Mary Wickman, B.S.N.,Ph.d is the director of Vanguard’s nursing program and has presented widely at conferences and is published in nursing journals. Mary’s most recent article published in The Journal of Advanced Nursing (JAN) is a world-leading international peer reviewed Journal.  JAN targets readers who are committed to advancing practice and professional development on the basis of new knowledge and evidence. Mary’s manuscript was published based on a research study that was completed in conjunction with her research facilitator role at St. Jude Medical Center. This paper reports the development and psychometric testing of a Behavioral Health Care Competency survey designed to measure hospital nurse perceptions of behavioral health care competency.

In nursing, there is an emphasis on ensuring that all practices are evidence-based.  The Behavioral Health study validates that nurses who work in hospital-based settings need further training in  how to care for the hospitalized behavioral health patient on their units.  This study provides validation for a tool that could be used by educators in assessing and developing education programs that target behavioral health competency areas identified by their staff as areas of training needs.

Wickman has held a wide variety of nursing positions in southern California, including at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, Saddleback Women’s Hospital in Laguna Hills, Tokos/Matria Obstetrical Clinical Services in Orange, and St. Joseph Hospital. She was chair of the department of nursing at Mount St. Mary’s College. She also served as director of nursing and health sciences at Santa Ana College for 15 years. Wickman holds her master’s degree and PhD from UCLA. She has chaired the Orange County Long Beach Consortium for Nursing and held many other industry-leading posts.

Before joining Vanguard full-time, Mary taught adjunct courses in the BSN program, and the students admired her. She adds to the tradition of Vanguard faculty — committed professionals who mentor and invest deeply in the lives of the students. Wickman says Vanguard’s approach to education is what nurses need to excel at their jobs.

Click here to read the published article.

Mary has researched a second article that was just accepted for publication and will be featured soon.

Both of these studies link back to the Vanguard Nursing program learning outcome of  Critical Thinking, Clinical Reasoning, Clinical Judgment. This outcome reinforces the importance of using a systematic approach in assessing, planning, testing, and evaluating innovative and evidence-based solutions to patient care problems across a variety of healthcare settings.

For more information on Vanguard’s Nursing Program click here.

COOL SCHOOLS

By  Kedric Francis

COAST MAGAZINE

Education is one of the pillars of philanthropy in Orange County, with fundraisers, galas and parties for public and private programs key components of the social whirl. The big guns get most of the attention, including Chapman U., UCI, OCHSA, and CSF. But community colleges and smaller schools deserve acclaim as well.

Vanguard University is a school we’re hearing more and more about, most recently when they hosted the Ensure Justice gala dinner at Santa Ana Country Club. The evening was a fundraiser to support the university’s Global Center for Women and Justice and its mission to promote the dignity of women locally and globally. The keynote speaker was author Rhonda Sciortino, and the Center’s director Sandra Morgan addressed the audience as well, passionately showing how supporters can help students learn to be a voice for the voiceless, including abused, trafficked and exploited women and girls.

Vanguard University is a private, Christian, comprehensive university of liberal arts and professional studies equipping students for a Spirit-empowered life of Christ-centered leadership and service. The U.S. News & World Report has ranked Vanguard among the best baccalaureate colleges in the west in their 2011-2012 rankings of colleges and universities and The Princeton Review named VU a 2011-2012 “Best in the West” College. Vanguard is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). www.vanguard.edu.

Full Story (page 48)

With this blog post, we continue to report on Joe Gorra’s interview with pentecostal-evangelical scholar, Gary Tyra, regarding the contribution and implications of his book, The Holy Spirit in Mission, which J.P.Moreland endorsed here:

JG: I am hungry to read biblical and theological works that are authored by people with extensive pastoral leadership experience. For that reason alone, I would read your book. For you have over 25 years of pastoral experience! How has your leadership experience informed your approach to The Holy Spirit in Mission? How did that experience factor into your imagination for the writing of this book?

