Vol. 24 No. 25 - March 17, 2020

Truman is extending its suspension of in-person classes through the spring semester.

At this time, there are still no known cases of COVID-19 among any Truman students, faculty or staff. This is a preventative measure being taken to ensure the health and well-being of the campus and Kirksville communities.

Truman remains committed to providing an educational experience through these extraordinary circumstances. Faculty members have prepared to continue their courses through alternative instructional methods. Later this week, Truman will provide specific details for students to retrieve their belongings from, or return to, their on-campus housing. Students with a meal plan can continue to get food service at the Ryle Hall Dining Center. Offices will continue to be staffed and services provided, however, as an additional safety measure all on-campus events have been cancelled until further notice. A decision on commencement will be made at a later date. The University plans to proceed with a ceremony at the regularly scheduled time, if possible.

University leadership will continue to assess the situation and make adjustments accordingly. Some services have been altered. Administrators will continue to consult with appropriate agencies and the Department of Education in regard to student financial aid, on-campus housing, food service and other pertinent issues. Any decisions on those matters will be announced to the affected parties. 

As this is an evolving situation, the University will continue to provide regular communication to students and employees, and all publicly relevant information will be posted at trualert.truman.edu. Specific questions not addressed on the FAQ section of the TruAlert page can be directed to covid19questions@truman.edu.

The men’s basketball team won the GLVC tournament for the first time since joining the conference with a 53-52 win over Missouri-St. Louis, March 8.

This is the first conference tournament title since 1999, when they won as a member of the MIAA. Brodric Thomas led the way for the Bulldogs in the conference title game with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

By winning the conference tournament, the team received the automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Bulldogs earned the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region and were set to take on Ferris State March 14 in Indianapolis before the NCAA cancelled all postseason play due to public health concerns related to the coronavirus.

The team won 23 games this season, including the postseason, which is the second-most in program history. The program record was set in 1998-99 when they won 26 games, making a run to the national semifinals.

Multiple Bulldogs earned honors throughout the season. Thomas was named GLVC Player of the Year. The senior guard from Bolingbrook, Ill., finished second in the conference in scoring with 20.9 points a game. He also was fourth in steals with 1.8 per game, eighth in rebounds with 6.9 per game and assists with 3.4 per game. Thomas passed multiple milestones including 1,000 points and 100 steals earlier this season. He moved into the top 10 in program history in points, blocks and assists this season.

Thomas was named conference player of the week four times, and was one of two unanimous selections. He made the All-GLVC first team and All-GLVC defensive team for the third-straight year. Thomas is the third Bulldog to win conference player of the year. He also earned first team All-Midwest Region honors.

Cade McKnight was named second team all-conference. The redshirt sophomore averaged 13.8 points per game in the 23 games he played, starting all 23. He also averaged 4.6 rebounds per game, dished out 43 assists and collected eight blocks.

Turner Scott was named the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship nominee for the Bulldogs.

After months of speculation, Truman’s new branding elements were shown to the campus community for the first time, March 4 in Baldwin Hall Auditorium.

For more than a year, the University has worked with SME, a creative agency branding firm, to help refresh Truman’s brand. The logo and many of the branding elements for the University have gone largely unchanged for more than 20 years. After several on-campus visits and three rounds of focus groups that included current and prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the Kirksville community, SME helped develop a new tagline and logo to represent the essence of Truman.

As a public liberal arts and sciences university, Truman offers the best of both worlds: the foundational principles of the liberal arts and sciences with high-impact learning experiences. Like its students, Truman is Distinct by Design.
   
The new logo and tagline are part of a comprehensive marketing plan to help raise awareness of the University as a whole and in particular with potential students. Because the new branding elements are less intricate, they are more versatile for design purposes and can be used in more places to help promote Truman with a unified look, especially on admissions materials.

The Nursing Department conducted a 48-hour simulation for senior nursing students, Feb. 28-March 1.

Using the Nursing Simulation Center in the Health Sciences Building, 32 participating students were responsible for patient, family and/or nurse roles. Students had 12-hour shifts each day, and the nurses were responsible for three “patients” during that time. Nursing faculty members also participated in 12-hour shifts alongside the students.

Inspiration for the event came from Connie Ayers, a previous director of nursing at Truman, who incorporated integrated simulation and used it numerous times as a 72-hour event at Texas Women’s University.  
 
