NOVEMBER 2012 l 1

This year’s Western Conference of the Association of Asian Studies (WCAAS) was unique in at least two ways: it was held in West Yellowstone, Montana, and it was hosted by BYU-Idaho.

“Generally, BYU-Idaho doesn’t host conferences, but the WCAAS board members were so impressed with our students at a previous conference that they asked us to host this year,” said Michael Paul, an instructor in the Department of Languages and International Studies who primarily organized the October 11-13 event. “This was a way for BYU-Idaho to engage in the greater academic community.”

Paul was joined by Jeremy Lamoreaux, an instructor in the Department of History, Geography, and Political Science, and Michael Allen, a BYU-Idaho student majoring in psychology, in organizing this year’s WCAAS, which was also the fiftieth anniversary of the conference. Two years

of extensive planning and preparation went into the event to create panels and to organize transportation, food, and entertainment for the 100-plus attendees.

“Having a background in Chinese studies, graphic design, and event management, I felt I could be of use to the organization,” Allen said. “The result has been one of the most beneficial projects of my college career.”

Faculty from across the university presented research and chaired discussion panels at the conference. Areas represented included the Departments of Communication, Teacher Education, Religious Education, Business Management, Languages and International Studies, and History, Geography, and Political Science, as well as the David O. McKay Library.

“Even though I haven’t been to China, I help teach the Foundations course

about China on campus,” said Brian Kinghorn, an instructor in the BYU-Idaho Department of Religious Education. “I talked about how teachers need to have a willingness to learn something new to teach their students.”

The students and professors who participated in the conference gathered not only from across the western United States, but also countries such as Turkey, Japan, and China. WCAAS participants discussed the frontiers of language, culture, and politics of Asia.

“It was a fantastic array of people to make it a great event,” Lamoreaux said. “It also helped that the conference topics and presenters were so diverse.”

“It was a good opportunity for students to learn how to organize a conference and get an eye-opening experience to see how graduate school works,” said Lei Shen, an

EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2012

continued on page 5

[This conference] is well-organized. It makes me want to learn more about BYU-Idaho.THEODORE C. BESTOR, DIRECTOR OF REISHAUER INSTITUTE OF JAPANESE STUDIES AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Celebrating 50 Years of Exploring Frontiers BYU-IDAHO HOSTS THE WESTERN CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF

ASIAN STUDIES IN WEST YELLOWSTONE

» By Abby Stevens

2 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES

University News Briefs

Math Department adds Statistics minor» By Spencer Allen

The Department of Mathematics is now offering Statistics as a minor. Instructors in the department are convinced this new addition will better prepare students for graduate school, the work place, or both.

“With everything going on in the world and statistics often quoted, it’s better to be informed. If we can teach our students and help them become more critical thinkers—even if they don’t further their studies in statistics, just understanding how to interpret stats—that will be a great achievement for us,” said Bonnie Moon, instructor in the department.

To meet the requirements needed to offer the minor, the department added four statistically-based classes. The additional courses include Intermediate Statistics, Experimental Methods, Bayesian Statistics, and Applied Linear Regression.

Incorporating these classes isn’t the only thing the department has done to help students improve their understanding of statistics. The department recently supplemented SPSS, an older computer program, with a powerful statistics package called “R.” One of the great benefits of “R” is not only that it was free, but also that it applies students’ understanding of statistics with real-world applications. The exposure gained from this program will ease the transition to the job market or grad school.

To date, seven students have enrolled in the minor. That number is expected to grow as the minor continues to gain exposure among other departments.

Health Center medical director honored» By Abby Stevens

Serving as a teacher and instructor to graduate students from Salus University, Dr. Andrew Bradbury, medical director of the BYU-Idaho Student Health Center, received the Preceptor of the Year award for the state of Idaho for “outstanding dedication and commitment to the training and education of the Physician Assistant Class of 2012” on October 4.

“I’m really touched by it because I love teaching and precepting,” Dr. Bradbury said.

A preceptor is a medical expert who serves as an instructor and helps students gain experience.

Dr. Bradbury served as preceptor for four students from Salus University. BYU-Idaho receives precepting students from Salus University’s PA program, and in return, Salus University reserves four to six slots for BYU-Idaho students in its graduate program.

Dr. Bradbury’s Preceptor of the Year Award also speaks well of the BYU-Idaho Student Health Center.