GT: While I would not want to say that the theology of the Spirit I put forward in the book is completely owing to my personal ministry experiences, I will acknowledge that some of the stories I present in the book as contemporary examples of missional prophetic activity do predate the scholarly work that eventually led me to my pneumatological conclusions. I choose to think of this as my formal thinking about the Spirit (my pneumatology) eventually catching up to the actual missional activity he’d been inspiring me to engage in all along.

To be a bit more specific, I suppose that, more than anything else, it was my missional activity as a church planter that made me aware of the need for an approach to Christian ministry that is earmarked by a commitment to both the Word and the Spirit—to being biblically informed and Spirit-empowered. Even though your desire as a church planter is to reach non-Christians with the gospel, you do have seasoned Christians looking for a new church home who wander your way. I found that some of my most perplexing, frustrating pastoral interactions occurred not with new believers, or even non-believers, but with veteran believers who were averse either to the “moving of the Spirit” in the worship services or to my insistence that all spiritual gift expressions be evaluated on the basis of theological, missiological principles provided in God’s word.

Thus, it was, at least in part, this desire as a missional church pastor to see some evangelicals become a bit more open to spiritual experience, and some Pentecostals/charismatics become more committed to a thoughtful, disciplined approach to the study of Scripture, all with the idea of mission in mind, that I went back to the Scriptures in order to forge an understanding of how a biblically informed pneumatology should affect a missional ecclesiology. What resulted from this study was The Holy Spirit in Mission.
Full Story

The evening’s program begins with Jung performing the virtuoso composition “Carmen Fantasy” by Sarasate. Jung is an international soloist and member of the renowned chamber music ensemble, the Jung Trio. She received her Artists Diploma from Yale University and is currently on faculty at Vanguard University and the Claremont School of Music. She also performs regularly at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach and is a member of the Long Beach Symphony.

Completing the evenings program will be “Carmen Suites 1 & 2″ by Bizet and will feature Mezzo-Soprano Lauren Edwards, Baritone Ryan Thorn, and the Southern California Children’s Chorus.

Concert begins at 7 p.m. at Geneva Presbyterian Church, Laguna Hills. General admission tickets $5 can be purchased at the door or in advance from LWVS musicians.

OC Register

Certificate for their Achievement and Honorarium Presented to Recipients at University Awards Chapel

Costa Mesa, CA – Vanguard University of Southern California announced today that Dr. James Huff, Chair, Department of Anthropology & Sociology was honored with the Faculty of the Year Award and Jason Fletcher, Undergraduate Admissions Counselor, was awarded the Staff of the Year Award at the annual University Awards Chapel.

The Student Government Association (SGA) took nominations for Vanguard Faculty of the Year and Staff of the Year with the SGA narrowing the count to 4 in each category. The traditional undergraduate student body then had a week, April 9^th – April 13^th, to vote online for one faculty and one staff respectively.  The criteria for selection for faculty was based upon, co-curricular involvement, institutional service, community service and notable accomplishments. The criteria for selection for staff was co-curricular involvement, institutional service and community service.  Those who had received the award in the past 5 years were ineligible for nomination.

Faculty of the Year Award Winner

Dr. James Huff’s specializations include anthropology of education and development anthropology, Latin American Pentecostalism, Central American history and culture, and grassroots community development. Dr. Huff has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in El Salvador. Current interests include the formation of faith-based, community development organizations in US and Central America.

Other Nominations for Faculty of the Year included:

Susan K. Berkompas, B.F.A/M.F.A in Acting and Director, Professor of Theatre Arts

Dr. Thomas J. Carmody, Ph.D  Chair of Communication Department, Professor of Communications Studies

Dr. Terry A. Zeigler, EdD, ATC, Professor, Kinesiology Department, Athletic Training Education Program Director, Clinical Instructor Educator, Approved Clinical Educator

Staff of the Year Award Winner

Jason Fletcher is originally from Ontario, CA and graduated from Vanguard University in May of 2008 with a B.A. in History & Political Science. As a student at Vanguard, he served as a leader in the Frontline Ministry, one year as a Huntington Hall Resident Assistant (RA), worked as a telecounselor and Intern in the Admissions Office, and worked at MIKA CDC (Community Development Corporation) in Costa Mesa as a dance teacher and Assistant Art Director. He also enjoys serving as a youth leader for a group of 7th and 8th grade guys at St. Peter’s Church in Huntington Beach. In his free time he loves to hang out with his closest friends, eat at Chipotle, mentor high school kids, teach hip-hop, and go white water rafting.

