Radford University

The Big South Conference announced Monday afternoon that DaQuan Smith and Chandler Turner have earned end of the season conference honors. Smith was named to Big South's Second Team All-Conference, and Turner made the All-Academic team.

The Radford men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the 2023 season on Friday night, competing in the Virginia Tech Invitational. Joshua Daggett , a senior, dominated as he earned the top spot in the 6k Men's All-Time Top 10 with a final time of 18:38.6. This time also placed him 9th overall out of 87 runners.

Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies (PA) Luke Swatzyna, M.S., PA-C has been named the 2023 Virginia PA of the Year by the Virginia Academy of Physician Assistants (VAPA) . Swatzyna, who is also a 2011 graduate of the PA program at what was then Jefferson College of Health Sciences (now Radford University Carilion ), accepted the award at the VAPA state conference in Virginia Beach in July.

A trio of Radford women's lacrosse players swept the weekly Big South awards for the past week of play, the conference office announced on Tuesday morning. Ashlyn Grogan (Offensive Player of the Week), Olivia Hunter (Defensive Player of the Week) and Mady Cheney (Freshman of the Week) were recognized for their performances following the Highlanders' two victories over Delaware State and Akron to wrap up non-conference play.

On Saturday, March 4, three Radford University Graphic Design majors took home "Addys" at the Western Virginia Advertising Awards in Roanoke. Seniors Valerie Ray and Emily Woods, and junior Britiany Rorrer, earned two Judges Choice Awards plus three Gold and three Silver awards between them in the student competition. The competition is sponsored by Roanoke's chapter of the American Advertising Federation to recognize excellence and creativity in advertising across all media platforms. Winning entries are eligible to enter the District 3 awards contest which covers Virginia and the Carolinas. From there, winners can move on to the national competition. Valerie Ray garnered both a Gold and Judges Choice award in the Sales Promotion Packaging category for a fictional brewery, Backyard Brewing, that subtly played on the university's Highlander identity. "The idea was Kilt Guilt Scottish Ale would be their first nationally distributed beer," Ray explained, "so it needed unique packaging to be set apart from the dozens of other craft brews available." "I created a wicked rendition of the Loch Ness monster with a kilt hanging from its mouth to imply it must have eaten a Scotsman." Ray said the product came out of a course project and the most difficult part was physically constructing the beer caddy. She had to print and then apply the paper to a regular grocery store carrier by hand. In addition to this, Ray also picked up a Gold for her Burpee Seeds packaging and a Silver for Nichols and Sheppard advertising. Emily Woods's Silver Addy came from her work rebranding Lipton Tea that she produced last fall in her Packaging and 3D Design class. The project asked her to redesign the Lipton Tea logo and branding currently seen in stores. "We also had to design six tea packaging boxes that each would hold 20 tea packets," Woods said. "Each tea packet had a restriction of only using two colors. The project in total had over 120 mockups between the tea boxes and the tea packets." Britiany Rorrer also did very well at the competition. She won a Silver for her Nature Anatomy poster series and both a Gold and Judge's Choice award for "Cooking and Cuisine." Her entry was featured in the ceremony's official program as was Ray's Kilt Guilt.

On the the final day of her adult health clinical rotation in the medical/surgical unit at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, RUC nursing student Alivia Pinnix took extra time to ensure a patient felt heard throughout the day and had a safe space to allow a therapeutic conversation. As a result, she was nominated for a DAISY Award - an international honor recognizing skillful and compassionate care provision for patients and families.

As part of her duties as a speech-language pathologist at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, Jessica Cartwright Wisman '08, M.A. '10, consults with other healthcare professionals caring for hospitalized adults. Recently, her actions helped save a life which resulted in her being named a Carilion Clinic Healthcare Hero.

Chapman Rackaway, professor and chair in Radford University's department of political science, has been selected as a faculty contributor for The New York Times' curricular tool, InEducation. The InEducation tool features weekly posts and discussion prompts from leading professors across 16 disciplines. Rackaway will cover Campaigns and Elections, and, along with his fellow contributors, help professors and students connect what's happening in the news with their studies.

