Kudos and
Congratulations

Accomplishments

• Maranda Badeaux, Coordinator for University Provost & International Operations has been selected as the Administrative Professional Representative for the Kansas International Educators (KIE) Leadership Team for 2025.
   
• Dr. Jordie Smith has been selected to present his research at The National Communication Association Conference in New Orleans on November 23. The title of the research paper is “From Celebration to Cataclysm: A Case Study of Stacey Graves Crisis Response Rhetoric in the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Superbowl Parade Mass Shooting.”
   
• Congratulations to our OUAZ Cheer and Dance teams for their great representation of OUAZ at the largest NCA/NDA College Camp Nationwide. The dance team member Bryn Taylor was named All-American. The Dance Team won 2nd place in the Team Division. The OUAZ All-Girl Team won 3rd place, while the Coed Team won 1st place in the Rally Run Off. All three teams earned their Top Tier Bid to College Nationals. Fang won Best All-around Mascot! We are so proud of our athletes and coaches for an amazing debut at the NCA/NDA College Camp!.
   
• Braves Music Department hosted the first annual Jazz Camp (June 23-27) with 21 attendees from as far away as New York City to Southeast Missouri to Western Kansas and the Kansas City area. Attendees ranged from 12 to 75 years old, and they studied jazz theory and improvisation, learned in masterclasses, jazz history sessions and in ensembles that produced a culminating concert. Many of the students participated in evening jam sessions and made new friends. Many have already reserved a spot for the 2025 Jazz Camp. Special shoutout to Logan Smoot ’24 and Jacob Fry ’24 for serving as interns for the inaugural camp.
   
• Congratulations to members of the women’s Braves Powerlifting Team who travelled to Estonia, Tartu to represent Team USA in the FISU (Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire aka International University Sports Federation) World University Championships. Jamie Scott placed eighth overall at the 2024 FISU World University Championships, competing for team USA. Two incoming Braves also took part in the games. Mena Reeves (won Bronze in bench) and Caitlyn McMahon helped Team USA women finish #14 out of 22 teams, while the men finished #9. 
   
• The 2024 Braves Baseball Team received an ABCA Team Academic Award. The team did well in the classroom this past season with 14 individual athletes named Daktronic Scholar Athletes and Tyler Farnham was a CSC Academic All-District selection. "I'm really proud of team 59 for achieving this," said OU head baseball coach Jonathan Freemyer. "These guys worked hard on and off the field last season." https://ottawabraves.com/news/2024/7/24/baseball-earns-abca-team-academic-award.aspx
   
• The 2023-24 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Rolls were announced today by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The Ottawa University Women's Basketball Team was named to the NAIA Top 25 List. The Braves come in at no. 24 on the top 25 list. Ottawa finished the 2023-24 season with an overall team GPA of 3.388. https://ottawabraves.com/news/2024/7/24/womens-basketball-named-to-the-2023-24-wbca-academic-naia-top-25.aspx
   
• Congratulations to both residential campuses for earning Champions of Character Five-Star Institution Gold Level Awards for 2023-2024. Each year, NAIA schools use the Champions of Character core report to measure the pursuit of character-driven athletics. Schools scoring a minimum of 60 out of 100 points earn the Champions of Character Five-Star Institution Award.

• A big shoutout to everyone in the Ottawa University community that worked hard to plan, execute and troubleshoot all three of the 159th Anniversary Commencement ceremonies. All of your planning, care, hard work and dedication made the events memorable for the graduates, and their families and friends who attended the ceremonies. Thank you for all you do!
   
• Braves athletics finished the spring semester strong with the cheer team finishing 9th in the advanced small coed NAIA division at the NCA National Championships; the dance team finished 6th in the team performance NAIA Division at the NDA National Championships; men’s lacrosse team competed in their first NAIA National Championship tournament; the softball team made it to the final game of the NAIA Opening Round tournament in Oklahoma City before being defeated by No. 2 Oklahoma City University; five track and field team student-athletes were named NAIA All-Americans at the end of the NAIA Track and Field Championships (Jacob Ludwick – 4th in javelin; Daniel Campbell, Domonic Atkinstall, Xavier Garza and Jaylan Washington – 8th in 4x100 relay team and broke a school record); and the women’s flag football team won their 4th consecutive NAIA National Championship!
   
