The Catamounts’ first game will be against No. 8 seed Samford at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Read the full story on the WCU athletics website.

A free video stream of each tournament game will be available at SoConSports.com, and Sunday’s championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Time Warner Cable in some markets.

Check out the WCU baseball webpage and the conference tournament site for updates.

Alessa Lennon, a graduating senior from Chapel Hill, and Aaron Marshall, a junior from Gastonia, are two of 32 students chosen from across the nation to receive scholarships from the Research and Education Foundation of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.

Lennon received the Edward Block Courage Society Scholarship to use in financing studies for her master’s degree. Marshall is recipient of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers’ Society Scholarship for his senior year at WCU. Both awards are for $2,300. Applicants for the scholarships are judged on academic performance and community service.

At the regional level, Lennon and two other students – Kyra Dodson, a junior from Stokes County, and Brandi Anders, an alumna of the athletic training program from Tuckasegee – were chosen to receive scholarships from the Mid Atlantic Athletic Trainers’ Association. Lennon is receiving the Larry C. Sutton Postgraduate Scholarship, Dodson is recipient of the Edward M. Block Undergraduate Scholarship, and Anders, who is attending graduate school at Marshall University, won the A.C. “Whitey” Gwynne Masters Scholarship. All three scholarships are worth $1,500 each.

WCU’s athletic training students and faculty received more good news recently when results were released from the national board exam. All 11 seniors who took the test passed it on their first attempt, marking the fourth consecutive year the program has achieved a 100 percent pass rate. The national pass rate is historically below 60 percent, said James Scifers, professor of athletic training and director of WCU’s School of Health Sciences. Two other athletic training seniors will be taking the exam in coming months.

Scifers said WCU’s program will be well represented at the upcoming MAATA Symposium, scheduled for May 17-19 in Greenville, S.C. Nine of the 12 students from the five-state MAATA area chosen to give platform presentations at the conference are from WCU. Another six WCU athletic training students were chosen to present posters at the conference, Scifers said.

For more information about WCU’s athletic training program, contact program director Jill Manners at manners@wcu.edu or 828-227-3509.

Bluegrass heavyweights The Boxcars will perform July 18 as part of WCU’s free summer concert series. The series runs Thursdays in June and July on WCU’s Central Plaza.

Western Carolina University will host its annual Summer Concert Series, presented by the A.K. Hinds University Center, every Thursday in June and July (excluding July 4).

The series features an eclectic variety of genres and is free to the public. Shows in the 2013 Summer Concert Series will begin at 7 p.m. at the stage in Central Plaza, by the fountain in the center of campus, and last 60-90 minutes. Audience members are welcome to bring blankets, chairs and snacks. The rain location is inside the University Center.

This year’s lineup is as follows:

• June 6, Floating Action – A blend of multiple styles of music including folk, blues and indie rock. Floating Action is the brainchild of Seth Kauffman, an outdoor enthusiast whose music reflects his passion.
• June 13, STEREOSPREAD – Electronic pop band from Asheville. With influences as diverse as Peter Gabriel and Ella Fitzgerald, the band combines multiple genres and styles of music.
• June 20, Big Nasty Jazz Band – A nostalgic jazz experience that brings back the music of the ’20s and ’30s. From Asheville, the band is a unique jazz experience that encourages listeners to get up and dance.
• 

  The Honeycutters will bring their brand of country music to Cullowhee on June 27 as part of the 2013 Summer Concert Series at Western Carolina University.

  June 27, The Honeycutters – An old-school country experience that’s best listened to live. The Honeycutters’ music is filled with emotion and honesty reminiscent of the country greats.

