Positive news about Valpo

[valpo22]

This is a thread for positive things we see about Valpo students, teams, faculty, programs, etc.

[crusader05]

https://www.valpo.edu/news/?type=post&site=239&id=13115


I have a friend who works in the education department as part of their certification faculty for people returning for their teaching certificate and they were thrilled about this.

[usc4valpo]

In engineering, professors focusing on education primarily and not on research, thus providing a excellent education.

[David81]

I had posted this earlier in another thread, but I think it fits here: A terrific, special December 2022 issue of The Torch, featuring essays by current VU students, staff, admins, and faculty (including one Paul Oren, Torch advisor), describing their VU experiences:

http://www.valpotorch.com/eedition/page_456dcb28-1c5f-5878-87be-dea654b91dfe.html

It's a very enjoyable read. I think the Admissions Office should be sharing this issue as part of its outreach to potential applicants and admitted students.

[ValpoDiaspora]

Valpo's 2-week spring break allows for some pretty fantastic spring-break study seminars -- for instance, a group currently right now visiting Israel/Palestine:
https://www.valpo.edu/chapel/news/student-trip-to-holy-land/

[vu84v2]

In engineering, professors focusing on education primarily and not on research, thus providing a excellent education.

I will modify this. I agree that there is a high emphasis on teaching in the College of Engineering, but many faculty find ways to pursue research with undergraduate students. Lots of universities claim undergraduate involvement in research, but to my knowledge Valpo is among the few universities that achieve this.

[vu84v2]

i know we all hate the rankings industry with a passion, but did want to share that Valpo's part time MBA and physicians assistant programs were included in the 2024 USNWR rankings. I think both, or at least the MBA, was not at all ranked before:

Positive Valpo Life article from this week: https://valpo.life/article/valparaiso-university-make-u-s-news-world-report-top-programs-lists/

#219 for Part-Time MBA https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/part-time-rankings
#96 for PA https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-health-schools/physician-assistant-rankings

For the MBA rankings, this press release does not make a lot of sense. You get ranked by the US News and World Report by submitting material necessary to be considered. Schools that move from unranked to ranked do so by submitting material when they did not submit material in prior years. I guess that they could reject a school that has an MBA program that is not considered valid, but that would be a really low bar.

[wh]

Valparaiso researchers believe they've made a breakthrough in solar energy
William Skipworth  3 hrs ago

This is a potentially life changing, cutting edge discovery that will help develop the unique selling proposition for Valparaiso University's STEM program. How utterly impressive this is.

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/education/valparaiso-researchers-believe-theyve-made-a-breakthrough-in-solar-energy/article_62faf00e-ef4c-11ed-9c7d-0bcb7a929527.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest

[historyman]

Valparaiso researchers believe they've made a breakthrough in solar energy
William Skipworth  3 hrs ago

This is a potentially life changing, cutting edge discovery that will help develop the unique selling proposition for Valparaiso University's STEM program. How utterly impressive this is.

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/education/valparaiso-researchers-believe-theyve-made-a-breakthrough-in-solar-energy/article_62faf00e-ef4c-11ed-9c7d-0bcb7a929527.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest

And both really positive and negative.   

[Valpo89]

Valpo U graduate Ben Lieske, a good high school basketball player at Valpo High before becoming a manager for Scott and Homer Drew, has been named VHS basketball head coach.
He has spent 17 years as a teacher/coach at Valpo. He is a loyal, well-liked Valpo lifer who will be great as Vikings head coach.

[wh]

https://twitter.com/ValpoPresident/status/1665493055892234242?s=20

Impressive on many levels - features Valpo's Access College program, shows an excited participant and his mom, and what does it say when the University's President shows up at your graduation open house?

WHAT IS THE ACCESS COLLEGE?
https://www.valpo.edu/access-college/about/

[valpotx]

Good for him, and seems like a program to help get folks into higher ed, that might not otherwise be able to do so.

[vu72]

I view the fact that Valpo is looking to expand its fund raising staff as a positive.  This position is in addition to Jake's current spot:

https://ncaamarket.ncaa.org/jobs/18693084/associate-athletic-director-for-revenue-generation

[crusader05]

It looks like we have received another grant.

https://www.valpo.edu/news/?type=post&site=239&id=13405


This is a great example of interdisciplinary and community connections and thinking about how humanities manifest in the real world by breaking some of the ideas that English Majors just write books or poems. The reality is writing and critical thinking skills are the backbone of most jobs, including many in business and a degree that provides you those skills is always going to be valuable.

