Eleven receive 2007 ISU Outstanding Student Achievement Awards

Eleven Idaho State University students are recipients of the 2007 Outstanding Student Achievement Awards, which are presented by the ISU Alumni Association and ISU Ambassadors.

Criteria for selection include a minimum 3.5 grade point average and above average dedication to academic and educational goals. Where appropriate, work experience and community service are also considered.

The 2007 Outstanding Student Achievement Award winners follow.

• Christian Batcheller will graduate in May with an MBA degree, accounting emphasis. In his three years at ISU, he has earned a cumulative 3.93 grade point average. He is active in student organizations, serving as president of ISU’s Eta Lambda chapter of the national business fraternity Beta Alpha Psi, and chairing ISU’s 2006 Governmental Accounting Seminar. While a student, Batcheller worked for the ISU athletic department in corporate sales and marketing and as the analyst for ISU football radiocasts. Last summer, he interned as an audit staff accountant at Deloitte & Touche in McLean, Va. He was married to his wife, Ashley, in 2003.

• Evan Frasure III will graduate in May with a PharmD degree and a 3.62 grade point average in five years at ISU. He has been accepted into a pharmacy residency program in North Carolina and hopes for a career in ambulatory care or academia. He and his partner recently placed in the top 10 among 87 teams in the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) National Clinical Skills Competition. Frasure has served internships in various community pharmacies, and has been active in numerous professional and student organizations including ASHP. He attended ISU on numerous academic scholarships. He is married to Gina Frasure. They have a 1-year old son, William.

• Deborah Gillard will graduate in August with an Associate of Science degree in nursing. In two terms covering seven years at ISU, she has a 3.77 grade point average, 3.88 in nursing, and has been on 10 Dean’s Lists. She graduated from ISU’s practical nursing program in 2004. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Gillard is president of her graduating associate’s degree registered-nursing (ADRN) class. Gillard has worked full time in nursing at several local care facilities while concurrently studying for her current degree. She volunteers with her church’s children’s activities and in raising funds to locate missing soldiers.

• Jeffrey J. Grieve will graduate in May with a BS degree in economic theory with a minor in political science. In four years at ISU, he has compiled a 3.95 grade point average, has been selected to the Dean’s List all seven semesters, and was selected for Phi Kappa Phi membership. He attended ISU on academic scholarships. Grieve has worked for the economics department for two years as an economics laboratory instructor and tutor, and is serving an internship with the City of Pocatello’s Planning and Development Services Department. His economics research received a first-place at ISU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium last spring.

• Edwin Guerra will graduate in May with a BS degree in civil engineering. He attended ISU four years on various academic scholarships, and he has compiled a 3.70 grade point average. For the past two years, he has conducted undergraduate research in base isolation devices under Habib Sadid, PhD. He is working as a Web developer assistant for ISU Web Communications. Guerra has been involved in extracurricular activities, serving as an officer in clubs ranging from the African Student Association, to the Visual Media Guild and the Idaho Beta Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society.

• Michael Lance will graduate in May with a BS degree in ecology. He attended ISU three years, was on the Dean’s List four semesters, and has a cumulative 3.76 grade point average. He previously attended the University of Idaho, where he was on three Dean’s Lists. He grew up near Inkom around the Portneuf River and there gained his love for the natural world. He has conducted research in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, helped initiate the ISU chapter of the American Fisheries Society, and works at ISU’s CW HOG program and Outdoor Adventure Center.

• Torey Portrie-Bethke will graduate in August with a PhD in counselor education and counseling. She attended ISU for five years, previously earning a master’s degree in counseling in 2004, and has a cumulative 3.99 grade point average. She is an active member of Chi Sigma Iota, the national honor society for counseling.While at ISU, Portrie-Bethke has provided professional counseling services and leadership in seven national, state and local organizations and made more than 20 professional presentations at the national, regional, state and local levels. She is married to Jerid Bethke and has two stepchildren.

• R. Tal Sampson will graduate in May with a BFA degree in art. In six years at ISU he has a 3.90 grade point average. He is a 40-year-old non-traditional student who owns and operates Tal’s Plumbing in Pocatello. He previously received a certificate of plumbing apprenticeship from the ISU College of Technology in 1990. He and his wife, Teresa, have three children.    His paintings have been shown in numerous exhibitions locally, including the solo “Natural Selection” scheduled for the Pond Student Union Building (PSUB) April 30-May 11. His oil painting of a Bengal tiger is on permanent exhibition in the PSUB.

• Kristal Searle will graduate in May with a BBA degree in accounting with a minor in computer information systems. In 4 1/2 years at ISU, she has achieved a 3.98 grade point average and attended on seven academic scholarships. She is a College of Business Fellow, ranked in the top 1 percent of the college’s students. She has been president and treasurer of ISU’s chapter of the Beta Alpha Psi, an honorary organization for financial-information students. Searle has completed three auditing internships and has nearly completed the experience requirement for certified public accountant licensure. She plans to study for the CPA exam, then start employment in an auditing practice in Boise.

• Melanie Astle Williams graduated in December 2006 with a BS degree in secondary education. In 15 months at ISU she had a cumulative 3.98 grade point average. She previously attended Utah State University, graduating magna cum laude in 1996 with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and political science. In 2005, she enrolled in ISU’s Fast-Track Teacher Education Program. Williams currently is a substitute teacher at Pocatello’s Highland High School. She and her husband, Brian, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, have five children. She is active in their activities, especially as a soccer coach and referee, and church youth leader.

• Angela Young will graduate in May with a BS degree in nursing. A non-traditional student and the mother of three children who grew up during the seven years she has attended ISU, Young has a cumulative 3.86 grade point average and has been on the Dean’s List every semester she studied nursing. She studied acute pediatric care at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. Her extensive community service includes a March humanitarian medical mission to Peru in which she helped construct a greenhouse. She aspires to work on a hospital medical/surgical floor, and intends to seek an advanced degree that would enable her to teach.