Family and friends celebrated the graduation of 40 NNU students receiving their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees. The degrees were awarded during the 11th annual Nursing Pinning Ceremony on Friday, May 10.

The pinning ceremony was a formal send-off of the nursing graduates into their chosen professions. The pin they receive serves as a highly regarded symbol of nursing excellence, commitment to the profession of nursing and completion of the nursing education program at NNU.

During the ceremony, seven students were recognized for their academic and professional accomplishments: Meghan Leis (Eagle, Idaho) received the dean’s award; Elizabeth Miller (Boise) earned the RN predictor award; Hilda Turman (Mountain Home, Idaho) earned the preceptor award; Brigitta Panther (Nampa) and Josh Patterson (Nampa) received the outstanding clinician awards; Elora Drake (Boise) was honored with the nursing student of the year award; Kelsie Thorngren (Boise) received the scholarship award; and, Leesha Vaden (Meridian) earned the leadership award.

Photo caption: Jocelyn Sawmiller, Boise

• graduate on time
• take classes that don’t fit into their regular schedule
• reduce semester course loads
• follow special interests.

Session one began May 14 and runs through June 14; Session two begins June 17 and runs through July 19; Session three begins July 22 and runs through August 23.

For more information visit nnu.edu/summersession or call 467-8870

The first camp is for girls entering grades 1-6, the second camp for girls entering grades 7-12, and the third camp for girls entering grades 3-8.  All three camps begin at 9 a.m. and end at either noon or 1 p.m. each day.

NNU’s coaching staff, along with NNU players, will be the instructors. Each camper will receive a rubber NNU basketball, an NNU t-shirt, and three game tickets for a Crusader home game. Tuition is $75 for camps one and three and $100 for camp two.

For more information, pick up a brochure at the Johnson Sports Center; print out a brochure/or register at  www.nnusports. com website; or call NNU assistant basketball coach Elpidia Allen at 467-8451.

The class of 1963 was NNC’s 50th graduating class. The weekend of their commencement, they buried a time capsule under the clock tower in front of Elmore Hall. On Friday, May 10 at 12:45 p.m., their time capsule will be opened and the class of 2013 will bury a new capsule. Those attending the event will receive the first Centennial keepsake button. For each of the remaining five centennial events, a button will be given to attendees, with the final button given during Homecoming & Family Weekend 2013 in November.

Golden Grad inductees are: George Beail (Santee, Calif.), Jewell Quick Coverstone (Soldotna, Alaska), Dan and Lavone Edgar (Nampa, Idaho), Karalee Miller Ellis (Keizer, Ore.), Eugene and Sheryl Good (Camas, Wash.), Karen Kertch Hammer (Meridian, Idaho), James Jackson (Evergreen, Colo.), Glenn Larsen (Nampa, Idaho), Barbara Sutter Markham (Coos Bay, Ore.), Ernie McNaught (Nampa, Idaho), Joseph Needham (Clarkston, Wash.), Virginia Cooley Nelson (Coos Bay, Ore.), Joseph O’Neill (Nampa, Idaho), Mel and Carol Schroeder (Newberg, Ore.), Joyce Miller Summers (Turlock, Calif.), Mona Chenoweth Swanson (Kennewick, Wash.), Gerald VanOrder (Nampa, Idaho) and Jan Wilson Watson (New Meadows, Idaho).

The drop-in session will be held at NNU’s Boise Center from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, May 16.  The NNU Boise Center is located at 720 Park Blvd., Suite 105, Boise, Idaho, in the lobby of the Washington Group Plaza.

Whatever your passion is—whether it’s business, nursing or something in between—we think you should love what you do.  Our graduate and adult programs are designed for just that.  Come see if an NNU education is one you can love.  We sure think so!

To learn more, log on to www.nnu.edu/infonight or call 208.467.8113.

NNU will graduate its first Doctor of Education (EdD) students on May 11 at the Idaho Center during the University’s commencement activities. All nine candidates who began the four-year program completed course work and successfully defended their dissertations.

NNU’s EdD degree program is designed to provide advanced study and research for educators interested in educational leadership in the specific area of school administration while providing opportunities for in-depth exploration, study, research, and analysis regarding administrative practices in the school/district setting. The online format of the program allowed these professional educators, from the Northwest to the Republic of Korea, to learn new skills while continuing to teach at their institutions. Classrooms around the world are already being affected by these high-caliber educators.

Individuals earning an Ed.D. are willing to encourage professional growth in others and exhibit academic excellence to those around them. They are able to provide creative, workable solutions to problems as they arise both within the district setting and the larger community, and provide leadership in creating an inviting environment for students and staff regardless of their background or circumstances.