[wh]

This is my own positive news. I drove through campus today to take a look around. I took my lunch with me and parked by the turnaround adjacent to the Center for the Arts and spent some quiet time. There's nothing quite like the look and feel of a beautiful traditional college campus.

I recall recently reading a critical comment somewhere that Valpo's major buildings don't have a common look or theme. What that person found unappealing, I find uniquely attractive. Each building has its own shape, form, and character, as opposed to a prototype and 15 clones that send the message that once you've seen one building, you've seen them all. I guess it's the same reason I like that not everyone drives a Chevy or lives in the same style home. Variety is inspired by creativity and innovation. Aren't those the qualities we're trying to instill in our students?

[Pgmado]

This is my own positive news. I drove through campus today to take a look around. I took my lunch with me and parked by the turnaround adjacent to the Center for the Arts and spent some quiet time. There's nothing quite like the look and feel of a beautiful traditional college campus.

I recall recently reading a critical comment somewhere that Valpo's major buildings don't have a common look or theme. What that person found unappealing, I find uniquely attractive. Each building has its own shape, form, and character, as opposed to a prototype and 15 clones that send the message that once you've seen one building, you've seen them all. I guess it's the same reason I like that not everyone drives a Chevy or lives in the same style home. Variety is inspired by creativity and innovation. Aren't those the qualities we're trying to instill in our students?

I must have walked right by you! I walked through the area around lunch time today and thought I saw someone sitting in their car.

[vu72]

https://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/news/2022-23/22167/valpo-athletics-announces-plans-for--july-coaches-bus-tour/

[vu72]

Valpo gets $750,000 grant:    https://www.valpo.edu/news/?type=post&site=239&id=13420t: 

[crusadermoe]

Roger Powell hire!   Not just for basketball success, but for local visibility and energy throughout the region.  Valpo has to stake a claim to the NW Indiana region and he has appeal that will span a region that is otherwise very "balkanized."

[David81]

Lots to talk about in that WSJ article posted by valpo22, but for now wanted to highlight one of the individuals featured in that piece, Dr. Zena Hitz, who is a tutor at St. John's College in Annapolis, MD (a school devoted completely to the "Great Books").

Last fall I put together an online program featuring Dr. Hitz and her book, Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life, on the theme of the dignity of an intellectual life for all. The program starts with a conversation with Dr. Hitz (about 45 minutes), followed by Q&A, and then a responsive panel of educators expounding on this theme. One of the panelists is a long-time friend and VU schoolmate and Christ College graduate, Hilda Demuth Lutze, who recently retired as a high school English teacher and has written several books of historical fiction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AQpbTdEq-g

[crusader05]

A CC professors has an article in our local newspaper building on what David Brooks said about the program.

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/thomas-howard/article_3d0c61c0-48fc-11ee-8d6d-4be9f9883278.html

[crusadermoe]

Fantastic!   Yes, as he says, there was probably some Lutheran reticence to "sell it (Christ College)."

The canon of great books basically teaches you that there is really nothing new under the sun. Greek and Roman civilizations learned and passed on crucial lessons in government and in human nature.  Britain picked up some of those lessons in developing its courts. Other than that, over many centuries, "life was nasty, brutish, and short"  --Thomas Hobbs, Leviathan.

People in those centuries had major concerns in life that would make you truly anxious (like not being killed in endless wars or by their own ruler's cruelty.)  That left them little time to worry that their planet might warm 1.5% over the next 100 years. 

[wh]

Racing to zero waste: Valparaiso University recognized for waste reduction initiative
Molly DeVore  19 hrs ago

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso/racing-to-zero-waste-valparaiso-university-recognized-for-waste-reduction-initiative/article_d2f584ac-5f07-11ee-b433-dfc6132ccb58.html

[VULB#62]

Yay!

[wh]

This gives me hope for the future. These precious students singing and playing their hearts out (beautifully, I might add) in service to Christ. Yes, the crowd is small, but with the emphasis on reconnecting with Lutheran schools and churches, who knows what a service like this might look like in 2 or 3 years. Love these pioneers! Excellent message, as well!

https://youtube.com/live/wZmwsJX4-4Y?si=uHhIms6_2gXNALf5