• Jay Kahnt completed his head coaching career for Braves Nation in the final game of the NAIA Opening Round tournament at Oklahoma City on May 15. In his 23 seasons, Kahnt had an overall record of 618-422-1, led the Braves to seven KCAC regular season championships, two KCAC Tournament championships, six NAIA Opening Round appearances, and four NAIA World Series. He earned his 600th coaching victory in a double header sweep of Kansas Wesleyan University on March 23. Kahnt is now the Director of Administrative Operations at Ottawa University.
   
• Shoutout to the OU IT Department for working hard to keep the University running, as well as informed about new enhancements, security and implementations.

• Partnering with the United Way, Dr. Russ McCullough and Dr. Peter Jacobsen from the Gwartney Institute at Ottawa University led 36 students (kindergarten through fifth grade) through a series of trading rounds to learn the value of economic freedom and trade as their self-reported happiness increased throughout the interactive activities. 

Accomplishments

• Dr. Diann DeWitt, Associate Professor of Nursing, has been appointed as a surveyor by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). In this role, Dr. Dewitt will continue to uphold and advance the nursing practices and policies. Her knowledge of the nursing profession and nursing education will be highly honored, respected, and valued in and during this appointment.
   
• The OU (Kansas) Women’s Bowling team placed 8th at the NAIA National Championships, while the Women’s Wrestling team finished 7th overall in the NWCA Team Scholar All-American Awards (3.4953).
   
• OU (Kansas) women’s lacrosse team had new school records set by Shelby Bearden is the new leader in Saves in a Season (138) and Mackenzie Simmons broke the school record for career points (237) and goals (214).
   
• As Name Image and Likeness (NIL) gain more attention, two members of the OU (Kansas) athletic department were part of a panel at the NAIA National Convention. Justin Preston (men’s bowling and entrepreneur) and Janet Eaton-Smith (athletic director) shared their experience and expertise with conference attendees.
   
• The OUAZ Cheer and Dance team competed in Daytona, Florida at the NCA and NDA College Nationals. The Cheer teams finished Top 10 in coed and Top 5 in 4th Place for all-girl. The Dance Team made finals in Pom and came home with the 2nd Place trophy, and the Hip Hop Team won their division and brought home the National Championship title! 
   
• In their first full season,, the OUAZ STUNT team qualified for Nationals. They had a great showing at the NAIA Nationals and held the Top 5 position in their division.

Accomplishments

• With the HLC reaffirmation site visits completed, special thanks go out to Karen Ohnesorge, Andrea Cook, Joann Bangs, Carine Ullom, Jessamine Greuter and Joshua Overton who diligently worked to prepare the case, but also provided Brown Bag and Town Hall virtual sessions (multiple), emails and videos to prepare our campuses for the site visits; Lara Boyd for making everything run seamlessly; to the Board of Trustees members who came to town for a one-hour meeting (including from Arizona, Colorado, and Texas); and to the campus communities across the University who provided information for the case, turned out, spoke up, and made our case better.  This was truly a team effort in which everyone at Ottawa University played an important role.
   

• Dr. Andrew Wright, Adjunct Professor, recently published his first book, Death Before Dismount: U.S. Army Tanks in Iraq. His work will be available in the UK on September 15, 2024 and in the US on November 12, 2024.
   

• Ivana Damnjanovic, Student Services Advisor - EMBA, completed a Coursera course through Rice University titles Organizational Leadership in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  She earned four certificates: Defining Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Organizations, Key Concepts in Organizational DE&I, Best Practices in Planning DE&I Interventions, and Assessing Cultural Climate.
   

• Scott Phillips, Assistant Coach of the Liberty Lions boys basketball team who won the 6A Arizona State Championship.
   
• David Birch, Head Coach of the Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars boys basketball team who won the 6A Kansas State Championship, the first in program history, as well as being named the KSHSAA Coach of the Year.
   
• Jay Kahnt, Head Softball Coach and Chief Operating Officer (Ottawa, KS) on his 600th career win!

Accomplishments

• Dr. Bill Tsutsui has been appointed Vice Chair of the U.S. Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) Panel and Japan U.S.-Friendship Commission  (JUSFC). Dr. Tsutsui has served as panelist of U.S. CULCON and commissioner of the JUSFC since 2020.

• Jay Kahnt, Braves Head Softball Coach, coached his 1,000th softball game on February 27.  Coach Kahnt will be retiring at the end of this season.

• Geoff Poston, Braves Men's and Women's Bowling Coach, was named Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Coach of the Year.

• Allen Reger, Process Improvement Engineer, has worked tirelessly transitioning Ottawa University's Customer Resource Management (CRM) from Salesforce to Jenzabar's J1 system.

