By CSC COLLEGE RELATIONS
CHADRON – Chadron State College recognized employees for years of service, Teaching Excellence and retirement at an annual luncheon in the Student Center Ballroom.
Awards are as follows:
NSCS Teaching Excellence
Dr. Mary Keithly, Award Recipient
Dr. Tara Wilson, Award Nominee
Retirees
Mel Ainslie
Dr. Michael Bogner
Dr. Ron Bolze
Mike Kennedy
Dr. Lisette Leesch
Karen Pope
Dr. Randy Rhine
Dr. Wendy Waugh
40 Years
Dr. Kim Madsen
30 Years
Melvin Ainslie
Dr. Don King
Dr. Donna Ritzen
20 Years
Dr. Mary Jo Carnot
Dr. Lorie Hunn
Deena Kennell
Dr. Kathleen Kirsch
Dr. Joel Schreuder
15 Years
Daniel Binkard
Dr. Mathew Brust
Dr. Teresa J. Frink
Dr. William Hoffman
Casey Roberts
Karma Schefcik
10 Years
Heather Barry
Jason Blanford
Barb Bohnenkamp
Rebecca Bolze
Dr. Ronald Bolze
Lona Downs
Dr. Jamie Hamaker
Dr. Kurt Kinbacher
Dr. Anthony Perlinski
Joel Smith
Ted Tewahade
Retirees
Ainslie became a Chadron State College employee in 1993. He was on the custodial staff caring for the then-new Student Center in the mornings and the Burkhiser Technology Complex in the afternoons. Eventually, he worked solely in the Student Center.
“I like working in the Student Center. All the kids come through here,” he said.
Ainslie assists with room set-up and tear-down and trouble-shooting with the microphone system, in addition to cleaning the building and shoveling snow from the north entrance which cannot be accessed by plows.
He met his wife of 18 years, Linn, in the Student Center Pit. Linn earned her teaching degree from CSC. Her daughter, Catherine, a canine law officer in Powell, Wyoming, graduated from CSC with a criminal justice degree. The couple has five adult grandchildren.
The couple has been involved with international students for at least 15 years.
“We got started with the host parent program for incoming freshmen. When it ended, we switched over to hosting international students. We've learned a lot about their countries and hopefully, they’ve learned a little bit about ours from us,” Ainslie said.
Several years ago, the couple arranged to meet six of their former CSC international host students for a reunion in Paris.
“They came in from Germany, Jordan, and other countries. A lot of them have gone on and got their doctorates. Some of them keep in touch as they get married and have children. One of our host kids went back to Libya and we still hear from him every now and then. He's married with two kids. It's really amazing how much some of them have touched our lives and we have touched their lives,” Ainslie said.
Bolze taught for 10 years in the Rangeland Management department and calls the experience among the most fulfilling aspects of his career. He came to CSC on a one-year contract before becoming a full-time faculty member. His teaching assignments have included a variety of courses related to beef production, animal genetics, physiology and nutrition, and farm and ranch management.
Bolze grew up on a family-oriented dairy farm in Pennsylvania, and completed undergraduate studies in animal science at Pennsylvania State University. After graduation, he farmed with family before earning a doctorate in beef cattle reproductive physiology at Kansas State University.
He then spent more than a decade as a beef extension specialist and faculty member, first at Ohio State University and later at Kansas State University.
Leaving academic work in beef production for a time, he moved to the commercial aspects of the industry, serving as a development director for the Certified Angus Beef Program, executive secretary of the American Shorthorn Association, marketing director for the Red Angus Association of America, and marketing director for the largest Red Angus seedstock breeder in the United States.
Bolze said one of the best parts of working at CSC has been the ability to align students with internships and job opportunities. Other highlights include interaction with the Bill and Virginia Coffee Family Foundation, involvement with the Practitioner in Residence program, the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition road show, and the ruminant production travel study tour.
Kennedy was a Journalism Instructor at Chadron State College for 17 years. He is most proud of the achievements, awards, and recognition garnered by The Eagle, CSC’s student newspaper, and its staff members while he was the adviser for the student-led publication. During Kennedy’s tenure, The Eagle earned the Northern Plains Collegiate Media Association’s (NPCMA) Best Overall Newspaper award every year since 2010.
He started at CSC as an adjunct instructor in Communication Arts in 2006 and moved to Journalism and Adviser upon the retirement of Lavida Dickinson in 2008. In addition to journalism and publication design courses, he has taught essential studies classes in oral communications. He also served as executive director of the Nebraska Collegiate Media Association (now the NPCMA) for seven years.
He lived in France for four years as a child and graduated from high school in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Kennedy continued working for newspapers and wire services in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and completed a master’s degree in journalism at Marshall University in 1991.
