WCU students made adapted visual cues for textbooks, children’s literature and other reading materials to help students with severe disabilities access the general curriculum. The WCU students also created visual cues to help students with severe disabilities know how to complete daily living skills and create a connection with Alaska teacher and students.

Students Angel Butler, Jessica Grant, Katana Lemelin, Elizabeth Mosher and Cole Johnson created the golf course as a work of art itself almost completely from found and second-hand materials. They incorporated challenges such as requiring a golfer to send a ball through a Slinky. In addition, the students placed works of art within the course.

“The art students applied their talents and created something that could be enjoyed by children and adults,” said Richard Tichich, professor in the School of Art and Design. “A father was calmly teaching his son how to hit the ball. At the same time, four older students were competing as if it were the Masters tournament.”

The course will open again Saturday, Sept 21, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park’s Youth Arts Festival in Dillsboro. The annual festival features art, music, green energy and community fun.

The College of Education and Allied Professions held a ceremony in honor of the late Janice Holt, who was WCU’s executive director of teacher recruitment, advising and career support, on Monday May 6, and planted a dogwood tree in her memory.

Holt, of Webster, died unexpectedly Nov. 1, at the age of 58. A faculty member in the WCU College of Education and Allied Professions, Holt was a National Board certified teacher who arrived at WCU in 2000 after more than two decades in Jackson County schools. She was instrumental in developing the university’s programs to support beginning and career teachers and maintain partnerships with regional schools. She had been in her current position since 2010.

Holt held bachelor’s (1976), master’s (1977) and education specialist (1987) degrees in middle grades education from WCU. In 2012 she earned her doctorate in educational leadership from WCU, receiving the American Educational Research Association’s Research on Teacher Induction special interest group’s first Dissertation Award. Holt said her work supporting beginning teachers in Western North Carolina sparked her interest in the topic that developed into her dissertation, which examined teacher retention and student achievement.

A plaque at the base of a dogwood tree in honor of the late Janice Holt, who was WCU’s executive director of teacher recruitment, advising and career support.

Holt was named the 1999 National Science Teachers Association/Space Foundation National Space Educator of the Year. At WCU she taught the methods courses for the School of Teaching and Learning and the freshman seminar for the WHEE Teach Living Learning Community. WHEE Teach has emerged as a shining star of best practice and commitment from the College of Education and Allied Professions and was recently honored by the North Carolina Association of Residence Halls with the Silver Seymour Community of the Month award. The community has grown from one cohort of 25 students to 50 students this year and is expected to grown again this fall to 75 students.

In addition, Holt received grants totaling more than $1.5 million that focused on the support of beginning teachers and college access.

Those who wish to support the Janice Holt Scholarship Fund can write a check payable to the WCU Foundation and note that it is for the Janice Holt Scholarship Fund. Send checks to Brett Woods, Office of Development, 201 H.F. Robinson Building, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C., 28723. Gifts also may be made online at www.wcu.edu/27669.asp. Select the College of Education and Allied Professions from the “area of giving” drop-down box and note in the comments box that the gift is for the Holt scholarship. For additional information, contact Woods at bwoods@wcu.edu.

WCU students Tim Kay, Stiles Burr, John Gilliam and Chris Kidd competed as a team at the College Sport Research Institute Conference. (Photo courtesy Kadence Otto)

Kadence Otto, associate professor of sport management, accompanied the team of students, Tim Kay, Stiles Burr, John Gilliam and Chris Kidd, to the event.

Under the supervision of Marie-Line Germain, assistant professor of human resources and leadership, and working with graduate student Olivia Graham, who served as liaison between the students, professors and organizations, 12 teams of five to seven students each helped their clients address a specific human resources need.

Four teams worked with the nonprofit organization Dorcas Ministries associated with Christian Community in Action Inc. located in Cary. One team revised and updated the employee handbook. A second team revised policies and procedures. The third team updated the nonprofit’s volunteer handbook. A fourth team created an employee performance evaluation system, including forms and processes. Howard Manning, executive director of Dorcas Ministries, said the organization leaders had recognized several human resources needs after the recent acquisition of a larger facility that necessitated an increase in the size of the staff.