Accomplishments

• Dr. Diann DeWitt deserves accolades for many reasons, including completion of the writing of the CCNE MSN re-accreditation self-study, in preparation for the onsite survey at the OUOP Online campus in early March 4-6. Writing these self-study reports are similar to writing a book. I assisted with data collection and meetings with Diann to confer, but she wrote the document. As you know, she is also faculty, faculty president, and currently serves in many capacities within OU.

• Dr. Kasey Johnson, along with Cornell Ellis (from Brothers Liberating Our Community [BLOC] KC) will co-present at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) National Conference in Denver, Colorado on February 17.

• Joseph George, OUAZ Student, serves the OUAZ community selflessly.  He is involved in Campus Ministries and leads the worship band at Spirit Life. He also plans and runs the worship nights on campus once a month.  In addition to this, he is a Resident Assistant, an Engineering major and leads worship at a local church (City Church) on Sundays. 

Accomplishments

• Amy Mathews led the initiative to fom a partnership for Ottawa University and Camber Children's Mental Health Services. Jenelle French and Dr. Ruth Burkhart also helped to make this partnership happen. This partnership will provide meaningful opportunities for our counseling and nursing students by offerning them internships and field placements. 
  
  Camber Children’s Mental Health is the leading regional provider of children’s mental health services with a network of nonprofit hospitals and residential treatment centers in Kansas City, Wichita and Hays. As the pioneer of trauma-informed mental healthcare models in the region, Camber has spent over 30 years developing and enhancing innovative therapies to help thousands of children live more balanced, healthy and resilient lives. Previously known as KVC Hospitals, Camber's mission and values remain focused on providing children with access to high-quality mental health services as soon as they need them. 
   
• Diann DeWitt was selected as the new University Faculty President.
   
• Kate Bayne was promoted to Chief Enrollment Officer for OU Online.
   
• Jay Kahnt moved into the OUKS Campus Administrative Operations Director position in addition to his role as the head softball coach. Read the full release here.
   
• Bruce Tate is the Interum Director of Athletics for Braves athletics. Read the full release here.

Accomplishments

• Andrew Eric Wright, Sr, Adjunct Instructor - History, successfully defended his dissertation titled "Death Before Dismount: The Role and Effectiveness of the U.S. Army's Armor Units During Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2009" on August 4, 2023 with Liberty University.
• Samantha Lanz, Safety and Security Officer, created and manages a computer database that encompasses information that contains data that is vital to security work at OUAZ. This database includes parking, housing, and contact information used regularly to contact students and faculty when their cars are parked illegally or need to be moved without being towed.
• The OUAZ Men's Golf Team was honored as 1 of 10 NAIA teams to earn the Golf Coach's Association (GCAA) President's Special Recognition which is awarded to teams earning over a 3.5 team GPA. This recognition is made more impressive is the team is comprised of 24 student-athletes.
• The OUAZ Spirit Squad earned the silver bid for college nationals.  This bid for nationals came after three days of hard work at camp representing Ottawa University.
• Ottawa University head powerlifting coach, Ryan Baylark and four incoming freshman are on the roster for the IPF World Classic & Equipped Sub Junior and Junior Powerlifting Championships. The event is taking place in Cluj Napoca, Romania, August 24 through September 3. The four freshman  competing are Kasee Sketoe, Nicolas Calidonia, Chase Lawton, and Lola Cheramie.
• OU Track and Field Athletes, Jaylan Washington, Kayron Johnson, and Hadyn Bieling competed in the FISU World University Games at the Shuangliu Sports Center. OU Coaches, Steve Paternostro and Jim Whittaker, were part of the USA staff.
• Fang, the OUAZ mascot, won the most collegiate mascot award at the NCA College Camp. He also won OUAZ's first All-American Award at Camp.

Accomplishments

• Dr. Diann Dewitt, Associate Professor of Nursing, was instrumental in working with the Upper Iowa Nursing Director and Staff to devise a transfer sequence / plan for the CEP and RN-BSN nursing students once hearing about the closure to Upper Iowa's program.  Dr. DeWitt also stepped in to meet with the prospective students and introduce them to Ottawa University.  We are extremely grateful to her and her willingness to advocate for the nursing students.  She is always a team player for all of OU.
• Dr. Andrea Cook, Assistant Provost for Institutional Effectiveness Assistant Dean for Academic Operations, earned her Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Kansas. The dissertation title is Teaching Presence, Faculty Characteristics, and Student Perceptions of Teaching Effectiveness: A Study of Online Teaching, and Andrea Cook successfully defended on July 6^th.  Andrea is very excited to have completed this milestone. "I had a lot of support from amazing colleagues and though it was a great experience I am very glad to be done"! OU is thankful for Dr. Cooks' continued service, expertise, and commitment to excellence. 

