Latest Faculty Accomplishments
News
GRANTS (Awarded in October)
Dr. Emily K. Akerson (Clinical Coordinator for Clinical and Interprofessional Initiatives, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received $26,041 from Rockingham Memorial Hospital to continue to meet the needs of at-risk families in Page County by providing education, resources and support. Akerson also received $26,041 from Rockingham Memorial Hospital to provide integrated activities and services that improve the well-being, increase the permanency, and ensure the safety of children who are in or at risk of being placed in an out-of-home placement as a result of a parent’s or caretaker’s substance abuse.
Dr. Steven G. Cresawn (Associate Professor, Biology) received $28,445 from the National Institutes of Health to further the development of a database to hold mycobacteriophage genome sequences and gene expression data.
Kimberlee Hartzler-Weakley (Director of Children and Youth, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received $66,252 from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County Health Department to implement the Choosing the Best abstinence education curriculum program in 6th, 7th and 8th grade classrooms at Thomas Harrison Middle School and Skyline Middle School during the 2014-15 academic year.
Gary S. Race (Grant Administrator, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received $5,000 from Virginia Commonwealth University to develop video trainings for Home Visiting Consortium home visitors and early intervention specialists.
Dr. Kenneth R. Rutherford (Director, Center for International Stabilization and Recovery) received $31,000 from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining to update the ORDATA database to minimize harm to civilians and personnel involved in mine action, EOD and other humanitarian or military situations by enabling them to be better able to identify explosive ordinance.
Dr. Kristen E. St. John (Professor, Geology and Environmental Science) received $6,000 from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers to provide editor-in-chief services for the Journal of Geoscience Education.
Nick D. Swayne (Coordinator for External Relations, College of Education; Instructor, Learning, Technology and Leadership Education) received $11,400 and $19,925 from Virginia city and county donors for FIRST LEGO League support and the Virginia/D.C. FIRST LEGO League, respectively.
Dr. Rhonda M. Zingraff (Associate Dean, College of Health and Behavioral Studies), Cheryl L. Henderson (Co-director and Instructor, Training and Technical Assistance Center) and John T. McNaught (Co-director and Instructor, Training and Technical Assistance Center) received $267,135 and $1,171,676 from the Virginia Department of Education to continue to support state directed and regional/local activities for the Virginia Department of Education Training/Technical Assistance Centers.
HONORS
Dr. Elise M. Barrella (Assistant Professor, Engineering), Dr. Kyle G. Gipson (Assistant Professor, Engineering) and Dr. Justin J. Henriques (Assistant Professor, Engineering) are three of 77 engineering educators across the United States selected to attend the National Academy of Engineering's sixth Frontiers of Engineering Education symposium Oct. 26-29 in Irvine, Calif. FOEE brings together top university faculty to explore preparing engineers to address the world's greatest challenges.
Dr. Mace L. Bentley (Associate Professor, Integrated Science and Technology) received a Fulbright Specialist grant award in environmental science. He will travel to Thailand and focus his work on climate change and environmental effects in Southeast Asia.
Dr. Peter K. Bsumek (Coordinator, Environmental Studies; Associate Professor, Communication Studies) received the J. Robert Cox Award in Environmental Communication and Civic Engagement for his commitment to environmental issues through organizational leadership. The award is presented by the Environmental Communication Division of the National Communication Association. Bsumek also received the Christine L. Oravec Research Award for the best environmental communication book chapter for the year from the same division of the professional association.
Dr. Carol C. Dudding (Associate Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders) received the Center for Innovative Technology Teaching with Technology Faculty Award for her work with online simulation tools designed to provide students with virtual life clinical simulations in speech language pathology.
J. Kemper Funkhouser (Adjunct Instructor, Finance and Business Law) received the Virginia Association of Realtors’ Code of Ethics Leadership Award for his knowledge of the industry’s professional standards and the ability to teach them to others.
Dr. Joann H. Grayson (Professor Emerita, Psychology) received the Carol S. Fox Making Kids Count Award from Voices for Virginia’s Children for her work in child advocacy in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham community.
Dr. Charles M. Harris (Professor, Psychology) was honored by the Center for Instructional Technology for his contributions to the center and the field of instructional technology. CIT has named the Charles Harris Award of Distinction for him to acknowledge this work.
Dr. Sean R. McCarthy (Assistant Professor, Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication) received the Center for Innovative Technology Teaching with Technology Faculty Award for his work in incorporating technology through his “Writing for Nonprofits” class for a local nonprofit organization and incorporating “the magazine project” into his GWRTC 103 courses.
Dr. Cara Meixner (Assistant Director, Center for Faculty Innovation) and Megan Rodgers Good (Graduate Intern/Assessment Coordinator, Center for Faculty Innovation) were recipients of the James Madison Innovations Intellectual Property Disclosure Incentive Award for 2013-2014.
