Fall 2021 Newsletter

I have been on campus for just over two months now and I can gladly say SIU has not disappointed. The campus is absolutely beautiful, and each time I go out I find new treasures to enjoy. I’ve especially enjoyed the view of Campus Lake from my office, and I frequently take the opportunity to walk around the lake after work. I cannot think of a better way to end my day.

More importantly, however, are the people at SIU. I have found the faculty and staff to be welcoming, friendly and supportive. It is a real treat to be a member of the SIU family and I am impressed by the university spirit. One of my now fellow deans told me during the interview process that the Saluki spirit was real and now that I am here, I feel that for myself. The College of Health and Human Sciences leadership team consists of a group of bright and talented school directors and administrative staff. I have not had the opportunity to work with a more committed and dedicated group of faculty and staff and we are eager to start the new year (in spite of any ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19) with our campus full of students.

As I look forward to the start of the fall semester, one group I am eager to learn more about is our alumni. The college has a rich collection of alumni across the country and I eagerly anticipate learning more about where our alumni are, what they are doing, and to further engage them in the college and university. SIU is in the top 50 of United States universities for the number of alumni produced (a statistic truly worth celebrating) and I am eager to connect and engage with them.

To my new Saluki family, I thank you for welcoming me and I’m eager to serve you in my role as Dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences.

Here are a few Q&A to get to know me a little better.

What was it about SIU Carbondale and the College of Health and Human Sciences that attracted you?

SIU Carbondale has been on my radar for quite a while now.  I have a colleague at SIU and had the opportunity to visit the campus on two prior occasions. During those visits, the faculty, staff, and students I interacted with had absolutely outstanding things to say about SIU and the work being done there — I think it is fair to say I was struck by the Saluki spirit. When looking for a new opportunity, I was committed to finding a university that not only had a strong university spirit, but a commitment to something bigger. As I’ve learned over the past couple of months, it doesn’t come much bigger than being a Saluki. Beyond that, I was struck by the emphasis on transformative learning at SIU as this model fits well with my core educational values. In sum, at SIU I saw an opportunity to contribute to the growth of a new college in a nationally ranked research institution that provides an inclusive culture with a commitment to community engagement all in the mission of creating a better tomorrow.

I am excited to join a newly developed and very eclectic college that is bursting with potential. I learned very quickly that CHHS has incredibly talented faculty, staff and students so I believe I am walking into an ideal situation. CHHS has a collection of impressive and nationally ranked programs, and the upper administration clearly expressed their support and excitement for the college; thus, this position struck me as a rich opportunity to work within a new college to strive for and achieve even greater heights.

What are your goals for the college?

CHHS is a new college and I am honored to be the inaugural dean. My overarching goal will be to foster a sense of community within the college and across the university. My greatest successes are actually not mine alone, they all came from teams. I have been very successful in building teams in all phases of my professional life and development and I will bring that approach to my role as dean of CHHS. As such, I will lead from a team-oriented model to encourage all constituents of the college – students, staff, and faculty – to strive for greatness and to contribute in their own ways to our mission. This mission will be a shared mission. I am a progressive thinker and a competitor (often too much so if you ask my wife), so I will foster an environment supportive of challenging the norms, thinking outside the box, with an aim of being better. We can always be better and it is my commitment to help CHHS do exactly that: achieve new heights scholastically, instructionally, and via service with emphasis on community engagement. One indicator of success for me will be the impact CHHS has on the region.

Although I accepted this position with a vision for leadership and an awareness of the talent and potential within the college, I am new. I need to learn about the college. I need to learn what all members of the college want from their efforts and experiences. What do our students (graduate and undergraduate) want from their experience in the college? As such, I will involve students in my team. I need to hear from staff, what is working, what is it they need to help them enhance the units they serve. Although I have been a faculty member for 21 years, I do not presume to know the needs, aspirations, and dreams of the faculty in CHHS; thus, I will need to hear from them what their vision is for the college and for their specific schools and departments. I will work quickly to learn from each of these groups leading to a unified vision that cuts across the various disciplines in the college. As I already noted, we have a collection of very talented people in this college and it is my fortune that I get to lead us. My aim is we will be a college recognized for our culture dedicated to creativity, tolerance, flexibility, and the passionate pursuit of success consistent with the Saluki spirit.

