Fay Nielsen, Ph.D., associate dean of retention; Shirley Warkentin, M.A., policy analyst and director of operations for degree completion; and Melissa Kent, M.A., student success coordinator; attended the National Symposium on Student Retention October 29-31 in New Orleans. Warkentin won the Director’s Award for her paper "Approaches to Serving Under-Resourced, Undergraduate Adult Student Populations." Nielsen participated as a poster session judge. The symposium was sponsored bythe Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE).

FPU added faculty throughout the university during the fall semester. Here is a list of new and promoted faculty as of November 1, 2012.

Michael Allen, MBA, M.Div., is director of institutional research. He has a master’s in business administration from Keller Graduate School of Management, a master’s in divinity from Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary and a bachelor of arts from California State University, Fresno.

Ron Claassen, D. Min. (BA ‘67), professor of peacemaking and conflict studies/leadership studies, received the Ester Soriano Award for Excellence in Community Mediation from the California Dispute Resolution Council (CDRC). The award was presented by Doug Noll (MA ‘02), president of CDRC board, at the group’s 18th Annual Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Policy Conference November 3 at Golden Gate University Law School.

Fresno’s Leading Young Professionals announced its 2012 award winners—and an FPU staff member was on the list: Jill Coppler, regional center communications specialist, is FLYP’er of the Year.

Jonathan Maher, director of systems analysis, co-presented a session titled “Extending the Platform Across the Campus” September 21 as part of Dreamforce, the world’s largest vendor technology conference. His co-presenter was Robert Lamb of the Salesforce Foundation. FPU uses Salesforce as a customer relationship management platform for a variety of offices.

Cory Seibel, Ph.D., assistant professor of pastoral ministries, has had a busy summer:

He presented two workshops at the Christian Community Development Association national convention in Minneapolis September 28-29: “On Common Ground: Nurturing a Cooperative Spirit in a Competitive Space” and “It’s All About Me: Narcissism, Leadership, and Christian Community Development.”

In August, he joined the board of Hands On Central California, an organization that fosters volunteerism in the Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Madera counties.

David Bruce Rose, Ph.D., associate professor, marriage, family and child counseling, led a sexual assault prevention training session for Air National Guard chaplains and chaplain assistants September 10-13 at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, near Knoxville, Tennessee. Sherry Walling, Ph.D., was the other facilitator. A former assistant professor of psychology at FPU, she is currently a member of the adjunct faculty.

Mark Baker, Ph.D., associate professor of mission and theology, presented “Authentic Christianity and its Distortions: Communicating Jacques Ellul’s Thought Using Paul Hiebert’s Bounded and Centered Set Categories” at Prophet in the Technological Wilderness: A Centenary Celebration & Critical Review of Jacques Ellul, Wheaton College, July 9, 2012.

Dina Gonzalez-Pina, M.A., assistant dean of multicultural ministries, will speak at the Christian Community Development Association 2012 national conference September 26-27, 2012, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. She will be part of a panel addressing the topic of reconciliation.