Carolyn F. Schubert (Health Science and Nursing Librarian, Libraries and Educational Technologies) received the MAC Award for Professional Excellence by a New Health Sciences Librarian from the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association. The award goes to a Mid-Atlantic Chapter member who makes outstanding contributions in health sciences librarianship.
Evelyn C. Tickle (Assistant Professor, Art, Design and Art History) received the Center for Innovative Technology Teaching with Technology Faculty Award for her incorporation of new software and technological experimentation into studio classes.
Dr. Deborah L. Warnaar (Lecturer, Chemistry and Biochemistry) received the NACADA (Global Community for Academic Advising) Outstanding Advising Award for demonstrating qualities of exceptional academic advising.
PRESENTATIONS
Dr. Sharon K. Babcock (Associate Professor, Biology) and Katherine Trammell (Professor, Dance) hosted two workshops Oct. 1-2 at Duke University as part of a performance and workshop residency interdisciplinary program. Each session focused on different aspects of anatomy through discussion and in-class work that involved movement to put into practice lesson about various bones and muscles.
Dr. Thomas E. Moran (Associate Professor, Kinesiology) was one of two university professors in the country invited to participate in the White House Summit and Research Forum on Improved Health and Fitness for Americans with Disabilities Oct. 6-7. At the summit Moran and Chelsea Lambright (Graduate Student, Occupational Therapy) discussed their experiences with Overcoming Barriers, a mentoring program that pairs JMU students with community members of all ages who have disabilities, and the impact the initiative has had on the local community.
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Edward J. Brantmeier (Associate Professor, Learning, Technology and Leadership Education; Assistant Director, Center for Faculty Innovation) and Emily L. Kohl (Assistant Program Administrator, Center for Faculty Innovation) published a book review of “Transforming students: Fulfilling the promise of higher education,” written by Johansson, C. and Felten, P. The book review was published in Teachers College Record, Aug. 21, 2014.
Dr. T. Dary Erwin (Professor, Strategic Leadership Studies and Psychology) published an article, “Esthetic development: a model for the undergraduate experience,” in Quality Assurance in Education.
Dr. Susan E. Kruck (Professor, Computer Information Systems and Business Analytics) co-authored a paper, “Does Personality Play a Role in Computer Information Systems Course Performance.” The paper was named “Best Conference Pedagogy Paper” at the International Association for Computer Information Systems’ conference in Las Vegas Oct. 1-4.
Dr. Nena J. Powell (Associate Professor, Nursing), Dr. Erika M. Sawin (Assistant Professor, Nursing), Dr. Sandra L. Annan (Associate Professor, Nursing) and Dr. Cynthia D. Rubenstein (former Assistant Professor, Nursing) published an article, “Student evaluations of teaching tools: A qualitative examination of student perceptions,” in Nurse Educator.
Yasmeen L. Shorish (Assistant Professor; Professional Librarian, Libraries and Educational Technologies) and Dr. Barbara A. Reisner (Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry) published an article with Meris Mandernach of Ohio State University titled “The Evolution of Library Instruction Delivery in the Chemistry Curriculum Informed by Mixed Assessment Methods” in Science and Technology Librarianship.
Dr. Margaret F. Sloan (Assistant Professor, Strategic Leadership Studies) published an article with Wenli Yan titled “The Impact of Employee Compensation and Financial Performance on Nonprofit Organization Donations” in the American Review of Public Administration.
Dr. Timothy R. Walton (Associate Professor, Integrated Science and Technology), Jonathan R. Alger (President, Professor), Dr. Pia Antolic-Piper (Visiting Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Religion), Dr. Frances Flannery (Associate Professor, Philosophy and Religion), Dr. William J. Hawk (Chair, Madison Collaborative; Professor, Philosophy and Religion), Dr. John W. Hulsey (Assistant Professor, Political Science), Dr. Bernd Kaussler (Associate Professor, Political Science), Dr. Jonathan Keller (Associate Professor, Political Science), David K. McGraw (Professor, Integrated Science and Technology), Dr. Mark Piper (Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Religion), Dr. John A. Scherpereel (Associate Professor, Political Science), Dr. Yi Edward Yang (Associate Professor, Political Science), Anamaria Berea, Steven L. Burg, Bob de Graaff, Jonathan Smith and Cees Wiebes published the book, "The Role of Intelligence in Ending the War in Bosnia in 1995," based on the War to Peace conference which was held at JMU in March 2014.
SERVICE
Dr. Wanchi Huang (Professor, Music) is serving as the concertmaster for the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra. She as been a soloist with the symphony in the past and now assumes the leadership role of choosing which music the orchestra will play and how it will be played.
Dr. Laura Taalman (Professor, Mathematics and Statistics) is spending a year serving as the mathematician-in-residence for MoMath, the National Museum of Mathematics. MoMath is the only museum dedicated to mathematics in the United States, and Taalman is developing programs and workshops there.
