Carroll Academics

Carroll unveils equine center

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:36:23 MDT

By LARRY KLINE, Independent Record - 06/28/09

The minor, the only undergraduate course of study like it in the country, teaches students the basics of working with dogs and horses in service and therapeutic applications.

"I just glanced at the Carroll's Web site, and it's just perfect," said Welch, now a sophomore. "Every day, I'm excited to go to school. I just love it. It's an amazing program."

Welch's dream is to open a physical-therapy business in Helena, serving injured veterans at Fort Harrison.

The program took a big leap forward this week with the official unveiling of Carroll's new equine center out in the valley, about a 10-minute drive from the college. The facility, owned by psychology professor Anne Perkins, who founded and directs the program, is being leased by the college.

Students taking the equine track in the human-animal bonding (or HAB) program will study at the facility, learning the basics - caring for horses, taking field lessons on human-horse connections and, most importantly, learning how to keep physically disabled riders and those with mental illness safe around the large animals.

"Our curriculum is about horses helping people," Perkins said.

Horses have been used for years in physical therapy, because they prompt riders to use core muscles for balance.

"Horses just make you balance, and it's very different that being in a wheelchair," she said.

A newer discipline, in some respects, is equine-facilitated mental health care. The animals are used in counseling and psychotherapy, and now some firms are offering horses for corporate team-building exercises.

While those uses have become more mainstream in the past decade, they reflect what people have known for millennia - a horse can calm a person, and a connection with such a big, strong animal can have a tremendous effect on a human's mindset.

"You have a very large animal that respects you - and that can be very powerful," Perkins said.

"It's as old as the hills," she added, "but it's becoming more formalized."

The HAB program's equine component has been in place for a year, but the college had been renting facilities for field work. Perkins saw the property at the base of the Scratchgravel Hills go up for sale this spring and knew it would work perfectly for the college. It features a 4,000-square-foot indoor arena and a larger outdoor arena for the program's use. The land also holds separate facilities for horses owned by Perkins, who is an endurance rider.

Eventually, she wants to begin conducting research on the bond between horses and people, and the efficacy of various treatment methods.

And she's also working to grow the program into a major at the college, which would be another first for undergraduate study in the country. The response in the last few years has grown, with 23 students now enrolled in the minor. A total of 56 Carroll students took some of the program's courses last year.

Many of the students now taking courses are preparing for graduate work, planning to become veterinarians, psychologists, occupational therapists or physical therapists. A few have used the courses to help work toward self-crafted interdisciplinary degrees.

The canine unit focuses on teaching students how to train service dogs. Pupils can be paired with a dog, working to train them as much as possible for their life's work. The dogs are then sent to a certified school to finish their education.

Equine-track students won't be assigned to specific animals. They'll work with horses at the facility, "They'll learn how to safely and ethically work with horses and people," Perkins said.

Students first take classroom courses to give them the basics before moving into the field to study how to apply hippotherapy - derived from the Greek "hippos," meaning horse - to different situations and people in need.

The school now owns two Icelandic horses and plans to lease at least three other animals.

The Icelandics are renowned in therapeutic circles, said Leif Hallberg, the instructor who teaches Carroll's equine classes.

"They're becoming more and more popular ... they are the perfect therapeutic riding horse," she said.

The animals are small, but can carry heavy loads. They also have pure bloodlines and are free of diseases and parasites.

McKenzie Homan and Sara Sylte, two sophomores in pre-veterinary programs, said they joined the minor as a way to better understand the psychological and emotional connections between animals and people.

More and more people need veterinarians who can understand those connections, especially those who are grieving the loss of a pet, Homan said.

"This is a good chance to start working with animals at the undergraduate level," Sylte added.

Perkins and Hallberg noted the program's students have become invested in their work. They've been at the facility, building fence under the hot sun. Donations of fencing materials and earthwork are being accepted.

"We have students who truly love animals, and they're developing a wonderful community of leaders that will be providing services to this community and the world," Perkins said.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline -is-at- helenair -dot- com

Carroll College Releases Names of 2009 Graduates

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:31:14 MDT

On Saturday, May 9, 2009, Carroll College (Helena, Mont.) conferred degrees on 243 graduates during its 99th Commencement ceremony, which also kicked off the college's Centennial Celebration.

