Month: August 2024

Southeastern’s College of Education offers courses leading to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Educator Certificate in Teaching and Learning for both elementary and high school credentials. The students who successfully completed the courses in the spring 2024 cohort hail from Hong Kong, Great Britain, Uganda, Texas, North Carolina, and Louisiana.

Four of the students were so impressed with Southeastern that they are continuing with a graduate degree in curriculum and instruction. Those students represent Uganda, Texas, and Louisiana. The International Education Program is able to reach and influence teachers globally.

For more information on the IB Educator Certificate, please visit southeastern.edu/department-of-teaching-and-learning/ib/.

Southeastern’s Police Department has added a four-legged officer to its force. K-9 Jula is a two-year-old German Shepherd from Poland who is certified in explosives detection.

Jula is partnered with her handler, Sgt. Michelle Blanchard. Both Jula and Blanchard returned from Liberty Hills, Tex., last week after completing a three-week-long certification course. Training will continue throughout the year and include safety sweeps for special events, sporting events, and any emergency situations that may arise.

Southeastern President William S. Wainwright wholeheartedly supports the new K-9 Division.

“We are excited about the addition of our first K-9 officer to Southeastern UPD,” said Wainwright. “Jula will be a great ambassador of safety, student support, and officer training and development.”

University Police Chief Michael Beckner agrees, stating that with the implementation of Southeastern’s K-9 Division, UPD is able to add another layer of protection to the Southeastern community.

“Safety is our top priority, and K-9 Jula allows us to continue those efforts in a greater capacity,” he explained. “UPD offers this resource to our community partners, school districts, and local law enforcement agencies as well.”

Beckner added that although Jula is socialized and loves getting pets and attention, she is a working dog; therefore, permission must be granted by her handler first before approaching her, since she may be in a working capacity.

For more information, contact UPD at police@southeastern.edu.

Southeastern has launched the Collegiate Recovery Expansion Project to support college students in recovery. The program is possible thanks to the support of the Louisiana Department of Health’s Office of Behavioral Health and Florida Parishes Human Service Authority. The initiative includes over $1.3 million to create campus spaces that are recovery-informed, supportive, and empowering. The campuses that will implement the Collegiate Recovery Programs are as follows: Southeastern, Louisiana State University, Tulane University, Grambling State University, Northshore Technical Community College, and Southern Law Center.

“Substance misuse within college campuses is a national issue, which can easily overwhelm college students during one of the most pivotal times in their lives,” said Assistant Director of Intervention and LION UP Recovery Annette Baldwin. “According to the National Institutes of Health, 2007, less than 10 percent of college students suffering from substance misuse seek assistance. Unfortunately, all too often this can lead to academic failures, tragic accidents, and, in some cases, lost lives.”

The goal of the Collegiate Recovery Expansion Project is to create campus environments that meet the needs of all students. The CRPs are designed to support students who have or are at risk for developing a substance abuse disorder, Baldwin explained. This includes creating supportive programming for students in recovery, while educating the campus community on substance misuse prevention and sustaining recovery efforts. CRPs have the potential to save lives, Baldwin said, but are also essential for academic success, as they create supportive environments, promote resilience, increase retention, and graduation rates.

“There are significant benefits to having a Collegiate Recovery Program on college campuses. The presence of CRPs can shift perceptions on campus and reduce stigma, opening doors for more students to seek help,” Baldwin said. “These programs can also serve as important recruitment tools for students in recovery seeking an institution that can support their educational and recovery goals.”

Southeastern launched LION UP Collegiate Recovery in 2019; it was one of the first collegiate recovery programs in Louisiana. Since that time, over 19 students have been served, and 13 students in recovery successfully graduated.

“We want students to know that we are building a network of collegiate recovery programs in Louisiana. If you are a student in recovery, we are ready for you, and we will support you,” said Baldwin.

For more information, contact Baldwin at Recovery@southeastern.edu.

