MONMOUTH – Eleven members of Western Oregon University’s faculty and staff have retired during the 2004-05 school year.

Carol Bunse, assistant professor at the Teaching Research Institute, started her career at WOU in 1974 working with school age students with severe handicaps.. Since that time her work has focused on developing models for improving the services to young children, birth to eight, and their families. Providing quality services to families and ensuring that their role in educational decision making is seen as integral to their child’s development has been central for much of Bunse’s work in the last 10 years. She has worked on numerous federal grant projects, directing six of them over the last few years. She has been instrumental in developing quality trainings and products that are widely used in the field and has authored several articles. Bunse earned a M.S. Ed. from WOU in 1998. Assistant professor Pam Deardorff said: “I loved training with Carol. She demonstrated flexibility, creativity and spontaneity. Whenever things didn’t go quite right, like malfunctioning technology or forgotten materials, Carol was the master of calmness and problem solving.”

James Chadney, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been with WOU since 1999 and is well-known by students for the introduction to anthropology course he taught for many terms, and popular among the faculty for his frequent brown bag lunches. He earned a doctorate from Michigan State University in 1976. Psychology professor Tamina Toray, Ph.D., said: “In all my interactions with Jim I have found him to be a man of tremendous integrity and high standards. Jim has such a warm andopen style of communication as well as a terrific sense of humor. It is rare to find an administrator that so easily bridges the often large gap between faculty and administration. Jim has an uncanny way of blending hishumor,honesty and warmth to create an atmosphere of trust thathas been invaluable in his position.Jim's omnipresent smile and optimism are contagious. He will be greatly missed in so many ways.”

Philip W. Conn, president of WOU and public administration professor, will retire August 31 after three years of service to WOU. He previously spent four years in the University of Tennessee system, serving as chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Martin and system-wide vice president for special programs. He also spent four years as president of Dickinson State University in North Dakota. He earned a Doctorate of Public Administration from the University of Southern California in 1991.

“Dr. Conn has been an energetic promoter of Western Oregon University in the community, particularly working to strengthen the link between WOU and the Salem area,” said Leta Edwards, vice president for university advancement. “On campus, his focus has been on ensuring that students have what he calls the ‘total college experience’ – a well-rounded student life inside the classroom as well as outside. This, I believe, will be legacy to WOU.”

Duke Iverson, head football coach, retired this past fall after coaching seven seasons at WOU and 21 seasons of leading college football programs. Iverson steps down as WOU's head coach with an all-time coaching record of 126 wins and 85 losses. He earned a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin in 1967.

Alice Kirk, adjunct instructor of modern languages, has retired after 15 years of service to WOU. "I remember the first time I saw her, wearing a svelte designer suit with a broad-brimmed black hat; I thought, 'She must be the French professor.'  And, of course, I wasn't far off,” said Carol Harding, humanities division chair.  “Alice has done her best to bring French culture into the lives of our WOU French students, not only via her dress code, but also through catered French dinners at her home, through poetry readings, through film series, and through courses on French art. She has contributed mightily to the cultural life of WOU, and, having just returned from studying Renaissance art in Florence, Italy, she will probably continue in her quest to bring the world to Monmouth."

Judy Lovre, head volleyball coach and assistant professor in health/physical education, has retired as the “winningest” coach in WOU history. She compiled a career mark of 489-212, a winning percentage of .692 and coached for 17 seasons at WOU. Her teams won 16 conference and district championships, and three times the Wolves reached the NAIA national title match. She received a M. Ed. from Oregon State University in 1979.

Tuck Stevens, instructor at the Teaching Research Institute, had worked as a project coordinator and research assistant for over 35 years, the last 12 years at the TRI.  Most recently, Tuck was the liaison between families with children who have traumatic brain injury and the TBI school resource team. She also planned and helped organize training for team members, and provided information and support to educators working with students with traumatic brain injury. 

Helen Woods, professor of education, retired in March 2005 after serving in various roles such as science specialist, division chair, education advisor, and coordinator of the M.S. Ed. program. She taught courses on assessment, planning and instruction, and science content pedagogy.

Sharon Bonnett, business office cashier, Bonnie Thiessen, customer service clerk at the WOU Bookstore and Rebecca Graber, grants/contracts technician in special education, also retired.

In addition to retirees, employees that have been with WOU for 15, 20, 25 and 30 years have been honored. Those faculty and staff members are as follows:

15 years:

Kathy Atkins

Thomas Bergeron

James Birken

Dean Braa

Julia Bulen

Deborah Burnham

Edward Camacho

Cheri Darby

Susan Dauer

Cheryl Davis

Lewallyn Fisk

Tina Fuchs

Denis Galey-Oldham

Sandra Gish

Kathy Hill

Kevin Hughes

Linka Keller

Cassandra Kroeker

John Leadley

Stanley Little

Michael Martin

Frank Nevius

William Nicks

Tina Palmer

Pete Poston

Linda Root

Darin Silbernagel

Tamina Toray

David Wol

20 years:

Peter Callero

Gary Glasenapp

Susan Kozisek

Dianna Nickelson

Galen Wis

25 years:

John Henslee

Marilyn Hoeckle

Kathy Kramer

Mollie Loving

Cathy McLean

Karen Nelles

Michele Price

Kathryn Thompson

30 years:

Kathryn Alderson

Frankie Blasch

Carol Bunse