This year’s graduates are: Jefferson County School District #251 Assistant Superintendent Donald Bingham (Rigby, Idaho); Bridge Academy Principal  Jim R. Brown (Twin Falls, Idaho); Idaho Virtual Academy Principal Heidi Curtis (Nampa, Idaho); Another Choice Virtual Charter School Administrator Kelsey LeDuc-Williams (Nampa, Idaho); Jefferson County School Distrect #251 Director of Human Resources N. Shalene French (Rigby, Idaho); Notus Jr-Sr High School Business/Technology Educator Sarah Hatfield (Ontario, Ore.); Taejon Christian International School Director of College Counseling Jennifer Hill (Taejon, South Korea); South Fork Elementary School Principal Yvonne Thurber (Rigby, Idaho); and, Lone Star Middle School Principal Greg Wiles (Nampa, Idaho).

Photo Caption: Yvonne Thurber (Rigby, Idaho) successfully defends her dissertation.

The WasteSmart team from NNU’s School of Business won $1,000 as the third place contestant at the Social Venture Plan Competition hosted by Seattle Pacific University.

The WasteSmart team of Sergio Mendoza, Jimmie Gorman and Courtney Gilbert performed exceptionally among the 32 teams competing. They were well prepared and used a prototype of their device, together with multimedia Prezi presentations on TV and iPads, to create support for their project among the judges.

A Social Venture is a business that focuses on relieving a social need. The WasteSmart team’s business will use solar energy to convert waste in Rwandan cities into usable fuel for heating and cooking.  The business will solve a serious health hazard from polluted waste, help avoid deforestation and provide needed low cost fuel to the community.

Congratulations to all the competitors, and thanks to all who helped prepare the team with counsel, coaching and advice!

The Art Department’s annual design show will run from April 29 through May 10 showcasing the work of six graduating seniors. The exhibit is held in the Friesen Galleries.

Works in print, web design and illustration are available by seniors Scott Christianson (Vancouver, Wash.), Kelly Cook (Newberg, Ore.), Anni Lubiens (Nampa, Idaho), Richard Martinez (Idaho Falls, Idaho), Cody Pearson (Nampa, Idaho), and Adam Rech (Nampa, Idaho).

The design show is free and open to the public.

The senior seminar keynote speaker for Northwest Nazarene University’s science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) graduates will be Chancellor of Montana Tech and professional engineer Donald Blackketter, Ph.D.  Blackketter will address the challenges that face American STEM education at the April 18 presentation.

“My presentation will build on my experience as a student, faculty member and administrator at several institutions. I will talk about the general state of STEM education in the US, exemplars, and may even include some theological ponderings and opinions related to sciences and engineering education,” said Blackketter.

Even though employment opportunities, salaries, and recruitment rates have increased in America over the last several decades, the number of science and engineering graduates has plateaued. Addressing questions like, “Why are we seeing this trend?” “What are universities doing wrong?” and “What is NNU doing right?” Blackketter offers an expert perspective on this important topic facing American higher education.

Blackketter, chancellor of Montana Tech since June 2011, served 22 years at the University of Idaho as a mechanical engineering faculty member, department chair and dean of the College of Engineering. Dr. Blackketter brought extensive teaching and research experience to Montana Tech after having held leadership roles at the National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology (NIATT) and NIATT’s Center for Clean Vehicle Technology from 1998 to 2005. Blackketter is a registered professional engineer in Idaho and Mont. and a former Fulbright Scholar. He earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Wyoming in 1985, 1986, and 1989, respectively.

Dr. Blackketter’s presentation is open to the public and will be held Thursday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Jackson Lecture Hall of the Thomas Family Health & Science Center, 603 Dewey St., on NNU’s campus.

•     September 13, Founders’ Day
•     October 10, Centennial Gala
•     October 20, Celebration Sunday
•     November 7-10, Centennial Finale and Homecoming & Family Weekend
•     November 9,  Centennial Covenant Celebration & Concert

NNU broke ground March 8, 2013 for its new Leah Peterson Learning Commons. It was a significant ceremony attended by trustees, University faculty and staff and civic leaders.

It is not the first structure NNU has built to house its collection of ideas and words that capture ideas. This will be the fourth “library” in the school’s history.

First, NNC’s collection of books was housed on the bottom floor of the original Emerson Hall. That space was soon outgrown, and the R.T. Williams Library was constructed. However, it too was outgrown as the collection and the student body grew. Then in the early 60′s, the John E. Riley Library was constructed—a 20,400-square-foot space that served us well for nearly 50 years.

But NNC has become NNU, and ideas and words are now often held in the invisible realm of the Ethernet. Data is accessed via the World Wide Web and the very nature of how facts and information is created, collected and stored has changed. Thus, new times call for a new space.

NNU broke ground on its fourth learning center, the Leah Peterson Learning Commons. This new space will incorporate the 22,400-sq-ft existing John E. Riley Library for a comprehensive 56,635-sq-ft facility, wired and equipped to serve the institution for many years to come. The new Learning Commons is made possible by the generosity of Leah Peterson, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation and other charitable individuals and organizations.