How do you see your experiences translating into leading the college?

As a leader, I believe I have proven myself to be an effective agent of change. At the core of my leadership is a commitment to shared governance. I believe a university is healthiest when its members share in the decision making. That is not to say that tough, necessary decisions do not get made behind closed doors, but it is my responsibility as an effective academic leader to engage the faculty in shared governance whenever possible. As such, I am data driven, but committed to collaborative decision making.

As an administrator, I believe it is my job to remove barriers to faculty and student success. I prefer to create a positive environment, rich with resources, and then get out of the way and let talented people do their work. I am experienced in, and eager to bring, effective problem-solving skills, including responsible, but creative, fiscal management as a leader of CHHS.

Consistent with SIU’s mission of inclusive excellence, I am committed to lead from a perspective of acceptance and inclusion. This commitment is integral to my identity as a counseling psychologist, and it is critical to my success as an academic leader. Working from a position of acceptance and inclusion permeates my professional and personal life. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical ingredients in our research, teaching, mentoring, and community engagement, and this will be reflected in my leadership of the college.

What challenges do you see for the college?

The greatest immediate challenge remains our recovery from the global COVID-19 pandemic. How do we continue to provide a safe yet effective learning environment? On a more personal level, the pandemic has taken a physical, emotional, and financial toll on all of us — some obviously much more than others. As a college, we need to be responsive to the aftereffects of COVID-19 across all members of the college. We need to remain flexible (while maintaining academic standards) with students struggling to meet their academic obligations secondary to the impact of COVID. Similarly, we need to be flexible with staff and faculty. As just one example, COVID-19 impacted some families more than others such that faculty across the country were differentially impacted. Women have typically been more negatively impacted in terms of work productivity than men. How do we account for this in annual evaluations, and more importantly, in tenure and promotion decisions? Many challenges remain for us as a country, and we in CHHS are not immune, so the first challenge for the college remains the need to continue to effectively and safely navigate the virus and its aftereffects.

A more overarching challenge is one of unity. It was clear to me when meeting with various groups of faculty and administrators that there exists a strong commitment to ensuring the college succeeds. I observed what I believed to be very positive morale within CHHS. Also evident though was a clear need for a unified vision. We need a mission that all members of the college can unite around. Thus, I will use my first year to learn from all members of the college to contribute to a shared vision as previously noted, but to also contribute to or create where needed, opportunities to collaborate across disciplines, schools, and departments. The diversity within the college provides unlimited potential, yet the challenge is to unite faculty, staff and students in ways that facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations to reach that potential.

A few final thoughts …

I would like to take one more opportunity to express my gratitude for this opportunity to join the Saluki family. I see this as an exciting opportunity, but one that comes with great responsibility. I am eager to serve. One of my greatest joys as a leader is fostering an environment of giving. I am committed to service and agency morale. The college morale will follow the morale of its leaders. Thus, as a leader I expect my leadership team to share this commitment to service. My leadership team and I will all have specified jobs to do, but we can also work outside of our specified jobs to find ways to make someone’s life a little bit better. As such, I will be challenging my team to create opportunities to make a student’s, a staff member’s, or a faculty member’s life better without them asking (or in some cases not even knowing what was done on their behalf). We are a large college, but we cannot lose sight of our greatest strength which is the people in the college. As leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure a work environment that affords all students, staff, and faculty the opportunities and resources to succeed. And where possible, we will be seeking to find ways to make your lives in CHHS better.

Robert Morgan
Dean, College of Health and Human Services

By Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Social Work Program is marking its 50th birthday by celebrating past and recent accomplishments and moving forward with plans for great things to come.

In 2020, both the undergraduate and graduate social work programs earned full accreditation from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), which extends for eight years. Just this year, SIU adapted again to the ever-changing needs of its students by creating a new online Master of Social Work program, allowing Salukis to enhance their educations and career opportunities wherever they are, while still maintaining their current positions. The program is already fully accredited. 1960s-era photo of Quigley Hall, which was home to the Social Work Program from its inception in 1970-71 until 2014, when it moved to Pulliam Hall.