“We needed a set of human resources policies and procedures to make sure we were providing fair and beneficial opportunities for our employees and volunteers,” said Manning. “We were struggling to develop a strategy to accomplish this without having a human resources department. Dr. Germain and her teams provided an invaluable resource for us at exactly the right time. This allowed our small staff to focus on work related to our mission and strategic plans. The teams were very professional and thorough. They delivered a final product that not only meets our current needs but will be useful as we continue to grow.”

Two teams worked with Liberty Corners Enterprises Inc. located on Coxe Avenue in Asheville. One team focused on developing a performance appraisal process. The other developed a step-by-step orientation process, including forms, checklists and presentation tools. Tonya Andrews, finance director of Liberty Corners, was a key point of contact for the students, who ensured that the products developed were tailored to the organization’s needs.

Merry Michalsen, who served as a team leader for the group that assisted with creating an orientation process for Liberty Corner Enterprises, described the experience as a tremendous opportunity to get hands-on experience working with a nonprofit organization in ways that many have not had the chance to do. “This truly shows that an online education doesn’t have to remove you from that real world — it just allows you to see it and access it in a different way,” said Michalsen.

Two teams worked with the Asheville Buncombe Community Relations Council located on South French Broad Avenue in Asheville. One team developed a performance evaluation process that included forms, step-by-step instructions and checklists. Another team created a volunteer handbook. Sarah Nunez, the nonprofit’s executive director, said the organization was delighted to have the opportunity to work with the WCU students and faculty. “The projects produced by the teams were beneficial to our internal structures and will assist our organization for years to come,” said Nunez.

Three teams worked with Asheville City Schools Foundation located on Mountain Street in Asheville. One team worked on updating the nonprofit’s employee handbook. A second team created a performance evaluation process that included forms and instructions. Kate Pett, executive director of the foundation, said she was grateful for the assistance. “We will joyfully be implementing these tools in the coming weeks, and I am confident that they will enhance our ability to serve children and our community,” said Prett.

Cortne Schanbacher, one of the graduate students who worked with Asheville City Schools Foundation to create a performance appraisal process and forms, said the hands-on consulting experience was rewarding and invaluable. “We were able to help an amazing organization expand on their HR processes and gain valuable knowledge at the same time,” said Schanbacher.

Another team worked on an independent project creating a portion of a human resources handbook for nonprofit organizations, which Germaine will continue to develop.

“The projects also were rewarding for students, who overwhelmingly reported they benefited personally and professionally from this consulting experience.” said Germain.

For more information, contact Germain at 828-227-3959 or mgermain@wcu.edu.

The issue includes stories about the need to enhance endowed scholarship funds at WCU, what it takes to maintain the outdoor beauty of WCU’s campus, and a three-time Super Bowl champ returning to help coach football team.

Visit the magazine online at magazine.wcu.edu.

Angi Brenton

“Our hearts are broken,” said WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher. “In her short time in Cullowhee, Angi has been a wonderful colleague and wonderful friend. Although Angi was at Western Carolina for less than a year, she has had a tremendous impact on this university through her leadership on several significant initiatives, and she quickly became a respected and beloved member of the WCU family. Her passing saddens us deeply.”

A resident of Dillsboro, Brenton came to WCU from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she had served as dean of the College of Professional Studies since 2001. Belcher and Brenton had worked together previously at UALR, where he served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs prior to his appointment as WCU chancellor in 2011, and at Missouri State University, where he was dean of the College of Arts and Letters and she was head of the Department of Communication and Mass Media.

Brenton guided WCU through a process of program prioritization, a comprehensive examination of the university’s academic programs in order to assess their quality and productivity and to help determine allocation of resources. She spearheaded the creation of the university’s new Leadership Academy to nurture faculty and staff leaders; the academy will begin in the fall with its first class of participants.

Brenton also helped establish this spring’s inaugural WCU Discovery Forum, part of an initiative launched by the N.C. State University-based Institute for Emerging Issues, in which students share innovative ideas for making their communities better places to live. Among her top priorities was the hiring of deans to lead WCU’s Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Health and Human Sciences.

Brenton’s husband, W. Keith Brenton, is a special projects writer in the WCU Office of Public Relations.

