October 2009: New State Law Passed

In October 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 48, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009. That law will go into effect on January 1, 2010. It provides for the creation of a new State oversight agency. That law also provides that WISR's State Approval, which previously had been granted through June 30, 2012 will now be extended to June 30, 2015. WISR will keep its students and prospective students informed as to how they may contact the new State agency, as that agency begins its operations in 2010. As in the past, WISR will abide by all mandated guidelines and informational disclosures required by the State's oversight agency.

Furthermore, WISR takes the position that consumer protection and student rights are important to a healthy postsecondary education system in California. WISR has an impeccable history of perfect compliance with state law since we were first approved in 1977, and there have been no complaints against us in that entire time. Furthermore, in order to promote consumer protection, high quality education, and institutional integrity and credibility among institutions of private postsecondary education, WISR has taken a leadership role with about a dozen other institutions to form the Association for Private Postsecondary Education in California (APPEC) [www.appeca.org]. Another goal of APPEC is to be a constructive, pro-active representative for private postsecondary education in Sacramento as well as statewide. APPEC's mission statement is:
" APPEC provides needed assistance and services to California's (non WASC accredited) private colleges and universities as they interact with the state and other agencies that oversee them.
" APPEC informs all stakeholders of the important educational and economic roles private colleges and universities play in California.

January 2009: WISR News Items

In Memory of Terry Lunsford

On January 3, 2009, long-time WISR faculty and Board member, Terry Lunsford passed away at his home surrounded by family members. Terry died after enduring for several years the rigors and successes of cancer treatments. Terry was a founding member of WISR's Board of Trustees, and joined WISR's faculty in 1980. From 1980-83, he worked on WISR's US Department of Education funded project to teach action-research to community workers and to write curriculum materials on action-research. From 1983 until recently, Terry actively volunteered as a member of WISR's faculty, and continued to serve on WISR's Board.

Terry Lunsford received his BA with honors in General Studies and Humanities from the University of Chicago in 1951. He pursued pre-doctoral study in Psychology at the University of Chicago from 1951 to 1954. He received the JD in Law from the University of Chicago in 1957, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970. He was a staff member for the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) and then became a Researcher at the Center for Study of Higher Education of the University of California at Berkeley on issues of organization, administration and leadership. Current WISR President and Faculty Member, John Bilorusky, first met Terry in 1970 when, Terry was Chair of the Social Sciences Integrated Courses and Field Major at UC Berkeley, and he offered John the opportunity to teach in that program as a junior faculty member. In Fall of 1970, Terry and John teamed with Joel Meister to teach a core course in that program on "Social Theories and their Uses." This was the beginning of an enduring friendship and colleagueship between Terry and John. Subsequently, Terry went on to serve as Academic Director of UC Berkeley's Field Studies Program and as a researcher on legal and ethical issues for UC Berkeley's Health and Medical Sciences Program. Then, he was a Trial Consultant on interviewing and jury selection for the National Jury Project/West in Oakland.

In the past year, some of Terry's insights about teaching action-research at WISR over the years were included in an article co-authored with John Bilorusky and Cynthia Lawrence. The article, "Participatory Action-Research, Inclusiveness and Empowering Community Action at the Western Institute for Social Research" appears in the recently published (Summer 2008) textbook, DEMOCRACY WORKS: JOINING THEORY AND ACTION TO FOSTER GLOBAL CHANGE, edited by Torry Dickinson and Terrie Clark, with Summer B.C. Lewis, Boulder: CO: Paradigm Publishers. The book may be ordered at: http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=187019

Over four decades, Terry has been strongly committed and engaged with WISR, teaching seminars, advising students, and offering thoughtful, articulate and warm-hearted consul as a Board member. Those of us who had the good fortune to know Terry will miss him very much.

July-November 2007: WISR News Items

WISR MA alumnus, Carole Morton, MFT, will now be offering MFT program seminars on a regular monthly basis as a member of WISR's core faculty. Here's Carole's brief bio:BA in American Studies/Women's Studies, with honors, MA in Human Communication from S.F. State University, 1989, MA in Psychology, Western Institute for Social Research, 2001. Carole has been in private practice as a communications counselor since 1990 and as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 2001. She specializes in both Mind/Body Healing and early childhood abuse issues. In addition to her private practice, she writes, speaks and leads groups and workshops on these topics.

