The Crow’s Nest — April 3, 2024
Higher Learning Commission to Visit Park University
On Monday-Tuesday, April 8-9, a five-member peer review team from Park University’s institutional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, will visit the University’s flagship Parkville (Mo.) Campus as part of Park’s comprehensive evaluation for reaffirmation of accreditation. In addition, members of the HLC team will visit the Gilbert (Ariz.) Campus on Tuesday, April 16, and the Camp Pendleton (Calif.) Marine Corps Base Campus on Friday, April 19. Several components are involved in a comprehensive evaluation, including review of federal compliance.
The HLC’s Guiding Values, Assumed Practices and Criteria for Accreditation represent Park’s institutional playbook. Touching every aspect of the University, these standards guide Park in fulfilling its commitments to students and to the public. Additionally, accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission allows the University to disperse federal Title IV funding to students. Park University has been continuously accredited through the HLC since 1913.
To learn more about Park’s preparation for this comprehensive evaluation, visit the Office of Academic Affairs MyPark page or e-mail academic_affairs@park.edu. The full assurance argument and visit agendas are posted there. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in all opportunities for interaction with the peer review team.
Park University Appoints Uden as Chief Human Resources Officer
Jayme Uden, Ed.D., accepted a new leadership role at Park University as its chief human resources officer, effective March 18. Uden, who has been with Park in a variety of student life positions since July 2011, will oversee and lead human resources strategies covering talent management, employee relations, training and development, performance improvement, compensation and benefits, organizational development, HR information systems and appropriate regulatory compliance. He will also serve as the University’s Title IX officer. In addition, Uden will collaborate with Park’s Vision 2025 People and Culture Strategic Impact Group, which is addressing objectives of fostering diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, communicating with clarity and transparency, and cultivating employee satisfaction and engagement. Prior to his new role, Uden had served Park as its associate vice president and dean of students since December 2016. Read more about Uden at park.edu/news/uden-appointed-chro.
Schroeder Earns Cal Pac Player of the Year, Third Team All-American Honors
Park University Gilbert (Ariz.) Campus junior guard Kayla Schroeder was named the California Pacific Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year on March 2. Schroeder averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game on the season for the Buccaneers. She connected on 48.1 percent on field goals, including 44 percent on three-point attempts. Schroeder ranked first in the Cal Pac in three-point shooting percentage and second in the conference in both points per game and field goal percentage. Schroeder also earned recognition by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics on April 1 as an NAIA Women’s Basketball All-America third team selection. In addition, she was named to the Cal Pac Women’s Basketball All-Academic team with a 3.86 grade point average majoring in business administration/management. Teammate Jayla Reliford, also a junior guard, was named to the Cal Pac’s All-Defensive team and second team all-conference honors.
Barnett Announced as First HAAC Rocket League Player of the Year
Park University Parkville (Mo.) Campus sophomore Koen Barnett was selected as the first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference Rocket League Player of the Year on March 28. Barnett, who was one of three players earning first team all-conference honors, helped the Pirates to a 7-0 match record in the regular season, going 21-6 in games played. Park University will host the inaugural HAAC Rocket League tournament on Saturday, April 6. The Pirates will play St. Ambrose University at noon in the first semifinal. A victory will send Park to the championship match at 2 p.m. against the winner of the Central Methodist University/Missouri Valley College semifinal. All matches will be streamed at twitch.tv/heartesports.
Park Basketball Players Receive National Scholar-Athlete Recognition
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced its 2024 Daktronics NAIA men’s and women’s basketball scholar-athletes list on March 20. Park University was represented by 11 players — eight from the Parkville (Mo.) Campus and three from the Gilbert (Ariz.) Campus. To be nominated, student-athletes must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year at their institution. Park players earning recognition:
• Men’s basketball — Parkville Campus: Macio Moananu, senior; Zach Porter, junior; Ashton Holloway, Trey Main and Ognjen Petrovic, sophomores. Gilbert Campus: Carson Mittun, senior.
• Women’s basketball — Parkville Campus: Makayla Artis and Iva Drobnjak, juniors; Marina Perdiguero, sophomore. Gilbert Campus: Jessica Bueno, senior; Kayla Schroeder, junior.