During her career in higher education, Brenton served as dean of the Graduate School and associate provost for research and service at Abilene Christian University, head of the department of communication and mass media at Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State), and director of UALR’s Baum Decision Support Center.
She was an inaugural faculty member in the Clinton School of Public Service and also taught at Pepperdine University, the University of Kansas, Oklahoma Christian College and the University of Oklahoma.

She earned a doctorate in communication studies from the University of Kansas, master’s degree in communication from the University of Oklahoma and bachelor’s degrees in mass communication and speech communication from Oklahoma Christian College. She received a management and leadership in higher education certificate from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in 2004, she received numerous awards during her career, including the Outstanding Community Service Award in 2003 from the Metroplan regional planning group in Little Rock, the Faculty Excellence Award in Public Service in 1991 from the UALR College of Professional and Public Affairs, and the Harold McDaniel Outstanding Member Award in 1991 from the Arkansas chapter of the American Society for Training and Development.

Brenton was instrumental in establishing the Institute on Race and Ethnicity at UALR. She wrote extensively on the topics of managerial communication, conflict management, communication theory and higher education administration, and co-authored the textbook “Organizational Culture in Action.” She was a member of the National Communication Association, Association for Conflict Resolution, Alpha Phi international women’s fraternity and the International Association of Facilitators.

Brenton was born in Duncan, Okla., on Jan. 3, 1953. She was preceded in death by her father, Joe Laird, and younger brother, David. She is survived by her husband, of the home; her mother, Harriette Laird, of the home; son Matt S. Brenton, of Little Rock; and daughter Laura Leigh Brenton, of the home.

Services and burial will be held in Little Rock. Arrangements, including plans for an on-campus memorial celebration during the summer, will be announced later.

By Bill Studenc

Chancellor David O. Belcher (right) applauds as Lou Gershenson from Sony joins him on stage at the Controlled Chaos Film Festival to celebrate the gift from Sony to WCU of an F65 camera (left).

An F65 CineAlta camera, the equipment offers cutting-edge technology and a higher resolution than any other digital motion picture camera available today. Sony had roughly 400 pre-orders for the camera worldwide when the company began shipping the F65 in January 2012, and this year gifted fewer than a dozen to up-and-coming film programs across the nation.

“We are thrilled to be selected to receive one of these cameras, which are designed to shoot major feature films to be projected in the biggest and best theaters in the world,” said Jack Sholder, director of WCU’s Motion Picture and Television Production Program. “This camera will help us better prepare our students to work in the industry and to understand and gain experience with some of the most high-end equipment there is.”

While many movie theaters commonly project films in 2,000-pixel definition, the F65 features an advanced 8,000-pixel sensor and is Sony’s first professional camera to capture footage in a resolution of more than 4,000 pixels. The demand for 4K is increasing with more than 13,000 theaters worldwide now equipped with 4K projectors and with 4K television sets coming on the market. The camera was used to shoot “After Earth” with Will Smith and “Oblivion” starring Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. Fox Sports is using the F65 to produce more detailed replays in high definition.

Arledge Armenaki, an associate professor of cinematography who was integral in working with Sony to secure the gift for WCU, described the camera as a formidable piece of equipment that is a quantum leap in camera technology.

“This camera has an astounding image resolution with a tremendous exposure latitude,” said Armenaki. “It can see into bright highlights and deep shadows. It surpasses the resolution for 35 mm film, the gold standard. It’s amazing.”

Arledge Armenaki (right), associate professor of cinematography, and student Abby Taylor check out a lens port on the Sony F65, a camera recently gifted to Western Carolina University.

Upon hearing Sony would give an F65 to WCU earlier this semester, students in the film program cheered. Andrew Dyson, a junior from Spartanburg, S.C., majoring in motion picture production, said he’s excited about the kinds of shots students will be able to achieve with the camera’s cutting-edge capabilities. Students often rent advanced camera equipment for their senior thesis films to be able to enhance the quality of the footage – footage that students will be able to surpass with the F65.

Martin Meredith, enterprise and strategic accounts manager at Sony, said the company works closely with university and higher learning institutions across the country. Meredith was among representatives who visited WCU last fall to learn more about the program and its needs, and to participate in educational programming for students and faculty.

