Clocktower Minutes
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Glover named interim Vice Chancellor of Advancement, Alumni and External Affairs
Indiana University Southeast Acting Chancellor Dr. Kathryn Girten has announced the appointment of Joe Glover as the Interim Vice Chancellor of Advancement, Alumni, and External Affairs starting on October 4. He replaces Betty Russo who retired September 30.
“Joe is an outstanding campus and community leader who understands IU Southeast and its importance in our region as well as anyone I know,” said Girten. “He has more than 16 years of history at IU Southeast working successfully with students, faculty, and staff, and brings a wealth of passion and energy to this campus leadership role. I am thankful for his willingness to step up and serve his alma mater in this new and important way.”
Glover was named the Director of Athletics at Indiana University Southeast on July 1, 2010. He took over the position after five years serving as Assistant Athletic Director and Sports Information Director. Glover also served as the campus Interim Director of Marketing and Communication in 2015-16.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve our Grenadier coaches and student-athletes for the past 16 years,” said Glover. “I couldn't have asked for better students, coaches, and colleagues. While leaving day-to-day athletic operations is bittersweet in some ways, I am excited for the new challenge and opportunity ahead. I am looking forward to working without outstanding team in Advancement to support our campus mission and to engage with our outstanding alumni and donors.”
IU President Whitten Visits IU Southeast for Founders Day
Celebrating the establishment of Indiana University in 1820, as well as the beginnings of IU Southeast 80 years ago, IU President, Dr. Pamela Whitten, visited IU Southeast in October to celebrate Founder’s Day. The event, which brings together members of the campus community to recognize student and faculty accomplishments also honors those who have retired.
During her visit, President Whitten met with student government, student leaders, campus faculty and staff, as well as the IU Southeast Alumni Board of Directors, Board of Advisors and donors. New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan and Indiana State Representatives Ed Clere and Karen Engleman were also in attendance.
Named IU’s first female president in July, Dr. Whitten toured the regional campuses over the summer, and was impressed by what she saw and heard.
Whitten appreciates the uniqueness of the IU’s regional campuses for their commitment to providing an excellent, distinctive educational experience that fulfills both the educational and career needs and aspirations of students. She recognized the regionals’ work in serving students from a wide variety of backgrounds and life experiences, including those who are the first in their families to attend college.
Wilkerson honored as Forty Under 40
Director of Staff Equity and Diversity and Deputy Title IX Coordinator James Wilkerson was recently named to Louisville Business First’s 2021 Forty Under 40 list.
A native of New Albany, Indiana, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville. He also holds a Master of Arts in communications from Bellarmine University.
Wilkerson joined the IU Southeast community in the spring of 2020. His arrival came at an uncertain time due to COVID-19. This didn't stop Wilkerson’s plans to make every person at IU Southeast feel welcomed, valued, and supported.
“I believe that when you do great things in life, you’re not supposed to do it to be honored or to try to get noticed, but you should do things just to do them, however it does feel nice to get noticed,” he said.
Every experience, good or bad, has allowed Wilkerson to be where he is today. According to Wilkerson, taking a lesson away from every job we have is crucial to our future success because through it all, there is room to learn and grow.
“Carve your own path despite what everyone says or does. It’s never too late. You’re never too old. Everything happens the way it's supposed to,” said Wilkerson.
Quality Matters at IU Southeast
Not to brag, but let’s brag: IU Southeast now offers 56 Quality Matters-certified online courses.
That’s twice as many as the rest of the IU system combined, and good enough for 19th place nationally.
Quality Matters (QM) certification is the gold standard for online courses. So, to have numbers like these, is exceptional.
A certified course is one in which students are informed of expectations from the very outset, learning objectives are measurable outcomes, technologies are appropriate and current, and tools are provided that promote active learning. Materials, learner support and assessment are all measured components. “Netiquette” and other policies are stated and agreed to. Efforts are made to accommodate learning differences and accessibility to all technologies and media are assured. Students are given multiple opportunities to track their own learning progress.
For IU Southeast to have come so far, so fast, is due to the strong advocacy of the Institute for Learning and Teaching Excellence (ILTE), which has provided guidance for instructors earning certification for their courses.
ILTE expertise would be nothing without IU Southeast faculty who make sure their online courses are presented in accordance with best practices and offer students as immersive an experience as possible in the virtual environment.
“Because the QM certification process makes learning outcomes and the purposes of different assignments more explicit, students are able to better understand why they are completing different activities and assignments,” said Dr. Jacob Babb, associate professor of English, who teaches two QM-certified online courses. “I think that students perform better when they know why they are completing assignments and how the work we do together helps them to move forward along their educational paths.”
It’s not an exaggeration to say that, in the QM process, instructors get to be students again. Some have taught online but are challenged to unlearn and relearn, while others are complete newbies to this modality, though they may have been teaching face-to-face for decades.
With the pandemic having accelerated the expansion of online learning at IU Southeast, the commitment to QM is a way to ensure that with quantity there is also quality.
Grenadier baseball receives top rank in pre-season poll
After a record-setting 2021 season, the IU Southeast baseball team enters the 2022 season ranked No. 7 in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Preseason Poll, as well as the unanimous favorite in the 2022 River States Conference Baseball Coaches' Preseason Poll. The Grenadiers received all nine of the possible first-place votes and 81 total points in the conference poll.
The Grenadiers (50-16) started the 2021 season with a 5-10 record before going 45-6 the rest of the way. They won the RSC regular season championship with a 26-1 record. In the postseason IU Southeast went on to win the RSC tournament championship, defeated No.1 Tennessee Wesleyan twice to claim the NAIA Opening Round Kingsport Bracket title and advanced to the NAIA World Series for the first time in program history going 2-2 in Lewiston, Idaho.
Last season nine Grenadiers were named to the RSC All-Conference teams, including RSC Player of the Year Matt Monahan. Head coach Ben Reel was named RSC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his career.
IU Southeast returns 23 players from last year's squad, including seven all-conference honorees. The No. 7 ranking is the highest preseason ranking in school history for the program.
IU Southeast opened the 2022 season on February 10 in Shreveport, La.