Junior Art Education major Raeven Harris represented Radford University as the inaugural pre-service board member at the Virginia Art Education Association (VAEA) Winter Conference. She was selected from nominees from across the Commonwealth.

The Radford University Office of Undergraduate Research (OURS) sponsored the 4th Winter CARD, or Creative Activities and Research Days Nov. 29 through Dec. 2. Working closely with faculty and other students during the fall semester, undergraduate students solved wicked problems we face in society and on our planet. Students presented their research projects through poster projects or orally to an audience. OURS provides transformative experiential learning opportunies to undergraduate college students to help them gain experience that will serve them well in their workplace and all of their lives. Students' experience in tackling ambiguous processes and solutions transforms them well beyond learning skill in their disciplines, to include being more engaged in their workplace even decades later (Purdue Gallop Poll), developing critical thinking and communication skills which are the most desired Career Readiness skills by employers, and helping get that first job as 86% of employers indicate they are more likely to hire students who have conducted a research project with faculty. For more information about Winter CARD at Radford University, please contact OURS at ours@radford.edu.

Capping a strong season in the middle of the Radford University Highlanders' defense, Shelby Hernandez has been named Big South Libero of the Week, the conference announced Monday afternoon.

The Big South Conference announced Monday afternoon that Ashlyn Traylor of Radford University Women's Basketball has been named the Big South Freshman of the Week, the first weekly honor for the Highlanders this season.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Thanks to his breakout performance on the road this week, Radford University men's basketball guard Kenyon Giles has been named Big South Freshman of the Week.

The Radford University Office of Undergraduate Research (OURS) is pleased to announce the schedule for this year's Summer Research Celebration. This past summer, 24 amazing student-faculty collaborative projects were funded through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. On Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022, students presented their research projects from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Kyle Hall, Room 340. The schedule of presentations is available at www.radford.edu/src. For more information about the Summer Research Celebration, please contacts OURS at ours@radford.edu.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is proud to announce the recipients of a 2022 Love of Learning Award. The awards help fund post-baccalaureate studies and career development for active Society members.

This week in Highlanders in the News: The Class of 2026 arrives on campus to start the fall semester; and writers, friends and colleagues pay tribute to Radford University women's basketball icon Charlene Curtis '76.

When Kevin Meredith graduated from Radford High School, it was 1990, and he didn't really know what he wanted to do, but higher ed did not seem to be in the cards. While still a teen, Meredith enrolled in cosmetology courses and, less than a year later, emerged trained and certified to cut and style hair. He'd also found a clear path he would follow very successfully for decades. But as he was scaling his 40s, he recalled, "I had reached that point where the salon was running on its own steam. I'd been doing hair for 30 years, and I woke up one day and was like, 'Maybe do something else?' And I started thinking, 'What would that be?'

Helping younger students learn about physics, then delivering a presentation about that experience, was in itself an education, according to a recent essay written by two Highlanders. The account, by physics major Kaleb Martin and cybersecurity major Sam Williams, was published earlier this year in the winter 2022 edition of the SPS Observer, the magazine of the Society of Physics Students. It's available online and appears on page 16.

Jasmine Rollins is definitely someone you'd want tagging along on a walk. "I go on hikes all the time, and I tell people who are with me what they are seeing all around us, the topography, fossils and all the different rocks," said Rollins, a Radford University senior geology major. "I get joy out of doing that because I love geology." Rollins first discovered her love for the science when she was a student at Northern Virginia Community College, and that realization later led her to further pursue her academic interest by transferring to Radford University.

Radford University has released its Dean's List for Spring 2022. Appearing on the Dean's List is the most prestigious academic recognition RU students can receive for their performance during a semester. Students will be placed on the Dean's List if they meet four specific criteria. They must have 12 semester hours of coursework graded A-F; earn GPA's of at least 3.4 for all courses not graded on a pass-fail basis; obtain no grade lower than "C"; and no incomplete grades.