“We were impressed with the caliber of the students we met at WCU,” said Meredith. “There was a high level of energy.”

Meredith said Sony representatives will return to campus to host a learning session related to the camera when it is outfitted and look forward to hearing from students about how they are using the F65 to create films and the details of their experiences with the equipment.

For more information, contact Sholder at 828-227-2324 or jsholder@wcu.edu.

By Teresa Killian Tate

The session is scheduled for between 5 and 6:30 p.m. in the atrium of Jackson County Public Library. Refreshments will be served, and community members can arrive at any point during the event to offer input.

The public session will be led by Ron G. Smith, a Sylva native who has worked on the renovation project for the Jackson County Public Library and on WCU’s Hunter Library master plan. Smith is among the principal consultants with the architecture firm McMillan, Pazdan and Smith, which is working on the WCU project with Hanbury, Evans, Wright and Vlattas, a firm specializing in campus design and planning.

A direct outgrowth of the university’s strategic plan, titled “2020 Vision: Focusing Our Future,” the campus master planning process will address issues related to new building needs, utilization of existing space, parking and transportation, technology infrastructure, sustainability, safety and security, preservation of campus heritage and integration of the campus with the surrounding community.

“Western Carolina University is a big part of Jackson County, and Jackson County is a big part of the university,” said Melissa Canady Wargo, assistant vice chancellor for planning and effectiveness, who is co-chair of WCU’s master planning steering committee. “We hope our friends and neighbors in Jackson County will drop by to share their thoughts on the future direction for the university and how it will interact with the surrounding community. If you have 5, 10 or 15 minutes, we’d love to hear from you.”

Launched last year, the 17-month master planning process has included public forums held on and off campus in the late fall to help the steering committee set directions, with a community meeting at Cullowhee Valley School. Consultants were on campus in April soliciting feedback, gathering information and conducting impromptu focus groups with students, faculty, staff and members of the community. Additional sessions are being planned for later this spring.

A preliminary report and plan by the consultants are expected to be completed by early September, followed by a series of campus and community presentations for reaction in October and November. After revisions based on that feedback, the final master plan should be ready for consideration by the WCU Board of Trustees at its meeting in December.

In addition to Wargo, members of the campus master planning steering committee are co-chair Sam Miller, vice chancellor for student affairs; Peg Connolly, associate professor, recreational therapy; Robert Edwards, vice chancellor for administration and finance; Craig Fowler, chief information officer; Gerald Green, Jackson County director of planning; Larry Hammer, university registrar; Roger Hartley, associate professor, political science and public affairs; Mark Lord, interim associate provost; Alecia Page, president, Student Government Association; Darrell Parker, dean, College of Business; Kim Ruebel, associate dean, College of Education and Allied Professions; Joe Walker, associate vice chancellor for facilities management; Benjamin Ward, Graduate Student Association representative; and Shawna Young, director, student affairs outreach and assessment.

For more information about the master planning effort, contact the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness at 828-227-7239, email wargo@wcu.edu or visit the website masterplanning.wcu.edu, where there is a “share your feedback” link.

By Bill Studenc

Tess Branon

Informal surveys conducted in previous years indicated that at least 45 percent of Honors College students continue on to graduate study, said Brian Railsback, dean of the college. Also, fully two-thirds of this year’s graduating students who responded to an Honors College survey in April are planning to go to graduate school. In comparison, a 2012 U.S. News and World Report survey of colleges and universities indicated that an average of 27 percent of college graduates across the nation enroll in a master’s program within one year of graduation.

When Honors College students arrive on campus as freshmen, many are unsure of what they want to do after they graduate, but a few show up with a plan already set, Railsback said. Tess Branon came to WCU from Apex in the fall of 2009 to begin work on a double major in chemistry and biology. She will be graduating in May and will receive the Honors College diploma and medallion along with her peers in the college.

Branon said she arrived at WCU already planning to continue on to graduate school and with the thought in her mind that she would eventually transfer to a bigger university to improve her chances of getting into the graduate school of her choice. Things didn’t turn out that way. “I ended up loving it and staying,” she said. Branon, who has recorded a perfect 4.0 grade-point average during her time at WCU, was accepted for admission by several of the most prestigious graduate schools in the nation, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University. She has decided to pursue her doctorate in chemistry at MIT, which is located in Cambridge, Mass., and will benefit from a combination of tuition waivers and salaried teaching and research assistantships worth more than $67,000 per academic year.