• July 11, Jamie Paul – A songwriter residing near Asheville who released his debut album, “Let It Mend,” in February. Paul’s influences include singer-songwriter Gillian Welch and band The War on Drugs.
• July 18, The Boxcars – Described as a “super group” and recipients of two consecutive International Bluegrass Music Association Instrumental Group of the Year awards. Masters of traditional bluegrass, the Boxcars released a new album, “It’s Just a Road,” in April.
• July 25, Kovacs and the Polar Bear – A culmination of rich harmonies, catchy hooks and Appalachian folk music. An indie rock band from Asheville, Kovacs and the Polar Bear has released two albums, “Second Sister” and “Loathsome Teeth.”

For more information, contact Lori Davis, assistant director for campus activities, at ledavis@wcu.edu or 828-227-3622.

The visits, expected to include stops across North Carolina and the Southeast, is a follow-up to the 2011 “Get Acquainted Tour,” which took Belcher and his wife, Susan, to some 15 municipalities over four months during his first year as chancellor.

“When we visited communities across the region and state in 2011, one thing we heard over and over again was that the ‘Get Acquainted Tour’ should not be a one-time thing,” said Marty Ramsey, director of alumni affairs. “Friends and alumni asked us to return to their communities and update them about what is going on at the university, and that is what we intend to do.”

The new series of visits will begin Thursday, June 27, with a reception for alumni and friends from Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties. The event will be held from 5:30 until 7 p.m. at Doyle’s Cedar Hill Restaurant in Murphy. It is sponsored by the Murphy Electric Power Board.

The second stop will be a reception for members of the Greater Asheville/Hendersonville communities Tuesday, July 9. The event will be held from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. at Highland Brewing Co. It is sponsored by WCU alumni Tim and Betsy Gillespie.

The tentative schedule includes future stops in the Raleigh/Triangle area, Greater Charlotte, the Greensboro/Triad area, Greater Atlanta, Tampa and Orlando, Sylva, Cherokee, South Carolina, Hickory, Knoxville and Nashville, and Southern Pines.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Cindi Magill in the Office of Alumni Affairs toll-free at 877-440-9990 or via email at magill@wcu.edu. RSVP deadlines are Thursday, June 20, for the Murphy event and Tuesday, July 2, for the Greater Asheville/Hendersonville event.

The board also will hold committee meetings and discussions beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 6.

Read the full story in the new spring 2013 issue of The Magazine of Western Carolina University.

WCU students, faculty and alumni work together to create a video of vignettes demonstrating positive psychotherapy techniques.

An hour-long video created by Western Carolina University students, faculty and alumni titled “Positive Psychotherapy: Helping People Thrive” was recently released by Alexander Street Press.

Filmed in December, the video features vignettes of mock individual counseling sessions that illustrate practical applications of positive psychotherapy strategies. Topics covered include forgiveness, integration of flow in counseling, optimism, meaning through adversity, happiness as a work ethic, savoring or appreciating the small things, strength-based supervision and “satisficing,” which is a decision-making strategy that combines the words “satisfy” and “suffice.”

Leading the video’s mock sessions and providing commentary are Russ Curtis, WCU associate professor of counseling and coordinator of the clinical mental health program, and Katie Goetz, a WCU alumna and the lead recovery coordinator of the Recovery Education Center with Meridian Behavioral Health in Waynesville.

The project originated when a representative from Alexander Street Press contacted Curtis after viewing a video he had developed previously to accompany a textbook. The media company partnered with him and Goetz, a professional counselor and clinical addiction specialist, to create the positive psychotherapy training video.

Goetz said people naturally gravitate toward many positive psychotherapy skills but that putting them into practice takes intentionality.

“When supporting someone in working on these skills, you get to help them find ways to practice things that are already meaningful to them,” she said.

The video was directed, filmed and edited by students, faculty and alumni of WCU’s Motion Picture and Television Production Program. Arledge Armenaki, WCU associate professor of cinematography, served as the director.

Curtis said seeing the project come together has been exciting.

“It is extremely fulfilling to collaborate with such talented students, alumni, faculty and colleagues from other WCU disciplines to produce a product that could potentially help many people,” said Curtis.

