New Web Site Launches
Concordia's new online image launched this week with a re-invented Web site. The first phase of the new site debuted Aug. 27 and is the result of plans that began in April 2006 between the college and the Web consulting firm mStoner.

Amy Aasen, Web Services director, says the developers used Web traffic statistics and input from students and staff to make the new site the best possible for users. The site is designed primarily to educate prospective students and their families about the college. It also features customized gateways for other groups, including current students and faculty and staff, making it easier for everyone to locate information they are most likely to be interested in. Aasen encourages faculty and students to make these gateway pages their homepage.

One of the strengths of the new site is that it's built using a content management system instead of using software to design and maintain the site, it is entirely Web based. The Web Services office will be setting up access to specific pages for faculty or staff who maintain and update content.

For those wishing to know more about the content management system, Web Services will be hosting question and answer sessions Web Wednesdays the third Wednesday of every month. The first will begin at 9 a.m. Sept. 19 in the library curriculum lab. A Web page, www.ConcordiaCollege.edu/web/, has also been set up to keep the college community informed about important dates and events concerning the new site. Eventually, the help desk at the Solutions Center will also be able to answer questions related to Concordia Web site maintenance.

As of now, some existing pages from the old Web site will still be accessible if their content is different from what is on the new site. Because the new site is only in the first phase of development, it will take time for other existing content to be converted into the new site. Aasen says they plan for the second phase of content to debut in January 2008, with a complete site rolled out within 18 months. Even then, she said, it won't be set in stone.

Chinese Instruction Added
Concordia students now have the opportunity to join the growing population of the world that speaks Mandarin Chinese. A new course, Global Studies 111: Beginning Chinese, begins this semester and is taught by mathematics associate professor Dr. Xueqi Zeng.

The course is the first in a two-part sequence that will introduce students to not only the language, but also the culture and traditions of China, benefiting Concordia students as Chinese trade, business and travel are rapidly flourishing.

Zeng, a native of Beijing, is looking forward to reflecting on her own heritage while teaching her students.

I'm excited about teaching this course because this is a brand new experience for me, Zeng says. I really like the fact this is a language and culture course.

Zeng will be assisted by Chun-Hui Chuang, a Taiwanese specialist in language learning who will come to Concordia via a grant from the Alliance for Language Learning and Educational Exchange.

Dr. Mark Krejci, dean of the college and vice president for Academic Affairs, says that Chinese instruction is the fastest growing language in U.S. high schools and colleges and its impact is continually reflected in the Language Villages and the classroom.

"By adding Chinese instruction on campus," Krejci says, "we are affirming our commitment to our students global fluency as a leader in international education."

Banner at Concordia Offering Campuswide Benefits

Beginning last fall, the college began pursuing new commercial information systems to support its primary information needs: Systems that support human resources, finance, financial aid, students, development and alumni. Following an extensive evaluation period, including three days of intensive on-campus demonstrations, Banner from SunGard Higher Education, was selected. Banner is used at more than 1,300 other colleges and universities worldwide including many in Minnesota.

Banner provides many benefits to the Concordia community:

It is totally Web-based, accessible from anywhere at anytime, yet also very secure.

It has extensive self-service features that permit students, faculty and staff access to information services.

It includes a powerful portal, Luminis, that supports a wide range of administrative and academic information services and supports.

It is built upon Oracle, the worlds most powerful and standard relational database system.

It supports best practice business processes, permitting the college and Concordia Language Villages to make their processes as effective and efficient as possible.

The software will be implemented over the next two years with all systems in place by summer 2009. There will be substantial opportunities for Concordia and the Language Villages communities to participate in this implementation. A 30-member Banner Steering Committee has been formed and is co-chaired by Dr. Mark Covey and Bruce Vieweg.

Each month, this section of Campus Buzz will provide specific details on Banner, the new commercial information system at the college.

Scholarships and Activities

Dr. Betty Larson (family and nutrition sciences), director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics, was reappointed to the North Dakota State Board of Dietetic Practice by Gov. John Hoeven.