Branon said she received a high level of support from the Honors College staff and her home academic departments – chemistry and biology – as she went about the process of working on her academic profile to increase her chances of getting into the graduate school of her choice. She expects to work on her doctorate for five years, and then to enter a post-doctoral program. Her first year at MIT will include taking some classes and teaching other classes, but after that her focus will be on research in chemical biology. She has not decided on a definite career path. “Coming back to Western Carolina to teach is something I’ve thought about a lot,” she said.

Branon said she has been impressed by her fellow students in the Honors College’s graduating class. The group is composed of “a lot of hardworking, intelligent people, and I think it shows in where we’re going,” she said.

The April survey indicated that many Honors College students are planning to enroll in WCU’s Graduate School, while others will begin graduate study at other institutions. Taylor Fie of Clyde graduated summa cum laude (with highest honors) with a bachelor’s degree in English at WCU last December and will be attending the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill starting in the fall. Another Honors College student from Haywood County, Tyler McKinnish of Canton, will receive his bachelor’s degree in biology in May and also will be attending the School of Medicine at Chapel Hill in the fall. Another graduating senior, Lindsay Carter of Apex, has been accepted into the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy. Other Honors College seniors are making plans for graduate study at institutions such as Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Clemson, Michigan State, Kentucky, Iowa, Kentucky and Louisville.

When academically high-achieving students join the Honors College as freshmen, the top priority for the honors staff is to encourage those students to immediately begin considering what they are going to do after they get their bachelor’s degrees, Railsback said. “We want Honors College students to start thinking about what happens after graduation the first day they’re here,” he said. “That’s what we’re all about.”

The Honors College staff consults with students about service learning, undergraduate research, study abroad and internships, and how those components fit into the fabric of their educations at WCU, Railsback said. At the end of their first six weeks on campus, honors students complete a learning plan that they will follow to meet their educational goals at WCU. They also enter into honors contracts for various courses as they progress through their educations, pledging to complete a special project or activity that will take them deeper into a subject area. All those efforts are concentrated on one goal – improving the academic profile of the individual student for entry into graduate school or a career, he said.

Railsback said the counseling and mentoring provided by himself and the college’s associate dean, Steve Carlisle, and pre-professional adviser, Emily Sharpe, is just one aspect of the support provided on campus to Honors College students, who also benefit from meetings with their academic advisers as well as from their interactions with many WCU faculty members in the classroom.

For more information about WCU’s Honors College, contact the college at 828-227-7383 or email Railsback at brailsba@wcu.edu.

By Randall Holcombe

Zackery Keys, a graphic designer who works at WCU, designed the cover of “A Going Concern.”

What if most of the human population was finished but the rest of the world was fine? Was it possible to write a post-apocalyptic story that wasn’t completely dark? Could there be a story that had death, doom and destruction with a sense of humor?

“The notion just really intrigued me, and I lay awake at night wondering how that would play out and what it would be like,” said Railsback.

He dreamed up someone ill-equipped to survive – someone who was not a scientist, not knowledgeable or spiritual, and who was wrapped up in popular culture. The character that emerged was Trent Sheets, a 42-year-old guitarist in a band called Subculture who fled to the woods near Cullowhee after a disastrous concert. Sheets discovers most of humanity has succumbed to a virus and decides to travel home across the country to Southern California.

“The book started writing itself,” said Railsback, who worked on it primarily during work breaks for several years. “I never knew what was around the corner or what was going to happen next. I have always loved that kind of fiction – where you are discovering things right up to the minute with the main character.”

Sheets led Railsback on a journey, as summarized on the book cover, in which he “escapes packs of wild dogs, meets dying remnants of humanity, loses the only healthy woman around, picks up a very unhealthy teen, … jams at the last radio station, finds one thriving town that kicks him out and finally comes home to Southern California – a land of sunny beaches, unchecked wildfires and unlimited booze.”  Railsback titled the book “A Going Concern” to capture the story’s exploration of the future of humanity – will we thrive or fade away?