“The award reflects more on the Student Health Center than on me,” Dr. Bradbury said. “It is in line with what we do at the Health Center, which is provide high quality medicine and health care, as well as teaching opportunities.”

Former testing center renovated» By Abby Stevens

After relocating the testing center to the renovated Manwaring Center, the space used for the former testing center in the John L. Clarke Building has a new purpose in the works. The Department of Home and Family will use a portion of the space for a multipurpose learning lab. Part of the remodel will serve as a place parents can bring in their infants for student observation and learning.

This will be the first time BYU-Idaho students will have the opportunity to observe infants. “It provides students with another age-range they can observe,” said department chair Scott Gardner. “Rather than just having book knowledge, the students will also have hands-on experience.”

In infant labs, students will gain practical experience in working with parents and their infant child. “In a sense the infant sessions will serve as ‘parent education,’” said instructor Mike Godfrey.

The infant labs will have small groups of infants and their parents so students can observe infant development first-hand.

The addition of first-hand infant study will better prepare and educated BYU-Idaho students. “It’s been a deficiency in our program because we haven’t had anything with very young children,” Godfrey said. “This will round-out the student curriculum nicely.”

Diane Soelberg has been invited to serve as the new chair of the Department of Music. The assignment takes effect January 1, 2013. In announcing the new appointment, academic vice president Fenton Broadhead expressed his appreciation to the departing chairperson, Kevin Call, for the service he has given to the department and the university.

New chair named for Department of Music

NOVEMBER 2012 l 3

Last semester, students in the Department of Architecture and Construction stayed later than usual in the Austin Building doing work outside of their normally scheduled class assignments. In groups they have deliberated, brainstormed, and created. The reason for this sleep-depriving work? Experience.

BYU-Idaho construction management (CM) students compete twice a year in two regional competitions. During the fall semester they compete at BYU in Provo; then during the winter semester in Reno, NV. Each competition is to improve skills as well as show competition sponsors, and actual construction companies, their skills and abilities.

“Many students walk away with jobs and internships based upon their performance at these competitions,” says Shawn Jensen, a faculty member in the Department of Architecture and Construction.

During Winter Semester 2012, BYU-Idaho took first place at the regional competition in Reno and several companies started to take notice. One of these companies was Parkway Construction, located in Dallas.

“After seeing what our students could do at the regional competition they wanted to give them even more experience so they could compete at a higher level at the competitions, and hopefully find student they could offer internships or jobs to,” Jensen says.

Parkway approached the CM faculty with the idea of offering a mini, in-house, competition just for BYU-Idaho students and the faculty jumped at the opportunity.

The plan of the project was to have Parkway act as a customer while students split up into seven teams and made their own fictional CM companies. Parkway

would send over the specs of a project they wanted built, and each team would give their bid to the project in three phases. Once all bids were in, Parkway would come personally to judge the results.

The competition provided a unique and challenging opportunity for students, “This is one of the hardest projects I’ve worked on in any of my classes, and this is all extra credit,” said Helio Montero, a junior studying CM, “but it was well worth it.” The competition also fostered opportunities for student to work with faculty as peers rather than a teacher to student relationship.

In phase one, each team or “company” was asked to make a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ). SOQs are comprised of history of the company, past projects, brief of team members qualifications, and letters of recommendations. A special request was made by Parkway for each team member to include his or her personal resume in the SOQs as well.

Students only had a week before the SOQs were due. The companies were able to breathe for a day before the four email project proposal was sent over. The plans were for a 1970s style Mexican restaurant looking as if it had been added onto over the years. Work began immediately on proposals which included timelines with specific dates each phase would start and

end, budget of at least 200 items ranging from wood singles to plumbing tubes, detailed design and blue prints of each phase, and a building information model (BIM); a 3-D digital image of the finished building.

The third phase occurred one short week after the proposals were due. The “companies” waited for Parkway to arrive and judge the results. The red carpet was laid out for Parkway. After they arrived and had a good night’s rest, Thursday was spent meeting with faculty, getting a tour of campus, eating lunch, and judging each team’s proposals.

At the award ceremony Thursday night, Parkway awarded the winner of the competitions with breakfast the next morning. But breakfast dwarfed in comparison to the experience received from the competition, the opportunity to eat with professionals, and have an informal interview.

This opportunity provided students to learn the trade and grow their skills and resumes. “I’ve never had this type of experience before,” said Tommy Steinkuhler, a senior studying CM.

“This has helped me immensely in my understanding of the flow of work and coordinating people.”