Other Nominations for Staff of the Year included:

Derek Densberger, Chief Information Officer

Tim Young, Director of Residence Life

Diana Wahlstedt, Administrative Assistance, Depart of Religion

For more information about Vanguard University go to vanguard.edu or call 714-556-3610.

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The shift was predicated by urbanization.  In the agricultural society of the the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, people lived and worked together in community.  They lived together and interacted the span of their whole lives.  By the early twentieth century, however, more than one third of the population lived in cities.  Americans found themselves working no longer with neighbors but with strangers.  Susan Cain writes, “‘Citizens’ morphed into ‘employees,’ facing the question of how to make a good impression on people to whom they had no civic or family ties.”

Cain notes the attributes of a Culture of Character: Citizenship, Duty, Work, Golden Deeds, Honor, Reputation, Morals, Manners, Integrity

The attributes A Culture of Personality: Magnetic, Fascinating, Stunning, Attractive, Glowing, Dominant, Forceful, Energetic

What is it that turns a group of people from different backgrounds that come from different places into a real community? At Vanguard, we call it our relational culture. Built into the fabric of our interactions at Vanguard is a culture that causes us to go beyond the normal definition of community, reaching out and connecting with each other. Vanguard is committed to fostering a Culture of Character, in the classroom, on the athletic field, on the stage, and in the living spaces of our students.

Truth, Virtue, and Service are the values of Vanguard University. Proclaimed by founders Harold and Hulda Needham, these values are pursued in all we do at Vanguard University. Professors who serve as mentors seek to form students in the image of Christ, who is Truth.

The Champions of Character program is at the center of athletics at Vanguard University. Student athletes are coached both in athletic skill and character formation, living into the virtures of integrity and honor in all relationships. Vanguard University athletics has received multiple Champions of Character awards for its commitment to the whole formation of student athletes, both on and off the athletic playing field.

In a world of personality and its pressure to manage what strangers think of us, Vanguard University remains a community committed to a relational culture. This is where the next generation of leaders, formed in the likeness of Christ, pursue an education in order to serve and further His Kingdom.

I want to let you know that my father, Cliff, passed away peacefully Monday, April 2, 2012 at 10:30am. My mother, Betty, and I were with him along with my father’s very dear friend Marlin. Dad began failing last week and Saturday evening we took him to the emergency room at St. Jude Hospital for assistance with his breathing. Sunday morning Dad was moved to a hospice room and all afternoon and evening friends came by to say farewell. While my father was no longer conscious, his room was filled with singing and stories of how he had touched so many lives. Somehow it seems fitting that his home going is this Holy Week. My father has been eager for heaven for several months and now is safely home.

My mother and I want to thank you for your many prayers and words of encouragement this year as my father finished his life here. My father was a man of prayer and deep faith, and he prayed every day for Vanguard University.

Dad’s memorial service will be Saturday, April 14th at Eastside Christian Church in Fullerton at 11:00am. Eastside is located at 2505 Yorba Linda Blvd between State College and the 57 freeway in Fullerton, California. In lieu of flowers, my parents’ wish is for charitable contributions to either Vanguard University or Eastside Christian Church.

Thank you again for you many prayers and encouragement.

Dr. Carol Taylor
President

UPDATE April 9, 2012
If you were the recipient of an inlaid wooden cross made by Cliff Taylor, the family would like to request that you please bring that cross with you to the memorial service on Saturday.

Evangelical-Pentecostal scholars continue to produce fruitful work for the benefit of Christ’s church. Such advances will help contribute both toward a Reformation among Charismatics and for a renewed pneumatology among evangelicals and their ecclesiology.