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WISR PhD student and core faculty member, Larry Loebig spoke at the Internet Service Providers Confernce (ISPCON) in San Jose, October 17th. Larry's presentation was Guerrilla Marketing for Service Providers. Here is the abstract of his presentation:
There are over 200 marketing tactics available to promoting your business. Expensive advertising is just one tactic. We will discuss the importance of fusion and joint venture marketing - how to create exponential vs. lateral growth. We will also look at how to deploy marketing combinations Guerilla Marketing is based on behaviorial science - we will also explore the research on the psychology of instant influence and the 28 principals of attraction. Every participat will have the opportunity to create a 7 step marketing plan. Here is the Larry's bio from the conference program: Larry Loebig, Director, Guerrilla Marketing Association, is only one of three certified guerrilla marketing master trainers on the planet. He is also co-founder of www.California.com, www.SFO.com and MasterCoach.com. He has run a successful online service business since 1992. He earned a Masters Degree in organizational development and management for virtual organizations. He is currently working on his doctorate in virtual and accelerated learning.

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WISR PhD student, David Yamada, who is a labor law professor at Suffolk University in Boston, was recently interviewed on National Public Radio. In this short interview, he discusses how businesses may sometimes offer students unpaid summer internships in violation of Federal Minimum Wage laws. Here is the link to the two-minute radio story, "Dodging the Summer Internship Blues"; the last half minute includes the interview with David: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/07/24/AM200707242.html

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At the end of the summer, we received this letter from Dr. Anngwyn St. Just, WISR PhD alumnus.
"I am back in Switzerland after spending the first part of the summer in South America. My book is being published in Spanish and I have been teaching in Buenos Aires. This presented more cross cultural challenges and yet another language and as usual, I learned a lot. I have remained very involved with the systemic constellation work here in Europe and internationally, as well. The founder of this method, Bert Hellinger ,now 82 ,has 'moved on' as he says, into a primarily spiritual focus and some of his students have gone along in this direction, as well. The majority, however, have chosen to continue to explore work with systems on other levels, such as families, organization and larger social systems. I have been and still am the liaison for this group to the field of social trauma. I am forwarding a post from Sheila Saunders on that subject which you may find of interest. We are having a cool and rainy summer here at the Lake of Zurich which is perfect weather for writing. My second book should be completed by the end of the summer with the working title: A Question of Balance: A Systemic Approach to Resolving Trauma.

January-June 2007: WISR News Items

WISR PhD student, David Yamada, who is a tenured faculty member at Suffolk Univesity Law School in Boston, is forming a non-profit dedicated to addressing the problem of Workplace Bullying. His March 2007 seminar at WISR on "Making our Workplaces More Humane and Inclusive: Possibility or Impossible Dream?" provided an overview of some of these issues. [For more on the content of the seminar, click here.] David Yamada has also founded The New Workplace Institute, which is a new multidisciplinary, nonprofit research and eduction centern promoting healthy, productive and socially responsible workplaces.

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WISR alumnus, Mary St. Clair, has passed her MFT second exam (clinical vignette exam). She will therefore have her license as soon as her paperwork is processed.

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WISR alumnus, Risa Pervier-Sawhill, took the Standard MFT written exam (forthe first time) on February 24 and passed. She is now studying for the MFT Clinical Vignette Exam and plans on taking that exam during the summermonths.

