West Texas A&M News In Brief On New Research, National Honors

CANYONA - Heading into the week of Thanksgiving break, it's been a period of plenty of news for West Texas A&M University (WT). Here are some of these developments.

WT's Bigham named Tammus Regents Professor

Dr. from WT. Gary Bigham received the Texas A&M University System's most prestigious award. Terry B. of Bigham, WT. Rogers, dean of the College of Education and Social Sciences, was elected one of 14 faculty regents at the Nov. 9 TAMUS Board of Trustees meeting.

Bigham and his fellow award winners have had exemplary performances in the 2022-23 season and throughout their careers. In addition, 13 service agencies, consultants or research experts were named Regents Fellows.

Bigham said he was "very honored" to be nominated. "I will work every day to live up to the responsibility that comes with this award," Bigham said. "This prestigious award represents the culmination of my life's work and the pinnacle of my career."

The Board established the Regents Professor Awards Program in 1996 and the Regents Fellows Awards Program in 1998 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their university or institution and to the people of Texas. Regent Professors receive a stipend and a special commemorative medal bearing the seal of the A&M system. To date, 306 Texas A&M System faculty have received Regents Professorship Awards, including 12 from WT, and 188 agency professionals have received Regents Service Awards.

Hailing from Lokni, Bigem was inspired to study by the admiration of his school's agriculture teacher. After attending WT, Bigham earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural education from Texas Tech University. After two decades in public schools, Bigham joined the WT faculty, where he served as director of the university's doctoral program in educational leadership and superintendent certification. Bigham has presented her research at local, regional, state, national, and international conferences, events, and workshops. He also conducted professional development workshops for teachers, administrators and school board members.

The WT Meet Judging Team won the National Championship

The WT Meat Judging Team won its first national championship on November 12 at the Tyson International in Dakota City, Nebraska. The team placed first in Beef Judging, Pork Judging, Reasons and Overall Meat; The second according to its characteristics; And lamb honey and overall fourth place. His score of 4,230 is the second highest score ever achieved by a WT meat jury.

"Winning the first national championship in program history in the most competitive meat judging season I've ever seen was legendary," the coach said. Lonnie Lutscher holds the Gordon W. Davis Chair in Meat Evaluation in the WT Department of Agricultural Sciences. “I am thrilled with this win, which catapults the program and puts us on the map as a prestigious meat judging school, but I am even more excited to see how this program encourages students to go beyond the industry and become champions. . life."

WT finished 32 points ahead of its closest competitor, Texas Tech University. Other contenders include Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University and Kansas State University.

In individual results, animal science major Ryan Heichmead of Nazareth placed fifth overall, fifth in swine, third in beef, fourth overall and fifth in causality. She also won the Rachel Hamilton Memorial Award and was named to the All-American second team.

In October, the team set a school record by winning its first national competition at the prestigious American Royal Meet judging competition. Davis Endowed Chair in Meat Judging in 2021 Lubbock businessman and former Dr. Created with a donation from Jones. Gordon W. Davis for $3.75 million.

WT researchers explore ways to combat teacher burnout in a new publication

As concerns grow about the nation's teacher shortage, three WT teachers have published research on the importance of self-care to prevent teacher burnout.

An article titled "Keeping Your Cool: Self-Care for Teachers" was recently published in Texas: The Journal of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Dr. By J. Russell Miller, Professor WT Lanna and Professor Bob Hutton. Executive Director of Education and Teacher Training; Dr. Teri Bingham, Professor of Education; and so on. Crystal Hughes, associate professor of curriculum and instruction and director of candidate services; And Hayden Mas, a second-grade teacher at Avondale Elementary School in the Amarillo Independent School District.

"Education is an emotionally, cognitively and physically demanding career choice, with benefits that feed the soul but also drain the wallet. Some teachers enter the profession with a maddened desire to influence young people, but after a few years the flame fades." "Others follow this urge, which gradually becomes a comfortable but unemotional task," the researchers say.

According to the 2022 survey, 77 percent of teachers had "seriously considered" leaving the profession, and 72 percent had taken steps to leave the profession, the researchers noted in their paper. According to the results of the survey, six out of ten people plan to change their career within five years. Researchers have found that teachers face constant changes in expectations due to new curricula, new teaching and new methods, as well as high student-teacher ratios. Teachers also worry that their salaries are much lower than jobs in the private sector because teaching positions require degrees and certifications that are not required in other fields.

All WT researchers are Terry B. faculty members in the Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences.

WT has won national awards for floor care

WT's cross country team was recently recognized as one of the best in the country.

The Professional Site Management Association honored the company with Green Star Awards in the "University and College Lands - Large (500+ Acre)" category at its annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

This award program includes national recognition based on work to maintain excellence. The Green Star Awards complement other national landscape award programs that recognize outstanding landscape design and construction. At the award ceremony, PGMS presented four major awards, its highest award, as well as twelve honorable mentions.

The WT SSC Services for Education Grounds team manages approximately 350 acres on the main campus, including eight artificial turf fields and a 70-acre cross-country ski area.

"WT is honored to receive this special award," said Stan Pena, assistant vice president of facilities. "Our campus beautification efforts continue to achieve important goals by providing a beautiful and safe place for our students, faculty, staff and visitors."

A complete list of 2023 Green Star winners can be found at pgms.org/page/2023GreenStarWinners.

Teacher WT is part of a team dealing with conflict resolution in communication.

Professor WT has joined colleagues across the country to publish cutting-edge research on conflict management.

Dr. Leslie Ramos Salazar, WT Abdulatt Professor of Business Communication and Decision Management at the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, was part of the panel of experts that published the book The Power of Assertive Communication in Conflict Resolution: Insights from Verbal Statements. . A highly respected international journal on conflict management.

More contributions from Dr. Steve Wiener, director of the Institute for Relationship Communication; Amy M. Anderson, professor of communication at Spokane Community College; and general counsel Michael Bush.

"Conflict is a part of any relationship and is often accompanied by strong emotions such as anger," says Ramos Salazar. Unresolved conflict can lead to negative outcomes, including relationship dissatisfaction, emotional abuse, and even relationship failure such as divorce. These reactions can have a significant impact on a person's emotional well-being and overall quality of life.'

Research Dr. Wiener's verbal coding system was tested and carefully analyzed over 15 years on more than 4,000 videos of anger-inducing conflict situations in personal relationships. This coding system demonstrated that the use of assertive verbal expressions can lead to positive conflict outcomes and increase relationship satisfaction.

These affirmative statements are usually classified in research as “I-you” statements, such as: “I'm angry with you because you don't help us clean the house. I want you to do your job, and you do it with me."

"Listening skills help resolve conflicts effectively and maintain harmonious relationships," said Ramos Salazar. "The Man-You Statement expressed clarity, fairness, honesty and respect, and created an opportunity for the expression and understanding of true feelings. It also expressed readiness to work together to resolve the conflict."

In the study, 175 student participants from Texas and New York universities answered a survey that examined perceptions of interpersonal conflict in the classroom and among classmates from the recipient's perspective. In addition, participants rated six different verbal communication statements according to their levels of assertiveness, passivity, and aggressiveness: “We,” “I-You,” “Ask-Why,” “But,” “I,” and “You. ” »

This article originally appeared in the Amarillo Globe-News: New Research, National Honor Brief WTAMU News.

A Texas A&M University athlete was killed in a car accident while returning home from vacation.