SIUE professor wants to help you get better health care

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy’s Lakesha Butler was installed as president-elect of the National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA) during the organization’s 2016 convention held last month in Atlanta. Butler is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice.

“I am excited to represent SIUE on a national level and be elected to lead the NPhA, a nationwide professional organization for pharmacists, whose mission aligns with my personal passion of helping to improve the quality of health care in underserved communities,” said Butler, who is the first School of Pharmacy faculty member to be elected NPhA national president.

Also representing SIUE, Yasmyn Knight, a fourth-year School of Pharmacy student, was appointed Region V Facilitator of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA). Knight is the first School of Pharmacy student to hold a national office in the SNPhA.

Through her role, Knight will oversee the growth and development of SNPhA chapters along the West Coast, and aid in the organization’s expansion to include global chapters.

“It is an absolute honor to be a student representative for the SIUE School of Pharmacy,” Knight said. “I am humbled to be appointed to this national position. The mission of SNPhA is to advocate for the profession of pharmacy and embrace diversity, and I am extremely committed to furthering that mission.”

McKendree’s speech and debate team adds new members

With more members than ever, the McKendree University speech and debate team looks to improve on its success from the 2015-16 academic year.

“We will have the biggest team in the history with approximately 26 — including 10 incoming students,” said coach Joe Blasdel. “Additionally, we are returning most of last year’s team — including eight students who qualified for their respective nationals.”

New members include Grace Alexander (Harrisburg), Andrew Dori (Althoff/Belleville), Emily Harper (Nashville, Ill.), Naomi Henry (St. Louis, Mo.), Kate Maag (Jerseyville), Virginia Parkinson (Carbondale), Brad Riedemann (Greenville), Isa Scaturro (Granite City), Emma Scott (Mascoutah) and Tyler Timmons (Granite City).

Returning members include seniors Dylan Comer (Carrier Mills), Katie Reining (Heyworth) and Taylor Rossi (Petersburg); juniors Alex Baldwin (Heyworth), Beth Graham (Normal), Matthew Hendricks (Chicago), Kaitlyn Hutchinson (Harrisburg), Adam Kaul (St. Louis, Mo.), Jazzmine Mitchell (Chicago), Gage Simmons (Nashville, Ill.) and Noelle Zickefoose (Coal City); and sophomores Justin Fausz (Valmeyer), Adeja Powell (Belleville East/Belleville), Aliyah Smith (Belleville West/Belleville), Andrew Wagner (Waterloo) and Emma Webster (Benton).

Company donates tools to SIUE

Sandvik Coromant Company has gifted mill and lathe tooling to the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineering’s Departments of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering to advance instruction and learning.

Jay Stephens, territory productivity engineer with Sandvik Coromant, collaborated with John Deibert, lab manager for the Departments of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and presented the donation earlier this month. The tooling package is valued at nearly $4,000 and will augment existing classroom programs and student design team capabilities.

“We truly appreciate this gift from Sandvik Coromant Company,” said Cem Karacal, dean of the SIUE School of Engineering. “This donation amplifies our ability to prepare students for a career in the industry by utilizing advanced tooling and technology.”

The tooling donation will be used in both Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machining and manual machining applications, and will be another asset within the new Student Design Center.

SIUC professor named to Illinois research council

The Illinois Education Research Council has named Sosanya Jones as its 2016-17 faculty research fellow. Jones is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Jones will be provided funding for her study on “Incentivizing Diversity: Perceptions of the Implementation and Impact of Illinois’ Performance Funding Diversity Indicator.”

“Dr. Jones’ project is a perfect fit for the interests of the IERC, and we are excited to support her research on performance funding in Illinois,” said Janet Holt, IERC executive director.

Jones has more than 15 years of experience in higher education administration, teaching, and research with background as an institutional and state administrator overseeing higher education diversity and retention initiatives

A former research consultant for The Ford Foundation and The Community College Research Center, Jones currently serves as an expert adviser for the Southern Education Foundation on issues related to equity and performance funding.

This story was originally published August 16, 2016 at 12:44 PM with the headline "SIUE professor wants to help you get better health care."