Georgia Southern University

Senior child and family development major Salena Neuwar was named the 2016 Georgia Association on Young Children (GAYC) Student of the Year at the Together for Children Conference for her outstanding work as a student and the positive impact she has made in her field of study. To be considered for the award, Neuwar had to be a GAYC member, a student studying child development or a related field, considered an outstanding student in her program and be nominated by an instructor in higher education. In addition to the GAYC Student of the Year Award, Neuwar has been honored with the Betty Lane Family and Consumer Science Award, the Georgia Southern Honors Program scholarship and the Susie Frances Whitener scholarship.

On April 17, 2017, S. Dawn Odom completed the requirements to now claim the designation Certified Master Athletic Administrator. She has joined an elite group of other athletic administrators from across the country that has attained the CMAA designation in the field of athletic administrators. The NIAAA is the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Georgia Southern University, Masters of Educational Leadership

The executive members of Georgia Southern's Interfraternity Council (IFC) recently attended the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference (SEIFC), held to provide IFC executive members from all over the U.S. with resources to enhance and improve their councils. Georgia Southern's Fraternity and Sorority Life was recognized in the top tier of Greeks nationwide for having an all Greek GPA that is higher than the all campus average GPA.

Ceramic work by Georgia Southern student MacKenzie Williard recently was accepted into a group exhibition at Local Project in Long Island City, New York. ANIMILIA was curated by Julian Calderon. It includes work from more than 60 artists. The show is on view from March 2 - March 18. Willard is a senior Bachelor of Fine Arts student concentrating in 3D Studio Art.

Georgia Southern University's Eagle Battalion Ranger Challenge team placed second overall at the 6th Brigade Army ROTC Ranger Challenge competition held at Camp Blanding, Florida on Jan. 21-22. Georgia Southern finished first in both the weapons assembly and night land navigation.

The 25th annual Georgia Southern Fall 2016 Commencement Ceremony represented a momentous day as approximately 1,700 of Georgia's best and brightest undergraduate and graduate students received degrees from the University's eight colleges. Approximately 400 graduate degrees were conferred, while around 1,300 undergraduate students received degrees.

Georgia Southern University recently recognized more than 2,700 students for excellence in academics on the Fall 2016 semester Dean's List. To be eligible for the Dean's List, a student must have at least a 3.5 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 hours for the semester.

Georgia Southern University recently recognized more than 1,350 students for excellence in academics on the Fall 2016 semester President's List. To be eligible for the President's List, a student must have at least a 4.0 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 hours for the semester.

A team of Georgia Southern students received first place for the 2017 Student Challenge, a business case competition for National Retail Federation (NRF) Student Association members to demonstrate their creativity and business acumen to retail executives, sponsored by KPMG. The finalists attended the NRF Foundation GALA in New York City, where the top team was announced Jan. 15.

Henriette Sabroe Ebbesen, was a winner in Life Framer's monthly photography competition "Still Life." The work from her series "Kaleidoscope Still Life" received an honorable mention in the competition judged by internationally celebrated photographer Lorenzo Vitturi. Additionally, Ebbesen's portfolio is currently featured on the Photo Vogue Italia website. "Water Lilies," a photocollage from her series "Feminine Development," was selected Photo Vogue Italia's Pic of the Day on January 2. Ebbesen currently is studying medicine at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She attended Georgia Southern University through the Georgia Rotary Student Program and studied art from 2015-2016. Here she found her passion for fine art photography. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe.

Melissa Stack (`15), graduate student in the School of Health and Kinesiology, has been awarded a grant in the amount of $844.06 from the Graduate Student Professional Development Fund (GSPDF) at Georgia Southern University for her research, "The effect of chronic L-carnitine and carbohydrate supplementation on body composition, perceived exertion and athletic performance in female endurance athletes."

School of Nursing Post-Master of Science in Nursing Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) student, Michele Lorraine Barutio Stephens, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society.

Students in the School of Human Ecology's Adventure Education class took the trip of a lifetime Oct. 21-23 when they hiked through the Great Smoky Mountains.

Georgia Southern alumna and English Language Fellow, Deborah Rodriguez Garcia ('10, '12), recently spent three weeks traveling and fighting against illiteracy. Rodriguez Garcia began in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, at the 2016 Reading Association of South Africa conference. The theme of this international conference was Literacy Connectivity. Researchers, non-governmental organizations and educators from around the globe delivered workshops and presentations on practices to promote literac

On Friday, October 21, Georgia Southern M.F.A. student Cyndy Epps, presented her paper, "Life Lessons in Art," at the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) in Roanoke, Virginia. Cyndy was part of a panel that discussed Creating Outside the Lines: The Myths, Reality and Fantasy of Art After Children.

Joshua Vinson, senior civil engineering student in the College of Engineering and Information Technology, was featured in the Sept./Oct. 2016 issue of Engineering Georgia magazine in an article called "Positioning Your Firm to Appeal to Millennials," as well as on the cover. "Positioning Your Firm to Appeal to Millennials" informs future employers of what Vinson and fellow engineering students look for in a company.

Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art student, Tyler Lund, of Statesboro, Georgia, won first place in the Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) 50th Anniversary Logo Contest for students. Lund, a Graphic Communications Management major, was awarded a prize package worth more than $1,000, which included free registration to the ATMAE Conference in Orlando, free admission to Universal Studios, and a one-year subscription for Adobe Creative Cloud. "The intent of my design was to stay clean and simple, yet give the viewer an appealing visual aesthetic. I used the lines and shapes of the background photo to my advantage by wrapping important text to give variation and emphasis to my design while still taking the clean and simple route," said Lund. "To achieve unity within my design, I used two fonts that had many variations giving my design a stronger appeal. The color choice I went with was the same colors from ATMAEs logo, this was once again done with intent of keeping unity throughout the entire piece and maintaining the feel of the association." Entries were judged on their strong visual impact, clear message relevant to the organization and occasion, effective use of text, images and symbols, and positive relationship and flow between elements. Students were required to submit an Illustrator and PDF file along with a brief written explanation of the design's intent.

The Georgia Southern Model Arab League received three awards in their first-ever appearance at the Appalachia Regional Model Arab League (ARMAL) at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia on Nov. 4-6. The delegation, made up of 11 GS students and their faculty advisor, Jacek Lubecki, Ph.D., represented the United Arab Emirates in the competition.

Georgia Southern University recently recognized more than 200 students for excellence in academics on the Summer 2016 semester President's List. To be eligible for the President's List, a student must have at least a 4.0 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 hours for the semester.

Georgia Southern University recently recognized nearly 200 students for excellence in academics on the Summer 2016 semester Dean's List. To be eligible for the Dean's List, a student must have at least a 3.5 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 hours for the semester.

The Georgia Southern University Army ROTC Eagle Battalion program earned first place in the Task Force Georgia Ranger Challenge Competition on Oct. 21. Seven college Army ROTC programs across the state competed in the Ranger Challenge in Fort Gordon, Georgia, including teams from Augusta University, Columbus State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University and University of Georgia.

Georgia Southern College of Education students, Kimberly Smith and Tiffani Mihuta, both Ed.S. School Psychology degree candidates, were recognized at the 46th Annual Georgia Association of School Psychologists (GASP) Fall Conference in Savannah, held Oct. 3-5.

Kathryn Randall, of Alpharetta, Ga., completed the Summer Studio Program with Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University. She was one of just 22 students from across the U.S. and the world who were accepted into the program. The Summer Studio Program has helped propel to great success many previous participants. It included a rush of studio visits, seminars, critiques, immersive studio time, contact with mentors visiting artists and critics directed at developing participants' work and ideas.

Several Graphic Communications Management students in the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art (BFSDoArt) submitted work for consideration in the Gutenberg Awards - Print Media Contest over the summer. The Gutenberg Awards recognize exceptional achievement in the field of Graphic Arts. This year, the BFSDoArt had 19 winners in three categories with two first place awards. Alexis Barber, Charles Crawford, Tim Davis, Hilary Luna, and Heather Yeomans received first, second and third place honors in the Flexography Printing category. Luna was awarded first place and Barber took fourth in Screen Printing. In the Litho-Pringing - Spot Color category, Mackenzie Paller and Talia Thornburg each were second place winners, while Yeomans and Daniel Thornton each received fourth place honors. Luna, Caleb Scott and Tommy Martin each placed fifth. In the Litho Printing - Process Color category, Yeomans, Thornton, Chris Upchurch, Ebony Johnson, and Seqouyah Stinson each placed fifth.

The Georgia Southern Chorale and the Southern Gentlemen won in competition at the "Laurea Mundi Budapest" Festival of Choral Music, held in Budapest, Hungary, July 9-13. The Georgia Southern Chorale won the Grand Prix in the mixed choir category and the spirituals category. The Southern Gentlemen won the open category in pop music and was invited to sing against the Georgia Southern Chorale in the Grand Prix.

Nursing students from Georgia Southern's School of Nursing spent two weeks over the summer in Costa Rica participating in a yearly study abroad trip. Led by Marian Tabi, Ph.D., professor in the School of Nursing, students learned about the culture of Costa Rica through lectures, host families, site visits and service learning activities.

This August, thirteen Georgia Southern University students and faculty member, Lisa Abbott, took their production of "Do Not Open," a student devised piece, to the International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. The show was nominated for the Fringe Sustainable Practice Award based on a review of the content of the show and responses to a questionnaire.

On May 6 and 7, Georgia Southern University held its annual spring commencement ceremonies for graduate and undergraduate students at Hanner Fieldhouse and Allen E. Paulson Stadium. Interim University President Jean E. Bartels, Ph.D., R.N., conferred more than 3,300 doctoral, master's, specialist and bachelor's degrees from the University's eight colleges during two separate ceremonies.

Georgia Southern University awarded degrees to its largest graduating class ever during two ceremonies this week. More than 22-hundred undergraduates received their degrees at a ceremony held on Saturday morning. Nearly five hundred doctoral, specialist's and master's degrees were awarded on Friday.

Four Georgia Southern University Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art Students recently were awarded scholarships totaling $11,800 from the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation. The scholarship recipients are Alexis Barber, Heidi McClain, Macie Giordano and Hilary Luna.