For more information, visit the Alexander Street Press microtraining website at www.emicrotraining.com or contact Curtis at 828-227-3283 or curtis@wcu.edu.

Read the full story.

An image of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s LeConte Lodge by Thompson Brothers Commercial Photographers is among images from the park’s archives available through a new Western Carolina University digital collection of historic Appalachian photographs.

Western Carolina University joined forces with Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the latest addition to its digital collections, housed at Hunter Library.

“Picturing Appalachia” is a collection of more than 1,000 early 20^th-century photographs that provides a glimpse into the life, culture and natural landscape of the Southern Appalachian mountains in and around Western North Carolina.

The collection includes images by popular Great Smoky Mountains National Park photographer James E. Thompson, whose work is housed at park headquarters in Sugarlands, Tenn. A memorandum of understanding between the university and the park allowed Hunter Library to digitize the historic photographs.

“It just makes them a lot more accessible to people around the world,” said John McDade, museum curator at the park. Not only can people access the images more easily, but it also protects the images from handling, McDade said.

Thompson and his brother, Robin (whose work also is in the new collection), ran the Thompson Brothers Commercial Photography business in Knoxville, Tenn., making images for park supporters and various other regional tourism and business interests.

This image of a Carolina lily by Bertram Whittier Wells (1884-1978) is from WCU special collections and now available online as part of Hunter Library’s new digital collection of historic Appalachian photographs.

WCU staff also selected groups of pictures from Hunter Library’s own special collections, including work by George Masa, who photographed and documented the Mount Mitchell Motor Road, giving tourists a glimpse of America’s highest peak east of the Mississippi. Masa is well known for working with Horace Kephart, an authority on the cultural and natural history of the region, to build support for establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The collection also comprises the work of other, lesser-known photographers, including A.L. Ensley, a Jackson County farmer who photographed families in formal portraits at his home studio.

“It is these pictures – along with the growth of the railroad and the publication of various travel brochures – that have made Western North Carolina a popular travel destination,” said Anna Fariello, associate research professor at Hunter Library who coordinates digital archiving efforts.

Users can search “Picturing Appalachia” by photographer, source institution or by topic, which includes botanicals, cities and towns, portraits, industry, landscapes, transportation, and travel and tourism. Descriptions included in each entry include biographical information about the photographer and other facts.

Images from other photographers, including R.A. Romanes, who documented communities and towns in WNC and counties in north Georgia and east Tennessee, are planned for addition. To complete the collection, the library’s digital production team also will scan and upload a number of 19^th-century travel brochures.

Functioning as an open-access database and interactive, educational Web-based resource, the images are part of a growing online archive resulting from the library’s digital initiatives program. “Picturing Appalachia” takes its place along with the library’s other digital collections, including ones for the craft revival, Cherokee traditions and Kephart, as well as the sound collection “Stories of Mountain Folk,” all of which can be accessed from www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/.

The digital collection has grown in large part through partnerships with entities including the WCU Mountain Heritage Center, John C. Campbell Folk School, Southern Highland Craft Guild, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual and the N.C. Office of Archives and History.

“As a regional public institution and through collaboration with cultural partners, Hunter Library is committed to building regionally oriented, historically significant digital collections of broad research interest,” said Dana Sally, dean of library services.

The “Picturing Appalachia” project was made possible through an award of $71,574 from the State Library of North Carolina. The university and Great Smoky Mountains National Park will partner again for Hunter Library’s next digital collection, which will focus on the park’s history, Fariello said.

For more information, contact Fariello at 828-227-2499 or fariello@wcu.edu.

The Catamounts create their dogpile after clinching the conference regular-season championship.

Western Carolina swept both ends of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader on Senior Day at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium, blanking Wofford 3-0 in game one before holding off the Terriers 10-7 in the nightcap to complete the series sweep and wrap up the 2013 Southern Conference Regular Season Championship.

Read the full story.