Below is a list of students who graduated from Carroll College. Indicated on this list are the students' names, hometowns, and honors or distinctions earned. To be eligible for graduation honors, a Carroll student must successfully complete an honors thesis and graduate with a cumulative grade point average of not less than 3.25 in all courses completed at Carroll and all course work accepted for transfer credit. The four levels of honors are Cum Laude (3.25-3.49), Magna cum Laude (3.50-3.79), Maxima cum Laude (3.80-3.99), and Summa cum Laude (4.0). To be eligible for graduation with Distinction, a student must have completed 60 hours of course work at Carroll, and must have a cumulative grade point average of not less than 3.5. Calculation of the grade point average includes only credits and grades earned at Carroll. Honors noted in this program do not include the most recent semester.

See the full list of graduates

Carroll celebrates 100 years, awards 243 degrees

Mon, 11 May 2009 14:56:59 MDT

By LARRY KLINE - Independent Record - 05/10/09

See 2009 Graduation photos

They walked into their futures backed by a few thousand cheering family and friends, and their alma mater celebrated the beginning of its second century.

Carroll College gave degrees to 243 graduating seniors in the school's PE Center on Saturday.

Carroll officials also bestowed honorary doctorates to a celebrated Montana-born author Ivan Doig; Capt. Diane Carlson Evans, the founder and president of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation; and the Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, who now serves as the president of The Catholic University of America.

The school also recognized Good Samaritan Ministries with its annual Borromeo Award for outstanding service to the community.

Carroll President Tom Trebon urged the graduates to continue their involvement with their communities, regardless where they settle n a lesson that begins each fall at the college as new students hit the streets to solicit donations of food for struggling families.

"With all the goodness in the world and all the badness ... every day, be a sacrament to the community in which you live," Trebon said. "Go into the world and do well."

Doig, author of the acclaimed memoir "This House of Sky," the novel "English Creek" and seven other books, said he had fond memories of Helena and the college on the hill. A White Sulphur Springs native who said he remembered traveling to Helena as a child to buy school clothes, Doig said many of his characters spent chapters of their fictional lives in the Capital City.

"The way-above-average class of 2009, the centennial class forever, begins its next chapter now, and I am proud to be a footnote to it," he said.

Evans, of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, returned from service in Vietnam to find a country not yet ready to heal the wounds of social strife. She told the graduates she knew she had a mission when she returned, but it took her more than a decade to find it. She led the battle to fund the construction of a memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring her sisters in service. She told the graduates to find their own mission.

"Cast your energies beyond your own welfare," Evans said. "And find your own way to serve.

"You cannot give up," she added. "Dream, strive, challenge adversity and do not be intimidated by anyone at any time. Serve and work for peace and justice.

"Now go change the world."

Theresa Ortega, the executive director of Good Samaritan, shared similar sentiments.

"I hope n whatever you do and wherever you go n you find the time to serve your community," she said.

The Michael Murphy Award, presented to a graduating senior who has excelled in personal achievement, generosity and leadership, was presented to Mike Paffhausen.

Five students received the Bishop Gilmore Memorial Trophy for holding the highest grade-point average over the course of their four years at Carroll: Benjamin Dunham, Lacey Middlestead, Cherry Tomsheck, Janna Tomsheck and Briana Wipf.

After the speeches, and after tossing their mortarboards, the new graduates were brimming with the energy that comes with a new chapter in life. Proud parents and grandparents embraced the former students.

For many, the finality of the ceremony hadn't yet hit them.

"It's done, I guess n it's kind of weird. It'll sink in, in a week or two," said theology graduate Kelly Ruby.

She and others said what they loved most about Carroll was what attracted them in the first place n a tight-knit family of students, faculty and staff.

"I was looking for a school that had strong sciences and an accessible outdoors n and a strong community sense," said Krister Kroll, who earned degrees in ecological anthropology and environmental science.

He has a few jobs lined up to keep him busy until graduate school, but he said some of his classmates are facing an uncertain market, though he noted many are opting for positions in progressive fields.

Katie Sheehy, whose mother Janet works at the school and handed Katie her nursing degree on stage Saturday, said she too will remember the Carroll community.

"The people, really... I just think that element of it was really big," she said.