Park Nursing Department Hosting Health Fair on April 11
Park University’s Department of Nursing will host a health fair on Thursday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Park Avenue area of the Mabee Learning Center/Academic Underground on the University’s flagship Parkville (Mo.) Campus. Admission to the event is free. The health fair provides an opportunity for the University’s nursing students to showcase what they have learned in community health, and it provides Park students and employees with an opportunity receive pertinent health information. In addition, the Platte County (Mo.) Health Department will provide free, confidential sexually transmitted infection testing. Among the organizations/businesses expected to participate include the Beacon Mental Health, Mental Health America of the Heartland, Parkville Women’s Clinic, Platte County (Mo.) Health Department and YMCA. The University’s Pirate Pantry will also provide information for Park students. For more information or for questions, contact Park University’s Department of Nursing at nursingdept@park.edu.
Mathematics Lecture to Focus on Paradoxes in Single Transferable Vote Elections
Park University’s annual J. Malcolm Good Mathematics Lecture on Tuesday, April 16, will feature a timely discussion on “Paradoxes of Negative and Positive Involvement in Single Transferable Vote Elections.” The event will be held in the Jenkin and Barbara David Theater inside Alumni Hall on the University’s flagship Parkville Campus starting at 3 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. The feature speaker will be David McCune, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. In his talk, McCune will explore how these paradoxes can occur, focusing on past political elections in the U.S. and Scotland, and how they can represent mathematical irrationality at the heart of single transferable voting method. Read more about the event at park.edu/news/good-lecture-2024.
Park Faculty Featured in Campanella Gallery Art Exhibit
Past and present Park University faculty from the Department of Art and Design are showcasing their work in an art exhibit being presented in the Campanella Gallery, located within Norrington Center on the University’s flagship Parkville (Mo.) Campus through Friday, May 10. Participating artists include: Dora Agbas, adjunct instructor of art/fibers; Donna Bachmann, professor emerita of art and founder of the Campanella Gallery; William Eickhorst, Ed.D., former adjunct instructor of fine/visual art; Merrick Henry, assistant teaching professor of graphic design; Matthew Krawcheck, adjunct instructor of art; Andrea Lee, Ph.D., associate professor of fine art and director of the Campanella Gallery; Elaina Michalski, assistant teaching professor of fine art; and Lynn Richardson, adjunct instructor of fine art. Read more about the exhibit at park.edu/news/faculty-biennial-exhibit-2024.
Trio of Concerts to Conclude International Center for Music Season
Park University’s International Center for Music will host three concerts in April as the 2023-24 concert season comes to a close.
• Thursday, April 4 — ICM String Studio, 7:30 p.m., 1900 Building, Mission Woods, Kan. Concert will feature students of violinist Ben Sayevich, cellist Daniel Veis and violist Peter Chun.
• Sunday, April 14 — Pianist Behzod Abduraimov and Violinist Daniel Lozakovich, 7:30 p.m., 1900 Building, Mission Woods, Kan.
• Friday, April 19 — ICM Orchestra with guest conductor Barbara Yahr, music director of the Greenwich Village (N.Y.) Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
Admission for the ICM Orchestra event is free, but reservations are recommended at icm.park.edu/chapel-rsvp. For concerts at the 1900 Building, tickets are $30 for general admission and $10 for students at 1900bldg.com/all-events.
Registration Deadline is April 14 for Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium
Park University’s annual Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium showcases the scholarly and creative work of students from all disciplines and campuses across the University. Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit course work or independent research or creative projects developed with a faculty member’s supervision, either single or collaboratively-authored that take the form of: posters presenting laboratory or other applied research findings; research papers and oral presentations (oral presentations limited to 10 minutes); visual art and graphic design installations; musical presentations; and virtual presentations (slide or video presentations uploaded to Symposium website).
This year’s Symposium will be held Monday-Tuesday, April 22-23. For more information or to register (deadline is Sunday, April 14), visit park.edu/academics/honors-academy/student-research-creative-arts-symposium or contact Patty Ryberg, Ph.D., director of the Honors Academy and associate professor of biology, at honors@park.edu.
Faculty, Staff, Student News
Tim Westcott, Ph.D., professor of history, chair of the Department of Culture and Society, director of the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War and associate university archivist, was elected as the 2025 steering committee president for the Missouri Conference on History, which will be held in Blue Springs in March 2025.
Virginia Brackett, Ph.D., professor emerita of English, had a short story she authored, “Pig in the Attic,” published in the second edition of Big Wing Review. This edition of the literary magazine, which celebrates poets, authors and multimedia artists, focuses on relationships.
Wen Hsin, Ph.D., professor of computer science, presented a session on “Assessment: Formula Question with Varying Inputs for Different Students” at the Kansas City Professional Development Council’s Enhancing Teaching and Learning Conference on March 2 in Kansas City, Mo. The session demonstrated the creation of various formula questions with varied inputs where learning management systems randomly assign an input-output pair for each question to each student.
