Project Guardians: Delores Phillips and Diane Phoenix-Neal 

Units: African, African American, and Diaspora Studies (College of Arts and Letters) and Music (College of Visual and Performing Arts)

Innovation summary: The AAAD Lyceum is the unique artistic space on campus that will expose the JMU community to the artistic cultures of Africans, African Americans, and people from African-descended communities around the world like in the Caribbean and Brazil. Each semester, it will bring to campus acclaimed performers in music, theater and dance who will collaborate with creative writers, visual artists, and designers. These artists, writers, composers, and designers will share their knowledge in masterclasses and community lectures and performances, inspiring faculty and students to create new compositions and exhibitions that they will share with our entire community both on and off campus. 

Project Guardian: Daniel Robinson 

Unit: Adult Degree Program (School of Professional and Continuing Education)

Innovation summary: Adult Degree Program: Across Borders, Across Generations emphasizes and harnesses best practices in Adult and International Education to provide life-changing experiential learning to adult students. This program abroad is designed as an intergenerational experience for non-traditional and traditional students and is one of few available programs in the country that intentionally combines these two audiences of students. Supporting this program enables adult learners to experience the transformational and enriching effects of education abroad while contributing their own life experiences to the JMU community.

Project Guardian: Katrina Gobetz

Unit: Biology (College of Science and Mathematics)

Innovation summary: The JMU-patented Animal Monitoring Data Station (AMDS) is a successful, broad-reaching, and impactful educational device to monitor tiny, fragile animals - such as shrews in Virginia and Ireland - remotely and humanely. This is a proposal to "branch out" and redesign the monitoring station as a data-collecting Tree-MS "landing pad" for flying squirrels. Elusive and under-studied, our "night-shift" squirrels are of great public interest. Study of southern, and possibly the endangered northern, flying squirrel will involve K-12 educators, citizen scientists, JMU undergraduates, and researchers. Discovery of Edith J. Carrier Arboretum flying squirrels by JMU students in 2023-24 is the catalyst for a project that encompasses our campus, national parks, and highway corridors in a continuing mission to re-imagine animal studies with accessible remote technology. Getting up close and personal with the nocturnal flying squirrel, while collecting metadata without so much as a touch, can motivate scientific discovery to groups of nature-observers.

Project Guardian: Thomas Newman

Unit: Health Professions (College of Health and Behavioral Studies)

Innovation summary: The CORE Clinic is designed to elevate healthcare at James Madison University by providing students with access to essential services currently unavailable on campus. By establishing comprehensive, specialized healthcare support, the clinic aims to meet the growing needs of our student population and surrounding community. This initiative positions James Madison University as a leader in clinical care, specifically in the areas of concussion management, orthopedic evaluation, and rehabilitative services. Additionally, the CORE Clinic will prioritize a holistic approach to health by offering patients resources to improve their understanding and access to healthcare. Ultimately, this clinic will serve as a model for integrating high-quality, specialized care within a university setting, fostering fairness in health and academic resilience across the student body.

Project Guardian: Kristofor Wiley

Unit: Educational Foundations & Exceptionalities (College of Education)

Innovation summary: The Global Educators Forum will bring K-12 educators and administrators to JMU for a week of dialogue and field experiences designed to cross-fertilize best practices from around the globe. Curriculum will include professional development from COE faculty, collegial dialogue between teachers, and field observations in schools. Teachers at international partner sites are reliably eager to receive training on the student-centered practices that characterize a JMU teacher, and in return, JMU students and local educators will improve their ability to work in classrooms by interfacing directly with experts from abroad. It is common practice to send university students abroad to study; the professionals make an effort, in turn, to bring the world to campus so the benefits extend beyond the few who can pay the price.

Project Guardian: Javier Padilla

Unit: Dance (College of Visual and Performing Arts)

Innovation summary: Impact Space will revolutionize performance at JMU by blending cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality, motion capture, immersive projection mapping, and wearable tech into a dynamic, mobile laboratory. Hosted in the Studio Theatre, it will serve as a creative hub for artist residencies, student and faculty research focused on advancing the future of dance and theatre. This initiative will fuel faculty research, create new opportunities for guest artists, and significantly expand CVPA's and JMU's community presence. It's a bold step forward in integrating technology with live performance—one that promises to ignite innovation and inspire audiences.

Project Guardian: Mark Gabriele

Unit: Biology (College of Science and Mathematics)

Innovation summary: The MindWell Hub addresses an alarming rise in reports of imbalance in the lives of campus community members by helping individuals find their purpose and meaning, thereby deepening their sense of worth and belonging within the university and beyond. With evidence-based practices in mindfulness and meditation at its core, the Hub provides students, faculty, and staff with preventative tools proven to help restore balance through introspection and the cultivation of a flourishing inner state. MindWell strategies that introduce awareness practices and contemplative pedagogies early on, along with assessing their effectiveness, offer a proactive approach to addressing the current health care crisis, moving beyond just investing in counseling and support services after issues arise. Support for this initiative provides a fresh approach to JMU’s ongoing commitment to preparing enlightened citizens, equipping them with the skills and self-awareness needed to lead productive and meaningful lives. Project outcomes embody the principles of a health-promoting campus, aligning with the Okanagan Charter and JED Foundation initiatives that JMU has proudly adopted and strives to uphold, reinforcing its role as a leader in fostering campus community wellness.

Project Guardian: Brandon DeSantis, Marissa Manko, Erin Wilkinson

Unit: Athletics (Integrated Health and Sports Performance)

Innovation summary: Revolutionizing Recovery: JMU Athletics’ Aims to Power Student-Athlete Wellness with Data-Driven Technology is a next step in sports science bridging JMU's commitment to student development and athletic excellence by introducing holistic rehabilitation technology. While providing graduate students with hands-on sports performance analytics experience, we can optimize the return to play timeline, minimize injuries, and keep our best athletes in play. This initiative connects athletics with academics, creating a unique opportunity to enhance national relevance through consistent team success.

Project Guardian: Hui Chen          

Unit: Chemistry and Biochemistry (College of Science and Mathematics)

Innovation summary: Animal manure in the farm has become a big contributor for nutrient pollution in water systems due to the rich nutrients. This project will aim to work with the farms near JMU by converting nutrients (i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus) from poultry litter to valorized products (e.g., fertilizers) to achieve circular nutrient economy. Novel cellulose-based materials will be developed and added to poultry litter slurries to constantly release nitrogen and phosphorus from the slurries. Subsequently, with a modular and low-cost ion exchange system, nutrients will be extracted to a cleaner draw solution and precipitated out as struvite (a slow-release fertilizer). Meanwhile, the irrigation quality water will be generated after desalination of the draw solution for plant growth in the farm.

Project Guardian: Hui Zhao

Unit: Nursing (College of Health and Behavioral Studies)

Innovation summary:  Our team, in partnership with JMU’s Center for Global Engagement, seeks to establish an innovative Collaborative Online International Leaning (COIL) program between JMU and Prince of Songkla University in Thailand. This program will create a virtual reality-based online training module designed to equip nursing and pre-nursing students, as well as family caregivers, with the necessary skills to deliver compassionate and effective dementia care across cultural contexts. Using a cutting-edge virtual reality immersion platform to replicate real-world dementia care scenarios, participants will gain practical skills, intercultural understanding, and empathy. This project directly addresses disparities in access to and quality of dementia care across countries while aiming to create a sustainable module that improves education and health outcomes both locally and globally.