Profiles of Carroll College Honorary Degree and Borromeo Award Recipients 2009

Fri, 08 May 2009 10:43:36 MDT

CARROLL COLLEGE 2009 HONORARY DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS RECIPIENTS

Ivan Doig, Ph.D., has long been revered in the pantheon of the American West's great writers. He was born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana, the only child of a ranch hand and ranch cook, Charlie and Berneta Ringer Doig (who died on Ivan's sixth birthday), and grew up working on the land along the Rocky Mountain Front, where much of his writing takes place. His first book, the highly acclaimed memoir This House of Sky, was a finalist for the National Book Award. A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Dr. Doig is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism. He also holds a doctorate in history from the University of Washington. To date, he has published twelve books. In each of these, Ivan Doig transcends the geography of the majestic setting to show us not the work of a Western writer or even of an American author but instead the timeless and universal insights of a chronicler and philosopher of human life's vast expanse.

Captain Diane Carlson Evans, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, R.N., is the founder of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation, Washington, D.C., and president of its board of directors. After serving six years in the military, including Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, Diane Carlson Evans had a profoundly personal interest in remedying the omission of recognition for women veterans. Working as a nurse in surgical and burn units, her first-hand knowledge of the casualties of the Vietnam war and the sacrifices of the women who volunteered to leave the comforts of home to support their fighting brothers in a foreign land, led her on a ten year mission to convince government agencies, Congress, journalists and the public that building a women's Vietnam memorial was a necessary part of the healing process for female war veterans.

The bronze monument, portraying three women and a wounded soldier, was dedicated on November 11, 1993, on the Mall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It is an everlasting tribute to the 265,000 women who served during the Vietnam War. Captain Evans was the first woman in American history to spearhead a campaign to place a national monument in the nation's capital that recognized the contributions of military women to their country, as well as civilian women's patriotic service. Today, Captain Evans participates in educational activities nationwide, with her work focusing on readjustment services for veterans. In addition to serving as a participant and consultant on an Emmy Award-winning documentary on the nurses of Vietnam, she has been awarded honorary doctorates and a long list of prominent national awards for her work.

Very Reverend David M. O'Connell, C.M., a priest of the Congregation of the Mission (founded by St. Vincent de Paul and popularly known in the United States as the "Vincentians") was unanimously elected 14th president of The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., in 1998. Since opening in 1889, CUA has remained unique as the national university of the Catholic Church and the only higher education institution founded by the U.S. bishops. Rev. O'Connell has devoted his academic career to promoting the trinity of Catholic higher education: reason, faith and service. He has succeeded brilliantly, continuing CUA's tradition of leadership in promoting the ideals and implementing the mission of Catholic higher education around the globe.

Rev. O'Connell holds a doctorate in canon law from CUA with a specialization in Catholic higher education. As president, he holds the John Joseph Keane University Professorship. Prior to his current position at CUA, he was associate vice president and academic dean at St. John's University, N.Y., and interim academic vice president at Niagara University, N.Y. He has also served as an ecclesiastical judge and canonical adviser in numerous dioceses and as a seminary professor. Father O'Connell also possesses degrees in moral theology and philosophy. He has been a nationally recognized spokesperson for and supporter of Pope John Paul II's apostolic constitution regarding Catholic colleges and universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae (meaning "From the Heart of the Church"). In addition, Father O'Connell is a consultor on the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education. He has been honored with numerous honorary doctorates from outstanding colleges and universities and in April 2008 hosted the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the CUA campus.

BORROMEO AWARD

Good Samaritan Ministries of Helena, Montana, a nonprofit agency and the largest thrift store in the Helena and surrounding communities, promotes Catholic social justice teachings to support family life in our communities and to enhance human dignity. It is dedicated to the mission of providing services to meet the physical health and the social, emotional, and spiritual needs of individuals and families of all faiths and beliefs. Good Samaritan Ministries accomplishes this mission in a variety of ways, including its thrift store that accepts, sells and distributes donated items for the benefit of the needy in our community. The store also sends clothing to become recycled or donated to people in Guatemala.

