Reflections Magazine Issue #79 - Fall 2013 | Page 5

Campus News

from the heights
SHU Welcomes Largest
Freshman Class in History

Siena Heights Names New
Graduate College Dean

This fall Siena Heights welcomed the
largest freshman class in the institution’s
history (above). A total of 311 full-time
freshmen began classes Aug. 26 on the
Adrian campus, according to SHU Vice
President of Enrollment Management
George Wolf. “The largest freshman
class in the University’s history is further
evidence that Siena Heights continues
to develop itself as a highly valued
college choice,” Wolf said. “This large
class continues the planned growth and
development of Siena Heights University
to offer an affordable and flexible highquality education.” The University also
experienced record enrollment this fall
in its degree completion centers, which
include locations in Battle Creek, Benton
Harbor, Jackson, Lansing, Monroe,
Southfield and online.

Siena Heights University
named Dr. Linda Sandel
Pettit, Ed.D., as its new
dean of the Graduate
College on July 8. Pettit
most recently served as
assistant professor of
Counselor Education and the program
director for the graduate Counseling
program at SHU. In her new role as dean,
Pettit is responsible for leading Master
of Arts programs in leadership, teacher
education and counseling and for
exploring opportunities to expand the
University’s graduate offerings. Pettit, a
licensed psychologist, has a doctorate
in counseling psychology from West
Virginia University, a master’s degree in
counselor education from Siena Heights
and a bachelor’s degree in journalism
from Michigan State University. Before
joining SHU in 2011, her career spanned
psychological counseling, life coaching,
international speaking and training,
consulting, teaching in higher education
and public relations management. She
has worked in hospital, community
agency, private practice, business and
academic settings.

Trudy Mohre Hired as New
Director of Admissions

Dr. Sue Idczak Honored
with IU Alumni Award
Siena Heights Director of Nursing Dr.
Sue Idczak was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana
University School of Nursing (above).
The award honored her national recognition for “significant professional and
academic contributions to the field of
nursing.” She also was recently published
in “Reflections on Nursing Leadership,”
a peer reviewed international online
nursing journal. The article was titled
“Fall Into Presence.”

SHU hired Trudy Mohre
to be its next director of
Admissions. She began
her duties at SHU July
15. Mohre’s experience
in the field of student
recruitment and enrollment management spans more than 30
years and ranges from practitioner to
leader. She most recently served as a
private counselor, providing undergraduate and graduate college search guidance to students preparing for the next
levels of education. Her other experiences
included being the admissions dean at
McMurry University, admissions director
at Howard Payne University and senior
associate director at Southwestern
University, all in Texas.

Nairobi Chamber Chorus
Visits Siena Heights

SHU Named A Most
Affordable Catholic College

SHU’s International Studies and Visual
and Performing Arts offices hosted the
national touring Nairobi Chamber Chorus
on Aug. 7 (above). The voluntary group
of young performers are drawn from
universities and institutions around
Nairobi and various tribes of Kenya.
The Chorus has performed together
with world-renowned musical companies,
including the Guildhall Orchestra, London Adventist Chorale, Cape Town Opera
and UK-based Opera House. The group
recently represented Kenya in the celebrations to mark the diamond jubilee
of Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Siena Heights University was ranked
24th among the top 36 “Most Affordable
Roman Catholic Colleges with High
Starting Salaries for Graduates” listing
recently released by AffordableCollegesOnline.org. Siena Heights was one of
only two institutions in Michigan to make
the national rankings. To compile its list,
ACO analyzed and leveraged authoritative
data sets from the National Center of
Education Statistics (NCES), the
Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System
(IPEDS), Carnegie
Classification and
Payscale.com.
According to ACO,
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