One notable example of this work is Gary Tyra’s worthwhile book, The Holy Spirit in Mission: Prophetic Speech and Action in Christian Witness (InterVarsity Press, 2011). J.P. Moreland sets the context for understanding the significance of this book when he writes:

Outside of the West, the church is exploding in rapid growth and influence, and leading experts tell us that much of it is due to supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. What has been needed is a biblically and theologically savvy defense of this role of the Spirit in the church’s mission. Tyra’s excellent book more than adequately fills that need. His treatment of the importance of the prophetic is alone worth the price of the book.

Recently, Joe Gorra interviewed Gary Tyra about the book and its implications for our theology and practices. Below is Part One of that interview. Currently, Gary is Associate Professor of Biblical and Practical Theology at Southern California’s Vanguard University. Along with his scholarship and writing, Gary has extensive pastoral leadership experience, and great love to see people grow into all that God has called them to be.

PART ONE

You dedicate your book to the renowned Russell P. Spittler, who you rightly describe as “a consummate evangelical-Pentecostal scholar and statesman whose example, counsel and friendship have meant a great deal to me over the years.” As a self-identified evangelical-Pentecostal scholar, can you share a little about your own journey, especially with regard to your own work, and how Russell has influenced you?

I became a Christ follower as a young adult (19-years-old) while a pre-med student in college. Since my conversion to Christ took place within a Pentecostal/charismatic ecclesial setting, my first worship, nurture, community and mission experiences occurred in an environment where the folks simply took for granted the need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit for life and ministry over and over again throughout one’s spiritual journey.

Within a year of my conversion I found myself involved in full-time Christian ministry. Once I responded to the call to transition from medicine to ministry, I began the pursuit of a formal biblical, theological ministry education. Eventually I was exposed to the broader evangelical movement, earning my graduate and post-graduate degrees at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

I emerged from my time at Fuller as an evangelical who nevertheless continues to embrace the best aspects of his Pentecostal/charismatic heritage due in no small part to the influence of fellow Fuller Pentecostals such as Russ Spittler and Mel Robeck. I consider both of these men to be consummate scholars who represent the Pentecostal-charismatic tradition well within the larger evangelical and ecumenical settings. As well, both have spent time with me over the years helping me better understand and negotiate the challenges involved in functioning as a pastor-scholar within an ecclesial tradition that, historically, hasn’t always emphasized the need for advanced theological degrees, much less a critical scholarship.

More of the Interview

A popular speaker and writer, Dr. Wood was elected chief executive officer of the church at the 52nd General Council in August 2007. As general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, USA, part of the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, he is a member of the denomination’s Executive Leadership Team and Executive Presbytery. The church has over 12,300 congregations in the United States with some 2.8 million members and adherents. The U.S. Assemblies of God is part of a larger World Assemblies of God fellowship with a membership of over 60 million.  Prior to his present position, Wood served the church as its general secretary for 14 years. He was assistant superintendent of the Southern California District Council of the Assemblies of God from 1988-1993. Dr. Wood pastored Newport-Mesa Church in Costa Mesa, California, for 17 years. Dr. Wood was elected to serve as chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship at its meeting in Lisbon, Portugal in May, 2008.  Wood has also taught as an adjunct faculty in the Religion Department at Vanguard University and currently serves as a Trustee Emeritus on the University’s Board of Trustees.

The son of missionary parents to China and Tibet, Wood holds a doctoral degree in pastoral theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a juris doctorate from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California. He did his undergraduate work at Evangel University (College) in Springfield, Missouri, and served the college in several capacities, including being director of spiritual life and student life from 1965- 71. He was ordained by the Southern Missouri District in 1967. Dr. Wood is author of a number of books including: A Psalm In Your Heart, Living Fully, The Successful Life, and a college text on the Book of Acts. Sermons by Dr. Wood may be heard at www.georgeowood.com.

For more information regarding all Commencement events, please visit the website at commencement.vanguard.edu.

Watch the LIVE WEBCAST of the Undergraduate Ceremony at vanguard.edu/live; tweet and follow tweets live from all events with #VUGrad