The Good Samaritan's Assistance to the Needy Ministry also helps people in the community with rent, utility bills and prescription drug costs, in addition to supplying basic food, household items, infant necessities, transportation and other emergency intervention for families in dire circumstances. One of the largest providers of financial assistance in the Helena area, the Assistance to the Needy Program last year provided $190,000 to 1,495 families and individuals in need, and since 1993 has provided over $1,000,000 to help individuals and families. In addition, Good Samaritan serves as a vocational training site for many employees and volunteers to foster their talents, build self-esteem and prepare them to move on to other positions in the community.

As the social justice arm of the Diocese of Helena and Helena's four Catholic parishes, Good Samaritan Ministries has been serving the people of Helena and its surrounding communities for over twenty years. Funding for Good Samarian Ministries comes from the Thrift Store Ministry, donations from the Catholic parishes, many other churches, the United Way and many generous private donations from individuals and businesses.

Carroll College writing saint

Thu, 07 May 2009 14:55:04 MDT

By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record

Eliza Wiley Independent Record - Bob Swartout was approached by Carroll College president Thomas Trebon and several colleagues in the history department to write a book for Carroll's 100th birthday as only a true historian could.

Bob Swartout had his heart set on joining the Navy, but he and a buddy opted to attend college instead, even if the plan included little more than killing time.

But two years at Portland State University led to four years of college, which led to three years in Korea, which led to a Ph.D. at Washington State University in American and East Asian history - a condensed version of a story that took years to unfold.

Now an "adopted Montanan," the chairman of the history department at Carroll College has emerged as one of the nation's preeminent scholars on 19th and 20th century Montana and Korean history.

"I don't know if it's true at all, but I think, as a very insecure teenager - say someone around 14 or 15 years old - I found history appealing because I could almost get lost in the past," Swartout said. "The past came alive for me in a really special way."

Swartout, who has spent the past 31 years teaching at Carroll, will help celebrate the school's 100th anniversary this year by releasing his new book, "Bold Minds and Blessed Hands: The First Century of Montana's Carroll College."

Years in the making, the new release looks at the school's rise as a small Catholic school in 1909 to its emergence as one of the few remaining diocesan colleges in the country.

Swartout began toying with the notion of writing Carroll's history some 15 years ago. But not until school president Thomas Trebon - along with the rest of the history department - began pushing the idea of a centennial book did Swartout sit down to research the school's past in a scholarly way.

"I'm not one those historians who can write for a few hours and set it aside and come back a week later, or a month later," he said Tuesday, seated in his third-floor office in Simperman Hall. "In order to maintain my focus, I need to stay with the story on a regular basis."

Today, Swartout offers a crash-course in Carroll history, starting nearly four decades before Bishop John Patrick Carroll arrived in Helena from Iowa to oversee Montana's fledgling Catholic diocese.

Silver mining surged in Montana in the 1870s. The rapid extraction was followed by a copper boom in the 1880s. Coupled with the arrival of the railroad - in particular the Northern Pacific in 1883 - the two metals helped set a path toward Carroll's creation.

"It's the coming of the railroads and the rise of industrial mining that begins to bring people into the territory in really large numbers," Swartout said. "Montana becomes a state in 1889, and a large percentage of that population is Catholic, because a lot of the miners and smelter workers were Catholic."

The large number of Catholic workers helped fuel the establishment of the Catholic Church in Montana. The Helena Diocese was created in 1884 and, by 1903, its second bishop - Carroll - recognized an opportunity to fill a spiritual niche among Montana's Catholic patrons.

"When he (Carroll) comes to Montana, not only is he anxious to establish parishes and churches for these growing Catholic communities, but he concludes that the diocese really needs a college of its own," Swartout explained. "That decision to establish Carroll grows out of these rather dramatic demographic changes taking place in Montana in the late 19th and 20th centuries."

The cornerstone for what would initially be called Mount St. Charles College was laid in 1909 in a ceremony attended by President Howard Taft.

The school held its first class in 1910, and the small state college with its limited student body made a tenacious go of a dubious beginning.

But not until World War II would the college undergo dramatic changes. They began when a large number of World War II veterans attended Carroll under the GI bill, leading the school through one of its largest shifts, both in attendance and demographics.

"We often associate that kind of experience with large state universities," Swartout said. "But in fact, the veterans who came to Carroll really helped transform the school. It grows much more rapidly than many people had imagined prior to that moment in time."