Mary Larson (physical education and health) received funding from the North Dakota Diabetes Coalition to improve diabetes management through a peer health mentor program.

Hank Tkachuk (CSTSTA) was appointed to a three-year term on the editorial review board of Communication Monographs, the premiere empirical studies research journal of the National Communication Association.

Dr. Per Anderson (religion) was appointed to the ELCA task force that will develop a social statement on genetics for consideration by the 2011 Churchwide Assembly.

Dr. Stewart Herman (religion) published an article in the April issue of the online Journal of Lutheran Ethics (www.elca.org/jle). He also spoke on "Protestant Christian Approaches to Terrorism" at an inter-religious panel hosted by the Northern Plains Ethics Institute April 2 at NDSU.

Dr. Gordon Lell (English) presented a seminar paper at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America April 5-7 in San Diego.

Dr. Ahmed Kamel (mathematics and computer science) presented a paper at the 40th Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium on April 20.

Dr. Mona Ibrahim (psychology) presented a paper titled "Teaching Toward Informed Citizenship: Integrating Service Learning Into a Cross-Cultural Psychology Course" at the Great Plains Conference on the Teaching of Psychology April 28 in Vermillion, S.D. The paper was published online. Ibrahim also presented research on the "Impact of the CLV Arabic Immersion Program on Teenage Villagers" at the Association for Psychological Science conference May 25 in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Al Bartz (psychology) presented a paper at the Midwestern Psychological Association conference May 3-5 in Chicago.

Dr. David Sprunger (English) presented at the 42nd Annual Congress on Medieval Studies May 9-13 at Western Michigan University. Sprunger was also elected councilor of the Medieval Association of the Midwest.

Connie Kubitz (Financial Aid) participated in a panel at the Student Loans of North Dakota Default Prevention Symposium May 17-18 in Bismarck.

Dr. James Aageson (religion) was an invited presenter at the ELCA Convocation of Teaching Theologians Annual Meeting in August at Gustavus Adolphus.

Julie Lucier (physical education and health) received a Master of Science in nutrition and exercise science from North Dakota State University in May.

Molly Flaspohler (library) published the review essay "A View from the Academic Library."

Dr. Nick Ellig (sociology) and Dr. Mary Rice (Spanish) presented the research they conducted along with Kay Schneider (Academic Affairs) at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference in Minneapolis on May 30.

Dr. Maureen Kelly Jonason (English) presented at the international Team-Based Learning Conference June 1 in Vancouver, B.C.

Dr. Mark Covey (psychology) and Kay Schneider (Academic Affairs) presented a paper at the 20th annual International Conference on the First-Year Experience July 9-12 in Hawaii.

Vijayakumar Shanmugasundaram (mathematics and computer science) has research work that has been accepted for presentation in the 2007 Frontiers in Education Conference Oct. 10-13 in Milwaukee.

Please send scholarship and activities submissions to kappes@cord.edu.

College, Forum Host Journalism Internship

Nine high school students took their work to the press in August as they participated in the Concordia College/Forum Newspaper Print Journalism Internship. The weeklong internship, awarded to area students who displayed excellent work with their high school newspapers, is a new collaboration between The Forum and the Concordia journalism department, led by associate professor of English Cathy McMullen.

"We'd like to get students excited about journalism and underscore how important it is in our society," McMullen says.

The nine students lived on campus and worked at The Forum as reporters, photographers, page and graphic designers, and editors. They shadowed professional journalists, gained hands-on experience of working in a newsroom, and even got their name in print when their work was published. Mary Jo Hotzler, a deputy editor at The Forum, was pleased with the interns hard work.

It was great having the students in our newsroom," she said. "And in some ways, I think we learned as much from them as they did from us."

Both McMullen and Hotzler deemed the week a success.

For a first attempt, we thought it went really well," McMullen said. "We're definitely planning on it again next year."