The competition proved successful. “We hope this will be an on going project for students, that this will become part of our curriculum and Parkway will continue to want to come and help us with it,” says Jensen. When Parkway was asked why they took time in the first place to come out of a busy building season to put this whole competition on, visit a small city in Idaho, and to a relatively small university, they replied, “The spirit of giving back.”

Department Spotlight: Construction Management» By Ben Burke

2/3 Wide Photo with Caption

BYU-Idaho construction management students compete twice a year in two regional competitions.

4 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES

Each semester, BYU-Idaho provides opportunities for members of the faculty to take professional development leave to sharpen skills, revamp courses, and refocus their teaching efforts. Here is what some of our colleagues are doing this semester.

Mark BennionFor many students in the English

Department, writing for publication and presenting literary works are two important goals. To help students achieve these desires, Bennion will forge paths for students to better understand publication avenues, plan ways for students to present their work at conferences, study literature, develop teaching ideas and tools, and create a collection of poetry.

Tom RaneTo aid students in their pursuit of

specialized degrees, Rane will meet with representatives at other universities to develop opportunities for BYU-Idaho students to take concurrent classes on our campus that will earn advanced credit at other universities, study prerequisite

courses for graduate courses to determine better preparation for our students, and research needed courses for students within the College of Education and Human Development.

Reed NielsenTeaching two classes in BYU’s

Construction Management program, Nielsen will spend this fellowship learning new teaching methods and new materials.

Dana JohnsonWith almost 300 students enrolled

online and on campus in Education 200: Philosophy and History of Education, Johnson will be using this semester to write a new textbook that will be free to students. Johnson will also be updating the online sections to align with the new text.

Aaron MillerPursing a Doctorate of Music degree

at Northwestern University, Miller will spend the next two years studying double bass performance. His experience

will not only create more depth and a higher quality of education for students, but he will also network with many educators from different universities and professionals in the music industry. This will provide a greater network for BYU-Idaho students wanting to further their education beyond their bachelor’s degree.

David PigottTeaching two courses in Uganda at

Muteesa I Royal University, Pigott is helping the Kingdom of Buganda to preserve the people’s oral history and changes in culture that come from the influence of western cultural.

Equipped with donated flash drives, books, digital audio recorders, and other supplies, Pigott is helping faculty there to break the norm of lecture, quiz, and test-based classes. The goal is to assist them in changing to a more research and experiential learning mode of instruction.

Steve StewartStewart will spend his fellowship

translating a book containing 102 micro-

Faculty Fellowships for Fall Semester

Faculty modern morality play puts a twist on classic stories » By Abby Stevens

“Wake up now.” “Sleep in a little.” “Yield for this pedestrian.” “Make that girl wait on the curb for 30 more seconds.” “Hold open the door for this man.” “He can open the door himself.”

We each face multiple choices every day. Some clearly for good or evil, and some that fall into a grey area. Addressing the dual nature of humans, J. Omar Hansen, an instructor in the Department of Theatre wrote a modern morality play called Bielzy and Gottfried that presents common moral dilemmas.

Bielzy and Gottfried is five plays in one. It is presented by Bielzy and Gottfried, two characters who represent evil and good, or the dual nature of life. “Each play present a dilemma, or a problem that human beings, and especially religious human beings, deal with,” Hansen said. Hansen did not write the five plays together.

He wrote one of the five plays 25 years ago as a new teacher, and he wrote two more as separate works. “I love medieval plays, and I wondered what a modern one would look like, Hansen said. “Over a period of time I started to think, ‘what if these plays presented the dual nature of life?’”

Bielzy and Gottfried includes themes that members of the Church are familiar with, but with a different take on them. “There are a lot of Mormon themes in this play. It’s Mormon in its theology, but Omar [Hansen] does things other members wouldn’t think about, like making parallels between Adam and Eve and Pandora and Prometheus,” said Jacob Chapman, who played two characters in the play. “It’s a cool blend of Mormonism and mythology.”

The Bielzy and Gottfried cast enjoyed producing Hansen’s work. “It’s not often that we do an original work by

our own faculty, and it’s also a modern morality play, which isn’t produced much nowadays,” said Justin Bates, director of Bielzy and Gottfried, and an instructor in the Department of Theatre. “It’s a unique opportunity for our students.”

The students involved in Bielzy and Gottfried are able to talk with Hansen to understand the play better. “It’s intriguing to have the faculty as a playwright on campus and to be able to ask him questions like why he wrote that line the way he did,” said David Martinez, who portrayed Bielzy in the production.

