary Education; Christabel Rogalin, associate professor of Sociology; and Angela Schooley, associate professor of Nursing.
Emily Hixon, director of the Center for Faculty Excellence and professor of Education, says sharing teaching strategies and related research helps to build a community of educators who learn from one another and contribute to a field of knowledge that ensures higher education continues to evolve and meet the needs of students.
- TRIO and Educational Opportunity Programs are partnering with the Center for Faculty Excellence to engage faculty and staff in designing and implementing collaborative approaches to support first-generation student success at PNW.
PNW faculty and staff members can apply for First-Gen Pride microgrants that fund projects aimed at implementing innovative ideas to support first-generation student’ success inside and outside the classroom, conducting research to better understand first-generation students’ needs, and eliminating or reducing academic, financial, and social barriers. Educational Opportunity Programs has committed $6,000 for the microgrants, with grant awards ranging from $500 to $3,000 that will be considered for funding. Proposals are due Monday, April 3.
To learn more information, visit pnw.edu/eop.
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That is all we have time for! You can catch up on past episodes and submit your internal faculty and staff news or suggestions by visiting pnw.edu/pridecast.
I’m Kale Wilk, signing off, and I’ll connect with you again in a few weeks.