Reflections Magazine Issue #68 - Fall 2008 | Page 6

Campus News

Creative Writing
Program Recognized
Siena Heights University’s creative writing
program was honored for the second straight
time as one of the top 200 creative programs
in the nation by a national publication. According to the second edition of “Creative Colleges:
A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers,
Musicians and Writers,” Siena Heights’ creative
writing program in its English department is
listed as one of the top 200 programs in the
nation. Siena Heights was also listed in the first
edition of this book by author Elaina Loveland.
“I think it is quite an honor to be chosen for
the second edition of the book,” said Nancy
Seligmann, chair of SHU’s English Department.
“Even though we have a small program, we’re
doing something right.”
The Creative Colleges guide is aimed at collegebound creative students and gives them the
information and resources necessary to pick
the right program. According to the publishers,
the author meticulously researched programs
from across the country and ultimately selected
200 art, drama, dance, music and creative
writing programs in arts conservatories, liberal
arts colleges and universities to recommend
to potential students. Siena Heights recently
completed a creative writing workshop on
campus that featured award-winning author
Philip Deaver and members of the SHU English
faculty. Seligmann said about 20 students participated in the fiction and memoir programs,
and ages of participants ranged from 14-92.

Siena Heights and Delta
College form Degree
Completion Program
Delta College and Siena Heights University
formalized an agreement allowing Delta graduates to complete their bachelor’s degree online
through SHU’s Distance Learning Programs.
Dr. Jean Goodnow, President of Delta College,
and Siena President Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD,
finalized the articulation agreement during
a June 11 press conference on the Delta
College campus (photo above).
“We are pleased to offer Delta College graduates
the opportunity to complete their bachelor’s
degree online with Siena Heights University,”
said President Albert. “We are excited about
this collaboration with Delta College.”
6

Reflections Fall ’08

Adding Up
By Doug Goodnough

Senior One of Only Four
Nationally to Win Math Scholarship

T

im Fether’s love of mathematics recently
added up in a big way. The Siena Heights University senior was one of only four students
nationwide to receive a $10,000 Prospective
Secondary Teacher Course Work Scholarship
from the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.
Fether, a secondary education and mathematics major from Pittsford, Mich., received the
award last spring at a conference in Salt Lake
City, Utah. The scholarship is awarded to fulltime college or university students pursuing
a career goal of becoming a certified teacher
of secondary school (grades 7-12) mathematics. The other scholarship recipients were
Michigan Tech University’s Kevin McElrath,
Ohio University’s Marissa Blewitt and Clarke
College’s Kim Kanaly.
“I felt like I had a lot of good ideas that I
have picked up from the math department
here,”Fether said. “Having those ideas, I
think, helped in the application process.”

One of those ideas was creating a customized
“Who Wants to be a Millionaire”game to
tutor and teach area high school math students. Fether said the computer game had
the same sound effects and visual qualities
as the television show.
“It follows the exact same flow,”he said. “It’s
set up so you would be playing it. I can run
it, and I would be able to read the questions
and be able to interact with who is there, as
though as I am the host.”
Fether said making math fun for students is
the key to successful teaching. And today’s
students are very technology-oriented.
“We’re very tech-oriented (at Siena Heights),
and I think that is really a strength,”Fether
said. “I think that’s a really good way to learn
math. With technology, you can easily integrate and show how when one thing changes,
how the others will change.”
Fether said his former high school math
teacher, SHU graduate Darick Clark ’01,
changed the way he thought about math.