A special 50th anniversary workshop and celebration is set for Friday, Oct. 15, and everyone is welcome to attend – either in person or virtually. The event will be during SIU’s 2021 Homecoming festivities.

The free commemoration will be in the Old Main Room at the Student Center. It begins with a workshop as Sharon Dornberg-Lee, a clinical social worker from Chicago with about 25 years of experience, presents “The Pandemic within a Pandemic: Social Isolation Post-COVID-19” from 1 to 3 p.m.

To participate in person (attendance is limited), RSVP online or send an email to SHus-Newrograms@siu.edu with your name, email address indicating if you plan to attend the workshop, the celebration or both. Sign up online to participate in the workshop via Zoom. Continuing education units are available for the workshop; provide your license number to receive credit.

Following a half-hour break, a celebratory hourlong special presentation will feature a variety of special guests and speakers beginning at 3:30 p.m. Meera Komarraju, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs; Robert Morgan, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences; and Juliane Poock Wallace, director of the School of Human Sciences, will offer remarks. Alumni will highlight some of the program’s history, accomplishments and plans for the future and students and alumni will share their memories as well. The celebration wraps up with food, music and a time for participants to socialize and chat until 6 p.m.

SIU is committed to protecting the community, so all those attending must follow current campus and state pandemic safety protocols and wear masks.

Anyone affiliated with SIU’s Social Work Program is also invited to join the group Facebook page.

Future looking bright

The program continues to flourish, with a total of 2,762 bachelor’s and master’s social work degrees awarded thus far since the program’s inception.

There’s no resting on past laurels for SIU’s Social Work Program though. Work is already underway to develop and launch a clinically driven Doctorate of Social Work degree program, which will be offered through an online format. Jurkowski said while many doctoral programs are research focused, there is a strong interest in this degree among people who are already working in the field but desire more advanced clinical skills for private practice or for work with third parties such as insurance agencies. Other online opportunities will also be expanded, including offering an advanced standing Master of Social Work.

Plans also include partnering with other College of Health and Human Sciences programs to develop a concurrent Master of Social Work/Master of Arts in Criminal Justice degree and working with other CHHS units to develop joint social work doctoral programs with occupational and physical therapy and with nursing.

Jurkowski said extensive survey and needs assessments work is underway as well to see what types of social work-related training practitioners in state and private practice want and need. That input will be incorporated into class and course planning.

“We want to help identify what courses and content to build into our curriculum to prepare our students to be successful in their chosen careers,” Jurkowski said. “We did a similar assessment in developing our newly implemented online MSW program.”

Rich history

SIU social work has a rich history, from awards for faculty and students to national rankings, from providing vital services to people in the community locally and globally to countless publications and more.

The program launched during the 1970-1971 school year offering a bachelor’s degree in social work and by 1978, the program had earned accreditation from the CSWE. Ever since, SIU has boasted the only social work program for the region including the southern part of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.

By 1984, the need for social workers in rural communities had grown, so SIU added a master’s degree program and four years later, the Illinois State Board of Education granted the university approval to prepare students for school social work certification. The MSW earned accreditation in 1989 and both programs earned reaccreditation repeatedly.

Social Work moved from its longtime location in Quigley Hall to Pulliam Hall in 2014.

For five decades, faculty and the program have earned national and international recognition for their research and other work. Hussein H. Soliman, professor, in 2011 was appointed the Umm-Al-Qura University Professor Chair of the Albert Humanitarian Endowment by the Institute of Consulting Research and Studies. He was honored for his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, where he set up a program enhancing the skills of social workers who assist Palestinian refugees, as well as his work with the United Nations Development Program and with various universities in the Middle East.

The School of Social Work, as it was then known, received the Partners in Advancing Education for International Social Work Award in 2008 from the CSWE Commission on Global Social Work Education.