The 48-hour simulation provided nursing students with an opportunity to use their assessment and critical thinking skills to make sound clinical decisions for their “patients.”

 
For the fourth year in a row, the Truman forensic union has earned Missouri’s Harold Lawson Debate Championship.

The team competed Feb. 14-15 at the 2020 Missouri Association of Forensic Activities (MAFA) Championship Tournament, hosted this year by Crowder College in Neosho, Mo. In addition to winning the open debate division of the tournament, the team also placed third in the Bob Derryberry Overall Sweepstakes, indicating the strength of both the speech and debate events of the team, and a number of other individual titles and state championships.
 
Truman forensics competed in two categories of debate, including parliamentary debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate. In Lincoln-Douglas debate, first-year Zoie Francisco took home the novice state championship and was sixth-best novice speaker at the tournament. Her fellow first-year Alec Cochran reached semi-finals of the novice LD division and was named second-best novice speaker. In varsity LD debate, sophomore Jackson Elder advanced to the final round and earned second place. Senior Caleb Daniels and junior Cami Smith each advanced to quarterfinals in varsity LD. Additionally, Elder was named second-best varsity LD speaker, Daniels earned fourth and Smith earned sixth.
 
In parliamentary debate, Truman closed out the final round of the varsity division, meaning two pairs of Truman debaters reached the finals. Daniels and Elder comprised one team, while Smith and fellow junior Peyton Gilbert comprised the other. These four debaters together therefore are co-state champions in varsity parliamentary debate. Additionally, novice parliamentary debaters Francisco and first-year Zach Evans had a strong enough showing to advance to varsity quarterfinals. In parliamentary debate speaker awards, Gilbert earned the state championship as top varsity speaker. Smith placed fourth and Elder placed fifth in the varsity division, while Evans earned second place in novice parliamentary speaking.
 
In individual events, senior Austin Sopko earned second place in poetry interpretation. He also earned second place in duo interpretation with junior Audrey Baker. Baker also reached finals of oratory, finishing in fifth place. First-year Maya Krump earned third place in informative speaking, which also earned her the state top novice award in the event. Krump also placed fifth in persuasive speaking.
 
Participation in the forensics program is open to any Truman student in good standing, regardless of prior speech and debate experience. For more information on how to get involved, visit forensics.truman.edu or contact Christopher Outzen, director of forensics, or Craig Hennigan, assistant director of forensics.

The Office of Student Research is now accepting applications for conference travel as well as grants-in-aid scholarship and research (GIASR) for summer 2020.

Conference travel scholarship applications are for students presenting the results of their research or creative scholarship at a conference taking place July-December 2020. Students must have completed or be currently involved in a faculty-mentored research experience and plan on presenting at the conference. The scholarship will cover up to $500 of conference registration, lodging and travel expenses.
 
GIASR applications are available for research and creative scholarship conducted in summer 2020. Grant applications may request up to $750 and can cover student stipends, supplies and travel to conduct research.
 
Complete guidelines for the conference travel scholarship and GIASR applications can be found at the Office of Student Research website. Applications for both funding opportunities are due by 11:59 p.m. April 9. Questions regarding the applications can be directed to osr@truman.edu.

The Union & Involvement Services Office will accept Fall 2020 event and meeting reservation requests from March 19 through 12 p.m. March 24. The Union & Involvement Ser-vices Office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Reservation Office will only accept paper requests.  

All lottery information and forms can be found at union.truman.edu/room-lottery.

Confirmations will be emailed to campus offices and student organizations during finals week. They will not be delivered to organization mailboxes.

Any submissions received after 12 p.m. March 24 will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis once lottery requests have been processed.

For question regarding room reservations, contact the Union & Involvement Services Office at union@truman.edu or 660.785.4222.

The Truman Upward Bound Project is currently seeking residential mentors, a night monitor, media advisor, photographer, professional counselor and life sciences instructor to work with area high school students while they participate in a six-week, on-campus college simulation.  This a great transformative experience for upper-level Truman students. These paid positions provide high-impact learning experiences to gain valuable on-the-job training, build a resume and develop non-cognitive skills necessary for future employment. Apply here.