The grants are made available through funding from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, The Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (SUPTRS BG)-American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Top image, from left: Southeastern LION UP Recovery Coordinator Bryan Sadler, NTCC College-Wide ADA Coordinator Beth Froeba, Tulane Recovery Community Director Jacob Goldberg, LSU Collegiate Recovery Program Manager Adam Singer, NTCC Instructor and Faculty Advisor Robert Pate, Grambling Violence Prevention Coordinator Kim Gibson, Grambling Counseling Center Director Coleen Speed, Southeastern Assistant Director of Intervention and LION UP Recovery Annette Baldwin, and FPHSA Prevention Coordinator Tykesha Robertson. Not pictured are Southern University Law Center Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Support, Counseling, and Bar Preparation and Professor of Law Cynthia Reed, and Southern University Law Center Director of Collegiate Recovery Kimberly Decker.

Creating the Robin Roberts Broadcast Media Center

By Tonya Lowentritt

Good Morning America Co-Anchor Robin Roberts, then Gov. John Bel Edwards, representatives of Southeastern Louisiana University, and officials gathered together on a Thursday afternoon in November 2023 to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the construction of the Robin Roberts Broadcast Media Center and the $40 million renovation of D Vickers Hall. The Robin Roberts Broadcast Media Center will add an additional 33,000 square feet to the 80,000-square-foot academic building and will include three broadcast media studios—a newsroom, a film studio, and a multimedia studio. The architect for the project is Holly and Smith of Hammond.

The project will be paid for through state Capital Outlay funds and a sizable donation from Roberts.

“Every time I’m back on this campus, I’m 18 years old again with big eyes, big dreams, and big hair. And yes, the optics may have changed, but the Southeastern spirit has not,” Roberts said. “I am so incredibly proud of the standard of excellence here at Southeastern already with the Department of Communication and Media Studies. It’s exciting to know that this broadcast center is going to attract students from all over the country and the world and to know the skills that they are going to obtain. But more importantly, knowing that what we’re going to do is allow them to have big dreams, to focus small but dream big and have those dreams come true.”

“This facility is greatly overdue, as our faculty and students have been operating with limited space,” said Southeastern President William S. Wainwright. “The new facility will greatly enhance the classroom and specialized lab space needed to provide modern instructional opportunities to our students.”

The finished 113,000-square-foot facility will continue to serve its existing academic programs in English, theatre, foreign language, and communication. However, the Communication and Media Studies department will include a major expansion of the curriculum for the cutting-edge broadcast/media facility. The new addition will feature not only film and TV studios, but also radio studios and foley and film audio studios, along with their associated control, support, and edit rooms.

The third floor will contain additional shared classroom spaces for all four departments within the building. A new reconfiguration of faculty office space will increase access to natural light and offer more opportunities for student/faculty collaboration.

In addition to the three broadcast media studios and upon completion of the renovation and construction, D Vickers will include 104 offices, 27 classrooms, two 100-seat lecture rooms, five computer labs, and four English/language labs.

Another major component of the renovation is a makeover of Vonnie Borden Theatre. The renovated theatre will seat 498 people and include scene and costume shops, a green room, and male and female dressing rooms.

A 1983 communication graduate and former basketball star, Roberts learned her basic broadcasting skills as a student-athlete working at the university’s KSLU radio station and as the part-time sports director at Hammond’s local radio stations. She entered the broadcasting field upon graduation and eventually joined ESPN, hosting SportsCenter and contributing regularly to NFL Primetime. She joined the Good Morning America team in 2005.

Named Southeastern’s Distinguished Alumna of the Year in 1996, the Pass Christian, Mississippi, native has also been inducted into Southeastern’s Athletics Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame by the WNBA. In 2006, she was named one of the NCAA’s “100 Most Influential Student-Athletes” in conjunction with the NCAA Centennial Celebration. Southeastern Athletics retired her jersey in 2011 with a ceremony in the University Center.

Southeastern recognized Roberts with an honorary doctorate in 2014. At the hooding ceremony during that spring commencement then Southeastern President John L. Crain said, “Robin has been a tremendous treasure for Southeastern, and we are proud to confer upon her this honorary doctoral degree. Her personal and professional achievements have made her a true role model. She is one of the university’s foremost advocates and ambassadors.”