Judy Carmichael, renowned pianist, vocalist and radio host, recently harkened back to Radford University, via Twitter, posting a picture of herself and a pair of Highlanders with whom she spent some time - Jessy Gahafer and Cienna Lindsay.

A 55-year-old man described a motorcycle crash he experienced. He explained how the accident happened and described his symptoms to about 120 healthcare professions students from Radford University, Radford University Carilion and Cirginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The man was real although his symptoms were not. He was simulating the accident and his injuries for an annual education session for this interprofessional group of students. The goal of the simulation was to show the students how they can work together in teams to assess their patients' needs, treat them and recommend additional resources, as needed. This coordinated care of patients by a collaborative team of healthcare providers is also known as "interprofessionalism."

For the first time in three years, Waldron College of Health and Human Services students and faculty gathered in person to present research and share ideas at the Interprofessional Symposium and Expo, held in Heth Hall on April 14, 2022. The seventh annual daylong celebration of original research from the college presented an opportunity for those involved to share research via poster and podium presentations well as roundtable exercises. It was the first in-person version of the event since 2019 due to the COVID pandemic.

Students in the fire and arson investigtion course at Radford University worked through a simulated fire scene on April 13. Since 2014, Todd Jones, a fire and insurance fraud investigator and adjunct instructor in the academic department of criminal justice, has been using a mobile burn trailer at Radford since 2014 to give students this hands-on learning experience.

Three students in Radford University's nursing program were in the right place at the right time to help a driver in distress. After leaving their clinicals for the day, the students noticed an unconscious driver stopped in the street. When they investigated further, they realized he was not breathing and performed life saving measures before the ambulance arrived and resuscitated him.

Sara O'Dell, a student in the Radford University Carilion (RUC) Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration program, admits she sometimes makes impulsive decisions. A few years ago, during her ninth year as a nurse, she decided it was time to return to school. "I like to think of myself as a professional student," O'Dell said. "I have always enjoyed learning, especially when it comes to healthcare, so I felt like it was time to build on my education and my career. I decided on the spot to do it." In addition to being a full-time nurse, though, O'Dell was also a mother with young children. That meant the program she enrolled in would have to be flexible and allow her to continue working and caring for her kids as she learned. Enter the healthcare administration program at RUC.

There is a good chance most faculty, staff and students have seen Luc White on the Radford University campus. "Everywhere" is a good word to describe White's impact here in the past three-plus years, and "almost everything," while seemingly hyperbolic, is fairly accurate in describing the extent of White's campus involvement. White is double majoring in studio art, with a concentration in photography, and biology, concentrating in ecology. If that weren't enough - and it's not, for White, who uses the pronouns they, them and theirs - they have three minors: French, chemistry and women's and gender studies. "I'm a senior, but I'm going to be a senior for an extra two years," White jokes, referring to the amount of time it will take to complete their studies. Luc is in the Honors College and serves as Honors Student Council president. They hold that same position with the Selu Garden and Service Club. "I'm in the greenhouse a lot," they said. But that's not all.

Sami Reitz is a star in academics and on the volleyball court. Reitz is a four-year letter winner for the Radford University volleyball team, and she ranked in the top five on the team in blocks and kills for three consecutive seasons. Reitz's coaches and advisor Dr. Rhett Herman encouraged her to take a rigorous course load, and then she took it upon herself to become involved in numerous extracurricular and academic growth programs. The hard work and long hours paid off as Reitz was accepted to Northwestern, Yale, Chicago and Purdue universities to pursue her Ph.D. in chemistry. She would like to be closer to her to home city, St. Louis, but wherever she goes, one thing is guaranteed, Reitz is headed for great achievements.

Since 1988, Radford University's campus and other school properties have been served by its own emergency medical services team, RUEMS. Staffed entirely by students, its team members are volunteers and receive no course credit, however those involved say experience is the reward.

The family tree of one group of occupational therapists (OT) is forever intertwined with the Radford University Master of Occupational Therapy (M.O.T.) program. It's a complicated story, so try to keep up.