Cal Lutheran opens year with convocation

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Aug. 19, 2014) California Lutheran University will hold its Opening Convocation for the 2014-2015 year at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, in Gilbert Arena.

Faculty and administrators will assemble in full academic attire to welcome about 800 freshmen and new transfer students. Twenty-one new faculty members will be presented and 10 faculty members who have received tenure or advanced in rank will be recognized.

Joan Wines, recipient of the 2014 President’s Award for Teaching Excellence and a classroom-technology pioneer, will be the keynote speaker. The Thousand Oaks resident began teaching at Cal Lutheran in 1976 and became a full-time faculty member in 1989. From the beginning, the English professor has been an inspirational teacher and supportive mentor dedicated to helping students produce their best work.

Conducting and presenting instructional technology research throughout the world since 1987, she was the first in both the Cal Lutheran and University of California English departments to integrate computers into writing instruction. She has secured numerous grants for technology as well as for faculty and program development. She also designed and directed Cal Lutheran’s Center for Teaching and Learning, which helps faculty integrate technology into their courses.

Wines brought her passion for helping disadvantaged youths to USC’s Neighborhood Initiative program and to Cal Lutheran, where she helped start the Math Science Upward Bound program in 1992.

She helped launch Cal Lutheran’s Writing Center and has worked extensively with international students in the center and in English courses. She served as chairwoman of the English Department from 2006 to 2013 and has been the adviser for the university’s award-winning literary publication, Morning Glory, for 18 years.

Wines co-organized the 2008 International Aldous Huxley Symposium and has been a docent of the International Aldous Huxley Society since 2009. In addition to an extensive list of academic publications, she has authored books of poetry and written and directed children’s plays. This summer, she presented papers on the role of universities in global politics in Russia and co-presented a paper on art-making in the U.S. juvenile justice system in Italy.

The fall semester begins on Wednesday, Sept. 3, for traditional undergraduate students. Gilbert Arena is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center at 130 Overton Court in Thousand Oaks.