Award-winning author Ron Rash, Western Carolina University’s Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture, said the book is an excellent novel.

“Brian Railsback has taken the bleakest of human scenarios and within it found decency, and hope,” said Rash.

Railsback said he finished the book in 2009 and sent some queries to literary agents but put the writing project aside until his daughter, Cadence Railsback, shared her interest in participating in the World Race. Adventures in Missions, a Christian organization, sends “World Racers” in squads to 11 countries in 11 months to “serve ‘the least of these’ while amongst real and raw community,” according to the World Race website. To participate, his daughter, who is graduating this month from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a degree in film studies, will need to raise at least $15,000.

Brian Railsback and his daughter Cadence Railsback climb the infamous Angel’s Landing trail in Zion National Park.

Railsback offered to self-publish the book, an experience that would help him learn about the emerging e-book industry, and direct all proceeds from sales to support her fundraising effort. He enlisted the help of Zackery Keys, a graphic designer who works in WCU’s creative services, to design the book.  Keys said as part of his work on the project he read “A Going Concern” multiple times and, although not usually a fan of post-apocalyptic literature, enjoyed the story.

“I found the book a refreshing take on the whole approach,” said Keys. Struck by the road trip element of the story, he designed a cover that depicted the RV the main characters travel in and an airplane crash that was significant in the narrative.

Railsback’s daughter said she also would not describe herself a fan of the genre but that she enjoyed the book, adding that she was not surprised her father would write a post-apocalyptic story.

“He and my two older brothers are always scheming about what they would do in a zombie apocalypse,” she said. “It’s a common conversation around the dinner table. I feel confident we would be well-prepared.”

Cadence Railsback said she wants to participate in the World Race to gain perspective about how the rest of the world lives, and she expects to have raised enough money and acquired the gear needed to be able to participate starting in July 2014. She said she is moved by her father’s support through the book.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “It makes me feel like he really supports what I am trying to do. It also makes me feel very humble to know that I am so loved. This is a project that he spent at least five years of his life on that he handed over so readily to help me.”

The book is not Railsback’s first. High Sierra Books published his novel “The Darkest Clearing” in 2004. Awards for his writing include the Prose for Papa (Hemingway) award, which was bestowed in 2006 for his short story “Clean Break.”

“A Going Concern” is available at Amazon online. For more information, contact Brian Railsback at 828-227-2101 or brailsba@wcu.edu.

By Teresa Killian Tate

Judy Neubrander (center), director of the School of Nursing, thanks business students, from left, Ashley Mull, Preda Siri, Brianna Valenti and Ryan Grace. (Photo courtesy Marie Huff)

“The plan is truly helping us move forward on planning, developing and implementing clinics in the new building, and it all started with a student project,” said Marie Huff, interim dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences.

Judy Neubrander, director of the School of Nursing, shared her vision for the clinic in the new Health and Human Sciences Building with Ed Wright, associate professor of global management and strategy in the College of Business, and Wright connected her with a team of business students in a management capstone course.

Taking on the project were Ryan Grace, a senior from Merrimack, N.H., majoring in entrepreneurship; Ashley Mull, a senior from Sylva majoring in accounting; Preda Siri, a senior from Bridgetown, Conn., majoring in accounting; and Brianna Valenti, a senior from Indian Trail majoring in entrepreneurship.

With Wright as their faculty sponsor, the students spent the semester working on the project and invested so much time on the effort that they came to be known as “Team Awesome.”

The team explored the needs of the WCU School of Nursing, such as opportunities for hands-on student training, as well as available services and needs of five regional public health departments and MedWest-Harris hospital. In addition, the students investigated the specific logistics of developing a clinic such as cost, revenue, billing, supplies and personnel. They interviewed and visited staff at regional medical and health practices to gain an understanding of tasks such as how patients are processed and how patient billing works.

“The students have learned how to do research, conduct a business situational analysis, derive appropriate strategies and write a business plan to attract investors,” said Wright. “These skills are readily transferable to industry.”

The resulting plan included such information as a company overview, a strategic and situational analysis and recommendations for developing the clinic.