Accomplishments

• Ruth Burkhart, Director of Nursing, has been appointed to the Kansas State Board of Nursing
• Russ McCullough, Professor- OUKS, was recenlty pulished in the Foundation for Economic Education, https://fee.org/articles/why-the-federal-reserve-pays-interest-to-your-bank-and-you-get-nothing/
• Kasey Johnson, Assistant Professor - Adult and Online Programs, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Nazarene Theological Seminary with a master's in transformational leadership.
• Maranda, Badeaux, Coordinator for University Provost and Internal Operations, worked tireless on getting a Canadian visa for Bilal Olayiwola to be able to travel to Australia when Canada employees were on strike. 

Accomplishments

• Chancellor Bill Tsutsui was given the Distinguished Service Award of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) at their annual Conference in Boston.The AAS is the leading professional organization in the academic study of Asia, with over 6000 members worldwide.  The award citation read (in part): “Bill’s roles with AAS over the years have been numerous and vital.  His vision and tireless dedication as AAS Editorial Board Chair for more than a decade have brought creativity, momentum, and expansion to the AAS publications program. . . .  Most recently, he served on the ASS Strategic Planning Committee, helping to develop a five-year strategic plan for the Association... There are many words to describe Bill: collaborative, innovative, gregarious, enthusiastic, creative, passionate – and, above all, caring.”
• OUAZ Men's Basketball had an impressive season, which was capped off by an historic NAIA Tournament run. The Spirit were one of the last 4 teams remaining in the tournament, commonly referred to as the Fab 4.  
• OUAZ Women's Wrestling Team won their first national championship at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Championships, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• Ryan Gentry and Kristina Thomas of the OUKS Debate Team were declared the National Champions of the Pi Kappa Delta 110th Annual National Tournament.
• OUAZ Cheer and Dance will be representing OUAZ at College Nationals in Daytona, FL from April 5th to 9th. The OUAZ Stunt Team is currently ranked #8 nationally.

Accomplishments

• Maggie Lewis, Ottawa University Arizona graduate student and graduate assistant for the OUAZ Cheer and Dance Team, and Justice Graham, '22 AZ, were members of Rihanna's back-up dancers during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

• Taylor Jones, '16 KS, is a member and captain of the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders. She cheered at Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, AZ. Jones is in her 5th season with the Chiefs.
• OUAZ Women's Wrestling Team won the West Coast Conference Championship at UNLV on February 25th. The team has won the event in each of its three years of existence.  They will be competing in the NCWA National Championships in Puerto Rico on March 10th and 11th. They are currently ranked #1 in the nation.
• The OUKS Debate Team participated in the 25th Annual Webster University Debate Tournament. Hanna Deware and Josh Kohfal won the tournament, Deware placed third in speaker standings. Ryan Gentry and Kristina Thomas placed third in the tournament, Thomas placed sixth in speaker standings. The team will travel to Philadelphia over spring break to compete in the National Championships.
• On February 22 and 23, the Kansas Board of Nursing (KSBN) came to the Kansas City Campus to conduct the initial program approval survey for a NEW Prelicensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. The lead surveyor gave the Nursing Faculty the great news that there were no recommendations for revision, indicating no deficiencies were noted with the survey. The next step is the survey report recommendation to approve the prelicensure BSN program approval by KSBN vote at the 3-day series of quarterly KSBN meetings, March 20-22. The recommendation of the surveyors to approve the program will go first to the Education Committee, then to the full board during these 3-day meetings. If all goes as planned, the Prelicensure BSN program will open at the Kansas City campus in the Fall 2 term this year. Many individuals contributed to the planning, preparation and production of the Prelicensure BSN program and this initial visit, including the construction and outfitting of a Skills Lab and Simulation Lab on the KC campus. It was a true hands-on team effort that made this possible! Kudos to the Nursing Faculty, President’s Cabinet and the entire KC campus staff for pulling together and executing the vision! 

Accomplishments

• Justin Wadkins, Ottawa University Kansas Admin Safety/Security, has written a detailed Standard Operating Procedures manual, implemented new and improved Emergency Management manual and configured a detailed map of security camera coverage for Ottawa University Kansas.