For about 25 years, social work students have travelled to Munich, Germany, with Elisabeth Reichert, social work professor, Fulbright award recipient and author of several books and articles focusing on human rights. Salukis visited a former concentration camp, which vividly illustrates why human rights are essential in the world. There are also field visits focusing on HIV/AIDS, homelessness, community mental health, refugees and elder care. More than 1,000 students from across the country and other nations, including China and Vietnam, have participated.

In 2014, SIU received a three-year Workforce and Training (BHWET) program grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), to train counselors to work with people who have suffered trauma. The grant funds Trauma Based Behavioral Health Fellowships for social work and rehabilitation counseling students in their final year of study. After completion of the intensive program, fellows receive a certificate and $10,000 stipend. The grant was renewed again in 2018 for $1.66 million and an additional five-year grant for more than $1.5 million was awarded in 2021.

Serving others

Faculty and students are active in a variety of service learning projects and volunteer efforts, benefitting the community and giving students valuable hands-on learning experiences.

Students also expand their horizons and help others through diverse internship experiences. For instance, community social work interns have helped patrons of the Carbondale Public Library with information about resources, available assistance for food, clothing, medical services, employment, career counseling, child care, housing and much more. Social work faculty estimate that conservatively, students have contributed more than 1.25 million hours of community service since the program began.

Social work faculty and alumni have played a significant role to the development of numerous community programs and students serve internships or volunteer with these programs and others. The list is too long to include in its entirety, but here are a few of the programs Salukis have helped establish:

• The Women’s Center, Carbondale.
• Caring Counseling Ministries, Marion.
• Supporting People in Need (SP.I.N.), Murphysboro.
• The Sparrow Coalition, Carbondale.
• Carbondale Warming Center.
• Care A Van (in collaboration with the School of Medicine), Benton and West Frankfort.
• “Dare to Care,” a weekly WGGH radio show running for more than 25 years, Marion.

Partnerships abound

Collaboration, both within the College of Health and Human Sciences, as well as with other units at SIU and around the world, is intrinsic to SIU Social Work, assuring myriad learning opportunities for students.

Social Work helped establish and participates in a multidisciplinary program to address the needs and workforce training to prepare professionals to work with older adults via the undergraduate certificate in gerontology program. The graduate certificate is offered through the School of Education but incorporates social work coursework.

The program also participates with the School of Medicine for two programs:

• Student Hotspotting, which gives students the chance to work inter-professionally across disciplines by working with people who are super-utilizers of emergency room services to provide social support and community-based connections and referrals.
• A partnership with Rush University in Chicago and community-based social service agencies to develop age-friendly systems of care. Funding for the multi-year 2018 grant came from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Another 2015 multiyear HRSA grant, via Rush, promoted training in geriatrics with the goal of building a geriatric workforce enhancement program.

The school is also collaborating with the Department of Children and Family Services to develop innovative training for child welfare workers through a simulation lab.

Millions in grants received

Social Work programs and initiatives have received numerous grants, worth millions of dollars, throughout the years. A few of the noteworthy include:

• A Gero-Enrichment grant in 2002 from the John A. Hartford Foundation, in conjunction with the Council for Social Work Education, to promote geriatric-related content across the curriculum.
• An Illinois Department of Child Welfare award of two service grants in 2005, totaling $6.5 million annually through 2016 to offer early assessment and intervention services.
• A 2019 CSWE grant aimed at facilitating policy advocacy and building curricular resources to enable students to better engage in policy practice.
• A CSWE grant just this spring from CSWE to pursue virtual reality as a venue to teach social work practice skills with an international focus.

More historical collaborations and happenings

Throughout the half-century life of the program, there has been much more to brag about, program officials said.

A few of the highlights from 1971-2021 include:

• The program inked an educational collaboration agreement with a Russian university in 1993 and by the next year, faculty from the two universities were visiting back and forth to learn and share.
• A social work program initiative in cooperation with Elderhostel in Mexico was born in 1996.
• SIU’s program collaborated with several Russian institutes between 1999 and 2003, courtesy of U.S. Agency for International Development funding, to promote leadership in social work education and faculty and professionals in Octoberst, Toliatti and Samara felt the impact.
• The program participated in an education training program with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency 2004-2008.
• SIU social work delegates participated in an educational conference in Helwan, Egypt, from 2007 to 2009 and social work students participated in study abroad programs in Egypt from 2010-2012.
• Students engaged with Muhammad Younis, a Nobel Prize winner for economics, during a study abroad program in Bangladesh in 2013.
• SIU and Imam University in Saudi Arabia entered into an education agreement in 2015, coordinated by social work.
• Social Work partnered with the Juvenile Justice Council in 2015 to address youth recidivism in Southern Illinois.
• The program joined DCFS in the Child Welfare Education Certificate collaboration his year.
• Faculty have been widely published throughout the years, with numerous books published authored or co-authored by SIU experts, along with many book chapters and journal articles.

Successful transportation programs: Students (from left to right) Parker Rippinger, automotive technology; Meadow Boden and Munsif Hussain, aviation management and flight, and Aly Moore, automotive technology, are among the nearly 950 students in the School of Automotive and School of Aviation programs within the Transportation Education facility. (Photo by Russell Bailey)

The newly formed College of Health and Human Sciences includes six schools: automotive, aviation, health sciences, human sciences, justice and public safety, and psychological and behavioral sciences.

For the fall 2021 semester, the School of Automotive and the School of Aviation are among the top five programs bringing the largest number of new students to campus, Meera Komarraju, provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs, said.

Komarraju notes that even with the name change, alumni support for both programs remains strong, “as evidenced by the impressive Transportation Education Center building, active advisory boards, and scholarships that support our students.”

Eugene Talley, interim director of the School of Automotive, said having the school become a part of the College of Health and Human Sciences provides “great opportunities for collaboration as the mobility industry evolves.”

He also noted the university’s commitment to the automotive program.

“This commitment is based on the decades of success that the program has achieved through the years,” he said. “The School of Automotive will be the launching pad for future online programs. The school designation recognizes the scope of our curriculum and the extensive opportunities for students within the industry.”

Mike Burgener, interim director of the School of Aviation, said having the three aviation programs under one school benefits students “because it provides them more opportunities to select from a wider range of aviation courses and programs and it makes the programs more efficient.”

Burgener and Talley both note the programs’ respective high placement rates – each at 90 percent.

Enrollment also increased in both programs this semester, with a 4.5% increase to 641 students from a year ago in aviation, including 95 new freshmen. The automotive program has just under 300 students this fall, with more than 70 freshmen.

Komarraju noted that students in both programs have opportunities for “valuable, practical, hands-on experiences and internship opportunities that lead to successful employment.” She also said both schools “actively recruit and retain students from diverse backgrounds,” with both programs having registered student organizations (RSOs) that support and promote women.

On Sept. 22, the two schools hosted more than 130 students from local high schools and Rend Lake College. The students were introduced to both programs and they experienced virtual reality hardware and software under development.

Karen Johnson, an associate professor in aviation technologies, received a grant to develop virtual reality content for vocational training based on the aviation maintenance career field. Johnson and local high school teachers collaborated to bring students out to participate in several interactive demonstrations. Students who participated were from Benton Community High School, Brehm Preparatory School in Carbondale, Carbondale Community High School, Murphysboro High School, Vienna High School, COPE Alternative School in Murphysboro, and Rend Lake College.

Media Contact

Pete Rosenbery
assistant director for communications and marketing
618-453-1439

By Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. — When then-student Mike Behrmann visited Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s automotive technology campus in Carterville in June 1984, he joined a special place that is “family.” Mike Behrmann retired in May after serving 33 years as a faculty member and chair of the automotive technology program. (Photo by Russell Bailey)

“I still remember the first day that I stepped foot on the Carterville campus and I learned about SIU Automotive as a prospective student. I saw the passion of the industry and of student learning and I wanted to be a part of that,” said Behrmann, who retired in May after more than 33 years as a faculty member, including since 2010 as department chair, in what is now the School of Automotive.

While Behrmann’s role with the program is changing, continuing to grow the program and strengthening its role within the industry remains pivotal, he said.

“I still see a lot of great potential for the school. I still see a lot of great potential for this program to do some very innovative work when it comes to the automotive and mobility industry. We are positioned to help lead this industry forward.”