And where there are GIs, there are usually women. By the mid-1940s, the school began accepting female students for the first time into its nursing program. By the early 1950s, women were admitted into nearly every program the school offered.

Today, women make up nearly 60 percent of the student body.

Swartout sought the best anecdotal examples he could find to relate the stories on Carroll's evolution. He begins one chapter by talking about the arrival of the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the 1950s, which played for the school's spring formal. He opens another chapter recapping the 1931 football season, when Mount St. Charles College went undefeated, unscored upon, and beat both UM and MSU.

While it's considered the greatest season of football in school history, Swartout, in true academic style, digs beyond the team's win-loss record. The year was 1931, he notes, and it represented one of the worst years of the Great Depression.

"The success this small college football team had at that time helped lift the spirits, not only of the school, but also the community," he said. "In some ways, it's an example of the type of perseverance that has marked the school through much of its history."

Swartout didn't set out to write a celebratory history of Carroll's first 100 years. Calling himself a trained historian - a professional historian - he took the analytical route to the project instead.

That meant casting his net wide and far during the research phase. It also meant turning to as many sources as possible, including the college archives, the diocesan records, and the Montana Historical Society. He conducted numerous oral histories and set out to weave it all together in a way he found meaningful.

The son of a mechanic, Swartout has always held a love for history, though he admits that he wanted to join the Navy. He opted to attend Portland State University instead, if only to kill time until his cloudy future presented itself more clearly.

"It struck me that if I did this for two more years, I'd actually have a college degree," he said. "I became a more serious student over time and picked up a second major in political science. By my senior year, I thought I might want to have a career in political science."

But it was the 1960s and Swartout was taken by the idealism of John Kennedy. He joined the Peace Corps and spent three years in Korea. It was a time, he said, that changed his life.

"That's the single most important thing I ever did," he said. "Any satisfaction or success I've had in the last 30 years of my life came from those years I spent in the Peace Corps."

While in the Peace Corps, Swartout served as a middle school teacher. Doing so, he realized he had talent in the classroom, and when his three years expired, he returned to the U.S. to attend Washington State with the idea of becoming a professor.

"I wanted to be able to focus on both American and East Asian history, and they had some very good people in both areas," he said. "I knew that my research would sort of make me a specialist, but in terms of what I could teach as a college professor, I wanted to be trained as a generalist."

Through his research, education and experience, Swartout has learned many things. When it comes to Carroll, he said, he has learned that it's the school's ability to change, along with its students, that sets it apart.

"I knew anecdotally that a lot of our students volunteer for a variety of services," Swartout said. "Their sense of service is truly amazing. I've had enough interaction with other colleges and universities across the United States to know that's not necessarily the norm. We tend to attract students with that sort of mindset."

In his classes, Swartout also admits that historians are generally lousy at predicting the future.

Still, he grins and gives it a try.

"My hope would be that Carroll continues to do the things it has done so well," he said. "But at the same time, respond to the needs of society in a broader sense.

Book and painting signings

History professor and author Bob Swartout will sign copies of "Bold Minds and Blessed Hands: The First Century of Montana's Carroll College" on Friday in the Fortin Science Center at Carroll College. He'll be joined by artist Bob Morgan, who will sign copies of the school's centennial painting, "Reason Through the Light of Faith."

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston -is-at- helenair -dot- com

Carroll College to offer new classes, major

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:43:38 MDT

By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 04/19/09

Carroll College will offer four new courses in the Department of Engineering when the fall semester kicks off this year.

Three classes will fall under the college's new emphasis in environmental engineering while the fourth class will consist of traffic and safety engineering.

Willis Weight, an expert in groundwater applications and problem solving, will teach the new environmental classes while Jeff Key and Terry Mullen will teach traffic and safety.

"What we're kind of doing is expanding some of the electives the kids can take," said Mullen. "The idea is, if they want to go into the field, it will give them a lot more depth."

The new traffic and safety class will be one of several new courses offered by the college starting this fall when the 2009-10 school year kicks off.

A highway design course is in the works as well, possibly starting next spring, and a new major in engineering mechanics will be offered within the department.

Weight, the newest member of the engineering department, taught engineering at Montana Tech for nearly 20 years and headed the school's hydrology department for 10 of them.

