The Magazine of St. Ambrose University | Spring 2018 SCENE ALSO INSIDE: SAU Gets A Great Report Card Leap of Faith Led Alum Across Border 50 YEARS at St. Ambrose of Co-educationCelebrating a Milestone Decision SCENE 10 The Magazine of St. Ambrose University Spring 2018 | Volume XLV | Number 3 Managing Editor Photo credits: SAU Archives, cover, inside front cover; John Mohr Photography, p. 2, Craig DeVrieze ’16 MOL 4–5, 6, 8–9, 10–11, 17–19. Scene is published by the Communications Staf Assistant and Marketing ofce for the alumni, 8 Darcy Duncalf ’12 students, parents, friends, faculty and staf of St. Ambrose University. Its purpose Contributing Writers is to inform and inspire through stories highlighting the many quality people Jane Kettering ’17 and programs that are the essence of Dawn Neuses ’94 St. Ambrose’s distinguished heritage of Rev. George McDaniel ’66 PhD Catholic, values-based education. Circulation is approximately 30,000. Dustin Renwick ’10 St. Ambrose University—independent, 24 Robin Ruetenik ’15 MOL diocesan, and Catholic—enables its students to develop intellectually, Designer spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically 18 and physically to enrich their own lives and Rebecca Harris-Klawon the lives of others. 2 Under the Oaks www.sau.edu/scene St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, Iowa 52803. 8 Who’s SAU: Kris Eitrheim [email protected] 10 Faculty Profle: Deanna Stoube 12 50 Years Later, Alumnae Making a Diference 16 The History of Women at St. Ambrose 18 A Big Thumbs Up for Computer Sciences 22 Alumni Profle: Franc Contreras 24 Early Alumnae Helped Break Old ‘Habits’ 26 Gift of Giving: Frank Mallerdino 26 Class Notes Paula (Laird) Raney ’72 uses a surveying instrument as one of the frst women engineering students in 1969. A Message from the President A Celebration of Equality Two weeks into my term as president of St. Ambrose, Yet I also take tremendous pride in the fact St. I told a gathering of Quad Cities businesswomen Ambrose students learn today in a gender-diverse that we will know gender equality has truly been environment that empowers women and men of achieved when we no longer see the words “frst all faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds to aspire to woman” in front of president. anything they want to achieve, while also allowing them to learn from diverse perspectives. Or doctor. Or dentist. Or scientist. Or engineer. Or mechanic, for that matter. I very much hope our students see me as 2 Under the Oaks Still, I believe the 50th anniversary of the 1968 St. Ambrose’s 13th 8 Who’s SAU: Kris Eitrheim decision to make St. Ambrose College a fully president, rather 10 Faculty Profle: Deanna Stoube co-educational institution is an occasion worthy than the frst woman 12 50 Years Later, Alumnae Making a Diference of celebration and refection. to hold that ofce. 16 The History of Women at St. Ambrose I hope they learn In the context of today, the choice to become a co- equally well from our 18 A Big Thumbs Up for Computer Sciences educational institution seems obvious and, perhaps, accomplished male 22 Alumni Profle: Franc Contreras overdue. Hindsight, however, rarely considers the faculty members as 24 Early Alumnae Helped Break Old ‘Habits’ context of the era under review. they do from our 26 Gift of Giving: Frank Mallerdino accomplished female 26 Class Notes I believe St. Ambrose has always been attentive professors. And I hope our students take pride and to the signs of its times; we must remember that fnd encouragement in the success of the alumnae for more than a century, Catholic colleges and we highlight in this celebratory edition of Scene. universities across the U.S. predominantly were single-gender institutions. It was not until the late The fact is that any student with a St. Ambrose 1960s that a vast majority of Catholic institutions degree can aspire, like Rachel Bahl ’05, to rise in the saw the beneft of co-educational classrooms and engineering ranks of an industry giant such as Ford campuses. Motor Company. Likewise, of course, any student —woman or man— can dream of following the I also would suggest the idea of single-gender intrepid journalistic path of Franc Contreras ’87. colleges had its right time and purpose, particularly for women, because women coming out of women- Dating back to Bishop John McMullen’s earliest only institutions tended to assume leadership vision of a Catholic school for men and boys, our positions in an out-sized manner. Having attended long Ambrosian history is worthy of celebration. a college that began to admit male students only in The fact that the past 50 gender-diverse years the last year of my undergraduate studies, I might comprise a rich part of that history is cause for be an example of that. celebration, too. Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD 1 under the OAKS University Earns Great Online Textbooks Will Save ‘Report Card’ Students Money Ten years of self-refection, strategic A new afordability initiative at SAU could save assessment and forward planning earned students as much as $1 million per year. signifcant praise for St. Ambrose when a That’s real savings. peer review of the university’s programs, processes and plans won the unequivocal St. Ambrose has contracted with the University of Minnesota’s Open Textbook Network (OTN) approval of the Higher Learning Commission to help reduce the money students spend on (HLC) earlier this year. textbooks each year. Beginning in the fall, Based on the work, documentation and textbooks and instructional materials for a number of courses will be available online strategic goals outlined by staf, faculty for free or at a minimal cost. and students, the commission issued a fnal—and enthusiastic—report granting full According to Mary Heinzman ’08 MBA, accreditation for the next 10 years. chair of a workgroup tasked with addressing the afordability of a St. Ambrose education, “Every single criterion and core component textbook costs have increased 88 percent in was met and this does not often happen,” the past decade. She said students can spend between $900 and $1,200 on texts and materials in a single year. The new initiative can signifcantly reduce those costs. “If we could get half of our classes to use free or minimal cost materials online, we could save students upwards of $1 million in a year,” Heinzman said. A number of instructors have embraced the open textbook concept, and others are investigating. Most online courses next fall will enlist the OTN options or fnd other means of making text, video and other instructional materials available for free or at a lower cost online. The Library has purchased a number of instructional materials that will be available at no charge via Blackboard, Heinzman said. The SAU Bookstore also will make text materials available online at reduced costs. “There is no one perfect option for everybody,” Heinzman said. “We are trying to fnd a mix of options that will make education more afordable for our students.” 2 under the OAKS said Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, president Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, of the university and a member of the HLC New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, peer review group. “I was thrilled. This is a South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and report card for us and it documents for the Wyoming. public that we are doing what we say we do.” “This was outstanding work by the entire The Higher Learning Commission is an campus,” Sister Joan said of the three-year independent corporation that was founded process for earning accreditation. “I’d like in 1895 as one of six regional institutional to especially thank Tracy Schuster- Matlock, accreditors in the United States. PhD, our dean of university academic programs and director of strategic planning, HLC accredits degree-granting post- for her dedicated leadership on this secondary educational institutions in the important initiative. All Ambrosians can be North Central region, which includes the proud of this milestone.” following 19 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, St. Ambrose Joins esports Evolution St. Ambrose will join a growing a number of colleges and away convinced the popular activity will help St. Ambrose universities in felding an esports team in 2018-2019. recruit additional bright and academically engaged student-athletes. The Fighting Bees will compete with other collegiate esports teams in the popular games “League of Legends” “This new esports program is an exciting opportunity and “Overwatch” under the direction of coach Joshua to bring a new generation of students interested in Sides. intercollegiate competition to study and grow at St. Ambrose,” she said. “These virtual competitions Ray Shovlain ’79, ’82 MBA, SAU’s director of athletics, will call upon teamwork, strategy and individual skills in said the move into the cyber sports realm is in step with an activity we know has been popular with college-aged the university’s recent additions of cutting-edge academic students for many years.” programs in science, technology, engineering and the health sciences. Also next fall, St. Ambrose will add a color guard to its athletics band program. The guard will join with what The co-ed esports team will be the 29th SAU athletics is expected to be a 60-musician-strong marching band ofering. performing full-length halftime shows at Fighting Bees Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, said the university football home games. studied other collegiate esports programs and came 3 under the OAKS Focused on Building Building a aCareer Career Free course will help more students it is ofering students this free, one-credit elective,” experience internships Matteson said.