The play showed in the Snow Black Box Theatre October 24-27, and October 30-November 3. It was the first time Bielzy and Gottfried was officially put into production. “It’s fabulous because it’s the first time this production has had life breathed into it,” Martinez said. “It’s been hashed and rehashed, and now it’s like a baby walking for the first time.”

continued on page 5

NOVEMBER 2012 l 5

50 Years of Exploring Frontiers: Continued from page 1

instructor in the BYU-Idaho Department of Languages and International Studies.

The keynote speaker was Theodore C. Bestor, President of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. He was impressed with BYU-Idaho’s ability to organize this year’s WCAAS event.

“[This conference] is well-organized. It makes me want to learn more about BYU-Idaho,” Bestor said. He added that the conference had a very friendly

and intimate feel to it. During his year as President of the AAS, he visited half a dozen regional conferences, and he said, “This was the smallest, but also the most interesting in terms of the range of participants, including many highly motivated undergraduates.”

In addition to its 24 different panels, WCAAS also featured a dog sled kennel tour, live music entertainment from a Chinese-influenced folk group called “Matteo,” and a Yellowstone tour provided by BYU-Idaho students.

“I was presented the opportunity to explain both the ecology and geography of Yellowstone, and how people and animals have affected the landscape to the guests in my van,” said Camron Sego, a BYU-Idaho student majoring in wildlife biology who guided one of the Yellowstone tours. “It placed me in a great learning environment where I could get some great academic advice from them. It was a very positive experience for me.”

WCAAS guests were impressed by how efficiently and professionally BYU-Idaho hosted the conference.

“The logistics of holding a conference with well over 100 presenters away from [the BYU-Idaho] campus with a two hour drive from the airport alone must have been a nightmare, not to mention overseeing all aspects of the conference and meeting the needs of the attendees,” said Aki Hirota, professor emerita of modern and classical languages and literatures at California State University. “And yet, the conference was carried out smoothly, thanks to the intelligent and hard work of the organizers.”

The guests were also impressed with how well the BYU-Idaho students in attendance presented themselves. “We had four students present and they did a wonderful job. They represented themselves and BYU-Idaho so well,” Kinghorn said. “Other professors were blown away and said, ‘these guys are undergrads?’”

Organizers and presenters at WCAAS (from left to right): Jeremy Lamoreaux, Victoria Bestor, Lei Shen, Ted Bestor, Michael Paul, and Michael Allen.

fiction horror stories. These stories were written by Peruvian writer Frenando Iwasaki who now lives and Spain, and while they do scare, they are intended to be instructive as they draw from history, mythology, and other literary works.

Having help from current students to translate and edit, Stewart will use these stories in his creative writing and literary classes. Once finished, he plans to share them as part of the English Department’s faculty reading series.

Julie WillisWillis is researching how the geometry

of a subducting tectonic plate affects

faulting, folding, and petroleum source potential in Earth’s overriding crust. Her current studies focus in Alaska, on the Susitna River Basin, where she has spent past summers researching. During this fellowship she plans to write and submit her findings to a peer-reviewed journal.

She also will attend workshops and conferences about current research in active tectonics.

Shawn JohansenRecently awarded a Fulbright grant

to teach American history in China, Johansen and his family will spend the

next five months learning Mandarin and Chinese culture.

Johansen will teach undergraduate and graduate classes in American history and the U.S. Constitution at South China Normal University, in Guangzhou.

He will use this experience to better learn how to teach the American Foundations course to foreign students with hopes of offering periodic American Foundation 101 courses specifically geared to international students.

Faculty Fellowships: Continued from page 4

6 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES

Since its transition from Ricks College in June 2000, BYU-Idaho has steadily seen an increase in student enrollment. This past fall was no different. Compared to Fall Semester 2011, this fall the student body population jumped 12 percent. To ease the transition for incoming students at BYU-Idaho and help the university’s ability to help each individual, the Student Support programs have increased in activity.

Included within Student Support is the Student Representative Council (SRC), Get Connected, I-Night, Student Ambassadors, Student Associations, Involvement Council, and “Ask BYUI”. Each plays a specific role in helping students make the most of their time at BYU-Idaho. Although all have enjoyed growth over the past few years, one program stands alone with year-over-year productivity.