He'll teach the new environmental engineering classes at Carroll as a full-time professor. The school said his position will be funded by a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

While Weight couldn't be reached by phone this week, past studies have taken him to Lake Titicaca in Peru, where he studied mercury levels in the lake's fish. He authored the "Hydrology Field Manual," along with other professional journals.

In the fall semester, Weight will begin teaching water quality, as well as a hands-on class in stream restoration. The following spring, he'll teach new classes in air quality and groundwater flow modeling.

"All of these courses are suitable for not only traditional engineering students, but also community members and professionals," said school spokeswoman Ashley Oliverio. "It's suitable for anyone seeking to upgrade their expertise in the field of environmental engineering, geology, planning and remediation, and other areas."

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston -is-at- helenair -dot- com

Carroll forensics coach judges debate in Ireland

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:00:33 MST

By Independent Record - 02/27/09

Brent Northup, Carroll College professor of communication, was invited to serve as an adjudicator for the Irish Times Debating Final in Limerick, Ireland on Friday, Feb. 20.

Northup was one of five adjudicators joining two former Irish national winners, a Times vice president and a vice president of the University of Limerick on the panel.

Northup is the organizer of the Irish Debate Tour of America, which brings the winners on a cross-country tour of America.

"It's an honor to be invited to judge the final," said Northup. "Believe it or not, it's held on a campus and requires black tie for students who attend. Even more incredibly, the audience did indeed dress up. I always enjoyed being outvoted by my Irish colleagues who aren't about to let the Americans pick their national debate champion."

Northup says the competition covers an entire academic year and includes more than a dozen preliminary tournaments leading up to the final. The entire competition has been funded by the Irish Times since 1960 as a public service.

This year marked the 10th time Northup has been invited to judge the final as the American judge.

Northup has coached the Carroll Talking Saints for 20 years, served as president of the Northwest Forensics Conference for 15 years and has served as a national officer of the National Parliamentary Debate Association for more than a decade.

Under Northup's coaching, the Talking Saints have won 19-consecutive Northwest regional championships.

Personal Training Certification Course

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:33:32 MST

If you are interested in becoming a personal trainer,You are invited to a ONE HOUR CLASS PREVIEW for the new Carroll College Personal Training Certification Course on March 18 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. in 176 PE.

This one hour PREVIEW is being offered to give you an understanding of what will be presented in this 3 unit course (offered fall 2008 - MWF 8-8:50 am). It will also give you an overview of what will be expected of you as a student. The course will take a lot of work on your part, but at the end, if you do your job, you will receive your personal training certificate which will immediately allow you to work in this rewarding field.

The purpose of the Personal Training Certification class is to prepare you to:

Become a certified personal trainer, by preparing you to pass the test.
Provide you with a strong background to practice personal training.
Actually earn a Personal training certificate by the end of the class.
Learn the science and the business of personal training.
Prepare you to work in health clubs, YMCA's or even for yourself.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A PERSONAL TRAINER OR GOING INTO THIS BUSINESS YOU MIGHT WISH TO ATTEND THIS PREVIEW CLASS.

FREE REFRESHMENTS - GREAT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Carroll to change curriculum

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:13:40 MST

By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record

Students who consider Carroll College in the fall will see new choices in the student handbook, including new majors and more opportunities to study abroad.

The college, which is approaching its 100th anniversary, will also expand existing programs and redesign others to simplify students' transition into graduate school.

Jerry Berberet, dean of the college and senior vice president of academic affairs, said that in the coming years the school's effort will result in several new majors ranging from marketing to legal studies.

However, some of those majors, such as biochemistry, will likely depend on the outcome of Carroll's centennial fundraising campaign.

"I think Carroll College will look very different a year from now," said Berberet. "We will have new programs in place, and will have thought some of these things through."

Berberet said roughly 30-percent of Carroll's freshmen enroll with hopes of entering medical school. That, Berberet added, makes biology and chemistry among the school's most popular programs.

But as Carroll grows, Berberet said, it hopes to offer a wider variety of pursuits to attract students beyond those interested in pre-med.

"We're interested in students coming to Carroll to study science for reasons other than just pre-med," said Berberet. "In both science and engineering, we'd like to grow the enrollment and have more go on to graduate school."