“This business plan will serve as a catalyst for future grant funding and partnerships,” said Neubrander. “We are very excited to move forward with developing a clinic that will provide much-needed clinic sites for students in the College of Health and Human Sciences.”

Siri said the students who worked on the plan began with little knowledge about the industry but, by the end, felt like experts. He said he particularly has gained more confidence with his interviewing and researching skills. For Mull, experience on the project has helped prepare her for an initiative this summer in which she will produce a marketing and promotions plan and report on the industry for a client.  She said she not only enjoyed researching the industry but also working on a business plan for a client so passionate about what they do.

“It’s very rewarding to know that in the near future our team will look back and say, ‘We helped create this,’” said Mull.

By Teresa Killian Tate

An image of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s LeConte Lodge by Thompson Brothers Commercial Photographers is among images from the park’s archives available through a new Western Carolina University digital collection of historic Appalachian photographs.

“Picturing Appalachia” is a collection of more than 1,000 early 20^th-century photographs that provides a glimpse into the life, culture and natural landscape of the Southern Appalachian mountains in and around Western North Carolina.

The collection includes images by popular Great Smoky Mountains National Park photographer James E. Thompson, whose work is housed at park headquarters in Sugarlands, Tenn. A memorandum of understanding between the university and the park allowed Hunter Library to digitize the historic photographs.

“It just makes them a lot more accessible to people around the world,” said John McDade, museum curator at the park. Not only can people access the images more easily, but it also protects the images from handling, McDade said.

Thompson and his brother, Robin (whose work also is in the new collection), ran the Thompson Brothers Commercial Photography business in Knoxville, Tenn., making images for park supporters and various other regional tourism and business interests.

WCU staff also selected groups of pictures from Hunter Library’s own special collections, including work by George Masa, who photographed and documented the Mount Mitchell Motor Road, giving tourists a glimpse of America’s highest peak east of the Mississippi. Masa is well known for working with Horace Kephart, an authority on the cultural and natural history of the region, to build support for establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The collection also comprises the work of other, lesser-known photographers, including A.L. Ensley, a Jackson County farmer who photographed families in formal portraits at his home studio.

This image of a Carolina lily (Lilium michauxii) by Bertram Whittier Wells (1884-1978), part of a series of 20 photographs depicting botanical specimens of the Great Smoky Mountains, is from Western Carolina University special collections and now available online as part of Hunter Library’s new digital collection of historic Appalachian photographs.

“It is these pictures – along with the growth of the railroad and the publication of various travel brochures – that have made Western North Carolina a popular travel destination,” said Anna Fariello, associate research professor at Hunter Library who coordinates digital archiving efforts.

Users can search “Picturing Appalachia” by photographer, source institution or by topic, which includes botanicals, cities and towns, portraits, industry, landscapes, transportation, and travel and tourism. Descriptions included in each entry include biographical information about the photographer and other facts.

Images from other photographers, including R.A. Romanes, who documented communities and towns in WNC and counties in north Georgia and east Tennessee, are planned for addition. To complete the collection, the library’s digital production team also will scan and upload a number of 19^th-century travel brochures.

Functioning as an open-access database and interactive, educational Web-based resource, the images are part of a growing online archive resulting from the library’s digital initiatives program. “Picturing Appalachia” takes its place along with the library’s other digital collections, including ones for the craft revival, Cherokee traditions and Kephart, as well as the sound collection “Stories of Mountain Folk,” all of which can be accessed from www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/.

The digital collection has grown in large part through partnerships with entities including the WCU Mountain Heritage Center, John C. Campbell Folk School, Southern Highland Craft Guild, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual and the N.C. Office of Archives and History.

“As a regional public institution and through collaboration with cultural partners, Hunter Library is committed to building regionally oriented, historically significant digital collections of broad research interest,” said Dana Sally, dean of library services.

The “Picturing Appalachia” project was made possible through an award of $71,574 from the State Library of North Carolina. The university and Great Smoky Mountains National Park will partner again for Hunter Library’s next digital collection, which will focus on the park’s history, Fariello said.

For more information, contact Fariello at 828-227-2499 or fariello@wcu.edu.

By Jill Ingram

WCU celebrates student achievements at commencement.