Though the manner in which ideas and facts are stored has changed, one thing has not changed—NNU is committed to providing meaning amidst the explosion of information within the digital age. I can’t wait to cut the ribbon on the Leah Peterson Learning Commons when it opens in the fall of 2014.

–President David Alexander

NNU’s Baccalaureate and Commencement exercises will be Saturday, May 11, at the Idaho Center, 16200 Idaho Center Blvd., Nampa, Idaho 83687.

President David Alexander is the featured speaker at the 10 a.m. baccalaureate service, and well-known, respected President Emeritus Dr. Richard Hagood is the keynote speaker for the 3 p.m. commencement ceremony—a combination of academic pageantry, conferral of degrees and the acknowledgment of significant life goals having been achieved.

Hagood came to NNU in 1985 with a background as an educator and administrator and served eight years as vice president of institutional advancement. In 1993 he was elected the 11th president of the University and served until his retirement in 2008. During Hagood’s tenure, the college made the transition to university status; diversified its educational offerings; constructed, acquired or expanded over a dozen buildings and facilities; and, enjoyed excellent fiscal strength. Hagood continues to be an outspoken advocate for the mission of NNU and its role as a Christian witness to the community and beyond.

The community is invited to join faculty, family members and friends of the graduates at these end-of-year academic ceremonies.

In addition to the commencement activities, a time capsule that was buried during the 1963 commencement will be unveiled on Friday, May 10, at 12:45 p.m. after the alumni Chapel.

To find out more on all the Baccalaureate and Commencement activities visit nnu.edu/commencement.

As a historian, his writings have won several awards, and he was honored as president of both the Western Literature and Western History Associations. As an author, Dr. Etulain approached the writing of “Seeking First the Kingdom: A Centennial History” as an academic excursion. As such, his presentation of NNU is largely driven by his sources— thousands of letters and personal files.

In this video, Dr. Etulain discusses how he compiled the mountain of information and the tension of writing a credible history on a subject so close to his heart.

If you are interested in purchasing the packaged set of “Spirit Of Place” and “Seeking First The Kingdom” please visit http://www.nnu.edu/centennial/books/

NNU held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new Center for Chinese Studies March 19. NNU students have been taking language and culture classes from two visiting professors, Jing (Jenny) Chen and Lixia (Lisia) Shen, who will be faculty members for at least the next two years.

Approximately two years ago, NNU and China’s Northwest University, in Xian, Shaanxi Province, applied for the opportunity to teach these courses at NNU. Vice President for International Studies Changan Li was present to assist Dr. David Alexander in the ribbon cutting ceremony, which was held in the atrium of College Church of the Nazarene.

“We are pleased to be offering courses to our students that will prepare them to live in an ever-shrinking world,” said Eric Kellerer, director of international relations. “With Mandarin Chinese being the native language of one-fifth of the people on our planet, it makes good economic and community sense for us to learn to communicate with our neighbors across the Pacific.”

In addition to the ribbon cutting, NNU students from these classes shared a presentation in Mandarin, and members of the Boise Chinese Association performed traditional dances.

To learn more about NNU’s Center for Chinese Studies, visit nnu.edu/chinesestudies or call (208) 467-8510.

Teams will compete in a simulated market setting where judges will rank the teams. The first place winner will earn a $1,500 prize to put toward making their proposals a reality. Winners will also be given the opportunity to compete in the regional social venture competition in Seattle, Wash.

This year’s students have formed the following businesses: Douémour: Providing solar powered light to Rwandans through a one-to-one donation program, Douémour’s objective is to aid in the development of Rwandan communities and to increase families’ standard of living through a stable light source.

4M Tree Recycling: By creating recycled mulch and providing it to customers in Canyon County, 4M Tree Recycling plans to be a green fertilizer provider for local landscaping specialists, nurseries, and homeowners.

Harvesting Hope: Through the founding of a culinary education center that provides culinary experience for underprivileged individuals looking to work in the culinary arts, Harvesting Hope creates an opportunity to learn to cook under a professional chef.

BikeIt Boise: This proposed company focuses on providing bike rentals in Boise, Idaho to encourage healthy living, reduce traffic congestion and make Boise more environmentally friendly.

PURE: By operating a large water purification plant in India, PURE plans to provide and distribute quality drinking water to designated kiosks run by local entrepreneurs.

WasteSmart: In the pursuit of cleaning up disease harboring waste and turning it into useful, desirable, and profitable products, WasteSmart incinerates waste and creates briquettes out of the ash.

The public is invited to attend the second annual Social Venture Plan Competition (SVPC) that will take place Wed., March 20, 2 to 6 p.m. in the University’s Brandt Center, 707 Fern Street. Attendees will be given a virtual $1000 to “invest” in up to three business plans. For more information, please contact Kendra Lubiens at (208) 467-8021.