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Campus Review
April 1, 2013
Page 2
Clayton State University’s
Growth Transcends National Borders
by Samantha Watson, University Relations
Clayton State Nursing Faculty Earn Two Awards from GANE
Diversity is not only an aid to education,
but also an agent of education. By attend-
ing Clayton State University, international
students have the opportunity to engage in
academic learning as well as cultural
exchanges, and because of international
students, Clayton State has the opportuni-
ty to be exposed to and educated in cul-
tures from around the world. This helps
shape the University as a culturally appre-
ciative, and welcoming campus.
Spring 2013 at Clayton State saw the
largest increase in the school’s history of
new international students. The Laker
community welcomed 21 new and trans-
fer international students from eight coun-
tries including Bosnia, El Salvador,
Jamaica, New Zealand, Romania, South
Africa, and Trinidad. A large number of
Saudi Arabian graduate students, around
12, contributed to this influx.
This new spike in the Saudi population on
campus is largely due to Saudi Arabia’s
Cultural Mission to the U.S.A. (SACM).
The Saudi Arabian government provides
extensive scholarships for their top stu-
dents to come to the best educational
institutions in America to obtain universi-
ty training and skills. The mission “pro-
vide(s) our country with qualified individ-
uals capable of achieving the country’s
goals of progress and development,”
reads
the
mission’s
website
(www.sacm.org).
The majority of the new Saudi students
chose Clayton State University from the
SACM list of approved institutions
specifically for the flexible MBA program
that offers weekend classes. This fairly
new graduate program is becoming
increasingly popular and expects to see 15
more international students apply in the
summer and another 20 in the fall semes-
ter.
In accordance with SACM, the Saudi stu-
dents intend to graduate from Clayton
State University, then take their graduate
degrees home and implement their knowl-
edge into Saudi Arabia’s plan for future
transition of its economy from an oil
export/refinement base to a more long-
term sustainable mix of industries.
In between classes, the Saudi students are
working to form a new Saudi cultural stu-
dent organization on campus. This will
help them have a home-away-from-home
as well as better share their culture with
their fellow Lakers. The International
Student Services Office has set up various
displays in the library in an effort to
expose the student population to more
Saudi culture as well.
“The School of Graduate Studies tries to
draw students into participating in campus
activities, not just international cultural
activities, but all activities so as to enrich
their experience,” says the School of
Graduate Studies’ Elizabeth Taylor.
Two Clayton State
University nursing
faculty members
earned awards at
the recent Georgia
Association
of
Nurse Educators
(GANE) confer-
ence,
held
in
Peachtree City and
attended by several
hundred nurse edu-
cators from the
state of Georgia.
Assistant Professor
of Nursing Dr.
Debra Cody won
the GANE Jane Van
de Verde Nurse
Educator Award for
2013 and clinical
faculty member Nancy Capponi won,
along with two other doctoral students,
Best Poster Presentation for Doctoral
Students for their poster entitled, “The
Use of Beck's Anxiety Index with
Undergraduate Nursing Students.”
Cody’s award included a plaque and a
check for $500. Cody met the criteria for
the Van de Verde Award by being a nurse
educator in Georgia for more than 35
years, having a doctorate degree, demon-
strating a positive influence on nursing
education in Georgia through scholarship,
serving on state committees related to
nursing education, and developing the
Nurse Educator Mentor Program for new
nursing faculty members in the School of
Nursing at Clayton State.
“Dr. Cody demonstrates excellence in
nursing education and is well deserving of
this award,” Says Dr. Sue Odom, chair of
Clayton State’s undergraduate nursing
program. “We are very proud and fortu-
nate to have her on our nursing faculty.”
In addition, he notes that the House lead-
ership – the speaker, speaker pro tem,
majority leader and house appropriations
chairman -- all joined to support the
effort.
The addition of a science building to the
Clayton State main campus in Morrow is
a regional “win” for the Southern
Crescent, which provides 80 percent of
Clayton State’s students. In addition, the
vast majority of Clayton State’s alumni
continue to live and work in the Southern
Crescent.
Dr. Debra Cody
Nancy Capponi
Science Building, cont’d from p. 1