Will still be involved

While he steps back from teaching and administrative work, Behrmann will still be actively involved with the SIU Automotive family working behind the scenes to support the program, students, alumni, and program friends. Behrmann wants to help raise scholarships and development funds for the program, further industry partnerships and connect with the nearly 3,000 alumni.

“We have a vast alumni network out there and I wish I could always do more. Now I have the time to where I can do more. I want to go out and keep the alumni and friends connection with SIU and see how can I help support that,” he said.

Behrmann, along with his wife, Christine, and daughter, Jill, also created a Behrmann Family Endowment to assist students. The endowment can be used however best to support students whether through scholarships or student activities.

“We would not have been in the position we are today if it wasn’t for SIU and this department,” Behrmann said, also crediting his wife and daughter for their support. “It’s given me everything that I have and so my goal is to be giving back however I possibly can.”

Solid footing

SIU Automotive began in 1952 with founding program director L.D. Willey as a part of the university’s then-Vocational Technical Institute and spent nearly six decades in buildings in Carterville, originally built as temporary military buildings in the late 1930s. The program moved to the state-of-the-industry Transportation Education Center in 2012. Behrmann was just the fourth director in the program’s history.

In addition to the solid alumni base and industry support, the program is known for its consistency. Interim director and associate professor Eugene Talley is among 10 faculty who are Behrmann’s former students, while two of Behrmann’s former classmates are also on the faculty.

Blaine Heisner, an associate professor, graduated from the program in May 1999 and worked for Ford Motor Co. for seven years at their national technical hotline before returning to the region and beginning with the faculty in 2007. Heisner was a student in Behrmann’s automotive service operations course during his senior year and recalls Behrmann’s “upbeat attitude for the subject” and making sure students understood the material.

‘Like a proud father’

Behrmann notes he has spent enough time to see sons and daughters of program graduates also graduate from SIU Automotive and do well.

“What I’ve always enjoyed, whether as an instructor or sitting here as chair, was seeing the passion in the students, in their learning and wanting to learn more and be able to do more. Then, even after they graduate and they are out in the industry, seeing how successful they are in their chosen field. That’s what makes me proud,” he said.

Always involved

Alicia Johnston, an assistant instructor, transferred to SIU Carbondale and completed her automotive technology degree in December 2017. As a transfer student, Behrmann and the faculty were “so welcoming and helped me learn and grow not only in automotive, but as a person,” she said.

While she never had Behrmann as a teacher, Johnston notes he has a way of being involved and getting to know all the students in the program. She was a member and president of the Women in Automotive Technology student-registered organization and recalls he was always there to help come up with ideas to grow and be involved.

“He helped make sure the program was thriving not just surviving and he was always a step ahead of everyone,” she said. “He spends weekends and evenings up at the TEC working in the labs, helping other instructors plan for class activities, and just making sure the program has everything it needs to succeed.”

Johnston added that it was after she was hired as an instructor that it became more apparent “just how much of his time and soul he puts into the program.”

Tireless worker

Behrmann is “one of the most ambitious and valuable employees” the program has had, Heisner said.

“He is a tireless worker and is consistently active in his efforts to grow and serve the department. His work ethic is second to none. If James Brown was the hardest working man in show business, we know Mike Behrmann didn’t want his job,” Heisner said. “Mike has been instrumental in bringing in high quality students through his recruiting efforts. Without these students, our program wouldn’t have seen the success that we have enjoyed for so long.”

Johnston discussed with Behrmann her dream of becoming an automotive technologies’ teacher. When she was hired, Behrmann was encouraging and guiding “without taking away my creative freedoms,” she said.

“He didn’t want me to be a copy of other instructors, he wanted me to bloom into my own,” she said. “Whenever I was having a ‘I have no idea what I’m doing here!’ crisis, he was right there helping me come up with ideas or just listening if I needed to vent about the stressors of being a first-year teacher.”

Ready for rapid changes

With the program transforming  from a department to a school, SIU Automotive is positioned for rapid changes within the industry, Behrmann said. It will provide students with updated curriculum and different course and allow SIU to shift and adjust to meet industry and consumer demands. That can also possibly mean developing and adding additional specializations to the program, he said.