Kennedy taught in Oklahoma, worked for the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association in Colorado Springs, and taught photojournalism at Pittsburg State University in Kansas. A job teaching journalism and publications took him to Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2000. During his six years there he made several trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan as a photojournalist and developed friendships with local reporters and photographers.
Pope had nearly a 30-year professional career with the Chadron State Foundation. She retired as the Director of Alumni and Development for the Chadron State Foundation in January,
Pope, who grew up in Bridgeport, Nebraska, graduated from CSC with a degree in social sciences in 1980. Once her children were old enough for school, Pope went back to work and became an Office Assistant in the Alumni and Foundation Office in 1995. Her title was changed to the Director of Alumni and Development in the early 2000s.
When she was hired, one of Pope’s responsibilities was to put together an alumni newsletter. Without much of a background in publications and graphic design, Pope reached out to Dewayne Gimeson, a CSC publications specialist to learn more.
The two continued to work together for more than 20 years on numerous projects, including all of the major Alumni and Foundation publications.
Another longtime colleague of Pope’s was former Alumni and Foundation CEO Connie Rasmussen.
“She is one of the most creative people I ever worked with,” Rasmussen said. “There isn’t anything she can’t do. She really brought the Foundation to the next level with the professional look of our publications. Her relationships with alums was genuine. She took an interest and loved working with them. They felt that and they loved working with her.”
In addition to organizing alumni events and handling publications, Pope assisted with the Fall Fund Drive and helped with the annual phonathon. Pope said she always understood her job was centered around people, something she enjoyed.
Rhine, who has served as President at Chadron State College since 2013, has worked at a college or university his entire professional career.
“I got involved with higher education at a young age and never wanted to get out of it,” he said. “I have had a rewarding career and to have the chance to lead CSC the past decade has been an honor. Chadron State is truly a unique institution and a special place. Our alums care deeply about it and our community does, too. The college makes a significant impact in our region and city and it's been a privilege and honor to have a role in that. It wasn’t a role I set out for in life, but it has been very rewarding on a lot of levels.”
Rhine first came to Chadron in 2005 at the behest of former President Janie Park. He was hired as the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Services and helped the college reverse its enrollment decline. Rhine remained as the VP for Enrollment Management and Student Services until he was named Interim President in May 2012. Following a national search for the Presidency, he was officially named the college’s President in January 2013.
In a letter announcing his retirement, Rhine wrote: “Together we have achieved a great deal for Chadron State, and I am incredibly proud to see the positive changes that have occurred. I am leaving Chadron State at a time when the institution is poised to move into the future with new energy and opportunity. I cannot thank the faculty and staff of this wonderful institution enough for your efforts that make us a leader in higher education and service to our region and beyond.”
During Rhine’s time as president, CSC benefited from more than $70 million in capital improvements, including the Coffee Agriculture Pavilion, the Rangeland Complex, the Chicoine Center, the Eagle Ridge Housing Units, the renovated Elliott Field at Beebe Stadium, an outdoor track and field facility, and the Math Science Center of Innovative Learning addition and renovation.
Rhine was also an advocate for CSC supporting rural components of its mission and during his tenure both the Rural Business Leadership Initiative and the Rural Law Opportunities Program were created. Despite being based in different academic disciplines, both programs encourage their students to assume leadership roles and work in rural communities.
Waugh was employed at Chadron State College for 30 years before retiring in 2022. Waugh began as a Resident Hall Director in 1992. A year later, she began teaching in the Business Academy. She served as the Business Department Chair from 2017 to 2019 when she became Dean of the School of Business, Math and Science, and Graduate Program. Honors she received include the Teaching Excellence Award in 2009 and being selected as the 2016 Graduate Commencement speaker.
She has bachelor’s degrees in Management and Electronic Data Processing and Secondary Business Education from Wayne State College, a master’s in Education: Business Specialization from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, an MBA from CSC, and a doctorate from Capella University in Organization and Management.
Her articles were published in national journals and she made national presentations including one in 2022 about cultivating and maintaining positive working relationships between faculty and administration at the National Academic Chairpersons Conference with colleagues Dr. Shaunda French-Collins and Dr. James Koehn.
“All of my greatest accomplishments have been attributed to the support and contribution of others at Chadron State. This included people with whom I worked, looked up to, and who actively mentored me,” Waugh said.
Under Waugh’s leadership, the Rural Business Leadership Initiative was established to support business majors desiring to become professionals in rural areas. Additionally, CSC partnered with Nebraska Methodist College to allow students to earn a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from CSC while simultaneously earning an Associate of Science degree in Respiratory Care from Nebraska Methodist College, without leaving CSC. Also, Accounting, Digital Marketing, and Healthcare Management focus areas were added to the MBA program.