Alexandre Ardichvili, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD), has been chosen as an Outstanding Paper Award Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013 for his article entitled "Sustainability or limitless expansion: paradigm shift in HRD practice and teaching" published in European Journal of Training and Development.

Kevin Kopischke will give the University of Minnesota-Crookston commencement address for the class of 2013 on May 11. Dr. Kopischke received an Ed.D. from the Department of Educational Policy and Administration (now the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development) in 1996. He is currently the president of Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, MN.

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Michael Goh, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) and Mike Stebleton, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning (PSTL) presented at the April 26, 2013 Diversity Through the Disciplines Symposium organized by the University of Minnesota Office for Equity and Diversity. Goh and Stebleton were featured as recipients of the Institute for Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy (IDEA) Multicultural Research Award. Goh's presentation was titled "Decoding and encoding culturally competent mental health practices" and Stebleton's presentation was titled "Space matters: Immigrant college students at 4-year research institutions."

Nicola Alexander, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) received a scholarly paper award at the 2013 National Education Finance Conference. The award is for her article in Educational Considerations (Volume 39, 2012) entitled "The growth of education revenues from 1998-2006: An update on what accounts for differences among states and the District of Columbia in the context of adequacy."

Alexander was also named a 2013 Distinguished Research and Practice Fellow from the same organization.

Xi Yu, Ph.D. student (WHRE) in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) received the 2013 Council of Graduate Students (COGS) Student Leadership Award to recognize her service and contributions to the University community on behalf of fellow graduate students.

Karen Seashore and Alfonso Sintjago from the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) have received College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) awards:

• Karen Seashore, Ph.D., Regents professor, received the CEHD Excellence in Academic Advising award. This award is given to recognize exceptional academic advising of undergraduate or graduate students.
• Alfonso Sintjago, Ph.D. student-CIDE, received the CEHD Outstanding Student Leadership Award-Grad Student level. This award is given to recognize undergraduate and graduate students for exceptional leadership and/or service contributions to the CEHD, the University community, and the surrounding community.

David Chapman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) was a featured or keynote speaker at the following venues:

• Featured speaker an invitational seminar on Strategic Planning in Malaysia Higher Education on May 2-3 in Kuala Lumpur. The seminar was sponsored by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education as part of its midterm review of its strategic plan for higher education.
• Keynote speaker at a national conference on higher education-industry collaboration held at Chi Nan University in Puli, Taiwan on April 27-28. Chapman presented key findings of the 2-year Asian Development Bank study of higher education issues in Asia, for which he served as Team Leader.
• Featured speaker on April 26 at Chiayia University, Taiwan and guest of the Graduate Institute of Educational Administration and Policy Development. Chapman spoke on recent research on issues and opportunities in cross-border collaboration in higher education in Asia.

For the past 12 months, the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) has partnered with the Austin, MN, school district (APS) to prepare a new STEAM-focused school for all local fifth and sixth graders. CEHD has provided customized professional development -- drawing from multiple departments and centers -- to support teachers in developing an integrated, trans-disciplinary approach to instruction, with engineering being the thread that ties teaching and learning together.

"While more districts are moving to incorporate STEM-focused instruction [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math], few are integrating the arts in a meaningful way," says Kara Coffino, coordinator of CEHD's field-based professional development partnerships. "APS, along with the U of M as its university partner, are building this school from the ground up -- literally -- with the district supporting physical construction of the school building and the University of Minnesota supporting teacher development and curricular discernment."

The goals of this innovative partnership include:

• Creating an integrated, trans-disciplinary curriculum.
• Supporting teacher development and preparation to teach in a specialized, high-tech environment by U of M staff and faculty.
• Engaging with community partners to support teaching and learning in and out of the classroom.

"It's almost unheard of for a Research 1 institution to engage with partners in a truly collaborative manner like this, and it's something we hope to do much more of in support of our land-grant mission and outreach across the state," says Coffino.

The final "All Teacher Professional Development" meeting for the 2013-14 academic year, will take place on May 8 in Austin, where teachers who will teach at IJ Holton Intermediate School, school and district leadership, and U of M partners will roll up their sleeves, link theory to practice, and begin the work on aligning instruction across the disciplines to develop rigorous integrated thematic units that focus on a single engineering design problem.

This is phase two of the partnership. Last May, approximately 70 Austin teachers earned master's degrees in education from the U, taking all classes on-site in Austin.

The Hormel Foundation is providing funding for this project and hopes to use it as an example for other foundations to improve education.

The school opens for classes Sept. 3, with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for Sept. 28.

Scholarships were awarded to undergraduate business and marketing education (BME) students in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) on April 30, 2013 at the Gary Tinsley Memorial Scholarship fundraiser. Tinsley Grant Scholarships were awarded to Laura Binder, Lauren Corrigan, Sydney Dykema, Erin Haney, Peter Hoang, Profit Idowu, Lezlie Jensen, Harlan Kartak, Bethany Libbesmeier, Jacqueline Rupp, Gretchen Sagdalen, Rachael Weber, Xia Xiaopa, and Joseph Zerka. The evening included a dinner served by football players, a video honoring Gary, a talk by Coach Jerry Kill, and a unique silent auction, with all proceeds going to the fund. More information.

Alexandre Ardichvili, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) is one of the 2013 COGS Outstanding Faculty Award winners. This Council of Graduate Students (COGS) award was established four years ago as a way for graduate students to nominate faculty members they feel go above and beyond in their work with graduate students. Winners received their awards at a ceremony on May 2, 2013.