• Ottawa University Overland Park partnered with Happy Bottoms-Diaper Distribution on MLK Day.  They packed 15,600 diapers which will support 208 newborns. Since 2019, Happy Bottoms distributed nearly 20 million diapers.  On average, it serves nearly 3,500 individuals monthly through all programs that include potty training.  In 2021, they distributed 2.7 million diapers.

• Carine Ullom, Associate Dean for Instructional Innovation with Adult & Online programs has co-edited a book called "At School in the World:  Developing Globally Engaged Teachers," Which is now available for pre-order at all major booksellers.

• April Robbs, Instructional Designer/Technologist and Kristen Moore, Associate Professor have received a 2023 Exemplary Course Award from Anthology (Blackboard) for their work in modifying the online version of BUS-7200, Value Systems and Professional Ethics, so that all technologies embedded in it function correctly in China.

• Amy Hogan, Dean of the School of Education, has been elected by the Kansas Board of Education to serve on the Professional Standard Board and will also be continuing service on the Education Review Comittee for the Kansas State Board of Education.

Accomplishments

• Emily Zerbe, Ottawa University Arizona Education Major, was recently awarded the Friends of the Surprise Library Scholarship.

• Karen Orr, CEO of Providence Medical Center was awarded the Ottawa University Servant Nurse Leadership Award.  The Ottawa University Servant Nurse Leadership Award has been established to identify and honor those servant nurse leaders who set a modern-day example for servant nurse leaders-in-training at Ottawa University and beyond to the community of nurses.

• Congratulations to the Ottawa Nursing Students that were pinned at the Maricopa Community College Pinning Ceremonies.  The students earned their ADN in Nursing as well as their BSN from Ottawa University through the CEP (Concurrent Enrollment Program)​

  • Mesa Community College ​Tessa Schrader Emily Landry Delaney Maness Gateway Community College ​Brooke Stamper Aitanna Vigil-Fernandez Jazmin Leal Jennifer Lynn Magen Hess Breannah Pico Tuesday Waldon Maria Obeso

  • Chandler-Gilbert Community College ​Rachel Guyant Glendale Community College ​Auslu Suah Emily Gaughan Kristina Johnson Luminta Pravat Tammy Posey

  • Paradise Valley Community College ​Jordon Aguilar Celina Felix Meg Morita

  • Estrella Mountain Community College ​Chase Glenn Tarandeep Kaur Phoenix College ​Leslie Ramirez Encinas Gregory Carr Dr.

• Demelash Areda, Assistant Professor of Biology: Was awarded an advanced certificate in Effective College Instruction from ACUE (the Association of College and University Educators) and ACE (American Council on Education). Certificate holders have demonstrated knowledge of and skill in implementing effective teaching practices that promote student success. Participated in collaborative projects with Global Burden of Disease (GBD) that results in publication of two articles on The Lancet: GBD 2019 LRI Collaborators. Age–sex differences in the global burden of lower respiratory infections and risk factors, 1990–2019: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. www.thelancet.com/infection Published online August 11, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00510-2. GBD 2019 Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators (.2022. Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. www.thelancet.com Published online November 21, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02185-7.

Accomplishments

• The Ottawa University Debate Team travelled to Park University in Parksville, Missouri for the River Fest Speech and Debate Tournament. As a team Ottawa University finished in fourth place among all schools. The team travels to the University of Central Missouri for their 45th Annual Invitational October 21-23. 
   
• Andrew Wright, Sr, Adjunct Instructor for Ottawa University, led a seminar on Kansas Military History on October, 25th that was sponsored by the K-State Institute for Military History

Accomplishments

• Gloria Creed-Dikeogu, Director of Library Services and Professor of Library Science, was appointed by Governor Laura Kelly to the Kansas State Library Board. The purpose of the Board is to advocate for statewide library services and resources, encouraging cooperation among libraries and promoting and encouraging innovative library services.
   
• Dennis Tyner, President of Ottawa University Arizona, represented OUAZ at Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities roundtable discussion with U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC.
   
• Chet Keizer, Director of Adawe LifePlan Center at OUAZ, was nominated and awarded the title of Honorary Commander of Luke AFB. Chet will receive the opportunity to fly in an F-16 Fighting Falcon in the next couple of months.
   
• Amy Hogan, Dean of the School of Education, is the President Elect of the Kansas Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (KACTE).
   
• Kasey Johnson, Assistant Professor for Adult and Online Programs, is the President Elect of the Kansas Association for Private Colleges of Teacher Education (KAPCOTE).