“Last year was a landmark year for ‘Ask BYUI’,” said Allen Jones, Director of Student Support. “We helped over 110,000 individuals by either answering their questions or by pointing them in the right direction. That momentum has carried on to this semester. During the beginning of the fall semester we were helping over 4,000 people a week and have already surpassed last year’s total contacts.”

Jones attributes the spike in numbers to students becoming more familiar with “Ask BYUI” and the wide range of its availability. The services can be reached by instant message chat, phone, email, or in person at the Ask BYUI information desks in the Manwaring Center and Kimball Building. “Having ‘Ask BYUI’ on every page on the school’s website also has played a key role,” said Jones. With the recent facelift to the university’s website, a link to “Ask BYUI” live chat was embedded in the top right corner of every web page.

Student Support originated in 1999 as New Student Orientation. It was primarily focused on helping freshmen and transfer students prepare and become more familiar with Ricks College. With many changes happening at BYU-Idaho in the near future, Student Support and its “Ask BYUI” service will be ready for any change.

Ask BYUI is a service provided to help prospective and current BYU-Idaho students receive answers about the university.

Current faculty openings

The university currently has openings for full-time and temporary faculty in the following academic departments:

Applied Plant Science

Art

Automotive

Biology

Business Management

Chemistry

Civil Engineering

Communication (Visual Media)

Construction Management

Economics

Electrical Engineering

English

Food Science

Geology

Health Sciences

History

Home and Family

Languages & International Studies (German and Chinese)

Mathematics

Mechanical Engineering

Nursing

Physics

Political Science

Psychology

Recreation Management

Teacher Education

Veterinary Technician

Welding

View job descriptions at www.byui.edu/employment. Applications accepted until December 2, 2012. Please refer qualified applicants. Contact Peggy Clements at Ext. 1140 for more information.

Last year...we helped over 110,000 individuals by either answering their questions or by pointing them in the right direction. ALLEN JONES, DIRECTOR OF STUDENT SUPPORT

“Ask BYU-I” reaches new heights EASING THE TRANSITION TO BYU-IDAHO FOR STUDENTS

» By Spencer Allen

NOVEMBER 2012 l 7

The rooster crows and the dogs bark as the golden sunlight rises over the buildings. The temperature outside is already warm enough to make you perspire. Along the dirt streets cars, buses, and bikes take over as people try to get to their destinations.

On one of these streets in Mexico a sports clothing store opens up for business. Citlali Luna, and her sister and husband, started their sports store to make a living for their family.

“We are seeing a real demand for people that want to start a business but they either need training on how to get started or they need a certificate to demonstrate their new knowledge,” says Jason Scott Earl, a faculty member in the Department of Business Management and instructor of the entrepreneurship classes.

The question was, then, how do we get classes to these students domestically as well as internationally? Enter the Pathway Program.

Pathway is a program allowing individuals an opportunity for higher education, without requiring them to come to campus. Enrolled students participate in the classes through online course work during the semester but they also meet together once a week with other Pathway students and full-time senior missionaries in their area. This community

provides a learning environment, which not only motivates, but also encourages students to work hard in their classes and gives them a sense of accountability. “I can find people who are prepared, and have the spirit, and that helps me stick with the program, be motivated and have faith in the program and in the Lord,” Citali says of her experience.

Opening more locations each semester, 14 online degrees are currently being offered. Starting this fall the business management degree is available.

“In order to help our Pathway students to stay motivated, meet their needs, and help them get their degrees, we offer ‘off ramps’ along the way,” says Rob Eaton, associate academic vice president of academic development.

One of these “off ramp” stepping-stones on their way to a degree, is a certificate. Many people starting businesses around the world simply want the entrepreneurship certificate to get them started. This certificate, however, is just one of five offered within Pathway.

“The entrepreneurship courses are exactly what students need if they are going to start a business,” says Earl. The classes, however, use case studies, which is one aspect of spontaneity in the course that Earl didn’t want to lose. But having all students from all around the world, meet

at a specific time each week wasn’t feasible. Therefore help was sought from Brigham Taylor, a course and curriculum designer in Curriculum Development.

Seeing the problem of getting students to engage spontaneously, Taylor went to work to find a video conferencing tool which would allow students to interact with their classmates despite the distance and time barrier.

Taylor found YouSeeU, a company closely mimicking the format needed but it didn’t have all the requirements.

“I loved their tool and what they were doing but they didn’t have exactly what we wanted so I called them and told them what I was looking for,” Taylor said. “They were excited by our ideas and we started to work together to create a new version of their online conferencing specifically for case studies.”