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WISR PhD student, Shyaam Shabaka, and WISR Faculty Member, John Bilorusky, teamed up to assist Neighborhood House of North Richmond in Training a Dozen Community Residents in the Skills of Interviewing and the Methods of Participatory Research. The participating community-based researchers surveyed over 1,000 Richmond residents to gather information about the eating and exercises habits as part of the "Healthy Eating, Active Living" Project. Some training materials developed by Shyaam and John for use in this project, along with an earlier training article by Terry Lunsford and John:

Interviewing Tips for HEAL Project Community Health Advocates
Self-Assessment Quiz Questions
Sample Scripts for Role-Playing
Notes on Interviewing (by Terry Lunsford and John Bilorusky)

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Makhosazana Fletcher, who just finished her BA at WISR this past May, is publishing a newsletter, with her husband, Steven Fletcher, to update everyone on their various creative and social change activities. June/July 2007 issue (pdf) August/September 2007 issue (pdf)

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WISR PhD alumnus, John Borst, has been teaching at Antioch's campus in Santa Barbara. He is teaching an online continuing education course, based on his dissertation and subsequent work, on great teaching. See the introductory page to "Action Learning: A path of professional growth and renewal at http://web.mac.com/jborst1 Dr. Borst also presented a paper, "The Educator's Compass: A tool for focused reflection and renewal of teaching practice," at the Central California Regional Conference on Excellence in Teaching & Learning, held at Fresno State on April 13, 2007.

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WISR PhD alumnus, Dr. Diane Poole Heller, has a website that is promoting her training materails on trauma resolution.

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The following profile, taken off the Internet, provides an overview of the many areas in which WISR BA alumnus, Eli Rosenblatt, has been working for social change. Eli's senior thesis resulted in the book he edited, Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Crisis, published by South End Press.

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An article, Participatory Action-Research at WISR: Sound Research Goes Hand in Hand with Inclusiveness and Empowering Community Action (doc)by WISR Faculty Members John Bilorusky, PhD, Terry Lunsford, PhD, and Cynthia Lawrence, PhD will appear in the forthcoming (Spring 2008) textbook, DEMOCRACY WORKS: JOINING THEORY AND ACTION TO FOSTER GLOBAL CHANGE, edited by Torry Dickinson and Terrie Clark, Boulder: CO: Paradigm Publishers.

Participatory Action-Research at WISR: Sound Research Goes Hand in Hand with Inclusiveness and Empowering Community Action (pdf)

Abstract of the article, "Participatory Action-Research at WISR": This article outlines the evolution of some strategies, methods and ideas about participatory, action-oriented, community-based inquiry that have evolved over the past 40 years. The authors discuss some of the highlights of their involvements in educational reform and social change endeavors during this 40 year period, and how these involvements have shaped and contributed to their approach to participatory action-research. During this time, the authors have lived and worked in California, while also having had the opportunity to work and learn with people involved in communities throughout the United States, and in a few cases, in other countries. The authors focus on their vision of "participatory action-research," and how it has been developed and put forth as a central feature of the learning in the alternative, community-based academic degree programs at the Western Institute for Social Research. This article highlights the main qualities of this approach, and more specifically the role and techniques involved in: eliciting ideas and information from others, the analytic uses of group discussion, learning from others and in collaboration with others, and probing to look beneath the surface. The authors note some of the intellectual currents which resonate with this approach, including the work of Paulo Freire and some of the very dynamic, rigorous and imaginative approaches to cutting-edge inquiry in the biological and physical sciences, as represented in Complexity Theory, for example. In discussing these approaches, the authors note how we can go beyond the mechanistic, simplistic versions of science and become engaged in claiming science for all of us. With the help of strategies such as these, and by further refining and improving on strategies such as these, we can approach the local and global challenges of the future with some measure of hope.

November-December 2006: WISR News Items

Many of us in the WISR community were saddened to learn that Ida Baker recently passed away. Ida was a long-time resident in WISR's neighborhood, and for many years, she enthusiastically volunteered at WISR and participated in our interdisciplinary seminars. Here is a brief excerpt from her obituary: "IDA BAKER passed away peacefully, Sunday, October 1, 2006 in Berkeley, CA. Homegoing celebration was held October 9, 2006 at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 1004 - 14th Street, Oakland, CA. Rev. David Gray, Pastor. Interment at Rolling Hills Memorial Park, Richmond, CA. Ms. Baker will be dearly missed by those she loved and those who loved her." . . .Those of us at WISR who knew Ida do indeed miss her.

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