BURLINGTON, Vt.–Champlain College announced it has hired two new deans as part of a restructuring of the Colleges academic divisions. Dr. Jeffrey Rutenbeck of the University of Denver was named dean of the Communication and Creative Media Division and Dr. Wayne H. J. Cunningham of Iona College was appointed dean of the Business Division. The new deans join the College in July, bringing with them a wealth of experience in their fields.Rutenbeck takes the helm of Champlains newly formed Communication and Creative Media Division, having most recently served as the director of Digital Media Studies at the University of Denver. Rutenbeck founded that innovative program, which integrates design, technical and critical approaches to digital media; it is one of the Universitys fastest growing programs.Rutenbecks professional background includes working for and consulting for Microsoft, as well as consulting for Time Warner, US Air Force Space Command and the Guangzhou Daily Press Group in China. He was the founding president of the International Digital Media and Arts Association and is now the chairman of the board.Jeff is a national leader in digital media and he has a long history of innovative program development, said Dr. Russell Willis, Champlains provost and chief academic officer. Hes an award-winning teacher who was highly respected at the University of Denver.Rutenbeck received his doctorate in communication from the University of Washington. He earned a bachelors degree at Colorado College and a masters in journalism at University of Missouri-Columbia.Cunningham becomes the dean of the restructured Business Division. He most recently served as dean of the Hagan School of Business at Iona College in New York. Before Iona, he was director of the MBA Program and the interim dean of Dexter Hanley College for adult and non-traditional students at the University of Scranton.At the Hagan School, Cunningham developed a new vision for the school and moved forward the accreditation process. Throughout his career, he has been a leader in establishing business programs, speaker series, internships and advising programs. He has taught business, management, and operations management and statistics at Iona College, University of Scranton, Bucknell University, University of North Florida and The Pennsylvania State University. He also taught a special MBA course at Tongji University in Shanghai, China.Wayne brings both administrative experience at the dean level and an entrepreneurial spirit to the new business division, Willis said. His expertise in accreditation and assessment will serve the College and the division very well.Cunningham received his doctorate in business administration at The Pennsylvania State University, as well as his MBA and bachelors degree.In May, Champlain College restructured and renamed its four academic divisions to increase their academic and administrative effectiveness. Our restructuring allows us to link programs more easily for faculty collaboration, marketing and alliances with the business community, Willis said.The new divisions were three years in the making. They are:· the Communication & Creative Media Division· the Business Division· the Information Technology & Sciences Division· the Education & Human Studies DivisionThe new division deans will serve as strategic academic leaders with a special focus on faculty and program quality, tuition revenue and fundraising for their programs. They will oversee new program development, including additional graduate programs in their fields. The deans will establish strategic plans for their divisions that express the Colleges strategic plan, Willis said. They will be advocates for academic excellence.The new deans will also be faculty members who interact with students on a regular basis. Theyll be leaders with respect to our students, too, Willis said.The College will turn its attention to hiring two deans for the Information Technology & Sciences Division and the Education & Human Studies Division. They would start work in July 2007.Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a private, baccalaureate institution that offers professionally focused programs balanced by a liberal arts foundation.# # #
Nearly 500 goat producers from 25 communities in Bong County are using improved animal husbandry to raise their goats. These goat farmers are receiving support from the USAID Food and Enterprise Development (USAID FED) program for Liberia.USAID FED has trained 54 Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW), who are mainly females. Recently, USAID FED constructed 33 shelters out of 75 goats shelters targeted for construction in Bong County.Liberian farmers are accustomed to the traditional ways of raising goats where the animals are largely left unattended. The aim of the program is to increase the production of goats and make animal farming a more profitable business for Liberian farmers. USAID FED’s interventions will greatly enhance the production of livestock in Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa and Nimba Counties, where the program is being implemented.Morris Karnuah, USAID FED’s Livestock Officer, said that goat farmers are receptive to the improved ways of raising their animals. “We observed that farmers are happy about the new techniques to raise and care for animals in their communities. [Farmers] provided some of the resources needed to construct …the shelters.”He said that three shelters are constructed in each of the communities. These structures include a kidding house, quarantine shelter and shelter for marketable goats.Karnuah also noted that linking farmers with goat buyers is critical for goat farming. According to him, farmers have to learn to treat raising goats as a business that provides sustainable income increases.“Most traders leave the country to trade for goats in Guinea and Ivory Coast because of [the] lack of sufficient supply of goats in Liberia. With USAID FED’s interventions, [the] mortality rates of kid goats have reduced, giving farmers more goats to sell. Due to the constraint in marketing goats, we have begun to hold series of consultative meetings with both traders and farmers to create the linkage and help [to] build the relationship,” Karnuah stated. Several goat farmers in Bong County expressed very positive feedbacks about the support received from USAID FED when speaking to the Observer Farmer Desk recently on the various farms in their communities.Johnson Douhokpeneh, the head for the Menilele (translates to mean “good things” in the Kpelle dialect) Goat Farmer Association in Gbarnga Siequelleh, Bong County, said that USAID FED’s support is helping to improve their living conditions. He stated that initially, goat farmers had 229 goats but the intervention’s USAID FED had increased their goat population to 273 goats.“We are impressed [by] the new ways we have been taught to raise our goats for marketing. This method has reduced kid mortality,” he said happily.CAHW Esther Miller said she is pleased to provide veterinary services because she can see that, in addition to helping the animals, she also helps the families who own the animals.USAID FED currently supports 2,060 goat farmers in Bong, Lofa, Nimba and Grand Bassa counties.The USAID FED Program for Liberia aims to reduce hunger and promote food security for Liberians through increased agricultural productivity and profitability in rice, cassava, vegetable and goat value chains. It is implemented in six counties: Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado.The United States – as the largest donor and closest ally – is supporting the Liberian priorities to build sustainable local capacity, make a difference in people’s lives, and move towards a shared vision of self-sufficiency and prosperity. For more information please visit. www.usaid.gov. USAID FED is Africa’s largest project under President Barack Obama’s Feed the Future Initiative, which promotes a move away from subsistence and increasing food security by working with public and private bodies, including the Government of Liberia, the private sector, local NGOs and other key stakeholders. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)