Yet even with the shift in technologies including electrical propulsion systems, autonomous transportation and varied mobility systems, the program’s success goes back to family, Behrmann said.

“We have a great SIU automotive family. We have great alumni, a great supportive industry helping us out, and that’s what it takes to keep the program successful and those pieces are in place,” he said.

By Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Chloe Grover is making the most of her senior year at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

A senior in communication disorders and sciences from Mayfield, Kentucky, Grover, is very involved in campus life and serving fellow students and the community as she prepares for a career helping people. 

An athlete at heart, Grover overcame injuries suffered in a near-fatal childhood vehicle accident to play softball for two years at John A. Logan College on a scholarship. Grover found herself drawn to SIU for several reasons as she looked for places to transfer.

“Everyone is so welcoming and friendly and that was a big factor. I didn’t feel that at the other schools I visited,” Grover said. What sealed the deal for her was exploring SIU’s communications disorders and sciences program.

“I made a good connection really quickly with all of the people in my department. They are such great people and that totally sold me on SIU,” Grover said.

Giving to others

Grover has made quite a positive impression on the people she has become acquainted with at the College of Health and Human Sciences (CHHS) as well.

“Chloe has an amazing attitude,” said Deborah Hutson, recruitment and retention coordinator for the college. “She is a team player who is willing to help everyone around her win.”

Since January, Grover has been an academic associate for the college, essentially serving as a peer mentor for her fellow undergraduate students. She helps Salukis get involved in campus life, addresses their academic and non-academic questions and concerns and connects them with resources. She also assists undecided students in exploring their options in choosing a major, acts as a liaison between students and the college administration, and does whatever else she can to help her peers be successful in their own college careers.

In addition, Grover is vice president of SIU’s National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA), a registered student organization affiliated the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Typically, the organization conducts hearing screenings, performs other community service activities and allows students to connect with and learn from professionals in the field. Although the pandemic caused SIU’s group to change things up, they still sponsored virtual events and projects to help others.

Her work as an NSSLHA officer, including relaying messages and keeping fellow NSSLHA informed and involved, along with her responsibilities as an academic associate is enjoyable, and gives her valuable experience that will help in the future, she said.

“It’s definitely helping me with my communication skills and that is really going to really benefit me in my career,” Grover said. “My social skills have also really grown, especially as I’ve tried to help my peers as an academic associate.”

She is also very involved with her church, the Lone Oak Church of Christ, and helps out there whenever she is in her hometown.

Researching pandemic-weary voices

As the recipient of a university REACH (Research-Enriched Academic Challenge) award through the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Grover has also been involved in some exciting and fascinating research. Working with Maria Claudia Franca, professor in communication disorders and sciences, she is involved in a project utilizing vocal hygiene methods in occupational voice.

Grover explained that especially during the pandemic, as faculty members have been delivering their course content in live and virtual formats and connecting with students and colleagues in multiple ways, they are talking even more than usual, resulting in vocal stress and fatigue. She and Franca are developing a project to help SIU faculty involving daily vocal exercises and techniques to help alleviate that stress and fatigue.

“It is a great pleasure for me to serve as a mentor for Chloe, who has been an exemplar CDS student,” Franca said.  She said is most grateful for Grover’s valuable help with the project, developed with REACH support and assistance from the Center for Teaching Excellence, as the work is “of critical public health interest given the multiple professional categories, such as those in education, who are at risk of function voice disorders.”

Having the opportunity to get involved in research that matters and work with esteemed faculty members has been life-changing, Grover said.

“SIU has given me a lot of different experiences and opportunities I don’t think I would have gotten anywhere else,” Grover said. “I’ve also made a lot of connections with wonderful, kind people. I just love the people I have met here and the fact that I’ve been able to work with and learn from such knowledgeable and experienced people as Dr. Franca and Dr. Valerie Boyer (associate professor and program director for communication disorders and sciences). I’ve learned so much about my profession and the various aspects of collaboration. I’ve also made life-long friends. SIU has definitely been a great home away from home.”