While the college would like to create a new major in biochemistry, such a program would have to wait until the college renovates its laboratories.

Such renovations were included in Carroll's centennial plans, which now hinge on the school's fundraising campaign.

Berberet said the school has already revamped its environmental studies major and upgraded its internship program. A new major in television production will soon be launched, along with new majors in business, and new programs listed under the Department of Health Sciences.

"We're looking at adding athletic training and strengthening to our community public-health program," Berberet said. "We're looking at a strong science-based, health-sciences track that prepares students for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pre-pharmacy."

Carroll also hopes to create several centers of excellence on issues that include gender studies, environment, health and wellness, and social justice. As an example, he said, a center for peace and justice could be one way of bringing dynamic speakers to campus.

"It might be a place where some academic offerings could be housed," Berberet said. "It could be a place that supports some research."

Berberet said Carroll has a responsibility of being an honest broker within the community, sponsoring debates on a level platform. This past fall, the school co-sponsored the Montana Healthcare Forum and hopes to offer other seminars in the future.

Aside from the standards expected of a four-year institution, the changing academic environment finds Carroll competing with community colleges like UM-Helena College of Technology, where two-year programs and certificate courses are growing in popularity.

Berberet said Carroll has already approved a template for certificate programs, allowing for a package of courses nontraditional students can take to advance their career, such as in GIS.

Other certificate courses could include community health, marketing and health care management. Courses toward each certificate would be clustered, allowing a participant to pursue the subject in a short period of time.

"We're also working on making summer school more of a flexible third semester - making it more attractive and accessible to the public," he said. "It's an issue of what's affordable, and if loans are available."

Berberet said many new programs have already gone before the curriculum committee and will be reviewed by faculty in the coming year.

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston@helenair. com

Building a better shelter

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:16:33 MDT

By MARTIN J. KIDSTON, Independent Record

Carroll College English professor and pet owner Ron Stottlemyer quotes Mahatma Gandhi when sharing his organization’s plans to build a new $3.5 million animal shelter in Helena.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated,” he said last week, quoting the legendary pacifist. “Here in Helena, I think we have to bring the animals into our idea of progress.”

Stottlemyer, a regular volunteer at the Lewis and Clark Humane Society, is one of several members from the upstart Pad for Paws Foundation working to improve the welfare of Helena’s abandoned animals.

Hatched in 2005, the foundation’s plan to build a new animal shelter has picked up steam in recent months, gaining support from members of the community, even though the concept hasn’t been officially announced to the public until now.

In the coming weeks, the Pad for Paws Foundation will officially kick off its campaign and take the first rudimentary steps in building a multimillion dollar domestic animal campus in Helena.

“I think this community wants to be progressive,” Stottlemyer said. “We’re building all sorts of new homes, new stores, new roadways, but we haven’t touched the part of our society that includes the animals.”

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Planned for 10 acres near the intersection of Custer Avenue and Interstate 15, the facility would include an expansive dog park, walking trains, and a columbarium with a memorial wall. A community center would offer room for agility and obedience classes. The shelter itself would be state of the art, designed with animal welfare in mind.

Simply, the foundation said, the new facility would provide abandoned animals with healthy, comfortable and sanitary conditions — something they believe the Lewis and Clark Humane Society can no longer offer, despite its best intentions.

Old shelter

Nearly 45 years old, the current shelter is plagued with a variety of unsanitary issues ranging from overcrowding to mold, Pad for Paws Foundation members say.

Diseases have closed the animal shelter more than once in recent years, taking the animals out of adoption, sometimes for weeks on end.

“Prolonged confinement in narrow, indoor cages was taking its toll on dogs,” the foundation wrote in its summary plan. “Lack of healthy interaction with people and other dogs was forcing many of them to become ‘kennel crazy,’ and crowding made them vulnerable to the spread of infectious diseases.”

Cats haven’t fared any better, the foundation reports. Caged for long periods of time in crowded conditions, some grow depressed and withdrawn from human contact, making them difficult to adopt.

Gina Wiest, director of the Lewis and Clark Humane Society, doesn’t deny that the current animal shelter has had outbreaks of disease, ranging from ringworm to canine flu. She also admits that the shelter is old and that a newer shelter is in the community’s best interest.