At the end of June, Earl and Taylor traveled to Boston to participate at a Harvard forum where they were the presenters with other colleges in physical and remote attendance. “The reception was very good and many of the universities were excited about what we were doing,” said Taylor.

“It was interesting to attend Harvard and show our colleagues what’s new and how we can all help future students,” said Earl.

The main reason for the visits, the new technology, and the creation of new programs is all to encourage and empower students like Citlali and her sister.

Earl says, “This online opportunity and new technology is all a fulfillment of prophecy from President Clark when he said in his inaugural address, ‘In a day not far from now, we will be able to break down the barriers of time and space and connect our students on internships or between semesters to the university and to each other and create outstanding, interactive educational experiences.’”

Citlali Luna is a BYU-Idaho Pathway student from Mexico, where her family runs a sports clothing store.

2/3 Wide Photo with Caption

Pathway helps students fulfill entrepreneurial goals» By Ben Burke

8 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES

News & NotesA weekly publication of University Communications

A D V I S O R Marc Stevens

W R I T E R S Spencer Allen, Ben Burke, Abby Stevens

PHOTOGRAPHERS Michael Lewis, Doug McKay, Marcus Journey, Lana Strathearn

If you have any ideas for future issues, please e-mail newsdesk@byui.edu

University Communications215 Kimball Building • Rexburg, ID • 83460-1661 • Phone: (208) 496-2000

FOR SALE

Pine Trees. 8-10 feel tall Colorado Blue Spruce pine trees. 3 available. You dig. $30 each. Call Doug at 313-5329.

Apple Juice. Freshly pressed apple juice. $6/gallon. No preservatives. Freezes well. Pick up Saturday, December 8. Call 356-6425 or 520-6996 to place your order.

THANK YOU

Thank you to the administration of BYU-Idaho for the beautiful floral bouquet sent for the funeral of my mother, Geraldine (Gerry) Jacobs. She was a great woman who loved Ricks College and BYU-Idaho and the many good employees who have worked here over the years. She will be sorely missed, but her Christ-like example and cheery smile will be forever in the hearts of our family. It’s been such a blessing to have worked here for the past 23 years with such good people.

Kris and Rich Powell Activities Department

I would like to thank all the fine people at BYU-Idaho and the Information Technology Department for the lovely flower bouquet, the many condolences, and well wishes with the passing of Kathey’s mother. It is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Paul and Kathey LaFollette

Displaying the various stages on the path to a final art product, David Belka, chair of the Department of Art, will exhibit his work in the Jacob Spori Gallery now through December 14.

“The display has artwork that is designed around how you would teach art to middle or high school students,” Belka said.

Belka started working on this exhibit during his fellowship in the spring. Some of his pieces show how art instructors can teach and give students experience on a budget.

“I think a couple challenges that teachers in secondary education face in art are budget and doing a lot of things really well,” Belka said. “The idea is to show how to met these challenges.”

Belka enjoyed the time he had to sharpen his skills while working on his exhibit.

“It was fun to work on things I haven’t done in a while,” Belka said. “I like getting my hands dirty, focusing on my skills, and being able to create something.”

The process behind a finished piece» By Abby Stevens

With the world’s largest source of family trees and genealogy resources, FamilySearch has united individuals and families for over 100 years. Billions of names have been collected and can be accessed online or at any of their 4,500 family history centers worldwide. As the genealogy organization continues to adapt with the latest technology, they have turned to an unlikely bunch for help.

Two weeks ago, four students studying computer science and electrical engineering at BYU-Idaho were hired to further develop software for the genealogy guru. The students will work on side projects that FamilySearch would like to do but simply doesn’t have the resources in Utah.

“Not only is this great for employment but this allows these students a chance to apply the very things they’re learning in the classroom. It gives them incredible real-life experience,” said Richard

Grimmett, instructor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Students who are fluent in foreign languages are also been sought after. At the moment, FamilySearch needs help transcribing records from Spanish, Italian, German, Korean, and Chinese into English. Before records are opened to the public, the multilingual students will translate and upload their work in classified search engines for genealogy researchers.

As members of the Church continue to take pictures of family records throughout the world, the workload for the new hires of FamilySearch will continue to increase. The hope is to not only move the work of FamilySearch forward, but also invite individuals of all faiths to search and discover their families.

FamilySearch hires BYU-Idaho students» By Spencer Allen