Brad Kleindl, Ph.D., professor of marketing, presented in a session on “ACBSP Standards One and Seven Best Practices” as part of the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs’ Access to Accreditation Workshop held virtually on March 21. The presentation covered best leadership practices to meet the requirements of ACBSP Standard 1. Kleindl also discussed his own experiences with this standard as dean of two business schools, and as a commissioner, mentor and site visit lead for ACBSP.
Twelve Park University Honors Academy students gave oral presentations or presented poster sessions at the Great Plains Honors Conference, March 22-23 in Stillwater, Okla. Oral presentations — Rylie Bishop, junior social work major, “How Does Trauma Psychologically Affect Elementary-Age Children that Survive School Shootings?”; Jacob Bloomer, senior accounting major, “Relationships Between Political Elections and Federal Deficit”; Raeven Brownell, senior biology and psychology major, “Probiotics as a Pathway for Treating Induced Anxiety in Zebrafish (danio rerio)”; Isabella Clark, senior English and psychology major, “Internalized Misogyny in Relation to Attitudes Toward Women”; Neyamia Powell, senior English and psychology major, “The Effects of Representation in Film and Television on Self-Image.” Poster sessions — Regan Hudson, junior nursing major, “Gonorrhea, its Anatomy, Physiology and Effect on Host Organisms”; Connor Menzie, junior corporate financial management major, “Giving Back to the Community as a Business Enhancer”; Lynh Nguyen, junior psychology major, “The Effectiveness of the U.S. Educational System for Multilingual Children”; Mallory Sol, junior psychology major, “Phobias – What are They, How are They Treated?”; Chloe Stachowski, junior nursing major, “Reducing Complications During Pregnancy to Maximize the Birth Experience”; Ailey Stafford, junior nursing major, “Prions as the Source of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies.”
Park in the News
Rhiannon Scherer, ’09, MS ’21, was interviewed for a question-and-answer article on “Women Leading the Finance Industry” series for the Medium.com website on Feb. 28. Scherer is the founding advisor and chief executive officer at Pallo, a financial management solution for the self-employed.
A story previewing a Park University International Center for Music concert on Sunday, April 14, featuring ICM artist-in-residence and pianist Behzod Abduraimov, and violinist Daniel Lozakovich, appeared in the March/April edition of KC Studio.
Abduraimov was interviewed on the KCTV (Kansas City) program “MyKCLive” on March 6 to promote the ICM’s Stanislav and Friends concert on March 8.
G.L.A. Harris, ’80, Ph.D., a professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, was featured in the Fellow Spotlight in the National Academy of Public Administration’s newsletter on March 4.
Travis Forbes, ’98, the chief of police for Lee’s Summit, Mo., participated in “Illuminating Hope,” a podcast of Hope House, for its “Voices of Justice,” a series of podcasts where law enforcement officials, judges and advocates come together to unravel the entangled web of domestic violence, on March 5.
Comments/excerpts from a recent The Conversation article about Taylor Swift’s political influence authored by Matt Harris, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, appeared in an article posted by The Courier Mail in the Queensland state of Australia on March 6.
Harris was interviewed for stories that aired on KMBC-TV in Kansas City on March 11 related to attendees hitting and kicking an effigy of President Joe Biden at a Republican Party fundraising event in Johnson County, Kan., a few days before. Soundbites from Harris also aired on KMBZ-FM in Kansas City on March 12.
Harris was also interviewed by KMBZ-FM for stories that aired on March 12 related to new allegations and an ethics investigation into Missouri House of Representatives Speaker Dean Plocher. In addition, Harris was interviewed for stories on KMBZ on March 22 related to talks to eliminate the state income tax and slash the state budget in Missouri.
Harris was interviewed for stories that aired on KCTV in Kansas City on March 25 related to polls and surveys for the election on the sales tax extension for the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs stadiums.
Rebecca Hermosillo, ’19, was the focus of a feature story that was published in the Sonoma County (Calif.) Gazette on March 25. Hermosillo was recently elected as the Sonoma County 1st District supervisor.
Anna (Ruckman) Mosakowski, ’16, was profiled in the March edition of Print & Promo Marketing magazine as part of a “Women in Print and Promo” feature in honor of Women’s History Month. Mosakowski is the chief operating officer of Sock101, a sock, shoe and apparel company based in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Kay Barnes, senior director for university engagement, was interviewed for a story that appeared on the Flatland KC website on March 14 related to the Kansas City Royals potential new baseball stadium in the Crossroads District. Barnes served as mayor of Kansas City, Mo., from 1999-2007.
Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, ’18, was featured in Dos Mundos, a Kansas City bilingual newspaper focused on the Hispanic community, on March 16 as part of the publication’s Women’s History Month series.
Tim Westcott, Ph.D., professor of history, director of the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War and associate archivist, along with Damon Grosvenor, senior history major, and Martin Roberson, junior secondary education/social science major, participated in a 40-minute live interview on the “Dana and Parks” program on KMBZ-FM in Kansas City on March 20 to talk about the University’s Valor Medals Review Project and provide a preview of their public presentation that was held on March 26 in Kansas City, Mo.
Chris Wright, ’16, was featured on the Farmer Veteran Coalition website on March 26. He recently joined the Dallas-based organization, whose mission is to mobilize veterans to feed America, as its fund development manager. Wright served in the Air Force for 24 years, retiring from Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. (where Park University has a campus) in 2016.
Bob Kendrick, ’85, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., participated in a nearly 60-minute long interview on the “One on One with Henry Lake” program that was posted on the KMSP-TV (Minneapolis) website in late March. The interview was about the NLBM and its impact on society and baseball.
Brittany Moser, director of digital learning design, authored an article on “Navigating the Educational Landscape: Embracing Technology’s Impact,” that appeared on the Education Technology Insights website in March.
Ingram’s, a Kansas City business magazine, ranked Park University No. 8 among all private colleges and universities in Missouri and Kansas, based on undergraduate full-time equivalency enrollment in Fall 2023 in its February issue.
Park University was listed by CollegeCliffs.com as one of the “Best Schools for Military History Degrees.”
Park University was designated as a Military Friendly School for 2024-25, as announced by Viqtory on March 27. The University earned gold status in the “Private, Not Offering Doctorate” category. In addition, Park also earned a Military Spouse Friendly designation.
Upcoming Events
(All events are Central time and on the flagship Parkville [Mo.] Campus unless noted)
• Through May 10 — Faculty Biennial Art Exhibit, Campanella Gallery (Norrington Center)
• April 4 — International Center for Music Concert: Park ICM Strings Studio, 7:30 p.m., 1900 Building, Mission Woods, Kan.
• April 8-9 — Higher Learning Commission Peer Review Team Visit, Parkville Campus
• April 10 — Dr. Doris A. Howell Leadership Awards, 5:30 p.m., David Theater
• April 11 — Health Fair, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Park Avenue (Mabee Learning Center/Academic Underground)
• April 14 — International Center for Music Concert: Pianist Behzod Abduraimov and Violinist Daniel Lozakovich, 7:30 p.m., 1900 Building, Mission Woods, Kan.
• April 16 — Higher Learning Commission Peer Review Team Visit, Gilbert (Ariz.) Campus
• April 16 — J. Malcolm Good Mathematics Lecture: Dr. David McCune, 3 p.m., David Theater (Alumni Hall)
• April 17— Honors Convocation, 6 p.m. Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
• April 19 — Higher Learning Commission Peer Review Team Visit, Camp Pendleton (Calif.) Marine Corps Base Campus
• April 19 — International Center for Music Concert: ICM Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
• April 22-23 — Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium, Parkville Campus and Virtual
• April 25 — Gilbert (Ariz.) Campus Commencement, 5 p.m., Arizona Athletic Grounds (Fieldhouse C), Mesa, Ariz.
• May 3 — Ellen Finley Earhart Department of Nursing Pinning Ceremony, 2 p.m., Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
• May 3 — International Sash Ceremony, 5 p.m., Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
• May 4 — Kansas City Area Commencement Ceremony, 10 a.m., Cable Dahmer Arena, Independence, Mo.
• May 5 — Spring Semester / Spring II Term Ends
• May 6 — Maymester Begins
• May 12 — Founders Day: Park University’s 149th Anniversary
• May 16 — Malmstrom Air Force Base (Mont.) Campus Commencement, 2 p.m., Grizzly Bend Community Center
• May 17 — Board of Trustees Meeting, Parkville Campus
• May 19 — Maymester Ends
• May 27 — Memorial Day Holiday (all University offices closed nationwide)
• May 29 — Faculty/Staff Town Hall Meeting, 10 a.m., Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel and Virtual
To view a comprehensive schedule for all events, including athletics and student life, visit park.edu/calendars/park-events-calendar.