The monthlong TruCare service initiative is taking place throughout March, giving everyone with a Truman connection an opportunity to show how dedicated the University is to service.

TruCare is an international service initiative where the Truman community volunteers locally to make a difference globally. Designed as a way for alumni and friends to share in the spirit of the Big Event, TruCare allows anyone with a Truman affiliation to count service hours completed from March 1 through midnight April 1 as part of a cumulative total.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the University can participate by simply logging any service hours completed during that time on the TruCare website. Hours can be logged individually or by student organizations. Hours completed during the Big Event will also be counted. The grand total will be announced in April.

Last year’s campaign saw 1,059 members of the Truman community contribute 10,265.5 hours of service. Projects took place in 36 cities across 19 states and included serving at food pantries, animal sanctuaries, community kitchens, parades, resale shops and safe houses.  

TruCare is sponsored by the Truman Alumni Association. For questions about the program, contact Stacy Tucker-Potter, director of engagement.

The Truman Compost Project has screened, aged compost available for sale to the public. Bulk compost is priced at $35/cubic yard and can be loaded directly to a truck or trailer. Delivery is also available in the Kirksville area.  

The Compost Project collects food scraps from campus dining halls, diverting this waste from the landfill, then composts the material with sawdust and horse manure from the University Farm to produce a rich soil amendment. Email compostproject@truman.edu for more information or to place an order. To learn more about the project visit compost.truman.edu or follow it on Facebook.

March 16-20
8 a.m.-5 p.m.

In case of an emergency, call 9-1-1. To have an officer dispatched for a non-emergency, call 660.665.5621.

The following employees started at Truman in February.

James Berry, Public Safety, police officer
Lindsay Boggess, Residence Life, Missouri Hall director
Alexandria Broaders, Advancement, administrative assistant I
Victor Freed, Physical Plant, housekeeper
Catherine Gleason, Pickler Memorial Library, administrative assistant I
Juawice McCormick, Counseling Program, subject matter expert
Paige Shultheiss, Advancement, administrative assistant I
Sharon Slodounik, Education, lecturer
Cindy Young, Physical Plant, housekeeper
Nicole Ziegler, English, Ofstad Scholar-in-Residence

Women’s basketball player Hannah Belanger was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of The Year, and Sloane Totta and Katie Jaseckas were selected for the first team All-GLVC for the 2019-20 regular season. Belanger is the second Truman player in three seasons to win the league’s Freshman of the Year award. She was the top scoring freshman in the GLVC with 340 points (12.6/game) and was fourth overall and fifth in three-point shooting (.427/.424) and third in three-pointers made (2.37/2.50) this season. She is one of four players to play in all 27 games this season. Belanger was also selected to the third team all-GLVC and the all-Freshman team. For Jaseckas, this is her first, first team all-conference selection. She ranked in six categories in both overall and conference games including scoring (14.2/15.2), rebounds (7.2/7.2), field goal percentage (.557/.574), blocked shots (2.00/2.05), offensive rebounds (2.27/2.05) and defensive rebounds (4.88/5.11). She was a second team choice her freshman season to go along with her Freshman of the Year award. Totta has been the steady force behind the Bulldogs over the course of her career and earned a mention on the all-league team for the fourth-straight year. She becomes the first Bulldog to earn consecutive first team All-GLVC honors and first Truman player since Georgia Mueller (2006-07/2007-08) to garner first team all-conference accolades two straight seasons.

Rebecca Harrison, professor emerita of classics, has an article, “Learning (and Teaching) Latin Verb Tenses: Applying Second Language Acquisition Research and Analyses of Verb Uses in Context,” published in Teaching Classical Languages 10.2, a peer-reviewed publication of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. It can be found online here.

Jerrold Hirsch, professor emeritus of history, has been asked by the National Endowment for the Humanities to serve as a referee for a grant proposal.

Daniel Mandell, professor of history, had a piece of his new project discussed at the March 3 session of the Pauline Maier Early American History Seminar, held at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston. That new project examines the evolution of Anglo-American treatment of indigenous sovereignty since invading North America, the varied responses of Native peoples and the conundrum that developed in U.S. Indian policies between communal and individual rights after 1800.  His piece discussed at the Maier Seminar focused on elements of the 1621 Massasoit-Plymouth agreement and patterns in southern New England court records over the subsequent half-century.