Commencement for WCU’s Graduate School will be held at 7 p.m. May 10. Commencement for the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Allied Professions, and Fine and Performing Arts will begin at 10 a.m. May 11, and that event will be followed the same day by a 3:30 p.m. ceremony for the College of Business, College of Health and Human Sciences, and Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology. All the ceremonies will take place at Ramsey Regional Activity Center.

After all the scores from final exams are tallied and academic records are finalized, WCU’s spring class, including both undergraduate and graduate students, is expected to total about 1,365 students, an increase of 140 students over last year’s spring class and the largest graduating class in university history.

Eighty-one members of this year’s class are Jamaican students who currently are completing academic requirements in that Caribbean country to receive their education degrees through a program WCU offers to Jamaican educators. A revision in the Jamaican teachers’ academic schedule has resulted in them finishing their degrees in the spring, rather than in the fall, and so they will be considered members of WCU’s spring class, instead of the fall class. Even without that change in schedule, however, this year’s class still would be WCU’s largest ever by about 60 students. The Jamaican students won’t be participating in WCU’s ceremonies in Cullowhee, but commencement will be held for them in Jamaica at a later date.

The university schedules three commencements on the Cullowhee campus in the spring to allow the Ramsey Center to accommodate the large number of graduating students who will be participating in the ceremonies and the audiences that will attend. About 1,200 students are expected to don caps and gowns for this year’s events. WCU commencements are open to everyone, with no limit on the number of family members and friends who can attend.

WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher will preside over the May 10-11 ceremonies and deliver his charge to the degree candidates at all three events. WCU faculty member Chris Cooper, the university’s recipient of the 2013 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching, will deliver the primary address at the Friday night Graduate School commencement, and then he will be presented the award during the Saturday morning ceremony.

Traffic is always heavy for commencement on WCU’s campus. University officials urge those attending to plan on arriving at the Ramsey Center at least one hour before the events begin. On-campus shuttle services will be available for the Saturday ceremonies.

WCU police recommend that those attending the events consider using Route 1002 (Old Cullowhee Road) to access campus through the back entrance. Drivers also are asked to refrain from dropping off visitors while sitting in travel lanes around the Ramsey Center, as that endangers the visitors and creates traffic backups.

More driving and parking information, including a map of traffic patterns, is available at this web site: http://www.wcu.edu/24593.asp.

For more general information about WCU’s May commencement ceremonies, contact the university registrar’s office at 828-227-7216.

By Randall Holcombe

WCU students, from left, Charlie Howard, Joseph Bertucci, Matt Stenger, David Stroup and Courtney Barrow help deliver new recycling bins donated to WCU through the Alcoa Foundation Recycling Bin Grant Program to sites across campus.

WCU was one of 35 colleges and universities that received a donation of recycling bins as part of the program, which is an effort to help schools boost recycling and is tied to the foundation’s partnership with the national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and the College and University Recycling Coalition. The program also has ties to the national RecycleMania recycling competition in which WCU participates.

WCU’s recycling rates have increased 55 percent since 2009, said Lauren Bishop, energy manager at WCU.

“What that tells us is that there is a huge need to add more bins on campus,” she said. “We are truly grateful to the Alcoa Foundation and Keep America Beautiful for selecting us as a recipient.”

The recycling bins enabled WCU to expand its recycling program to athletic facilities, where students such as Matt Stenger, a junior from Hendersonville and member of WCU’s track team and field team, had reported to Bishop that there was a need. Stenger assisted with determining locations for the new recycling bins and with placing them on campus.

Matt Stenger, a junior from Hendersonville and member of WCU’s track and field team, had reported the need for recycling bins at athletic events to WCU’s energy manager. Stenger assisted with selecting locations for new bins and placing them on campus.

“The more we recycle, the more money we save by avoiding landfill costs, and it is better for the environment,” said Bishop.

For more information, contact Bishop at lbishop@wcu.edu or 828-227-3562.

The camera, one of less than a dozen gifted to film programs across the nation, offers cutting-edge features including a higher resolution than any previous digital motion picture camera.

The festival features student-created films and will be held in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center and begins at 7 p.m. Admission is $10.