Still, she said, the Humane Society will move ahead with plans of its own, separate from Pad for Paws, to build a new facility. She also believes the existing shelter isn’t as bad for the animals as Pad for Paws has suggested.

“We’ve outgrown some of the capacity, and we agree that we need a new facility,” Wiest said. “We’re growing and we know the city is growing and, eventually, we’ll need a new spot. But as far as it being bad for the animals, I don’t agree with that.”

Wiest said the Humane Society had initially worked with the Pad for Paws Foundation, the two groups proceeding together at the beginning.

However, Wiest said, the two organizations had different points of view, prompting the Humane Society to step back from the Pad for Paws project and set off on its own to create its own facility.

“We just had different ideas,” Wiest said. “We just didn’t think their plans meshed with what the Humane Society had envisioned. With respect to them, we decided we needed to take a step back. But I wish them all the luck.”

The Pad for Paws Foundation said the problem isn’t the Human Society’s methodology in caring for animals. Rather, the foundation said, it’s the Humane Society’s outdated shelter, one that was initially built to warehouse unwanted animals, not to hold them for adoption.

The foundation agrees with Wiest in that the local pet population — like the human population — has grown dramatically over the years. That, the foundation said, has pressed the animal shelter’s ability to house animals in a healthy way.

“The idea stemmed from the community expressing some frustration over the local conditions for our homeless animals,” said Pad for Paws board member Debra Polhemus, who served as the former development director at the Missoula Children’s Theatre. “The local shelter is more than 40 years old and it has some issues. It’s time for a new shelter.”

The plan

Most animal shelters in Montana were built around the same time 40 years ago. Yet many of those older facilities have already been razed and new shelters created — except in Helena.

The cities of Missoula, Kalispell and Livingston have finished and opened new animal shelters. Bozeman is running a capital campaign to build a new facility and Great Falls is gearing up to follow suit.

Gary Pistoria, president of the Pad for Paws Foundation and past board member of the Lewis and Clark Humane Society, said the concept of a domestic animal campus represents a blending of animal facilities from around the country.

The new shelter, he said, promises to stand among the Northwest’s more innovative centers.

“With the research we’ve done in the Helena area, we’ve found the biggest need, initially, to be the public dog park,” Pistoria said. “People are looking for areas where they can have dogs trained, including personal training, agility courses and walking parks.”

All that, he said, would take place during phase one of the project, to include a columbarium and memorial wall, where animal ashes could be placed.

“We’re hoping to actually kick off the phase-one portion — the outdoor grounds — some time within the next month, with the goal to break ground in the spring,” Polhemus said. “Hopefully, we’ll move quickly into phase two. But like most capital campaigns, we’re looking at a multi-year situation.”

Phase two would raise money to construct the main campus. The center would offer a 12,000-square-foot community center for animals, to include a large community room where seminars, obedience training, and animal welfare classes could be held.

The project’s other wing would offer the latest in housing and medical facilities for abandoned animals. It would include sanitary kennels, a modern ventilation system and separate rooms for puppies and kittens. It would also include two cat rooms with access to outdoor exercise areas, and grooming facilities.

“The treatment area will feature a surgical room to accommodate spay and neutering clinics, as well as medical treatment for minor injuries,” Pistoria said. “Other rooms will be set aside for quarantined cats and dogs.”

Ann Perkins, director of the Human-Animal Bonding Program at Carroll College, has given the project her full support and written it into her plans for student internships.

Carroll students would work at the new shelter. Learning under the guidance of instructors, the students would help train dogs to work in a variety of human-assisted roles, ranging from disabilities to search and rescue.

“I’m really excited about working with my students at the new facility,” Perkins said. “It’s an innovative idea. The Pad for Paws people have thought of everything.”

“Ann has that internship written up as an integral part of her whole program,” Stottlemyer added. “We see this as a natural fit, having student interns working at the facility. It’s the right thing to do at the right time.”

The last and final stage of the project, Pistoria said, would include raising money for an endowment to maintain the facility over time. To find out more, or to contribute to the project, contact the Pad for Paws Foundation at 442-7373.

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston -is-at- helenair -dot- com.

Get involved! To find out more, or to contribute to the project, contact the Pad for Paws Foundation at 442-7373.