Plans to work with children or the elderly

Grover’s plan after she completes her undergraduate degree is to pursue a master’s degree in communication disorders and sciences, preferably at SIU, with an ultimate goal of becoming a speech language pathologist.  

She’s pleased with the many different career options that are available with her degree and she hopes to either work with infants or with the geriatric population. She said the inspiration for her career path comes from elderly family members and seeing the struggles they bravely faced with swallowing and feeding issues.

“I want to help people in the community and make my family proud of me,” Grover said.

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When Dave Baer came to Southern Illinois University Carbondale for a campus visit nearly 60 years ago, he quickly realized the special opportunities it could provide.

“What impressed me the most was seeing (handicapped accessible) bathroom doors and trying to figure out what was going on. I found out they had created a camp that if somebody had a physical disability they were able to go to class. I was impressed by that. They thought of the extra mile. I had never seen anyone go that extra mile.”

That “extra mile” would ultimately lead Baer, who initially came to SIU working toward a rehabilitation field to learn to deal with children with disabilities, into a 37-year career in law enforcement as security director and later police chief at Bradley University before retiring in 2010. During his career, Baer was president of the Illinois Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and secretary for the Peoria County Association of Chiefs of Police.

It was at SIU that Baer, who graduated from the criminology and criminal justice program in 1971, met his late wife, Cheryl, who was an SIU alumna in sociology. The criminology and criminal justice program is within the School of Justice and Public Safety.

Baer came to SIU in the early 1960s and was drafted to join the U.S. Navy during his sophomore year. On the advice of a Navy veteran who was an SIU student at the time, Baer went into a meteorology-related program. He served in the U.S. Navy for nearly four years and returned to school with an eye toward completing his bachelor’s degree quickly.

“I enjoyed every minute of it but I lost four years,” Baer said.

Because he had many friends in the law enforcement field, Baer was intrigued with the new criminal justice program offerings and would be one of the first graduates of the then-Administration of Justice program.

It was also during this time that Baer who was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, reconnected with his wife, Cheryl, after meeting her for a bowling date prior to leaving school for the Navy.

Baer recalled his impression of SIU’s security force, now the Department of Public Safety, while he was a student.

“I was very much impressed that Southern Illinois had a very strong campus police unit of their own,” he said. “The Saluki Patrol they had on campus, especially at night when students were walking, was a great comfort.”

Soon after Baer graduated from SIU, he returned to Peoria and learned of the security director’s position at Bradley University. It was while he was at Bradley and after conversations with the Peoria police chief, that Baer worked with state legislators to pass laws allowing private universities in Illinois to create their own police departments. Bradley became the first private university in the state to have its own police department working in concert with local police.

During his career, Baer’s work included assisting the FBI and providing valuable information on a 9/11 attack collaborator who was later sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Married for more than 37 years, the Baers, who never had children, fondly recalled their days at SIU Carbondale and often talked of establishing scholarships to help present SIU students.

“We had graduated, we had a nice time there and developed some great friendships there,” he said.

After his wife’s death, Baer went on to establish three scholarships:

• David A. Baer, Cheryl A. Walker Baer, and Naomi D. Baer Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship, which also honors his late mother, benefits undergraduate and graduate students in criminology and criminal justice.
• David A. Baer, Cheryl A. Walker Baer, and Naomi D. Baer Endowed Scholarship in Sociology. The scholarship is for sociology students.
• Baer Endowed Scholarship for SIU School of Law. For enrolled SIU law students, preference is given to Bradley University alumni for first-year law students. If no Bradley University graduates qualify, the scholarship may be awarded to non-Bradley graduates.

Baer noted that his mother had a strong high school academic background and work ethic and took on many different challenges during her life. In one of her last jobs, she went from unloading and stocking women’s clothing in a department store to being promoted to store bookkeeper because the owner was impressed by her work ethic.

To Baer, the scholarships exemplify the hard work and opportunities that came to him, his wife and mother – the same hopes he has for the students who receive them. He wants students to embrace the opportunities they have in college.

“It opens the door to what your future can be. For me, it was coming back to the university from the Navy,” he said. “My mindset was that I have to put my nose to the grindstone and do whatever I can to achieve that goal and what my future can be.”